BooksofJobe.com

Coastal Transmissions From an Oregon Transplant

Fiction

  • Bovine Vagina Muscle Relaxant

    I bet that got your attention. After learning one of my favorite writers, Lou Berney, was a staff writer on the FX show The Lowdown, I shuffled my watchlist priorities and watched the Ethan Hawke led neo-noir comedy over the course of a week and a half or so. The verdict? Even better than I… Read more

  • Crooks: A Novel About Crime and Family, by Lou Berney

    It’s not often that I read a book that makes me stop and think, “I don’t think I’ve seen a story told quite this way before.” Crooks marks the second time I’ve thought that about a book written by Lou Berney. The book spans six decades, telling the story of the Mercurios. We learn about… Read more

  • A Follow Up About Querying

    Do you ever go back to something you hadn’t done in a while, and then after doing it again for a bit remember there’s an easier way? That happens to me every so often (maybe he’s born with it—maybe it’s ADHD), and I finally recalled some tips about querying agents I thought I’d pass along… Read more

  • The Comforting Reassurance of a 90 Minute Rejection

    I queried the old version of my novel to maybe 40 or 50 agents before taking a break. I had found a handful of tweaks I wanted to make to the manuscript (mostly minor, some more significant), and after sending my query letter to dozens of agents without so much as a nibble of interest… Read more

  • Overthinking? Try Unpacking the Suitcase

    In my last post, I mentioned a writers workshop I went to on the coast. One of the presenters was a horror writer/director named Duncan Birmingham. His movie Who Invited Them? is on Hulu, and definitely worth a watch if you’re into unsettling, off putting stories. Duncan’s presentation involved what he called “unpacking the suitcase.”… Read more

  • Let’s Start at the (New) Beginning

    Looking at a couple examples of great book openings. Read more

  • Writing Through Distractions

    To clarify, I’m not offering advice here, I’m asking for it. I remain about 65k words into my latest WIP, where I’ve been stuck since just before Thanksgiving. Why? Because I got distracted and I’m having trouble getting the ball rolling again. But wait, what’s that, there on the horizon? It’s an even bigger distraction!… Read more

  • Are Any of You in IRL Writer’s Groups?

    Something has come over me recently. I don’t know why now, of all times, but it has. I’ve been thinking about writer’s groups. Writing is a highly solitary endeavor most of the time, as you all know. I guess I’m yearning for some camaraderie, and having people willing and able to ready work and offer… Read more

  • Where Do You Find Inspiration?

    Inspiration for writers can sometimes be hard to come by. We’re all out there, grinding as best we can, but sometimes that doesn’t cut it. Sometimes it feels like being a writer is nothing but a huge exercise in futility. You write, you submit, you get rejected, rinse, repeat. After a while you can start… Read more

  • Unsolicited Advice From an Unqualified Source

    Well, I don’t know if I’d call myself *completely* unqualified. Partly qualified? Sure, let’s go with that. I just thought the title was catchy and went with it. What I’d like to do is offer a little advice/encouragement to writers at nearly every stage of their journey. And what gives me, a largely unpublished writer… Read more