Are You The UNKNOWN WRITER?

The Unknown Writer

By
Ronnie Jay
© 2004

I’m an unknown writer
Creative as they come
But, there’ll come a day, I dare say
I’ll be a famous one

I’ll write a #1 best-seller
And oh, the riches it will bring
It’ll sell more in every bookstore
Than Grisham, Crichton or King

I know you won’t believe me
And I can’t make you a believer
But, if I don’t believe in myself
No one else will either

Yes, I know it sounds impossible
To reach those heights of fame
And I realize that I may never
Be a household name

But, it doesn’t really matter
If my dreams do or don’t come true
I’m still gonna keep on writing
Because that’s what writers do

Level Best to launch annual anthology at New England Crime Bake

The New England Crime Bake, writer/reader conference will be upon us soon, November 14 through 16. Among the many events being offered, Level Best Books will be launching its latest annual anthology of crime stories by New England authors. This year's anthology is entitled DEADFALL and includes my story, Bagging The Trophy. Also included will be stories by such well known New England writers as Stephen Rogers and the as yet unannounced winner of Crime Bake's annual Al Blanchard Award. DEADFALL will be available for purchase at the conference.



This year's keynote at the conference is Harlan Coburn and will include a sneak preview of the film based on his novel, TELL NO ONE. Serious writers may also want to check out the Master Classes being taught by accomplished New England authors: Hallie Ephron, Peter Abrahams and Gary Braver.



Registration is open to any and all who are interested in the mystery/thriller/true crime genres; but don't delay as the master classes are filling up and the early bird discount expires on October 1. You can register by going to http://crimebake.org/.

New England Crime Bake

The New England Crime Bake Conference is coming up sooner than it may seem! The conference is at the Hilton in Dedham, MA the weekend of November 14. If you want to be part of the master classes, manuscript evaluations and one-on-one agent pitches you should go to Crimebake.org and register soon.

As is usual for the conference, the keynote speaker is yet another BIG name in mystery writing, Harlan Coburn. The hotel has a limited number of rooms available at a reduced coinference rate so, don't ptocrastinate, register now.

MFOB: Best of Year One Available Soon

In my last post I mentioned that Mouth Full of Bullets Magazine was publishing an anthology of the best stories published during its first year. Well, it will be available soon. B. J. Bourg, editor, recently announced its availability from the publisher. The list of authors in it will include many who are familiar to members of the mystery writing community and mystery fans. Writers such as Earl Staggs, Stephen D. Rogers and yours truly.

In Bookstores Now

An anthology entitled My Teacher Is My Hero, edited by Susan reynolds, is now available for purchase in bookstores and online. Why is this such a big deal? It's obvious... It contains a piece by yours truly. The anthology contains short essays about those extraordinary teachers who have impacted our lives. It's worth a read and is affordable. BTW, if you go into B&N looking for it, it's in the Education section. They consider it a reference for teachers.

Another piece of good news is that my story, It's My Job, has been selected to appear in a forthcoming anthology of the best stories of the magazine's first year. It entitled: Mouth Full of Bullets: Best of Year One. If you haven't checked out MFOB you should do so. It's published quarterly and you can find it at http://mouthfullofbullets.com/.

If you're a fan of mystery and are looking for a conference to attend this year, check out the New England CrimeBake (http://www.crimebake.org/). It's a great conference in it's sixth year and has attracted some great keynote speakers such as Robert B. Parker, Janet Evanovich, and Lee Child. This year's keynote is Harlan Coburn. The conference is held in early November in the Boston Area.

Well, time to get back on the keyboard...

Mystery-Man

The Writing Environment

I just got back from an idyllic week in far northern Maine where I isolated myself and cranked out the next installment of the novel I'm currently working on. I find that I'm most productive if I place myself in isolation, away from phones, internet and television. The lake by which I spent 5 terrific days was ideal. In fact, the only radio stations I could pull in were in Quebec and French speaking. I had nothing left to do but write!

Writing is possibly the single hardest thing one can do. It's a solitary endeavor and, no matter what anyone says, it's hard! Trying to write at home is really difficult. I find myself constantly interupting myself to check email, surf the net (under the lame excuse of doing research) and dealing with home issues. It's easier today than it was when my wife was still alive. She always seemed to think that if I was at home I was available to whittle away at her ever-present list of Honey-dos. (I must admit though that I'd gladly tackle that list today if I could have her back.)

I have of late been rather productive. I completed a piece for an up-coming anthology called: My Teacher Is My Hero and am closing in on the end of the novel...speaking of which.

It's time for me to stop avoiding it and get back to work.

Mystery-Man

I'm Back!!!!

I haven't been on the blog for quite sometime as my summer has been extremely full, what with my grandson's busy baseball schedule and trying to sell one novel and finish another. I did however get a short story published in Mouth Full of Bullets (http://www.mouthfullofbullets.com) and was happily surprised when the editor, B. J. Bourg chose it as the cover story. If you haven't yet stopped by MFOB, you should. It's a quality magazine with a lot of good stories. I won't mention the fact that it's free.

I've also been busy working on the New England Chapter of Mystery Wroter's of America. We're implimenting a number of new changes and its been wild and wooley. Also I'm serving on the planning committee for the annual New England CrimeBake. A writer/reader conference sponsored by the New England Chapters of Myatery Writers of America and Sisters In Crime. It will be held over the Veteran's Day weekend (November 10 through 11) and this year we've changed our venue to the Hilton Hotel in Dedham, MA. The conference features pitch sessions with agents, terrific panalists and this year Lee Child will be our keynote speaker. To show you the quality of our keynotes the list includes such well known writers as Robert B. Parker and Janet Evanovich. I'd really like to see you there. Check it out at our website, http://crimebake.org/index.htm.

Well time to get back to the writing thing... I got a novel to finish.