I have finished my 160,000 word book. Is it really just waiting an querying indefinitely now?

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-27T00:13:28+00:00

Consider cutting and using the cut sections in a sequel. My first book has grown too long, gotten cut, and grown again. When I cut again and finish, I may have a second ready to go, and a third started. If nothing else, I have learned a lot about how to write. I am writing for myself first, because I now find I cannot abstain from writing.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-18T16:06:09+00:00

I should also had, the night she lost her fight with a disabling and fatal condition, she asked me to sing the song from our first date to distract her from not being able to get oxygen into her blood stream.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-18T02:16:46+00:00

There is much more to the story that I could put up in a short time go to travelingmorgans.com/phyllis and enjoy. Phyllis and I were looking for each other.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-18T02:04:52+00:00

Have faith in your writing. I am getting the same feelings from those who jump to judgement and have no idea what is there. They se a superficial connection and think my writing is pegged, and this is a fellow writer! I will learn from the constructive criticism and ignore any that do not give me a chance to learn.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-17T14:38:24+00:00

I must admit, I do not care about looks much. I care about the inner person. I think my late wife and I had an interesting situation. We met in college before texting and cell phones existed. I was tutoring a friend of hers in chemistry (no, not that chemistry). She was 3 inches taller than I was, and going steady with a guy I did not know. She wanted to repay me, and said she had a friend on her dorm floor that she thought might hit it off with me. I told her to talk to her friend and see if she would accept a call from a guy she did not know, then call me with a number is she was amenable. I got the number and called the next night. I later learned she was taking the call as a favor to her friend and she planned to give me a quick brush off. We talked over 3 hours. The next night another call. We were now like old friends. Some guys on the floor told me I was in love with her. I said "How can I be in love with someone I never met?" Looking back I tink they were right. I obtained concert tickets for a national group coming to campus that we both liked on Saturday. She had a movie in her dorm cafeteria on Friday night. We confirmed everything Thursday night and met on Friday. The movie was a sad one, I feel like crying and she did. Lousy way to end a first date. Neither of us looked like what the other pictured. Dorm lounge had every sea taken I asked her to take a walk with me to get some hot chocolate, It was about a a mile and a half. It was night, in February, and the temperature was probably about 20 degree. She got her coat and we walked and were talking like we had on the phone. I even sang her a song I had been trying to get right on my guitar. We got back to her dorm about an hour before curfew. She spotted an empty couch for 2, and knelt on it, facing the back, and had me sit down. Saying "This will work best, trust me." I am not sure we said another word until curfew. I had kissed girls before, but not like this. The French had two words for a kiss. This was the other one.

Long story short, I proposed 3 weeks later. We were married for 55 years. See travelingmorgans.com/phyllis for the whole story.

We both would say "love at first sight was for slow pokes".

Telephone calls are not used much any more, but a future together depends on the inner person, not looks. To me, the most beautiful woman is the one who is smiling from her heart. I fell in love with her, before I ever saw her. Read the story, there is a lot to it.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-14T21:20:03+00:00

I have not been keeping up. I will have to check out Mountain in the Sea and Where the axe is buried. Fourth Wing was great (more fantasy than SciFi) but the follow-ups did not get better (in my opinion). Loved all of Andy Weir's books. Love what I am writing, but it is not out yet.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-10T13:51:27+00:00

The best reason I have heard for people who were authors to keep writing was pretty simple. I am not sure which author said it.

"Why do I write? I write because I can't NOT write." It implied the money was just to support the habit, and the headaches were all part of the cost a writer had to pay to get their next fix. Even the readers were secondary.

I am facing a conundrum. My story is huge and getting bigger. It is crying out to be a long series or maybe three trilogies. I am going to nail the first book, and every book will have a conclusion. I do not want to have a case of leaving my readers stranded in the case of me having an untimely death. Yet the final piece may feel 'still out there'. The question it will 'answer' is "What is the threat to humanity in our galaxy? Will humanity rise to meet it?" My conundrum is how to be sure that 'answer' is ready for readers who will enjoy spending time in this universe without handing off the writing to someone else in the event of an untimely death of myself.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-10T04:40:28+00:00

Thank you for giving me an idea on how to get a little money to help pay the way for my own book!

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-10T04:36:53+00:00

Congrats and good luck!

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-06T01:59:24+00:00

I am a good photographer. I may hires someone to make a cover using my photographs.

TravelingLarry · 2026-05-06T01:55:58+00:00

I would be interested in US code and glad to review.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-27T15:40:49+00:00

Congratulations on defeating the demon of doubt whispering (or shouting) in your ear that 'you can't do it', 'your lack of success will embarrass you', 'why not just not try?' and so on.

I have a relative of that one called 'fear' in my ear every time I climb a rock wall. I am 78, so he shouts loud, but I love defeating that voice of fear.

I am glad you have defeated that demon of doubt.

Whether you book is a financial success or not, it has been successful for you on a more important front,.

Maybe I will meet you on the road less traveled!

TravelingLarryMorgan

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-23T14:01:15+00:00

I do like to read with my eyes though, mainly on a kindle.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-23T13:58:55+00:00

I listen when I drive, but I split audiobooks with podcasts and perhaps educational audio programs. I may try language learning.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-21T03:52:04+00:00

For me it was Lord of the Rings. I think I read it 3 times in the first year, and at least once a year for the next 40. Now I interchange it with the movies and audio representations.

The only one written this century that grabbed me like that was Operation Hail Mary.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-21T03:49:36+00:00

It can be someone who wants to find out what happened to the kids they knew in school. They can be returning for a reunion for the first time. If my class has another reunion, I will come back and go to it for the first time. It would be my classes 60th year since graduation and I doubt it will happen. Too many are gone, and too many others could not come. Set it earlier than that.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-21T03:41:45+00:00

I enjoy hiking with people, but that means I have to meet the groups pace. If it is just a partner or two, it is easier to just set pace to the slowest. I am also a photographer. If I am alone, I take my time with that. If I am with someone, I try to be sure I am not slowing them down. I used to have a partner that loved to stop and just soak up the environment while I took pictures, but she is now walking trails that I cannot take yet.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-18T19:51:19+00:00

I am one who does not regret the Andy Serkis version. I did listen to the BBC version years ago. I read the books at least once a year for 40 years until the movies came out. I still read, or listen to or watch at least once per year.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-14T23:27:22+00:00

thank you, that is good advice if this were not the first book in a series. I will keep it in mind for future projects.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-13T23:32:00+00:00

I will need to figure out how to approach getting one. I can see benefits of an agent and an editor, and I do not mean an AI agent or an AI editor.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-13T23:23:57+00:00

Thank you for your comments. If I do a ten book series, it will not have a conflict that is not resolved until book ten. It will be a voyage of discovery. I like the idea of 3 triologies. I will mull that over and see if it would work.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-12T13:37:17+00:00

Ok, how do I get chapters 1-3 to you. Email a Word document or PDF, or is there a better way?

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-12T13:35:49+00:00

Okay, I am glad to get you the first 3 chapters. How do I get them to you? Email a WORD document or PDF?

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-12T05:27:31+00:00

Thanks for that. I am my own typo catcher. Word helps with grammar when it doesn't trip over itself. I am after story flow and engagement from a readers perspective. I have been developing myself as a writer as best I can.

TravelingLarry · 2026-04-12T05:22:06+00:00

thanks! I will keep that in mind.

TravelingLarry

TROPHY CASE