Monday, December 29, 2014

2014 in Review

Well another year is coming to a close and a quick look back is in order.

The year started out with my first book, Still Falling, moving out of second draft to editing for spelling, grammar and Alpha readers. That was followed by another revision and then it was off to the editor for a final polish. It's about 124,000 words.

It should be ready for submission in a couple weeks.

I started getting more serious about Photography this year. Like this one!

I also wrote the second book in the series, The Broken Cage. That books first draft will finish up this weekend. It should be a quicker edit. It's about 90,000 words.

I am healthier than I was this time last year. My back has healed very well. I am also about 40 pounds lighter than I was this time last year.I watch less TV and spend less time on Facebook. I write almost every day. When I am not writing I am thinking about the story.

--I wonder where I will be this time next year?


Monday, December 22, 2014

Writers Group

I already mentioned that I have joined a Scifi Writers Group near me.

I took my first chapter of my second book, The Broken Cage, for review and discussion. I received a ton of really good feedback. What makes it so good is that in addition to being writers these folks are Scifi readers!

It's very interesting how not only do they help point out things that i missed, they are asking the questions that I want the readers to wonder about.

--I highly recommend finding a writers group! Maybe even start one!

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The Broken Cage

As of today the word count on Book Two of Series is 70,866.

I expect it will top out again at just over 100,000 words. That is still a couple weeks at present pace.

A lot of this story takes place on a moon with low gravity. Lots of the main characters hate low gravity. I know I would if you had to suffer it day in and day out knowing your body was getting weaker and weaker...

It's challenging to write scenes that take place in weightlessness. Done well those scenes can be awesome. Enders Game comes to mind.

--I am also starting to think about the cover for book two.

Characters

I am writing book two in this Scifi series currently.

One thing I like to do is to base characters on actual people. I have photos of some of the people that make it easier for me to visualize the characters, plot and actions.

I was lucky enough to find a model that actually fit the description of one of my characters!

This character appears briefly in book one and has a much larger role in book two.

It was fun to take casual pics. Out of the 600 or so that I took, I might have 20 that are decent.

--Writing is easier than photography!

Friday, November 21, 2014

Finding an Agent

When my editor has the final polish done on my novel I have decided that will will send out a few queries to agents is see if I get any interest.

Writer's Digest is a good resource for finding agents that are accepting queries from new authors.

What the hell. Why not. I can always self publish like I had been planning.

The thing is, I am getting really good feedback about the story. I have been cursed at for, enticing friends stay up late on work nights, reading my story.

Demands for the next in the series are already coming in.

I will probably finish book two in a few weeks at present pace!

--I am already at 62,000 words and counting!

Friday, November 14, 2014

Stairway to Heaven

Last night I was writing a chapter in:

     The Broken Cage

While I was listening to music on my iPhone. I happened on Led Zeppelins, Stairway to Heaven as I was looking for a motivation for two sets of characters to meet.

Suddenly I was inspired. I put Stairway to Heaven on repeat and cranked out a great chapter.

Music is an excellent motivator!

Now the song is part of this novel.

-- There's a feeling I get when I look to the west, And my spirit is crying for leaving.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Traveling

One of the things I like about traveling for work is that I have A LOT of time to write without distractions.

I will have my evenings all free. I might go see a movie but other than that, I will have a ton of time.

The odd thing about this trip is I am going to Utah, way west of here. I will probably be waking up at 2am every day and might get my writing in during the morning hours in stead of fighting jet lag.

I have books packed, laptop, iPad, iPhone, some movies and even snacks!

--I am ready for adventure!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Writers Groups

I am a member of two writers groups currently. One of them is a general writers group and one is specifically focused on Science Fiction.

Both of them are really useful for different reasons. But they have one very important thing in common. They make it easy for me to learn lessons from other peoples mistakes!

The spectrum of people that attend is very interesting. There always seems to be a someone here that is insane. Seriously. Nuts. Crazy.

--I love it when I am in a room with someone that makes me look sane.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Editors

I love writing. I enjoy doing it. It entertains me more than TV or Facebook or even reading.

I don't like to edit. It's work.

Thank the makers I have some excellent friends that are spelling and grammar Nazi's that also make excellent content remarks and recommendations. With their help I will be able to polish this thing up.

I have also lined up a professional editor:

Katherine M. Gotthardt
All Things Writing, LLC
www.allthingswriting.net


I met with her for the first time tonight over coffee. Anything that starts with coffee has got to be so good!

--This is still fun!

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Tivo is a Writers Friend

There are big distractions for me that seriously cut into my daily fiction writing these days:
  • Work - That whole having to earn a living thing is a real time consumer.
  • Dumb TV Shows - I just cleared a lot of crappy shows off my Tivo.
  • Facebook - It is easy to spend to many hours explaining how the world really works to people.
  • Sleep - 30% of my life is spent on pause and I kinda love it too much.
  • Food - I am trying to stop standing in front of the fridge and pantry. (Lost 31lbs so far!)
I am actually pretty lucky that I don't have a job any more that demands extra hours or work on weekends.

I will still always record and watch favorite shows. I actually use it as a reward system now. No Walking Dead until I finish writing a chapter.

Facebook reduction is easy. Just don't feed the trolls or argue politics. Bigots are my reserved target space now. Plus I read and comment lightly. I never do FB from work, but I do have Twitter up.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

What's Next?

Last weekend I went to the Maryland Renfest. Any chance to not wear pants and I'm in! Some friends this photo is a good, "About the Author" photo. "It says all anyone needs to know!"

I finished my first novel last week and it went to an editor for spelling and grammar edits.

Being in the habit of working it daily, I moved right on to the next book:

     The Broken Cage

I had so much I cut out of the first book I spend the first week sorting through the sections I wanted to keep. I already have 18 chapters and 35,000 words for book two.

This book will be so much faster to finish. I have a clear plot to go on and a worthy climax already written.

Today I am also going on a photoshoot with a model that I might base one of my characters on and use for cover art. Totally bad ass...

--Now for cool cover art...


    

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Done

Tonight I officially am finished with my first novel.

Now I have to get it proof read by some serious Spelling and Grammar Nazi.

Then I will have it read by some select friends for feedback and possible revisions.

Then it is off to the Kindle Store!!

--Tomorrow I begin Book 2.


Friday, September 26, 2014

SciFi Tropes

As I am finishing up my book I am reading others. I have run straight into a ton of classic Scifi tropes. I will never include and of these in my fiction:
  • Brilliant 16 year old kid that is as smart as the chief engineer.
  • Beautiful, young cold woman PHD scientist, that burns with hidden passion.
  • Cadets, fresh out of the academy on a shake down cruise become command crew.
  • Aliens that speak English but don't know of Earth. 
  • A human female pregnant with an alien life form.
  • Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
  • Goat-tee beards mean that you are evil. 
  • Sounds in the vacuum of space.
  • Visible LASER beams in outer space. 
--This list will grow.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Quotes

 I saw a pile of good quotes on writing.

1. “Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.” —Percy Bysshe Shelley

2. “The power of fictitious writing, for good as well as for evil, is a thing which ought most seriously to be reflected upon.” ―Harriet Beecher Stowe

3. “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” —Oscar Wilde

4. “The good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the Universe which runs through himself and all things.” ―Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. "My ambition is to say in ten sentences what other men say in whole books—what other men do not say in whole books." —Friedrich Nietzsche

6. “Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody not greatly in fault themselves to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.” ―Jane Austen

7. “I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.” ―Emily Dickinson

8. “A writer is a world trapped in a person.” ―Victor Hugo

9. “But this I know; the writer who possesses the creative gift owns something of which he is not always master--something that at times strangely wills and works for itself. He may lay down rules and devise principles, and to rules and principles it will perhaps for years lie in subjection; and then, haply without any warning of revolt, there comes a time when it will no longer consent.” ―Charlotte Brontë

10. “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” ―William Wordsworth

11. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter ― it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” ―Mark Twain

12. "I wish I could write books to amuse myself, as you can! How delightful it must be to write books after one's own taste instead of reading other people's! Home-made books must be so nice.” ―George Eliot

13. “Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” ―Nathaniel Hawthorne

14. “An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.” ―Charles Dickens

15. “As a child I scribbled; and my favorite pastime during the hours given me for recreation was to ‘write stories.’ Still, I had a dearer pleasure than this, which was the formation of castles in the air—the indulging in waking dreams—the following up trains of thought, which had for their subject the formation of a succession of imaginary incidents.” ―Mary Shelley

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Routines

Got a lot of editing done this weekend. I probably reached the halfway mark. I am getting back into the routine of working it. Vacation is over. I started dieting. I'm back to work. Running in greased grooves.

--I set a new deadline for this draft: October 31

Saturday, August 16, 2014

It Figures

I got up this morning, made coffee, had a blueberry muffin, and sat down to work on my book.

When I opened Scrivener, the excellent tool I am using to write this thing, and received a message that an update was available for download and installation.  I have updated like this dozens of times so I clicked ok.

Somehow the update failed.

When the program comes up, it gives me a scarey error message, it tells me to uninstall the program and reinstall.

No guts, no glory. Why not, I have backups.

I uninstall, download the current version, install it, open it up, got to the menu and I see a "Backup Link".

There is no "Restore" menu option.

I drink way more coffee before continuing. I tried several things that didn't work. More coffee was the only thing that worked.

I finally figured out that I needed to unzip the backup manually.

--It only took me an hour. Back to work!

Friday, August 15, 2014

Back from Vacation

Now that vacation is over it's time to knuckle down and get serious about finishing this edit.

I have decided to cut it back even farther and move the climax to a different point.

I had to cut A LOT more.

I am saving it all. Some retooling remains to be done before I can have some people give it a read.

Back on the stick. No more excuses. I will have to write a big post about procrastination. But later... ;)

--Slacker!

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Procrastination!

I have been a horrible slacker for the last month. Trying to get back on track again!!

I saw this great list on OpenCulture.com

1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.”

2. Don’t use passive voice. “Timid writers like passive verbs for the same reason that timid lovers like passive partners. The passive voice is safe.”

3. Avoid adverbs. “The adverb is not your friend.”

4. Avoid adverbs, especially after “he said” and “she said.”

5. But don’t obsess over perfect grammar. “The object of fiction isn’t grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.”

6. The magic is in you. “I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.”

7. Read, read, read. ”If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.”

8. Don’t worry about making other people happy. “If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.”

9. Turn off the TV. “TV—while working out or anywhere else—really is about the last thing an aspiring writer needs.”

10. You have three months. “The first draft of a book—even a long one—should take no more than three months, the length of a season.”

11. There are two secrets to success. “I stayed physical healthy, and I stayed married.”

12. Write one word at a time. “Whether it’s a vignette of a single page or an epic trilogy like ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ the work is always accomplished one word at a time.”

13. Eliminate distraction. “There’s should be no telephone in your writing room, certainly no TV or videogames for you to fool around with.”

14. Stick to your own style. “One cannot imitate a writer’s approach to a particular genre, no matter how simple what that writer is doing may seem.”

15. Dig. “Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. The writer’s job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each one out of the ground intact as possible.”

16. Take a break. “You’ll find reading your book over after a six-week layoff to be a strange, often exhilarating experience.”

17. Leave out the boring parts and kill your darlings. “(kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.)”

18. The research shouldn’t overshadow the story. “Remember that word back. That’s where the research belongs: as far in the background and the back story as you can get it.”

19. You become a writer simply by reading and writing. “You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.”

20. Writing is about getting happy. “Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid or making friends. Writing is magic, as much as the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink.”

Monday, June 9, 2014

Just Read Silken Prey by John Sandford

"Murder, scandal, political espionage and an extremely dangerous woman. Lucas Davenport's going to be lucky to get out of this one alive."

"A Minnesota political fixer has hit the jackpot - or so he thinks. Hired to take down the incumbent U.S. senator with a vicious smear, to open the way for an ambitious, take-no-prisoners heiress who sees the Senate as merely a stepping-stone, he decides his payoff should be larger. The blackmail demand should yield some pretty large numbers, he thinks."

"Instead, he gets only a small one - 9 millimeters, to be exact. In the heart."

"Davenport is investigating the smear when the trail leads to the man's disappearance, then - very troublingly - to the Minneapolis police department, then - most troublingly of all - to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness and sheer will to make it happen."

"No matter who gets in the way. "

--It was OK. I would rate it 6 of 10.
Murder, scandal, political espionage and an extremely dangerous woman. Lucas Davenport's going to be lucky to get out of this one alive.

A Minnesota political fixer has hit the jackpot - or so he thinks. Hired to take down the incumbent U.S. senator with a vicious smear, to open the way for an ambitious, take-no-prisoners heiress who sees the Senate as merely a stepping-stone, he decides his payoff should be larger. The blackmail demand should yield some pretty large numbers, he thinks.
Instead, he gets only a small one - 9 millimeters, to be exact. In the heart.
Davenport is investigating the smear when the trail leads to the man's disappearance, then - very troublingly - to the Minneapolis police department, then - most troublingly of all - to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness and sheer will to make it happen.
No matter who gets in the way. - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Silken-Prey/John-Sandford/9781471129629#sthash.Psg2e8qJ.dpuf
Murder, scandal, political espionage and an extremely dangerous woman. Lucas Davenport's going to be lucky to get out of this one alive.

A Minnesota political fixer has hit the jackpot - or so he thinks. Hired to take down the incumbent U.S. senator with a vicious smear, to open the way for an ambitious, take-no-prisoners heiress who sees the Senate as merely a stepping-stone, he decides his payoff should be larger. The blackmail demand should yield some pretty large numbers, he thinks.
Instead, he gets only a small one - 9 millimeters, to be exact. In the heart.
Davenport is investigating the smear when the trail leads to the man's disappearance, then - very troublingly - to the Minneapolis police department, then - most troublingly of all - to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness and sheer will to make it happen.
No matter who gets in the way. - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Silken-Prey/John-Sandford/9781471129629#sthash.Psg2e8qJ.dpuf

Sunday, June 8, 2014

That's about right...

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”


Douglas Adams

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Getting close

Only 3 chapters left to edit. I have to add 3 or 6 chapters as well.

This weekend my wife is taking a trip so I will be able to focus.

I am such an optimist.

I will be going to see Godzilla with my brother and I am also having some friends over for beer, burgers, bourbon, cigars and firepit.

--The light at the end of the tunnel might be a firepit!

Monday, May 19, 2014

Writers Group

I joined a new writers and attended my first meeting yesterday.

This one meets at a local library once a month. There was about 20 people there and it is organized on Meetup.com.

It was a two hour meeting, but went longer because no one was scheduled to use that conference room after them. 1:30pm is a good time to meet.

There were several self published authors there. I even purchased the Kindle book of a gentleman I met there.

--I like it. I will be back!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Quotes of the Week

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”
― Stephen King

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
― Stephen King

“you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
― Stephen King

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.”
― Stephen King

“Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.”
― Stephen King

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
― Stephen King

“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.”
― Stephen King

“In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it 'got boring,' the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling.”
― Stephen King

“If you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.”
― Stephen King

“Just remember that Dumbo didn't need the feather; the magic was in him. ”
― Stephen King

“Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.”
― Stephen King

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

New Rules

I have a self imposed deadline approaching.

Until further notice there will be no more Facebook or TiVo in the evenings until I have spent time editing at least one chapter.

If I keep to this discipline I will finish the second draft by months end.

--It is getting fun as the story ramps up!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Writing this Weekend

My wife and I went camping this weekend with some friends. We have a 16 foot camper trailer that we took on it's first shakedown cruise since we bought it.


The camper we had just before this one was nice and helped us figure out what we really wanted in a camper trailer.
  • No leaks if it rains
  • A bigger double bed
  • A booth in addition to that bed
  • The ability for my wife to sleep in even if I can't
  • Coffee
These were hard and fast requirements so I could quietly slide out of bed, make coffee, and sit at the booth with my laptop. The trailer passed with flying colors.

I would wake at 6am, drink coffee, eat Strawberry Frosted Poptarts and work on my book! There was no Internet there and barely a cell signal. I spent the whole weekend off-line.

I got through six chapters this weekend! It was very productive. More fun and less like work too. I can meet my self imposed deadline if I manage just one chapter a day going forward.

--Maybe it was the Poptarts! Who knew!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Quotes of theWeek

“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”
― Ray Bradbury

“Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?”
― Douglas Adams

“Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups... So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing.”
― Philip K. Dick

“We all know interspecies romance is weird.”
― Tim Burton

“Sometimes I think I must have a Guardian Idiot. A little invisible spirit just behind my shoulder, looking out for me...only he's an imbecile.”
― Spider Robinson

“I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald's would still be open.”
― Susan Beth Pfeffer

“How inappropriate to call this planet "Earth," when it is clearly "Ocean.”
― Arthur C. Clarke

Monday, May 5, 2014

More Cutting

More characters fit the cutting room floor this weekend.

The book was bloating back up to 140,000 words so another seconday plot made it's way to the next book.

The slow slog of the second draft continues. I think I am still on target for the June 31 deadline.

This part is work. I need to tough it out. Make a habit of working it for a couple hours a day.

This part is also very important. All the people I know say that the editing shows the difference between amateurs and professional writers.

Spelling and grammar won't make your story better, but it makes a big difference in the Book.  Spelling and grammar can only make your effort worse.

--It will never make a crappy story better.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

BOOKS: A pile of them...

I have been so busy lately that posting has been light.

I have been reading a lot though. All of them are post-apocalypse stories. Zombies!

The Shade of the Moon was the exception to the Zombies. Maybe Zombies would have made it better! It was the weakest of these books. A bit too whiny for me. The main character was a total woose.



--I am reading the classic Neuromancer by William Gibson again. Good stuff!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Roadtrip

I am headed out soon for a roadtrip so writing and blogging might be thin through Sunday.

I am going to the annual NRA convention!

I am hoping that the people watching and the floor of the convention will inspire.

Guns play a big part of my book.

I will be taking my computer along on this trip but I am not sure I will get any work don on my book.

--I will likely get reading done!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon is today. Security is jacked WAY up this year after what happened last year.

I remember this event in detail. The aftermath especially. The media getting everything wrong. The over reach of the police. Illegal search and seizures. Military style reaction to find one kid.

They still try to gloss over the over reaction. Basically rolling tanks.

It was also the depth of the surveillance that was in place all the time that led them to the culprits.

All of this was while I was in my early chapters of this novel. As I work the second draft I can see it in there.

--The Lesson: We need more Andy Griffith and Less SWAT.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Quotes of the Week

 Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
- Mark Twain

I am never going to have anything more to do with politics or politicians. When this war is over I shall confine myself entirely to writing and painting.
- Winston Churchill

Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.
- Henry David Thoreau

If you have other things in your life—family, friends, good productive day work—these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer.
- David Brin

My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.
- Anton Chekhov

I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.
- Edgar Rice Burroughs

First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!
- Ray Bradbury

Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.
- Willa Cather

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
- Douglas Adams

Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.
- Ayn Rand

Friday, April 18, 2014

Weekend Open

Last night, as I was editing my novel, I hit the first chapter that just had a single sentence, as a place holder.

As luck would have it, I have no plans this weekend. Well, my Friday plans include Yoga and hot tub.

This means that I will be able to get up on Saturday morning, make coffee, and then write that chapter while my wife sleeps or goes to yard sales. I will do a bit of project work in the house. I might even light the firepit in the evening a sip some fine single malt scotch!

Sunday will be Easter. No church for me this year. My daughter will be home from college for a night to have dinner!

--Fingers crossed. Hope to get a lot of work done.



Thursday, April 17, 2014

Photos to Help Writing

Like most people I have a "Smart Phone". I don't really use it all that much but the piece I like and do use the most is the camera. It has an 8 megapixel camera that can also take panoramic photos. These are great for reference materials so you can get a setting right.

When your book is finally a best seller and they start offering tours of the settings you describe, you will have gotten it right.

World War II Memorial

My wife Brenda and I took Monday off to go see the cherry blossoms and tour the National Art Museum. We also stopped by the World War II Memorial.

--Take photos. Use them as a tool.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Books: Amped

I just finished reading the book, Amped by Daniel H. Wilson.

I really enjoyed the book Robopocalypse that Wilson also wrote. When I say Amped at the library I had to pick it up.

It was a fun, easy, fast read. It is one of those books that reads fast and feels like a movie in your head.

--Good stuff. I recommend it!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Quotes of the Week

Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.
--Mark Twain

Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.
--Mark Twain

A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.
--Virginia Woolf

I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.
--James Joyce

The first draft of anything is shit.
--Ernest Hemingway

Always be a poet, even in prose.
--Charles Baudelaire

Literature — creative literature — unconcerned with sex, is inconceivable.
--Gertrude Stein

Saturday, April 12, 2014

True Stories...

I may have to write a story about a haunting.

 A true story...


The series of photos above were taken by my security system when the motion sensors were set off in the middle of the night.

I have the sensor set pretty high the neighborhood cat or clouds above don't set the system off.

Click on the image. Check out the ghost that the first frame captured...

--It would be so creepy if this was my last post ever!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Reading: The Remaining

I just finished reading the first four books in the series called, The Remaining by D.J. Molles.

I sucked these books down super fast.

These books have several things I really enjoy in fiction:
  • ZOMBIES!
  • Post apocalypse dystopia.
  • Good gun content.
  • Well depicted action.
  • Good character development.
I even love screaming at the open book when I think they have made a wrong decision. Character make mistakes!

This is my favorite kind of summer reading.

--These were so good I could not wait for summer.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Running Late

I am running late this morning.

Running dry on Blog fodder too. Enjoy this photo of trees that I saw on Pinterest when I should have been writing.

I had one of those rare, incredibly productive days at work yesterday. The excellent kind of day when to time goes by fast and happy.

Maybe I will post more later.

--Because both of my reader are very demanding!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Writers Vacation

I was talking with my wife about my novel and how it's coming. As always the topic of time, or lack there of, came up.

I swear if I had a full week to focus I could finish off this book in a 40 hour work week.

Then a "Writers Vacation" came up.

What would be the perfect writers vacation be?
  • Beautiful relaxing place.
  • Electricity.
  • Secluded.
  • Great bed for good sleep.
  • Coffee.
  • No Internet.
  • Good food close by.
  • Comfy work spaces.
--That is almost the same list I have for retirement!


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Happened Again

No work last night. Dammit.

Distractions abound.

The list of things I did do last night:
  • Yoga
  • Internet - Email
  • Configured my new security camera.
  • Internet - Facebook
  • Dinner with wife
  • Internet - Pinterest
  • Tivo - Continuum 
  • Internet - Blogging
  • Tivo - Game of Thrones
  • Internet - Posting as my Cat
  • Bedtime.
--Opps. Forgot to work on my book. SLACKER!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Monday and Moving Slow

Progress is being made on the second draft. This weekend I was feeling like if I could just take a whole week off and work on it eight hours a day I could knock it out by Friday. Oh well, someone has to bring home some bacon!


--Back to work today. Progress will be made tonight.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Quotes of the Week

“I went to college, but I learned to write by reading and writing.”
― Daniel Pinkwater

“Don't worry about meaning. If a story's any good, it can't help but have meaning. Let the PhDs tell you what your story means.”
― William Kittredge

“Art is too often discounted as a secondary priority. The writer is necessary to society.”
― Kayla Rae Whitaker

“Go beyond yourself -- write.”
― Pearle Louise Munn Bishop

“Every novel is an attempt to capture time, to weave something solid out of air. The author knows it is an impossible task - that is why he keeps on trying.”
― David Beaty

Writing. Opening a vein in your wrist with a spoon.”
― Ann-Marie MacDonald

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Sex

 Logan's Run
I am working on the second draft and was editing a really hot sex scene in my book. Had to tone it down. Man, that was fun writing it!

I know I am not writing a kids book here, but it is not going to be hard core like some of the books I have read (and enjoyed). Have you read and Laurell Hamilton?

The funny thing is, I found myself actually having to do research into sex practices I was completely clueless about. That was fun! Thanks for the info Criagslist!

--Back to work!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Notes While Editing

I take a lot of notes on paper about my novel.

As I edit I am finding these notes are very hand to keep me organized and consistent while I am editing.

All kinds of things are in lists:
  • Place names
  • People names
  • Ship names, makes and models
  • Scifi Technology
  • Possessions
I also have drawings in my notes:
  • Various maps with different scales with distances
  • Floor plans of buildings 
  • Drawings of places and things
All of these things help my writing and editing remain consistent.

--I really love drawing maps and floor plans. Even if they never get used.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Stay on Target!

Editing resumed last night. It will continue today.

A friend was emailing with me about the book and said I should edit in stead of blogging or reading so much.

Sigh.

It is the reading that will get curtailed. Not completely, and just for a few months until my second draft is done.

He also said, "Write shorter books!"

My next volume will be 90,000 words. Not 190,000.

--Now it 's time to drink coffee. Not giving up coffee.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Back to Work

It's time to knuckle down and exercise some discipline.

I need to get back in the habit of working on the book for 2 hours after I get home before anything else. I know it won't be fun but I gotta tough it out and just do it!

This is the hard part for me. Getting to the end of the second draft.
  • I need to stop drifting off  and trying to start the next book.
  • I need to not look at Facebook.
  • I need to not open the fridge.
  • I need to keep the cat off me.
  • I need to impose a no Tivo until my homeworks done.
  • I need to establish the routine I had and stick to it.
  • I need to focus and polish it.
  • I need to stick to my July 1st deadline.
That is three months. 90 days.

--I can do it.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Quotes of the Week

“One should never use exclamation points in writing. It is like laughing at your own joke.”
― Mark Twain

“If I fall asleep with a pen in my hands, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams.”
― Terri Guillemets

“Revenge is a dish best served published!”
― Lisa Kovanda

“Creativity - like human life itself - begins in darkness”
― Julia Cameron

“But in the wake of 'Bullet,' all the guys wanted to know was, 'How's it doing? How's it selling?' How to tell them I didn't give a flying fuck how it was doing in the marketplace, that what I cared about was how it was doing in the reader's heart?”
― Stephen King

“Writing is hard work, not magic. It begins with deciding why you are writing and whom you are writing for. What is your intent? What do you want the reader to get out of it? What do you want to get out of it. It's also about making a serious time commitment and getting the project done.”
― Suze Orman