I’ve been sending this press release out to the papers.  It was published last weekend in the Sunday Observer’s literary pages (Bookends).

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contraband Set for Release in April

Contraband, the debut novel by Jamaican writer J.L. Campbell, will be released on April 2nd by Nevaeh Publishing, which is based in Georgia.

Set on the fictional island of Xantrope, Contraband follows the adventures of drug runner, Paul Weekes, who does whatever is necessary to survive.   On the fast but illegal road to riches, a trusted ally betrays him and his life spirals into chaos.

The complications extend to his love life, and he falls into a web of extortion, kidnapping, and murder. Weekes is forced to make a choice between trafficking in illicit drugs and keeping his loved ones alive.

The novel will be distributed by Baker & Taylor, Inc and Ingram Book Company.  It will also be available in Jamaica, as well as through the Nevaeh Publishing web site and Amazon.com.  The genre is contemporary fiction.

A second book by the same author, entitled Dissolution, will be published in October 2010.  Dissolution will be marketed as general fiction.
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Every so often, I marvel at the change in my writing.  And every time I look at what I’ve written over the years, I automatically start to edit.  Just this year, my writing style has improved again.  The people on the writing network where I’m a member (http://thenextbigwriter.com) have helped tremendously.

Some complain that the site is no good and that it has a bunch of timewasters who don’t have a clue what they’re about.  I say you get out of it what you put in.  I would have been published with or without the site, but it was there that I learned much of what I know about writing.  The membership has grown and changed, but there are always people who give excellent critiques.  I’ve benefitted from such writers and owe a debt of gratitude to one particular person.  In the past few months, he’s gone through two novels of mine with a fine tooth comb.

After a while, I took stock of his one major complaint about my writing style - too much clutter and a tendency to take a circuitous route through sentences.  I wonder why he why he would have thought that?  ;^)  Tight, declarative sentences are not my natural way of writing.  Nor are plain English words.  As weird as it sounds, I tend to use what my reviewer calls ‘latinate’ words.  I think that’s the legacy of schooling.  My writing coach pointed that out too.  He told me to forget some of what I learned in school.  His advice was, never use a ten dollar word when a five dollar one will do.’  Thanks to him, I got a foot in the door and have had my stories published in the literary pages of the Sunday Observer. 

And the advantages haven’t stopped there.  By making a conscious effort to remember to stick with short, direct sentences, each first draft of my chapters is now better.  Yes, my new critic remarked on that.  I’ve told him he can pat himself on the back for it.  

For most of us, the journey to publication is a long one, but there are people along the way who make the trip worthwhile.  Ever thought what you’d do without the people who give you hell over what you write? 

I don’t know what I’d do without my critics.