tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post4219096970896080543..comments2024-03-25T10:22:04.995-07:00Comments on Ed Gorman's blog: My first novel: James ReasonerEd Gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06126267358266480356noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-42282063164287606622014-11-19T05:52:16.510-08:002014-11-19T05:52:16.510-08:00Wrote my first novel in 1979. Sent it to a Louis L...Wrote my first novel in 1979. Sent it to a Louis L'Amour writealike contest. Didn't win. Put MS in bottom drawer for 20 years and wrote advertising and corporate literature. Said book was published in 2005. Went to a writing conference in 2002 or so and showed another MS to an agent. The agent couldn't say enough bad things about the book. It won the Global Ebook Award in 2010. I still don't like agents. I still write advertising. I write annual reports. I write IR and CSR reports. I write lots of nonfiction magazine articles. And I write four or five novels a year. I've yet to have a NYT bestseller, but I keep trying. Like Robert B. Parker, I hope to die with pen in hand, at my desk, writing.<br />ChuckTyrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02609200010767178944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-42592417328692443122014-11-15T14:48:35.873-08:002014-11-15T14:48:35.873-08:00This is so fascinating. Thank you for giving us gl...This is so fascinating. Thank you for giving us glimpse into your world as a writer. Although I've only been in the business since 2001 it brought back memories, especially when I got my first contract. One daughter asked the other "What is Mother doing?" The other told her that she's just left the house and I was fondling my contract. I kept running my fingers or the book's name and my name for hours. I just couldn't believe it. And, my first cover I danced a tune! Such memories, thanks for bringing them back to me. PhylissPhyliss Mirandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00107506938490641803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-60068816783925639622014-11-14T15:57:23.273-08:002014-11-14T15:57:23.273-08:00Bob,
You were selling to a more upscale market tha...Bob,<br />You were selling to a more upscale market than I was. I think the most I ever got for a porn story was $250 from CAVALIER (which just a few years earlier was publishing a guy named Stephen King). Most of my stories sold for $100 - $125, some for as little as $50 or $60. I remember once getting a check out of the blue for $35 for a story of mine that was reprinted. We could buy almost a week's worth of groceries for that in those days, so I was glad to get it.<br /><br />Jacquie,<br />My dad knew I was writing, but he never really knew what I was writing in those days. He never took much interest in my work until I starting writing Western novels. I don't know how many porn stories I wrote. A couple dozen, maybe? But I eventually sold every one of them, as I recall. I was never a big-time pornographer, though.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-42654602111034041252014-11-14T12:54:26.020-08:002014-11-14T12:54:26.020-08:00What a path! I can just see you scribbling in bet...What a path! I can just see you scribbling in between hauling TVs around. Good thing you can read your own handwriting. ☺ How many sex stories did you write at the shop?<br />I can see the tagline now: "Sex and detectives--coming soon from your local television emporium." I'm thinking your dad must have had a good sense of humor.Jacquie Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361793932364487636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-20984320281036643912014-11-14T12:22:51.834-08:002014-11-14T12:22:51.834-08:00James, I got $400 per porn story and paid my mortg...James, I got $400 per porn story and paid my mortgage with that check for a while.<br /><br />RJRRJRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17534166025889599640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-34782142495248385372014-11-14T07:07:48.793-08:002014-11-14T07:07:48.793-08:00It certainly was. I never wanted to do anything el...It certainly was. I never wanted to do anything else.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-87928967964466784812014-11-13T15:32:25.594-08:002014-11-13T15:32:25.594-08:00Worth it all, though, wasn't it?Worth it all, though, wasn't it?Jim Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02190709130368990745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-41696467626789687732014-11-13T14:17:25.322-08:002014-11-13T14:17:25.322-08:00Kathleen, I wrote whatever I thought I could get p...Kathleen, I wrote whatever I thought I could get paid for back in those days. I'm like Larry, his brother Darryl, and his other brother Darryl from NEWHART -- anything for a dollar.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-51617378696775700882014-11-13T13:49:00.387-08:002014-11-13T13:49:00.387-08:00Great!
Great!<br />Frank Roderusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-15830876644953479742014-11-13T12:56:04.664-08:002014-11-13T12:56:04.664-08:00James, you wrote porn?! My starry-eyed fan self ju...James, you wrote porn?! My starry-eyed fan self just collapsed. ;-)<br /><br />This really is an inspiring story. Even though your first-novel experience wasn't optimal, it gave you enough encouragement to write another 299. I've especially enjoyed your westerns, written individually and with Livia. I hope you write 300 more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05740371055384281988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-38540450147422735202014-11-13T11:40:21.165-08:002014-11-13T11:40:21.165-08:00Reading about the career starts of fellow writers ...Reading about the career starts of fellow writers is always fascinating. Usually it makes me realize how much easier my own start was: straight out of school and into an opening in a major London periodical publishing house to take up a role being vacated by Michael Moorcock, who headed for grander things than copy-editing. (If you want to know more, click across to Tom McNulty's blog this week and next.) What your story tells loudest and clearest, James, is that perseverance pays off.Chap O'Keefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04404176810063857291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-67095902702718986392014-11-13T10:28:11.215-08:002014-11-13T10:28:11.215-08:00I still have that first tape I recorded, James. T...I still have that first tape I recorded, James. THE GREAT RACE. Nothing to play it on, though.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-73634099281725270932014-11-13T08:36:21.572-08:002014-11-13T08:36:21.572-08:00Great story. Always enjoy reading about these def...Great story. Always enjoy reading about these defining moments ...Bishsbeathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11785880438184242612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-46243263822304488902014-11-13T08:07:51.524-08:002014-11-13T08:07:51.524-08:00That VCR I delivered to Bill would record for 2 WH...That VCR I delivered to Bill would record for 2 WHOLE HOURS, on a tape that cost almost 20 bucks. It had a wired remote, and it was so big and heavy it almost took two people to carry it. Looked almost like something you'd find in Mission Control at NASA.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-80325808477493310222014-11-13T08:07:31.630-08:002014-11-13T08:07:31.630-08:00Loved reading this. Wow. I well remember the excit...Loved reading this. Wow. I well remember the excitement of my first story acceptance. My first novel came out at a very bad time for me emotionally and I scarcely remember it, and certainly not with pleasure. I think it was the publication of the Talera series that made me feel like you describe here. <br />Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-27958463946691945392014-11-12T22:28:01.288-08:002014-11-12T22:28:01.288-08:00Mr. Reasoner's first novel experience is an in...Mr. Reasoner's first novel experience is an inspiring and goal-oriented story. To write more than 300 novels after that first novel is really something.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-66053517076027346522014-11-12T17:09:48.273-08:002014-11-12T17:09:48.273-08:00Great story. So glad you started with a book to be...Great story. So glad you started with a book to be proud of. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-20272702793867375482014-11-12T16:30:35.084-08:002014-11-12T16:30:35.084-08:00I remember well when this happened. James and I ha...I remember well when this happened. James and I had already been corresponding for a while, and we were elated when our first books were published at just about the same time. James got a must earlier start at writing than I did, so he was a lot younger at the time. One major difference in our first experiences as published novelists is that I got paid for my book, and fairly promptly, too. I later discovered that it was translated into many languages and sold all over the world, so I'm sure it remains my best-selling book. Not that I got any royalties. It was work for hire, flat fee. And James will remember what I spent that flat fee on. At that time a VCR was a high-ticket item, and it took almost my entire fee. I bought it from James's dad, and James delivered it to Brownwood and installed it for me. Good times, good times.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.com