Aint it just, Fay? And yes, I'm preeny, because I helped with an edit to tighten. But it honestly didn't need much.

This:

The hushed sounds of the bush reassert themselves before the voice begins again. There is a rhythm to the speech, a melancholic call to prayer.

is frellin' lovely. It places me, I know precisely where I am in my head, and it resonates. So nice, being shown and not told.

I love it. The mood reminds me of a curious mingle of Atwood, Dick, and Ellison.

You are all SO good to me! Thank you.

I've suddenly heard the siren call of positive feedback and it's making me want more, which means I have to write more, which is very, very good.

and I just realized a very tiny continuity problem and edited the story a bit more.

Feedback is the drug, man.

So I don't. I avoid practicing the craft, or training in it, or considering the word and how it falls, because I'm afraid, if I put too much mind into it, the spirit will fly.

Yeah. And me-- t reiteratory t evil rationalist I don't understand how one can write well *without* doing those analysis-things. But somehow, magically, other people do that. And that's great, because it works for them; it's just alien to my own mindset.

RL, ever read Camus? I'm suddenly reminded of the character who cried when he realized that the words he'd put together would be too alliterative in another language. Plague, IIRC?

I think some people are more intuitive at some things than others. So, while you need to consider the impact of each word, others need to consider other things. I'm just guessing, and also insent with the final (I hope) draft.

That's one thing studying writing in school gave me...the ability to analyze my work. I think I'd be flying by the seat of my pants still otherwise.

Hey all. I have a serious question here.

A while back, I compiled a book of my "Infante's Inferno" columns and other selected writings. It's an odd, eccentric read, and I'm rather fond of how it came together. Kind of Hunter S. Thompson, only mostly sober. Mostly. Anyway...

I've had bites from agents, but most of them (including a couple I know) have warned me upfront that it's a difficult sell, better suited toward an alternative press or some such. I'm inclined to agree.

The other side of the puzzle is that the bulk of it was written between Sept. 11th and the start of the current war, so I'm living in fear of it being EXTREMELY dated by the time it ever comes out.

I have an opportunity to put it out as an e-book. I haven't fleshed out all the details yet, but it can be up extremely soon, and sell fairly cheap (looking at $5.) Oh, and I don't have to pay anything to have it put up, and I have the opportunity to resell it in print at any point.

So my question is, should I do this? Is it worth my while?

These are the first things that come to my mind:

1. Can you sell it for print immediately after posting it/do both at the same time?
2. Do you have the resources to plug it yourself and/or will the download site plug it for you?
3. Will it benefit you (mentally, emotionally, financially) to sell it now vs. later or not at all?
4. Will its existence as an e-book make it even less attractive to a print concern, or will it sell so well as an e-book that it will be more attractive to a print concern?

I'm thinking it's a good idea if it costs you nothing and the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Also, I'd buy it.

Huh. Good questions. Let's see:

1. Can you sell it for print immediately after posting it/do both at the same time?

Yes.

2. Do you have the resources to plug it yourself and/or will the download site plug it for you?

They won't do much for me, but I have some resources. And it may be a good promotional tool for a a print run.

3. Will it benefit you (mentally, emotionally, financially) to sell it now vs. later or not at all?

REALLY good question. This is all previously published material, so I'm not as antsy as I'd be if it were, say, a novel, but having done the work to compile it, I'm loathe to wait a year and have it be horribly dated.

4. Will its existence as an e-book make it even less attractive to a print concern, or will it sell so well as an e-book that it will be more attractive to a print concern?

Not sure. I think I can do decently on my own, and any success with it may interest agents/publishers for future projects. That being said, others have published books from the same place--I've even seen them in stores, so it's all possible.

I think I'm leaning toward it, but need to investigate a tad more.

Working backward:

1) Victor, do it. Whatever will get it in the public eye in whatever forum while it's timely is the thing to do. It may gather its own reputation and public demand may see a print run. As you're very aware, timeliness matters. Once it's in public domain, it can, and more likely will, remain so, even when it is no longer quite so currently relevant.

2) Deena. I am so there. What Deb said about your locating the reader. Absolutely. Not a word in there that wasn't needed, that didn't do its work. Lovely, evocative, lean but substantive, and oh, so tantalizing. Want more.

If not about these characters, then more from you, at least.

3)

sometimes it feels like craft is all I've got.

Yes, this. I do character well. I write good, active dialogue that moves the story on, that doesn't devolve into rows of talking heads expositioning. I'm graceful and erudite and damned clever. And up until lately I'd been lucky because my characters told me where they wanted to go, and even when I tried a little direction, oftentimes they'd take off in some other unsuspected direction. Or my handsome antihero would have feet of clay up to his armpits, or my grubby, brusque and gravel-voiced heroine would do something girly, just to keep things interesting. But I always left the plot up to them because I've never really had a story to tell. Places I wanted to visit, sure, and adventures I wanted to experience. I can write in all five senses and put the reader in the pilot seat.

I just frelling can't find a story I want to tell. A very good writerly friend once told me "There are no new stories. Love. Quest. Revenge. Variations thereof. Pick one. " And my well-drawn characters lift their delicate eyebrows and yawn in boredom.

So I edit, and I workshop. And I lurk, and I hope that one day, that magical thing, story lights in my vicinity.