Didn't write yesterday because I was stuck.

Tuskers II, III, and IV all overlap to some extent in the timeline, but from different locations and points of view.  I think it works fine, but I have to be careful that it makes logical and logistical sense. In "Tuskers IV" I have the central core group of characters taking up most of the first half of the book, but I wanted to at least have one chapter from each of the other two groups of  main characters in the first half.

I wrote a couple of chapters, and I really liked them.

But in reading them yesterday I realized that, while these chapters made emotional, thematic sense, they were from a different timeline. In other words, they weren't logical; they would have to be moved to later in the book.

Damn.

My job today is to find a couple of new chapters that do the same thing thematically, but which also fit the timeline. It means I have to revisit some of the events in books II and III, but not repeat myself.  I'm thinking that I need a single event which introduces the characters in book IV, but which doesn't contradict or duplicate what I've written before.

I don't even know if this is possible, and I definitely want to feel the rightness of it before I do it.

Linda is at work, so I can pace the house and talk to myself and work myself up into a lather about it, and maybe, just maybe something will occur to me.


OK. thought about it for about an hour and came up with something for the Southern Group. I think it will work. It establishes a plot point I want to make and adds some thematic gravitas to the story and introduces the character.

(Why couldn't I think of anything yesterday? It's like my brain wouldn't work. Last night, I got a good night's sleep, could it be as simple as that?)


I wrote the chapter, but Linda was still confused by the timeline. Sigh.

Both books III and IV have overlapping timelines, and I'm just hoping it works. I understand the timeline, but I can see how others might have a problem.

But I don't think I can change it.

Another missive about process.

This is just a way to quantify the process--it's a lot more amorphous than this, but you'll get the idea.

So I need only a single idea to start writing. Which is the way I used to do it.

I'd have an opening idea, and usually in the course of writing the chapter, I'd come up with more ideas: let's say, for the sake of argument, I come up with 10 good ideas. That's an adequate number, along with the connective tissue, to continue the story. I'd have to come back later and try to flesh out the story.

But I've changed my process. Now I start with no ideas, or one idea, or several ideas, but I think it through. I wait. I tease it out, let it come to me. Often on my walks, I will have multiple ideas. I wait until I'm almost bursting, at a point where I'm in danger of forgetting all the ideas, and then I sit down and write.

Here's the thing. Instead of starting with one idea, I now start with, let's say, 10 ideas; and in the course of writing, I come up with the other 10 ideas. So now the chapter has 20 ideas instead of 10. I still have the opportunity to flesh it out later, so now I have, let's say, 25 ideas.

Along with the ideas, I also have to approach the day's writing with a "feeling." The feeling doesn't have to be explicated, it just has to be there.

I usually have some trigger when I know I've "got" it.

I trust my subconscious on this. It's amazing how little I forget. Multiple ideas jangling around, but when it comes time, they all come spilling out on paper.

When in doubt, I try to tap into the parallel universe these ideas come from.  That universe is in my head, but it doesn't feel that way. The best stories seem to already exist, or are potential glimmers that need to be brought to reality.

But until they are down on paper, they don't really exist for anyone else.

One last thing: this is fun, and sometimes it's almost euphoric. I don't believe bleeding words on paper is the right approach, at least for me. My writing is best when it comes "easy."

Of course, in the end, it is never "easy." It always has to be worked on, rewritten, rethought, fleshed out or cut. The work comes, but not when I'm writing the first draft.

That's the fun part.

I was overwhelmed with gratitude on my walk. I teared up. The story ideas that were coming to me were just so perfect.

I got a little carried away, came home and wrote a gushing missive to a friend about how great "Snaked" is and on and on.

Thought I sent the email and walked away and immediately had second thoughts. It seemed a little over the top. Came back to my computer and realized I hadn't sent the email. By then, I'd come to my senses and deleted it.

Meanwhile, I read the new chapter to Linda, and she picked holes in it and didn't seem overly impressed, and I figured, just business as usual.

But that's not how I feel.

It's hard for me to admit that I write adequate books, much less good ones. But this one feels like the real deal. I think it has everything I've learned to do, and is well written, and packed, and interesting, the characters are alive, it has some nice plot twists.

In other words, I think it's the 'good' book I've been trying for. Whether others will see it that way is a question, but I know what I've done, and I'm really proud of it.

I have felt that "Snaked" was my best book since I wrote it, and these new additions only add to the feeling. Such a simple editorial suggestion, (bring back the snakes!) but it was right on. (I think I hunger for editorial suggestions...)

Anyway, I do believe it improves a book that I already liked quite a lot. But I need to be careful not to get ahead of myself.

It's very strange how creative I'm being currently. I'm literally writing two books. "Tuskers IV" in the first half of the day and "Snaked" in the second half. It's not what I intended. I thought I'd finish "Tuskers IV" and only then turn to "Snaked," but the ideas are coming to me and I don't feel like I can turn them down. Plus, well, I need to write only two or three more chapters on "Snaked" and I'm done.

I also intend to finish "Fires of Allah" by the end of summer. 

It's going to feel really good getting these three books finished.

I'm on a really good streak (which is nice after being bogged down on "Faerylander" and "Zombielander" for a month.)  I've worked out a process that appears to maximize my writing effectiveness. The biggest part of that is the four mile walk I take every day. I don't know why, but it seems like I always come up with good ideas on my walk.

Basically, I tease the ideas out. Sit around, lay around, not forcing but continually reorienting toward the goal, waiting for the ideas and for the scene to flesh out. I'll ask myself questions about what I want. Sometimes I nap, grab stray ideas out of the air. Play a game of solitaire, but always coming back to the goal. If specific words come to me, I write them down, otherwise I wait until I have a bunch of ideas.

There is always the trigger, the moment when I know I've got it. Only then do I sit down and write it. Sometimes I stop halfway through and recharge my batteries, sometimes I have enough creative juice to finish the chapter.

Then I go for my walk, and often either a new chapter will come to me, or I'll burnish the chapter I'm working on.

Notice, I talk about chapters.

So here's how I once might have written the "Tuskers IV" chapter I wrote yesterday.

....Back at the barn, the humans are disgruntled with Enrique's leadership, which is turning dictatorial. Barry and Jenny talk it over, try to figure out what to do about it. Blah, blah, blah....

Here's the way I really wrote it: Barry is out on patrol, they capture a Tusker, (named Houdini), Barry treats it honorably and the Tusker acts honorably in return. Barry brings it back to the barn, where Enrique treats it horribly, and so on. In other words, I get all the same ideas across, but I do it through action and events and character building reactions.

Much better.

Both "Snaked" and "Tuskers IV" are coming to me in a very organic way, somehow. That's happened before--"Tuskers I" for instance--but never as complete as this.

But I'm trying not too get excited by it. I often have this reaction when I'm writing my latest book, and it's just part of the creative process. I'll have to wait and see how I feel about it when I'm done and can look at it with some perspective.

Wow.

I wrote a full chapter of "Tuskers IV," then went for my walk, and my mind drifted to "Snaked: Deep Sea Rising," and a chapter started coming to me, so rather than fighting it, I came home and wrote it.

And it was good. Actually, really good.

In the course of one week, I have worked on four different books. That's got to be a new record.

Last Saturday, I wrote a chapter of "Zombielander." Then over the next couple of days, I worked on "Fires of Allah," then I turned to "Tuskers IV," and today, I wrote on "Snaked."

Crazy. My brain hurts.

But while I do feel scattered, I also feel like I'm on the right path. I like the changes to "Snaked." The editor was right: the snakes needed to be highlighted in the last half of the book, instead of fading. It reminds me of how I went back and added a backstory to "Blood of the Succubus" which very much added quality to the book.

I like "Tuskers IV." Thematically, it just has a nice feel to it.

And I like the "Fires of Allah." I'm backing off hurrying it up, even if it means losing some of its timeliness. But it was timely last year, and it is timely this year, and it will no doubt be timely next year. I mean, I will finish it this summer, I'm pretty sure, but I'm going to take a few months to add research to it.

So why was I spending so much time on "Zombielander?" I have no intention of publishing it soon.  Why am I even considering going back to it?

There's a four book series there that I'm still fond of. I'm more and more inclined to start putting books out under a pen name, since I have more than enough books going out under my own name. So...these books will be written as best I can, but will have less push on my part.

The "Lander" series falls under this idea. 

I'll have two tracks I'll be working on, because I'm prolific (I work hard and spend an inordinate amount of time doing it...) and the books are piling up.

I've decided to finish "Tusker IV: Rise of the Cloven" since Ragnarok has set out to get a cover from Mike Corley for it. So they are trusting me to get it done.

The biggest challenge will be to get my head into it. That may take a day or two. I need to get immersed again in that world. Feeling a little whipsawed, my own fault, because I went from not quite finishing Zombielander, to doing Fires of Allah, to having some thoughts about how to fix Snaked, to now doing Tuskers IV, all within about a week.

So this is what I'm going to do for the next month, dammit.

I was half done. (Actually more than that, but I cannibalized much of it for book 3).

So this first half is all told from the "good guys" point of view; the humans and pigs who have banded together for survival.

So question #1. Do I bring in the other two factions somewhere in the first half? I have the humans who hate pigs side, and the pigs who hate humans side, and the "good guys" are in the middle.

So I get halfway through, then jump ahead a couple of years, and the good guys have developed a nice cooperative culture. But somehow both other sides find about about them and converge on them where an all-out battle takes place.

Question #2. How much explaining do I need to do about what happened in the first 3 books? How likely is it that anyone would read the 4th book in the series without reading the first 4?

But I do believe all books should have a satisfying story arc on their own. So I have to at least try.

I have a few days to really think about this and get a good sense of what I want to do. I have a "thematic" structure, so I figure the plot will follow. And again, as with all these half finished books, the second half is almost always more action-packed, which for me is easier to write. 

I wasn't sure what would happen when I picked up a book that was half done, and hadn't been looked at for months.

In the last few days, I've written two solid chapters. I have ideas for more.

All is right with the world.

So I pretty much have the next few months mapped out.

First I finish Fires of Allah. If I think it's good, and I get it edited, and I have a cover, I may even publish it late this summer. I don't want it to be an unseemly rush though.

Then I want to spend a week or two writing snake chapters for Snaked: Deep Sea Rising.  Bring the snakes back to the foreground and deal with them in a satisfying way. Hopefully, the publisher will like the changes and take the book on.

Then I'll start right in on Tuskers IV, with my worries about having it sit half done for a year pretty much dissipated. It's got a good thematic structure, and from that the plot should be accessible.

So like I said, all is right with the world. 3 good books to finish. Writing NEW material, and enjoying it. This is the kind of writing I like to do.

I'm setting aside everything else to finish  "Fires of Allah," my terrorists-setting-wildfires book.

(I've had a number of titles for this, but this title best reflects the contents, even if it isn't inspired. "Not by Water, But by Fire" is an intriguing title, "Devil's Forge" is short and pithy, but neither really get across the contents.)

I was half done before I stopped. I was waylaid by a big time agent and a mainstream publisher, who were considering it. I got a rejection from the former and no answer from the latter, so I'm moving on.

(This was the "100 kickass pages" the agent asked for--which I still think is an asinine request. The book ain't done until it's done, and to Micheal Bay it is to cheapen it, as far as I'm concerned.)

While I was waiting, I assembled a bunch of research material.

I like the book, and it's a hell of a premise, and you can't say it isn't timely.

So I'm going full tilt on it for the next month, with the goal of having it finished and edited by August 1, with a cover by Mike Corley.

This is exciting. I needed the challenge. It will be fun write.

So off I go...down the rabbit hole.

It's hard to spend so much time on rewriting. I don't enjoy it, but it's necessary, especially since I've written so much over the last three years.

The first year was like a fever. The second year, I still had the energy and desire to keep up the pace. The third year was moderating, setting limits, but still writing at a very productive level.

The fourth year so far has been trying to tie up all the loose ends from those crazy first three years.

I'm glad the way it worked out. I knew that the kind of creative mania I felt in the first three years (especially that first year!) was unusual and probably wouldn't continue. (Plus the "real" world could intervene at any time.) So stopping to clean up seemed like a bad idea at the time.

But after 3 years I looked back and realized that about half of that production was useless unless I took the time to fix things.

But wow, I got so far ahead of myself that I could probably stop writing now, clean up what I've written, and call it a career!

I'm hoping that finishing Devil's Forge and Tuskers IV (both half-written) will satisfy my creative urges and keep my mojo.

If not, I'll grab some wild idea out of the air and write it on a lark and have fun again. I can still feel that urge lurking. Seems to work best if I don't overthink it. Wild pigs bothering a friend, write a joke short chapter and then turn it into a serious book! Vampires--so, so overdone, but dammit I feel like it! Weird westerns? Sure, why not? Faerie Punk, I like it! Gangster Golems? Go for it!

The spirit of fun is what makes it all worthwhile. Fuck the "bleeding words on a page" idea. The idea is to go on an adventure, and hopefully others will want to come along.

I think I need to allow myself to give up on books if they aren't working.

This is the fifth full rewrite of Faerylander (over 40 versions). I've split it into 2 books (Zombielander), and I now think I've got something.

But what a slog.

I'm not sorry I did this. If nothing else, I've learned something from each rewrite. I'm getting a sense of structure and plot and characterization and process that I could only learn through trial and error.

But the truth is, I could have written at least two or three other books in the time it's taken me to try to fix one book.

I like the ideas behind this series, I like the characters, I like some of the writing. And I have the added incentive of having written a couple of later books in the series which don't need reworking. (Another lesson learned--don't write a book further along in the series if the first book isn't working...)

Anyway, one of the main rules I had when I came back to writing was to finish whatever I started. It is too easy to write 3 or 4 or 5 chapters and give up. Or give up at the first sign of trouble. I wanted to avoid that.

But I don't think I have to worry about my finishing books anymore. I've done a ton of them.

I have become a better writer by writing. I can become an even better writer by writing some more.

So going backward, trying to prop up books that didn't pass muster the first time, is foolish.

So that's another lesson learned.

1.) Don't do continuing stories. It's fine to do a series, as long as each book is a standalone. As much as I like Tuskers and The Vampire Evolution Trilogy, they were hard to do. I'd say that each continuing volume was twice as difficult as the volume before.

Whereas, writing a series with the same characters but that aren't dependent on the previous book to make sense is much much easier.

2.) By all means, rewrite. But once you've set the story down, don't go changing the basic plot. Adding and subtracting are okay. Changing words is okay. But moving chapters around, changing the timeline of events, that's a no no. The whole structure falls apart.

3.) If the book does fall into that trap or requires changing in that way, it is probably better to give up on it altogether and go on to the next thing.

The trap is that it always seems like a easy fix but never is. You can't take the jigsaw puzzle apart once it's been carved.

Like I said, I'm glad now that I managed to save Faerylander, to improve it, to make it into two books.

But damn, it was hard.

2/3rds of the way through Zombielander and I reached an impasse. The same impasse I'd hit before.

How to integrate the last third of the book.

It doesn't seem an insurmountable problem, certainly I'm in a better place than when Faerylander and Zombielander were one book. But the chapter I have in place just doesn't feel right.

I decided to take a day or two before proceeding and try to come up with a solution.

So I think I have, in theory at least. I have a path forward, which is what I needed.

First, the crucial chapter feels like it would work better told from another character's perspective.

Secondly, I need to consolidate the timeframe so that the responses by the characters make sense. Or alternatively, expand the timeframe.

I either need to remove or move another chapter.

This is all work. It is all in my head, which is not the way I prefer to tell my stories. But I have a feeling this is probably how most other writers go about things. Much more thought rather than just instinct.

I prefer stories that come together on their own without any interference from me, so to speak.  But I also assume that the original story is still there, and all I'm doing is crafting a better plot to fit the story into.

At least I hope so. I long ago passed over from "feeling" this story to "puzzling out" this story. I've noticed in the past, the readers don't really see this. If the story works, it works, and it doesn't matter how I arrived there.

It's just more fun for me not to have to constantly rewrite trying to get it right.

Really, this is a matter of "sunk costs" and I'm going to try very hard to avoid this situation in the future.

I've worked so hard and so long on this book(s) that I don't want to give up now. In fact, when I'm done with this rewrite, I'll probably set them aside and come back one more time next year before publishing and give them one more go-around.

Starting today, I have 10 days to get this right.

Then I really, really want to get on to something new.

Took the day off from writing, and it felt a little strange.

I don't want writing to become a job, a chore, an onerous task. It has to be something I want to do, that I feel compelled to do.

But being compelled and it becoming a burden aren't all that far removed.

When I take time off, I can almost feel my creative energies returning. I have an almost concrete image in my mind of a well that is filling back up with water. That moment of eagerness returns when the water overflows,  I think that's when my best writing comes.

Part of my process has been to refine that. For instance, I used to allow myself to write 3 or 4 or 5 or more thousands words in a day. But I've sort of pulled myself back and try to limit myself to between 1500 and 2500. That leaves enough energy for the next day. (However, if I was really really feeling it, I'd still write beyond that.)

At the same time, though, I don't want to get too far away from the habit of writing every day. I don't want to lose that feeling of being antsy if I don't write.

So... it's just a day off. Probably shouldn't make a big deal out of it. But it's rare enough that I feel like commenting on it.

There you go, commenting on nothing happening... Writing about nothing at all, because by God I have to write something.

I'll be spending the rest of this month rewriting Zombielander.

I think I've figured out a way to conclude the Faery versus Cthulhu storyline and at the same time leave it open to a third book later on. Which is a great solution. Leaves me with the ability to publish the four Lander books I have, and still be able to folow it with the fifth book if I want...or not.

Meanwhile, I never know for sure when I'm writing one book which book I'll want to write next, but I'm leaning toward doing my terrorists-setting-wildfires book, "Devil's Forge."

If nothing else, for timeliness sake. It's half written. Most of the plot has been set up. The only parts that still needs to be written are the action chapters, which are usually the easiest to write. The only real question is how much research to do. I've been clipping out articles about wildfires for about a year, and setting aside books.

The other thing I'm not sure about is do I research ahead of time-- thus using the research in the plot of the book? Or do I research after the plot has been laid down --thus using it to add verisimilitude? The latter is easier than the former, the former is probably more useful than the latter, but much harder to motivate myself to do.

I probably shouldn't say it, but I wing my plots. I feel them. I trust my subconscious. It's all about story.

Interestingly, I had drones as a major part of my plot, and since, I've learned that indeed, drones are being used in wildfires. I think I arrived at this on my own, but maybe I heard a mention of it, or maybe it was just logical.

Anyway, I'm either going to finish "Devil's Forge" or finish "Tuskers IV" both of which are already half written.

I have a problem. I've written too many books.

So far, I've been careful. In the five years I've been serious about writing, I've had the 3 Virginia Reed books and the 3 Tuskers books (as of October) released. BOTD released all 3 Vampire Evolution books on the same day, and I've released two other books on my own.

That's pretty freaking prolific right there. But I've got a BUNCH more books.

I'm not going to try to defend this. I know someone might say, "that's not writing, that's typing." But that is pretty dismissive of how diligent I've been. I mean, you guys have no idea how much time and effort I've put into this. I love doing it, don't get me wrong. But I'm not dabbling. (If you want to be prolific, just have no other life...)

I have books I've finished rapidly that are pretty damn good, and books I've worked on for 4 years and which still aren't up to snuff. 

I've been steadily writing for 5 years, hardly ever skipping a day.

By splitting "Faerylander" into 2 books (or 3) I've freed up 4 books (or 5).

Add that to the 5 books that I've finished that are ready to go at any time. (4 out of 5 have been edited and have covers), that's a crazy number of books.

I also have the reissue of my 3 1980's published books (combined into 2) almost ready to go. I have 2 other books I finished in the 80's that are done (plus a new sequel.)

I have a number of books that I've written that need to be rewritten, if I ever have the time.

And in the meantime, I'm not really slowing down.

If I were to release the FINISHED books every 3 months, which would be a pretty rapid pace, it would still take 4 years to get all the current books out. Even if I slowed my pace by half, in four years I'd still have a bunch of NEW books finished.

Meanwhile, I have the books with publishers that I don't want to dilute the impact of--"The Darkness You Fear" just came out and needs 4 or 5 months for its own window. "Tuskers III" is coming out in October. A "Tuskers IV" (the concluding book) is in the works; and I have a 4th Virginia Reed book planned.

What the hell do I do?

It might be different if I was younger, but I'm at an age when a few years might matter.

What to do?

I want each individual book to be taken seriously. I don't want to dump them out there.

This is not a problem I expected to have. It's not a humblebrag, it really is a logistical problem.

It's not about the money. I've forgone so much money by not working my store that no realistic amount of payback from writing will ever cover it.

It's not about fame and fortune. But like I said, I want each book to stand on its own merits and drowning the market is no way to go about that.

Basically, I'm going to just keep writing to the end of the year and take the lay of the land. I figure one of two things will happen--either there will be more action on the publisher front (which, except for Tuskers IV, isn't looking that likely) or I'll be free to do as I will without regard to stepping on the publishers toes.

If there is more action on the publisher front (and other than what's out there right now, I'm not intending to pursue that) then I would seriously considered putting books out as D.M. McKinnon.
(McKinnon being my middle name).

If I'm trying to cooperate with publishers (which as far as sales results are concerned is a much better proposition) I'm thinking I'd have two tiers.

Tier One: The Duncan McGeary books. Paying for top line covers and editing. 2 or 3 books a year, through publishers if possible, by myself if not.

Tier Two: The D.M. McKinnon books. Doing it all myself. Plunking them out every 3 months like clockwork.

I'd rather have all my books as Duncan McGeary, obviously. But I'm thinking it may not be possible without completely ruining the "brand."

But if I just start plunking D.M. McKinnon books out there without any fanfare whatsoever, they will sink into the ocean of books without a trace. (Not that that is all that different from what is already happening...)

Such a weird problem to have.

My approach so far is to release whatever book I think is my best book at the time, and that also shows something different about my range.

So "Led to the Slaughter" was my first book, because I thought it was my best book at the time.

Took a turn not long after into a creature book, which had a different tone and approach, "Tuskers." Which again, was my best book at the time.

Then released "Blood of the Succubus" myself, because again, I thought it was my best book, and had a completely different approach and tone.

I've continued the Virginia Reed books after "Led to the Slaughter," and I've continued the "Tuskers" books.

Since then, I've written a bunch of other books, all of which are somewhat quirky. I like them a lot, but now that it is almost time to put something out again--mid-summer I think--it is pretty clear that the best book I've written lately and that also has a different tone, is "Deep Sea Rising."

I'm going to call this book my first "adult" book. It has no supernatural elements. No fantasy, no S.F. It is a straight thriller, adventure. I tried to adhere to reality, to what could really happen.

I suppose it could be called a "creature" book, but the creatures exist, or the creatures could exist. It could be called a "disaster" book, but what thriller isn't?

So what's the problem?

I described it as an "adult" book, written so that people who forbear anything that smacks of the fantastic could read comfortably. A crossover book, if you will. I wrote it because I like it, and only after I was done did I realize I'd done something different.

Thing is...I have never felt very "adult." I've always been sort of sidelined. I've run a business for 36 years, which is pretty adult I suppose, but look at what it is--a comic book, game, bookstore. Not exactly your usual job.

I look around me and see 'adults' and God bless them, but I've always felt the outsider, a little immature, not really socially conditioned.

Fine, I wouldn't have it any other way.

But...when I write about "adults" in my stories, I can get most of the way there, but I always feel like I come up a little short. A certain amount of the "adult" comes from other sources, not personal experience. That is, the world that I perceive most adults living comes as a mystery to me.

So, like I said, "Deep Sea Rising" has some good ideas and characters and I love the story, but I feel like I can't quite get the the "real" which is the feeling I want to get out.

So when I'm writing "Tuskers," and I'm purposely writing it in the 70's disaster movie mode, it's okay to use archetypes (better word than stereotype.)

For the Virginia Reed books, there is enough distance that I can approximate the "real", especially when the real is part of the story. I think it might actually be difficult to not tap into the tragedy of the Donner Party.

So..."Deep Sea Rising" is the best book to put out next, but I don't quite feel adult enough to pull it off. Maybe this is just the imposter syndrome. Maybe nobody feels adult.

But it does seem to me that there are two options in writing: Either write what you know, or write so far out of what you know that it doesn't matter.

The danger is when you try to write something that you "should" know, but are only guessing at...

I do feel that with a little "adult" supervision, "Deep Sea Rising" could get all the way there. But where do I get that?

A short distance to making this a really good book, a vast distance to get the help to get it there. Such a vast distance that I don't believe it worth going for.

So I'll do my best pretending to be an adult and just put it out.

Moving on to Zombielander.  Going to try to outline the book, for once. I have about 70% of it written, but need to add about 30% to include other characters in the first half of the book. The second half can pretty much proceed as written.

Story usually comes to me through writing, so outlining isn't a natural thing for me. But in this case, it could save a lot of trouble down the road.

Need to work out theme and character motivations a little better.

I'll have at least four Famous Author chapters, starting with JRR Tolkien, but would love to have one more Weird writer that everyone knows but who is pretty much in the past. The first book had Poe, Lovecraft, Howard, and 'Holocaust writer.'

I've written C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams chapters, but not quite satisfied with them. Need to fix those. Jules Verne and H.G. Wells aren't dark or fantasy enough. I'll think of someone. Maybe Kafka?

Undecided whether to do Cobb's Bestiary. For one thing, I'd need to add some Faery critters, and for another, most of the additions would not be as on point as they were in the first book. Then again, I kind of like them.

Later:

All right. Sketched in the book. Really only need to write three or four completely new chapters, but...lots and lots of transitions. It's all about the transitions. Easy to leave one out. So I'm going to go ahead and get started.

Write the new chapters, stick them in, then work on the transitions to make it all flow naturally.

Neato.

Got back the finished covers to Star Axe and Snowcastles/Icetowers and they are beautiful. I need to sit down and finish the adaption from scans to finished manuscript, which will just take work. I'd hoped to do a little each day, but that's not the way I do things.

It will require me just flat out sitting down and doing the job.

Soon.

There is no real joy in rewriting. I wish I could take pleasure in it.

It takes what is always an iffy proposition--that spending many hours every day on an activity that few if any are ever going to see is a worthy, smart thing to do. At least with writing there is the sense of discovery, the joy in ideas. In rewriting, it's pretty much all brain.

But...I have a book. I have finished "Faerylander," and this is the version I'm going to publish. I think it works, and I'm happy with it.

I'm going to spend the next couple of days going through it, trying to pick up any inconsistencies and copy-errors. There are probably tons of the later because 3/4 of the book was changed from 3rd person to 1st person and no matter how many times I go over it, I will miss some "he's" and "his's.

Then I'm going to start in on "Zombielander," giving myself twice as much time because it is bigger mess, but I think there is a book there.

Then on to the third book, "Cthulhulander," which will be a completely new book, which you'd think would be harder but will ironically probably be easier.

Then rewriting again on "Wolflander" and "Ghostlander," making them consistent with the first 3 books.

Lots of work.

I will really need to go off in a completely fresh direction after that...


I have the new covers back to "Star Axe" and soon with "Snowcastles/Icetowers." But I'm far from finished adapting the scans. If rewriting is hard, this is pure drudgery and I have a very hard time doing it.

But again, with a modest effort I free up a couple of books, which are already written and ready to go.

Just trying to take care of business and still keep up my enthusiasm for it all.

The conversion of the ending has gone smoother than I expected.

There is still a lot of clunky writing, but I'm trying to fix that as I go along. I have become a much better writer over the last 3 years.

In the process, I've cut a good 5000 words. I could probably could cut a few thousand more. I'm hoping by the time I add the Cobb's Bestiary entries in that it will push the book back up over 60K words. If not, I may have to do some adding. I'm thinking about adding in Tolkien and the Holocaust writer. It will mean shooting my bolt on "Famous writers" but if Faerylander doesn't work, nothing that follows will matter that much.

So...yeah, I'm going to do it. 

I think this book is now consistent in story and tone and character. Now I need to move on and do the next book, and hopefully have both done by the end of the month. Send them to Lara, and give myself some time to write the 3rd book, and then...when they come back, give them one last rewrite.

Huge effort, but it does create five books (freeing up books 4 and 5 which couldn't be published without the previous volumes.)

So it's worth it.

Couldn't quite get to the end. Still have to do the last two chapters. It's going to end up almost exactly 60K words. If I cut more, than add the Bestiary, it should come in just right.

Amazing how simply cutting out what doesn't work can actually fit. Very little new stuff needs to be written, actually.


Reading last night about what Lucas did wrong with SW 2nd III. Talked about having a "theme."

Nowadays, every book I write does have a theme. But when I started writing Faerylander, I didn't think that way.

The other thing that happened to Faerylander is that I hadn't learned yet to tell the story through scenes.

So there's this Curse, see. Whenever Cobb uses magic in his Exile, the Curse takes away his memory. Drinking causes him to lose control. Therefore drinking + magic = curse.

So simple enough. Except that's pretty much exactly the way it is introduced in the story.

Nowadays I'd have a scene illustrating the Curse. Cobb gets drunk, uses his magic, forgets where he is. Simple, illustrative, interesting.

(In fact, now that I mention it, I'm going to try to figure out a way to do exactly that.)

Anyway, this is just one example among many. Part of it is that Fantasy stories have world-building, and yet I write without doing the preliminary. In fact, I discover the world through writing. Which leads me into traps that are hard to extricate myself from.

When I write in the "real" world, the assumptions are all there. No explanation required. Which is why I'm more comfortable these days to write in the real world with a fantasy overlay. Even Faerie Punk, which has quite a bit of world building, is oriented primarily in the real world so I don't have to slow down and explain.

Rewrote Faerylander's first penultimate chapter yesterday, the one I was worried about.

I had to steal a scene from the second book, which I didn't want to do, but the book needs what the book needs. I can write a similar but different scene when the time comes.

There is one more penultimate chapter, which is one of the silly ones. That is, this chapter matches the tone of the early book where I'm making up Faery creatures willy nilly.

Hey, if the reader isn't along for the ride by now, I'm doomed anyway. The silly stuff, the little Faery creatures I make up, are baked into the book and just require a suspension of disbelief.

Then onto the final chapters, which can play out pretty much the way I originally wrote them, except I have a major character that comes in and helps Cobb against the Old God who has to be taken out. Cobb has to fight the Old God on his own--which is probably a better result anyway.

I should have a couple more days to go over it a couple more times, adding and subtracting from the various versions I've done. The whole thing should take about 10 days.

Hard work, but worth it if I come out with a readable book.

Basically, I've pulled the story in, keeping it lighter, more focused on the characters, without most of the apocalyptic stuff. That is, the danger in the book is to the specific characters, and only vaguely to the world at large.

The second book is darker, where the dangers becomes broader.

And the third book will be full out apocalyptic, which should be a satisfying story arc.

The second book has about 50K words already. I more or less have to write a few middle chapters, but it will be somewhat complicated. Hopefully another 10 days or so.

Then on to writing the third book, which might be kind fun. It will take three or four times longer than a rewrite and yet it will feel easier, I can almost guarantee.

The fourth and fifth books are written--all but the ending of Ghostlander--but I'll need to go through them and match the details from the three part Cthulhu versus Faery Wars.

This whole process just isn't much fun. I mean, there is a deep satisfaction to it, but not a joy.

But it has to be done.

Faerylander is still a learning book for me. After rewriting it 5 times, (35 variations!) I know the book inside and out. I've experimented with various styles and tones and structures.

I've learned a lot.

When I first started writing it, it was kind of snarky, almost satire. The main protagonist, Cobb, was a Faery creature exiled on earth who made snarky remarks about humans. But within a couple chapters I realized that wasn't what I wanted to do.

"Satire is what dies on Saturday night," said the playwright George S. Kaufman.

I don't personally care for humorous books. They have no internal tension and are carried only by their cleverness, and I get sick of too much cleverness. Even when it is well done, it is hard to maintain any narrative drive. Nor am I that relentlessly clever.

I've just stopped reading my second Carl Hiaasen book in a row. He's funny, but the tone just evaporates the story. Don't think badly of me, but I feel the same way about Hitchhiker's Guide and Terry Pratchett and most other writers whose main focus is on humor.

So if I don't like it and I don't read it, why was I trying to write it?

But I kept the light tone and I liked a lot of my inventions. I realized it was somewhat sophomoric, and perhaps even stupid, but I was enjoying it. I figured I could fix that.

But then I got to the last third of the book, and it went completely stupid. Here I have a war between Faery and Cthulhu, with humans caught in the middle, which I thought was fairly clever, but... the way I resolve it is with a gunfight?

It just didn't work.

I mean, the first two thirds would have worked if there was a more serious ending, or vice verse, but not together.

So I set about shoring it up, making the first two thirds more weighty. It did help with the last third, but it lost a lot of its original charm. All the cute but goofy stuff was taken out.

So on this last rewrite I've realized I can keep the lighter tone of the original book if I lose the stupid last third and go directly to the original ending. Works rather well.

Meanwhile, take the much more serious tone and use those chapters for the second book, and use it with the gunfight, and that also works.

Just requires lots of changes and transitions, but I do think the story is vastly improved by being split up.

So the first book is a little silly, admittedly. And the second book still has the gunfight. But both work better surrounded by other material.

The biggest problem is resolving the small inconsistencies of 35 versions, which I'm constantly finding.

Sigh.