2 beers and the teetotalers.

Linda and I are visiting friends and have gone out to dinner twice in two nights.  Unusual for me, to say the least.  I don't like crowds.  But I'm doing really well these days, almost normal.  I just put my back to the rest of the room and concentrate on the people I'm with.

First place we went was packed, the decibel level was so high that we were nearly having to shout to have a conversation.  Every table was drinking, so I went ahead and ordered a beer.  Then had a second.

Since my wife and my friends are teetotalers, it was interesting to me the contrast.  As in, there wasn't much.  The beer probably just loosened me up enough to be normal.  Self-medication, you know. 

But since I almost never drink anymore, I was astounded by how much I felt two beers.  I mean, I think back when I drank routinely, even four or five beers wouldn't have had that much effect on me.

It was good, it was social, and I didn't overdo it. 

#1 for 10 minutes.

I may only be #1 for ten minutes.  And yes, I've parsed it to Horror, Paperbacks, Last 30 Days, and Average Review. 

But there it is.

Led to the Slaughter, #1.

Meanwhile, my ebook has dropped out of the last 30 days and into much tougher competition.

By the time you read this, it may already be gone....

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_review-rank?bbn=49&qid=1395508263&rh=n%3A283155%2Cn%3A!1000%2Cn%3A17%2Cn%3A10134%2Cn%3A49%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2656022011%2Cp_n_publication_date%3A1250226011&sort=review-rank


A good solid first half to the book.

I feel like I've got a good solid first half of a book.  I have a line-up of characters who are all coming together.

Now I intend to really put them through hell.

I decided early on that I would have a "Lost Patrol" scenario.  The motley group gets picked off one by one.  Until the hero finally decides to take matters into her own hands and fights the danger.

So now my main task is to think up fiendish ways for them to die, and to create stronger bonds among the survivors.

I also decided early on that it would be a Grendel story, so eventually, Virginia Reed, the hero of my story, will take on Grendel.

And later, track Grendel's mother to her cave.

So it's all there in my head, I just need to get it down.  

Don't mess with Sasquatch.

Kevin tells me not to screw up Sasquatch.

Sorry, buddy.  Probably going to happen.

Thing about these archetypes, they are made to be messed up with.  Everyone comes to an archetype with their own ideas.  In fact, I don't do any research on werewolves, or ghosts, or Bigfoots. (I don't actually use the word Bigfoot, except in the sub-title, or Sasquatch.  I use some of the Indian names for a similar archetype.)

I know what they are in my heart.  They are a monster I understand -- my monster.  I'll do what I want with it.

Oh, I'll do research on say, gold mining, finding out for instance that they used black gunpowder for explosions, incredibly dangerous.

I'll do research on firearms or the map of California or the local tribes.

But werewolves -- they are in my mind.  What frightens me about them is what counts, not what some other writer says they are.  Or what Bigfoot it.  Or vampires.

Archetypes are fair game.

Cobbling a chapter.

Yesterday I cobbled together a chapter.

Maybe a better word is -- I 'crafted' together a chapter.  It was a transitional kind of chapter.  I moved some characters from point A to point B.  It's like one of those scenes where they're talking in the car, or in the restaurant.  That kind of thing.

It is easier to write action chapters.  But not every chapter can or should be filled with actions.

So I put in some explication of backstory, some description, but most of all dialogue between the characters.  Character development.  The relationships between them.

Oh, and foreshadowing.  Some of that.

It took all day.  Just a snippet here, a snippet there.  Whenever I think I'm wasting entire days, I just have to remember that it is sometimes necessary.  That these things don't get written otherwise.  I need that hour between 10 minutes of writing.  That two hours of waiting for the next line of dialogue.  I need the morning without anything happening so I can spend the afternoon on writing.

I'm thankful I have the time.  I really need to get over that feeling that I'm wasting it.


Grendel's Cave: Bigfoot and the California Goldrush.

New title.  Grendel's Cave: Bigfoot and the California Goldrush.

This more or less matches the style of the title of the first book.  I can envisioned the same kind of design on the cover.

I knew that I was going for a Grendel kind of idea -- very loosely.  But the cave of gold is featured prominently in the story, and it leads the natural exploration of Bigfoot.  So yeah, I like it.

It's early, and the title may change.

I'm about halfway through the first draft, and I've got a very strong sense of the book, which is nice.  That doesn't always happen.  I'm actually getting close to the part of the book that is always the easiest to write.  (Knock wood.)  All the set up is out of the way, and from now on it is pretty much action.

What fun.

Just guideposts, not outlining.

I don't so much outline my books as create bullet points of narrative needs.  That is, as I go along I think of scenes or chapters that need to be done and put them in a loose order.

Usually, after every couple of chapters or so, new developments necessitate that I go and change the bullet points -- either the content or the order.

So the bullet points aren't so much a map as as they are reminders of what I'm trying to do, a general direction I'm headed.

I start off the book with a rough idea of the elements I want to include.  Then, usually about 20% of the way in, I get a more specific sense of where the story is going.  That's when I start posting my reminders.

So for instance, I realized that I wanted Death of an Immortal to be a redemption story.  I wanted the Donner Party Werewolves to be a survival story.

I'm looking at Dead Spend No Gold as a "Lost Patrol" story, where the original party is winnowed down one by one. 

Once you have the basic theme of the story in place, the plot sort of follows those contours.

I like to be flexible, but have a general heading.

Stephen King's Top 20 Rules.

I generally stay away from writing advice these days.  Not because I don't think I need any advice, but because I'm busy writing and I don't want to muddy the waters.

I spent years reading about writing -- went to the library and checked out just about every book they had...

I also think most writing advice is obvious, or wrong, or contradictory.

But I just came across "Stephen King's Top 20 Rules for Writing"  (Writer, 3/15/14) and damn if they don't all make perfect sense.

Now I read his book "On Writing" years ago and maybe I just internalized all these ideas -- but I don't think so.  I think I kind of came to most of these conclusions on my own.

So here's his rules, with my reactions following. 

1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience.

This goes without saying.  But I must admit I'm conscious of an audience as I write -- but the audience is me.

2. Don’t use passive voice. 

I believe -- I hope -- I've trained myself to do this.  This comes from practice, practice, practice.

3. Avoid adverbs. 

I use adverbs, but I try to be judicious about them

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

I still do this, but again, I try not to.

5. But don’t obsess over perfect grammar. 

The occasional grammar mistake in service to the story is relaxing and letting the story take precedence. 

6. The magic is in you. 

Still working at getting over the fear.  The more I write, the more I push the worry back.  The magic is my magic, it doesn't need to be compared to anyone else.

7. Read, read, read. 

Done, done, done.

8. Don’t worry about making other people happy.

The more I write, the more I realize that it is coming from within, not without.

9. Turn off the TV.

I don't do TV in the day, and as little as possible at night, and only after I've done my writing.  The Internet on the other hand....

10. You have three months.

Well, exactly.  And it's nice to hear him say it.  Any more than 3 months on a first draft and I know the book is in trouble.

11. There are two secrets to success. 

I too have stayed healthy and stayed married...

12. Write one word at a time.

Eventually, if you write enough, you start to realize how the words accumulate if you are steady.

13. Eliminate distraction.

I even close the curtains, and sometimes turn off the lights.

14. Stick to your own style. 

I just write.  If figure what I write is my style.

15. Dig. 

I'm glad to see this advice, because this was the insight that finally unlocked my writing.  That the story is there and I just need to dig it out.  It doesn't come from somewhere else.  Look inside.

16. Take a break. 

Leaving the story alone for several weeks or months takes patience, but it really helps give you perspective.  I generally start working on something else.

17. Leave out the boring parts and kill your darlings. 

Assuming I know what the boring parts are -- yeah, that's what I try to do. Again, the more I write, and the more I realize that there is always more where that came from, the more willing I am to jettison material, or move material around, or let nicely written but out of place material go.

18. The research shouldn’t overshadow the story. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I do the research after I do the first draft.  May be backward, but it makes the story the most important part.  The fleshing out, the making it seem real, that comes second.

19. You become a writer simply by reading and writing. 

Again.  Done.  In a big way.  I write constantly, and I spent decades reading a book every couple days.

20. Writing is about getting happy. 

I've learned that I like writing -- especially the first drafts -- and I'm happy when I've put the work in the make them better.  (Though I still have a hard time enjoying rewrites, I do like the results.)

Anyway -- way to go Stephen King.  (Like he needs my approval.) 

I like all these suggestions.  They're pertinent and not overbearing and straight to the point.  


Plotting the plot.

I'm 20 thousand words into The Dead Spend No Gold, the sequel to Led to the Slaughter.

I'm back to my steady, no excuses, 2000 words a day word first draft pace.  It sometimes -- most often -- takes all day to get there, in spurts.  Lots of down time.

Yesterday, I was writing a fairly quiet section, and my mind kept wandering to future plot points and it made me realize I need to write those ideas down.

This story is coming out differently.  The first book more or less followed the actual events of the Donner Party.  It was written in 1st person journal-type accounts.

This book is going to be 3rd person throughout.  It's completely made up, using different true events mashed together.  I wanted to include the Indian genocide, gold mining, frontier towns and women, and of course Bigfoot.

I've got enough of a start and enough of the elements, that it's time for me to start to outlining a little more fully.

Sometimes I have a kind of thematic idea of what the book is going to be.  For instance, Led to the Slaughter was a "survival" story.

Death of an Immortal was a "redemption story."  I knew that I wanted to test the main character by driving him down, down, down -- until he was chased by everyone, had no resources, no friends, no hope.  Then slowly bring him back, because of the moral choices he makes, not in spite of them.

I think moral center of this new book is the treatment of Indians -- and by extension, the creature who is known today as Bigfoot, but in the story is called other names.  It is simply defending its territory, after all.  The Indians had respected that, but the white man is invading.

I also kind of want the end plot to be a "lost patrol" kind of thing.  A group of men, (and two women), venture into the mountains where they are stalked and killed, one by one.  (I also have a bit of Grendel motif going...)

I'm going to do probably more research on this book than I did on Led to the Slaughter.  I wanted to stick to the basics with the first book, but this book probably could use more detail in more places.

The way I do that is to write out the first draft, get that down, THEN do the research and insert the pertinent or interesting details into the story.  A little ass backward, perhaps, but it works for me.  I have enough of a general idea of the history of the place that the plot doesn't do anything inappropriate -- and if it does, I change it.

I can always feel when a book is going to be a book, and I've felt that way from the beginning of this one.


I love that part.

The real fun of writing for me is discovering the story by writing.

From September, 2012 thru August, 2013, I went on a writing binge.  I was totally immersed in the writing books.  When I was done with one, I went on with another.  I didn't question myself, I just let myself write. I wrote a tremendous number of words.  I worked out a process that seemed to work.   I felt as though I was making real progress in learning how to write.

In September, 2013 I made an abrupt turn.  I started to spend more time on shaping up the writing I'd already done, and I started marketing my books.  While I managed to get the Vampire Evolution Trilogy and Led to the Slaughter into publishable shape, and managed to find a publisher, I just haven't felt like I've been as creatively productive over the last six months.

It seems like there have been many more distractions, and the writing I've been able to do has been more surface than I'd like.  Some of that has been the difference between writing that first draft, being lost in the creative flow -- and the taking a step back and trying to craft that writing into something readable.

That's my new terminology for the re-writing process -- crafting.  You take a cold blooded look at the book and see what it's missing and what it needs more of and what there is too much of -- but most importantly, you refine the writing until there isn't anything that might bring a reader up short saying,  "Wait a minute..."

I sort of get it now.  I mean, I get the basic needs.

I would love to recapture that kind of immersive experience I had during that miracle year.  But I'm not sure that will ever be possible.  I think what is going to be happening now is that I'll have to divide the year up in quarters.  Spend a quarter writing first drafts, then spend a quarter crafting what I've written, then spend a quarter writing first drafts, and so on.

Otherwise, I risk having a bunch of half formed novels that never see the light of day.  I'm sitting on half a dozen books right now that need to be 'crafted.'  I'd love to get each of them polished, one by one.

But I'm leery of taking too much time away from writing that first story -- the fun part.  The discovering the characters and the plot and all that. 

I love that part. 

Doesn't matter, I'm going to keep on writing.

I rarely step out of my insular world that I've created for myself.  I've been my own boss for 30 years, I don't have to cooperate or confer with anyone to make decisions.  I just do what I want and what I think needs to be done.  I can generate my own results without having to ask anyone for help.

So stepping out on this book, trying to gather some attention for it, has been very educational.

I come away with the same lessons I've learned before.

1.)  Promotion is pretty useless.  I don't think it has the effect people think it does.  For once I did absolutely everything I could think to do.  I didn't not leverage every leverage I had.  I was almost pushy in promoting myself on Facebook and Twitter and on this blog.  I did all I set out to do and more.

And I don't think any of it moved the needle one little bit.

2.)  There are a lot of B.S.er's in the world.  I can't believe half of what I'm reading from self-published authors.  The evidence contradicts most of what they're saying.  I think most of them are being ingenuous, trying to promote themselves, or even trying to sell services. 

A.)  Corollary to that: people will tell you they're going to do something and then not do it.  Lots of people.  I don't understand that -- just say no if you don't intend to do it, right?

Which makes me appreciate the people who actually did come through even more.  But -- I know who they are, and I know who they aren't, and it's pretty disappointing how many people I thought would follow through didn't.

3.)  Anyone who thinks there isn't a difference between having a publisher and being self-published hasn't looked into the eyes of hundreds of people and seen the vastly different responses.

But I'm coming to the conclusion they're wrong.  Self-publishing is probably the future. But instead of having to deal with a 99.9% rejection rate from traditional publisher, these future authors will have to deal with the 99.9% difficulty in being discovered.  Same basic odds, I suspect.  But with the satisfaction of actually getting your books published.

4.)  Luck as always plays a huge role.  The biggest role.

5.)  It doesn't matter.  I love writing.  I'm going to keep on writing.


P.S.  I'm still hoping my print copies will show up soon -- today, I hope...

Hoping for Led to the Slaughter to show up today.

I'm pretty sure I'll get the book today or tomorrow, unless something has gone wrong in the shipping.

But you know what?

The print copy is available right now at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble's online.  So if you can't make it into the store, or if you don't want to make it into the store, or you're too far away to make it into the store, you can still get the book.

Meanwhile, Led to the Slaughter will still be in the "Last 30 Days" grace period for the next week or so. This is where I'm only competing with the other books that have been recently completed (instead of every Stephen King and Dean Koontz ect. book every written.)

So any purchase or any review has a major impact on rankings.  The algorithms are a bit of a mystery (apparently to everyone) but it is obvious that good reviews really pull the book upward.

My theory is, the higher the book is on a list, the more likely it is to be seen, the more likely someone will buy it, the higher the book on the list.  A virtuous cycle.

So there's still a chance to affect that, anyone who has been thinking about doing a review, the next week is the absolute best time for it

I can't really tell how my book is doing.

I'm pretty sure it's either doing really good, or really bad, or somewhere in-between....

Obsessively checking the rankings.

I've fallen into a nasty habit of obsessively checking the rankings on Amazon and Smashwords.

First of all, what does it really matter?

Secondly, what does it mean?

I've decided I should just let myself enjoy this.

I've accomplished what I set out to do.  To get published again.  Have a book sent out into the world again.  Those were my two goals, and I've already done them.

I can't tell what's going on in sales, it's all very contradictory, but it really doesn't matter.  I'm cool with what's already happened.  Not only that, but I've still got my Vampire Evolution Trilogy coming out, one by one.

I'm intensely interested in what the new covers will look like.

And probably most important of all, I've got a pretty good handle on the sequel, which has enough depth that if I do it right, it should be a good read.

So my job is just to do it right.

Cosmos and other media blips.

As I mentioned last night, I watched Cosmos.  I felt like it spent too much time trying to wow us with visual effects, and not enough on text.  More fluff than content.  I hate how that is the modern model.

I know everyone is going wild for it -- and I'm glad it exists.  But I was disappointed.

Plus it had the unusual effect on me of making me feel small and unimportant -- which I don't think was the intended message.

I wonder if the old Cosmos is still available?  I loved that show.

*****

I don't know if I'll make it through the day before some teaser headline or another gives away the ending of True Detective.  I don't need much of a hint, because my brain just works that way.

And it seems to be working that way even more since I've been writing.  Both Linda and I are figuring out TV plots way more often and way sooner than before.

*****

Speaking of True Detective.  I noticed that many copies of The King in Yellow are available on ebooks.  (I'm assuming it is legal domain now.)  I remember picking this book up 40 years ago and thinking it was a little too gothic and old-fashioned for my taste at the time.

Weird it should become a best-seller after all these years...

*****

Went to see Frozen.  I have to admit, I kind of squirmed at how "cute" it was.  I mean, I really didn't want to roll my eyes, but couldn't help it.

But I don't think that movie was made for me, what?

It was a very uplifting movie though, and Linda and I came out of it feeling good.  We've been to less movies since we've been writing.

*****

Watched a South African movie called Stander.  Did you know that Thomas Jane can act?  No?  Me neither.  But he can.

*****

A crash course in publishing.

I've been going through a crash course online on the arguments between "Indies (ebooks) versus Big-Five (traditional) publishing.  Quite the battle raging.

The Big-5 are scrambling and being defensive and kind of being dickheads.  The ebook proselytizers are definitely being rabble-rousing dickheads.

 I can see merits on both sides, and some blindspots on both sides.

The best outcome would be if the pressure from the Indies forces the Big-Five to change terms so that they are more beneficial to authors.

Though that seems unlikely.

Worst outcome is the whole edifice of traditional publishers goes down (including bookstores) and that would be a tragedy. 

And as someone who has been on the receiving end of monopolies, I don't think giving Amazon that kind of power is a good idea.

Like I said, it's a very complex issue.  I'm torn because I am not only a reader, but a writer.  Not only a writer, but a bookstore owner.  And the three roles conflict to some extent.

So if you were listening to the news, you'd think everyone has an e-reader; until you actually have an ebook to sell them.  Then nobody does.  "I'll wait for real book."  So now that I have the real book coming into stock, I expect that survey to reverse...heh.

I'm trying to take advantage of those opportunities that are open to me.  I'm slowly being won over by the idea of ebooks.

But I still love me some paper.

I'm what they call a 'hybrid' author.  I'm not self-publishing, but I'm also not going through the traditional Big-Five bookstore distribution route.  I've got a small specialty publisher, who takes a chunk of the sales, but who also does the publishing.

But Books of the Dead Press is quick -- getting a physical book out in a little over a month.  Accepting and setting into motion more than one book at a time.  Reporting royalties every quarter.  Working with the digital platforms in a savvy way.  Providing professional artwork and formatting.  Paying me money.

They have an established platform, I do not.  They know the game, I do not.

Publishing yourself sounds like a great idea, unless you don't have a following and are inept at marketing.

BOTDP is also doing both ebooks and printed books, which most ebooks are not.  Roughly speaking, it looks to me that print books are made from less than 25% of the ebooks made.


Eventually there is going to be a synthesis of these competing ideas -- an equilibrium will be reached.  And the truth is, much of it is just noise to the average author.  Very few people make real big money at writing.  The 1% can make huge amounts of money, the 5% can make modest money, and pretty much nobody else.  It's a logarithmic scale, folks. 

Thing is, the Gatekeepers -- as the Big Five call themselves -- are so slow.  Slooooooowwwwww.....

I figured that even if I went the traditional route and even if I was successful that it would probably take about 3 years before I would see a book published.  I write a hell of a lot faster than that.  Taking 3 years won't make it a better book.

And I don't believe necessarily that the Big Five is a meritocracy, either  I'm not sure it's a lottery or a carnival scam as the ebook proselytizers would have it, but pretty close.  I think the keyhole might be a little narrow.  (Though I understand from the pure numbers of submissions that they have to be picky.)

The battle is raging for the midlist authors.  The big authors, the big literary voices, they'll have traditional publishing.  Authors who would never in a million years get published traditionally, they'll have ebooks.

But there is a middle area, authors who a few decades ago would have been good enough to be published, who are finding it harder to break through.

Once I lost my faith in traditional publishing -- in the fairness of it -- it was pretty much impossible for me to go that route.  Hopefully, this isn't sour grapes.  But really, it does seem a really unwieldy edifice.

For the moment I have a publisher, who taking care of things.  I've done my very best to promote my books -- way, way more than I would have expected. 

But now I can concentrate on writing again.

Trees were sacrificed.

Led to the Slaughter is for sale as a physical, corporeal, material object at Amazon.   No longer just bits of information, no longer just imagination from my head to yours.
 
$13.99 on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IJQR190?ie=UTF8&camp=213733&creative=393177&creativeASIN=B00IJQR190&linkCode=shr&tag=booofthedeapr-20&=digital-text&qid=1392914589&sr=1-1

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but this is exciting.  I'm looking forward to holding it in my hands.

The publisher said he sent the books my way a couple of days ago, so I should have them early next week.

So, soon, I should be able to sell you the book out of my store.  And rub my face all over the ink and get all high on the print fumes.