'Evacuation Plan' is now an e-book!

First off, I'll be signing my novel-in stories Evacuation Plan during the Texas Book Festival from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday and noon to 2 p.m. Sunday outside the Texas Capitol. Stop by and say "Howdy."

Just as important, Evacuation Plan lives a new life as an e-book is all of the various formats. Thanks to Sisterhood Publications for adding me to their stable of fine writers. You can look in the column on the right for more info on this award-winning tome. The new cover includes a photo I took a million years ago. 


Want to read it for free? Here's how:

Sisterhood Publications is so excited to announce our newest release, the award-winning EVACUATION PLAN: A NOVEL FROM THE HOSPICE by Joe M. O'Connell.

We want YOU to help us spread the word, so we are making it worth your while. There's a free copy of the book, a free DVD where Joe talks about the book and a $25 gift certificate to Amazon to the first person who spreads the word in ten different places on the Web.

Rules:

1. You cannot write "Buy Joe's Book 10 Times on your FB profile.
2. You cannot write "Buy Joe's Book 10 Times on your friends profiles. If you write it on your profile on Facebook, that counts for one time.
3. You must take a screen shot of your comment. For information on how to take a screen shot please visit https://www.facebook.com/SisterhoodPublications for exact details.
4. Once you have visited 10 different Internet locations and posted about Joe's book, please send your screen shots, your name, snail mail address to draneydesign@gmail.com.
5. Example of what to post. "Make sure you check out Joe O'Connell's new book, EVACUATION PLAN. I'm in a contest to win a copy plus a $25 gift certificate" or something like that.
6. Examples of places where you can post: FB (once). Twitter (Once), Tumblr (1), Reddit (1), Google + (1), Pinterest (1), Your website (1), Your Blog (1), etc. See? Not so hard, kind of fun, and you can win a book, a CD and a $25 giftcard to buy MORE books. So let's play.

On getting stuck in writing fiction

Writer Suzy Spencer asked me to guest on her blog this week talking about getting stuck while working on a longer piece of fiction. This is a very appropriate discussion give my novella-in-a-semester graduate students at St. Edward's University officially began writing their books this week (I'm writing alongside them!). They'll log 4,000 words a week toward completing a 40,000-word draft in 10 weeks. The race is on!

Writing a novella in a semester

I'm teaching a graduate class at St. Edward's University this semester where we will write a 40,000-word novella in one semester--10 weeks to be precise. I say we because I am joining in. It seemed unfair to ask them to write like this while I stood on the sidelines. My experience is that you learn to write a novel by writing a novel. We're also reading five novellas as models.

Last night the author Jeff Abbott spoke to the class about his writing process, which is in many ways like what my students and I will be doing. The notion is to create a basic plan--structure, the main set pieces, some good character exploration--and then write without revision. This is exactly the opposite of the usual writing workshops I teach which are heavy on critique and require revision. That's why workshops are better attuned to short stories. For longer works, the march is the thing. Once the draft is done, revision can and must commence.

Why this post? What I'm already noticing is shadow writers who are going to follow us along outside of the classroom. Go for it! If you want to be one of our shadow students, see the syllabus and check back here. The main thing is to do the work.

For our second meeting last night, along with hearing words of wisdom from Abbott, students created a vision board--photos and text made into a collage to be looked at as the writing process continues. Sounds goofy, but it's a great way to daydream about your story as you look for those set pieces (the big moments of explosion in the story). They also did some deep character work on the the main three characters in their work--protagonist, antagonist and a third character who is perhaps a love interest.

For next week, they must write a 4- to 8-page synopsis of the novella in first person. They also must pitch their stories to the class. If this sounds like screenwriting, it is indeed very influenced by that form. The notion is if we can get a good foundation, we'll have the freedom to continue forward and write. At the end of that discussion, we will begin to write.

If you want to follow along with us, check back here for our progress reports.

Dan Chaon digs deep into the notion of identity

Dan Chaon's Await Your Reply is an amazing novel by an American writer at the top of his game. Dan speak at the Texas Book Festival this coming weekend (I'll be under the tents signing my book some on both Saturday and Sunday). I talked to him about it all for a San Antonio Express-News article that ran today.

Here's how it starts:

Imagine this: You change your name, dye your hair, buy a new wardrobe and move to a new city, leaving everything you've ever known behind. Would you cease to be you?

That's the central question of identity lurking behind National Book Award finalist Dan Chaon's beautifully written, thoughtful novel "Await Your Reply," and it's a question that hits very close to home for the author.

Read the rest here.

Reading at Bookpeople from EVACUATION PLAN

Interview wiith Joe Lansdale

Joe Lansdale is about the best there is among Texas writers, and he's pretty interesting as well. Here's my interview with him in The Austin Chronicle.

Joe and Kasey Lansdale

I had the pleasure of interviewing legendary Texas author Joe Lansdale this week for an upcoming Austin Chronicle story, and learned a lot of his stories began as dreams. Here he is after lunch at Threadgill's with his daughter Kasey Lansdale, who is a singer/songwriter.

Violet Crown Book Award finalist!

I just got word that my novel-in-stories EVACUATION PLAN is a finalist for the Violet Crown Book Award in Fiction given out annually by the Writers League of Texas. Very nice prize--$1,000 for the winner, which is announced Nov. 1 at the Texas Book Festival!

The six finalists are in the hands of some unnamed judge at this point. I know what that's like. I was the final judge for this contest two years ago. It was a tough job, but I was blown away by one book. I'm sure this year's judge will feel the same, but there's not telling which book that will be. I truly am just flattered to be a finalist.

Cyndi Hughes of the WLT sent a letter telling us finalist folk about it. I came home yesterday after a very long day. We'd been at a wedding in Temple then a surprise birthday party in the big city of Hutto. We got the mail as we were driving in with a very overtired Nicholas. Tiffany handed me the letter, and I at first thought it was junk mail. You rock, Writers League!

'Evacuation Plan' release is next week!

The actors get their pages!



The book release is next week. I met yesterday with the actors who will be giving a dramatic reading from EVACUATION PLAN. And tomorrow I meet with Brad Buchholz of the Austin American-Statesman for a piece expected to run right before the reading.