Yesterday, Valentine's Day, was the anniversary of my first novel sale. Twenty-nine years ago, Virginia Kidd called me to say that David Hartwell at Pocket Books was taking my fantasy PRINCE OF MORNING BELLS. It was a red-letter Valentine gift.
This came to mind for two reasons. First, I received an ecstatic email from Mary Robinette Kowalski that she just sold her first novel, SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY, to Tor. The novel is set in Jane Austen's England, which of course has me panting to read it even if Mary's writing wasn't as good as it is. She won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2008, and this book is sure to be a delight.
The other reason my novel anniversary came to mind is that I am giving a talk on Thursday at the University of Rochester on "Becoming a Writer." Thus, it behooves me to start thinking about becoming a writer. Why do people do this? What is the process? What do I really have to say about this subject, and what will the audience expect to hear? Sometime today or tomorrow I need to sit down with a legal pad and pen and jot down thoughts on this. I know my own "career path" -- a grandiose term for what was essentially a muddling through -- but I think I ought to widen the focus from that. But to what?
Stay tuned.
8 comments:
Happy Book Sale Anniversary!
(Also, thank you for the very nice shout-out.)
I do hope someone tapes your talk at Rochester and uses the magic that is YouTube to share it with the rest of us.
Hee-hee! Ah, how the years fly by, Nancy... Remember the signing party at the Liftbridge? Do I still have my inscribed copy? You bet yer dadburned micrometeor-pocked spaceboots I do!
Mary, Nancy is a =wonderful= teacher. Always sees how a new fictioneer can improve a yarn. And I speak from experience. Why, she gave me this excellent critique, back in Brockport when I took her writing class, of me own SANDSTORM ENTITIES OF NEPTUNE'S FORBIDDEN MOON...
"Michael...I don't know which I like more. Your grammar or your punctuation."
Felt so proud~!
I did not say that, Mike!
Well, you're right, Nancy. Now that I recollect, it was Gene Wolfe who said that. And he went on to suggest, "Mr. Lindner, this story could easily be published in the magazine we all grew up with, STAGGERING STORIES OF PSUEDOSCIENCE. Too bad they went out of business 37 years ago! Mr. Lindner, have you ever thought of writing lyrics?"
Congratulations! Am quite looking forward to your latest novel (Amazon confirmed via email that it shipped yesterday, so I hope to see it in the mail tomorrow).
How come I don't have any copies of my latest novel???
Well...I'm happy to send you my copy when it arrives (but after I have read it). Is this another sign of the new economy?
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