Writing about Niagara when I don't live there anymore

A couple nights past I was scrolling through the channel choices, skimming past known and suspected shows I'd find boring/irritating. The signal from the remote travels through some hidden labyrinth of copper and fiber optics, and seems almost independent of my choices, which is a long-winded way of saying the channel selector rested on a show 'Rock Stars' that I normally would have skimmed past. Which rock stars? I wondered, and selected it, expecting perhaps another interview with fifty year old burnouts with bad hearing, tales of the road, talks of a 'new album'...

Instead I see Niagara Falls and within seconds realize 'Rock Stars' is a really bad pun. It's a reality show about a crew that specializes in dislodging boulders before they come down on their own, inconvenient and potentially dangerous, schedule. So I watched the show, less for the repetitive footage of guys on cables stabbing the gorge walls with picks, than to figure out from the backdrop where in the Gorge they were.

I've now lived in Massachusetts longer than I lived in Niagara. At one time that depressed me a little, but no more. I considered myself from Niagara, and in the popular sense still am, but to my wife, when we travel back to Niagara (and we do regularly) we refer to Massachusetts as home.

So why do I keep writing about Niagara when I don't live there anymore? Well, it's a unique place and like anywhere, it has unique history. In this case it's interesting history. By comparison, my present home is in the town of Westford, and I visited their small museum recently. For what it is, it's not a bad collection, but Westford was just a farming community that evolved into a well off bedroom community. Nothing very interesting has ever happened here. I include in that assessment the tale of the Westford Knight.

I consider myself fortunate (and sometimes unfortunate) to have been born and raised in Niagara Falls. It has always fascinated me, and wherever I am if there's a reference to the falls, if I see a passing sign or TV screen, I always look and try to determine a) where and when the shot is and b) do I know any of the people. After twenty eight years I rarely know the people, unless (here's where age kicks in) it's an obituary.

A lot of history happened around Niagara. I wish the city would organize a museum, but in its current state as Atlantic City 2. 0 there aren't the resources. So in that sense I don't miss being in Niagara. And I can foresee the day when I don't come back for regular visits, but it's still fascinating to me.

So the trick is, write about the history of the place. I won't ever be an expert on the history of Niagara, not like some others are, but I'm pretty well read in certain areas. And besides, I work pretty exclusively in fiction, where we are not required to be fact checkers.

Time to break down and pick a self-publishing tool

I have decided that it's time to self-publish Where the Gold is Buried. I'm disappointed I couldn't find a traditional publisher for it. I've read too many stories about novels published by obscure publishers and figured if I kept snooping around online I'd find a home for it. Not being agented, I naturally sought the small, indie press, and from that group tried to find those that would take on a work of historical fiction. There are a lot of small presses that specifically support groups (lesbians, poets, south americans, women poets, people from Canada, gay writers from Michigan, etc.). Bless these folks for providing outlets for titles that would not be picked up by bigger presses. I didn't find one for middle-aged white males writing historical fiction.

So then I pursued the many companies that offer self-publishing. Since I did Weathermen in 2001 the field has deepened considerably. There is a fierce debate within the self-publishing community consumed with the stigma of it. Some argue that they have opportunities with traditional publishers and choose to self-publish because they get more control, make more money... maybe that's true. My traditional publisher made some fundamental errors in marketing and timing books to market... can you say made it into stores on December 23rd? Sort of missed the Christmas rush... I can say that the experiences I had with mismanagement (the publisher, Barnes and Noble) were magnified and extended by other writers I've spoken with.

So maybe the stigma of self-publishing (your book isn't good enough to get a real publisher) will fade at some point. I finally chose to self-publish because in my hometown, where this novel is set, friends of my family who read the first book kept asking if there would be a second. Since I have an audience, however small, I might as well publish it.

So picking the right self-publisher... I'm leaning towards Lulu as they offer services free, simply asking you to pay for the books. There are dozens of self-publishers and they all charge several hundred up to the thousands for their services. And I can all but guarantee that they are all thieves, as the irony of the process is that if one gets a traditional publisher, one is best off self-promoting. (wait for a small, indie publisher to organize readings, etc., and you can spend a lot of time writing the next book).

I am setting up my own imprint. Cataract Press. Keep an eye out.