Finished Editing New BalonaBook
Current mood: animated
Category: Writing and Poetry

I don't get a chance to brag much, so here I go with a good one:
Last time I entered a blog here (a long time ago) I mentioned that my friend Joaquin Peralta was working on a new book. Well, I edited that one, and it's now on the market. It's titled An Almost Private Eye and you can get a peek at the flack for it at Balona.com.. I feel good about that, but that's not the chief reason that I'm blogging today. The CHIEF reason is that Joaquin has finished another one. And this is one of the best yet. I was the editor, and the book is out in galleys (ARCs Advance Reading Copies) to reviewers right now.

The book is titled Bandits!, A Dangerous Adventure on Gold Rush Trails. It's a story about a kid who is kidnapped in 1853 by the notorious California bandit Joaquin Murieta. The book will be on the market in January 2009, but will probably be flacked on the Balona Web site this fall.

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Wondering about Writing
Current mood: amused
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

I've been talking to my colleague at BalonaBooks, Joaquin Peralta. He's had a major challenge for the last six months because the publisher asked him to write a new story based on an established Balona character (Joseph Oliver Kuhl). How would you like to write a story using Dostoyevsky's character Raskolnikov? Probably fun, but Joaquin has sweated over this one as although he has edited lots of books, this is his first as author.

The book is finished, will be in galleys out to reviewers in late July, and will be on the market in January 2008. Joaquin has titled it An Almost Private Eye as the story features Joe Kuhl in his "student" mode in which he is supposedly slaving away to qualify for his private eye certificate.

If you've ever read a BalonaBook with Joseph Kuhl in it, you know that Joe is any teachers's bad dream. He doesn't attend classes, he cheats, he lies, he daydreams, he brags, he doesn't do his homework, he expects good grades. Hey, he sounds like some of the guys I went to school with.

This story is presented as a term paper for Joe's Criminal Justice class. Joe includes footnotes, which a pre-publication reader of the manuscript called "a weird feature, but interesting for fiction."

Anyway, Joaquin's fingernails will be bitten down to the quick waiting for critical reviews. There's no page on the Balona Web site yet, as cover designer Barbara Hodge hasn't finished the cover, but as soon as they have a cover, Joaquin says he'll ask Dr. Pearce to upload the page for An Almost Private Eye.

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Obligations
Category: Life

It's the stuff of legend, but the kind of legend that keeps the Donner Party's story alive. I'm sad for the family of James Kim, the SF dad who lost his life trying to get help when his family was trapped on a snowy Oregon mountain backroad. He wasn't dressed for hiking in the snow, but his family wasn't prepared to wait for help much longer than the days they already had waited. So he did what he felt he had to do: took off to get help. His family was found alive. Even the rescuers were saddened by the discovery of his body seven miles away. Reminds me that, although we cannot be ready for every eventuality, when we go into "unexplored territory" we need to consider what emergencies we're likely to encounter--and try to be prepared.

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No Fun to Watch the News
Current mood: angry

I get choked up whenever I watch the TV news. So I'm at the point at which I turn it off and try to take a nap. (Usually doesn't work) It's bad enough to get shot at and blown up when you know whom you're fighting. But when the shots and bombs come out of nowhere, what's a marine or soldier to do? We're in so deep over in Iraq that it's going to be every bit as dangerous to get out as it was going in. Maybe moreso. And our tax money is going down the drain, a billion every breath. I just hope the Veterans Hospitals are improved over what they were a few years ago. We're going to need them more and more. Somebody please tell me that this war is worth it.

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Occasional Victories
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

Usually I feel pretty competent. Every once in a while I feel like Rocky Balboa with his arm raised in victory by the referee. Like yesterday, when I won $11 in the California Lotto. Now, $11 doesn't sound like much, but if you have invested your dollar every week for two months and have drawn goose eggs for all that, it's at least a great portent, maybe of greater things to come. With the $11 in my hand, I immediately blew $10 of it on the Lotto. For sure, next Wednesday when the new Lotto winner is announced, my pockets will be bulging with coin, not to speak of paper.
Also, next Wednesday (or about then) a manuscript I edited for BalonaBooks will come on the market. It's not the usual Balona fun, but it does have some very funny parts, along with some very sad, even violent, scenes. You can maybe get a feel for A Perched-in Soul by taking a peek at it.
I feel very lucky that I have work that makes me happy when I do it and when I know other people are going to benefit from it. I think teachers must feel that way, too.

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Watery Thoughts
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Travel and Places

..
I have just returned from a few days in the Sierras, a great place to live, and an even better place to visit (since you don't have to pay the taxes). As an editor, I work with authors of fiction and non-fiction. One of my favorites is Jonathan Pearce, author and publisher of BalonaBooks Balona.com . We stayed at Jonathan's place at South Lake Tahoe, in a quiet, foresty, good-smelling neighborhood about a mile up the hill from the lake, and about three miles from the Nevada border and its casinos.
My girlfriend doesn't like to gamble. She likes to rock-climb, so we rock-climbed. We took our lunch in the backpack I wore. I've never done Class Six work, but have quivered up a few Class Five peaks. My girlfriend has actually hung from a Class Six overhang or two, so I followed her up the rocks humbly, carrying our lunch without complaint, grateful that our climb was just "hiking," and not climbing.
We got up pretty high, though, and got a great view of the lake while we had our sandwiches. The sight got me to thinking about how little we Americans consider our luck. For example, we Californians are now getting ready to confirm or replace a bunch of politicians. In the pre-election frenzy, occasionally we have heard about the miserable condition of many of the levees in the central state that, when breached, will drown a lot of people, but we've heard virtually nothing from any of the candidates about where we'll be getting the water to supply all the new houses, sewers, carwashes, etc., that are guaranteed in our future if the levees don't break.
So far, except for hurrican damages, the occasional great fire or earthquake or flood, we are lucky. I think we're getting by on hope, willful ignorance, and luck. It will cost every one of us a bundle in taxes to re-think and ensure our water supply. Problem is, nobody's doing the re-thinking, much less the ensuring.

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Being Terrified
Current mood: annoyed

¶It's like every time there's an election, the politicians in power rev up the reports of terror, crime, disaster, and diseases loose in your neighborhood. The theory is, if you're scared enough, you won't want to change fuehrers.
¶Then you see how little Emily Keyes and friends got captured by a nut with a gun and tormented and Emily got shot for no reason in her own classroom, and you wonder who's running
the Universe. How can the people you love be kept from this sort of harm?
¶Answer: Can't be done, no matter who's running the government and stealing tax money. Life is a terrible, beautiful crapshoot. There may be an overpass collapse, an earthquake, a huge fire, a hurricane, whatever. Or there may be born a beautiful child or be cooked a tasty meal or be painted a gorgeous picture or be dreamt a great fantasy or be read a fine book, whatever. If you're there, you get to suffer or enjoy the environment.
¶Secret is, I guess: teach yourself not to worry about stuff you can't control. Concentrate on what you're able to do. Enjoy the moment. Anyway, that's what I'm trying to do.

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So You Want to Be Published?
Current mood: awake
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

Getting published is a good dream and is not all that tough. It takes some talent, a lot of ambition, and maybe a pot of money. There are lots of subsidy publishers right here onthe Web waiting for your manuscript and your credit card number. Unfortunately, there may not be lots of readers waiting for your product.
I make my living (such as it is) as a book editor. I work for BalonaBooks, a fine outfit that publishes fiction that, while it's usually funny, still requires readers who haven't yet flunked out of English.
First, start out with a manuscript that's got a beginning, a middle, and an end. The story should have some characters that your reader can visualize. There needs to be some conflict and a resolution to the conflict. In the middle there needs to be a story that makes some sense.
Then, when you've done as much with your story as you can, find yourself an editor. The editor is the person who takes a hard look at your story and makes suggestions as to how
it can be improved. You will pay for the services of a good editor, so probably it's a good idea to
take the editor's suggestions seriously. The editor should probably not be your mother, a
person who likely will applaud vigorously anything you write. You could take your manuscript
to a writer's group for a critique, if you have a pretty strong ego. Some people can handle
the criticism leveled by other people who think of themselves as writers; some cannot.


If you think you can be your own editor, think again.

Then, if you're satisfied with your product, use as many of your friends, relatives,
neighbors, colleagues, whatever, to find an agent who, if the agent thinks the product is
saleable, will try to sell it to a publisher.

The agent takes a commission, but only after the sale. The publisher takes the risks. The
author may make a few pennies on every book finally sold.

We're told that there are nearly 200,000 new titles (books) produced yearly in the U.S.
As an always-hopeful writer myself, I advise: Don't quit your day job!

10:22 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

But anyway, who cares?
Current mood: thinking
Category: thinking Jobs, Work, Careers

As a book editor I have some interest in the success or failure of the stuff I work on. Naturally. (Maybe unnaturally). I edited this book titled Nobody's Fault. It's a BalonaBook (which is where I work) and got a nice review from School Library Journal. The publisher also sent an ARC (galleys, uncorrected advance review copy) to another rag for review. This reviewer apparently didn't read the whole book but got irriated at something about it. Anyway, she trashed it thoroughly. Which got me thinking about book reviewers.
I have reviewed a few books myself. In order to do it, you usually apply for the position. Or ese you simply write up a review and send it to the outfit that does reviews. I applied, was accepted, and was given some assignments--a book to review. First, I read the book, taking notes as I read. Then I wrote a rough draft of a review, following sort of a recipe that reviewers often use (plot, characterizations, pace, focus, etc.). Then I let it rest a while. Then I re-read what I had written and made some changes. Then I sent the review in, as instructed.

I had reviewed what I thought was a pretty good--not tremendouly good--book. I said so. The publisher and author of that book could quote some of what I said to advertise the thing. I felt that I had taken the non-pay job seriously and done a good job.
But what if I was irritated about a personal problem at the time, and tired, and angry about something I had seen on the tube, or had had a fight with my girlfriend, etc? What if I hadn't spent much time reading the book I had agreed to review? What if I had just skimmed it? What if I had a deadline for the review and had to do it quickly? Would I have done the book justice? I think not.
So I think the reviewer who trashed Nobody's Fault (not the other reviewer who gave the book high marks!) didn't really read the book, was irritated about something personal, had had a fight with her boyfriend, and had a bad case of, say, intestinal gas when she wrote her review. So I guess I'll have to forgive her. I don't know about the publisher and author, whether they'll be so charitable.
You can get a glimpse of the book (Nobody's Fault) at Balona.com and maybe decide for yourself if it's good or bad.

11:36 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Working til your fingers bleed and enjoying it
Current mood: artistic
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

Since I'm a book editor, work all the time, listen to music that my friends and acquaintances don't prefer (Bach and Stravinsky, for example), I get to feeling maybe there are people out there who actually read books, instead of playing video games or spend their lunch money at the mall.
My boss at balona.com, a funny guy, doesn't mind if I blog at MySpace provided I mention his business once in a while, he says. So consider it mentioned.
Bye

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