I had to laugh at a line from a comic asking his audience..
"Have you ever thought of writing a book?... yes?.. me to but I was in a book store and saw one for $5 so I thought ..dam it I will just buy one".
That sortta made a lot of sense given the number of books out there..
so many people I have talked to have an experience, an idea or a talent that is indeed worth recording in a book. But who here has thought of writing "the book"? have you started, have you completed it but not sent it off for a publisher to reject or to rocket you to unwelcomed fame.
I think of the author of the Harry Potter series how life changed for her..for the better or worse we can not tell from the outside.
alex
My cousin wrote his autobiography a few years back.
I thought it was good and easy to read. It is a real insight into the schizophrenic mind.
I did a bit of footwork trying to get it published, but no-one was interested.
Most small stuff like this is self published.
Gotta make room for all the cooking books I guess.. seems like if your have been in the public eye a cook book is a must. Pity the book did not get off the ground such an insite would be interesting I would have thought. I imagine his life would not have all beer and sckitles as they say.
alex
I hope he keeps writing jjj..publishers toast most submissions.. mental illness isn't really a barrier to creativity and expression these days ..best of luck in regard
I have a crazy plan to write Mills and Boon novels to fund my eyepiece collection.
I understand that while you don't get much for the first book you publish, over time you can make a lot of dough from it....$US10,000 or more per edition. Maybe if I spent the time I spend typing on this forum writing for Mills & Boon I would have finished my first manuscript by now!
I have a thread running in another forum its up to about 650 replies, mostly mine, on my hobby horse gravity rain, my belief that gravity is not a force of attraction but is a pushing force probably linked or is dark energy, over 13,000 robots have read it but hardly a public one can make a quid out of.
But if quantity counts all I have to do is edit it bind it and away you go. But I dont know gravity whether it pushes or pulls probably has little appeal to most folk. But I have a killer of a title if ever it gets bound....Gravity does not suck..I figure with a drop dead blonde in a tight dust coat on the cover I may have a chance but any published with any decency or wishing to preserve his cred. wont go near it. But a book about my delusions causing me to go on and on, how a poor old hermit deals with morosophia could be....another story.
alex
alex
David doesn't write anymore. Very sad, he was a very bright young man.
Do you remember the movie "A Beautiful Mind"? It gives you a good idea of how it really is. Though unfortunately in the end my cousin has given into his delusions.
If you wish to read his story, I can email the .txt.
Sadly metal illness affects more people than we might realize !
For me, I dont know about a book but I am certainly keen on writing articles & publishing my Blog !
When I get my Email figured out..nearly there.. I would like that. I really would. Had it figured but it was a hotmail account for me to advise my Son on stuff but over xmas it died and I forgot my user name and password (he made them up and has only tonight texed them to me..in an effort to avoid any work until I get Dads opperation out of the way I am playing dead.. but probably at the end of tomorrow when the stress is behind me I will get it sorted and send you it in a PM.
I was going to suggest that the time to present it to publishers would be when one of those sort of stories is running in one of the movies ..they come out from time to time. Perhaps remind him that many great men were not recognised at first.. I tell myself often Rembrant sold only one painting during his life time(wheteher true or not thats what I tell myself) .. so having sold more than that I am ahead at this point. I have a friend who has to deal with it, he hears voices he knows they are voices in his head, well he admits that to you if he does know I am never sure.. It is sad everyone has deserted him and he is difficult to bear sometimes but what can you do often all you can do is be their friend.
alex
All you can do is go along with what they say, humour them.
Some of it has entertainment value, like the time, for about a year, he was living on Saturn, saving the solar system from a Darth Vader type threat.
But yeah, it's not good.
I guess I was trying to get someone to reveal the motivation. They say one either competes or creates so which box any one thinking about it saw the box they put it in. I write little books that are in the order of instruction but they are for friends UI have done a couple on guitar, selling, for example other stuff even a starter astronomy book but would never put them out there as they are usually a one reader thing.. how to run an office for my Son for example he alone will read it..not bound but usually 100 pages or more so they dont fit either box I guess. I thought we would have a few potential authors here.
alex
I was trying the author bit about 12 years ago. I have this book called the Great Gold Robbery and it was at chapter 4 when I left it. It is all stored in WP 6.1. I decided to write this after reading about this robbery north of me where a gang was able to open the rear door on a Brinks money truck and take off with 6 million bucks. It seems at the depot in Toronto they where able to cut the padlock, follow the truck to a stop the truck always did on the run at a coffee shop. Of course they knew the routine. Never caught since then.
My plot had the gold stolen from a mine refinery and put at the bottom of an out house until things cooled. My reasoning was the cops would never look in such a place. I met a cop at a show after my idea and he said wow never thought of that. So I helped the cops.
Ken that is fantastic and I feel as if I understand your motive in writing your book. If you are thinking of another or not one way to kill it is to tell yourself you dont have enough time. Self talk guides us and of course if you say you dont have enough time that will be the situation. If you say you have enough time although that statement may contradict what is before you there will be enough time. Your wonderful art work shows much of the man you are and your achievements I have followed, your ability to relate to people must be obvious to you and as with art writing holds a large ingredient of practice. I suspect you have an idea of how well your book was recieved by those who have read it take that as encouragement to provide another. When faced with a large task remember how we eat an elephant..a little bit at a time. Man you have a secretary before you as you read this.. open a w/p file and type chapter 1, chapter 2 chapter 3 close it, next time you pass by add a line or two, it will grow and I bet an hour a week will see you with a managable text at some point in the future.
But if nothing else only tell yourself positive things there is no value in shooting your feet and cripple your talent.
I bet your book made a difference to someones life and I feel that was why you wrote it maybe.
best wishes
alex
AND John out of anyone I know you should write a book your experiences would show many people things and places they simply had no idea exist.
I think you may recall a saying truth is stranger than fiction and if I were you I would be leaning in that direction.
alex
I had always sort of "planned" to write a novel, sci-fi of course, but somehow it just hasn't gotten around to writing itself over the years. I have found I'm actually better at short stories so maybe one day I'll write enough of those to fill an entire book.
What I have done however is to have partially written not one but 2 other books ... one has been an ongoing project now for about 5 years or so. It's a kind of fact / reference / self help book in a way, a kind of a guide, with a twist - prefer to keep details to myself still as another book came out last year in a very very similar bent, so similar I wonder if someone I had already spoken to might have talked to someone else, etc.
Anyway I would prefer that no one from the "outside" world read about it here and steal what's still left of my thunder. This one I'd say will have to be self published because due to it's content and planned usage I want it spiral bound (so it can be folded back and lay flat) and with at least part of the book comprised of laminated pages - and no, it's not star charts! lol
The second book that is kind of just coming together is - surprisingly - a book of poetry! I had a customer/friend back in my PC business days who had written a book of poetry, which was published by a small, local company. He gave me their details and suggested I get in touch with them when I'm ready. I may never follow through on this one, but then again I just might!
we need many more people like you 
