Douglas Arvidson is a past winner of the WICE/Paris Transcontinental International Short Story competition. His short fiction has been published in Paris, Prague, and in literary magazines in the United States and he was recently invited to be a staff writer for the Prague Revue, a cutting-edge, online literary journal (http://bit.ly/1mMT6ZC). The novels in his fantasy series, The Eye of the Eye of Stallion, include The Face in Amber, The Mirrors of Castaway Time, and A Drop of Wizard's Blood. His new novel, Brothers of the Fire Star, was selected as a finalist in the ForeWord Reviews 2012 Book of the Year national awards and as a finalist in three categories in the 2013 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Action Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Young Adult Fiction. It has become part of the pantheon of Pacific literature and is now included in school literature programs. Brothers of the Fire Star is an adventure story set in the Pacific during World War II and concerns two boys of different races and cultures who escape the island of Guam in a small sailboat when the Japanese army invades. They must then struggle to survive as they master the secrets of the ancient Pacific navigators. Appropriate for young adults as well as adult readers, Brothers of the Fire Star is available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com (http://amzn.to/1j3axVk) and Crossquarter.com. Visit the author's website: douglasarvidson.com



Tuesday, January 26, 2010

To the Followers of this Blog: Thanks, Welcome, It's All Good.



I just tried to send a message of thanks and a greeting to a new follower of this blog but couldn't get the technology to cooperate. So I thought I'd just say hello to all of you who have officially signed on and also to those who read this blog but have not put their names/photo up "on the board." As every writer must admit, it's great to  have readers even though I'd keep writing even if I thought no one was paying any attention.


Why is that? I know a guy whose blog has made him a successful writer. He focuses on one theme (the Zen of simplifying/decluttering your life) and he hit paydirt. When I saw this happening, I thought, Yeah, that's the way to go. Now, what can I blog that will pull in readers and get me the attention of a literary agent and then a fat contract with a big-time publisher?


Of course, Leo's success was exceedingly rare, like becoming a rock star, and Leo's a real smart guy whose interest is in the Zen experience of simplification. In short, he's into it. He is able to focus on one theme and stick with it. It takes lots of time and hard work.


After much soul searching and noodling around with ideas, I realized that what I really wanted to do was write fiction and if I focused on that the way I should, I would not have the time to do the research necessary to produce a single-themed blog on my area of professional expertise, say, "Helping Your Child Develop Good Language Skills."


I then, very happily and with great relief at my successful rationalization, began producing a blog with no focus at all other than what I was thinking about that day. This is entirely in keeping with my personality and has resulted in my having staggered around a spectrum of topics like a satisfied drunk, veering this way and that from politics to religion to writing, to family, to travel, to wind-blown philosophy, to whatthehellever.


I guess, though, the real bottom line in this blog is that I am writing--and I love to write. In any event, thanks for joining me. If you can figure out how to make "comments," please do. It's fun to be read and fun to engage in an extended conversation.

3 comments:

  1. I follow this blog and thought I'd be the first to comment. I follow anonymously, at least I think it's anonymously.

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  2. Doug, I love that your writing sounds just like how you converse. Your writing is a mix of all the emotions we all feel but most often can't express. I thorougly enjoy your blog (and the pictures). Thanks!

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  3. Thanks, Claudia. I love writing and blogging. Great fun. Happy spring.

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