Category Archives: War Mage

Rewrites in progress

I received Grimaulkin back from my beta reader, who gave me some good ideas that I’m going to try in the story. As usual, my ending was too short, in his opinion, that there should be something more. In addition part of the ending is not appropriate for YA, so I have to cut it or allude to it. That will be difficult, as I’m not used to alluding to something so drastic as what Grim goes through. It’s an important part of why he does what he does and how he becomes the man he is. But this is for a YA/College aged audience. I also have to tone him down a little. Being gay in 2000 is not like being gay now.

Brothers of the Zodiac: Water is coming along slowly, which is not good for erotica. I spent 3 hours in Excel on night trying to figure out how to create a visual timeline for the different “brothers”.

I’m starting War Mage from scratch this time. My beta reader gave me another idea for the story that makes me start it from the beginning, with new ideas for conflicts and, of course, to add more women. However, my heart’s not in War Mage. It’s like a piece of work that I have to get out, a piece of work that I’ve put aside for too long and no longer have the passion for. I don’t know anyone who served at FOB Blessing; I have to take the word of a memoirist who didn’t write down the details, and find pictures on YouTube and the internet. (Like how man airstrips does Jalalabad Airfield have? When did the Pizza Hut show up? Yes, they had a Pizza Hut there.)

And to let you know, Homecoming will be on sale from December 19-26 for .99 on the Kindle, Smashwords, Nook and Kobo. All the Paper Angel Press books are going to be for that price. What a great way to load up your device! Oh, and even better–get the ebook for .99 and then the audiobook for .99.

Music or No Music?

My son asked me recently what I listen to when I write. It depends on the mood. And where I am.

If I’m alone, and downstairs in my writing cellar with my Mac, I don’t usually listen to anything. However, if my son is also in the cellar (where the only TV in the house is located), I overhear what he’s watching. If he stays downstairs too long, I end up going to my Windows computer. There, I have most of my music.

Typically, if I’m going to listen to music, I will either listen to the same song on a loop (the most recent one is “The Honeythief” by Hipsway) or a playlist (mostly consisting of AC/DC). Those things get me in the mood for writing, especially for action scenes. More easy listening–lavish description, internal monologues–I switch on to Sirius XM’s “The Bridge” channel. Most of the songs I have downloaded are not slow and easy listening.

Grimaulkin has been through an edit, and is going off to my beta reader this week. War Mage is going to wait until a new editor takes a peek at it.

I have nothing to write. I feel so empty, like there is something I must write, but I have no idea what.

I will be at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet on December 3 from 9-5 at the Rhode Island Author Expo.

Comicon, WNRI

Heidy Ho, neighbor! (As my character, Grimaulkin says.)

I finished Grimaulkin. Very proud of myself. 62,000 words. I need to edit it next month and hopefully get it ready to go for next year around this time.

I’m trying NaNoWriMo anyway, though I don’t think I’ll succeed. I’m doing a Casey story, set in the time of Queen Anne. It’s based on the four Mohawk Kings (3 were actually Mohawk, and one was Mohican) who visited London in the early 1700’s. Casey is their interpreter, and a woman of the court falls in love with him. It’s sort of a romance which, as everyone knows, is not my bag. Right now, the beginning is slow because I’m establishing the time period. I suppose I have to switch to the female’s POV at some point, and I’m not looking forward to that.

On November 8, I’ll be on WNRI.com at 9:30 am for the Rhode Island Author’s Hour. I hope I get some softball questions. He’ll ask if I’ve been in the military, I’m sure. “No, but my husband was a big fan of the Army and I acquired a lot of my interest through osmosis.” We’ll see if I can remember that.

And last, but not least, I’m doing RI Comicon! I’m in booth 15G in the Dunkin Donuts Center (aka “the Dungeon”) under the name of Paper Angel Press.  There should be a lot of traffic for people who are going to see the celebrities. I’m diagonally across from the “Kids Con”, so will hopefully get parents who are into understanding the whole Building Baby Brother concept. I’m also going to be reading cards (if Comicon can have a medium with two sold-out shows, why can’t I read cards?) and really pedling the books. I have 30 copies of Homecoming, 5 each of Building Baby Brother and Best Intentions. I’m offering a bundle, at the convention only, of each one of the books, plus “Custer’s First Stand” and a card reading for $25. Yes, I’m giving up my royalties for that, but I’m trying to get the books sold.

No War Mage, it didn’t make it. I’m going to get a different editor for that book, I think.

I may not post next week due to being at Comicon. But I’ll live tweet every sale from there! My handle is @warwriter.

Grimaulkin 1 – War Mage 0

Bad news first: War Mage is not going to be out in November. The editor sent the book back to me, half-read, saying that I had no plot. I have a theme, which is not the same as the plot. I thought I had a plot–I even outlined it. I’m going to try for a second opinion, because this book isn’t exactly this editor’s cup of tea.

So, for Rhode Island Comicon, we’re putting together a booklet, with a short story set in the same world as War Mage, and the first chapter of War Mage. It’s a chapbook, which will be available only at Comicon. Hopefully that will come in time for it. At least I’ll have something.

Grimaulkin is coming along, and the last day for me to do it is today if I want to succeed at my own personal NaNoWriMo. I have about 4000 words left to make it to 50K, and I’m aiming for 60K so I can have room to cut as necessary. I’ve found it’s easier to cut than it is to add. I’m pretty happy with how Grimaulkin is turning out (although the actual story doesn’t start until 20K words in). Once War Mage is done, published and in the can, I’ll submit Grimaulkin as a palate cleanser and hopefully have that one ready for November of next year. I don’t know if I’ll do Comicon again next year. Depends on this year’s results.

Results

Last week I sold one copy–thanks, Kristen! This week I also sold one copy–thanks, Mark! Hope you both enjoy the book!

War Mage still is not finished editing. I have one month until RI Comicon, and it takes about a week to get the proofs ready, another week to ship it to me. That leaves two weeks for editing on my part, which I was hoping to have. Unfortunately, this month, I can’t take any extra days off because it’s our crunch time at work.

Needless to say, I’m getting worried.  Our editor is under a lot of pressure, I get that. But this is time sensitive, and I need copies of a promised book in a month.

Just another thing to add to my anxiety plate.

Meanwhile, Grimaulkin is up to 32K words. I am getting to the end of the mini-story (you’ll see what I mean when you read it; and you will read it, right?) and I still have about 20K words to go. I had hoped to do 55K for this book. Although I might go long on this one and introduce another mini-story/mystery in addition to having Mike finally go out with Scott, and Mike finally meet his parents at the wedding. If this is a stand-alone, then I can do that. I’ll have to see how it sells. How many people would want to read about a gay mage just out of prison? That reminds me, I have to come up with a hook for him.

This one guy at the Scituate Art Festival yesterday sold a book to nearly everyone he came in contact with. He was amazing. I noticed that he engaged people, first asking “What do you like to read?” and then going into his book. His book is a mixture of genres, he said. He also talked about reviews. I have to point out to people that my book has a 5 star review on Audible. He was an excellent salesman. I wish I had that much engagement when I present my book. It’s something to learn from.

So, I’m going back to Grimaulkin and try to figure out what other mystery he can get himself into with Bennett, how he asks Scott for a date, and other filler until I hit 55-60K. Any ideas, let me know in the comments.

Sold!

I sold one!

I actually sold a Homecoming book, face to face, to a reader at a meet and greet. I’m so excited.

War Mage is still at the editor’s. I have been reassured that it will be ready for publication for RI ComicCon. Good thing I have a beta reader’s response here. My goal is to do some of that fixing over this week.

Grimaulkin is going along smashingly, with 26K of perfectly beautiful flowing words that just won’t stop. However, I’m having issues with the mystery portion of this story. Grim’s involved with the cops, and I don’t have the nerve to go up to the cops and say, “I’m, um, writing a novel, and, um, I’m just wondering what, um, procedures you do when you find a dead body somewhere? And how do you investigate?” I’d have to put together some questions and interview a detective.

I know how I want the “epic battle” to be, though I have to add a few things to make it more “epic”, and I’m wondering whether I should make that the end, or the wedding the end. The wedding will bookend the story, and possibly hook a book two. If I keep going like this, I’ll have it done by the end of this month definitely. I have to do some serious editing. I first had it take place in Boston, but then I realized that having it take place in Rhode Island might be a neat selling point for the locals.

Meanwhile, Casey and the Blue Lady is still kind of bubbling on the back burner, though I haven’t done very much prep for that book once Grim showed up. I might skip the whole NaNo thing and, if I can get Grim done in a month, I’ll put that in as NaNo. Hey, it’s 30 days, right?

I’m going to order a mic and get a podcast going. Probably next month.

Book review:

Run, don’t walk, and pick up Syd Field’s Screenplay. It’s amazing, simple, and has everything you need to write a screenplay. But not just that, it goes into how to write a story! I’m in the middle of it now, and I am just amazed at what films he chooses for illustrations (I haven’t seen some of the classics, but I will!). It will hopefully be a help with me and Grimaulkin (two stories at the same time and trying to balance both).

Preparation

I’m going along pretty good with the new novel. Mostly, though, I’m doing preparation.

I figured out this method with Blood From a Stone, my NaNoWriMo book of last year. Because I only had 2 weeks to do NaNo, I had to have a road map. I usually pants the thing, and I end up going off on tangents and side roads, getting lost. War Mage‘s first draft is a lot like that. It’s why I ended up with 6 drafts before sending it to the editor (and I know I have issues there).

So with this one, I’m doing up a main plot, and then sub-plots. I happened to be reading a book at the same time called Blueprint Your Bestseller, which describes this method that I stumbled upon. Instead of calling them “plots” the author of this book calls them “series”. You have a theme, which is the main series, and then other series that point to the theme.

I always start out with a theme. Homecoming‘s was Home is where your heart is. War Mage’s is Friends can be found anywhere. High Road‘s is It’s better to take the high road. A lot of times my titles allude to the theme. Heavy-handed, aren’t I?

There can be only one theme in the book, and every scene and series has to point to it. The first draft of War Mage showed me that I had scenes that went no where, scenes that had no place in the book, and characters that were repetitious and similar. Using the method in Blueprint, which was written for rewrites, I can tear apart War Mage and put it back together, with a main plot and subplots. (Sorry, but I’m going to use those terms instead of “series”.)

What I’ve been doing mostly is character sketches and subplots from the characters. Some of them want to be furniture, so I’m doing quick physical descriptions of them and their attitudes. When stuck, I use StoryMatic or The Positive Traits Thesaurus or Negative Traits Thesaurus to get an attitude.

Other characters want a life of their own, so they get the full treatment. I have tiny composition books I bought at Dollar Tree; they come in a package of 3 for a dollar.

char book

I have a character sheet that I downloaded from some writer’s site I don’t remember, but it goes into excruciating detail. I don’t answer all the questions – except for Brent, I really should redo his character sketch. I pick and choose some questions and put them in the little composition books. For example, one question is, “Does he want to have children?” My character, a staff sergeant, is going through a divorce according to the subplot. Does he have kids? How many? What are their ages and names? What are they like – brief traits? How does he feel about them? I fill up a small page with these answers, which spurs me on to other questions, and rinse and repeat.

From the characters come the subplots. I am an index card freak. I write out the scenes on index cards and put them on a ring. Staples has what I normally use, and they can be found sometimes for $1-$1.50. I bought oodles of them on sale, so I have a box full of them. I write out or keep in mind the subplot’s main point – the “where am I going with this” idea – and then I write out the scenes. Then I thread them among the main plot on the ring.

index card

This card is using the subplot named “Sergeant” (at the top) and goes into a scene. I don’t give a lot of details because then I’m writing the scene, I believe. I give enough to whet the muse’s appetite, or to spur on what I was thinking of at the time.

Sometimes, though, I get the urge to write. I’ve prepared the first few scenes, so I know where I’m going with those, and those are the ones I write. I’m still in chapter one, but I’m on scene three. I need to make “looking at profiles” exciting.

Off to the Editor!

On Thursday night, I passed in War Mage. I’m not happy with it For one, it’s too short, 34,000 words. It’s honestly not my best work. I’ve been worried about following so many rules that it seems like a hodgepodge of rules.

A beta reader read the second draft, and gave me some pointers, which I tried to put in. However, some things I meant to follow based on my reading of some writing books. I really wonder whether writing books are worth it. They create so many rules that I realize I’m not following, that I feel like I’m being forced to write in a box.

Take romance, for instance. I always throw in a twist. I’ve read more books on writing romance than actual romance books. On the books about romance, there’s a certain formula that does not include the twist. So does that mean I’m not writing a romance?

I’ve been reading some books on general writing, and these come up with the formula for sellable books. Maybe that’s my problem? I don’t write sellable books, but I write stories.

I started listening to a book called Crimes Against Magic. I liked the premise, a modern sorcerer/thief. The first thing that turned me off was the prologue. Is there a point to a prologue? I honestly do believe that a prologue is there because it’s a cool scene and the author has no place for it in the book. I liked the description, even if the scene was stupid and made no sense.

Then I started listening to the first chapter. The scene was just too easy, too contrived, too, I don’t know. There was  a lot of improper sentence structure that grated on me, but I listened through it. Finally, when the guy gets his object (within ten minutes of the story), and the final bad sentence I could stand, I deleted it.

And this was published by a big publisher?

Dear God, what the hell is wrong with people! There’s no accounting for taste or editorial ability.

Next on the list: rewrite of Grimaulkin.

Finished the rewrite! Now if they’d leave me alone…

I finished the rewrite, at least on paper. However, I need to transcribe it to the computer.

I don’t know about you, but writing, to me, is a solitary activity. I need to have no one in the same room as me. I don’t know why, but I need to have it absolutely solitary.

Unfortunately, my computer – the computer that’s in the cellar – is also near the only working TV in the house. My kid prefers to watch TV. So he’s downstairs watching TV, while I’m upstairs doing this instead of transcribing the rewrite.

It’s like reading. I need to be transported into that other world as fully as possible. I used to be able to put my feet in both worlds at the same time, the writing world and the real world. Then I got old and cranky, and have to deal with rules. One of those rules is to write with the proper music or in silence. Rewrites need to be in silence because I’m editing and thinking about writing.

I had planned on getting it done today, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be done today. Maybe tomorrow?

When your heart’s not in it

I pulled out Grimaulkin, draft 3, and gave it to someone to read. “Other than the gay parts,” he said, “I loved it.” And he gave me the reasons what did and didn’t work, so I wrote them down and I plan on rewriting that one.

War Mage, because I’ve been staring at it for about a year now, I’m sick and tired of. I know where I want the story to go, but when I sit down with it, I say to myself, “Meh, I don’t want to do this anymore.” Because of my ADD, I want to dump it and move on to something else. But with this one, I can’t. I have fans! I have people who have actually paid to read the first book in the series, who are waiting for the second book to either answer questions or continue on where I left off. I have a duty, an obligation, to continue the series.

But I’m so frustrated with how the rewrite’s going, how I’m consolidating characters and shoehorning other characters, how I’m deleting scene after scene and rewriting or inserting new scenes…I want to toss the whole thing and work on something else. Like Grim.

Duty to my fans vs. boredom.

I’m sure a lot of other professional writers run into this issue. Do you write to the market or write to the heart? Is it true that if you do what you love the money will come? I personally don’t think so. If that were the case, I’d be rich by now.

I’m going to finish this scene, then do the fun things I want to do. (I’m procrastinating while I write this blog, doncha know.)

Next comes Jagermeister which I’m going to give to my captive audience, I’m going to have to severely rewrite it, though. I read through the first few pages and saw typical first-time writer issues that I avoided with the other two books. I know my captive audience is not going to like it.