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My blog book tour wraps up today at novelist Carol Buchanan’s site. There, I tell about how I built the protagonist of my novel, Edward Stanton.
Finishing up with Carol, who wrote the beautiful God’s Thunderbolt, is fitting. She’s become one of the best friends I’ve met in this publishing journey, a fellow Montanan and a monumental talent. I give her my thanks for hosting me.
If you cruise over and drop in a comment, you’ll be in the mix for a signed copy of 600 Hours of Edward. Don’t miss out!
If you’d like to check out my previous blog stops, just click the links below:
Day 1: NaNoWriMo and the birth of 600 Hours.
Day 2: Misadventures in self-publishing.
Day 3: Landing a publishing deal.
Day 4: On writing a character with mental illness.
Day 5: Q&A with Jim Thomsen.
Day 6: Writing the West into a story.
It was all great fun, and I met some wonderful people. I’m looking forward to a fresh round of experiences with Book No. 2. Thanks for riding along.
Today, on the penultimate stop of my blog tour, I’m a guest of Cowgirl Dreams author Heidi Thomas, who lets me entertain the notion of writing the West into a story.
I write:
Setting isn’t just a place to drop a story. Done right, setting becomes something like a story’s center of gravity, an anchor to which plot lines can be tethered and held in place, allowing for a book’s architecture to stand strong.
Heidi’s novel, about a headstrong woman’s dreams of becoming a rodeo performer, traffics heavily in Western themes. So does my 600 Hours of Edward, in a more contemporary, urban way. The key with any story is to find the right place and then convey it in the DNA of the tale.
Thanks, Heidi, for letting me hold forth. If you’re interested in winning a signed copy of my book, head on over and leave a comment.
Tomorrow, the tour wraps up with a post at the blog run by Carol Buchanan, a Spur Award winner for God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana. There, I’ll chat about the development of my main character, Edward Stanton.
My blog tour chugs into its fifth day with a stop at Jim Thomsen’s blog: http://jimthomsen1.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/guest-blogger-craig-lancaster/
The man is nothing if not thorough. He asked 21 questions — literally, not figuratively — and was firing them at me right up until about 2 a.m. today. He’s giving away a signed copy of my novel, 600 Hours of Edward, to one lucky commenter, so get in there and mix it up with us.
There’s also a shorter interview up at Working Writers. My thanks to Cherie Burbach for inviting me to do that.
Two more blog stops loom after today. We’ll be giving away a signed book at each, so please stick around:
Wednesday: Cowgirl Dreams author Heidi Thomas will host a guest post from me on using the West as a setting.
Thursday: Carol Buchanan, a Spur Award winner for God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana, will let me sit down and get into the nuts and bolts of how I wrote from Edward’s point of view.
I’m a guest blogger at Kimberly Parker’s For the Sake of Joy site today, where I talk a bit about the development of my main character, Edward Stanton, and offer an excerpt of 600 Hours of Edward.
Here’s a snippet:
I also made another decision, one driven by the desire to write well and write humanely. Edward could not, under any circumstances, become a punch line or a punching bag. Certainly, his compulsions and patterns could — and did — lead to some amusing moments, but they needed to be grounded in Edward’s earnestness and general good nature. Readers can laugh at some of the situations he finds himself in, but I never, ever wanted them to laugh at him.
If you comment on the blog post, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of the book.
(I should also note that Gavin Bollard’s excellent Life with Aspergers blog has a short article on the book and links back to Kimberly’s site.)
After today, the blog tour rolls on to three more destinations:
Tuesday: Jim Thomsen will host me for a Q&A.
Wednesday: Cowgirl Dreams author Heidi Thomas will host a guest post from me on using the West as a setting.
Thursday: Carol Buchanan, a Spur Award winner for God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana, will let me sit down and get into the nuts and bolts of how I wrote from Edward’s point of view.
Books are in the offing every day. Come on along for the ride.
Today marks the end of my three-day stint as a guest blogger at The Blood-Red Pencil. Today’s topic: Landing a publishing contract with Riverbend Publishing, which just released my debut novel, 600 Hours of Edward. Cruise on over and toss in a chance to win a signed copy of the book.
My blog book tour will pick up again Monday and run four more days at the following stops:
Monday, Nov. 2: I’ll have a guest post at For The Sake of Joy, a blog run by writer Kimberly Parker. In it, I’ll discuss the challenges and pitfalls of drawing a main character who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and Asperger syndrome. Gavin Bollard’s excellent blog, Life With Aspergers, will link to Kimberly’s site.
Tuesday, Nov. 3: Jim Thomsen will host me for a Q&A. Jim asks deep, penetrating questions — check out the Q&A with Diane Fanning that’s on his site now — so be sure to drop in.
Wednesday, Nov. 4: Cowgirl Dreams author Heidi Thomas will host a guest post from me on using the West as a setting.
Thursday, Nov. 5: Carol Buchanan, a Spur Award winner for God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana, will let me sit down and get into the nuts and bolts of how I wrote from Edward’s point of view.
Copies of the book will be handed out at each stop, so bookmark the sites now and follow along.
And check back here Sunday — the start of that crazy dash of writing called NaNoWriMo — for a guest post that simultaneously scares me and thrills me. My wife, Angela, will write about the birth of my novel from her perspective. I can’t wait to see what she has to say. Angela, it should be noted, is enormously supportive of my writing but also fiercely protective of her time with me away from the computer. It’s a perpetual balancing act, and one I don’t always perform well. … Anyway, I’ll let her cover this ground. She will pull no punches. She never does.
* — It is, after all, nearly Halloween.
As the Nov. 1 release date of 600 Hours of Edward nears (and passes), I’ll be making some guest stops at blogs run by generous people so I can chat about writing and bringing Edward to life. Here is the lineup and the list of topics. Please drop by on the corresponding days and take part in the conversation. There should be lots of good book chatter, and at every stop, I’ll be giving away a signed copy of the book.
Wednesday, Oct. 28: I’ll be at The Blood-Red Pencil to chat about the novel’s genesis in NaNoWriMo 2008. (The 2009 version of the event begins four days later.)
Thursday, Oct. 29: Day 2 at The Blood-Red Pencil, where I’ll discuss lessons learned with the independently published version of the novel.
Friday, Oct. 30: Day 3 at The Blood-Red Pencil. On tap: a discussion about landing a contract with Riverbend Publishing, the publisher of 600 Hours of Edward.
Monday, Nov. 2: I’ll have a guest post at For The Sake of Joy, a blog run by writer Kimberly Parker. In it, I’ll discuss the challenges and pitfalls of drawing a main character who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and Asperger syndrome. Gavin Bollard’s excellent blog, Life With Aspergers, will link to Kimberly’s site. Be sure to check out both blogs.
Tuesday, Nov. 3: Jim Thomsen will host me for a Q&A. Jim asks deep, penetrating questions — check out the Q&A with Diane Fanning that’s on his site now — so be sure to drop in.
Wednesday, Nov. 4: Cowgirl Dreams author Heidi Thomas will host a guest post from me on using the West as a setting.
Thursday, Nov. 5: Carol Buchanan, a Spur Award winner for God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana, will let me sit down and get into the nuts and bolts of how I wrote from Edward’s point of view. I’m looking forward to that.
I hope to “see” you there in the comments sections. At each day’s stop, I’ll be sticking around to chat with folks about the book, about writing, about anything. So save the dates and drop by.*
* — You don’t really have to save the dates, if you don’t want to. Chances are 100 percent that there will be periodic reminders as the dates draw near.
Craig Lancaster | A Mind Adrift in the West 