Review my Book

I have posted my first few paragraphs and pitch on Amazon's CreateSpace website - please take a look and provide comments. Thank you!

https://www.createspace.com/Preview/107651

PITCH - Falls of Redemption

I have begun working on the 'Pitch' for my novel, Falls of Redemption. I have posted it on facebook for review, but if you would like to review it here (or send me comments via email), that would be great. Thank you!

Torn from his youth, NARCELOUS must discover the nexus between love and reality when, as a warrior, he is forced to attack the village where he once lived and loved.

Falls of Redemption (completed at 72,444 words) chronicles Narcelous’s adventures when he is abducted and forced to fight in the vicious military of the best land force in ancient Braze. Memories of a young woman back home never allow him to truly belong, but he hesitantly accepts his new-found loyalties among his brothers. The day the army attacks his home town, Narcelous abandons his new family for his conviction of love. The two are reunited and euphoric, but can such joy continue when she longs for a life torn away by a man she no longer knows?

This is a story of a man learning to deal with his past, culminating in a near death experience on the one hand, and immense potential for self-growth on the other. Largely inspired by my five years in the U.S. Marine Corps and my graduate studies of International Relations at Johns Hopkins, this is a character driven literary work. Readers of such stories as The Count of Monte Cristo, The Princess Bride, or the illustrated novel 300 would find themselves at home in the pages of Falls of Redemption.

Writing Competitions

Friends, I plan on posting writing competitions here occassionally, but will generally be posting those via twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/justinmsloan).

A good one coming up is the Dear Luck Agent contest - for Literary Fiction:

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/8th+Dear+Lucky+Agent+Contest+Literary+Fiction.aspx?et_mid=65376&rid=52627679

Another good one is the breakout novel contest, by Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011

If you have written anything, don't pass on these great opportunities, because you know I won't!

Moments of doubt and depression

I recently applied for the Johns Hopkins Creative Writing program, but I did not get in. It was quite disheartening. However, after two days of depression I have rallied and am planning on taking a workshop or two in order to get myself into the program in the fall.

Here is my thought on such rejection/ the depression we all feel: Everyone loses his/ her desire or passion from time to time, I am sure of it. I have been complimented on my will power and energy to accomplish goals many times, yet on just as many occasions I have found myself sitting around by myself and wondering 'what is the point?' Here is why I believe you will rebound if you are in a similar situation -- because I have, and I believe you have the same burning desire to learn that I do (if you care enough about reading to be reading blogs about it) -- perhaps more so! Do people around you see the way you talk about reading and your beliefs, and see you are passionate about it? Do they see that you genuinely want to help people like myself, people that need that extra push?

If this is you, I think you have no choice but to succeed at getting your passion back. Perhaps it is a question of 'passion for what?' That is what it was for me, although I am not trying to say that what goes on in my head is the same for you--we are all different in our special ways--I felt that my passion was diminishing about a year ago. I picked up a few good books, and I thought 'huh, I could do this,' and then I just started writing. I wrote, and I wrote, and then I started reading about writing; I became obsessed, and now I love it. Regardless of whether I make it in the writing world or not, I love it. But believe me, I am scared of the moment I wake up and don't seem to care anymore. You know what though? That is why we find good friends that are able to advise on good readings and provide motivation, and I believe that will keep me going. So for that I say thank you to all those friends like this out there, accompanied by an apology for rambling.

Thank you, and keep warm!

Justin

We Need Fellow Writers

We need fellow writers in our lives; what is it the crazy Irish man says in Braveheart? "in order for an Irishman to find his equal he's forced to converse with the Almighty!" - well, not quite the same as here, but you get the point/ joke – we need that mentor/fellow writer person in our life to serve as a very wise man with great insights, one we can learn a great deal from.

I recently discovered an old friend, and he is serving in this capacity at the moment. What does it do for me? Motivates me to be a better writer, provides advice for readings which will educate me on craft, and is there to bounce ideas off of. What else can motivate you and help you along the way? Your friends that are into sports, or politics? No, although it depends what you are writing about I suppose.

Schopenhauer Part 1

I have been reading the Schopenhauer essay a friend of mine sent me, and I love it. I have been taking notes, and included them below in case you are curious as to what I am taking out of it.

I still have yet to read past the 'On Style' portion of Schopenhauer's work, but already I appreciate Schopenhauer's thoughts a great deal. Of special note are his comments on simplicity and honesty in a writer -- I have always felt this way, and am glad to see it expressed so. I also enjoyed reading his thoughts on style; but I am still curious how to develop my writing style - it sounds like he says it is inherent in any want-to-be writer?

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/schopenhauer/arthur/lit/preface.html

TRANSLATOR’S COMMENTS

Literature, to be worthy of the name, must, it is true, deal with noble matter – the riddle of our existence, the great facts of life, the changing passions of the human heart, the discernment of some deep moral truth.

Schopenhauer is perfectly right in holding that neglect of the ancient classics, which are the best of all models in the art of writing, will infallibly lead to a degeneration of literature.

And the method of discovering the best qualities of style, and of forming a theory of writing, is not to follow some trick or mannerism that happens to please for the moment, but to study the way in which great authors have done their best work.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER – THE ART OF LITERATURE

- On Authorship

o When an author writes for the sake of covering paper, he is cheating the reader; because her writes under the pretext that he has something to say.

- On Style

o To imitate another man’s style is like wearing a mask, which, be it never so fine, is not long in arousing disgust and abhorrence, because it is lifeless; so that even the ugliest living face is better.

o A man’s style shows the formal nature of all his thoughts – the formal nature which can never change, be the subject or the character of his thoughts what it may: it is, as it were, the dough out of which all the contents of his mind are kneaded.

o Every mediocre writer tries to mask his own natural style, because in his heart he knows the truth of what I am saying. If they would only go honestly to work, and say, quite simply, the things they have really thought, and just as they have thought them, these writers would be readable and, within their own proper sphere, even instructive.

o Nothing is easier than to write so that no one can understand; just as contrarily, nothing is more difficult than to express deep things in such a way that every one must necessarily grasp them.

o Horace: Good sense is the source and origin of good style.

· Every really great writer tries to express his thoughts as purely, clearly, definitely and shortly as possible. Simplicity has always been held to be a mark of truth; it is also a mark of genius.

My First Book - Falls of Redemption

I recently finished my first book, which I have decided to title Falls of Redemption. At 79,000 words I have begun sending it to agents and having select friends review the book -- this blog will chronicle the process to a hopeful publication. I will also write about the process of writing, as it goes for me while working on my own, taking classes at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, and eventually getting accepted to the Johns Hopkins Creative Writing program. Thank you for reading.