It’s Tuesday which means its my day to post over at Genreality.net. This week are doing a themed subject and all of us are discussing how we landed our first sale as a professional writer. If you want to hear what Bass Ale, shoeboxes, and the hand of fate have to do with my first sale, drop on by. And while you’re there, check out Alison Kent’s story about how she received the news of her first sale while filming a television show - complete with video!
I met Kealan Patrick Burke a few years ago at some writer’s convention or another. He’s an interesting guy and a more than decent writer. I’ve enjoyed a number of his works, including The Turtle Boy, Vessels, Taverns of the Dead, and Quietly Now.
Like me, Kealan is always looking for new ways to get his work in front of a wider audience and this time he’s come up with an intriguing concept. In partnership with Underland Press, Kealan is writing a wovel.
Yes, you heard me. A wovel.
What’s that? What the heck is a wovel? Well, everyone knows that a wovel is a…well it’s…um…
What the heck is a wovel? Turns out that a wovel is a “web novel” according to the publisher. Here’s what they have to say about it:
It is the first of its kind. The author writes it. The readers vote on it. Here’s how it works:
Every week, the author posts an installment. Installment length hits the sweet-spot of online reading—long enough to get interested, short enough to read in the cubicle at work. At the end of every installment, the author writes in a plot branch point. Does the heroine kill her lover? Will the zombies catch the soldier? Is the box empty, or is it filled with bees?
THE READERS DECIDE.
On Monday, the post goes up. Voting is open through Thursday. The author writes Thursday and Friday. The editors edit Friday and Saturday. The post goes back up on Monday. Part literature, part exquisite corpse. The pace of print journalism, the imagination of fiction, the spark of reader participation.
Like I said, an interesting concept and in the hands of Kealan, I’m sure it will be an interesting read as well. I’ve just discovered the project, so I’m going back and reading chapter one before catching up with this week’s post, chapter two.
Come on and join me…
from the ITW:
Longtime Western writer and Western Writers of America member James Reasoner and wife Livia lost their house and studio, and all their belongings, in a fire earlier this week. They’re OK, as are their dogs and children, but got out with only their clothes they were wearing. Books, pulps, comics, everything else, gone. “This is totally overwhelming,” James says.
To help the family, Western Writers of America and Kensington Books have agreed to make sizable contributions and ask anyone who would also like to contribute to send cash donations to the WWA Executive Director’s office in Albuquerque, N.M. Make the check out to Western Writers of America and put in the memo that the money is for the James Reasoner Emergency Fund.
Checks should be mailed to:
WWA
MSC06 3770
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Since James and Livia also lost their sizable library, donations are also being sought to help restock their bookcases whenever they have a new home. Kim Lionetti, Livia’s agent at BookEnds, has generously agreed to accept any BOOK donations and keep them until the Reasoners have a place to put them. Books should be sent to:
Kim Lionetti
BookEnds Inc.
136 Long Hill Road
Gillette, NJ 07933
