Horse Tales - American Classic Pedigrees

Moving Again ... at a Crawl

3/13/2025

Good news and bad news this week. The good news is that my editor is really enthused about the Holy Bull book and wants me to go ahead with updating the manuscript based on the readers' suggestions. She also wants me to go ahead and get the abstracts and keywords done, a task that involves developing a brief summary of the book as a whole followed by a similar summary for each chapter, along with selecting 5-10 keywords for the book and for each chapter. The work is tedious, but it's part of progress, so I suppose it still falls under the heading of good news.

The bad news is that review of the manuscript by the editorial board has been put off until April, since they weren't able to have an in-person meeting until February. At this point, there's very little reason to fear that the book will be rejected, but the board will be hammering out some of the details of launching the series so that there will be uniformity in cover design, layout, and so on. Back to the business of learning patience, I suppose.

As for the Firebird concept, I continue to hammer away on it a little bit at a time in between other things. I intend to keep pressing on with it as I have had a lifelong ambition of publishing a fantasy novel that has yet to be fulfilled, but I am certainly far, far away from having a finished product.

The Dead Zone

3/6/2025

In every author's life, there are times when nothing seems to be moving on multiple fronts. Your editor isn't answering calls or emails, your ideas for something new are progressing at a crawl (if that), and you either have no real idea how your previous works are doing or you're pretty sure that they're a long way from living up to your hopes. Welcome to the Dead Zone.

Editors, of course, get busy, and unless you're a superstar, the chances that they're going to drop everything to get back to you are pretty low. Unless the matter is of critical importance, they'll get to you when they get to you. Fallow times for ideas and writing progress come with being human, and building a reputation and a writing career is seldom accomplished with just one or two books.

As with so many things, patience, perseverance, and a healthy belief in oneself are the keys to getting past these frustrating times and continuing to write. The first two, I'll admit, are not qualities I particularly enjoy exercising. Nonetheless, they are necessary and part of my journey. And should you also be stuck in the Dead Zone, don't give up---you, too, have a journey to make and a story to tell.

Themes

2/27/2025

In writing---or attempting to write---fiction, sooner or later the author must wrestle with the themes to be presented. These are the unifying ideas or questions that underlie a story. They may be consciously chosen beforehand; they may develop organically as the writer proceeds, flowing out from the writer's experiences, thinking, and personal wrestlings; or they may follow a middle course in their development.

Themes also emerge in nonfictional writing, particularly history and biography, in which the themes the author chooses to pursue will powerfully influence both which facts and events are more heavily weighted and the author's interpretation of those facts in portions of the narrative in which it is appropriate to present the author's educated guess as to why or how something happened or someone acted as they did. (Whew! That's a mouthful.) The same facts that lead one author to craft a narrative showcasing the theme of perseverance against the odds might lead another author to explore the question of "what is social justice?", resulting in two quite distinct accounts of the same event or person.

Authors, by the way, are under no obligation to answer the questions presented in their themes and are often better when they do not, allowing the reader's mind to grapple with the question and continue exploration of possible answers even after the journey of the book's protagonist has reached a conclusion. A question that leads to a pat answer is more a moral than a theme, and while morals have their place (a la Aesop's Fables), they seldom make for the kind of books that provoke deep thought or become old friends, kept for re-reading and re-exploring.

Because my early concepts of the tale of the Firebird revolve around a tension between two worlds and two modes of existence that the main characters are caught between, the primary theme that seems to be emerging is this: What does it mean to be human? That is a question with so many ramifications and sub-themes that I think I'm in little danger of becoming trite, at least. It's also a question that to some extent makes me glad that I'm not trained as a philosopher, as I'd rather not fall off the other side of the horse into being ponderous or abstruse and so risk losing the story.

More themes may start developing as I proceed, for a book seldom has only a primary theme and nothing else; secondary themes will almost always come out to play as well. But at least I have some idea of which way the river of my thoughts is running.

One Step at a Time

1/30/2025

The good news is that the reader reports are back for my Holy Bull manuscript and are very positive. (It may sound weird after more than 20 years of writing for publication, but I still feel nervous on seeing something from my editor in the email box---is it bad news? For the record, I've yet to open one that torpedoed me, but tell that to my anxiety; there's always a first time.) The bad news is that I'm still waiting for the editorial review board to give the project final approval to proceed, although this should be a relatively short wait. From there, it's on to copy editing.

While I wait, I'm still working slowly on the tale of the Firebird---I have always been much slower at putting together a fictional story than a nonfictional account, and this is proving no exception to the rule. I'm also doing research for possible future projects regarding horses and their people. Sometimes it feels like I'm mostly spinning my wheels, but I've long since learned from experience that the time I spend on alternative ideas is seldom wasted; one way or another, it will contribute to my future projects and to my development as a writer. So ... onward, one step at a time toward whatever the future holds.

A Word About Websites

1/9/2025

I've spent a good chunk of my free time during the last week updating this website based on the 2024 sire lists---as many as I could get hold of for countries that conduct black-type racing under International Catalogue standards. This brings me to the topic of website development and maintenance, which most authors will have to consider sooner or later.

Now, American Classic Pedigrees is a much larger project than most authors will ever need to undertake. For me, the business of writing about Thoroughbreds and the maintenance of an organized compilation of information about the breed are closely intertwined. For others, simpler may be much better. Nevertheless, given the importance of online presence and platforms in modern book marketing, websites are necessities, not luxuries or "nice-to-haves," and should be carefully designed to accomplish a writer's purposes in providing visibility for his or her work.

Websites do not have to be expensive. If you use a do-it-yourself host that provides pre-made elements and layouts to customize to your needs (as I do), a few hundred dollars a year will cover the basics; the rest depends on how much time you want to pour in and whether you want to hire any of the host's design services to polish things up further. If you want a professionally designed and fully customized site and lack the skills to do the work yourself, you may lay out several thousand for the work, depending on what bells and whistles you want to include, in addition to paying annual fees for hosting and for registration of your domain name.

At a minimum, an author website should meet some basic standards:

1) Is the domain name one that is reasonably easy to remember?

2) Is the site's basic layout attractive? While this is somewhat subjective, designs usually work best when they are uncluttered, focused on a single main theme, and using an easy-to-read font that is fairly high in contrast to the background.

3) Is the site easy to navigate? Do buttons and drop-down menus clearly indicate how content is organized? Are links clearly indicated and functional?

4) Are your most recent works up front? Is it easy to find information about earlier works on the site?

5) Do you have easily accessed space for sharing information with your readers about upcoming projects, appearances, and promotions?

6) Does each book have ordering information clearly shown? If you're not doing direct sales through your site, you do want people to know how to obtain your titles.

7) Does the website translate reasonably well to smartphones? Like it or not, that's a major means of access these days.

8) Does the website help your readers to make a personal connection to you? Whether or not you want them to be able to communicate with you directly is a personal choice, but does the website display something of who you are and what you are about? How about social media information?

I know a lot of this is going to seem pretty old-school to those who are digital natives, but for those of you working on a first book, there's no time like the present to start thinking about how you will present yourself online. And if you already have a website, this is as good a time as any to review it and see if it needs any tweaking to remain up-to-date and focused on your needs in communicating with your audience.

Happy writing!

A Passion for Writing

12/26/2024

As I look back over 2024, my writing and the activities connected to it have gone through at least as many ups and downs and unexpected turns as this blog. I can't say I've been terribly consistent, but if you, the reader, have enjoyed sharing some of my journey with me or have gotten some benefit from a book review or a bit of writing advice, then my work has been worthwhile.

I close out the year with a wish that, whatever your writing goals may be, you will pursue them with passion, for good writing comes first and foremost from the heart. What you love, share. It's as simple as that.

Happy writing in 2025!

The Logic of Fairy Tales

12/12/2024

As I play with the Firebird concept, I find myself grappling with the rules of the world of fairy tales, which provide structure but also limitations that cannot be transgressed without losing the elusive flavor that distinguishes a fairy tale---a story bordering on the mythic---from ordinary literature. Some of the rules are relatively easy to discern. The hero or heroine usually begins with some substantial disadvantage. The ultimate task to be accomplished is difficult or obscure and may already have defeated any number of more obvious champions. Fantastical elements, usually in the form of magical creatures, enchanted objects, and spells to be completed or undone, are central to the story. The protagonist must face trials on the way to the ultimate goal and usually conquers by wits or noble character rather than force of arms.

Other rules that distinguish the fairy tale from other stories are more difficult to discern; many come under the heading of "I know them when I see them." J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy smells of fairy tale through and through, as does his novella Smith of Wootton Major; the same author's Farmer Giles of Ham does not, even though it contains such common fairy-tale elements as a magical sword, a giant, and a dragon.

The fairy tale as a basis for more modern fantasies has a long and honorable history, ranging from Andre Norton's Year of the Unicorn (loosely based on "Beauty and the Beast") to Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series and Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver (a tale derived from "Rumpelstiltskin"). I'd like to add to that, but the challenge will be spinning a fresh story within the traditions and tropes that define the world of fairy tales. Creating something both old and new is certainly going to stretch my writing ability; I'm hoping it will be in a good direction.

Flights of Fancy

12/5/2024

As I continue to wait on some editorial direction regarding my next project, an idea keeps tickling around in my head about writing a fantasy novel. Why not? I've been wanting to do that for ages, and following my own advice about having different writing projects in play at a given time probably isn't a bad idea. It's not as though I can't lay it aside if I need to get rolling on another horse book, it's practice in shaping words and thoughts in a different way, and it's a way to keep practicing the craft of writing without getting stale.

What's been teasing through my mind is a story based on the ancient Russian legend of the Firebird, which brings both beauty and misfortune into the lives of whoever may see it, and especially on the one who dares keep one of its glowing feathers. The legend has several variants, generally falling into either a quest to capture the enchanted bird or a quest to find and bring back a princess somehow linked to the bird. Usually, in true fairy-tale fashion, the hero is the underappreciated third son of a king, who succeeds where his more favored brothers have failed. But what if the prince is a princess, the Firebird is far more than it seems, and the fates of many magics hang in the balance? And yes, I think a magical horse or two will play a role, something also seen in some versions of the Firebird legend.

I don't know if it will all come together or if I'm chasing something as elusive as the Firebird itself. But I'm going to give it a try!

Waiting on the Next Project

11/14/2024

As this week's post title intimates, I'm still in a holding pattern and waiting for some feedback from my acquisitions editor as to what would be the best topic for my next book, given my own interests and the needs of the publishing house. While I'm waiting, this seems like a good time to address what to do when you're between projects.

For some people, getting a book completed and published is a one-and-done, and I can understand that. No matter how much of a labor of love it is, the whole project can be exhausting. Nevertheless, unless you've closed the door on writing further books, you don't want to get out of the habits of writing and of exploring new ideas. You do need space for rest and relaxation, but you don't want to slide over into the mental equivalent of twiddling your thumbs while waiting for something external to happen or for some fresh blaze of inspiration to strike.

Fortunately, you have a lot of options regarding writing, and some may even lead to new areas worth further exploration. If you don't want to commit to getting started on another book, consider blogging, journaling, writing articles, or developing content for a website. If you're a nonfiction writer, this might be a great time to try your hand at writing fiction or poetry---not necessarily for publication, but for the exercise of continuing to develop your writing skills while trying to stretch yourself a bit. (Poetry, by the way---at least good poetry---is a magnificent exercise in learning to pack the most meaning into as few words as possible, as well as developing your inner ear for the flow and cadence of your writing.) If fiction is your thing, perhaps researching and writing out a bit of history or tackling a different genre than your preferred type will keep the creative juices going and perhaps even throw fresh fuel on the fire. Breaks in your writing schedule are also good times for workshops or classes aimed at honing your skills. In addition, if advance readers or editors have pointed out problem areas with your writing---perhaps your grammar is a little weak or your imagery is too abstract---then a pause between major projects is an ideal time to work on your weaknesses.

The times in between major writing projects are also excellent times for catching up on your reading and for getting involved socially with other writers. If there's a literary group or writers' association in your area, consider joining in! If a local cafe hosts a monthly poetry slam, why not go? There are also opportunities in mentoring kids and young want-to-be writers, not least the fact that having to explain something to someone else on their level reveals how solid your own grasp is on the matter in question in a hurry. The important thing isn't precisely what you do when you've got what used to be your writing time on your hands; the important thing is that you don't let yourself stagnate.

Happy writing!

... And Back Home Again

11/7/2024

If there's one thing that proves more than another that I'm not getting any younger, it's the time it takes me to recover from a road trip. That being said, I want to give a shout-out to Kentucky Humanities, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and the entire company of volunteers, fellow authors, publishers, and book lovers that made this year's Kentucky Book Festival a blast to attend.

As far as I'm concerned, the highlight of my trip was the "Hoofbeats and Heartbeats" panel that I served on with Roda Ferraro, Director of the Keeneland Library, and Jessica Whitehead, Curator of Collections at the Kentucky Derby Museum. Two more engaging ladies would be difficult to find, and it would be equally hard to find two other scholars with the deep grasp of the connection between horses and human history and the way in which Kentucky---including its racial and cultural landscapes---has been shaped by the men and women who have been involved in the Thoroughbred industry. It was an honor to work with them in making this event happen.

Right now, I'm in a holding pattern until the topic of my next book is determined. In the meantime, I'm going to take a deep breath, catch up on myself, and work on some more updates to the American Classic Pedigrees website. As always, suggestions and comments are welcome!