Sunday, October 16, 2011

What's In YOUR Attic?

You've spent countless hours crafting stories - tweaking, revising & rewriting. Maybe it's been your life's passion. Maybe it's a passion that's been kept secret. Your insecurity, maybe a fear of failure or criticism from a twenty-something-year-old literary agent, caused you to ignore the publishing options & you never put your work "out there" for the world to see. And all of those stories & manuscripts lie tucked away in boxes, maybe in the attic .....

Alas, your days come to an end & after a suitable mourning period, perhaps ten minutes following the funeral, family members rummage through your home disposing of anything they deem worthless - like boxes of meaningless old papers. And so it is - your stories are gone forever.

What if you had a chance to hit the rewind button? Would you take your shot? Let's assume so.

Your grandkids have grandkids. One day they find YOUR BOOKS, yellowed & battered as they may be, but there they are. You've left something of your passion behind.


                                                               GALLOWS POINT (in progress)

14 comments:

Carol J. Garvin said...

"Leaving some of my passion behind" isn't something I've thought much about. I've written a "Scattered Memories" family history for our clan, but have always figured my fiction wouldn't likely interest anyone except maybe my one fiction-writing daughter (who BTW has just completed another YA novel that I think is terrific). I tend to write for an unidentified, faceless public. Since I plan to burn all my journals before I kick the bucket, maybe I should reconsider the possibility of a fiction legacy. Who knows... maybe those tattered and yellowing pages will make me famous posthumously.

Unknown said...

If this post doesn't give a wannabe author a kick up the butt, I don't know what would. Me included.

Good post.

Unknown said...

If this post doesn't give a wannabe author a kick up the butt, I don't know what would. Me included.

Good post.

David Ebright said...

" ... but have always figured my fiction wouldn't likely interest anyone except ..."

Carol - I think you're wrong - & I say that in the kindest, most well-meaning way. Based on the little bit of your work that I've read - you should go for it. I have no doubt that a Carol Garvin novel would be amazing. You pointed out some things when you critiqued the first 30 or 40 pages of my RECKLESS MS & I took your advice to heart, made changes & RE is much better as a result of YOUR input & for that I'm grateful. I would be first in line to buy whatever you put out there - even some mushy romantic work of fiction. Heck, you read my not-so-mushy YA! BTW - I had no idea that Shari finished another YA novel. That's awesome. Where can I find it (them)? I should follow her blog.

David Ebright said...

Hi Wendy! I AM working on my guest post "stuff" for your blog. Promise. Deb (my wife) was working on making some of her photos look ancient (she does some seriously nice work - "St Augustine Fauxtography"). It made me think about "lost opportunity".

Playing things safe might be a comfortable approach ... but where's the reward in that? I say put your best effort into everything you do & don't hold back - make things happen & enjoy the ride, even if it's bumpy sometimes.

David Ebright said...

Good post by James Scott Bell here http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2011/10/field-report-from-e-book-revolution.html about where things are headed where he also manages to include a reference to the Tidy Bowl Man.

Laura Best said...

I do think about my books going on after me. I can hardly wait for the time when Miss Charlotte is old enough to read and (hopefully) enjoy them. I'm hoping my book won't end up in the attic, even though I'm sure some of my unpublished work will.

Carol J. Garvin said...

Dave, you're such an encourager! I might have to get your opinion on one of my ms... am thinking of sending out queries for it one of these days.

Shari's novels aren't published yet. She's in the querying stage again, too. Her blog is at http://bit.ly/a5m4PD

David Ebright said...

Laura - I was just yackin' about Bitter, Sweet (B,S) with Deb on the drive to Ft Lauderdale & said how much I liked it. Your characters, the sense of history, the description & the storyline itself were terrific & you should be really proud of it. It really is a great book & I'm sure Miss Charlotte will read it (& your future work) over & over - maybe to her grandkids.

David Ebright said...

"Dave, you're such an encourager! I might have to get your opinion on one of my ms ..."

Carol - I just call 'em like I see 'em. If you feel encouraged by what I've said, that's awesome - you have my home address you can mail me a check. Seriously (difficult as that is for me at times) would very much like to read your MS. Will definitely check out Shari's blog.

Andrea Mack said...

My daughters real most of my stories, so I think they will enjoy finding my drawer manuscripts someday. But, now that you've got me thinking about it, there might be a few I should just toss!

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Oh my goodness, this made me teary.

If I wasn't published, after reading this, I'd go for it.

Thanks, Dave.

David Ebright said...

Joylene - I always get teary when I go into the attic 'cause I usually bash my brains in on the rafters.

David Ebright said...

Andrea - You should edit a few & make 'em really embarrassing ... oh & use your daughters (real names of course) as your characters. You could name the book REVENGE FROM BEYOND.

PS - J & A - Sorry I'm late replying. Very swamped. As usual.