It’s official. TRACKS, my novel in stories, is now in operation. Chapter one is available for the Gather community to read and rate.
Tracks takes place on an Amtrak train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a passenger on the train.
The chapters stand alone as stories, but they become stronger when linked together. A secondary character in one chapter becomes the main character in another. Some stories offer new insights on others. The stories look at the decisions each character faces and how those decisions, as well as each character's interactions with the other passengers, alter the path ahead and cast past experiences and choices in a new light.
Although entirely unique, Tracks is similar in nature to Joan Silber's National Book Award finalist Ideas of Heaven: a ring of stories.
Chapter one, “Reset,” Opens with Gene Silverman, a recurring character who has learned to restart his life when he needs to. Before the novel ends, he’ll need to reset a new course once more. But don’t expect to see him as a main character in chapter two, “A Good Beer Needs a Good Stein.” You may notice him in the background, but you’ll have to see me through to chapter three to focus on him again -- through another set of eyes.
Hop aboard! Visit the link to read and rate Chapter one of Tracks! Sit back and enjoy the ride.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976929638
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Comments: 36
Please read and rate TRACKS! And please play fair.
to get back to him...? Definitely held my interest...
I'm guessing that there are a lot of contestants who are already done with their two weeks and they are systematically trying to keep anyone still in the contest from ending up above their last score. The higher you go, the more people you threaten. On the brighter side, gather.com claims to have anti-fraud algorithms in place to detect cheating, and in my book drive-by is definitely cheating. I hope they have a really nasty penalty for doing the drive-by routine. Maybe drop their rating by 1 point for every drive-by they do, with a grace amount of ones allowed for people rating genuinely bad stuff. Probably not a good idea to speculate too much on the specifics of any anti-fraud stuff the gather people have in place, but I hope the drive-bys come as close as gather.com can put them to burning in hell.
Thanks
Dale
No, Lydia, I haven't submitted it to "Readers Wanted" yet, but I do plan to in the next day or so. Thanks for the tip!
For those who haven't yet, please read and rate Tracks!
I don't want to complain too much about the drive bys since I know all first chapters are on the same train there. But it would be nice if people played fair.
That said, I may decide to send an email or two before the competition is over -- but I promise I won't go overboard! Just a gentle reminder to my friends, colleagues and connections.
I'm sounding pretty negative here, and I probably shouldn't. The contest has been very exciting for me. It also got me to join gather.com which I think is going to be great. I already established a group (alternate history) that has attracted a few members. Char may be stuck at 6.2 or 6.3, but I've had quite a few good comments which will help in the long run. I just hope the drive-bys don't make the ratings so meaningless that the contest becomes pointless. This is a good idea and I would like to see it succeed so it will happen again.
But I guess we're all on the same train there. We should just enjoy the ride, hope for the best, and learn from the comments of others and the experience of the contest.
Good luck with Char, Dale!
I'll rate the chapter, but first comment that of the five sections, the last two were better than the beginning. I felt the interest building near the end and I finally did come to care about the character. But, being honest here, I had to struggle to keep my attention focused on him in the early parts. I'm not experienced enough to offer many changes for improving it. I guess I would say it seems choppy with so many short sentences and short paragraphs. I prefer more description and by section three, I was reading about Gene and coming to know about him. It was in the middle of section five that I understood the first two sections. Maybe that is part of an authors' style. I think it does come together and by the end I "got it".
Like you said, the whole book builds on the story and I would really want to read the rest of it. I wish you the best with the whole project. Good Luck.
Is your writing that superior that this is justified? I'm not convinced that it is.
I think it goes without saying that writers should do all they can to promote their work.
I write for a living, so I know what I'm talking about when I say that the writing itself is only one part of the writing business. Some would go as far as to argue a small part.
I know quite a few authors who have published books -- from the large houses down to self-publishing -- and one of the most important parts of writing is getting out there and promoting your work.
So I believe it is fair to try to bring readers to your work. The reason I write, after all, is to share my work with others. Why wouldn't I try to share my work with as many people as possible?
"If you write it, they will come" doesn't work these days. I'll continue to promote my work.
OMG! last time i noticed humans in this country had free will...we are only limited by our own creativity and ability to use our noggins!...
MBW, what you say about the "vast majority of contestants" leads me to believe you spent much time visiting each and every contestant to come up with "your facts".....i highly doubt that you did exactly that,but even if you did,so freakin' what?
If indeed the vast majority of contestants didn't promote their work in this same manner,how exactly does that reflect badly on Eric?...your logic is clearly lacking...not a slam for slam sake, just a keen observation....
for what it is worth, this is a serious contest and not Junior high.....get a grip!
In a nutshell, as a Gather member who writes a weekly column, I am not considered an employee and am eligible for all Gather contests and promotions. I reconfirmed the legal language with Gather today.
Mark has decided to put his effort toward smearing me instead of bringing readers to his own work.
Mark, I applaud your initiative, but hope you'll put it to better use by trying to bring readers to your own work.
Best of luck to you.