Ian O'Regan

Summer Vacation! Gone Writin'

2011-05-24T12:57:00.001-05:00

All right, so I have a deadline coming this summer which I mean to make, so I'm going to be ignoring this blog for a bit - like most of you. (I kid, I kid)

I may update my progress on completing the follow up novel to For Whom The Curtain Calls, but this will likely be sporadic.

Thanks for your continued support, and feel free to contact me via www.ianoregan.com

The Comment Contest remains open, which I admit surprises me a little.

Grammar/Spelling in Blogs, and Comments Open!

2011-05-10T14:11:00.000-05:00

Greetings!

Chicago is awesome. If you have not been, you should go there right now. Buy a copy of my book, hop on a plane, and go enjoy this great city. If you can't go right this very minute, buy a copy of my book, and then think about planning a trip.

As an author, grammar and spelling are kind of critical to telling a good story and keeping the reader in the story. Typos and other felonies of the written word are jarring to a reader, and so should be quashed with extreme prejudice. But one must draw the line somewhere, musn't one?

I've seen the Facebook page that is titled (something like), "I Look Down on You When You Use Bad Grammar." That would totally be my kind of page, except that I'm afraid that's too broad a brush for my tastes. Texts, blogs, chats - these things are often done quickly, and to hold your friends accountable for every keystroke in these formats isn't something I don't feel right about. Of course I notice every "It worked good," and "Your welcome," - but I don't smirk or shake my head at these accidents of speed.

All that to say I will from time to time have errors in my posts. I had several in my last one, primarily (I believe), because I wrote the whole thing on an airplane using my iPhone (I love you, iPhone!). I try to proof them as I go, but posts for me are the same as they are for most people - quickly fired off thoughts and information. I worry very much about editing in my work, but not so much around here.

So scoff if you must when you see something amiss, but know that I really would have found it, had I looked.

Comments Open!
I've never opened comments, primarily because of my inconsistent posting/review of the site. I hate the idea of someone commenting something to me directly, and my ignoring it for days because I wasn't looking. Also, some people are only happy when they're insulting/degrading other people on comment boards. I don't want to have to police the site (not that I imagine a lot of people will post, or that they'll act like that), and determine what is and is not offensive. So as best I can, I'll leave comments up unless I deem them ... "flat out rude." That's a decent standard to hold you to, is it not?

First three people to comment receive a free copy of the second Denton Rourke novel when it's published. Comments using bad grammar will be voided. (I kid, I kid!)

Where I Struggle as an Indie Author

2011-05-06T11:36:00.000-05:00

When I look back on leaving my very good agent and going the independent route some many months ago,I still consider the decision correct. I gained complete control of content, design, pricing, and publication timing - things almost automatically lost when an author signs with a large publisher.

There are a couple of obvious things I lost, too. One was a huge marketing backing which includes advertising and large bookstore placement. I remain fine with this. The one thing i don't have which I believe provides real benefit: mandatory deadlines established by someone else.

When you're your own boss, it's very easy (VERY VERY EASY)to ignore self imposed timelines. I don't blow off my writing and other author duties A LOT, bit it happens. Like this week.

I owe myself three new chapters and I owe Melanie N. A winner of a signed copy of the original, her prize. The chapters dot worry me, but I had to leave for Chicago this week before I got her prize mailed out. Apologies, Melanie. I'll fix this when I land this afternoon.

Oh yes...the other thing I didn't get: a huge advance and a hit tub full of chocolate pie. But most new authors don't get those things anyway...

Have a great weekend!

Winner of FWTCC Book Giveaway!

2011-04-26T19:15:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Melanie of Idaho! She wins an autographed copy of For Whom the Curtain Calls from the giveaway I ran at the excellent Reader blog, I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. Thanks to Kathy for running my interview and the book giveaway.

Melanie - I'm going to be in Houston most of the week, but will return home Friday evening. I'll put your book in the post first thing Saturday.

And ... what the heck, Melanie - I'm also going to give you a free copy of the sequel when it's released this December. (You may have to remind me of this come November, as I'll be hopelessly disorganized by then.)

Thanks to everyone who entered, who followed my blog and FB page, and special thanks to those of you who don't run off now that the contest is over. Don't forget - you can still win a free copy of the sequel, and a chance to have a character named after you in the sequel. The details are in a previous post that I'm too lazy to go find and link to. YOU find it - come on - for a free book!

Writer's "Rules" that Suck

2011-04-25T19:08:00.000-05:00

This is not an advice blog for writers. This is actually barely a blog at all ... but whatever it is, it isn't that first thing I mentioned.

Writers - myself included - have plenty of brilliant advice to give other aspiring writers. And most of it is total crap. It's not that we don't think the advice we offer is useful - it's not that it isn't useful. But writing is a very personal thing, and what I think is useful - or even mandatory - for myself might not be at all good for someone else. So here are a couple of rules we all see very often that I think one must look at closely before deciding to follow.

"Write Every Day"
I hate this rule for a number of reasons. First and foremost for the writer, author, aspiring author, etc. who also works a "real job" 40 - 50 hours a week, missing a day or two - or more - can jam the writer full of guilt and feelings of failure.

Along the same lines, some writers - even amateurs - are streaky writers. Things come to them, and they pour it out, then some other idea begins to gestate, and at some point later it becomes ready to be written.

IF you can write something every day, go for it. A line here and there is fine, a paragraph if you've got it in you and it needs to come out. But don't beat yourself up if there are days when you're in front of the computer monitor watching Scooby-Doo on Netflix instead of working on the next great novel. Now, if you haven't written anything in two weeks, and you want to be a writer, you may need to come up with a manageable writing schedule. If you're a writer, you will. And you'll get there.

"Don't Follow Trends - Write What Makes YOU Happy"
What the...? Getting PAID makes me happy! What's the trend? Vampires? Lesbians? Aliens? Wizards? Alien Lesbian Vampire Wizards? I am THERE! Look at the NYT fiction list, watch television, see movies. You'll see what the flavor of the month is. You JUMP on it, and write whatever crap that's already being mass produced ad nauseum - just put your own twist on it. Make your Vampire Wizard Belgian, or something.
(....totally kidding - please don't do that)

Okay, real advice I feel safe giving to anyone who wants to write? Tell a good story. That's it. Whatever topic you choose, don't forget you're trying to entertain the reader. There are lots of ways to tell a good story. But you HAVE to do that.

Okay - no more writer tips.

Giveaway Contest Ending, Be in the Sequel, and Possibly other Random Thoughts

2011-04-15T20:48:00.000-05:00

Great news, everyone! All right, not everyone, but everyone who read For Whom the Curtain Calls and emailed me saying you couldn't wait for the sequel. For everyone else, it's just regular news that could turn into great news if you read FWTCC. (Sheesh - what a disclaimer!)

So yes, readers - the follow-up to Denton Rourke's first adventure has moved from note organizing and small bits of dialogue and scene writing on paper to full-fledged, real chapter writing! Having never written a sequel, I have to say that I'm very excited about where this new novel will take Denton Rourke and his supporting characters. You'll get your chance to agree or disagree in early December.

But SOME of you might see some pages earlier than that. And SOME of you might see your own name in the book ... if you want. And yes, a few of you might win a free copy of the paperback version.

But first things first. Kathy over at the very cool, I Am a Reader, Not a Writer has a giveaway running for FWTCC, and I believe it ends today/tonight. Many of you know this already, but if you didn't know and you want a shot at grabbing 300+ pages of fun for free, better hurry over there. Actually, head over there either way. Lots to see and read.

Now, let me preface all this giveaway stuff I'm getting ready to write with the following: "All giveaway offers are subject to the whims/foils/sobriety level of the author, and cannot be construed as a promise to give winners anything of value for any activity."

Please know I have every intention of coming through on what I'm offering, but in case I accidentally imply that I'll buy someone a Ferrari or pay for a kid's college tuition if they buy my book, I need an out. So there you go.

Reviewer Contest - the first 20 people who review FWTCC on Amazon.com (does NOT have to be a positive review - if you don't think it deserves 5 stars, or 4 stars, or even 3, then don't rate it as such), will have their names listed in a special acknowledgement section of the sequel (if they want). 3 of those 20 (random draw) will get a free autographed copy when it is published. 1 of the 20 will have a character/event/subway station named after them in the sequel. Send an email to the correct address listed at http://www.ianoregan.com/ with your Amazon user name and pertinent contact info.

Referrals = Author stuff! - refer FWTCC to a friend and if they buy it, have them send an email of their purchase confirmation and YOUR name to the email listed at http://www.ianoregan.com/, and you'll both get autographed random stuff I have laying around from the development of the original novel. This is not a random draw. If you make a referral and they buy it, you both get something. I'll stop the offer when I run out of stuff, or get tired.

Check the "Win Stuff" section of my web page.

Random thoughts for this post ... hmm ... none. Well, I'll be publishing the soundtrack to book 2 soon (music that will play as I write). Maybe for FWTCC, too. I think I kept the set list.

Have a great weekend!

Sequels, Organizing the Random, What Authors LOVE to Hear

2011-04-02T13:26:00.001-05:00

For those of you who have emailed the main website to ask if there will be a second Denton Rourke novel, the answer is yes. I'm hard at work on the second novel in the series, and by "hard at work," I mean I'm still trying to put my eight bazillion pages of hand-written notes in some kind of comprehendible order.

I know there are authors who simply take a story idea and begin writing without knowing how things will turn out until they get there. There's nothing wrong with that approach, but it doesn't seem to be the way I work. As illogical as this probably sounds, the quirky and random antics of Denton Rourke's world require a very proper order of unfolding events. That's right - his bizarre and unpredictable world has, to this point, been very well planned out in advance.

The problem for me is when I write out notes for a novel, I tend to be all over the place in terms of plot points, dialogue, early chapters vs. later chapters, etc. The result is pages and pages of notes, each containing multiple story points and ideas, making organization in a "start to finish" format very difficult. I swore after FWTCC I wouldn't do that on the second novel.

Now, as I sift through another pack of notes whose "organization" looks remarkably similar to the system I used in FWTCC, I realize that perhaps this is just my process, and I should go with it. There are a lot of good ideas and story material in there, I suppose I should be happy about that, and grin and bear the way the ideas come together for me.

So here's to randomness!

If you'll permit me, I'd like to share a bit of a reader email I received the other day:

"Curse you....I will be late to the office because i had to both stay up late trying to finish the book followed by waking up early to get it done. Loved it...really a wonderful book"

All authors appreciate when readers enjoy their work, but we LOVE to hear that something we wrote forced a reader out of their normal routine so they could keep reading. Great stuff. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wonderful Insights Coming - Stay Tuned

2011-03-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

Hi there,

I have actually written some new stuff to add to my blog, but at the moment my head feels like it's been crammed full of tacks, or cactus, or something equally pointy and uncomfortable.

So ... I hope you're all well. I promise to update this by the weekend. You look great, by the way.

--Ian

Rules to Buildng Denton Rourke's World: None. Well ... Almost None ...

2011-03-23T18:04:00.001-05:00

As it says on the cover, FWTCC is "a mystery, a comedy, an absurdity." In order to bring the absurdity of Denton Rourke's world to life, I looked a lot of the rules that exist in the world we live in, and I removed them - or at the very least ignored them. Now, I wanted their world to be off-kilter, but not grossly outlandish or unrecognizable. So they have a lot of the basics we do, like gravity, time, cause and effect, good and bad, etc. and they do not have things like super deathray guns, talking animals, or evil twins who show up in the third act to "surprise" everyone.

To achieve a world readers could enjoy wandering about in with Denton, I asked two basic questions over and over whenever the logic center of my brain (which has since given up on me and left to find a nice home with an accountant or some such thing) tried to say, "X item doesn't do that," or "That's not how X reacts to Y." The questions were "Why not?" and "So what?"

Sure, Denton's bathroom scale can't talk, but why can't it have a snarky personality? Why can't it taunt him from its haughty position near his mirror? Of course a low-life thug rarely if ever gets into a fight with a large, cranky bird. So what? He's gonna today - with absurd results. And so on and so on.

I think the result is a world readers almost recognize, but one that makes them laugh or gasp when the standard rules are suddenly tossed out the window.

We all have enough rules to deal with in our everyday lives. I want my novels to allow readers to kick those rules out for a time. It's fun to write that way, and I hope it's fun to read, too.

Giving Readers What They Want: Pie!

2011-03-20T10:58:00.000-05:00

No, I kid, I kid - there's no pie here, sorry. Well, there is in a way, I hope, but don't run off in search of a fork. No, but in my approach to writing For Whom the Curtain Calls, I had in mind the idea of giving a mystery reader the story equivalent of dessert. Readers open a book for a fairly singular reason: for entertainment. Sure, there are subsets in there, but from emotional dramas, to psycho thrillers and beyond, readers begin each journey into a book with the idea of having a particular interest filled. They don't have to read anything, so if they are going to read, they want their expectations met. They want their pie.

And frankly, readers, you deserve that pie! Demand it!

With FWTCC, I tried to look at the pie scenario like this: if you want a piece of pie, you want it right then and there. If you go to the ice box and find a boxed pie, and the instructions read, "Thaw for 45 minutes," well ... that sucks. Yeah, you'll eventually get your pie fix, but you have to open the box, unwrap the pie, and then wait. And wait.

I wanted to get rid of the box and the thaw time, I wanted readers to get their pie right off the bat and get as much as they wanted. There's an old writer's advice line about removing "all the stuff readers skip over." I tried to do that wherever possible while retaining enough back story to keep readers up to speed with the characters.

So FWTCC is supposed to be a funny, quirky, and somewhat bizarre mystery novel. Less a "whodunnit" and more a "whatthehellisgoingtohappennext" kind of thing. I'm told it's fun to read and moves briskly.

Translation: lots of pie, very few calories. Grab your napkins and dig in!

My First Apple Product, My First Visit to an Apple Store

2011-03-06T13:37:00.000-06:00

I'd say I'm going off-topic on this post, but I don't recall ever promising a singular theme here, so I think I'm safe. I recently purchased my very first Apple product: a Verizon iPhone 4. Naturally, I have seen all the commercials and know all about the promise of Apple products in general, and am aware of the ... um ... "intensity" of the Apple fan base.

I didn't buy the phone for its heritage or brand name. I bought it because it was time to renew and by all accounts the iPhone is - though debatable by many - the most polished phone available today. I'm pleased to say that in my mind it has lived up to the hype, providing an excellent mix of cool apps, built-in conveniences, and - thanks to my mobile service provider - a very clear phone signal. In short, it's been awesome.

Or, it WAS awesome. Then after a mere three weeks it turned itself off and would not turn back on. Now, Apple fans who are already scoffing and muttering about this or that trick, please remember: FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH APPLE PRODUCT. It has two buttons. Holding either one down did nothing. Plugging it into the charger did nothing. Taking it to the Verizon store (pay attention VZN customers) did nothing, as they are not allowed to touch the iPhones. You must take it to an Apple store.

No problem - there's on on my way home from work. I arrived at the large, well lit and very open Apple store and walked straight back to the "Genius Bar" (having remembered reading about this area in a magazine) where Apple experts stand ready to assist customers with product issues.

If you have an appointment, that is.

The nice Genius who explained this to me seemed empathetic to my dazed look and admission that this was my first time in an Apple store and my first Apple product had pooped out. She quickly entered an appointment into the computer for me - but since the first appointment available was an hour away, she said she'd try to get me squeezed in since I was already there.

20 minutes later, having heard nothing from her as she helped other people and walked by me without making eye contact, 8 employees emerged from a door in the back of the store and heartily cheered a 9th employee as he exited the store. They followed him to the front, clapping and hooting, and then made their way back past me and disappeared behind the magic door once again. I sensed I could better use my time by tracking down dinner and drinks and returning at my appointment time.

At precisely my appointment time I wandered back into the store and before I could even check in, a smiling young man approached me and asked, "Are you Ian?"

I said I was. He introduced himself by name and said he'd be helping me. I handed him my phone, told him the basic story again (new to Apple products, new to store, phone stopped working). We chatted a few seconds about the phone itself, Verizon, the Facebook app I'd been using when it quit on me. As we talked, I noticed that he'd turned the phone on.

"Hey - how'd you do THAT?" I asked. He said it was the "two button reset" - Apple's equivalent to a hard reset. Now, though I'm not a genius, I'm VERY aware of hard reset scenarios for electronic equipment. I obviously could have looked that up online, had I not been exasperated already when the phone died. But I was glad to know how to do it, and the guy was kind enough to show me some settings that would also help save my battery life. In short - he was punctual, friendly, and helpful. So score 1 for Apple Stores.

But ... why couldn't the first "Genius" tell me this? It would have taken less time to do the reset than to set me up an appointment I clearly didn't need. Minus 1 for her.

Overall I'm glad I went in and tested their service. I'd go back if my iPhone had another issue and I couldn't figure it out on my own.

Not that Apple products have any issues - other than user error, of course. :)

PR, Pandering, and Price

2011-02-22T21:23:00.001-06:00

I'm ignoring the "Here From There" segment because I've kind of forgotten where I left off, and I'd rather talk about something else right now: the fine line between marketing to your friends, and being a pain in their collective arse.

The toughest thing so far about being an indie author is having to generate "buzz" on my own, which essentially has meant bugging my Facebook friends and everyone in my email address book about For Whom the Curtain Calls and hoping they'd all buy it, even though I know that's not how it works.

I never expected everyone I knew to buy it - I estimated that 30% of my Facebook friends would buy it. So far we're at about 20%. Not a bad result, considering the Nook, Sony and iBookstore versions aren't out yet, and a lot of my friends are tech-savvy, smart, snappy dressers, and stunningly attractive.

See? That's pandering. (Yes, it's really more butt kissing than pandering per se, but - look at the title...) But sales are slowing more quickly than I'd like, and I'm determined make sure everyone in my circle understands the book really is available now. And since I plan to basically shut down the "Ian's Friends Network," and stop emailing and posting messages to them about my book very soon, a little over the top flattery is acceptable.

So what's next to try? Well, the eBook formats have huge followings of fans, so I'm going to make it difficult for them NOT to take a chance on a new author with some decent reviews under his belt. I'm going to make the eBook formats stupid cheap. How cheap? Find out in March.

May I share one review with you? I received it via email and it meant a lot to me. I've edited it for space and spoilers.

"SUPER hilarious. Honestly - with 100% honesty - it was an awesome read: clever & very witty, gruesome (in parts), hard-boiled (in parts), hilarious (all parts) and a page-turner in every sense."

Getting to Here From There - Part 2

2011-02-06T11:32:00.000-06:00

I must have read the contract ten times with a big, stupid grin on my face. A standard literary agency/author contract offering me representation for a very standard percentage of anything they sold for me. I had many reasons to be thrilled. I had landed a deal with a legitimate, successful agency and my agent's track record and reputation were impressive. He knew the business and he knew it well. Before I'd even signed with him, he'd requested changes to the book that in the final analysis made it so much better.

My agent and his assistant quickly went to work creating a full-blown proposal package including a synopsis, marketing plan, author bio, and more. The package looked awesome and immediately showed me what an agent can offer. It went out to three publishing houses, two large, on smaller but still a known name.

Now, having studied the industry as much as I had prior to getting an agent, there were things I understood right off the bat that seem important to mention. First, I knew above all, getting a deal takes time - often a long time. Second, I understood fully that first-time novelists, if they get ANY kind of deal, do not often get "life changing" money. The average contract for a first-timer is less than $5,000.

I had expected rejections. I knew convincing someone who reads a dozen manuscripts a week that mine was THE one to take a chance on would be difficult at best. What I hadn't expected was to hear big publishing houses say they REALLY liked it, but didn't have a good place to "fit" it in their current mystery collections.

I thought we'd find editors who didn't like it for one reason or another. But time and time again we received notices that, while considered very good, it wasn't enough like their current content to bring it on.

Though this was unexpected, it wasn't nearly as unexpected as what came next from my agent.

Final Proof Copies!

2011-02-06T10:40:00.000-06:00

My final proofs are here and they're solid. I'll be approving them shortly, and will have release information updated here, at the website, and on Facebook either Monday or Tuesday evening.

Notice in the background of pic 2 my #1 fan eagerly awaiting a copy.

Getting to Here From There - Part 1

2011-02-02T19:15:00.001-06:00

I'll probably break this explanation up into a few posts so that it doesn't take three hours to read. As I started thinking through this, I noticed several tangents jumping out, demanding attention and "air time," so I apologize in advance if this is all over the place.

The question: "So how did all this happen?"

Well, in the beginning, it was pretty much like any other writer's path. I had wanted to write a book for some time, and I finally sat down with an idea, fleshed it out, and started writing. Night after night I'd come home from work and go at it. I stopped playing golf (not completely, mind you), I stopped watching television (and am only now sitting down to watch the first season of Mad Men on DVD - don't spoil it!), and just wrote.

Some 9 months after I first started hitting the keys, I completed the first draft. I printed it, spent a few days looking at it on my desk, admiring how many pages I had put words on. Then I went about the much-needed task of rewriting.

Another couple of months and several drafts later, I had what I thought was a good manuscript to have people read and provide feedback. I gave it to three people, two people I knew to be honest, but who I knew all the same, and a friend of my wife's who is a "huge" mystery reader and someone I didn't know at all.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and excited. They were asking for sequel dates. One of them started reading it at work and didn't go home that night until they finished it. Encouraging, to be sure. So I went about editing and rewriting it again.

At version 6 (I think) I felt the manuscript was in good enough shape that I could land a quality literary agent with it, thereby giving me a great shot at getting a serious deal with a big publishing house.

Turns out I was right about a lot. But I was wrong about a lot, too.

Skipping Ahead A Bit

2011-02-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

So, this very first post of my blog on how my novel, For Whom the Curtain Calls, came to life is already off track because I have to move ahead of my planned topic. I intended to provide a bit of history on how the book went from manuscript, to agented material, to publishing house rejection, to non-agented material, to published novel.

But that has to wait because something happened as I began to put this together. My email box for preorders blinked with a bold (1) in front of it.

I received my first preorder confirmation from ianoregan.com. I have sold my first copy.

It's very exciting to see, yet also very surreal. Someone has willingly parted with their money in order to read my novel. And though I'm confident the product is entertaining, I feel a sudden shot of hyper-responsibility to the audience creeping over me. People are paying to read this. It BETTER be good.

Fortunately, it IS good - very good, in fact (I have it on very good authority from half a dozen testers who can be trusted). When I wrote FWTCC, I had only one rule for myself: make it fun for the reader. I think I've done that. But why not find out for yourself? There are plenty of spots in the preoder inbox. Why not take one? :)

Up next: Shameless Self-Promotion on your own Blog (no, no ...)