Voting closes

Voting on the World Book Day search for the Book to talk about 2008 closes at noon GMT today (Friday). Shortlisted titles include Playing with the Moon.

All voters are automatically entered into a weekly draw for £100 worth of book vouchers and five free books.

Thanks to everyone who's already supported me--I'm hoping this initiative will shine light on all the Macmillan New Writing titles and the talent of the imprint's authors.

Casting call

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find the "Who would play [insert character here] in a film?" question impossible to answer. However, it does sometimes happen that people who've read CTM tell me they saw a certain performer in a certain role, and out of sheer curiosity, I've thrown the floor open in my blog for folk to comment with their CTM casting choices if they wish to.

So, my questions for the MNW Mafia are thus - do you mentally cast characters? Your own? Other authors'? Any casting choices you'd like to share, in either case? Or does the whole idea give you a headache as well?

Launch Party

Just a reminder about the launch party for Light Reading, tonight, at Goldsboro Books.

Excitement! I'm not used to this. I had to lie down in a dark room last night.

Learned Helplessness and the Writing Life

Roger Morris has an absolutely fascinating post on his blog about trying to promote your books (and the possible pointlessness thereof).

And Dr. Ian Hocking dropped a line in Roger's comment trail directing us to his marvelous post on the "locus of control."

Now I understand why I'm so depressed. Doesn't fix anything, but at least I have a name for it: Learned Helplessness.

"Help! My Teenage Character Is Having Sex!" (and other potential MNW talk show titles)

Quoth the inimitable Mr Isaak, on Aliya and Neil's blog, and the subject of fiction vs. autobiography:

"I think it's Oprah and Jerry Springer who've caused all this confusion between imagination and confession."

This set my brain ticking, and I've come up with a bit of a game for you all - you know how talk show episodes tend to have those awful, hyperbolic titles that usually involve mad sensationalism and copious exclamation marks? Well...what would your book's episode title be? If your characters were dragged up before one of the unholy army that includes Jeremy Kyle, Sally Jessy Raphael and of course the inescapable Mr Springer, what ridiculous titles might be used when the show aired?

Personally, for Cover the Mirrors, I like the one I've used for the title of this blog post (optional extra: ...With A 29-Year-Old!), or perhaps Fraud and Teen Pregnancy Exposed!. I'm lucky in that my protagonist is a sixteen-year-old girl, which automatically makes everything she does worthy of an even bigger fuss in talk show land, so that's useful.

What about the rest of you?

introduction

     Since I've been lurking around the edges of this blog for the last several weeks, and even once posted a comment, it seems a proper introduction is order. 

     I'm Doug Worgul. My novel, Thin Blue Smoke, is scheduled to be published in February 2009. I'm an American, living in Kansas City — smack dab in the middle of the continental United States. The Kansas City metro area is bisected by the boundary between the states of Kansas and Missouri. The suburb I live in is on the Kansas side. I was born and raised in Michigan. On the U.S map, Michigan is the mitten-shaped peninsula surrounded by the Great Lakes, in the north.   

     I'm very happily married to Rebecca Sesler and I'm blessed with four lovely daughters. 

     I'm 54 years old. A few weeks ago I read a review of a first novel in the New York Times Book Review, in which the reviewer noted that the novel's author was 38 years old, which the reviewer said was "a little old for a for a first time novelist." Damn. I was feeling quite ancient until I visited each of the personal Web sites of the other MNW authors. Now I feel a lot better and a lot younger.  

     Writing Thin Blue Smoke fundamentally altered my understanding of myself. Even if it had never been published, its purpose in my life would have been fulfilled. When the book was accepted by MNW, my life changed yet again.  Now I have a sense of calling. I may never make a living as a novelist, but making novels will be the way the way I now live. 

     Thin Blue Smoke does not fit neatly in any established genre. It's about love & loss, despair & hope, squandered opportunities & second chances, fathers & sons, Black & white, barbecue & the blues, God & whiskey, forgiveness & redemption. 

     I'm working on a second book, but sometimes I have a sick feeling in my gut that there was only the one in me.  

     I'm honored to be a member of this group. And I look forward to reading all your books. Whose should I start with?

     drw 

Writers' dreams....

Just a little post to say I am starting a collection of writers' dreams, in particular those that are writing-related. I put one on my own blog to get the ball rolling. I'd love it if people could pop over and add their own as comments.

Change of Address

Since they are too secretive to tell you themselves, I'll take this opportunity to inform everyone here that Aliya Whitely and Neil Ayres, who formerly maintained a joint blog at Pootle-and-Rat, have joined the rest of us in the buzzing, group hive-mind of Blogger, at http://veggiebox.blogspot.com.

Aliya is also known as Pootle, or even the Blue Pootle, while Neil travels under the handle The Rat. Therefore, Aliya's avatar on their blog has long been a Gorilla, while Neil's has been a Chicken.

Don't try and figure this out.

Unless you follow their blog, you also might not understand why the new one is called VeggieBox. Be patient. This will soon become clear if you keep reading it for a while.