Positive on Tuesday

Posted: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 by Travis Cody in
8



Hey gang! It's another positive day in my world. How about you?

You know what's really cool? Seeing a pal have success. So imagine how cool it was to head over to Razored Zen a few days ago and see that my blog pal Charles Gramlich has a new book out.

It can be a bit intimidating for a wanna-be writer such as myself to mix with a published author such as Charles. So many of the folks who comment at his blog are published writers. Sometimes I feel like some kind of pretender or tag-a-long.

But from the first tentative comments I tried, I found that Charles is an unpretentious guy and his writing community isn't quite so scary. In fact, they are a helpful and encouraging bunch.

Then I read Charles' Talera series and realized how honestly talented a writer he is.

The new book is about writing. It's called Write With Fire: Thoughts on the Craft of Writing. Charles describes the book on his blog:


The book is 248 pages, and divided into three parts. The first part is mainly about the practical mechanics of writing. How do you shepherd ideas through the writing and editing process and into the final form needed for publication? It talks more about fiction than nonfiction but a lot of the articles are really about communicating with your writing, which applies to any genre. The second part deals more with theory and philosophy in writing. What kind of characteristics are common to writers? What makes and breaks a “page-turner?” The last and much shorter section consists of articles that are more personal to my life as a writer, such as my experiences after Hurricane Katrina.


Congratulations on the latest book, Charles! Even thought I'm not actively working on any of my fiction projects or poetry at this time, you remind me that it's always possible to succeed.

Positive Day comes from the mind of a terrific 12 year old. She's the daughter of my blog pal Jennifer at Dust Bunny Hostage. The idea is explained in this post. Please consider joining us on Friday, 31 July, and reward a young girl's faith in humanity.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous says:
    28 July, 2009 00:55

    Great post. You are a real positive influence :)

  1. Anonymous says:
    28 July, 2009 03:33

    I've had a book rolling around in my head as well. Still working on the main character's voice. I know it will come out when it's ready....

  1. Jeni says:
    28 July, 2009 08:32

    I have a ton (well, a whole lot but how do you weigh a kazillion word documents) of research I worked on for about 2-3 years a couple years back with the intent of putting it all together in the form of a book about the local history (focusing on the people who once lived here) and said book plan would also work as an aid for people doing family tree research. Sadly, I haven't had time to work on my research for a long time but any time I read about someone else putting a new book on the market about writing, any kind of writing, it gets me to thinking about those now dormant plans of mine. Maybe someday....

  1. Charles Gramlich says:
    28 July, 2009 08:37

    Thanks, Trav. I really appreciate the kind words and you spreading the word. Yes, the writing community is a pretty giving one. I guess because so many of us struggle for everything we get.

    Looking forward to positive day.

  1. Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. says:
    28 July, 2009 12:00

    You Rock Travis!

  1. Vinny "Bond" Marini says:
    28 July, 2009 12:11

    COngrats to Charles....

  1. Travis Cody says:
    28 July, 2009 17:04

    Thom: One does one's best!

    Lois: That's what I keep saying, but it does take some work.

    Jeni: I'm always telling myself I'll get back to mine someday.

    Charles: You are quite welcome Sir.

    NNG: Thanks!

    V: Could be you or me one of these days eh?

  1. Desert Songbird says:
    28 July, 2009 19:55

    As a dreamer, I can't help but be intimidated by published writers, either. You are such a likable, upbeat, POSITIVE guy, Trav - it's no wonder you fit in!

Post a Comment