Musings From the 21st Century...

BOOKS!!! Update

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 19:23:00 +0000

I've updated the BOOKS!!! page with links to major retailers around the world for IMPULSE, STARBOUND, and SPEEDWING.

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Events

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 20:39:00 +0000

Update on the Events page for 2015!

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Musings... NEWS FLASH!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 20:27:00 +0000

Musings From The 21st Century will soon be moving back to active status as my primary individual web presence!

I've had www.davebara.com up for a couple of years now, and quite frankly, I've been a little underwhelmed by the performance there. Couple that with problems with my webmaster in completing tasks and other issues, and I've simply decided to move back to familiar territory here on Blogger.

I will also be maintaining a personal Facebook page, as well as managing a page for The Lightship Chronicles series there. My @davebaraauthor Twitter feed has probably been my most successful social media outlet. I also maintain blogs and author pages on Goodreads and Amazon. But for now, everything will start from here, and then spread out to the other outlets. It's good to be back!

More to come,

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STARBOUND Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:57:00 +0000

53013 / 100000 words. 53% done! db

RADCON Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 18:36:00 +0000

So I have my schedule for RADCON, 5 panels all on Fri-Sat, which will make it easy for me to make a quick escape on Sunday.

Some good topics, especially the Space Opera panel, which will rock for me, and the YA discussion.

RADCON is the Feb. 14-16 weekend in Pasco, WA. It would make a great Valentine’s gift for your sweetie!

The schedule, with comments:

Fri Feb 14 2:00:pm	Fri Feb 14 3:00:pm	Decisions, Decisions
2203		When to keep writing, when to pull the plug, when to let a work sit and when to edit it, when to listen to critiques, when to query, when to publish ... writers have to make a lot of decisions. How professional writers approach the decision-making process, and how to keep hard decisions from interfering with the writing process. Good guys should not be boring, because they're not in real life
Bara, Dave Ceallaigh, Adriane Held, Rhiannon Nordley, Gerald David

My comments: I’ve only had one novel that I’ve shelved, St. Cochrane’s World, and one that is unsold (Void Ship) and on the sidelines until my current contract allows it to go out again. So I guess I’m not that good a reference for abandoning projects, but I should be able to add something to the conversation.

Fri Feb 14 5:30:pm	Fri Feb 14 7:00:pm	Space Opera
2203		Laaaallaaaaa! Wait.. no singing? Join our writers as they share the who's who in space and what it means to write a space opera.
Bara, Dave Moscoe, Mike Nordley, Gerald David Wacks, Peter

My comments: Ahhh… should be a great panel with Mike Moscoe. Space Opera is still a going thing, that’s for sure. As to where it’s going…??? Face it folks, space opera sells. TV seems to have abandoned it for the moment, but it keeps selling in fiction.

Sat Feb 15 11:00:am	Sat Feb 15 12:30:pm	Young Adult Fiction
2203		A quickly growing genre, what does it mean to write young adult fiction? Discuss the challenges and rewards of writing for young adults.
Alexander, Alma Bara, Dave Fredericks, Deby Thornbrugh, Kaye

My comments: Again, YA is a going concern, but where is it going? YA seems most popular with women, but where are the stories for boys? And will they read it again?

Sat Feb 15 5:30:pm	Sat Feb 15 6:30:pm	Space Colonies: The Ultimate Gated Communities.
Harvest		Elysium not, but what might they be like? How would they be constructed? Would they be refuges for the one percent? Or dumping grounds for the lower 5%? Or that and everything in between. Would they be multibillion dollar investments or the cost of a few keystrokes to some space robot facility? Will the air-lock be a culture-lock as well?
Bara, Dave Gregory, Hugh Johnson, Judy

My comments: Had this same panel at Orycon. Could be fun.

Sat Feb 15 8:00:pm	Sat Feb 15 9:00:pm	Know What You Write
2203		You could just wing it and make stuff up -- or you can research. When is Wikipedia appropriate and when should you dig deeper into actual books? How do you contact scientists and subject experts?
Bara, Dave Bond, Jason Andrew Dalmas, John Hill, Laurel White, Lori

My comments: It’s fiction, folks. Wikipedia rules! You don’t need to fly to London to tell a story about murders on Tottenham Court Road

20 Best Story Lines From BSG

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 23:48:00 +0000

Not much to argue with here, although I would have included the escape from New Caprica battle sequence as the show's best over the final battle at the Cylon Colony.

Also, I think the episode where Tigh killed Ellen for her betrayal of humanity was the show's finest moment, and deserving of all kinds of awards, including an Emmy.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/07/battlestar-galactica-20-best-storylines-and-moments

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On Another Note...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 21:44:00 +0000

My Facebook peep Sarah Shanae is getting close to finishing davebara.com, which will be launched soon! Watch this space for updates!

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IMPULSE Update

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 21:40:00 +0000

Just sent off the final revisions of IMPULSE to my agent, who will forward them on to my editor at DAW, Sheila Gilbert.

As a side note, today is exactly 4 YEARS since this novel originally went out on submission. I don't recommend the route I took, but it has had it's rewards!

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Orycon Reminder

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 20:58:00 +0000

Just a reminder that I will be paneling this weekend at Orycon 35 at the Doubletree in Portland. Hope to see you there!

http://orycon35.sched.org/speaker/dave_bara.1rdh05q5

For Halloween...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 17:58:00 +0000

A free story...

http://flashesinthedark.com/2010/02/18/the-nightwalk-by-dave-bara/

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A Word About Drafts

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:50:00 +0000

When I first started writing IMPULSE, back when it was going by the title REUNION DAY, I finished what I considered my "final draft" of the book, then started sending it out to agents and editors. Eventually it made it to the desk of my agent, Joshua Bilmes, and from there we began revisions so that he could market it.

My revsions for Joshua led to a second "final draft", and that one was sent out to editors in December of 2009. In 2010 we received comments back that although the book had been rejected, one editor would like to see a rewrite. That's when REUNION DAY became IMPULSE. It's also when I wrote the third "final draft" of the book. That version was also sent out to numerous editors, and that's when we began receiving offers.

After contracting with DAW this past summer, I got comments from my editor Sheila Gilbert and began working on yet another "final draft", which I have just now finished. I consider this the fourth time I have finished the book, but yet, once Sheila reads it, I'm sure there will be more changes.

I'm sure there is another "final draft" out there in the future, but as to when it wil be finished? who's to say. Writing is a process.

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I Guess It's REALLY Official

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 16:21:00 +0000

I'm going to be an author. It's in the October LOCUS.

Orycon 35 Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 21:55:00 +0000

My schedule of panels for Orycon 35 has gone live. Check it out and stop by if you want to say hi!

http://orycon35.sched.org/speaker/dave_bara.1rdh05q5

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Del Rey UK Deal News

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 18:55:00 +0000

As of today I have signed the contract for distribution of IMPULSE, STARBOUND, and Lightship Chronicles #3 (as yet untitled) with Del Rey Books (UK) for publication and distribution in Europe and the Commonwealth. The books will have a different cover in Europe, and may be "localized" for UK vernacular, such as "programme" instead of program, etc. That will be decided later by my UK editor Michael Rowley.

We may also have a separate UK web site, but that hasn't been decided yet. For that matter I don't have a davebara.com in the US yet either, just this blog. But all that is hopefully coming soon and especially as we get closer to publication.

So if sometime in 2015 you're traveling in one of the following countries, be sure and pick up my book:

Andorra
Estonia
Moldova
Namibia
Swaziland
Anguilla
Belize
Falkland Islands
India
Yemen
Singapore
Vanuatu
or even... wait for it... Pitcairn Islands.

So when I say "Available at bookstores everywhere" I mean EVERYWHERE, lol.

All of this of course is related to the English language edition. It's very possible we will have sales in many of these countries with foreign language rights in the future. I keep wondering what the books will look like printed in Lichtensteinian.

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Truth From Patrick Swenson

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:55:00 +0000

http://patrickswenson.net/wrangling-writing-work/#comment-10

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Worldcon Report

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 18:27:00 +0000

I have to say this con exceeded all my expectations. To be honest, I had the time of my life.

After arriving in San Antonio Wednesday I had dinner with my friend Tony Daniel of Baen Books and took a walk on the Riverwalk. It was 90 degrees at 10:00 at night. Nice.

Thursday was spent exploring the con, hooking up with writer friends (Patrick Swenson, Mark Teppo, Sandra Wickham), meeting new ones (Marie Bilodeau, Christine Perron), and attending a panel with both my agents, Joshua Bilmes of Jabberwocky and John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency (UK). The panel was on "How to Get an Agent" and was packed. All the usual topics were covered, and many questions were asked, but one area I believe received short shrift, and that was going to local and regional writer's conferences when editors and agents in your field are there. I attended the Willamette Writer's Conference (Portland) in 2008 when Joshua attended, and I got a chance to pitch IMPULSE to him then. I think the face-to-face pitch opportunity is by far the most important opportunity for any writer when searching for an agent, and getting an agent is the key that unlocks the door to major publishers. For me, living in Seattle, both the Willamette conference and the Surrey International Writer's Conference in BC are very genre-friendly. Pacific Northwest Writer's Conference in Seattle? Not so much.

Back to Worldcon. I had dinner Thursday evening with Joshua and it went well, I think we are both looking forward to Sheila's feedback on IMPULSE.

Friday was by far the busiest and the biggest day of the con for me. It was also the highlight of my writing career so far. I started with lunch with Sheila to go over her feelings on IMPULSE. I think we both agree that much of the character development they would like to see was cut out of the latest draft of IMPULSE in favor of a faster pace and more action, which is what the editor at HarperCollins wanted in a rewrite. Those changes got me an offer from them, but something was left on teh cutting room floor. With this new draft I will get to restore a lot of the character development that was cut and not worry about length. So far I've added back in about 12,000 words, which will have to be trimmed and blended back into the new draft.

Sheila also wants to see more from Dobrina, my main female character, and I need to make her less "shrill". I don't see her that way, but I will certainly take that into consideration. We also discussed growing certain plotlines and the possibility of adding more. Sheila wants to make this first book as robust with possibilities as possible, and I am all down with that!

Next was dinner with Jabberwocky, which included Joshua's stable of attending authors as well as Sam Morgan and Eddie Schneider from the office, both great guys. As a bonus I got to sit next to the famous Charlaine Harris, she of "True Blood" fame, who has forgotten more than I will ever know about writing. Dinner was great and to top it off Joshua made an announcement of my deal after dinner and everyone applauded for me, including Charlaine! It was one of those moments I will never forget as long as I live.

But the evening wasn't over as we all went over to a Random House/Penguin (who distribute DAW Books) cocktail party at the Tower of the Americas, sort of San Antonio's answer to the Space Needle. I was introduced to my UK editor, Michael Rowley, by John Berlyne. We had a great conversation about the book and Del Rey is very excited about the series. Michael wants to get cover art going as soon as possible for the UK edition and I can't wait. I had a great time and everyone couldn't have been nicer or more enthusiastic! I had the time of my life.

Saturday was a lovely formal DAW dinner with Sheila and Betsy, the publishers, and a group of DAW authors. The food was fantastic and so was the company!

Needless to say when it was all over I was the happiest boy in town. It may take a month to wipe the smile off my face! Thanks to everyone for a great time!

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From Publisher's Marketplace

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:22:00 +0000

Via Joshua:

"Dave Bara's IMPULSE (Lightship Chronicles #1), to Daw, in a nice deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2015, by Joshua Bilmes at JABberwocky Literary Agency (NA)."

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Con Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 17:53:00 +0000

So I've got my panel schedule for Orycon 35 (Nov. 8-10 at the Portland Doubletree) and I've been put on 9 panels in 3 days, and they all look fun. I've also been picked as a moderator on 4 of them so that's cool. Got one with my peep Patrick Swenson, another with Brenda Cooper, so it should be fun. I will post more deatils about the panel topics as we get closer to the event.

Off to Worldcon in San Antonio tomorrow and really, really looking forward to it. Meeting with my editor at DAW, Shiela Gilbert, my agent Joshua Bilmes, been invited to a DAW dinner party (Saturday) as well as a Random/Penguin party Friday night, Jabberwocky agency dinner, publisher parties, it's going to be busy, as in fun busy. Also hoping to get to the Alamo Thursday morning for a guided tour so I can add that to my list of National Monuments. So far I've seen Mt. Rushmore, Washington Monument (as well as the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, National Cathedral, etc.), Constitution Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philly, and of course Disneyland.

Looking forward to it all!

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Death Becomes Him

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 17:11:00 +0000

Well, it's official. Last night I Tuckerized my first friend, writer and Baen Books editor Tony Daniel.

(Tuckerization is "the act of using a person's name in an original story as an in-joke", according to Wikipedia)
Actually it was more of a bit of payback. You see the aforementioned Mr. Daniel killed a character named Bara in his 2012 novel "Guardian of Night", and he did it rather callously in my book. So today I got a bit of payback when the young, frothy-haired Ensign Daniel was cut in half by a coil rifle blast barely two pages after coming to life. So take that, Mr. Daniel.

Your serve.

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Busy, Busy, Busy

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 17:01:00 +0000

Well, my Worldcon schedule is heating up. So far I have 3 dinners, 2 lunches, and 2 parties to attend, most of which are "official" functions of one sort or another. Busy, busy, busy!

Can't wait!

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It's Official - Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 21:50:00 +0000

Well today I'm making it REALLY official! Check is in the mail and today I finally feel like a professional writer. It's been a long time coming, much of that is on me as I dawdled for many years, but today I'm as happy as I could be!

Thank you Joshua, Sheila Gilbert, and DAW Books!

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Finally Made It...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 17:22:00 +0000

To the official client list of Jabberwocky:

http://awfulagent.com/jabclients/bara

Check it out

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SIGNED!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:59:00 +0000

Well, its official! I signed my DAW Books contract today. Or should I say contracts. DAW does three indivdual contracts, one for each book, so I had to sign nine times. Now they go back in the mail and then the waiting for the check begins.

I've always felt that until I signed a contract that paid me money for my work, that I was just a "writer" and not an "author". I guess technically you're not an author until the book comes out, but once I get paid it will feel "official" to me, I think.

And SPEEDWING came out last year, so technically I became an author then, but this feels much bigger and I feel like a pro now.

Very exciting times.

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More Contract Snafu's

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 18:18:00 +0000

I realize it's been a while since I posted, so here is an update.

The contracts with DAW are done and IN THE MAIL, and therein lies the problem. Due to a small snafu they were sent to my old address and then back to Joshua in New York. So now they have gone out again and hopefully they will arrive sometime tomorrow, there to be signed by me (9 times) and then mailed back to the office. After that I will be a professional author, and like all professional authors I will be doing what we do best, waiting for a check to arrive!

Later this month I will be attending Worldcon (Lonestarcon 3) in San Antonio, Texas at the end of the month. I have a scheduled breakfast with my editor at DAW, Sheila Gilbert, and hopefully will get to also meet with my publisher, Betsy Wollheim. Hopefully we will be going through edits to Impulse and talking about the next two books in the series.

Also at Worldcon I will be meeting up with my agent Joshua Bilmes and the staff at JABberwocky, and hopefully hob-nobbing with other writers more famous than me. Plus there is a JABberwocky dinner and a DAW author's dinner, so between that and the parties it should be epically great fun! Can't wait!

Beyond Worldcon my Fall schedule includes a fannish weekend trip to the Rose City Comicon in Portland in September and then a visiting pro/panelist gig at Orycon 35, also in Portland, November 8-10 at the Doubletree. Looking forward to all of that and I hope to catch up to some of you along the way.

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Submission Tracking

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Bara) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 21:31:00 +0000

In the past I have tracked my novel submissions to see how long they are out and what responses I got. I did this primarily for myself but also to provide data that other writers could use to compare with how they are doing. I didn't differentiate between a submission I sent in myself and one that my agent, Joshua submitted.

At this point I have decided to wrap this practice up, mainly because now that I have contracts pending with 2 publishers, it's just not that important to me any more.

But, before I sign off on this, I thought I'd give you some final numbers on IMPULSE.

Submissions: 20

Rejections: 16

Sales: 4

Time on Submission: 3 years, 6 months, 10 days

The submissions number includes submissions as both REUNION DAY and the rewrite IMPULSE, which is what finally sold.

That sales number probably seems funky. Let me explain. I submitted REUNION DAY to a small press that wanted to publish it back in 2009. After some debate, and the fact that I was making progress with Joshua (though I wasn't signed yet), I turned them down. A wise choice on my part, it turns out.

I then had a sale (an offer and acceptance) with HarperCollins/Voyager early this year on the IMPULSE rewrite. After several months of negotiation, we could not reach agreement on a contract. So that's 2 sales.

Then of course we have the recent good news of my deals with DAW in the US and Del Rey in the UK, so 2 sales there.

And here's some other numbers; I first started writing this novel in 2005. I finished it in 2007. I submitted it to Joshua in 2008. It didn't go out to editors until 2009, and it took 3 and 1/2 years to sell.

The bottom line? Writing and selling a novel to a big New York (or London) publisher takes time, effort and patience. I think I've written at least 160,000 different words to get to this current version that sold, and there will be more changes during the editing process.

So hang in there, and keep writing.

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