Brian Lindenmuth is winding down his Conversations With the Bookless series. The last three entries are conversations with the (not) bookless, writers who have books out there but haven't attracted the notice of a wider audience. Up today is John Weagly http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2009/05/conversations-with-the-not-bookless-john-weagly
On a personal note, I submitted a flash story to an anthology that Mr. Weagly was putting together many years ago now. I can't remember the title but it had to do with bones, and me, being the weird person that I am, created a character named Angel Bones, an imp who was rescued from hell by an Angel who refused to ascend into heaven named Ginger Blue.
Patient man that he was, he coped with my inability to get a file to come through without a lot of gibberish by allowing me to cut and paste the story into an email. Now, he rejected the story because it wasn't what he was looking for, but he told me to work with the characters and make the story a whole lot longer than the 700 words I'd given him, because he thought I really had something with these characters. Bless the man for his encouraging words!
When an editor tells you that you have something but it needs work, pay attention! These folks don't have time to play around with amateurs and if an editor takes the time to give you advice, please pay attention. I did, and the story "The Guilty" was born and published in Crime and Suspense. Mr. Weagly probably doesn't remember me, but I'll always remember him and his kindness to a newbie crime writer who still has trouble sending files.
5 comments:
I'll be posting a more formal announcement on Monday but I'll probably be moving over to one new Conversations profile every couple of weeks after this run is done.
John has a unique story coming up at BTAP in two weeks. It's such a strange little story called "Oral Eruptions" that I read twice back to back and chuckled both times and marveled at his creativity. John Weagly is a huge talent.
That's great news, Brian! I've really been enjoying this series and I'm glad you're going to keep it going. There's a lot of talented writers out there who could use the exposure.
I'm looking forward to reading his story, David. I'm always amazed when I read his stories, they never seem to be what you think they are, if that makes any sense.
It makes perfect sense and you're right. I just love stories that pull the rug out when you least expect it.
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