How many times can you read the same book?

I'm working on the editing of 'On the Nature of the Gods,' and some days it's like all I can do is to painstakingly go through two or three pages at a time. How many times could you read the same book? If you really loved it, maybe a few times.

How many times can you read the same page, same paragraph, same line...same word? As many times as it takes, I guess! Skimming past a few pages isn't worth it. Deep in your heart you know you have to go back and look at them again, and so why do it? I push it as best I can.

But then I have to close the file and look at something else.

I've probably read certain books fifteen or twenty times. In terms of music, we can probably listen to the same song or album hundreds of times. Later in life, a song comes up on the radio and we sit up and say, 'Oh, yeah!' We haven't heard it in a while, and so it is fresh and new. But try going through the same book over and over again, day after day...one thing it sure isn't is glamourous.

That's what they made social networks for, it's for goofing off when we don't feel like working. However, if we see this whole being a professional writer thing as a long-term process, one which will keep us going until the end of our days, then taking a break once in a while makes sense.

That's because we aren't going to get it all done in a day.

It's not like we aren't always scheming and plotting and fulminating as to what to do next. Assuming my e-book, 'On the Nature of the Gods,' gets properly published as of March 31, and assuming my proof copy of 'Redemption: an Inspector Gilles Maintenon mystery,' is good to go, then obviously without a whole lot of mental anguish I can start on the next POD paperback in the catalogue. (Or 'catalog' in the U.S.) That really only takes a few days. Basically this would result in two new products as of Mar 31, and a second POD a short time later, certainly by the end of April.

In the meantime, there's a folder with some stories that need to be submitted. There's a SF novel to rewrite, the next Maintenon mystery to write, there's a slew of titles on a list somewhere in my files. I wouldn't have done that without some idea that could be expressed in a few key words.

I have two or three fresh novel-type ideas, and a few older ideas laying around...

There's certainly nothing wrong with actually writing a new short story once in a while. I have neglected this lately--no kidding.

If anyone wants to exchange links and build traffic, let me know on fb or Twitter.

What else is going on around here?

Today I set up an author page on Amazon UK. I had one in the U.S., but none in the UK. So now I'm thinking, 'how do I get in Amazon IT, ES, FR, etc?' Right?

Then there's a list of a few reviewers in a document file. I could do something about that. There is never 'nothing to do' around here. That's for danged sure.

Coming Soon. 'On the Nature of the Gods.'

Photo: Morguefile, design by Louis.

Here is the blurb for 'On the Nature of the Gods,' scheduled for release March 31.


Rife with the bizarre juxtaposition of psycho-sexual elements, ‘On the Nature of the Gods’ is a superb parody of the steam-punk weird western with elements of bedroom comedy sub-sub-genre. Undefeated in a hundred and thirty-eight bouts, bare-knuckle fighter Jeb Snead may be the toughest man in a totally plastic world. Unfortunately, he has no sense of humour and might even be a little insecure. Rufe Golan is the son of a rich man, a smooth-talking bastard and an inveterate foot-fetishist. Yet he knows what he likes. Hope Ng, starved for either attention or entertainment, is on her way to San Francisco to live with her scruffy old grandfather when her wagon train is massacred. Things get better after that. The buxom but leggy Miss Muriel Kitty, a professional working woman-cat-thing, and wise in the ways of the world, provides a valuable service in the frontier society of which she is a part. The Evil Doctor Schmitt-Rottluff surrounds himself with willing tools and useful fools, some of whom are the product of a little too much inbreeding in test-tubes. Chapley, his alleged black nephew and Waylon, his acknowledged ‘taurian son, Nazi gryphons, erudite Injuns who read Latin and mischievous spirits who just want to see what happens next, fill out a never-before-seen all-star cast in comic genius and Julius Caesar of Canadian novelists Louis B. Shalako’s killer debut in this admittedly obscure literary category. In the words of a beta-reviewer who prefers anonymity (my Uncle Bob,) and who has asked not to be quoted, ‘This is way better than Atlanta Nights.’ And anybody who doesn’t like telempathic horses and equine romance, or casually-stated themes of rape, bestiality and incest, most likely has something wrong with them. Diabolically fun, don’t let your mother catch you reading this one! Seriously, it will probably kill her. Please don’t say you haven’t been warned, because you have.

Simple E-Book Formatting in Word.

Having completed the first draft of 'On the Nature of the Gods,' I'm taking the time to format the thing before beginning the actual rewriting process. Since I'm not submitting it anywhere, there is no reason to have it in standard manuscript format, and this also gives me two or three days where I really don't have to think.

I don't have to write, or wrestle with plot points and resolutions. It is a kind of nit-picking, yet mindless occupation, almost a repetitive assembly-line process in some ways.




I have the pilcrows turned on, as well as spelling and grammar check, and I have added a couple more lines to the thing today. But it is kind of relaxing.

This is the second novel I have written without using an initial chapter title when producing more material. Essentially, I ended up with a hundred and eleven pages with chapter breaks and no chapter numbers, or titles. This seems to work okay for me. This book looks like about twenty-two chapters. This is kind of an esoteric, esthetic consideration, but if we are artists, then we should have one of two things: a respect for academic convention, or some kind of theory which justifies non-compliance with same...but basically, this just looks about right to me.

The book is 61,000 words at this stage, and that works out to maybe 2,800 words on average for a chapter.

A quick glance at the photos shows a very simple e-book layout and format. I am using 0.25" indents, and single spaces at 1.0, trailing space is set to zero. (Top photo.)