Now this part of the journey is complete.

Thanks to my wonderful agent, Barbara Poelle and my new and also wonderful editor, Terri Bischoff, I have a two-book deal with Midnight Ink. They have such an awesome rep, and I’m so proud to be associated with them! I’m already hard at work on the edits that I need to turn in pretty quickly.

You know, it’s really funny… I have been waiting for “The Call” from my agent for, well, a couple years now. So, of course, when it comes my cell isn’t working, so I get this email saying, “Um, dude? Your cell isn’t working. Can you call me today?” I felt just like that line from The Stones’s song, “When the Whip Comes Down”: When the shit hits the fan, I’ll be sittin’ on the can!”

And I knew, when I read that email from her, right then and there, that this was IT. THIS was what I’ve worked and slaved for, for the last 8+ years, when I switched from writing screenplays to writing fiction. I wanted publication. I wanted my book out there in the world, in bookstores. Now it will be.

Still.Does.Not.Feel.Real.

I think the first time it really began to sink in was when my agent emailed me, telling me she needed a headshot of me to put up on the agency’s website, on their author’s page. Crazy!

One door has closed now, and another has opened. There is an entirely new world out there for me now. An entirely new phase of the journey, as we move forward to the publication date, which will be next year. So, as I move ahead, I’ll keep you updated with my experience during this next phase as the book gets ready to be added to the “New Releases” shelf of your local bookstore.

Look for the first book in the Mark Mallen thriller series, tentatively titled Untold Damage, in Spring 2013, with the 2nd book in the series out in Spring 2014.

And yes: it is SO f’n awesome to finally be able to type the sentence, here on my blog. YES!! DID IT!!

Best,

RkL

This will be a VERY interesting and exciting year! Trust me on this one, kiddo.

Back soon with news, etc.

Rkl

Hope you enjoy it. I had a blast writing it.

Best,

RkL

Hey, you know what?

It feels really, really… odd, to not be writing. I mean, yeah… I did NANOWRIMO, and finished ahead of schedule by about four days, and I sorta think there might be something in the core kernel of the story, but it… ah, I dunno. It just… wasn’t. It was fun, however, to churn out 2K+ words a day, seven days a week. Call me a masochist, I guess.

I’ve done a couple more posts for Criminal Element, one that should be up soon. I’ve also been working on an idea for my next book. But mostly I’ve been playing guitar while we wait to hear back from editors. My ears are seriously ringing as I type this, from all that blues guitar amp volume I love and enjoy so much.

Oh, and did I mention the red wine? The, um…copious amounts of red wine?

I got stung by a mosquito the other day. It then fell off my arm and had to go immediately into rehab.

*TAP!* *TAP!* This thing on? Yeah? No?

I hope you all have a great holiday, and please know that I’m wishing you all a fabulous 2012. You know, I had this funny dream last night: my book sold in the new year, slated to come out in 2013 and then it turned out the Mayans were right, after all, hahaha.

Take care!

Rkl

My latest contribution is also here, at From the Write Angle. A little late in telling you, since the post deals with Halloween, which is now passed, but the movie I talk about, Carnival of Souls, is well worth your attention.

Hope you enjoy!

rkl

I’ve had virtually NO down time, until now. So, naturally, I’ve been playing gobs and gobs of guitar (had one mammoth, four-hour session last Saturday. I’VE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!). Learning a TON of B.B. King licks. Working on my Albert King licks. Even bought yet one more guitar (NEVER drunk dial a guitar on ebay, lol!) I got one of these:

However, I figured out something else to do while I wait to hear back. I’m going to do NANOWRIMO, lol. The Mrs. has wanted to try it, too, which only adds to the fun. So, I’m going to write a novel in a month, which should be an f’n blast as I’m also writing in a different genre, some sort of dystopian/post apocalyptic thing. I’m also going to write a female protag, which is very different from what I usually do.

So, if you love writing as much as I do, then get yourself over to NANOWRIMO. I’ve done it once before, and it’s really a blast.

See ya.

rkl.

R. Lewis: What’s the story about?

P. Morin: Diary of a Small Fish is about a fundamentally honest man who is accused of a federal crime – playing golf with his friends. Already grieving the tragic loss of his parents and divorce from a woman he still loves, he is pulled into the grinder of the federal justice system, due to the machinations of a corrupt prosecutor with a personal vendetta. It is also a love story involving that man, his ex-wife, and his new girlfriend – a member of the grand jury that voted to indict him.

R. Why this story? What was it about this story that fascinated you enough that you wanted to spend an extended period of time with it?

P. There is an autobiographical aspect to most good fiction, I believe. In the mid 1980’s, I was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, at a time when the socializing between legislators and lobbyists was ubiquitous. There must have been a dozen “charity” golf events a year, in which hoards of House and Senate members would participate in a free day of golf, drinks and dinner. This was all dubious activity, in the context of a weak state statute drafted to protect the status quo, and something regarded as the equivalent of an illegal U-turn. That all changed when a federal prosecutor attempted to turn this behavior into a federal felony under the so-called “theft of honest services” section of the mail fraud statute. I was in the middle of that – a very small player in it – and the story of Paul Forte was born out of my personal experience.

R. How long did it take you write this? From 1st draft to the point you could send it out to publishers.


P. I started it in February of 2008, finished the first draft in March of 2009, got an agent one year later and finished her suggested rewrites in September of 2010.

R. Where do you think your style comes from? What books would you point to that heavily influenced your writing?

P. I’m not sure I really have any idea. Certainly, I was heavily influenced by Ernest Hemingway at one point in my life – in college in the mid-70’s. I wrote some short stories back then that were rip-offs of his style. But I’ve always tried to emulate the sparse style, and I believe firmly in Hemingway’s theory of “the thing left out.”

I had no influences when I began to write this, and it showed. The first efforts of the story were nothing short of putrid, but I was just beginning the journey. As I wrote, I began reading voraciously. Everything I could find by Cormac McCarthy, John D. McDonald, Ross MacDonald, Dashiel Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Harlan Coben. Did any of them heavily influence my style? I don’t really know. I know all of them inspired me, I know I paid attention to their styles, structures, voices. If any one of them really had an influence on me, it was probably McCarthy, in the sense of his ability to describe scene and action in such an economical, evocative way.

R. Do you have a favorite part of a book you like to write (such as the opening, or the climax, dialog)?


P. I say right off the bat that I don’t really know a hell of a lot about what I’m doing. It just comes naturally to me, and without a lot of forethought. Dumb luck, really, that I discovered this before I was too old to do it.

That said, reviewing my own work and listening to others talk about it, dialogue is a real strength. Some might say that there is too much dialogue at times. And in light of my great fondness for McCarthy, I have also been criticized for a paucity of dialogue tags. I hate tags.

The other thing that seems to come naturally to me is the opening and closing lines of chapters or chapter breaks. These are, of course, immensely important to the success of a manuscript, and I have friends who struggle mightily over these before finding just the right approach. More often than I deserve, these lines just seem to pop right into my head.

R. Writers are fascinated with other writer’s processes. I know I am. What’s your process like?

P. Process? Writers have a process? I have a simple process. I write when I can.

A lot of Small Fish was written at the bar of a Joe’s American Bar & Grill at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, or any of a dozen other watering holes. Some of it was written on the commuter train to or from Boston. And a lot of it was written between midnight and 4:00 am at home. I did, oh, a dozen edits (the last file I numbered was 12-6, the sixth version of the twelfth edit). I printed out 5 or 6 versions and line edited each one, many of them sitting on the beach.

I did a timeline with a magic marker on a roll of butcher’s paper. Chronology was important, since the story spanned almost two years. Yet for all my diligence, my editor pointed out to me that at one point, Paul went to sleep in August and woke up in September. At another, Paul ordered a pastrami sandwich and ate corned beef.

Process? Apparently, not much.

R. Which author would you most like to drink with?

P. Tough question. I’m tempted to say Dashiel Hammett or Raymond Chandler, but I might be projecting their characters onto them. So I’ll say Dennis Lehane.

R. Why Dennis Lehane?

P. I’ve met him, listened to him speak at conferences, and find him to be a fascinating guy. I’m familiar with his background (being from Boston), so I’m pretty confident he knows what a beer is. I love his writing, and he’s just a regular guy.

R. What was the revision process like with your agent?

P. My experience with Christine Witthohn was unusual, I suspect. After she’d read the manuscript, she had her husband, Jeff Mehalic, read it. Jeff is also a trial lawyer (there is a lot of legal stuff) and a devoted mystery reader. She and Jeff discussed the manuscript together, and then I discussed their thoughts with Jeff. What was amazing to me is that both Jeff and Christine agreed on the points they wanted to raise, and I agreed completely with all of them.

R. What’s the next book about?

P. Law & Disorder is about a disgraced homicide detective and recovering sex addict (the cause of his disgrace) who uses his investigation of a drug dealer’s murder to find redemption, and finds out no one is redeemable.

R. Do you write to music? If so, what’s your favorite music to write to?

P. Now Robert, you know how much I like music. But no, I can’t listen to music and write. I can sit in a crowded bar and write like the wind. Even with the occasional “what are you writing?” interruption. I can write while watching t.v. I can’t write and listen to music. I think it’s because I can’t tune music out. I have music going on in my head most of my waking hours. Weird.

R. What else is going on with your career? What’s coming down the pike?

P. Who knows. I’m reluctant to call this part of my life a “career.” We’ll see what happens with Small Fish. I like my second novel a lot, I think because I’m not repeating mistakes. I’m happy with the short stories I’ve written (in a collection called Uneasy Living, 99 cents). I’ll do some more short stories after Law & Disorder is complete, and I’ve begun to sketch out the plot for #3 (another murder mystery on Cape Cod involving the descendants of John Wilkes Booth).

R. What good books have you read recently?

P. Oh my. I try to read at least two novels a week, one bestseller and one indie. I’ve been spending time with the contemporary top selling crime/mystery/thrillers. They’re all good. I don’t know why some people think Lee Child is no good. Everything he writes in unputdownable. I like Walter Mosely’s stories about Easy Rawlins. I liked the first Janet Evanovich I picked up, but I could put it down.

I’ve read some wonderful indie stuff. Dan Holloway’s The Company of Fellows is a superb thriller. I thought very highly of Austin Nights, a literary work by a fellow who calls himself Herocious. Ruby Barnes wrote a hilarious crime novel called Peril. Melinda Clayton’s Appalachian Justice is unique and moving. Marion Stein’s Loisada is chilling, gripping, raw.

I’m reading The Sun Also Rises for about the hundredth time. I never noticed how much telling there was in it. So much for rules.

RKL.

Hope you enjoy!

Oh, yeah… you might be wanting an update on my latest manuscript. Agent Lady is going out with it, I believe this coming week or the next. VERY exciting and nerve-wracking. You pour so much of yourself into writing a book, and you hope for success… but sometimes the planets just don’t align. That’s not going to happen HERE, though, as I totally believe in this book I wrote. Just like I knew I’d written the book that would land me an agent, I know I’ve now written a book that will get me a deal with an awesome house and editor.

Okay! On to the bookmarks!

For those of you who, as do I, believe The Zep still are the greatest band of all time.
Play guitar? Here’s a great tab site.
Tired of the limitations of writing in Word? Try Scrivener! It totally rocks my writing world.
Hungry for guitar backing tracks to dump into Garageband like I do? Try here.
Want to learn how to make an origami crane? It’s very Zen.
Looking for some Killer Reads? I know I usually am.
I’m turning into an old Jew who tells jokes. I get all of them here. It’s hysterical there, and good for a thousand laughs.
I once made my own electric guitar.
Because I know you love playing Cribbage as much as I do, here are the rules.
I blog here once in awhile, and it’s a great resource for writers, put together by a wonderful group of people that I’m proud to be associated with.
Curious and wonderful odd places, from all parts of the world. The Atlas Obscura.

See ya soon.

Rkl.

LOVES it. Really over the moon. While she spoke to me about it, I could hear how much she dug the book. And the best part is that she’s very excited to get it out there.

So, I took down a bullet list of things that need to be addressed, and we’ll hopefully be out on submission sooner, rather than later.

Yes! I.Am.Stoked.

I gotta tell you, that I was SO incredibly fortunate to hook up with Agent Lady. She’s an amazing, funny person, and is the perfect match for me as a writer. I’m just so lucky to have her in my corner.

Off to work! Back soon!

RkL

Anyway…

I’ve turned in the latest draft of my current book to my agent. It’s her first look.

So now, I’m waiting. This is the hard part: waiting to hear back on whether she likes the book, or not. But that’s not the point of this post. No, this post is about what we can do while we are waiting.

Yeah, I know: Some people write something else. And that’s all to the best, I know. Me? Well, I need to do something other than work on another huge project, or something as difficult as a short story. Yeah, I’m blogging in a couple places, sure, so that keeps me really busy, and helps with the waiting, but…

… I need something else.

So, I play a lot of blues guitar. I’m also learning the Ukelele. Starting up (yet again) with my blues piano.

And well… the whiskey works, lol.

My point is that you need to do SOMETHING while you’re waiting to hear back from your agent, or your writer’s group member, or the family member you gave your current opus to. You HAVE to occupy yourself with other things, or you will go crazy during this period as you wait to hear back from your agent/writers group member/friend/relative/etc, who in truth may or may not be thrilled with your reinvention of Gone With the Win meets Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

But, this is the way it works.

You have to let it go. Wait. Let me say it again, just to drive it home: While you’re waiting to hear back from either the agent you sent a full to, or a member of your writer’s group who is giving notes on your latest, you have to let.it.go.

Or you won’t make it. Pure and simple.

Take that walk. Hell, take that weekend hike up to Mount Wherever. Get back to work on your decoupage. Once the book is out of your hands, it’s out of your hands and there ain’t jack-all you can do about that.

Go and live the rest of your life.

And yes, I’m certainly talking to myself here.

Hopefully, the news will be good, and you’ll live to fight another day on that manuscript. If the news is NOT good? Well, you just pull yourself from the wreckage, and move on. What you don’t do while you wait to hear back is chew your paws, drink yourself into oblivion, kick the cat (or your kids, or spouse), etc.

The Wait is just one more part of the process. USE that time well. Take it as a “time out”. If you have to, then go ahead and work on another project. I, as I’ve said, think you should use this time as “getaway” time, but you do what you gotta do.

It’s The Wait.