I Got Your Update Right Here, Pal

"Din't yew write a book or sumpin'? Whut the hey-ell hoppin' to it anyhoo?"

A couple of days before my birthday at the end of January, I posted that I had finally finished my novel entitled BURY ME NOT,  a major achievement in the life of me since it has taken nearly three decades to put the bloody thing together. I believe I had promised to provide updates as they presented themselves on its status to become an honest-to-Morgan Freeman book and I am long overdue to do so. So here you go.

There are no updates.

It's not for lack of trying, believe you me. It hasn't been that I've been waiting for the phone to ring because the world has been clamoring for this magnum opus, mainly because other than my previous posts concerning BMN, no one knows. If a bear shits in the woods, does anyone hear it? But this is what I can tell you:

BMN has been submitted to 5 different "traditional" publishers. A traditional publisher is defined as an established company that provides all the handiworks to get a book out on the market including editing, production, distribution etc., etc. etc. The waiting period for a traditional publisher to respond is painfully long, sometimes up to a year. I knew this going in so it's no surprise. It hasn't prevented from checking my e-mail every day for any news, anything at all. So far, one of the Big 5 has gotten back to me with a polite but emphatic NO. While disappointed, I'm actually grateful they pulled the trigger so quickly. Meanwhile, the wait continues. I do confess that I do have an inordinate fear of becoming the next John Henry Toole. 

I've also sent BURY ME NOT into a couple of contests too. Today I received word that I am not one of the finalists from Contest #1. Oh well. Number 2 will be announced at the first week of December.

So that's what's happening. Should I get a goose egg across the board with four more "No, thanks" from the pubs and not even a version of the home game as a consolation prize from the contest gods, I'll self-publish. I've done it before. I'll do it again. That's not admitting defeat. It's taking matters into my own hands. It's a struggle, but so is shopping at Costco.

Suck it up, buttercup

Life has been pretty lonely, writing-wise, since the completion of BURY ME NOT. I can't seem to finish a bloody thing with the exception of a few blog posts here, there but not everywhere. This has been a cause for concern on my part. The clock is ticking at even faster rate these days and soon, the alarm will ring with the proclamation, "Time's up, Buster! Pens down. They're not doing you any good anyway." Guess I'll have to rest on my laurels when that happens. Oh wait. I don't have any laurels. Yet. 

It's not as bleak as all that. I do have an upcoming production of my play DEAD TUESDAY slated for November with the Osage Community Players in Linn, Missouri, so there's that. And that is a very good thing indeed. Glass half-empty, my dying ass.

But book-wise, there you have it for it for now. Hopefully the next update will be a little more...up.

PREVIOUS POSTS ABOUT THIS BLEEDIN' BOOK

FIRST DRAFT DODGER

THE GRATING AMERICAN NOVEL

WHAT A NOVEL IDEA

What A Novel Idea

Been teasing the fact that I have been attempting, nearly in vain, to complete my novel, something that has taken 27 years of my life. At long last, loves, I can finally announce that I am done. Finished. It's ain't over 'til it's over and it damn well is.

What began as this:

Became this: 

To this: 

Until finally, this:

 

Typing that title meant everything to me. Even though I had changed it from CHEAP THRILLS (the original name of the piece since its inception in the 1970s. It's true, it's true...), I've never been able to fully commit to BURY ME NOT until I finished the bloody thing. The experience gave me a myriad of emotions. First of all, a sense of relief. It's been a long haul after all. This wasn't meant to be my life's work but here I am to finally tell the tale. So pride reared its grinning head next. I accomplished the, uh, unaccomplishable...or so I believed in my bleakest moments. Without puffing out my chest too much, something else entered my consciousness. Loneliness. Odd, isn't it? This story has been my constant companion and now that it's nearly over, I can't help but miss it. There's a gap where it used to be, hopefully to be fulfilled by taking the next necessary steps on this LONG Cherney Journey.

But make no mistake. I'm not delusional, at least I head to the Grand Finale. BURY ME NOT is not a book. It is a manuscript. When it is published, one way or the other, I can indeed deem it as such. Not until then, my friends. 

These words have both guided and haunted me since they first crossed my ears. 

"The dreams that possess you will blossom and bless you...or run you insane."-El Gavilan (The Hawk) written by Kris Kristofferson

TO BE CONTINUED 

More posts about the same damn thing:

FIRST DRAFT DODGER

THE GRATING AMERICAN NOVEL