Chapter 24 of Like I've Never Been Born is now live!
Like I've Never Been Born
Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Rebel Press to serialize novel online—FOR FREE!
I am now hard at work on my third novel, nearing the completion of the first draft. My first novel, the comedy Into the Sunset, is currently making the agent rounds. Meanwhile, I’ve decided to serialize my second novel Like I've Never Been Born online—FOR FREE—with a new chapter posted twice a week on Rebel Press’s web site.
Giving his hard work away, you're thinking? Is he crazy? Yes, and yes. Hey, it's not doing anyone any good sitting on my hard drive. Plus, there are other reasons, which I’ll mention shortly.
First though, here is a quick synopsis of the book:
Early December, 1980. Angela Girardi, a nineteen-year old student, travels from her upstate New York college to Manhattan to seek out her (and her mother’s) idol John Lennon. She is determined to hand-deliver her mother’s unopened suicide note, which had been addressed to John. Angela wants to honor her mother and accomplish this last task for her; only then will Angela allow herself to grieve, move on with her life, and figure out her uncertain future. But circumstances on the night of December 8th change the course of her life forever.
I started work on the novel in December 2004. Between June 11, 2005, and July 29, 2005 I sent out thirteen query letters to various literary agents. I received seven rejections; six are still pending. Then on November 4, 2005, I read an announcement online about an indie film being made called Chapter 27, starring Jared Leto, which included this info:
Lindsay Lohan...is now set to star opposite Jared Leto in Chapter 27, an indie film centering on the 1980 murder of John Lennon. Lohan will play a devoted fan of the former Beatle who befriends Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman (Leto), shortly before the murder in New York 25 years ago.
Oh, fuck, I thought. My lead character, too, encounters Chapman several times. Either I'd been ripped off, or someone had the same idea as I did. I know it's not uncommon for people to get similar ideas at similar times. After a cooling off period, I realized it most probably was just coincidence. (I haven't seen the movie yet, as it doesn't have a distributor.) But the similarities made me feel like I couldn’t get the book agented or published since it would appear I’d just rewritten an existing story. It killed the book for me, and I last worked on it in December 2005. Though a few fellow writers read the manuscript and critiqued it, it never finished the editorial process. Under normal circumstances, I’d give it another round of revisions.
So, that is reason one for serializing the book. Reason two is that I use Lennon's lyrics throughout, as they are essential to the story. I know that obtaining the rights to so many lyrics would be a huge obstacle to publishing the book in the traditional formats. So I'm giving it away—I won't make one cent from it.
Look for updates every Monday and Friday. There are 30 chapters in all (that’s 15 weeks!). Thank you and enjoy!
To read the first chapter, go to:
Like I've Never Been Born
Please leave feedback and comments here or email me directly.
EDIT: It seems many people oppose the existence of the film Chapter 27, because it gives Lennon's killer the fame he desires. In my book, I never mention his name, and in fact he is a minor character. My novel is more of a tribute to Lennon, as my lead character figures out the direction of her life after the suicide of her mother.
Giving his hard work away, you're thinking? Is he crazy? Yes, and yes. Hey, it's not doing anyone any good sitting on my hard drive. Plus, there are other reasons, which I’ll mention shortly.
First though, here is a quick synopsis of the book:
Early December, 1980. Angela Girardi, a nineteen-year old student, travels from her upstate New York college to Manhattan to seek out her (and her mother’s) idol John Lennon. She is determined to hand-deliver her mother’s unopened suicide note, which had been addressed to John. Angela wants to honor her mother and accomplish this last task for her; only then will Angela allow herself to grieve, move on with her life, and figure out her uncertain future. But circumstances on the night of December 8th change the course of her life forever.
I started work on the novel in December 2004. Between June 11, 2005, and July 29, 2005 I sent out thirteen query letters to various literary agents. I received seven rejections; six are still pending. Then on November 4, 2005, I read an announcement online about an indie film being made called Chapter 27, starring Jared Leto, which included this info:
Lindsay Lohan...is now set to star opposite Jared Leto in Chapter 27, an indie film centering on the 1980 murder of John Lennon. Lohan will play a devoted fan of the former Beatle who befriends Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman (Leto), shortly before the murder in New York 25 years ago.
Oh, fuck, I thought. My lead character, too, encounters Chapman several times. Either I'd been ripped off, or someone had the same idea as I did. I know it's not uncommon for people to get similar ideas at similar times. After a cooling off period, I realized it most probably was just coincidence. (I haven't seen the movie yet, as it doesn't have a distributor.) But the similarities made me feel like I couldn’t get the book agented or published since it would appear I’d just rewritten an existing story. It killed the book for me, and I last worked on it in December 2005. Though a few fellow writers read the manuscript and critiqued it, it never finished the editorial process. Under normal circumstances, I’d give it another round of revisions.
So, that is reason one for serializing the book. Reason two is that I use Lennon's lyrics throughout, as they are essential to the story. I know that obtaining the rights to so many lyrics would be a huge obstacle to publishing the book in the traditional formats. So I'm giving it away—I won't make one cent from it.
Look for updates every Monday and Friday. There are 30 chapters in all (that’s 15 weeks!). Thank you and enjoy!
To read the first chapter, go to:
Like I've Never Been Born
Please leave feedback and comments here or email me directly.
EDIT: It seems many people oppose the existence of the film Chapter 27, because it gives Lennon's killer the fame he desires. In my book, I never mention his name, and in fact he is a minor character. My novel is more of a tribute to Lennon, as my lead character figures out the direction of her life after the suicide of her mother.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
"I Want A Freaking Character Named After Me!"
Ellen Meister has a fun new promotion going on. It's called the "I Want A Freaking Character Named After Me!" Drawing.
It'll be a piece of cake to enter for anyone who's read her sexy, hilarious debut novel, Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA.
Full details available at her site, but here are the rules:
1) Send an email to her at "win AT ellenmeister.com"
2) In the subject line, type in Maddie's favorite multi-syllable curse
3) In the body of the email, type in your name as you'd like it to appear in her next book
That's it! After May 31, 2007, all entries with the correct curse phrase will be entered into a drawing. One lucky winner will get a character named for them in her next novel.
It'll be a piece of cake to enter for anyone who's read her sexy, hilarious debut novel, Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA.
Full details available at her site, but here are the rules:
1) Send an email to her at "win AT ellenmeister.com"
2) In the subject line, type in Maddie's favorite multi-syllable curse
3) In the body of the email, type in your name as you'd like it to appear in her next book
That's it! After May 31, 2007, all entries with the correct curse phrase will be entered into a drawing. One lucky winner will get a character named for them in her next novel.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Hurricane Season!
One of my favorite writers, Tim Dorsey, was in New York last night (Feb. 28). He did a book signing downtown in Greenwich Village at a great little bookshop called Partners & Crime, and afterward invited everyone out to a bar/club called Siberia up on 40th between 8th and 9th avenues. About 6 or 8 of us joined him and we hung out and drank a few beers. Dorsey is a very friendly, funny, and likeable guy, definitely the life of and star of the party. Lot of good stories were told, many about the zany things that have happened to him on his book tours.
His new novel is Hurricane Punch, which is the ninth adventure starring the one and only Serge A. Storms and his stoner partner Coleman. Now that I have my autographed copy, I can dive into the very sick mind of Tim Dorsey!
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