Help me welcome Slim Randles as today’s Wednesday’s Guest, bringing some of the guys from the Mule Barn Truck Stop with him. Dud us here to give us the skinny on the joys and challenges of writing a book.
Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy…
Dud sat quietly this morning at the daily meeting of the World Dilemma Think Tank … that’s Dud and the guys, of course.
Herb had brought some new jokes with him as a way of pumping new adrenaline into our winter conversational doldrums. They weren’t all THAT good, but we all laughed, and Dud smiled a little.
“You’re quiet this morning, Dud,” said Steve. “Everything okay?”
“Oh sure,” he said, smiling. “Just wondering about what goes on in a guy’s mind when he’s on special assignment.”
“You’re on special assignment for who now?”
“Not me, Doc,” Dud said. “I was just wondering what thoughts a man might have if he volunteered to be a truck driver on special assignment in Eastern Europe.”
Ahhhh….. the book again. The oft-rewritten, oft-rejected novel.
“That’s right. So what would make a guy take his 18-wheeler to somewhere Dracula used to live and drive it around on government orders until the assignment is complete?”
“What’s the assignment?”
“I don’t know yet. The truck driver is still waiting for his assignment to come through.”
“So …” Doc tries to be kind …”the truck driver takes his own 18-wheeler to Eastern Europe and drives around with an old girlfriend who happens to be a duchess and lives in a castle, but he doesn’t know why he’s there?”
“Well … pretty much. Sounds strange when you put it like that.”
“In this book you’re writing,” Steve asked, “is the government buying the diesel for him to drive around?”
“Haven’t worked that out yet, either, Steve.”
Writing a book can be a real chore.
Oh my gosh can I relate! I only had three chapters to write to finish the third book in the Seasons Mystery Series – setting a deadline for myself to have it done by the end of this month – and I spent half of my time since the first of the month figuring out stuff. Like the choreography of a big shoot out at a warehouse, where said warehouse might be, and the layout of the interior and exterior.
Dud is not alone in his pain.
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Brought to you by our radio show, “Home Country with Slim Randles.” Let us know if you like it.
In addition to the radio show, Slim Randles writes the nationally syndicated column, “Home Country” that is featured in 380 newspapers across the country. He is also the author of a number of books including Saddle Up: A Cowboy Guide to Writing. That title, and others, are published by LPD Press. If you enjoy his columns here on the blog, you might want to check out the book Home Country. It features some of the best of the columns he has shared with us, as well as the 4 million readers of the newspapers where his columns appear.
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Here’s another reminder about the contest over at BookSweeps where I’ve joined 29 other authors to away a huge collection of Crime Fiction & Thriller novels to 2 lucky winners!
The Grand Prize winner gets a BRAND NEW eReader – either a Kindle or a Nook.
You can win my historical mystery, Boxes For Beds, plus books from authors like David Bishop and Tikiri.
Good luck and enjoy!