Big news! Chris Franklin, who drew the artwork for Castaway Toy’s Captain Action action figures, will be providing the 8 1/2″ x 11″ black and white sketch that will be included with the special edition (limited run of 25 copies) copy of Small Things II: Threads. (See this link for details on ordering!)
The sketch will either be a scene from the book or a character study. Below are several samples of Mr. Franklin’s work.
Several weeks ago, I posted a survey to my Facebook fan page asking if folks would be interested in pre-ordering Small Things II: Threads. 45% of the respondents said yes, 35% said maybe, and 20% said no. My job, of course, is to sway those “Maybe” votes, (and maybe a few of the “no” votes!) and I think I’ve come up with a way to do that.
I am offering a special limited edition trade paperback of Threads that will be signed and numbered. This edition, limited to just 25 copies, will not only feature a special “limited edition” page for the autograph and number, but will also feature a sneak preview of “Memories of a Ghost,” a non-Small Things novel that will be published in 2014. The regular trade paperback edition will not have either of these things. I’ll also include a free eBook version of the novel, so you can keep this special edition pristine and unread if you so wish.
But wait, that’s not all. (Said in my best television spokesperson voice.) Included in this special limited edition package will be a black and white sketch by a very talented published artist (name to be revealed soon) of either a scene or character study from Threads. The sketch will be 8.5″ x 11″, reproduced on high stock paper, signed by both the artist and myself, numbered to correspond to the novel, and suitable for framing.
First come, first served on numbering. Order now to get a lower number! And you will receive the book approximately one week before the regular edition of the novel goes on sale. (Early October.)
And last but not least, your name will appear in the “Thank you” section of the novel!
So, to sum it up, order the special limited edition of Small Things II: Threads will get you:
So how much will all this special goodness cost you? Why, a mere $19.95, of course, plus shipping! (shipping will be calculated based on your zip code as you check out)
Want to order? Fill out the form below and click the “Buy Now!” button to order using a credit card of Paypal! If you would rather order with a check or money order, please Contact me and let me know!
So my son, a fifth grader, is going on an overnight school field trip to ONSC (Ozark Natural Science Center) tomorrow. While there, he’ll perform various science experiments and learn more about nature from the ONSC guides. It’s a great experience, from what I’ve heard, and after many years of service they are closing their doors after this year. So his group of fifth graders is the last group that will have this opportunity.
My son is a bit of a homebody. He’s only spent the night at friend’s houses a handful of times, and has been nervous about the trip. My wife and I both agree that it’ll be good for him to take this trip without us. Which is why I was so conflicted this morning when, in front of my son, his teacher explained that they were short one male chaperon and asked me to come along on the trip.
My son and I do all sorts of things together: we swim during the summers, play video games tog
ether, go places together, practice soccer together, and generally spend a lot of time together. He’s my son, after all, and I love to spend time with him. But I also recognize that he needs to spend time away from his parents, which is one of the various things this trip is supposed to provide. He needs this, and I probably do as well.
In addition to being a professional writer and author I’m also a substitute teacher, so I often spend a great deal of time at my son’s school. I’ve even subbed for his classes a few times, which we both enjoy. I love that he loves to spend time with me, and hope that’s always the case. But this one time, it just feels right to let him have this experience without me.
My father was not a good man, or at the least he was a man who made bad decisions. He was an abusive alcoholic who was married four time and fathered ten children. I was the last, and that’s only because the chemotherapy he went through for his cancer rendered him sterile. Had that not happened, and had he not died when I was thirteen, I’d probably have a plethora of younger half-siblings running around.
I’ve spent much of my life and almost all of life as a father asking myself what my father might have done and then doing the opposite. So far, that’s worked out for me. I always try to be patient with my son, be loving, and show him that it’s better to live a nurturing life then one of anger and fear. How, then, did he come to fear spending time without me? Is it because, in trying to be different than my father, I have held him so close, loved him so much, that I haven’t managed to help instill a sense of independence in him?
Be he is independent – sometimes fiercely so – in other ways. He’s never shy about letting his opinions and feelings be known, and he never just “goes along with the crowd.” So maybe I haven’t done such a bad job, after all.
Still, I don’t think I’m going to chaperon ONSC. My wife doesn’t think that I should, and I agree with her. He needs to fly solo this time. When I’m not subbing at his school I’m often volunteering, or coming to have lunch with him, so I am definitely a presence in his school life as well as at home. I know he’ll be disappointed with my decision, but I have to think that also, on some level, he’ll be a little relieved. It’s his chance to spread his wings, to blaze new trails, to have an experience not as a child but as a young man. It’ll be good for him. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. I just wish his teacher hadn’t asked me in front of him.
UPDATE: 1) I just found out that ONSC raised enough money to stay open! Thanks for that great piece of news, Bethany! and 2) They found another chaperon before I could officially say no. 
Writing comes fairly easy for me, at least most days. Editing, however, is the hard part. Every little word is precious, almost like a child, and when you have to delete who rows of them, it’s like losing… okay, it’s nowhere near as bad as losing a child, but it’s still difficult. Especially when you’ve created an especially clever turn of phrase or subplot that, no matter how clever or original it may seem, just doesn’t work for the book.
I’m currently editing Threads, the second book in the Small Things trilogy, and find myself coming up against exactly this situation. Without giving too much away, there’s a character named Ben who has the ability to… shall we say, nudge luck his way. And there’s a very minor subplot where something happens to make him temporarily lose that ability, resulting in much comic mischief. The problem is, Threads isn’t supposed to be a comedy. Not at all. In fact, I only realized later that the consequences of his situation were indeed funny. So I have to decide whether to a) lose the subplot, or b) make the consequences of his situation much more dire. I am leaning toward losing the subplot, but that means deleting (rather then simply changing) precious words. Doing surgery, if you will, and stitching up the wound so that no one will ever notice.
And that’s just a minor example of the editing process. Sometimes more major surgery is involved, like realizing that an especially intriguing character you created just doesn’t fit anywhere in the book. Try as you might, you can’t find a way to keep her without compromising the integrity of the story as a whole. If a character is superfluous to the story, it isn’t fair to your story, your readers, or even the character. Besides, there will be other books where the character might fit in better. After all, there’s no rule that says your character has to stay deleted.
Deleting subplots and even characters, however, doesn’t even compete with the drudgery of searching for typos. While Word may not recognize that you typed “shows” when you meant to type “shoes,” your readers surely will – and they’ll tell you about it. It’s much easier to fix typos before your book hits the stands than after, but that requires painstakingly reading for such errors. I read Small Things probably at least a dozen times before publication but there were still a couple of typos that managed to sneak into the final copy. (And no, I’m not telling you what or where they are!) It’s often more difficult to find your own typos that it might be for someone else, because you know what it’s supposed to say. I’ve found beta readers invaluable in this sense, just as important a part of the editing process as myself. Perhaps even more so.
So what do you do when, despite having given yourself a deadline in which to get the editing done, you just don’t feel like doing said editing? You write a blog entry about editing, of course! Besides, there’s always tomorrow.
I had a lot of response to the “Be a Character in Small Things 2: Threads” contest (see here) and the winners (chosen randomly from the entries) are…
These three, coincidentally all women, will either have an existing character in “Small Things 2: Threads” renamed in their honor or an entirely new character will be created. In either case the “parts” will be small, but Irene, Marianne, and Burgundy will be forever enshrined in the second books in the Small Things trilogy!
Congratulations to Burgundy, Marianne, and Irene!
