@Jaynebug - 

Having a writer go out and pound the pavement to sell a book is like giving a beat cop a desk job. It's why I don't go into writing./ You're almost there! Good luck. :)

re: the long comment, I read it!  I just stopped by to see if Rufus was counting words...

@travelerblue - rufus' only contribution is to chew the corners and to sit where i need to put the mss... right now he's outside, waiting for the neighbor cat to show up so they can have the alpha cat fight again since they can't decide who's boss yet!

@Jaynebug - did that first! i've learned the hard way when i cut a third of a book and threw it away! you can't rewrite that much! O.o

@k8tthelate - thanks!

@GuybrushDaPirate - my writing doesn't tend to be hard reads- for that very point... plus i know my audience doesn't usually read- so while they might be long, they are easy reads! i try to keep it at 4th- 5th grade readability... but long- like a real book and one that doesn't dummy down the content. i want kids who don't read to pick up my books and never put them down- to see a bit of themselves in my characters and find a lot of hope... if a book could do that, i'd be happy! :)

@PeaceSearcher - doesn't make the cutting any easier tho, does it?

@POETIC_ISIS - thanks! this last 24 pages is harder bc it's the pretty phrasing at points... sigh!

Dear Jeri,

Thank you for introducing me to yet another Asian personality below in Terry Tye Lee.

If memory serves, Van Ness never got to perform in L.A. last year. He was scheduled for either the Staples Center or L.A. Live, and the performance was cancelled. I can't remember the particulars now.

You know, even a great such as Nat King Cole gained fame in foreign countries (and even went so far as to rerecord his hits phonetically in other languages, which I always found rather neat) but he was also a giant in the U.S. (and also the first black performer with his own T.V. show, which I remember watching as a child.)

Re: This entry. I never participate in contests. I'm pretty much satisfied that my writing will probably never be read by anyone other than those who stumble upon my website. I remember when I had interest in poetry contests, but I couldn't and wouldn't "conform" my writing to a format. Even prose. Of course it might be beneficial for me to edit more often. (Nyuk Nyuk.) Most of my "comments" on Xanga are longer than the average blogpost.

Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool

@baldmike2004 - next time Van Ness performs in LA let me know in time to sell a kidney and buy tickets- concert and airfare! ;) /jk/... i don't think i'll ever see him perform live in this lifetime. performers such as Nat King Cole broke thru the color barrier at a time when ppl thought it would be impossible, but i don't think an Asian American has done that yet- could be wrong- just can't think of one. I know a lot are trying, but a lot more are going to Asia where they become super-stars. contests are kind of the last resort b4 self-publishing. i need to say that i've tried everything first- for my own self! and i love your long comments!

@reckless_eagle - i've done a lot of that networking in the past and am currently reading my way thru all the last years winners... the research part is the hardest part for me bc it doesn't directly affect my writing--- just the selling and i've done a horrible job of that in the past! feel a bit like dorie singing... just keep writing... just keep writing!!! :) thanks for the concern. i appreciate it!