Reviewing the Review

A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote. ~ Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

I have been waiting for Library Journal’s review of my book (click here to read review). Reader reviews have been fabulous; so have those from my family. (Family members have this funny tendency to say, “It is so well written,” as if they are surprised that I can actually write.)

However, to have a review from a journal is a big deal, and now I have one. It is a good review, EXCEPT there was a glaring inaccuracy. It stood in space for nearly a day, this mistake for everyone to see. However, the reviewer fixed it and in the end, all was well.

Why does this stuff disturb me? It comes down to two issues: 1) wanting readers to get the facts, and 2) how I look if the facts are wrong. The bottom line is I can’t do much about it, so best not to dwell on it. The other thing I can do is be sure I have my facts straight when I review someone else’s work.

Here’s the really amazing part—because of the mistake, I garnered extra publicity. The review had to be sent twice and I got to Tweet and Facebook it twice. Who would have thought that a mistake like this would be a blessing?

 

Bogged and Blogged Down

Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself—it is the occurring that is difficult. ~ Stephen Leacock

I have blog bog – feeling bogged down by marketing the book rather than working on my next. I am a bit wordless, like a bump on a log. Won’t flog myself for this; instead I’ll take the dog for a jog. Please forgive me, I can’t help being cheesy sometimes.

Elevator Pitch

The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to prolixity, should stop writing immediately: the time has come for him to lay aside his pen.

 ~ Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

This month’s Sierra Writers meeting featured Emma Santa, speaking on Speechcraft for Writers. It was a fabulous. Emma walked us through the steps to create an elevator pitch, a brief summary of what you have to offer. In this case, it would be my book, Free from Hepatitis C.

Here is what surprised me. Six years ago, I did an elevator pitch to a publisher in front of a group and I bombed. I joined Toastmasters to learn how to be a better public speaker so I could do stuff like this. I am not afraid to stand up in front of an audience, but at Sierra Writers, I was nervous.

Fear and self-doubt got in the way. Perhaps Colette is right, a bit of self-doubt may help us as writers. However, self-doubt does not belong in the elevator. Goodness gracious, we spend hours, days, months, and years writing. If I had reasonable doubt about writing Free from Hepatitis C, I would have quit long before it was finished.

So, here is my new pitch:

More people die in this country from hepatitis C than from HIV. Four million people have hepatitis C, most of them born between 1945 and 1965. However, 3 out of 4 people with this disease do not know they have it. Hepatitis C is curable, if it is diagnosed. My book, Free from Hepatitis C tells you everything you need to know from diagnosis to cure. I write with experience, as a recognized expert in the hepatitis C field and a person who has lived with this disease. My book shows you how to live free from hepatitis C.

Feedback appreciated…

P.S. Prolixity means wordy. A prolix elevator pitch is an oxymoron.

My Essential Writing Tools

Consistency of practice is the mark of a master. 

- George Leonard, “Mastery”

The tools I need to write are more than paper, pen, and computer. In order to put in a productive day of writing, I need a good night’s sleep, exercise, and meditation. It also helps to have a schedule, which helps me know when to write. For instance, on days that I have blocked out writing times, I know I will write. It is as if a switch goes on, telling me what to do.

It takes a lot of tools and effort to keep me propped up in front of a computer. However, if I skip meditation, exercise, or sleep, I am useless. These practices make me a more efficient writer, and they keep me alive. I write better, when I am alive.

P.S. It also helps to have a good book and some poetry. Reading can unlock the creative process.

Watering My Words

A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning. ~ James Dickey

Everything needs a certain amount of rain, including my writing. This week it finally started to rain, and although all life in the Sierra Nevada foothills needed it, I especially did. Perhaps it was the change in the weather, or that deep human need for winter, or the dark, cozy nesting reaction I get when it is stormy, but whatever the reason, the rain unlocked the dry, infertile ground that kept the creative process inside.

Drop upon drop, the ground relented; words flowed out like hungry earthworms. Birds swooped down, adding color and song. Flowers bloomed, trees budded, and in the dark winter storm, I held the finest bouquet of prose. I gathered all I could, collecting words for future days, when the weather is sunny, and I am too impatient to sit inside.

Where Would I Be Without Poetry

Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry. ~ Charles Baudelaire

I need poetry, and I try to read at least one poem a day. My current favorite sources of poetry are Poetry 180 and More 180, edited by former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins.  Some of the poems from the books are included along with some that are not, on the Poetry 180 website. Click on “How To Read A Poem Out Loud.” Then pick a poem, perhaps #144, “Smell and Envy” by Douglas Goetsch or #180 “Break” by Dorianne Laux. Read it aloud. Read it again. Then ask yourself if you can go without poetry for two days.

Link to Poetry 180

On the Wings of Molly Fisk

One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment. ~Hart Crane

I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself. My life is a bit too full of hepatitis C writing, with too little poetry. This week Molly Fisk spoke at Sierra Writers and I felt revived. A poet extraordinaire, even her voice is pure prose. Listening to her was like coming out of a coma and discovering I was in heaven all along. Inspired, I have been writing poetry—pseudo-poems, actually. (Kind of sounds like the bacteria, pseudomonas—oh my, does medical jargon stick to me?)

Regardless, writing prose and reading her poetry bring sweet respite.