THE GUIDING DWIGHT

Hi All, This Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 3-5), I'm launching my first paid national advertising on the very popular website KINDLE NATION .  Go to kindlenationdaily.com.  When you visit the site, you can also read great new reviews and see the stunning book trailer. My acclaimed debut novel THE PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL will be on sale for only $1.99 for those days. The book is about a human embryo allowed to preview the world before choosing whether to be born. This is the same book that's getting some Hollywood buzz lately.  I was contacted by Disney Studios recently after a woman in charge of book-to-film projects came across PROSPECT.  She read it, loved it, and inquired about movie rights.  She is now in conversation with me about my new work-in-progress THE HOPE STORE which is about the first store in the world to sell hope over the counter. She thinks that might be a good fit for Disney. I've just entered this one in the Amazon contest. Though Disney c

The grand experiment continues.  How does a self published writer break through to a national audience, to the Million Kindle Club, to the NY Times best seller list?  A growing number of indy writers have done it.  There is no one secret way that worked for all of them.  It is a combination often of luck, talent and marketing mojo.  Some have broken through by advertising on big sites like Kindle Nation, some have struck gold using the KDP Free Book Giveaway, some are brilliant at networking on countless blogs, some have been blessed by the all-powerful Amazon goddess who gives them special placement on the Amazon site. Today I'm going to share a little success I've experienced using the KDP Free Book Giveaway.  KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing and it's the way we set pricing etc for our kindle books.  Initially I priced the kindle of my novel PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL at $6.95.  Sales were decent but not great.  I sold maybe 5 books a month, netting me about $25 in r

It's that time of year again.  ABNA time.  That stands for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards contest.  For more info, go to amazon.com/abna .  The submission window opens January 23rd.  I'm knee-deep in revisions of my second novel THE HOPE STORE.  Here's the evolving elevator speech for it. The first store in the world opens which sells hope over the counter -- and lives begin to change miraculously.  Customer Jada Upshaw's passionate will to die is pitted against a store owner's will to hope.  It all culminates one windy New Year's Eve night on a lonely rooftop where suicide is a viable outcome.  What happens there on said rooftop will determine the future of the relationship between Jada and the store owner, the fate of a new business venture, and maybe the destiny of all humanity.  It's just another eventful night in the new millennium. CH-CH-CHANGES This synopsis represents a big shift from last year's submitted version of the book.  He

Click here to go to Amazon page. Thanks so much to Dwight for being nice enough to host me on his blog! :) Many people say that they want to write a book, but that they just don’t have the time. Their job is too demanding, they have kids, friends, families and a dog. They have bills to pay, health issues, and perhaps worries about the future. Where in the craziness of modern life are they meant to find the time to bucket a huge amount of energy into pursuing a dream that they’re not sure will even come to fruition? I’m not belittling these doubts – they’re very real for a lot of people – but the one thing that a holds more people back than we’d like to admit is the fear of failure. Because if we don’t pursue our dreams, we can always imagine that they were indeed possible for us before life got in the way. On the other hand, if we go after the dream and it turns out to not go our way then that’s it. We may have to admit that we might not have what it takes. And that’s a scary tho

More than making New Year's resolutions that I know I will break by January 2nd -- I much prefer doing a look back at the past year.  I will start by giving my list of Top 5 Life Events from the past year.  Then I'll move on to things like Top 5 Movies, Musical Acts, Books, Trends, New Products, Cultural Epiphanies, etc.  So come back for more. * * * DWIGHT'S FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2011 I see a lot of movies.  From art films that no one's heard of to PIXAR cartoons.  I don't claim that these were the best films of the year.  They are my favorite.  And they cross a broad spectrum. 1.  50/50 This was an insanely good movie, and will likely be overlooked by the award shows.  (I have since seen that the Golden Globes nominated the film for Best Comedy and Gordon-Levitt for Best Actor in a Comedy!)  The screenplay was inspired by the real life experience of actor Seth Rogen's roommate's diagnosis of brain cancer (he survived as you might guess).  Joseph Gordo

I saw the new MUPPETS movie tonight.  I'm a believer.  It has some of the most touching songs in it including "Pictures in My Head" and "Am I a Man or a Muppet?" (written by New Zealand songwriter Bret McKenzie) and a poignant reprise of "The Rainbow Connection" that has new resonance in a modern context.  Making open reference to the question of whether the muppets are relevant ten years later in this cynical age of ours -- the muppets seem more symbolic than ever.  I bought the digital CD as soon as I got home.  Click below to listen to the songs.  Though I should says the songs are more powerful in the context of the movie. As a novelist, I'm also inspired by the clean character arcs and goals of the characters.  The hero and villain have clear, tangible goals that are mutually exclusive.  So when the climax occurs, we know what's at stake and when the story is over.  I often find that good animated films teach me about the importance of

I was doing some major housecleaning for the new year. For a few weeks cardboard boxes formed a holy circle in the middle of  my apartment.  It looked like I was moving. I should mention that my dear, quirky mother had passed away two years ago.  Barely a day goes by I don't think about her and miss her.  I came upon a box of greeting  cards I had saved.  This one below was from four years ago (just over a year before her stroke) and is really amazing and touching.  For now it has a second  meaning.  It's just like my mom to continue to send me messages after her passing.  She was a woman who adored a good greeting card!

I'm going to break from tradition for a moment.  Usually at "Long Day's Journey Into Dwight," I talk about the writer's challenges and breakthroughs.  But I wanted to share a youtube video that moved me.  There is a high incidence of queer teens -- and those who are perceived to be queer -- who commit suicide.  This brave young man had the wherewithal to make this powerful video.  I wanted to share it.  If you wish to send him a note of encouragement, you can do so at the link below, where you can also view the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg&feature=share Below is the note I wrote to him: Wow, this is a powerful video. And to you, the young man who made it, this is proof of your talent and worth and your right to be here. Stay strong. Rise above the bullies. Thank you so much for making this video which I hope many people see.  When I was younger I was painfully shy and deeply depressed.  I was made fun of for being asian.  They d

I have always loved horizontal headers.  They are at the very top of blogs.  A banner with images and text.  A title.  You see them on some of the more eye-catching blogs.  Websites can be enhanced with a snazzy header too.  Is your blog or website running around like a chicken with its head cut off?  Sites like Blogger can produce very plain and unadorned blogs.  But it's so easy to make them unique and engaging.  I started designing headers for my own blogs and websites to spruce them up.  A header that captures your personality, style, essence is invaluable.  It's a big part of your brand.  Why send your blog out into the world underdressed? Below are three headers I made for non-existent blogs/websites just to give a sense of the styles possible.  Aren't they fun?!  I also gave them the catchy names and subtitles. The sky is truly the limit.  And it occurred to me that there might be others out there in need of a custom-designed header to capture their brand, th

Sometimes it's interesting to hear writers talk about a particular book they've written in terms of the themes they and their characters wrestle with   in a given book.  This also applies to what themes compel a reader as well. My debut speculative novel PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL is about a human embryo allowed to preview the world before deciding whether to be born.  The central question hopefully raised in the mind of the reader is: If I know when I was about to be born everything that I know now about the world and life -- would I have chosen to be born? Or would I have asked to be returned to the gene pool to wait for a later arrival time and a better world? So at one level, the novel is about evolution . Are we evolving or backsliding? How do we create better, happier humans? Another question is how does our world, our species, look to the complete outsider ? Does earth throw out a welcome mat to newcomers? Or would a newcomer observe us for a few weeks and go diving int