11/22/63 by Stephen King

I just finished this huge tome and while I came away satisfied and awed by the creativity of the story, I sometimes found myself skimming. King, as everyone knows, writes beautifully, so no complaints there. And the subject matter calls for more than the 300-350 page average length book. Nevertheless, at 842 pages, there were a lot of repeats. I often thought narrative could've taken the place of pages of dialogue. That said, if you have the time--and the strength to hold this huge book in a proper reading position for hours--fans of Stephen King will eat the story up. It really is excellent. And look at it this way, at least it isn't as long as The Dome. Isn't that the one that comes in at around 1000 pages?

The Art of Submitting

It's always such a relief to finish up a book. You write "The End" and wait a few weeks before bringing the damn thing out and rewriting about half of it, polishing up the descriptions and sharpening the dialogue. You check for typos and grammar goofs and a thousand other icky things that manage to creep into your lovely work, no matter your best intentions.

You write "The End" again and start looking for an agent or a publisher. You almost blind yourself searching through websites, Googling names, advice columns, blogs by this agent and that editor. There are thousands of them, but you want the best. Maybe you take a look at some contest results and check out the publishers with finalist entries. You look on Amazon for publishers of books of your type.

Hours, days, maybe even months go by while you write a short, lively, but succinct synopsis. Most important of all, you work on a killer query letter. But the time comes. No more beating around the bush. It's time to submit.

So, hopes high, blood pressure on the rise, you send your baby out to a select group of editors. You wait. You wait. You wait some more. Like a fanatic, you read every twitter tweet by your favorite editor. You watch her/his blog. You wait. You wait some more.

Then one day s/he sends out a tweet, telling a fan that while s/he liked The Hunger Games, s/he didn't love it. What? S/He didn't love The Hunger Games? One of your personal all time favorites, the characters and the plot of which will live forever in your mind? S/He didn't love it?

And then you realize there's nine and three-fourths chances out of ten s/he isn't going to love your story either.

Book Review: TULAROSA

TULAROSA The first Kevin Kerney mystery 

Michael McGarrity

W.W.Norton, 1996

ISBN 978-0-393-33399-2

Kevin Kerney, Santa Fe chief of detectives, was wounded in the line-of-duty due to the carelessness of his partner, Navajo Terry Yazzi. Three years later, he’s still battling back from the wounds and from resentment toward his former partner. However, when Terry begs Kevin's help in finding his lost son whom the army says has gone AWOL, he agrees to look for the young man. Sammy, after all, is Kevin’s godson, too. The trail leads Kevin into mortal danger yet again as he follows scant leads. Mostly, he finds a cover-up by the army officers who should be helping, except for Captain Sara Brannon. Together, they discover an international band of smugglers who’ve found a treasure in Civil War loot on the White Sands Missile Range. Murder is the smuggler’s favorite way to keep a secret.

Though written several years ago, the story still seems up-to-date, as though it could be happening right now. Description of setting is excellent, the characters, even secondary ones, are fully realized, and the plot itself provides for real page-turning excitement. 

Winter Newsletter

Holiday greetings, everyone. 

My gosh, has it really been THAT long since I sent a newsletter around? The last was on July 31st, and now Thanksgiving is already behind us and Christmas rapidly approaching. I haven't even begun my shopping. In fact, I've barely thought of Christmas! I imagine there are among you several who are all prepared. (Ready Envy here) 

In my last newsletter, I wrote about the Cherry Bounce I made with Green Bluff Bing cherries. The time is drawing nigh when it's ready for sampling. Sure looks good, I can tell you that. A beautiful color. I need to put it in a pretty carafe before gift giving.

Also in my last letter I showed a picture of the beautiful addition to our family, Houdini. Well, he's still a Houdini, escaping to somewhere if he so desires. Odd that he can just disappear before our very eyes as he's getting to be a big boy. Justin says he doesn't believe we have a cat, although he doesn't see a reason for the litter box, if not.

Oh, for those of you with cats....a clerk at Petco passed on the best tip regarding litter boxes, so I'm telling everyone too. Don't bother with regular litter. It's expensive and starts stinking almost immediately. Instead, go to your nearest Aslin-Finch outlet and pick up a 40# bag of horse stall bedding. If you change the litter once a week, the bag will last about five weeks or so, (depending on number of cats) it doesn't scatter over the house on the cat's feet, and, since it's made of little wood pellets, it absorbs odors. Best stuff ever! And it's a very good deal. Only $5.99 for the 40# bag.

Anyway, here are a couple pics of Houdini. At eight pounds already, it looks like he's going to be a pretty good-sized cat. He loves to get in the cupboard and sleep in my big soup pot. Or go into Gary's bathroom and curl up in the sink. Hey! I never said he wasn't a little weird.

There's not much new on the writing scene. I'm still plugging away on the contemporary mystery. Slow, but I think it might be pretty good. I've got an apocalyptic fantasy out making the rounds, along with the fifth Boothenay Irons book, titled Gone Rogue. I hope it can find a good home. And I'm waiting for production to begin on the third China Bohannon book, Three Seconds to Thunder, due out early next year. Of course Nimble, the Bedlington terrier, is in there. 

I'm judging in the First Novel category for the Western Writers of America Spur Awards. I've had 21 entries so far, and look for many more before the contest closes on December 31st. Oh, my poor eyes!

Joyce Nowacki, a writer friend of mine, and I are sharing a booth at the East Valley High School Winter Craft Fair this coming weekend where we're selling (I hope) our books. If you get a chance, drop by and say howdy. Don't forget, books make excellent gifts, and if you're getting someone a Kindle reader (love mine) or Nook or any of the many other reading devices, why not load it up with my books? They're available at all the main online dealers. Here's the gen on the craft fair.

December 3 - 4, 2011

East Valley Arts & Craft Fair

East Valley High School

15711 E. Wellesley Ave.

Spokane Valley, WA 

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. each day

Hope to see some of you there.

And now, it's back to writing and planning our booth display. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Carol

Smoking Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can't say as this is a mystery, although it's shelved as a mystery at my library. I always enjoy the story while I'm reading a Stephanie Plum, but I find I forget the plot almost as soon as I close the book. I hate to say that while I no longer buy this Janet Evanovich series, I do still check them out from the library.


View all my reviews

Summer Newsletter

2011 Summer Edition
C.K. CRIGGER'S NEWSLETTER

Here's a pic of the newest Crigger family member, Houdini. After Lily died in February, we said we weren't going to get another cat, but who could possibly resist this little green-eyed white Persian? Not us. Anyway, a house seems incomplete without a cat. Houdini has decided Jingle is his mommy, not that she's always pleased by his attention, and since she just had surgery, we have to watch him. Meanwhile, he holds his own against Tomasella and Roper just fine.

It's cherry season on Greenbluff, and Gary and I have made two trips to pick Bings, Rainiers, and pie cherries. Do I love pitting cherries? No, but... Part of the problem is that last year just as the season ended, I found a recipe for Cherry Bounce. For our first picking I used vodka and made a batch. Then I read a recipe that uses bourbon, so I had to go pick more cherries. Darn that Martha Washington anyway! But I only made a jar of it. She made the stuff by the barrel. Can't wait for Christmas for a taste.

This month Gary and I are celebrating our anniversary. Our son Justin is throwing barbecue for us, but the best part is that he and Wendi are getting married on that day also. Kind of cool. At least we won't forget each others anniversary.

My old laser printer--such an antique workhorse--isn't compatible with my new computer system, so I broke down and bought a 4-in-1 this week. Good grief, one needs to be a genuine geek to work the thing! But I love that it's wireless and that the only cable I have running to the Mac is the power cord. Love my wireless network, which I set up all by my little old self. The router and cable modem are in another room hooked up to the old PC, so I don't even have to look at them. Hah!

Now to writing stuff. First of all,I'll be selling TWO FEET BELOW and my other books at the Rockford Farmers Market next Saturday, August 6th, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. That's in Rockford's city park right along the highway. Hope to see some of you there.

I've been hitting the guest blog circuit promoting TWO FEET BELOW. Here are links to some of my thoughts on writing and such if you'd like to take a look.
1.http://www.paulapetty.com/paulas-coppers.html

2.http://wwwthouhtfulreflections.blogspot.com/2011/06/discovering-ck-criggers-newest-novel.html

3.http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2011/06/30/inspiration-and-writers/comment-page-1/#comment-74064

Just got a great review for LETTER OF THE LAW after all this time. It's from a lady who seems to read a lot of romance--erotic romance at that--so I'm tickled she likes my absolutely NOT erotic stuff.

Book Utopia: Letter of the Law by C.K. Crigger

Great news! The third book of my China Bohannon series (1890s bookkeeper turned sleuth) has been accepted by Oak Tree Press. The title of this one is THREE SECONDS TO THUNDER. Not sure when it'll be out, but I hope you'll keep your eye peeled for it. Well, I expect I'll announce it here, too, probably several times.

Meanwhile, I'm about ready to shop around an apocalyptic novel, as well as another fantasy. I keep picking at the plots though, so who knows when I'll be satisfied with them? I thought they'd both be done ages ago. I'm actively working on a contemporary mystery, so I'm keeping busy and out of trouble.

I've also agreed to judge for the Western Writers of America Spur Awards again this year. I'll be looking for the Best First Novel. Hope there are lots of entries.

That's it for now.
Carol

www.ckcrigger.com
TWO FEET BELOW (China Bohannon western suspense)

Free western novel offered.

Free western novel offered.

I've just put my previously out of print western novel, THE WINNING HAND, up for free via the Smashwords website. You can get Kindle editions there, too. This offer is good through July 31. Enjoy.

Carol

http://www.Smashwords.com/books/view/56460

There's a new post on my "Adventures of Miss China Bohannon" blog. To read about some of the technology China uses in 1896, go towww.twofeetbelow.blogspot.com

Carol

www.ckcrigger.com