Ebooks are perfect for retro/out-of-style stories.

I absolutely know what I'm currently writing would probably not be published in this day and age.

I've always loved science fantasy -- the kind of story where the science is just an excuse for the story.  It only has to be inherently valid -- but it doesn't have to be explained.  It can be unlikely, more a McGuffen than a reason.

There is a premium in S.F. for the original concept, the valid extrapolation of science and culture.  E.R. Burroughs would be laughed out of the editorial room these days.

There are occasional retro books written, by well-established writers.  Out of nostalgia.

But to me, these never went out of style.  The 50/60's sci-fi I grew up with are some of my fondest memories.

So I'm writing something that is -- if one thinks about it too much -- silly.

But that's just it.  You read it for the fun and the adventure and the story, and you just buy into the silly premise and or dubious science.

At least I do.

How the creative mind works.

It's incredibly interesting to me how the creative mind works.

This isn't ego.  My creative mind is something off to one side that exists all by itself to which I am sometimes allowed imperfect access, which I then translate in my own bumbling way.

Two days ago, I reached in impasse in my story.  I was halfway through and had no idea what to do.  I mean, I had a general idea of where I needed to go, but no clue how to get there. 

I took a day to work.  (When did work become my day off?)

I was still clueless when I went to bed last night.  Then I dreamed about it all night.  Woke up in the morning with an idea that complicates things.  Another idea that I'd rejected earlier suddenly seemed right.

Then from those two starting points  I starting writing in my journal about what the "problems" were, and in the course of writing down the problems proceeded to solve most of them.

I now have the second half of the book. 

It wasn't forced.  I waited patiently for three days for my subconscious to come up with ideas, and then applied my conscious mind to sift through the welter of ideas to extract the ones that made the most sense.

The subconscious creative mind is a marvelous thing.

Spinning off words in my dreams.

I was spinning off words in my dreams last night.  Everytime I woke up, it was like I was in the middle of writing a scene.  It was dream logic, so most of it didn't apply, but I could also tell that some of it did.

 I hope I didn't lose anything.

The premise of this book is too big, too unwieldy, too full of paradoxes and contradictions.  Then again, that's what makes it potentially interesting, if I can figure out credible ways to explain everything.

I did wake up with a major plot point, which should complicate things.  If I listen to my subconscious, it is fully engaged and trying to come up with a solution and sending me ideas, none of which really fix the existing problems but do make things more interesting.

I'm trying to work out the plot now so I don't have to redo later.  I have a cast of characters, and I need to set them against each other, but the motivations need to be clear and believable -- meanwhile, the premise is somewhat grey and getting complicated.

I've got the next chapter figured out, and maybe the one after that, so I can hope I will have further ideas about the plot over the next day or so.

I'm convinced there is a solution to every plot problem -- as long as you come up with them before you've committed to something else.  (For instance, I had the whole second half of Faerylander written before I realized there was a premise that simply didn't work -- I can work around it, but I can't really fix it.)

If I think about it long enough, there will come that moment when it will all make sense.

Hitting a Wall.

I'm about halfway through As You Wish (or Once in a Spell.)

I've kinda hit a wall.  I managed one chapter the day before yesterday and only one chapter yesterday.

Which by most standards is pretty good, but no where near the pace I've been keeping.

I'm working at the store for a while, so I'm hoping by the time I come back I have some idea where the story goes in the second half.

Like I said, I've not had this problem for a long time.  Last time I hit a significant fallow time was halfway through Led to the Slaughter, which I resolved by turning it into a "Diary" account.

This new book is an old fashioned adventure story, more science fantasy than fantasy -- and probably not terribly sophisticated compared to most SF these days.  The kind of story I read a lot when I was a kid but really isn't being written these days.  Not sure it is the kind of thing any publisher would publish nowadays.

But I'm hoping it's still a fun read. 


Writing weather at last.

I never used to write in the summer.

It usually took a grey weather spell in September to really kickstart me -- like today.  That and the memory of school makes the fall season prime writing time.

The weather was so hot this year that I closed up the house and loitered near the air conditioner and just wrote all season.



Meanwhile, I've been trying out some things about writing and publishing -- and then researching them later.  Which might seem backward, but I've learned that I have to try things first to see if they work, and then later find out if other people think I should have done that.

"Don't touch that stove!"

Most of the advice I'm talking about is a little more subtle than that, and you really can't know who is giving you good advice and who is giving you bad advice until you've tested it.

Then you can find out who knows what they're doing and who are just bullshitters.  I'd say the bullshit ration is at least 10 to 1,  maybe 100 to 1.

I found only one small business book that correlated with my own experience and that was Growing a Business by Paul Hawken.  And I only knew that he was right because I'd already made half the mistakes he was warning against.

But I managed to avoid the other half!

Anyway, there is undoubtedly some good advice out there but you don't know until you've tested it.  By which time you don't need the advice. 

I've found it best to use my own common sense, and then adjust later.  There usually isn't a right or wrong answer, but a 60/40 answer and I may actually prefer the 40, if that makes sense.

Downtown Comings and Goings: 9/17/13.

Haven't done this for a couple of months.  Not much change, that I can see.  But I haven't been looking very hard.

At the Beach is leaving after 17 years.

Any others?  Coming or Going?


NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN

Bishop's Barbershop, Oregon Ave., 7/24/13
Oregon Store, Wall/Franklin, 7/24/13
Supervillain Sandwiches, Bond St., 7/24/13
Taste Oregon, Bond St., 7/24/13
Wild Rose, 5/2/13.
Bluebird Coffee Company, Franklin, 3/29/13.
Pure Kitchen, Franklin (Bond), 3/29/13
Jeff Murray Photography, Minnesota Ave., 3/29/13
Luvs Donuts, Minnesota Ave. 3/29/13
Hub Cyclery, Wall St. 3/29/13
Ju-bee-lee, Wall. St.  3/29/13.
Sweet Saigon, Wall St., 1/20/13.
Brickhouse, Oregon Ave., 1/20/13.
The Drake, Wall St. , 1/20/13
541 Threads, Minnesota Ave., 10/13/12.
O Mo Mo!  Bond Street, 10/3/12.
Crow's Feet Commons, Brooks Street, 9/21/12.
The Cozy Lamb, Minnesota Ave., 9/14/12.
Noi, Bond Street, 9/14/12.
Azillian Beads, Franklin Ave., 9/6/12.
Earth*Fire*Art, Oregon Av., 7/10/12.
Pastrami Deli, Franklin Av., 7/10/12.
Bend Your Imagination, Minnesota Av., 7/10/12.
Paul Scott Gallery), Brooks St., 7/10/12
Natural Edge Furniture, Bond St., 5/10/12
Hola!, Bond St., 3/3/12.
Amanda's, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Barrio, Minnesota Ave., 2/12/12.
Rescue Moderne, Harriman, 1/12/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave. 2/12/12.
Navidi, Minnesota Ave., 2/9/12.
Mazza, Brooks St. , 2/9/12.
La Magie Bakery, Bond St., 1/6/12
Brother Jon's Ale House, Bond St., 12/10/11.
What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
Dream Pebbles, Minnesota Ave., 6/15/11.
Bend Yogurt Factory, Franklin/Bond, 4/26/11.
High Desert Lotus, Bond St. , 4/4/11.
Tryst, Franklin Ave., 3/11/11. (Formerly Maryjanes, **Moved**).
D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, 4/5/10 (Moved to Minnesota Av.)
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe, 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7. 11/5/09
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09 (**Moved, Wall St.**)
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails

(List begun, Fall, 2008.)

BUSINESSES LEAVING

At the Beach, Wall ST., 9/18/13.
New York City Sub, Bond St. 3/29/13
Soba Asian Bistro, Bond St., 3/29/13
Volt Lighting, Wall St.  3/29/13.
Topolino, Wall Street, 1/20/13.
Cozy Lamb, Minnesota Ave., 1/20/13 (moved inside, Bond St.)
Amalia's, Wall Street, 1/5/13.
El Jimador, Wall Street, 9/1412.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 9/1/12
Common Table, Oregon Ave., 8/11/12.
Honey Threads, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/12.
Bella Moda, Wall St., 8/11/12.
Giddy Up, Minnesota Ave., 5/10/12
Pottery Lounge, Oregon Ave., 5/17/12.
Boondocks, Newport Ave., 3/27/12
Game Domain, Oregon Ave., 3/27/12.
Toth Gallery, Bond St., 3/27/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave., 3/22/12.
Clutch, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12. (Moving to Tres Jolie).
High Desert Gallery, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12.
Tart, Bond St., 3/3/12.
El Caporal West, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Bo Restobar, Franklin Ave., 2/9/12.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 2/9/12.
Arts Central, Brooks St., 2/7/12.
Typhoon!, Bond St., 2/5/12.
Gatsby's, Minnesota Ave., 2/5/12
The Dog Patch, Minnesota Av. 1/9/12.
Bend Mapping, Bond St., 1/9/12.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St. 1/9/12 (Moving into Tres Jolie)
Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
Pita Pit, Brooks St. , 6/28/11
Smith and Wade Salon, Minnesota, Av. , 6/3/11.
Perspectives, Minnesota Av., 6/1/11
River Bend Art Gallery, Bond St., 5/5/11.
Donner's Flowers, Wall St. 3/11/11. (**Moved out of downtown**)
Maryjanes, Wall St. , 3/11/11. (new name, Tryst, moved to Franklin.).
Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro

(List begun, Fall, 2008 )

Yakkers and tweeters and braggers, oh my!

I'm taking the following quote in whole from the Shelf Awareness site, because it is almost exactly how I believe.  I'm not sure about the last couple sentences, which seem a little snobby, but the rest of it:

The "yakkers and tweeters and braggers" -- otherwise known as networking -- what has that to do with actual writing?

I wrote my first book because I was horrible at job interviews and believed the book would rise or fall on its own merits.  That I didn't have to put on a persona, or sell myself, or convince others that I'm competent.  The book would do that.

Pretty naive, eh?

Quotation of the Day

Franzen on Bezos: 'One of the Four Horseman'

"In my own little corner of the world, which is to say American fiction, Jeff Bezos of Amazon may not be the antichrist, but he surely looks like one of the four horsemen. Amazon wants a world in which books are either self-published or published by Amazon itself, with readers dependent on Amazon reviews in choosing books, and with authors responsible for their own promotion. The work of yakkers and tweeters and braggers, and of people with the money to pay somebody to churn out hundreds of five-star reviews for them, will flourish in that world. But what happens to the people who became writers because yakking and tweeting and bragging felt to them like intolerably shallow forms of social engagement? What happens to the people who want to communicate in depth, individual to individual, in the quiet and permanence of the printed word, and who were shaped by their love of writers who wrote when publication still assured some kind of quality control and literary reputations were more than a matter of self-promotional decibel levels?"
--Jonathan Franzen in a Guardian essay called "What's Wrong with the Modern World"

Writing like a demon.



I'll be about halfway through the book by the end of the day.  I'm thinking of changing the title from As You Wish, to Once in a Long Spell.  The latter title goes better with the third book -- Sometimes a Dragon (already written.)

I'm reaching the point where the major plot turn has to be chosen.  As it is, it doesn't quite feel strong enough.  It's a qualified major plot point.  But I almost have to choose it if I'm going be able to tie in it in with the plot point of Sometimes a Dragon.  They are so similar, that I think I almost have to do it.

I'm hoping that I'll figure out a way to strengthen  it.

As it is, I'm going to have two sides fighting to the death over a gray problem -- that is, the problem may or may not be important and yet the two sides have to go to war over it. 

In the first half of the book the problem is slavery -- so, 'slavery is bad' is pretty clearcut.

This second half problem is more like global warming -- a harder thing to get a handle on because it's in the future and there are misguided people who don't believe it's a problem.  (I think there is no doubt whatsoever about global warming being caused by us, but what if there was?)

So is it a strong enough plot point to wrap the entire book around?

The point of contention is -- if a certain thing happens, everything that people have will disappear.  But if it doesn't happen, they could all die.

The likelihood that a certain danger will happen is a fifty/fifty proposition. 

So if you choose A.) you survive, but lose all wealth.
If you choose B.) You retain your wealth, but you might die.

With A.) you survive both choices.
With B.) you keep your wealth.

You'd think everyone would choose A.) for safety.  But faced with losing all (fabulous)  wealth on a coinflip, would people fight for the other option, B? 

 I suppose it's a McGuffin and doesn't really matter.  But it does have to seem important, at least.   It has to be credible that people would fight to the death over it.

 I may actually use the "global warming" explication.  "On earth they had a problem that many people didn't believe -- global warming.  That's why we are here today, because they didn't make the right choice.

Now we are faced with a danger that can't be proven, but which can be avoided.  All we have to do is give up everything we have..."




Having my doubts.

For a number of reasons, I'm having my doubts.

But I keep on writing.

I've had doubts about this new effort from the beginning.  But here's the thing.  I am such a fast writer -- at least of first drafts -- that it makes more sense to continue writing something I have doubts about than to sit around and agonize and worry about writing something else.

If I consider everything I write to be practice, then writing is never wrong. 

And I do seem to be picking up techniques and habits which are helping the next effort. 

Basically I could sit around and wait for the perfect idea, and then set about trying to write it perfectly.

Or I can just write and write and write and out of that huge mass of words something good will happen.

The latter is more fun, and less intimidating, and I think for me the right route to take.

I keep trying to remind myself that I've only been doing this for about 2 years, and only the last year have I been really productive.  Everything could be considered practice in a way -- though I'm also trying to write things that are worth reading.

As long as I see an improved curve of learning -- both good habits and good writing, then this is worth continuing.

Poverty with a View -- only more so.

As I never get tired of pointing out -- if you look up "Poverty with a View" in the Urban Dictionary, it is specifically about Bend, Oregon.

The article on jobs in the Bulletin today only reinforces that.

Manufacturing jobs, which pay an average of $41K are down by 1660 jobs since 2005.  Construction jobs are down by 3340.

Meanwhile, leisure and hospitality jobs, which pay an average of $18K, are up by 1290.

The increases in jobs are mostly in health and hospitality, the exact jobs you'd expect if Bend was a retirement and tourist area.

I don't think most of those manufacturing and construction jobs are ever coming back. 

Sorry.


Bend bops.

I've probably said this before, but writing a book is a lot like being really really engrossed in reading a book.  I come back to reality with a mixture of regret and satisfaction.

**********

I've also decided it's time to take myself less seriously as a writer.  Just have fun and quit worrying about it.

**********

I've taken the exclamation mark out of the title, As You Wish.  Wonder how many times I'll go back and forth on that.  I'm thinking of calling it Wish World instead.

**********

It's amazing how often I see that little section of Central Oregon on national maps of different things.
For instance, a map I saw recently of "hipsters who move to Brooklyn" which had the Portland area, of course -- and there -- in the middle of the state -- good old Bend.

**********

Interesting to see some of the downtown Redmond merchants actually pushing back against street closures.  Maybe because the events have only recently been possible, they can see more clearly their impact.

Downtown Bend merchants all seem so brainwashed that it's good for them than none of them seem to be able to think for themselves.

**********

Combining a couple of concerns.  If they are going to build the new college out there southwest, they are definitely going to need to keep the bus system going -- obviously with extensions to the college.
Not sure how I feel about the location.  Haven't put any thought into it.  Probably better than mixing two colleges together in the West Hills or having too heavy an impact on the Old Mill --

And Juniper.  Once again proves to be a bad option.  (That makes three concerns.)

All we need now is a couple of major industries to move to town, and we are officially a real "city."

**********

You know, for all the gloom and doom, at least we avoided (so far) a war in Syria.

**********



Too complicated, or too simple?

As You Wish has an unwieldy premise.  Maybe too big.

Too many inherent contradictions, dilemmas and paradoxes.  I may have to spend half my time just explaining things.

I'd rather have a premise with too much rather than too little, though that hasn't been a problem lately.  I've been dealing with big subjects -- and trying to do them in an entertaining way.  Trying not to get too heavy, but at least address the big subjects. 

Then again, what I liked about both Death of an Immortal and Led to the Slaughter, is that the storylines were relatively simple.  Death of an Immortal was a redemption story, Led to the Slaughter was a survival story.

One of the problems with Faerylander is that it has too many elements, especially clustered at the beginning.  It started off as a book about ideas -- clever ideas.  I forgot I had to have sympathetic characters and a clear story, and every rewrite since has been about trying to fix that initial misstep.

The temptation is to try to clarify, by adding material at the beginning, thereby making it worse.

What I'm trying to do with As You Wish is surf the line between too complicated and a clear storyline.

If I'm constantly trying to explain why something is happening, then I can't just let things happen.

I've decided that though everyone wants explanations -- that the explanations need to be implicit in the story rather than spelled out.

Story above all.

Asking friends to read is really imposing.

I've sent Faerylander off to my friend Wes to see what he thinks.

Way back when I was living on potatoes and ketchup and top ramen, Wes was the one friend who really supported my writing.

But he's a busy guy, so I haven't asked him to read anything until now.

In fact, I've pretty much stopped asking for people to read my stuff.  Not because I don't want it or need it, but because I want to save up my chances for when it will do me the most good.


Meanwhile, for some reason Rule  of Vampire hasn't posted to the Smashwords Premium catalog after 8 days.  It should only take a couple.  So anyone trying to buy it there might run into trouble.  Please don't give up.


Wednesday isn't a writing day, but I thought I'd write a chapter yesterday.  ----  Wednesday isn't a writing day......

Writing and my moods.

Was feeling depressed all day.  Which is actually unusual for me.  I generally have a pretty upbeat mood.  (I know, I know ... those who see me at the store might not think that, but over all --- yes, upbeat.)

I read the penultimate section of Led to the Slaughter to writer's group and you know what?  It was good.

Ginger made the comment that she had rolled her eyes at the idea of "Donner Party Werewolves" but that it wasn't a gimmick, that I was writing a serious survival story about people.

Well, yeah.  It isn't Snakes on a Plane.  It is the real story as best I can write it -- but, well, with werewolves.

I'm wondering if I haven't hurt the prospects of the book by playing up the sensational -- perhaps silly -- sounding premise. 

Anyway, came home feeling good about my writing again.

Also wrote a chapter of "As You Wish!" (which I have decided needs an exclamation mark in the title.)

The thing about writing is that it isn't dependent on mood.  One of the few things I do that isn't dependent on mood.  I can write depressed or happy and everywhere between.  I remove myself from whatever is happening, good, bad or indifferent.

On the other hand, writing usually makes me feel good. 

In fact, I'm convinced that getting serious about writing helped bring me out of my decade long clinical depression in the 70's.

I'm not sure why.  Mostly because it took me out of myself, made me think about something else for long periods of time.  And because I got a feeling of accomplishment out of it.  And maybe because being creative is just good for my overall well being.

The only downside is that it isolates me.  After stewing in dark thoughts all day, the minute I started to talking to Ginger and Gary and Linda at the group, I started to feel better.

I've always intended to keep working at the store, whether I need to for the money or not.  (Need to being relative.)  Maybe not as much, but I still need that human contact.  I have all kinds of people at the store I know and like -- they are my friends, if you will.

But writing is also important, and I'm still struggling to find that balance.


Just posting the books, and hoping for the best.

I've decided to just post my books -- Rule of Vampire is live -- and then just leave them alone.

I don't feel comfortable asking people to buy my books, but of course, if don't ask them -- they probably won't.  But so be it.  I'm a writer, that's what I want to do.


I cut 18,000 words from Faerylander (formerly Nearly Human.)

I completely reorganized the chapters. I've undoubtedly got sequence problems, probably duplications, probably missing information.

But I wanted to get a rough cut down, and then deal with the flow.

I think this will be a better book this way.  I'm guessing I can cut another couple of thousand words if I'm ruthless enough, and I wouldn't mind cutting even more.

All the books that came after this one are much faster reads.  I spent a great deal of the first third of this book on set up and exposition.

I'd like to cut as much exposition as possible, and still have the story make sense.  In order to do that, I'm probably going to risk taking out necessary info.  So I'll have to ask my editor to figure out where I've done that.

So I will probably cut nearly 20% of the book (after having cut 10% of the book earlier).  Both the beginning and the ending are completely different, but wasn't able to deal with the plot problem in the middle that has bothered me all along.   I'm afraid that it is such an integral part of the plot it can't be fixed.  I keep trying to explain around it, which makes it better.  But still...

I know I solved some of the timing issues -- things are now happening in the book where it makes more sense for things to be happening.  But for every 3 problems I solve, I seem to create 2 new ones.

This is the 5th complete new version.  I found myself taking out much of what I did in the 3rd version, which was an attempt to 'humanize' the story.  The need to humanize wasn't wrong, but the way I went about it didn't really work in hindsight.

This is just an extraordinarily difficult thing to do.

I believe that I've probably improved the book by 20% each time, which would mean it's twice as good as the first version.  ;-)


Meanwhile, I wrote a single chapter of As You Wish.  So I'm trying to do both projects at the same time.

Sell for a premium?

There is quite a bit of controversy over whether retailers should sell the 3D covers of Villains month for a premium.

I have a policy of never charging more than SRP for the first month at least, no matter what.  Even later I rarely raise the price.  I feel like my job is to sell comics, not collectables.

I'm sympathetic, though.  I think DC put us in jeopardy with this whole thing, and there is always the risk/reward ratio to consider.

But a policy is a policy.  So I'm sticking to regular price.


As You Wish. A new book.

Have started a new book:  As You Wish.

It's straight fantasy.  Strangely enough, I think it might be a prequel to Sometimes a Dragon.

Wrote the first three chapters in one day, and I like it.  I think it will be fun to write, and that's what I'm looking for right now.

Couldn't face working on the second half of Faerylander.  Just didn't feel like it.  So much easier and fun to write something fresh.

Linda is encouraging me to finish Faerylander, which she thinks has some neat ideas.  I do want to finish it.  So I'll try to do both for a little while until I'm done with the rearrangement of Faerylander, then I'll set it aside and work on As You Wish.

I want to give Faerylander a little room to breath before I tackle it once again.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to letting my imagination go on As You Wish.  Anything is allowed.  Anything.  Just as long as it makes sense.

I think I'm getting better at setting up the original premise with enough components to make a book, but not so many that it gets unwieldy.  Every chapter has to kick the story forward in some way.  The characters need to be sympathetic.

And I have great faith now that my subconscious will complete the story.

Still not getting it.

After writing two and half fresh chapters to start Faerylander, I started rearranging the following chapters.  I cut back my famous author flashbacks to the original five and did them in order.  I arranged the "falling in love with Lillian" chapters in sequential order.

In other words, I did everything I could to make the manuscript flow better.

I'm trying to cut between 20 and 30 thousand words, but it looks like it may only be about 10 thousand words.  Can't quite tell.

My writing on that first year's worth of manuscript just isn't as good as what I was doing later and I've been trying to make that better.

So this will be the fifth complete version of this novel.

It was a giant game of concentration -- trying to remember what goes where and when.  Spent probably 8 hours in a very concentrated state, and got about half done.  So I figure I'll get the other half done in the next day or two.

Then I need to go back and really try hard to make the whole thing work.

I'm far past the word-jumble state I try so hard to avoid.  But I want to save this book if possible.  For one thing I've written a sequel (Wolflander) that would go to waste! (And which I think is fine.)

I keep thinking I'll have an epiphany -- a thunderbolt realization of how to fix it.  But I'm afraid that what I'm really looking at is hard work.  So -- continue to make the sequencing work as best as possible, and then try to get the writing as good as possible and see what I end up with.

This is like some kind of karmic readjustment for how easy writing has been -- this book isn't easy and I'm doing so much rewriting that I can now say I probably rewrite as much as any other author.

At the end of it, I'll probably have to ask myself if I should go ahead and publish a less than perfect book.  For one thing, it may be better than I think.  For another, it has some good characters and premises that I'd like to continue to pursue.  I did like Wolflander, the followup, and it has none of the same problems -- and I have ideas for other books in the series.

I think I have the luxury of taking the time to keep trying to get it right -- hope for the thunderbolt.  Blood of Gold editing and rewriting and formatting is probably going to take up the next quarter of a year, so I've got time.

Thing is, I'd like to get back to writing something new.

So finish this fifth complete draft over the next couple of weeks, then set it aside and write something completely new.
 

Holy Crap, that was hard!

Holy crap, that was hard.

Turning Nearly Human into Faerylander.  

I swear it would be easier to write a new book.  Twice as easy, three times as easy, four....

I spent hours and hours and hours trying to adjust the previously written material.

I spent maybe an hour or two writing two fresh new chapters.

I'm only doing this because I think the book is worth saving and because I think it has some good ideas and characters and about 80% of a viable plot.

Some of the previously written material is pretty good.  I hate to lose it. At the same time, I traded away a really well written two paragraph description for an adequate two sentence description, god help me.  Everything is about moving the story forward.

Right now, the bad guy is the major focus, two of the first three chapters, malevolently active and doing things.  The good guy is the second chapter, and he's talking talking.

The beginning is always the hardest.  It should get easier from now on. 

I think. 

I hope.