This is Part 1 of Kingdom of Dreams, my 2014 golf short story.
Part 2 will be available in a week or so.
I hope you enjoy it and thanks for stopping by.
You can buy the ebook here: Kingdom of Dreams ebook at Amazon.
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The software I’m using to write my new book is…
I’ve been making good progress on my new book, especially considering the hodgepodge of software I’ve been using.
I wrote my first book in Microsoft Word and it was a harrowing and creativity-sapping process. Word is like a huge Swiss Army knife of a word processor. A knife with a shit-ton of tools can be impressive. You look at it wondering how many tools there are and whether you’re likely to use most (or any) of them.
Then you realize the damn thing’s heavy. Then you realize that using any of the tools except the main blade is a fiddly and frustrating experience.
In the end, you leave the knife at home more than you use it.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful that Word exists. The choices made by the folks who created it result in a benchmark product. I would never refer to Word as a bad piece of software. It’s simply a bit of software that’s unsuited to the creative flow of my writing.
A while back, I was prattling on about Ulysses and iA Writer. Later, I discovered and used Bear for a while. I deemed each of them as interesting but not quite useful enough. Each design is good at pretty much keeping out of the writer’s way.
It’s the issue of sync that settled the matter, and not in favor of iA Writer, Ulysses or even Bear.
Each of those platforms rely on iCloud for sync. That’s OK if the writer uses the same Apple ID across all devices and the iTunes Store. There’s the problem for me. Also, I think the software companies should use their own system and servers for sync rather than relying on iCloud.
I think WorkFlowy does sync right. Their ingeniously simple software is truly web-based, syncing by username, seamlessly.
I encourage those folks to develop WorkFlowy for Writers and let me know when it gets to beta. If they can build on the way WorkFlowy works and apply it to the work of long-form writing it would be a real game changer.
The software I’ve chosen to write my book in is Apple’s very own Notes. File organization is simple and straightforward. You can choose your own font and basic formatting is a snap. I will continue to use Word as the destination software (and archived backup) for the eventual manuscript. Importantly, documents created in Notes paste cleanly into Word without any weird or unexpected formatting problems. Notes also syncs both immediately and perfectly across all devices, as one would expect of one of Apple’s own creations operating in their own ecosystem. The UI is clean and uncluttered and this helps me to focus on what I’m working on.
I’m glad to be watching that hodgepodge of software vanish into my rearview mirror. I’m also glad there are software folks out there who are trying to make the challenge of writing easier and I’m really happy Apple did such a marvelous job with Notes.
Listen to my interview on the GolfSmarter podcast
Exciting News: Now you can listen to my interview on the GolfSmarter podcast here:
It was really generous of GolfSmarter’s head-honcho, Fred Greene, to invite me onto the show. He does an amazing job on the podcast and makes the entire process so enjoyable for the guest. The experience made me want to do it all again, but to do a little better job.
I did the interview cold; I didn’t know what questions Fred would be asking in advance. That ramped up my anxiety factor a little at the outset but once we got rolling the interview took on a nice flow. Fred’s a real pro and a great friend to golf.
I was very pleased to have the opportunity to talk about the release of the second edition of Tony Manzoni’s classic golf instructional book, The Lost Fundamental as well as the availability of my new book, John J. McDermott & the 1971 U.S. Open.
Thanks, Fred, for providing the forum for me to share two of my favorite subjects with you and the entire GolfSmarter audience.
How (and how NOT) to discuss a friend’s new novel.
I’m going to take a few minutes to explain how to discuss a friend (or loved one’s) new novel.
Please consider my premise:
The novel was a royal pain in the ass to write. It was a wholly unreasonable thing to try to create while holding down a day job of any kind.
It started out hard & got harder.
Then, as if by magic, it was done.
In the end, the writer failed in ways he never imagined.
In the end, the writer succeeded in ways he never believed possible.
A book should be read, it must be reacted to, so the writer gives it to the audience he imagines will be the most kind and receptive and responsive.
You’re that audience and I’m going to tell you what the writer wants you to say and ask (and also what he hopes you won’t).
First, be aware the writer knows his novel is flawed.
He didn’t write the novel to get rich.
He didn’t write the novel to become famous.
He wrote the novel in an effort to convey an idea or series of ideas in the best and most engaging way he could.
Let’s cover those pesky don’ts first.
The writer doesn’t want to hear about what you’re reading right now and that you’ll get to his book when you’re done.
The writer doesn’t care when you read his book, only how.
The writer doesn’t want to be asked how he intends to promote his book. It’s a valid subject, of course, but in the heady time just after the book has gone up for sale it’s probably not front-of-mind for the writer.
The writer doesn’t want to be reminded how great it is that it’s become so easy for anyone to write a book and sell it on Amazon.
The writer doesn’t want to be asked how many copies have sold so far.
The writer doesn’t want to be asked if he he’s going to send the book to any real publishers.
Let’s move along to what the writer does want you to ask about.
The writer wants to know if you liked the book. He wants to know if you found any of the characters likable or loathsome or fun or frightening.
He wants you to ask him how he went about writing the characters the way he did.
He wants you to ask if any of the characters were based on people he actually knew or knows.
He wants you to ask what it was about the real person that made him want to form the person into a character in a fictional book.
The writer wants to know if you didn’t like the book.
Trust me on this.
He wants to know if you simply didn’t find the story intriguing or the characters engaging. If he fell short (and he surely did), you’re his best chance of figuring out how he did and maybe even why.
The writer wants you to ask how you decided on the book’s sequence. He wants you to ask how you were able to handle the different times and places while maintaining the book’s coherence and flow.
The writer wants to be asked why he decided to write a book at all?
Why make the effort to do something that consumes literally thousands of hours and, in many cases, years to complete with a vanishing a chance of being appreciated by more than a few readers, let alone to achieve financial compensation commensurate with the effort?
It’s a good question that every aspiring writer has asked himself not only when he first set out to write the book, but likely every single time he sat down to work on it.
The way you ask that question may help the writer draw a closer to his own answer when he asks the question of himself.
He also wants you to ask him about other subjects he may be interested in, or may already be working on.
Finally, he wants to be asked what he learned from writing the book.
He wants you to tell him what you regard as the best part and worst part of his book.
Lastly, the writer wants to know what his book made you think and feel. Were you happy to be done with it, to be relieved of the perceived obligation of reading it, or did its ending leave you wanting more?
Did reading it make you think differently about the writer? Did it change the way you thought about what he might accomplish in the future, based on what you see as the promise or lack of promise manifested in the book you just read?
The writer is asking himself each of these questions as he lays his head on his pillow every night.
Is the writer is an honest soul, looking to achieve beyond his prior achievements?
Though obvious to me, I should say that everything I write here assumes the writer in question is an honest soul. I assume the writer was trying to achieve something bigger and far more importantly than bigger or longer, a work beyond anything he may have written before.
Thinking of a novel as leap of faith.
I think every novel represents a leap of faith for a writer and I believe a writer simply wants to be asked what made him want to take the leap.
That’s a question he’s asking himself, too.
My Novel is Available at Amazon…For Now!
A friend of mine, Fred Greene, does the GolfSmarter podcast. He was kind enough to interview me for his show and I’ve decided to make my novel available at Amazon for the next few months.
Sometime around April or May, I will be taking the book down while I submit it to a handful of publishers.
So, get it while it’s available…
John J. McDermott & the 1971 U.S. Open
Also, I’ll post again when the podcast episode is live.
Thanks for reading.
Do apps like iA Writer and Ulysses really help you write?
I promised myself six months respite between finishing my first novel and starting on my second. The idea was to take some time to research and test drive various writing apps.
Having a mechanism that facilitated the organization of my writing was of primary importance.
Having a writing environment that facilitated the writing process was a plus.
I mean, who doesn’t hate Microsoft Word?
On the other hand, who doesn’t use Microsoft Word?
When it comes to writing, it’s easy to come to see Word as the devil you know which is nearly always preferable to the devil you don’t. Word is not anathema to the creative process. If it was, no one would get anything done with it and there are plenty of writers who do the majority of their work within its environment.
I’m one of them.
But, Word is distracting. Word is inscrutable. Word is ugly.
I narrowed down the initial candidates to iA Writer and Ulysses.
I’m prone to breaking promises I make to myself so rather than a six month respite I’m already working on my next novel. The fun part is that I’m alternating its among Word, iA Writer and Ulysses. You’re right…fun’s not the right word.
I compose for a while and then I cut and paste the copy into Word as a back-up. I also email the copy and dump another copy into A Google Doc but now I’m giving you a bit too much insight into how much I hate the idea of losing my work.
So far, I’m not sure if iA Writer or Ulysses will be of much help to me, anyway. I do like the stripped down nature of the interface but, at least so far, I’m not seeing it as transformational of either my writing process or of my ability to maintain organization of elements of plot, characters, scenes and timeframe.
Initial nit picks about Ulysses include the use of jargon like sheets rather than text or copy. I mean, I know about a sheet of paper and about rain falling in sheets but why use the word to describe something that a sheet isn’t? But, I’m not giving up on it yet.
iA Writer takes the stripped down feel a step further. This can lead to wondering about what, exactly, the app is supposed to be doing for the writer?
I’m going to give both apps more time and copy before I decide which of them (if either) to use.
Today, I am unconvinced about iA Writer and Ulysses but I’m still open to using something other than Word. If any of you use either of them (or any other writing app) I would love to hear your views and experiences.
A slow recovery: The Woolsey Fire
The Woolsey Fire’s destruction is widespread and sobering. But, the slow recovery has already begun as evidenced by the wisps of grass that have sprouted throughout the burn area.
There is our time.
There is geologic time.
Then there is the time the Earth takes to heal after a fire. It falls somewhere between the two extremes but it surely comes more slowly than we would like.
It will be interesting to be a witness to the recovery…to see what species come back the most quickly and in greatest number and density.
Nature is stubborn and clever and I look forward to seeing her work in these areas I know so well.
Untitled 29 is in Flickr Explore
I missed this one somehow and now that it’s managed to catch my eye, I actually rather like it. It has a certain geometry of composition that fits with the way I doodle. It would seem that what my brain envisions as a doodle sometimes works its way into my photos.
No idea if that’s good or bad.
Interestingly, it was shot with my beloved if humble Nikkor Micro 60 f/2.8. This is a somewhat underrated lens that I find to be wonderfully balanced. It’s lightweight, sharp and the front element is set so far back from the end of the barrel that it’s never even crossed my mind to put a filter on it.
Flickr’s Explore algorithm snatched it up yesterday and for once I concur with its inscrutable judgment.
Testimonials
Even more so than my other photos, these three are presented not for their photographic competence but rather as testimonials to what beauty remains after the Woolsey Fire.
I have not yet had the courage to head into the burn zones, to see what can be seen beyond the 101 freeway but I know the destruction is both awesome and terrible.
A good friend of mine spends much of his day riding (or is that racing?) on the canyon roads between the valley and PCH. The other day he told me he was depressed and without thinking I asked him why.
He said, “Because it’s all burned.”
I wanted to hit him with a philosophical way of looking at it but I stopped myself. In my heart I knew that I and many others felt exactly the same kind of deep loss that he did.
Others, of course, have lost more than can be imagined.
It all got me thinking once again about what we still have here in our corner of Los Angeles County. The answer is that we have a lot. The best of it now feels even more fragile and under threat than it did just a few weeks ago.
Anyway, I present these three images as small and humble testimonials to the beautiful hills and grasses and trees that are still here for us to enjoy.
Healing takes a long time.
What’s Special About This?
Sage Park survived…
The Woolsey Fire is now all but out. The evacuation area got as close as a mile from my home. I got out toward the end of last week and saw some of the devastation along the north-bound 101.
Most of the oak trees I have photographed on many of the trails I hike have burned. They stand now like charred skeletons on the fire-darkened slopes. Compared to many of who live not very far from where I do, I was very lucky.
The fire started to the south and west of Sage Park. For days, I wondered if the prevailing winds would allow the dried grasses and oaks of the park survive the inferno and they did.
There’s always something to be thankful for and today I’m thankful for all of the oaks and all of the wildlife and all of the rare open space of Southern California that came through the Woolsey Fire unscathed.
Paul Cervantes 