Tonight, I’m in Charleston, SC. I lived here 1987-88. It’s my favorite city in the whole world. My hotel tonight is a Day’s Inn on Montague in North Charleston. I would have posted last night in Conyers GA, but either the Holiday Inn’s wireless service was not compatible with my iBook, or I just have much to learn about MACmatics and technical issues. I did call the hotel tech service for help, but he was unable to explain why I couldn’t connect. I’m sure it’s something simple I’m missing. Just another case of my ignorance showing. I’ve made a resolution to learn more about MACs and wireless, as it seems I’ll be traveling a good bit this next year.

Back to Charleston: The last time I was here was for the funeral of the Hunley crew. I need to record a blog entry on that event and get some pics up. I’ve missed this city–the smell of the marsh, the ocean, the beach, the palm trees and giant oaks, the plantation houses and museums. Tomorrow, I plan on visiting Folly Island, perhaps looking for some Civil War relics with my metal detector. I also want to see the battery–that part of Charleston is the most beautiful city in the world to me and is the epitome of the South. The houses in that old part of Charleston, are truly (and by design) hurricane resistant. I think Charleston is a tough city. Even weeks of Yankee bombardment couldn’t conquer Charleston during the Civil War. I have a huge framed photo of Charleston in my study. It was a gift from a friend I loved greatly. Sometimes I look at that photo and I crave living in Charleston again. A part of me wants to say, “You don’t have to go back to Louisiana. Just stay here and write.” It’s tempting.

In a few minutes, I’m going to look through the hotel’s phonebook and some tourist books I collected on my way here. Perhaps I’ll find some bookstores to pitch my book, Stories of the Confederate South. I’ll at least resurrect some memories, perhaps some ghosts. I think a writer could do well in Charleston. Certainly, there would be no shortage of writing ideas here. But I don’t think it’s ideas I need. I just need to make myself sit down longer and write more.

It seems interest in Stories of the Confederate South is increasing. I’m on my way to Oklahoma, and it looks like a busy week promoting my new collection of short stories. I’ve got a TV interview Tuesday on KXII in Sherman Texas, an interview on a local radio station in Durant, Oklahoma, then a two-day signing (July 14-15) at Roby’s Hallmark also in Durant. I had such great success when I was there a few years ago with my first novel. I’m confident I will sell a lot of books. By the way, I have an order form I’ve made that meets Booklocker’s standards. It gives the bookstores quick reference information. Make it easy on stores to order your books. If you write me, (rickeyp@bayou.com) I’ll send it to you so you can have a model to promote your own books.

After I return from Oklahoma either late Saturday or Sunday, I have a radio interview in Monroe, Louisiana, then a signing at the Lincoln Parish library in Ruston, Tuesday night, July 18, at 6:30. I’m picking up more business cards and setting up orders and a signing at the Ouchita Parish library on my way out of town this morning.

Sometimes I cringe at the amount of work and shamelessness required to promote one’s work, but I’ve read enough biographies of writers to know that I’m not alone in this. For example, Presently, I’m reading Erica Jong’s The Devil at Large, about Henry Miller. He’s an examplel of how self-promotion can pay off. Anyway, if you have any interest at all in Henry Miller, I’d encourage you to read that book.

I just finished reading the English Patient. I know–I’m late getting to it. At least my “to read” list is one shorter. I enjoyed it tremendously. As a writer, I was most intrigued by how he presented the men who explored, mapped, and were devoured by the desert. I like fiction like this–the book was sensual, engaging, and the researched details fascinating. I think Ondaatie’s acknowledgements is the finest model of how to do that I’ve seen. In short, it was a read that moved me and informed me. That makes for good fiction.

My next nonfiction book has a working title of The Civil War Writer with 100 Story Starters for the Fiction Writer. The idea came about as a result of my research for my collection of short stories, Stories of the Confederate South. You can see the link to the book on this page. The book should be of great benefit to anyone who likes to write historical fiction. The main sections will include: Why the Civil War appeals to readers, some common pitfalls to avoid in writing about the Civil War, how to do research on the Civil War, a glossary, and of course, the stoy ideas themselves. I have been a collector of stories, anecdotes, and facts (some of them VERY unusual, thus lending themselves to writing some unique fiction about them). Hopefully, I will have it completed sometime this summer. One of the true values of fiction is that it speaks to the heart and to human experience. There was so much emotion before, during, and after the War Between the States that I don’t think we’ll ever get it all down. I know I’ve collected so stories I’ll never get to, and perhaps the b ook will help some writers. I do know that they are stories that need to be told, and that they are stories waiting to be written.

I don’t know how many books I’ve edited for new authors. I lost count count some time ago. From my experience as a freelance editor, I have learned some things that will help new writers. If you’re putting together your first book, I believe these points will help you produce a quality book.

1. Don’t send an editor your first draft. He or she will likely send it back. Do your best work, then send it to your editor. Writing a book, a novel, or even essays and short stories requires several drafts. Hemingway said that it’s in the rewriting that most writers break down. I do believe he revised everything he wrote 20-30 times. If Hemingway needed revisions, I’m sure we do too.
2. Read your book out loud. Time it. Most writers have no idea how long it takes. Reading it out loud will give you an idea of how much time is required to edit a book. In addition to reading at “read aloud” speed, an editor must look up spellings, mark your work (either by hand on a printed manuscript or by use of colored tracking), try to remember what he or she has read, make notes, etc. This requires many hours. A writer should remember that before he or she whines about the cost of a good editor. An editor will almost always reread a work, too. My point is that editing is a brutally slow process, and it should be. Too many mistakes are missed if the editor hurries. If you look at an editor’s pay in terms of hours spent, he is not usually working for very much money.
3. Print out your manuscript and read it. There are mistakes you will see only in this way. There’s something about reading a book on a computer screen that causes us to miss them.
4. Study your craft. Learn from your mistakes. Don’t assume you know how to spell. The real value of a dictionary lies not only in definition, but in spelling. English, with the largest vocabulary of any language in the world, has loads of exceptions, variant/preferred spellings, and many subtleties.
5. When the editor returns your work, reread it again, making the corrections the editor suggested. Though you don’t have to follow every suggestion, as it is YOUR work, you should at least consider advice given. Also, expect the editor to have missed something. Alas–we editors are not perfect.
6. Remember, a good editor looks for what is good as well as what is wrong. And if you find a good editor, stick with him. A writer who finds a good editor is fortunate indeed. A writer wants to present a publishing company with his very best work.

Even though I’m an editor, I still rely on readers and editors myself to prepare my own fiction. I’ll have more on this subject later. Hope this helps.

An important element of the bit of success I’ve had in moving my books is readings. I’ve set up one for July 14-15, (yes two days) at Roby’s Hallmark in Durant, Oklahoma. I did very well there with my first novel, and I expect this to be just as successful.

I love a Southern summer. Yes, it gets warm, but the heat is far better for me than our cold, wet winters. As a youngster, I used to dream about snow and cold. I read books on Arctic camping, and researched the Native Americans who lived in the Arctic and SubArctic. My short story, “Ghost Fires,” is a story set in Canada, in the land of the Cree, and is a result of an idea and my research. That story won first place in the Hemingway Short Story Competition a few years back. But I digress–back to the topic of summer.

The South is so alive in summer–and I love everthing about it. I have memories of hot, muggy, July nights, lying in bed next to my little brother at my grandmother’s house in Ivanhoe, Texas, listening to the small oscillating fan, to the owls, whipoorwhills, and other nightbirds. I remember looking up at that sky, blanketed with all the stars I couldn’t see in Dallas. Maybe it’s these memories that make me love the summer. Perhaps it’s because summer is when I get a short vacation away from teaching apathetic kids and task-master administrators. I do know that my writing always experiences a great surge of energy in the summer. I think that’s the main reason I like summer–I can give my writing more attention. I can travel (if I have any money) and research and read. I love to sit out on my patio with coffee in the morning and iced tea in the evening and read, write, or just sit and daydream. I lived in northern states twice in my life–four years in northeast PA and two years in White Plains, NY. Those were good times, and I was fortunate to be around a lot of good people, and I learned much, but I missed the South. A few years ago, a good friend gave me Willie Morris’s, North, Towards Home. It was a good read. I guess many Southerners have moved north and adjusted, but I don’t think I could ever live anywhere but the South.

I recentlly discovered a technique, probably others have used it, of teaching students how to write original poetry. You choose a song you like, and you write a poem that follows that song’s rythym and rhyme scheme and tone if possible. It seems to work, at least for me. After I did this, I thought about how many great songs have used previously written melodies. The Irish were quite fond of doing this, I know. Just an idea, and I hope it helps.

School is officially out. It takes me a few days to slip out of the numbness teaching high school inflicts. I spent today doing chores, work on house and yard, etc. Tomorrow I should be ready to attack my writing in a fury.

This next week is my last week of high school. If you’re wondering what the last week of high school is like, here’s a description of the rural high school where I teach in Bastrop, Louisiana.

We had 7th period final exam last Friday. I had one excemption due to high scores on the GEE test we take here. All the others took it, and amazingly all passed it. Monday, we have 1st and 2nd period exams; Tuesday, 3rd and 4th; Wednesday, 5th and 6th. That’s the first half of the day. After the kids leave at lunch, we work in our rooms, grade exams, and average grades. Thursday and Friday are work days for teachers with meetings and taking care of our check-0ut list, many of those tasks are moving rocks. These make the myth of Sisyphus very relevant to teachers. School is starting earlier (again). We have to show up on the 8th of August. That leaves a 10 week summer. Three of those weeks I’ll be in workshops: An AP course so I can teach gifted AP, and two gifted symposiums. I am scheduled to teach two night classes at the community college here, and I hope for another at ULM where I did adjunct work for 11 years before I was a Katrina victim due to budget cuts. I’ll be tired, but teachers are usually tired anyway, and it’s better to be tired with a little money, than tired without it. Like the Bible says in Ecclesiastes, “Money answers all things.” (It really does say that).

The remaining weeks I intend to write every day, travel some, take care of the chores and family matters that have been neglected through the school year. Seven weeks of free time sounds like a lot, but since, like most teachers in Louisiana, I’m a nine-month employee, there’s not a lot of money to do much. However, I like having the extra time to do a push on my writing. I intend to finish my Western this summer. I’m about thirty thousand words into it now. I also need to do some more short stories, more poems, enter some writing contests, and organize my writing area. I have a few thousand books, and I need to organize the piles and shelves. I also need to throw away a mountain of paper. I know I should have been more disciplined and gone through them as I went along, but it seems I was always in a time bind. I intend to do better next year.

Every teacher should keep a running log of the things students say. I’ve enjoyed the various lists of students’ bloopers I’ve read, but I could add my own. Additionally, there are some things students say that are revelatory of not only ignorance, but perhaps some deeper problems. For example, at the end of each six weeks, and especially towards the end of the year, students who have been, to use an euphemism, “less than diligent,” approach me and say, “Is there anything I can do for extra points?” Many teachers buckle and think up some quick assignment, and the quality of the work is often less than what SHOULD have been submitted onl time, and the student ends up passing. I tell them student, “Why should I do extra work now because you didn’t do your work then? That doesn’t seem fair to me.”

I might consider giving a student who did his/her work on time some extra work to raise their grade, but to offer “makekup” work as a quick escape plan–no that’s not fair to student or teacher. I intend to do some more writing and thinking on this topic.