Kansas Writers books I've read so far.

     I learned from the Wordfest conference in MacPherson that pictures in blogs are essential. So I will do that.

     In the past I mention Bonnie Eaton's historical novel, Nelly of No Man's Land. Great story of the 1890s. Ironically, this area would be in the heart of the dust bowl in the 1930s. In Bonnie's setting the prairie is still fairly pristine. It is about a pioneer family making the best of rough living. There is drama. Nelly's husband likes the saloon girls and he drinks. Nelly's youngest daughter, Evie, is the daughter of a lover Nelly had taken in the past. Secrets kept will become exposed. Nelly and her husband must make a choice to stay together or go their seperate ways. The story has a great cast of characters and a fine resolutuon. Psst, there may be a sequel in the future.

Swan Song by H. B. Berlow is a crime novel set in comtemporary Wichita, Kansas. Our tough guy hero goes all over town, meeting people, looking for leads, and doing what sleuths do; he gets into all sorts of trouble.  Many of the classic PI's of the past and present are closely linked with their city: Marlowe with Los Angeles, Spencer with Boston, Mike Hammer with New York. I see a possibility for a series here. I like the idea of fictional crime lords lurking behind closed door in our cozy little town. They are much more interesting then politicians.

     Next time a bit of history about the building I used as a model for the novel Dust and Roses. Yes, the building is an actual building. And, yes, it still exists, but not like in the picture. And it is in central Kansas.

    I am still editing Dust and Roses. It is interesting that as I get furthur into the story, history takes a back seat to character, conflict, and the motives that drive them both. The focus changes. At first I wondered if this was a problem, but my feeling is that in hist novels, setting is as much a character as the people, It's a set of rules to go by, but it's not necessary to dwell on the rules.

Wordfest Conference in McPherson, Kansas

Lessons learned from MacWriter's Wordfest Conference in McPherson, KS.

     I went to the MacWriter's conference in MacPherson last Fri and Sat. Afterwords, I stayed with my friends David and Lori Yoder and went to the Dueling Pianos fundraising event to restore the old Fox Theatre in Newton.  The event was a blast. And I slept well after a full day.
     I reccomend the MacWriter conference for fellow newbie writers. Three was a lot of basic info. Glenn Sixbury, author of High Plains Moon - a vampire tale of the old west set in Hays, Kansas, gave a talk about "secrets" tips from editors and publishers of traditional publishing, what they are looking for in a novel. One thing I've noticed: authors like Sixbury who have been traditionally published pan epublishing. And epublished authors like Gordon Kessler pan traditional publishing.
     That evening there was on "open mic" for reading, only there was no mic. Diane Wahto read one of her poems. I chickened out on reading from "Dust and Roses." I need to get over that. Grrrrr. The next there morning had a panel of writers including Diane Wahto and Bonnie Tharp talking about the writer's life. It was fun. The lunch's keynote speaker was a fantasy writer from Dallas, Texas. Her name was Julia Mandala, a writer of humorous fantasy. She is a self-professed Catholic girl obsessed with hell. There ya go. Diane Wahto had a poetry workshop downstairs. I stayed upstairs to hear Patsy Terrell's talk on blogging. She strongly suggested all writers get a website of their name dot com and dot net. And, yes, she does offer website design services to writers. Check her out at Patsyterrell.com. Where else?
     I spent the last two sessions with Gordon Kessler and his topic of ebooks and epublishing. Gordon will be having an epublishing workshop on June 22 at  the downtown Wichita Library on Main Street. Yep, I'm going. I'm kinda digging going to writer's conferences
     The  High Plains Moon kindle book is now available. In fact, it looks like there is a second volume.

The Covor of "Dust and Roses" is a reality. I hope to have Dust and Roses out in ebook by Christmas. A designer from Florida, Tracy Jette made it.  I'm really quite happy with it. I decided to go the inndie route. At least this time. This first novel has been such a learning experience. As far a marketing is concerned, I'm going to write a piece called the "The Great Depression in Kansas." Put it out in ebook at a throwaway price. The main point is to use this article/book as a bonus for anyone emailing me or giving me feedback, including their e mail address. An of course, a newsletter about Kansas history, Great Deprssion, writing, WIPs and whatnot. Another lesson learned from Wordfest - get email addresses.    And learn to Twitter, or as Gordon says, "Tweeter." I thought that was a high sound speaker. Huh. 
     The url of this blog has kspoorhouse in it. I want to put together a listings of the locations and essential info of all the historical poor farms in Kansas plus any cemetary location information. Another WIP. I hope I live long enough.

I know, I know. It's been a while. Today is April 7th. I'm done with my first draft. Now I'm revising. And it is going slow. Probably 30k into the first revision. I like how it is going and the pace will pick up on version 3.0. I'm doing a fair amount of re-writing and polishing. I know I will have a big bridge to span becaue I've got a gap to plug coming up soon. Joy.

Now, I'm working on getting a book cover nailed down. Found a lady on Elance.com and I'm in the process of sending her some pics I'm found to use as a starting off point. I want my poor farm to be threatened by a big dust storm. a big nasty black one. She said she could do it. Go Tracy go! See Tracy go. Run Tracy run. I swear I didn't pick her out just 'cause she was young and available ... work wise. As soon as I get the cover I will post it here. All two of you can see it.

Currently reading HB's crime novel Swan Song. It has lots of places in the Air Capital where the main character goes to get clues about his brothers. Get the book.  More tomorrow. If I remember.