Or, to quote me li'l nephew as he emerge from he parents' bedroom and see me and me mother at they kitchen-table once upon a time in Florida:
HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
:-)
How you all doing, dear Friends?
I working on putting up de first manuscript for pre-order, online. Yes, I self-publishing. I ain't able look for literary agents.
Here is what I figure. If I manage to sell plenty-plenty books, then the agent gon find me. hehe.
I got to write a biography of me.
I muster up this, which all of you who been following me blog for ages can figure out. I had to write it in English but I toying with writing it in we local lingua, Creolese.
***************************************
I live in Guyana, between Venezuela and Brazil, on the north-east tip of South America.
Guyanese are not Latino though. We are, because of our history, like the people of Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and the rest of the West Indies. We are Asian, Caucasian, African, Syrian, Lebanese and more. Our official language is English but, as we are an ornery lot, we've concocted our very own colourful way of speaking.
I am addicted to people, music, books, craft, art, earth, sky, sea.
I am an optimist trying to feel safe in an unsafe environment ( bandits, bandits everywhere). I daydream about rearing and training snakes, black widow spiders and geese to bite the bandits in their front and back ends.
Guyanese are not Latino though. We are, because of our history, like the people of Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and the rest of the West Indies. We are Asian, Caucasian, African, Syrian, Lebanese and more. Our official language is English but, as we are an ornery lot, we've concocted our very own colourful way of speaking.
I am addicted to people, music, books, craft, art, earth, sky, sea.
I am an optimist trying to feel safe in an unsafe environment ( bandits, bandits everywhere). I daydream about rearing and training snakes, black widow spiders and geese to bite the bandits in their front and back ends.
***************************************
I think I gon write it in both English and Creolese.
That should be fun.
If writing ain't about experimenting and expressing the self, I ain't know what this world coming to.
I coming back soon to gyaff...chat...with y'all on y'all blogs.
I better get back to wuk...werk...work...
Mwah.
If you are looking for any feedback/suggestions (which you can of course completely ignore without any offence being taken), then might I suggest you put your 4th paragraph 1st?
ReplyDeleteOr even the 2nd sentence of the 4th paragraph, followed by the 1st sentence of the 4th paragraph?
In these days of everything being so fast, fast, fast, then if something doesn't grab us in the first 5 or 6 words, then often we don't read any further. There might be the tastiest, most sumptuous, glorious readings only a few seconds away, but we never get there to find out.
Did you ever know the blogger Charlie Callaghan? He was a wonderful person, writer and blogger who moved in our circles (me, Pat, and several others you know). Sadly he died a few years ago.
However, he taught me that often it has a bigger impact to start with the action already underway, rather than creating the backstory first - these things can be revealed once the reader is hooked in.
But...
I'm aware it's a stylistic device not everyone is comfortable with or likes to use, so it is only, purely, a suggestion for you to consider (if you haven't already thought of it) and use or dispose of as you see fit.
Kim x
Thank you, Kim! I didn't know who'd made this suggestion [I was reading it before publishing], but I thought it sounded good.
DeleteI want this very brief biography to be more about Guyana than about me though. I want to take the focus away from me.
So I have to think about it.
The book description [which I plan to share much later], is full of drama and excitement, and that is what the reader will see, rather than this very brief biography of me [which will be hidden away somewhere on the e-book site].
More thoughts, Kim.
DeleteYou know how, at the back of the book, there is a description of where the writer lives, who s/he's married to? That is what this biography is all about. It goes with the book.
If I have to use it away from the book, I would start with the drama...working in advertising and tv taught me about the hook.
And I'm really, truly happy for your reminder and suggestions, jogging my creative memory about the hook, and drama, and catching the reader's attention immediately.
DeleteHowever you write I'm sure people will read it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Joey. All suggestions are welcome. You have such a cool way of writing, even the mundane you make interesting.
DeleteAs you know I spent years on the see saw of agent/publisher route and finally decided I wanted to write my way - not theirs. Since posting on my blog I have felt rewarded for the years of work by people's reaction and don't regret that I don't make a bean. I'm sure you will do better and wish you the best of fortune.
ReplyDeleteGood morning from Florida, my dearest Pat. I can't believe that publishers do this to writers...that they should want you to tell YOUR story their way. The nerve.
DeleteAfter moving to my new place, I had sporadic internet. I couldn't blog, read blogs.
Now that I'm in Florida with mum, I can start working on getting published [my way]. It will take a while.
Thank you for your good wishes.
Congrats!
ReplyDeleteHello George, how are you?
DeleteI've had a year full of moving and to-ing and fro-ing, and no Internet. Everything, all my plans, were put on hold.
I am slowly easing back into writing, and working on being published.