SAM NASH, P.I. E-PULP

The Sam Nash. P.I. Action Mysteries continue....THE CASE OF THE TWICE SHOT COP.
"'That's him, he says.' He didn't need to tell me, I would know that face any where. I watched him shoot that cop in cold blood, made me lose my stomach, then he bends over and shoots him again. Why? Why shoot the cop again? Anybody could see he was down for the count. Well, Sweet Cheeks, you're about to feel payback..."

NEGATIVE REVIEWS

Negative reviews hurt, no doubt about it. One bad review can ruin your whole day, some can ruin your career. I am a writer. I  am not a good writer, but I'm not a bad one either, I just write.I love to write and I love when other people read my work and enjoy it. I have had my share of five-star reviews and yes one-star reviews as well. After receiving a one-star review on my kindle books I feel like cutting my hands off, or tossing my keyboard in the trash, or worse, take up a second language and wander through the desert wastelands looking for the meaning of life.
My salvation has been the discovery that most critics that write negative reviews are just plain old mean people. When a mean critic writes something it is always nasty and cuts deep, beyond the lines of  civility or constructive criticism..they go for heart's blood. They want the writer to feel pain or worse, wander in the wastelands.
Writers by nature are loners, avoid outsiders, living  among their mental creations. Suddenly, exposed to a negative review, the first reaction is fear, an overwhelming urge to vomit, you have been outed, you're no good...you are a failure...oh woe is the writer.
But, if you know the critic's game you can beat him hurt him, make him squirm. How you may ask. Ignore him, or even worse thank him. He will shrivel up from the kindness, he will run and hide in the night like the roach that he is.
So, the moral of this rant? Ignore the bad stuff. Fix what you can, and move on.

#10 TOP WRITING SECRETS BY KAREN TYRRELL

How to Write a Successful Story using my #10 TOP WRITING Secrets

Do you want a story that connects with the reader? Leaving them begging for more? A story that is publishable and in big demand? … Then follow my #10 Secrets for a successful story.

Image Danilo Rizzuti/FreeDigitalPhotosnet

My #10 Top Writing Secrets
√ Create a captivating story and let the reader know from the beginning what the premise is
√ Start your story at a dramatic pivotal entry point into the plot
√ Compel your reader to care deeply about the main character from the very start
√ Express your main characters hopes and motivations early on in your story. What does your main character really want? What do they fear?
√ Connect the reader emotionally to the main POV character using sharp dialogue, personal thoughts and emotive body language
√ Orientate and anchor each new scene with SHOWING detail so the reader knows exactly where and when they are. Illustrate your scenes in the most cinematic way possible … Utilize the five senses
√ Include only scenes and characters which push the story forward
√ Amp your nouns and verbs to the max. Create strong vocabulary and images that project your story forward
√ Challenge your character to a series conflicts and a brick wall trials which they fail to achieve, until the final climax
√ Share your story with your writing buddies, let them critique it and follow the advice that resonates within you
Where did I learn the craft of story making?
In my beginner days, award-winning authors Anita Bell and Katherine Howell revealed their secrets in one-to-one private consultations. Then I completed two six month writing courses with the Queensland Writers Centre … the Year of the Edit with Kim Wilkins and the Short Story Development series with Kate Eltham. Editors Selena Hanet-Hutchins and Sally Odgers shared their editing and writing expertise with me.
Last year I won a mentorship with the Society of Editors QLD. Generous publishers have offered personalized detailed feedback … I have much to be grateful for

Why reveal my secrets today?
This week I critiqued two writing buddies stories, sharing my writing knowledge with them. We all need a critique buddy or two. We cannot see flaws in our own writing as we’re much too close.
This Saturday, I in turn will hear from members of one of my writing groups as they deliver critiques on my first two chapters. My only desire is to remain open-minded, so I can reap the benefits of their constructive feedback.
I’m on a HUGE learning curve with my writing … I’ll continue to learn, fine tune and expand my writing skills and ONLY my Writing Colleagues can HELP ME !!
How has a writing course, an editor or critique buddy helped to improve your writing?
What VIP writing lessons have you learned along the way as a writer?

Did you like this? Share it:

THE WRITERS CREED

THE WRITERS CREED

This is my keyboard. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my keyboard is useless. Without my keyboard, I am useless.          I must tap my keyboard true. I must tap straighter than my peers who are trying to out-tap me. I must out-write him before he out-writes me. I will. My keyboard and I know that what counts in war is not the taps we fire, the noise of our burst, or the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit.

      My keyboard is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its length and its width. I will keep my keyboard clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other.

      Before God I swear this creed. My keyboard and I are the defenders of my thoughts. We are the masters of our words. We are the saviors of my life.

      So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy.

E-PULP VS PULP FICTION

I'm not sure if I have coined a new word or genre or not, but I think the new low price for an Ebook is very similar to the old Pulp books and mags. Below is a history of the Pulp era. read it and let me know what you think.

Article written by 'The Vintage Library'

What Is Pulp Fiction

Term originated from the magazines of the first half of the 20th century which were printed on cheap "pulp" paper and published fantastic, escapist fiction for the general entertainment of the mass audiences. The pulp fiction era provided a breeding ground for creative talent which would influence all forms of entertainment for decades to come. The hardboiled detective and science fiction genres were created by the freedom that the pulp fiction magazines provided.

Pulp Fiction is a term used to describe a huge amount of creative writing available to the American public in the early nineteen-hundreds. Termed "pulp magazines" because of the low quality paper used between the covers, these publications proliferated in the nineteen-thirties and nineteen-forties to the point where they blanketed newsstands in just about every popular fiction genre of the time.
Although the pages in-between the covers were a dingy cheap quality, the covers were beautifully decorated, many times with lurid portraits of pretty women in various stages of trouble, and the handsome men attempting to rescue them.
By under-paying writers and publishing on in-expensive media, pulp publishers were able to charge 10 cents for an issue containing several stories. Low prices drew in many working-class young adults and teenagers, who could not otherwise afford some of the more pricier magazines of the day.
The low price of the pulp magazine, coupled with the skyrocketing literacy rates, all contributed to the success of the medium. Pulps allowed its readers to experience people, places, and action they normally would not have access to.
Bigger-than-life heroes, pretty girls, exotic places, strange and mysterious villains all stalked the pages of the many issues available to the general public on the magazine stands. And without television widely available, much of the free time of the working literate class was spent pouring through the pages of the pulps.
World War Two brought paper rationing and increased paper prices. Also, some believe that the real horrors of the war replaced the fictional horrors found between the cover of the pulps. The once popular magazines began to lose readership and disappeared from the newsstand, one-by-one, replaced by paperbacks, comic books, television and movies.
Today, the short story has changed into a different breed of creative writing, leaving the stories found in the pulp magazines a unique offering. But, beyond the legacy of entertaining stories, pulp fiction must be given some credit for the evolution of literature and popular fiction heroes of today. Many authors that got their start in the pulp magazines grew to be great writers that changed the landscape of popular fiction. Writers such as Carroll John Daly changed the detective fiction story from the staid whodunits popularized in Great Britain to the more "hard-boiled" version where the bad guy was bad and the detective was tough and street-smart.
Edgar Rice Burroughs was another pulp writer, who helped to define the science fiction story into what it is today. The other well-known alumnae of the pulps include Max Brand, H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ray Bradbury. And of course, there were the legions of other authors, less well-known today, that had an equally important hand in forming popular fiction.
Even though some details are dated because of social, technological, and historical developments, the stories found in the pulp era are still an entertaining read. They still offer action-packed adventure, on par with any of today's television shows, and heroes who are lively, entertaining characters.
Enjoy your exploration into this vast world of fiction!

A TIME TO PLOT, A TIME TO WRITE.

My formula is simple, come up with a good plot and start writing. It's that simple. I don't agonize over lengthy outlines, genre conflicts, or even if I think people are going to read it or not. I believe that a writer has to be free of all the outside manias and phobias thrown up to slow a writer down. When I sit down to write I don't worry about how many will I sell, what if people don't like it, or what if I offend someone.That's all speed bump trash thrown out by the nay-Sayers that surround authors; the ones that feed off our words and would have us believe that we can't go it alone and must have their expertise to guide our careers. If a writer is serious about writing, then he leaves all that outside minutia at the cave entrance. Write the story that you want to write, bring in characters that well defined and strong enough to carry their own weight  along the story line. Be inventive, blow your mind away with each paragraph, get tingles running a goose bump marathon up and down your body. Create excitement, if you can excite yourself, then your reader will pick up on that and be excited too. Live your story in your mind, never pull back and question what your characters have done or said. Let your creations set the pace and the plot...it's amazing how they all want to live the closer you get to the last page.

THE BEGGERS CUP

The Beggars Cup©

Mike Pettit

We have begged a thousand years on this very spot.

Not one cubit left, not one cubit right.

This squat is ours, day and night.

 We have survived summer’s heat, winters cold.

My rim is chipped, my luster gone, My Master old.

 A crack down one side, a sliver missing on the other,

He with grey dirty hair, dirty feet,

always hungry, begging food to eat.

 Time means nothing, one minute a dab of rice, the next a copper.

The waiting, that’s the rub, that’s the bother

 Masters teeth are ground small from dust and sand, crooked yellow with wisdom, from lack of neither food, nor love from his fellow man

 Milky cataract eyes, unseeing from seeing too much.

 We are believed diseased, alive with vermin, that no one will touch.

Toss a coin, throw a yam, please Sire, help a poor beggar,

 mercy for an old man.

 We are never seen, never heard, a thousand feet we see each day.

No one looks down, as they pass our way, nothing offered, nothing to say.

Be gone, be on your way.

 A slippered foot, a coin of brass, a booted heel, let it pass,

a foot bare look out, competition working our corner,

treading our path.

 A stone is tossed, my rim is chipped, Master snatches it up, tastes, and spits.

A tear falls, a husk of rice catches the sorrow, an offering from ourselves, not much, but I savor it in my cup, perhaps our only meal on the morrow.

10 STEP PROGRAM TO BEING A SUCCESFUL THRILLER AUTHOR

MIKE PETTIT'S 10 STEP PROGRAM TO BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL THRILLER AUTHOR,

1. LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD.
2. BE YOUR MAIN CHARACTER.
3. LIVE YOUR STORY.
4. WRITE FOR YOURSELF.
5. DO NOT SECOND GUESS WHAT YOU WRITE.
6 DO NOT LET OTHERS TELL YOU WHAT TO WRITE OR SAY.
7. HAVE NO BOUNDARIES, ALL IS FAIR.
8. THRILL, MYSTIFY, CONJURE, SURPRISE, SCARE.
9. BE MENTALLY EXHAUSTED AT THE END OF THE

WRITING DAY.

10 NEVER STOP WRITING.PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

THE DRUMS OF WAR

DRUMS OF WAR
MIKE PETTIT

Oh Mothers, Oh Daughters…

Hold for now the tears of pain and sorrow.

There will be time enough for those tomorrow.

Don’t heal, don’t weep, don’t pray for those that sleep.

Oh, Hero Sons, Oh Hero Brothers, prepare for battle and greatness.

Fall upon our enemies, seek out his weakness.

Pound the Drums of War, beat thy shields of wrath.

Chant your war songs, scream your battle cries.

Your rage will clear a bloody path.

Vengeance reflects from our eyes. Prepare, oh heroes to fight and die.

Our enemy will tremble before our might,

He will run and hide, and melt away in the night.

No place to hide, No place to die,

No hallowed ground, for his ashes to lie.

Oh, Beloved America, Oh how we stand free.

Our Forefathers see how strong we are,

And know we are still loyal to thee.

We will march in triumph across the land,

 Our enemies will wonder at our strength and endurance,

And plead for a merciful hand.

Only then, Oh Mothers and Daughters should you weep,

And pray for those that sleep.

The War Drum bangs out a triumphant beat,

 Then proudly put away in a shroud of glory,

 To fight again, another day.

A SELF-MADE AUTHOR

My time being an "Author" has been a series of ups and downs, highs and lows, successes and disappointments. I love to write and have five books "Published". That is not my issue. My concern is the way authors are perceived, ranked, accepted and or rejected by the "Industry. It didn't take long for me to realize that a new guy trying to break into a crowded field was almost impossible. The first line of defense one hits is the "AGENT" wall. Some obscure person in an agency decides an authors future by either tossing your baby into a pile of "Read Later" manuscripts, send out a flat rejection, cold and impersonal, or take a quick read of your query and then toss it. My experience with over seventy query letters has been zero for seventy at-bats. At first I thought it was my writing, that I was a miserable writer and should seriously consider that Walmart greeter job, or join the ranks of homeless. I dug my heels in, and took on the "Industry"...The world of "Publishing". I came to realize it wasn't my writing, but the people in the industry who guarded their place in the food chain like a fat man guards his Oreos. Terms like. "Not quite ready yet.", Not Commercial ", "Mainstream"...not viable...sorry... booked up for the next fifty years.... go away, ad infinitum.
Never one to be shunned by my fellow brothers and sisters, I went to P.O.D., Print on Demand. The problem with POD is that there is no demand unless you create the demand yourself. A POD is like a boat, you keep throwing money into it and in the end it still sinks. Five grand later, I decided to do what all capitalists do, I took my writing destiny into my own hands...I "Self Published". Oh sure, the middle man is still there collecting his portion, but it's minimal, and well earned. Now all my sales and marketing effort is in my hands, sink or swim, it's on my shoulders...and I love the challenge.
The new world order is on my side, thanks to the Internet, Amazon, Smashwords, Blogs, Face Book, Twitter...the new age of publishing has been born, and made available to all of the excellent writers who have been shunned by the mainstream publishing world. It's a new day for the authors, and the readers. The days of twenty and thirty dollar books is gone, the Buck Ninety-Nine and Two Buck read is available. The mighty are starting to crumble, the arrogant humbled, new names and faces  are popping up, a whole new dictionary of terms is being created daily.
The Industry is slow to turn their ship, their rudders stuck in the past. Meanwhile, the Self Published are gaining strength and attention from the reading public, and are welcomed. Ours is the only industry in the world where prices are going down, demand going up. It's a great day to  be a self made author.