July 2006 Blogs

I wasn't really sure what to put up for the July Photo of the Month, and so I just set up the camera atop my stereo which sits atop the kitchen table which has functioned as my writing desk for the past month and a half. I've figured out how to take black-and-white pictures and how to do it in low light without the flash. It gives the picture a grainy quality I like.

Saturday July 29, 2006
Today was one of those painstakingly slow days writing wise. The novel's drawing to a climax, and it has this twist ending where the pieces must come together just right. The problem is, I don't really know what's going to happen until I sit down to write.

I have a very vivid scene I want to get the novel to at the climax, but the stuff leading up to that you just have to work through day to day. All of these threads are beginning to connect in the storyline.

The end product's really neat to see, but making it happen scene by scene takes patience, resolve, and discipline to make it work believably and plausibly.

At any rate, I managed about 800 words, bringing the total word count to 48,494 at 247 pages.

Had a nice walk with Susan and the dogs just now before sitting down to write this blog. We're going out to eat tonight, and our plan is to buy a washer and dryer at Home Depot afterwards.

Stacey

PS I finally worked through a setback on the "Archived Blogs" at the bottom of the page that'll enable me to keep the video clips on the backup. Last month, I hit a snag where it wasn't loading the html code for the videos. Problem seems to be resolved.

Friday July 28, 2006
Well, I managed to write just over a thousand words today on the suspense novel bringing the word count total up to 47,697 at 242 pages.

The end is in sight. It's always fun predicting what the word count will work out to be. Now, that I'm writing my ninth novel I've got a pretty good sense of pacing and how long it will take me to get where I need to go with this novel, and so my best guess is the final draft is going to come in somewhere around 60,000 words.

Had a very nice bike ride this evening from 6:00-7:45 and cooked pork chops on the grill for dinner.

Stacey



Thurday July 27, 2006
Busy day today. I managed to hammer out another thousand words on the new suspense novel, bringing the word count total up to 46,582 at 236 pages.

The move-in is almost done. All that remains is a bunch of unpacking.

This evening I went to the Write to Publish group meeting, which meets monthly at the regional public library where I live. Afterwards, a smaller group of us went out to eat at a pizza joint.

It's ten minutes to midnight, and I've still got a few things I need to do tonight, so I better sign off for now.

Tomorrow, I'd like to do a little more writing on the suspense novel. I don't know whether I'll be able to. Could be a busy day.

Stacey


Wednesday July 26, 2006
Well, I managed to write a few words yesterday on the suspense novel, even in the midst of the continual move-in to the new house. The word count total stands at 45,603 at 231 pages.

It doesn't look like I'm going to get a lot of quality time to work on it today; we're supposed to have a new dishwasher delivered this morning between 9-11 from Sears. After that, we've got contractors in the house this afternoon finishing up a kitchen remodeling we're having done. Also, I need to move the final few pieces of furniture from our rental house to Goodwill, and that's going to take up a big chunk of the afternoon.

At any rate, I'm alive and well, and I should be able to finish up this new supsense novel sometime in the next 2-3 weeks.

SC


Sunday July 23, 2006
Well last night was the first night that I slept in the new house. We had a rainfall overnight, and everything is cool and damp outside this morning. I've made my first pot of coffee in the new house:)

What this means in terms of writing is that I am one step closer to being settled in, and one step closer to getting back to finishing the suspense novel I started earlier this summer.

The word count is currently at 44,979 at 228 pages. If possible I'd like to bring this novel to a close somewhere around 65,000 words because that is a really attractive length for agents and editors to work with.

At any rate, I still have a ton of stuff to move today, and so there's not going to be any writing going on until at least tomorrow. Most likely Tuesday will be the first day back on the novel.

That's a good goal.

SC



Thursday July 20, 2006
I'm alive and back in Raleigh. Susan and I left Chattanooga on Sunday and drove up to her uncle and aunt's place in Pleasant Hill. We stayed there until yesterday. On the way home, we stopped by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The agent query responses are rolling in like mad, and I've got a number of manuscripts I need to print up and send out. It's amazing how many positive responses have come in already, requesting a copy of Claws. All this, and I still have about another 100 agents left to query.

It's 11:45 PM local time, and I'm going to get off of this here blog and print up manuscripts to put in the mail.

Here's footage from inside the National Park at Clingman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee...

Sunday July 16, 2006 Okay, in terms of sheer photographability, today's trip may not have topped the southern funkability of yesterday's to Rock City, but I still managed to get some pretty good footage at the Tennessee Aquarium of some fish... Probably my favorite video clip in terms of the way it filmed was of the catfish. This guy was huge... Another one that filmed pretty well was the Sturgeon. Not exactly the most pretty fish in the world, but slow enough to film (and the light was good in its tank)... By far the most exciting one though was the shark. In the clip, it seems to be coming right at you for a moment... Today, we're packing up and heading out from Chattanooga. Susan and I will be spending a couple days at her Uncle Bill and Aunt Herbie's home in Pleasant Hill. Stacey Saturday July 15, 2006 Yesterday, while Susan was doing conference stuff, I drove up to Rock City Gardens... Rock City Gardens is an elaborate mountaintop garden area that winds all through some pretty spectacular rock formations. Tickets are $15 for an adult, and it takes about two hours to cover the designated trail through the labyrinth of rocky corridors... Some of these are narrow, and it makes walking through them difficult... There are a couple of wildlife exhibits... And a swinging bridge... Where I shot this video... About midway through the tour, you reach an area where they say that you can see seven states... I've saved you the money and the time. Here at staceycochran.com you can see all seven states for free! Here's a picture of me hanging out at Eagle's Nest... And here's one near Lover's Leap... This next one was taken standing at Lover's Leap... Once there though, the real fun of the trip begins. You can see a spectacular waterfall... And the underground part of the tour begins... Legend has it that elves and gnomes live on the grounds. I managed to capture one hanging out by this underground pond... Occasionally, on the undergound part of the tour, you can come out and see the light, like near this 1000 ton balancing rock... The last part of the tour is the most interesting. It passed through an elaborate maze of underground caverns known as Fairyland Caverns... Here's a random picture of your tour guide somewhere underground amidst the caverns... The Fairyland Caverns are filled with a couple dozen dioramas from various well known children's fairy tales. They're all lighted with black lights... Hansel and Gretel was one of the better ones, as was Little Red Riding Hood... And the tour ends in a giant underground room that leads to Cinderella's Castle... It's gonna be tough to top that today, but I'll see what I can do. Stacey Friday July 14, 2006 I am alive and in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This week has been a whirlwind week that has seen Susan and I beginning to move from our rental house in Raleigh, North Carolina to the home we closed on last Friday (also in Raleigh). Also, this week Susan's dad, two uncles (Gary and Bob), and aunt (Vangie) visited us in Raleigh, and then we all got together at the Angus Barn for dinner Wednesday night with my parents who drove up from Pinehurst. On top of this, 98 queries went out to literary agents last weekend, and so the first barrage of responses came in the past few days. Because everything is getting packed and is between houses, it made responding to the agents difficult. All of this is fun, mind you. I much rather prefer having to figure out how to print up a 350-page manuscript without a printer than not having any agents responding to my queries at all. And so yesterday, Susan and I got underway early driving from Raleigh to Chattanooga in about twelve hours with a couple hour stop in Greensboro and about an hour stop in Alcoa at Susan's Aunt Beth and Uncle Joe's place. Right this moment, I am in the hotel room at the World Famous Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel and Convention Center, where free wireless is available. We are here for the WPA Convention, which is being held until Sunday. I found out this week some more good news that I may be able to sell an interview I've been working on, off and on for about a year. More on this later, when the details are worked out more firmly. At any rate, it's been a great week, and I'll try to get some photos today from around Chattanooga. For now, all we have is a rather "Godfather"-esque photo of Uncle Gary working the crowd inside Greensboro, North Carolina's Yum-Yum restaurant. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Don Corleone Gary... Monday July 10, 2006 I put another 23 queries in the mail today to literary agents. That brings the weekend total up to 98. That should garner some kind of response (even if it's nothing more than 98 rejections), and I still have about another 100 agents left. And I got this really cool goat video... Sunday July 9, 2006 It is Sunday morning, and I've managed to put together another 14 queries for agents regarding my suspense novel Claws. That brings the total up to 75 letters that will have gone out over this weekend. Susan and I are going to spend most of the day today continuing to prep the new house (yard work, painting, light moving), and so I'll most likely not be able to add too many letters to what have already been sent. The cool thing about doing a mass agency query like this, is that it ensures you'll be getting some mail and some responses in the weeks ahead. It activates things. Ideally, I'd like to get to where I have a couple hundred queries out every month. Then, I'm constantly sending and receiving feedback from folks in the business. Having a permanent address helps get things started. Stacey Friday July 7, 2006 Well, it's official, folks. Susan and I have closed on the purchase of our new home! I've hesitated to put any news about the home on the blog, but we signed the paperwork this morning and we'll pick up the keys sometime this afternoon. Based on the knowledge that I will finally have a permanent address, I began the agent query process again. Here's a couple of pictures of me this morning stuffin' envelopes with the query letter and SASE... As far back as March of this year, I had figured out a system by which I could send out several hundred queries per month, but I ran into a roadblock with moving across the country and not knowing exactly where I'd be living. Last night and this morning, I put together 61 queries addressed to literary agents regarding my novel Claws. So, as of today, Claws is now under submission to 61 literary agents, and I'd like to put another 39 letters together this afternoon and evening to bring the total up to 100. This is in addition to the 74 literary agents queried last year, and it would bring the overall total up to 174 literary agents who have been queried for this novel. After that, I still have about 100 more agents to go, and then I'll begin querying editors again. My goal is to work up to being able to knock out 500 submissions over a weekend. Stacey Wednesday July 5, 2006 For the 4th of July, my wife and I drove over to my parents' house in Pinehurst, North Carolina. It's about an hour's drive from Raleigh. Here's a picture of Susan and I just minutes before leaving... Once there, I was able to shoot this video in the driveway in front of their house... For dinner, we had Bar-B-Q at the Pinehurst Country Club, where this blue grass band was playing... Afterwards, I had the opportunity to take some photos of Mom & Dad clowning around by the statue of Payne Stewart, winner of the 1999 U.S. Open. Talk about fun!... The fireworks display was visible from the porch out by the Pinehurst Country Club, so after the "photo shoot" we set up a table, played a game of Scrabble, and waited for darkness to settle in... And for the show to begin... Happy 4th of July, everyone! Stacey Tuesday July 4, 2006 Happy 4th of July, everybody! Well, it's been a busy couple of days. We have a new winner in the final Amber Page free T-shirt Give-Away. Diane from Iowa was the lucky winner, and you should be able to see the video of the drawing at the top of the this page. We had six total entries in this latest drawing, from as far away as the Netherlands, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Thanks to all who entered. For the next T-shirt drawing on September 30, 2006, I'm going to start giving away merchandise for The Colorado Sequence, the new action-thriller I plan to publish this fall/winter. As long as we get more than three or four entries each quarter, I'll keep doing a give-away. They're fun, and it's a good way to connect with folks who are coming across this site. Feel free to go ahead and enter now for the September 30, 2006 drawing. The snazzy black T-shirt featured at the top of the page will be the prize. Pretty cool! Well, have a fun and safe 4th of July. Susan and I are heading down to my folks' place in Pinehurst for Bar-B-Q and fireworks. If I can remember it, I'll try and take my camera. Maybe I can get some footage of the fireworks tonight. That'd be cool to have on the website. Stay tuned... And thanks, as always, for reading. Have a safe and happy holiday. Stacey