On Learning to Write

This isn't BSP (blatant self promotion)--it's relative to the point I want to make, which is I apprently don't know how to write yet. I have been a published author for over 30 years, with 60 or more books to my credit if you count all those children's nonfiction books I did on assigment. But I've published fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers, even a cookbook.
Now I'm writing mysteries (I have mentioned the forthcoming Skeleton in a Dead Space, havene't I? yes, I think so:-) I am doing the final edits on my second mystery manuscript, and the publisher's instructions are to search for those pesky adverbs by looking for words ending in "ly." I did and it was a humbling experience. I found I overuse the word "really" to an unbelievable extent, and "only" isn't far behind. Reconstructing sentences without those words was a challenge but fun. Then I moved on to the next search--for the word "had" to find passive voice. I could not believe the number of times "had been" appeared in the manuscript. I still have "was" and "ing" words to go. So far it's a humbling experience, which leaves me wondering if all my previous books are filled with those grammatical errors. I'm afraid to look.
I do have to say that looking searcing for these things is a long and boring process, so much so that sometimes my mind goes blank. But I'm persevering. When I finish, I still have to read the manuscript yet one more time to make sure I haven't introduced new errors in the process of correcting old ones. By the time I'm through, I'll be able to recite the darn thing from memory.
But the whole exercise is one of the best I've ever heard of for checking your manuscript. Thanks to Kim at Turquoise Morning Press for coming up with it.
The manuscript hasn't actually been accepted yet, but I have a proposal in and am quite hopeful. Keep your fingers crossed for me. The title of this one is for now No Neighborhood for Old Women. Yes, that's a spoof on Cormac McCarthy. When I began writing the manuscript, he had just turned down my good friend Marcia Daudistel on her request for an excerpt of his writing to include in an Literary El Paso, an anthology of the work of El Paso authors. I came up with the title off the top of my head, and she hooted with delight. More than that about the book, it's too soon to say. If it's accepted, I may have to change the title.
A food note: I know, I have a food blog but I can't resist sharing my menu tonight: a ground lamb patty with feta and chopped mint in it from Central Market (actually I ate about a third of the huge pattie) and fresh corn, cut off the cob after I boiled it, and mixed with salt and a bit of chiffonade of basil--no butter. So good!

Texas Book Festival

Spent all day yesterday at the book festival. Wanted a picture in me of my toque because I was hawking Cooking My Way Through Life, but I didn't sell a one, although some sold when I left the A&M tent to go to programs. But sales of books are the least of the festival. I saw old friends--had a wonderful catch-up visit with Jean Flynn, chatted with James Magnuson and Charles Rodenberger, met Sylvia Dickey-Smith with whom I'd been corresponding about a manuscript. TCU Press sold lots of Elmer Kelton novels--his unexpected death in August accelerated interest, I think, though I'd sure rather have him back in person. We had two featured authors, and Melinda, her friend KK, and I went to both sessions, chauffered between the sites in a golf cart! Made us feel like celebrities. Bob Ray Sanders talked about the Calvin Littlejohn book at the Austin Museum of Art and Marcia Daudistel talked about Literary El Paso at the Capitol extension. Their sessions overlapped, so we left one early and came late to the other, but heard the work of TCU Press generously praised at both. Our authors did us proud too. But it's always a long day, and, even though I sat at a signing table most of the morning, my feet were tired last night.
I am staying with Megan and her family, and 5-year-old Sawyer has been talking to me about "book people." He asked if I had to "go to work" today since Halloween is over.I guess Halloween and book festival are forever linkede in his mind.
Apparently an executive from Random House spoke yesterday (I heard this third-hand) predicting that in the future pubishing will be all print-to-order, so that you go into a store, ask for a book, and it's printed for you or, worse, you order it at home and print or download it. What happened to browsing? And the beauty of a well made book with good paper and great design? TCU Press has many older titles in a PTO program and we plan to do the first run of two reprints that way in the spring, but I am uncertain about initial runs of new books. I'm just not sure from a marketing standpoint. I think and hope the speaker from Random House was mistaken, especially since Calvin Littlejohn: Portrait of a Community in Black and White is one of the most beautiful photography books we've ever done--and one of the most interesting. It would never be the same PTO. Today I am not going to be one of the "book people"--I'm going to watch my grandsons ride their bikes and, as Sawyer asked, "do fun things" with them.