Yearly Archives: 2018

At the risk of repeating myself…

Hello!

This week there’s nothing really new. I’m writing Gemini for Air and multi-tasking about contemplating what to write for National Novel Writing Month. I have some scenes ready to do, but I’m not going to be able to start until the 4th due to ComicCon. Thursday I have to load in, Friday I have to set up and be ready for the VIP, Saturday and Sunday I’m there all day, break down Sunday, and collapse.

I’ve written out some things in my notebook of what to do  once the 4th hits. I’ll be 6000-ish words short at the start, but hopefully will be able to make it up the week after having Veteran’s Day off. I was thinking about dictating it again, but I feel weird with my son in the next room. Or he randomly comes and sits in the same room I’m in and then suddenly, I can’t write. He’s sitting on the opposite end of the room, and can’t see what I’m writing, but I feel weird, like he can see what I’m doing. I have this weird feeling that the stuff coming out is too raw to read, and that he’s judging what I’m writing. From the other side of the room! I wonder if any other authors feel this, too.

I need either silence or just the right music to do my writing, and no one in the room. No one in the house would be perfect. No one in a 10 mile radius is even better. Go figure.

I am all packed for ComicCon. Two suitcases, two retractable banners, and I’m ready. I’m at booth 1637 which, if I can read the map correctly, is either near the bridge to Artist’s Alley  or the loading dock. At least I’m not downstairs, where the internet is nearly non-existent.

After ComicCon comes the Expo, and then after that, a breather. I think I’ll work on writing for the spring months, and then pick up the selling later. I’ll try to get in to the Cumberland author expo, and then maybe something else, but winter and spring is going to be dedicated to writing and editing.

Research and twisting history

I am doing research right now for a story for Air.  I’m taking history and twisting it around. Two men worked together as Washington’s spies. What if they had relations between each other? I won’t go into the whole thing, but I am taking liberties with history.

There’s nothing wrong with taking history and putting a spin on it for fictional purposes. But it has to be believable. In my case, the story is inspired by Washington’s Spies by Alexander Rose. The book itself is interesting, but I’m making assumptions about the two men in the Culler ring, assumptions that probably never happened. But it’s an inspiration, not fact. It’s not narrative non-fiction; it’s fiction, with some history thrown in.

Personally, I love little history nuggets. Although Air is an erotica series, I want to make the settings just as important. Air will have the spies, a vigilante marshal in the American West, and an abolitionist teacher of freed black slaves. All of these require some research. I can get away with some things, I’m sure, but if I put in that the marshal is using a 9 millimeter gun, I’m doing a disservice to my readers. It’s like a clunky stop that throws the reader out of the story. So I try to be as accurate as possible.

Fire is coming out on Tuesday. I already have the preview for it on my L.A. Jacob FB page. My favorite in that book is Leo (for some reason, I really like the first-person narratives). I’m thinking of putting Blood From a Stone – which needs some heavy-handed editing – be Max’s next novel.

Meanwhile, I am going to do NaNoWriMo this coming November. As usual, it’s based on a character from Champions Online. The character’s name is Vegas Fey, and his story in Champions is going to be different than the story I’m developing. I want it to take place in Jamestown, RI, because I’m familiar with it and a trip to Boston is required, but I also want to broaden my reach and horizons. Maybe it takes place in Florida, at Fort Pierce (which I am familiar with, also). A drive to Tampa might be in order there…I have almost three weeks to decide.

I hope to have Marc Ducrow, who did the covers for Homecoming and War Mage, do the cover for this upcoming novel. I really want this story to be told, and I think with some editing, it my be out next year.

And then the first weekend in November, I will be at RI ComicCon. So that kills 24 hours of writing time. But if it means I sell books or gets my name out there, then it’s worth it.

A new Dark Mystic Quill podcast is out as well. It’s about magic, not writing this time around, being that it is October and the time of year for weird and magical things.

Flotsam

Next weekend is Autumnfest, so I’ll be there for three days with Paper Angel Press stuff, in addition to my own stuff.

I have a podcast ready at Dark Mystic Quill, and it’s about history in writing.

I’m still working on Air, which is due in February. Fire will be out in October. War Mage is finished and ready to be out on the 1st. It’s short, and I apologize, but I couldn’t get a whole novel no matter how I tried.

I have no idea what to do for NaNoWriMo. My Vegas Fey character is intriguing, with a communicative sword,”with the attention span of a gnat on meth.” I’ll have to take him out of Vegas, though. Put him off the coast of Newport maybe? On a houseboat? Hmmmm…

Time to break out the little booklets and plot books for ideas.

Autumnfest next weekend

War Mage is finished, and books are on their way to me. I’ll be at the Autumnfest next week in Woonsocket, RI for the whole weekend, selling my books and books from Paper Angel Press. They will include Books 1 and 2 of the Glass Bottle series, Building Baby Brother and Children of the Wrong Time.

My books are Homecoming, War Mage, Grimaulkin, Grimaulkin Tempted, Grimaulkin Redeemed, and the erotica series, Water and Earth. (Fire is later this month.)  In addition, my free short stories “Self-Defense”, “The Joint”, and “Family Bonds” will be available FOR FREE. FREE, FREE, FREE!

Lastly, I’ll offer Tarot readings for any purchase.

I’m working on research for Air’s first story: a Revolutionary War spy. Guess what sign that is?

I’m writing on my lunch hour. I get about a hand-written 8×10 page finished every day. I can’t seem to write the sex scenes, though. It’s like the environment isn’t conductive to that kind of thing.

October – coming soon!

So, I’m feeling much better than I was last week. It seems this week has been pretty good healthwise (Knock on Formica).

Fire’s final proof got sent back to the editor with a few corrections, so that’s expected to be out in October. Also in October will be “War Mage”. I will also be at the Autumnfest for three days in Woonsocket, RI. I don’t expect to sell lots of books there, but I expect to have good food.

I’m working on Air, to be ready for February of next year. After that, I have no idea what to do. Blood From a Stone might be something, but that’s a stand-alone murder mystery. After that…no idea. Well, I do have an idea for continuing with Grimaulkin, either adventures he has on his own or adventures he has with Ash, his nephew. There’s also an idea of an anthology for other Grimaulkin characters, like how Aunt Jane died, where Ritter came from, who Cavalier really was…that’s a possibility.

I’m also going to try to enter more contests and anthologies next year. Maybe get my name out there somewhere.

Health is everything

Last weekend I went into the hospital because my kidney (yes, I have only one) isn’t working well and I had to stay overnight. This weekend I slept wrong, and I have pain, I mean almost labor-like pain, in my neck, left shoulder and arm weakness.

I say all this not for pity, but to explain that if you’re not healthy, you can’t write.

It took me all day to do something that would normally take me 3 hours. I edited the three Fire stories, “War Mage,” and produced the new back-flap of “War Mage.” I couldn’t (and still can’t) type for long periods. My day job is agony.

I’m going to Physical Therapy for it, but it’ll take some time before it heals. In the meantime, I’m skipping the October fall festivals and going to concentrate on RI Comicon. Hopefully this pain will be gone or at least eased up by then.

So I have nothing else to report. I do suggest that if you’re going to write, that you try to stay as healthy as you can because without it, you can’t do anything else.

Aftermath, and forward

I sold a total of 18 books at WorldCon, my new record. I doubt I’ll beat that record at RI Comicon, but I’ll try.

Fire is being edited as we speak; “War Mage” is next on the docket. I sent Blood From a Stone for a read-over to see if it’s worth producing. What’s next is a story for a possible anthology next year. I’m writing character sketches about them right now, and the story is relatively formed in my head.

One thing I’ve found out in my writing and editing is that I have to work on my endings. They seem abrupt and quick, coming out of nowhere and just “ending”. I need to learn to pull them out a little more and make them not sou out of left-field.

I noticed how my writing has improved and changed over the years by looking at “Aries” versus, say, “Leo”. Aries is full of detail, superfluous in places, showing off my knowledge. Leo tells the damn story. As my editor says, “Your writing is clean and sparse.” It tells the story without going off on tangents or down rabbit holes. Aries didn’t do that. Aries is my “I know a lot about WW2, and I’m going to show you.”\ I wrote that story off my obsession with WW2, which is why it goes down rabbit holes and goes into detail.

Even seeing Homecoming versus Grimaulkin Redeemed, I can see the difference. Perhaps my writing is getting better. Perhaps I’ve found my voice, finally.

What next? Well, I could continue the zodiac theme by dividing them into Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable signs. I could have the planets as Gods on Earth. I was going to do the seven deadly sins, but that’s been done so much. Have the seven graces been done? That would be a switch. That would be Max’s story.

As for me…the short story, maybe some poetry. An anthology of stories from Grimaulkin.

We shall see.

WorldCon done…what I learned.

So! WorldCon 76 finished, and I sold 19 books! That’s my record for a weekend to try and beat.

However, these fairs and book selling things are bad for my health. I ended up in the hospital (again) with my levels all out of whack. I didn’t drink enough water, take enough iron and steroids, and actually lost weight. (Oh, yes, I fit in the airplane bathrooms.)

We got some good feedback about our setup, which was set back from the aisle to give people room to “step inside”. Most people, though, seemed to be looking for older, established authors, as opposed to new authors. We put together Grimaulkin into a bundle with a rainbow ribbon, and those attracted a lot of attention and sold books. Maybe if we had a sign saying the shorts were $3 a piece but free with purchase we could have sold more.

Nobody wanted tarot readings. Maybe I should skip that on ComiCon this year.

I met so many people, although many who wanted to come back never did. I went to one panel which was about the use of non-binary pronouns and what people want to be called. Needless to say, non-binary people want to be called “they/them” or “ze/zim” or even something else. They want the language to change, but that’s not going to happen in my lifetime.

I found out about collecting ribbons. I guess certain merchants or panels will give out an achievement ribbon. We might do that next time they’re in the US.

WorldCon will be in Dublin next year and New Zealand in 2020. Not going that far for it. Maybe the next one will be in Boston. Who knows.

My next appearance may be some time in Columbus Day weekend, but not sure how that’s going to go. Definitely going to be there for RI Comicon November 2-4 and the Expo on December 1.

 

At the Con!

I’m reporting to you live from the Worldcon76 in San Jose CA!

So far, we’re doing fairly well with the books and selling. But mostly I came out here to get my name out. Hopefully to sell more books, too! I’ve sold a few bundles of books, which are con-only available, and given away freebies like hotcakes. I’ve met so many interesting people here, went to a couple of panels, and everything’s been interesting and eye-opening. I might do more cons, but the price is not necessarily right to do so. The niche market that I write for (LBGTQ positive and fantasy) are not a big deal in our local area. I have to go where the LBGTQ community is. So maybe some of those cons.

I’ll be heading back home on Monday, and hopefully things will go well on the way home (I’m taking the red-eye).

I’ve sent Blood From a Stone to the editor and as soon as WorldC0n is finished he’s going to take a look at it, However, Maxwell Thomas might write the book under Zarra Knightley….we’re still under discussion on that. It’s not a romance. It’s more of a murder mystery with transvestites and a queer in the closet. But we’ll see on that one, too.

My new Dark Mystic Quill podcast is up, and is an interview with Wayne Barber of WNRI radio. My more recent interview should be available in a couple of months, where I spend the whole hour talking to Wayne about books and the author process.

Wish us luck on day four of five!.

Heading to WorldCon!

“War Mage,” the short story, is headed off to the editor, but we’re really concentrating on WorldCon at the moment.

I just finished editing Blood From a Stone, my NaNoWriMo from a couple of years back. It’s a murder mystery, with a gay protagonist, who wants to keep himself firmly in the closet. But by the end of the story, he at least thinks about coming out. This is a one-off, non-magical story–just a straight up murder mystery.  With a transvestite, too.

So next week I might not blog, or I might just blog a little bit to let you know how things are going in California. I’ve got a little bit of packing to do, and then I’ll be ready.

So come to San Jose to WorldCon and visit me. I’ll probably be at the table because I have crowd anxiety.