Pat Conroy loved his Enlish teachers

 cj Sez:  Author Pat Conroy credited his English teachers . . . no, make that lauded the “genius of” his English teachers for instilling in him a love of the English language.  As he is quoted on Goodreads (http://bit.ly/1ldfCg2 ): 

“I've been in ten thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and women had to give. I cherish and praise them and thank them for finding me when I was a boy and presenting me with the precious gift of the English language.” 

  Me? I was too business-oriented to get that inspired by my high school and college English teachers (who were, nevertheless inspiring, wonderful, and quite funny).

  Despite my apparent lack of interest in writing during those years, I was, am, and will always be fascinated with words and syntax. I love, love, love the task of putting words together to create a story full of pictures and emotions. I especially like to lure readers into conjuring up the images of characters and places in their imaginations. My goal is that they make each of my stories their own. Deep point of view is my preferred style. Though sometimes I'm not quite where I need to be when I'm in the angst of creating the story, I revise, revise, and revise again.

  Still, calling myself a writer is a grand title I long hesitated to give myself despite being an author published in several genres (and being paid for it) for several years.

  But what really draws me to Mr. Conroy today is 
something he wrote in his memoir My Losing Season: A Memoir: 

“Do you think that Hemingway knew he was a writer at twenty years old? No, he did not. Or Fitzgerald, or Wolfe. This is a difficult concept to grasp.  . . .  But they had to take the first step. They had to call themselves writers. That is the first revolutionary act a writer has to make. It takes courage. But it's necessary.”

  That’s what it’s all about. We have to learn to call ourselves “writers.” Now that I’ve claimed the title, guess what? It feels good.

  Whether you’re a published or not-yet-published author, you should say it: “I am a writer!” Try it. Celebrate it. I bet you’ll like it too.

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Etcetera and P.S.A.

  Readers: If you’re looking for something to add to your ToBeRead pile (in addition to the suggestions I’ve listed below) but don’t connect with BookBub, here’s a link to get you to some wonderful books and specials … www.BookBub.com  

  Writers: Passing along a link to Jane Friedman’s popular blog and a guest post https://www.janefriedman.com/use-telling-details-to-connect-description-to-character/

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cj's Reading Suggestions:

  The following themed anthology ebooks priced at $1.99 are chock full of short stories that are entertaining to read all year long:

 

VALENTINE’S DAY PIECES BUY NOW

  

MARDI GRAS PIECES BUY NOW   

LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER

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  My suspense/thriller novels, THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, are priced at $2.49 through Feb. 19. These Jane Bond-ish adventures with a touch of romance are available at your favorite eBook seller and print copies are available locally in Mobile and via the internet at The Haunted Bookshop.

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

 

cj

P.S.  The Haunted Bookshop has signed paperback copies of my stories in stock. TO ORDER my author-graphed books or any book of your choice on-line from a favorite, indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us

➜ Follow me . . .     

➜ on Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

The step writers need courage to take

 cj Sez:  And I don't mean the great step into indie-publishing. Pat Conroy, the beloved author of The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides, credited his English teachers . . . no, make that: he lauded the “genius of” his English teachers for instilling in him a love of the English language. 

   Conroy is quoted on Goodreads saying: “I've been in ten thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and women had to give. I cherish and praise them and thank them for finding me when I was a boy and presenting me with the precious gift of the English language. ” (Goodreads has collected many of Mr. Conroy’s meaningful thoughts.  http://bit.ly/1ldfCg2 )

 Me? I was too business-oriented to get that inspired by my high school and college English teachers (who were nonetheless wonderful). Despite my apparent lack of interest in writing during those years, I am fascinated with words and syntax. I love, love, love the task of putting words together in just the right order to create a story so full of pictures and emotions that readers can see and feel what I do when I’m writing.

   But what really draws me to quote Mr. Conroy today is something he wrote in his memoir My Losing Season: A Memoir: 

   “Do you think that Hemingway knew he was a writer at twenty years old? No, he did not. Or Fitzgerald, or Wolfe. This is a difficult concept to grasp.  . . .  But they had to take the first step. They had to call themselves writers. That is the first revolutionary act a writer has to make. It takes courage. But it's necessary.” 

   That’s what it’s all about. We have to learn to call ourselves “writers.” That’s a grand title I long hesitated to give myself despite having been published in several genres (and been paid for it) over several years. Now that I’ve done it, guess what? It feels good and natural. Try it. Celebrate it. Say it: “I am a writer!” I bet you’ll like it too.

   How and when did you decide it was time for you take ownership of the title you earned?

§§

Marketing your indie-published book

   I attended a webinar this past week hosted by the Central Virginia Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Their guest speaker, Alex Newton of K-lytics, presented a comprehensive lecture on the analytics of trending popular genres and keywords and the sales they can generate. He also gave us the following freebie … data on 2020 Christmas book sales. Maybe you'll find a useful nugget of info in there.

https://k-lytics.com/christmas-mysteries 

K-lytics, ebook marketing intelligence for success https://k-lytics.com

§§

 That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

P.S.  My stand-alone novels (suspense with a touch of romance) are out of print on Amazon, but The Haunted Bookshop has signed copies in stock. The store has re-opened to limited hours, so if you’re in the Mobile area, you can stop and shop, too.

   TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from a favorite, indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

➜ Follow me . . .       
➜ on Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
➜ on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
➜ on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

When it's time to call yourself a writer

cj Sez: Author Pat Conroy, who wrote literary fiction—including The Prince of Tides which was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film—credits his English teachers . . . no, make that lauds the “genius of” his English teachers for instilling in him a love of the English language.  

   As Mr. Conroy was quoted on Goodreads: 

“I've been in ten thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and women had to give. I cherish and praise them and thank them for finding me when I was a boy and presenting me with the precious gift of the English language. ” (http://bit.ly/1ldfCg2 ).

   Though I will never have anything close to Mr. Conroy’s expertise, I was, am, and always will be fascinated with words and syntax. I love, love, love the task of putting words together to create characters and plots that lure readers into the story, where they can see the scenes and experience the emotions in their imaginations.

   What really draws me to Mr. Conroy is something he wrote in his memoir My Losing Season: A Memoir  

“Do you think that Hemingway knew he was a writer at twenty years old? No, he did not. Or Fitzgerald, or Wolfe. This is a difficult concept to grasp.  . . .  But they had to take the first step. They had to call themselves writers. That is the first revolutionary act a writer has to make. It takes courage. But it's necessary.” 

   That’s what it’s all about. We have to call ourselves “writers.” That’s a grand title I long hesitated to give myself despite having been published in several genres (and been paid for it) over several years. Now that I’ve said it out loud, guess what? It sounded good and natural.
   
   I hope you have taken ownership of the title you've earned through study, discipline, and determination. If not, maybe it's time to try it. Celebrate it. Say it: “I am a writer!” I bet you’ll like it too.


Passing along info: 

A Journey into the Mystery of the Criminal Mind . . . A Conference for Writers and Readers of Crime Fiction

Sponsored by Sisters in Crime - New Orleans 
Featuring keynote speaker Hank Phillipi Ryan and local authors BJ Bourg, O'Neil De Noux, Jean M. Redmann, and Erica Spindler.

Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 8:30 AM

Holiday Inn, New Orleans Airport 2261 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, LA

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   As the masthead of Lyrical Pens says, if you have a book you want to promote, let me know. We can arrange a blog date…the only caveat is that this site is PG 13.

   That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. See you next week?



cj 

CHOOSING CARTER and DEADLY STAR are quick reads chock full of adventure with a touch of sassy banter and sweet romance. Get your Kindle copy on Amazon…visit my Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj for more information about my stories.



TO ORDER an autographed copy of CHOOSING CARTER, DEADLY STAR, HOMETOWN HEROES, and/or THE POSSE, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.



Visit me on Facebook at:   cjpetterson/author on Facebook