Good news - heard from my literary "angel"

[katdad]

For several years I've been engaged in a cordial email & snailmail relationship with a major mystery writer, someone who is highly regarded in the biz. His stature is equivalent to Stevie King or Dean Koontz in horror writing.

I'd been a fan of his for a long time, and we first met at a signing, where we later got into a nice conversation on another topic, and this developed into our present acquaintance.

He's continued to offer me some modest assistance by offering to read an occasional chapter of my books and give feedback as he has had time. Understand that I never asked him for this -- he offered this to me. And I didn't overuse it.

Anyway, I told him that I had recently signed with an agency. He has now given me the following offer:

"Good luck in placing the novel. When you do, have your editor send me a copy of the bound galley proofs; I'll be glad to read same and provide a dust jacket quote."

This is a very generous and kind offer, I think. Couldn't hurt sales of a new writer to see a nice cover blurb from this "angel", eh?

[notsosweet]

What a wonderful boost for your book! Congrats!

[wwwatcher]

Sounds wonderful! Hope thngs continue to click for you.

[Writing Again]

People have gone to extraordinary lengths for favors such as that.

[macalicious731]

Wow, what a nice guy!

Congrats.

[Arisa81]

What a nice offer!

Congrats !

[arrowqueen]

Great, kat. Congrats.

[katdad]

People have gone to extraordinary lengths for favors such as that.

Yeah, and it usually gets them zip, as with most toadies. Nobody likes a suck-up. (mmm, well, there's always Hollywood, Washington DC, and the NBA for those folks)

Thing was, I genuinely respect this guy (in addition to his writing) and found him to be a terrific person. I happened to bring up a slightly side issue with him during the signing (he wasn't too busy). This proved to be the thing that started our correspondence.

It turns out that I'd written an article on a subject that he also enjoyed. "Send it to me." And he gave me his home address! (Plus the caution "Don't give this address out.") So he was so very kind to trust me from the start.

Believe me, I knew whereof this opportunity came, so I was very cautious. I never deluged him with anything, wrote sparingly, and then we continued to correspond via emails more fequently, as this is a lot easier.

I'd ask the random question (never something like "Gosh, kin yew be sendin my stuff to yur agent too? I cud pay yew five dullarz.") but brief things and nothing pushy. And my being an occasional gun nut, I found a gun error in one of his books and politely teased him about it. That sort of thing.

I did of course say that I'd been working on my private detective series and that I was inspired by his own writing. When he said "...send me a couple chapters -- not too many, just a couple you think are reflective of your writing...) I was overjoyed. And really pleased in his feedback. He gave me a couple of nice suggestions. And he did say that he didn't want a full manuscript to end up on his doorstep, please. I took the hint and only sent something when he asked me.

So understand, I'm not bragging, I'm relating this story so you folks who are not established authors (like me) can see that yes, it's possible to get some help from willing major writers who aren't stuck up.

And should that day come (no -- WHEN that day comes) and I'm a successful mystery novelist, I promise to give it back, to be patient with people who ask questions and to be polite and help when I can. Least I could do, eh?

[mr mistook]

Katdad, you're probably destined to be a celeb yourself. How else would you have such a keen sense of how to treat one? :)

[Stace001]

Katdad,

I'm really happy for you. Congrats. If only we could all have an 'angel' like that.;)

[novelator]

Kudo to you, Katdad. Your time has come--in a big way. I'm really happy for you.

Mari

[Writing Again]

Katdad, you're probably destined to be a celeb yourself. How else would you have such a keen sense of how to treat one?

I'm not sure I would wish celebrity on anyone. I'd like to write bestselling novels, but I'd like to do so anonymously. I think Shakespeare had the right idea. Hide in the background and let someone else take all the credit.

The last thing I want is for inquiring minds to know or care what brand of toilet paper I use.

[pencilone]

Katdad,

Congratulations and I'm happy to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, after all the hard work.

I wish there would be more of those angels amongst us!;)

Best Wishes,

Pencilone

[aka eraser]

Great news katdad. :)

[katdad]

Katdad, you're probably destined to be a celeb yourself. How else would you have such a keen sense of how to treat one?

Well, I have met a few famous people and I've tried to be honest and open, and not sycophantic. I once spent most of a rainy afternoon in the bar at the Lord Baltimore hotel talking & drinking with Robert Mitchum. And when I was involved in sport car racing, I met Paul Newman a few times and found him to be a terrific guy.

Myself a celebrity? You know, regardless of the angst, I'd frankly like it! But then, I'm not a recluse, either.

When I wrote a couple of articles for a major gun mag a few years ago, I developed a minor fan following. I wrote back to each of them.

And when I was singing opera, I had a very nice solo role (Antonio in Marriage of Figaro) and I got a bunch of requests for autographs after each performance. I was delighted.

[Gala]

Dear Antonio,
You haven't lived until you've mastered the first violin part for "Overature to the Marriage of Figaro". Ain't it beautiful!

You must be quite a voice, in both opera and writing.

Thanks for sharing your angel story. Goes to show when we're doing what we're meant to be doing, "luck" intervenes.

I love the Mozart piano concertos too. I've been in the band (ha ha) accompanying performances of them over the years, and there's nothing like being inside all that music, as you well know.

Please let us know when your novel is available. Congrat all over the place.

Hey--I recently wrote Mozart's 24th piano concerto into a story. The villain love to play the first movement while he tied up his date for torture; then slowly applied the lesson during the andante, only to escalate (ha ha) during the finale.

[HollyB]

Congrats, katdad! I've read recently that many authors are grumbling about frequent requests for blurbs... how nice that he offered to do one for you! :D

[katdad]

Dear Antonio ... You must be quite a voice, in both opera and writing.

Don't play the violin but the overture to Le Nozze di Figaro is a delight. Gets the audience in the mood for a wonderful entrance: Figaro measuring the bedroom floor.

By the way, "Figaro Figaro" is from Rossini's Barber of Seville, Act 1, where Figaro sings his famous "Largo al Factotum", and NOT from Marriage of Figaro. Anyway, it's a doozy of an aria and I'm now just starting to learn it.

Bad music joke: "Funny, your second violin looks just like those first violins over there."

My writing and singing are both, er, semi-pro right now. Hopefully the writing will soon blossom and I'll be an "official mystery arthur". ("Do you write? How nice. I read.")

I do actually sing semi-pro classical baritone. I've sung in numerous operas, both chorus and solo roles. These were with "real" opera companies, performing in the original language, a fully costumed & staged production.

My avatar is from a live production of Le Nozze di Figaro (Marriage of Figaro). I'm Antonio the (drunken) Gardener, entering in Act 2, complaining to Count Almaviva about someone having damaged my flower beds.

Try stepping onstage, wearing an ill-fitting costume, your makeup itchy, the lights hot & bright, and have to sing loudly (opera singers don't wear microphones) in Italian or French or German, and sing well (on key and with proper pronunciation), and remember your lyrics, and hit your stage marks ("spikes"), and not drop the prop you're holding, and not step on anyone else's lines, and do this for 3 hours and 4 acts of an opera.

And between acts not have Maestro yell at you backstage because you didn't enuciate "Parme" with a nice rolling "R" or didn't pronounce BOTH consonants in a double "T" Italian noun.

Or have the vocal coach in a huff because you didn't hold that F for the whole five beats.

Or have the stage director jump your case because you didn't put the wine bottle on the table at EXACTLY the precise second she wanted, after having given you (and the other cast members) DETAILED 15-page single-spaced instructions about each moment of your stage presence.

Gang, you don't know raw fear until you try this. Eeeek. It's a wonder that every opera singer doesn't just come on stage and freeze up solid.

[maestrowork]

Katbad, I did, too, do my share of stuff like singing, acting, brushing elbows with celebrities, etc. etc. Those were the days. I now just want to be a FAMOUS author and have someone else brush my elbows. Bwhahahaha!

But one thing for sure, those experiences have prepped me for "being on stage" -- that would only help with promoting my books. I don't get stage fright anymore and I'm very at ease in front of the camera. I won't freeze if I were to appear for an interview on TV, radio or a book signing/reading. So I think those experiences are very helpful.

Also, I always encourage writers to take acting lessons. I think it helps tremendously for creating believable characters and actions. I know for a fact that most animators at Disney have to take some kind of acting lessons to help them create expressive animated characters. It's a skill that novelists can use, too.

[James D Macdonald]

All the arts are related, IMHO. Learning one will help you practice another.

[katdad]

I don't get stage fright anymore
This happened to me once, my first solo role. I'd sung chorus numerous times but if you blow a line you can 'hide' among the other baritones or basses.

But by yourself? Very different, believe me.

This was our first stage rehearsal with the music. We'd already gone through our sitzprobe and our stage blocking, and this was the first actual time we got on stage and sang.

I was the first person onstage in the opera, being "Luther" the tavernkeeper in Tales of Hoffmann. So my intro music was played by our rehearsal pianist, I entered stage right, walked out to my spikes, and opened my mouth. Nothing came out. I simply stood there.

From the orchestra pit, Maestro's voice, "Well, Sam, are you going to sing for us today, or are we going to stand around for the next hour or so."

I stumbled through the part eventually. The next afternoon, I came to the hall about 2 hours early, and was there all by myself. I brought my CD boombox, set it up, and started the entrance music. I walked out and sang the entrance lines "Vite, vite...". Again and again. At least fifty times, I'd guess, until it was locked in my brain.

That was the last time I froze on stage. I simply had to get it out of my system.

[maestrowork]

Yeah, stage fright. I remember I had to open a show once in front of 2400 audiences (that was about 10 years ago) and I was pretty nervous before the first show. It wasn't a long entrance but I kept forgetting to leave a prop on stage for the next actor. The director (a famous one at that) left me notes about it and I felt so guilty, like I ruined the opening, like I'd never work again. But after the first 2 shows I calmed down and really started to enjoy the whole experience. By the end of the run, I didn't want to leave. :lol

[katdad]

But after the first 2 shows I calmed down and really started to enjoy the whole experience.
Same thing here. I loved performing, despite that it was hard work for not a lot of money.

What you can do is however get complacent if you're deep into a production, and not concentrate, and blow a scene that you've already performed a half dozen times flawlessly.

I've done that, too, much to my chagrin.