Do or Die Deadline/Publish or Perish
Writers live or die by deadlines. A big bluegrass promoter, Milton Harkey, e-mailed me to ask me write an article for the Laurel of Asheville on his upcoming Bluegrass First Class event in February. I was off, so it was no sweat to get them a rough draft before the Doctor gig cranked up again on Jan 2.
My next big deadline is January 20. I have a meeting with my agent to go over my manuscript . He has a contest he wants me to enter and he also has started to consider publishers. Jan 20th is do or die, but I am confident I am survivor.
For one thing, I have a secret weapon- my readers. Right here in Harvey County I have a creative writing teacher, a lawyer, and a computer guru looking it over for me as we write.
I already know I have a format problem in the MS, but this computer cat is sharp. She’ll straighten that out in a week or so.
My creative writing instructor friend is excellent, and will advise me on syntax and grammar. She said she’d tell me if I had tense problems but I told I wasn’t the least bit uptight. And she has mentioned voice and third person issues she wants to talk about . I ain’t worried about that either. A year ago voice was Alison Krauss and 3rd person was when you added a tenor singer to a brother duet, and I have learned much since then. She teaches high school English, so I figure my competition is a bunch of testosterone poisoned boys who have little else on their mind other than when they are going to get laid. I figure if I can’t out-write them I am doomed for sure.
The lawyer said he remembered a little about the case. He said since it was more than two decades ago, and many of the folks are deceased, it no longer has any legal exposure. I told him it was a true story and he said it had been so long it didn’t matter. Also he will check to see if my memory served me right about some courtroom scenes. He went so far as to secure permission from the parties involved to talk to Gibson Taylor. I figured if I am going to tell a tale, it better be the truth.
But it is do or die time for sure, ’cause my agent said if I don’t straighten up and get that dang format problem fixed he is either gonna kill me or fire me one, so y’all wish me luck.
Dr. B
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Dr. Tom Bibey: Stories of the Bluegrass Music Road 
January 2, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Dr. B,
Happy New Year and Good Luck! If you ever need another trained eye, I used to proof manuals for work. I am pretty good with spelling and English usage too.
January 2, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Ms. Cindy.
Thanks so much, and happy New Year to you guys, too. My agent said publishers often send out some chapters for test reads and market research, so you might get taken up on that!
Dr. B
January 3, 2009 at 8:04 am
Doc, I have every confidence that it’s going to be great.
January 3, 2009 at 8:41 am
mrschili,
Bless your heart, you were one of the early cheerleaders who encouraged me to press on.
One of the major themes of the book is loyalty. I believe in loyalty, and here on Earth my wife and kids are at the top of the list.
Among my readers though, you and a few others will always be my first ones. Like your first patients, you can’t help but be even a bit more attached to them.
There is an old saying in golf. I first heard Sam Snead say it. “Dance with who brung ya.” It is one of the codes I live by.
I looked at your bookstore on the Net, and plan to e-mail them soon.
Dr. B
January 3, 2009 at 12:05 pm
The more I hear about your book, Dr. B, the more excited I get about it. I still don’t quite know if it’s a novel or not – you say true story, so perhaps not? – but whatever it is, the amount of consideration and effort you’re putting into it makes me sure that you will make it happen.
Good luck on the nearest deadline, I’m positive you’ll be able to make it – you sound raaather dedicated :).
January 3, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Wow Doc,
This sounds like a great book. Good luck with it. And thanks for your encouragement at my sight. I look forward to reading more from you.
Sarah
January 3, 2009 at 4:48 pm
ms slightly,
Oh I didn’t explain myself very well. It is fiction novel but at the same time a true story.
As a good Lit Professor once said, “For it to be good fiction, it need not necessarily have happened, but it must be true.”
And the other factor is I am getting old, and I hope my memory isn’t getting too muddled up.
Dr. B
January 3, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Ms. Legend,
Keep at it kid. Even if it takes you ten years, you’ll beat the age I first got published by several decades.
Dr. B
January 7, 2009 at 10:23 am
Deadlines. The sure cure for laziness.
January 7, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Pande,
It’ll make a man (or woman) out of you for sure.
Dr. B