You have to wonder why anyone would spend so much time writing a book, pitching that book, and bringing that book to market if that same individual was going to hide when one someone actually mentioned reading the book. Kind of silly. But I admit to doing that. It is exciting and weird to have …
Category: publication
Music, Dance, and Storytelling
When I write, I sometimes listen to music. The music fits either the mood of the story or the personality of the characters. The other day, I had the chance to collaborate on a music show with London DJ Claudio Fiore and with my publisher, Plum Tree Books, that tells the story of the music …
What are the ’80s anyway?
Every decade has its personality, right? Although it's tricky because it isn't as if everything changes on January 1st of that zero year. When exactly did the '80s become THE '80s? What historical events mark the period? The election of Reagan perhaps? The beginning of MTV? I graduated in 1986, the year Ferris Bueller skipped …
Things Can Only Get Better
My novel is set in the summer of 1985. That summer I loved Howard Jones and I was about to start my senior year of high school. If you were around in the '80s, what did you love and what did you hate? * * * My novel, The Blue Jar, will be released as …
Transition Madness
Today I finished chemo. One surgery remains. The toxins will leave my body, my hair will grow back, and I'll get to call myself a survivor. But aren't we all survivors if we make it to another day? I don't know, but I find survivor a strange thing to call myself. Many people are kind …
Validation, Validation, Validation
October begins! This is the month my novel, The Blue Jar, enters the world as an e-book. At some point, the book may appear in paper form as well. And what writer doesn't dream of holding her book in her hand? I try to be realistic, but I am a writer and an artist. I …
Counting Down…
October promises many things. Let's hope October keeps such promises. The first Friday of October will be my last day of chemo. Thank the stars. I've had fewer side-effects than many. I'm lucky. This has been week ten of Taxel. The nurse told me that the 10th week is the most common week for neuropathy …
Getting Closer
A few years ago, I dressed as rejection for Halloween. I pinned all of my rejection letters to my jacket and a red, paper, broken heart to my jacket's lapel. I wrote "No!" and "Go away!" on the palms of my hands. I took my son's toy collapsable knife and pretended every so often to …
That First
Today, I read this article--Why Stephen King Spends 'Months and Even Years' Writing Opening Sentences. Of course, then I thought about the opening sentences of my novels and short stories. Some of them I have written over and over again, and the longer the story stays with me, the more I stare at its first …
Questions, Anyone?
I'm working on illustrating another book for my publisher, Plum Tree Books. I'm also working on getting this site to look like a proper site. Publication requires readers, obviously. And even more obviously, I can't get attention all on my own. I can't get in my car and travel the country to pitch my novel. …
Marta Bacon 