3 of my 20 books PLUS over 370 Blog Posts, Short Stories, Flash Fiction, and Poetry !
SEE ALL TWENTY BOOKS of Fiction and MemoirS & POSTS AT:
https://brchitwood.com
BR Chitwood
Twenty (20) Books of Fiction (Some based on true crimes) and Memoirs, PLUS 370 + blog posts (Short Stories, Flash Fiction, Poetry: https://brchitwood.com
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Who Am I?
BR Chitwood
Who am I?
Not a terribly original question, perhaps one that is often asked over the course of one’s life. What got me to thinking about the question are the genres in which I write my books – mystery (some inspired by true events), romance, bio/memoir, political thought. So much of my writing deals with the underbelly of life, the bad elements in our society, the evil people who live among us – fictionally or in fact. It must be my admission that at times it bothers me that I focus my writing so much on a salacious news report about someone being sexually assaulted, people being horribly murdered, an awful pedophile hurting or killing our children, or some dark and greedy enterprise. Another aspect relative to the question is my concern that the books I’ve written are not necessarily going viral.
Don’t mind me. I feel that much of my life has been spent in introspection, analyzing myself as I lie awake in the night, as I drive the open road, as I view television or a sad movie, even in the middle of a conversation. It’s my way of trying to piece together another part of me that is unknown to me. Maybe in some sort of loose and nebulous nexus I’m creating everyman, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The way I’m built, the crazy DNA I carry inside, does cause me concern. So much emotion and mobility in my early building stages accounts for the calculus here. I’ve always been drawn to the action, crime, drama, mystery, and suspense of the big screen or tube. My wife loves comedies and musicals, the ‘Hallmark Movies’, and neatly trimmed family adventures. I started out loving cowboy movies, then graduated to the more fast-paced ‘True Lies’ and ‘Jesse Stone’ types. That’s all okay for different likes and dislikes. There’s a spiritual part of me that nudges the soul now and then to write something wholesome, like a strong Christian story with an uplifting theme for all ages… Hopefully, one day I shall satisfy that nudge.
If you had not noticed, I’m rambling and trying to figure an apt finish to this post.
Here it is.
I’m doing all this word vacillation when it comes down to this. There is a lot of me in what I write, in the characters I create, and in the plots. There is fun in the penning of my tales, and I experiment with my writing. There are times when I organize a book – in my fashion – and there are times when I simply allow the characters to take me where it is they want to go… This is likely to make a ‘writing purist’ cringe. For me, the process of writing can take any form a person wishes. The readers ultimately will decide if our writing efforts are worthy.
That brings me to the final point of this post.
Writing is enough for me, the process itself…most of the time. Believing I’m under no delusions of grandeur, I truly feel my words are strung together well and tell compelling stories. I get 5-Star reviews which make me feel jubilant. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn are used daily and perhaps for some, ad nauseam. I admit to a certain ineptness in this digital world, but I’m doing so many things to get people to read s books. Apparently, I’m not doing, nor am I capable of doing some of the things I need to be doing. An old man (me) dusted off some manuscripts, rewrote, edited them, wrote several new books along the way, and self-published them. My first ‘Bailey Crane Mystery’ (“Probable Cause”) was picked up by a publisher, eventually went out of print – that book is now “An Arizona Tragedy – A Bailey Crane Mystery” Book One. There are six ‘Bailey Crane’ books in the series – the original book two manuscripts (“Stranger Abduction”) was done on a Star-Writer word processor and the manuscript was lost. Thus, there are six ‘Bailey Crane’ books in lieu of seven. Eventually, I rewrote “Stranger Abduction.”
The final point is taking longer than expected.
The mistake was made, I believe, in coming out with so many books in such a short time. There were no ‘launching parties’ for the books, no book tours, and there was very little internet plugging. Add to that, I’m no longer a young man who can keep the pace of author book signings, events of one kind or another, or other vital networking avenues. So, the point is this: my books are good, and I would like to see them in the hands of readers. Yes, writing is enough for me most of the time, but I do get hungry for reader reaction. Like most authors, I would hope for some gratification. My books are bought too infrequently, and I am at a loss to find some magic buttons to push… Of course, I could turn the books over to someone specializing in all phases of marketing, but that of course is costly.
Sometime ago I did a KDP giveaway of five of my books for five days (likely, it should have been one book instead of five). It looks like some seven hundred total all books were given away during that time, with much tweeting, much Facebook activity, much Goodreads and LinkedIn activity, with my weekly blog announcing the giveaway.
Baring one’s soul is perhaps foolhardy and senseless, but there it is.
What you need to do, kind followers of my blog, other than commiserating, is to start a viral situation with my 20 books and the 370+ blog posts – short stories, flash fiction, and poetry…having not the foggiest idea of how you will do that. Do not worry if you fall short of doing either, the viral thing or commiserating, will still have me doing a weekly blog, valuing you – and still writing my books, flash fiction, and short stories.
Here are the various links to my books and to me.
Please take a look… https://brchitwood.com
BR Chitwood – Tuesday – 11/16/21
Many of my books are inspired by true events favored with Amazon 5-stars reviews…
https://www.brchitwood.com – My Website & Blog (20 books w/synopses + BUY SITES 370+ blog posts, short stories, Flash fiction, poetry…
Please Follow me on https://twitter.com (@brchitwood)
https://facebook.com.billyray.chitwood
Also on Goodreads, LinkedIn and other book and ‘Universal Buy Sites’…
https://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood
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