Happy Middle-of-Summer! I thought I’d sneak in another book update! After the first major editing pass, the manuscript went from 85K to 185K, which is really more like two novels. My editor and I have agreed on a good point to create a split. So, to my pleasant surprise, there really will be two books on the near horizon, plus whatever I write later to complete the series! Book 1 will still be called Blood’s Force. I’m still deciding on…
For most of the time I was drafting Blood’s Force, I was solely focused on that project. All of my brainstorming and creative energy were attuned to where that story was going next, and how it was going to get there. An impressive feat of focus and discipline, but after a while, all that squinting in one direction strained my creative vision. It took me a while to realize the value of increased sanity breaks away from writing – usually…
When I go on vacation, I have a rule of spending as little time on the computer as possible. This was especially true when I had a regular full-time job, but I don’t see things changing as a freelancer. I paid good money to put myself in a different place for a while, to experience that place – so I might as well experience it. There will be ample email- and social media-fooling-around time when I get home. I make…
Scattered across the Internet, you’ll find a set of “fiction” or “short story” rules (depending on the source) attributed to Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite writers. My own judgment is that they’re more useful for short fiction than long, because they’re mostly geared toward getting to the point and not wasting the reader’s time. Of course that’s important in any fiction, but for a short story, it’s crucial. I happen to be plunking at a couple of short stories at…
Mom was in the midst of a major clear-out of the attic, amassing unwanted items for an upcoming neighborhood yard sale. When she gets it in mind to clean house, nothing is sacred. (Those sentimental heart-strings that spontaneously form around objects I haven’t looked upon in years? I must have gotten those from somewhere else.) Relics of our shared past piled up in her bedroom for the ultimate judgment: stay, or go. My sister and I had first dibs. Mom…
I can’t believe it’s been a year since turning away from the corporate world! I have zero regrets. Defining my own schedule from day to day feels like the new normal, and I’m committed to keeping this going. However, it’s fair to say that I brought a lot of unresolved baggage back with me from Corporate America, and the public school system before that. Aside from putting the finishing touches on my novel(s), I’ve been working to identify and address…
Since October, I’ve had my head buried in the manuscript and my editor’s recommendations, which mostly involved expanding the story. After much rewriting and reediting, I’ve passed my manuscript back to my editor for her final review. The original manuscript weighed in at 88,000 words. This one’s nearly 180,000! If you’re wondering, that’s big for a novel. “Novel-length” typically starts around 80K words. So, doing the math… there’s a possibility that I really have two books on my hands, not…
Since we’re nearly at mid-year (wow!), I figured an update here would be in order. Along with a bit of an oops/apology. My original plan was to keep pursuing sword-fighting, and add some target practice. Well, for various reasons, both of these opportunities are no longer viable for me. Oh well! I’m moving on to others. The most challenging thing I’ve started recently is seeing a therapist for lifelong anxiety-related issues. Even with leaving my job, these issues weren’t going…
If you’re looking to add realism to a fight sequence, talk to someone who’s been in a few fights. Hey- that’s me! Okay, quick disclaimer: I don’t like fighting. I’m not good at it. But it’s something I’ve had to practice in my martial arts career, for good reason. For one thing, I know I won’t get totally wailed on in a real fight (because I’ve been in a real fight, and I wasn’t wailed on). For another, it teaches…
Choose your weapon wisely! Once you’ve got a fiction or nonfiction piece ready for prime-time, there may still be a word count limit you have to worry about. It may be a restriction imposed on you by the publisher, or you may want to get your piece as short and concise as possible- not just for simplicity’s sake, but also to reduce its overall file size. A smaller file size means a larger per-sale commission when you sell your work…