Newsletter #43 — Don’t Let the Well Run Dry
September 15, 2022
Newsletter #43 — Don't Let the Well Run Dry
Replenishing the Well — Long before I ever heard about replenishing the well of health, I heard about replenishing the well of creativity. Let's take writers as an example. When a writer reads, she is replenishing the well because she's not working at writing, she's enjoying the fruits of some other writers work. Just about any activity outside the world of writing may serve to refuel a writer's creativity: dining with friends, physical activity, playing games, and so on.
Last week I replenished my well of creativity by attending six plays (in five days!) at Stratford, Ontario. The plays were: The Miser; Hamlet; Chicago; 1939; Death and the King's Horseman; Richard III. What a wonderful immersion in plot, character, setting, conflict, foreshadowing, irony, climax, and conclusion!
My well of creativity was definitely replenished.
Fairfax and the Perfect Pumpkin — About two or three years before I wrote The F Words, I wrote a chapter book (probably for ages 7-9) titled Fairfax and the Perfect Pumpkin. The protagonist, a fourth-grader, considers himself a poet and goes about writing short poems on many different things. This is a humorous adventure story with some poetry thrown in.
For who knows what reasons, I sent Fairfax and the Perfect Pumpkin to only four publishers, then stopped. I have now resuscitated the manuscript and have a list of fifteen or so publishers to submit to. In re-reading the story and getting it ready for submission, I was struck by the fact that this earlier story seems to augur The F Words in that it's about a boy who writes poetry. And Fairfax's name even begins with an F! Interesting how ideas are subconsciously altered and recycled.
Poppa and Guide — You might be interested to know that almost every month two of my books — Charlie Chan's Poppa and Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel — sell in both Italy and Germany. A bit more in Italy than in Germany. I'd love to know how news of these two books gets around.
Interview with a Book Reviewer — Who are they, these social media book reviewers? Well, I was so intrigued by the review that Tamara Rolan gave The F Words on GoodReads (June 25, 2022 — I posted this in Newsletter 38) that I decided to interview her if she was willing. She was, and here are my questions and her responses.