Monthly Archives: December 2016

Discovery writing

Merry Christmas! Yes, even though I’m an eclectic witch, I still harken back to my Roman Catholic roots and say Merry Christmas.

Pisces is coming along slowly. Very slowly. I don’t seem to be in the mood for writing about sex. I’m writing story. So it’s probably not going to be great erotica, but it might be a pretty good–and historically accurate–story. For Cancer and Scorpio, I need to add a lot more sex into them to make them erotica.

The other thing is, my erotica is pretty vanilla. Very plain, without tying people up or safe words or any BDSM stuff. Boring, maybe. I suppose I need to do some research to make vanilla exciting. Guess I’ll be lurking on the literotica website to get an idea of stories there.

Grimaulkin’s second book’s first and last line came to me overnight last night. If I have both of those in mind, then I know where I’m starting, and where I’ll end up. It’s the in between that I don’t know anything about yet, and that’s what makes me an “intuitive” or discovery writer. I don’t usually know what I’m doing until I get to the story itself. I have noticed if I plan out the story, I get bored easily. It’s not that I don’t find the story easier–it’s a lot easier if I plan it out. But not planning it actually makes it more fun, makes we want to sit at the keyboard because I want to know what happens next.

However the problem with being a discovery writer is what I’m running into with Pisces. I have a vague idea of what’s going to happen in the story, but no idea how to get there. I need to provide certain scenes for the erotica portion of the story, but, again, that’s a constraint. Discovery writers hate constraints. This is also why I’m no good at being a romance author, either. Romances have a formula. I don’t follow maps to places that I’ve been to before. I only use maps to someplace I’ve never been to. I’ve read enough “romance” within the fantasy genre to know the score. I want to dispose of the map and just see where the writing takes me. I know it seems like I’m trusting in the muses, but (most of the time) they’ve never let me down before.

So I personally think that maybe, if you’re a plotter, try letting things go and let the Universe take you on a ride. What you end up with might be trash, but it’ll be an experiment in how your mind works.

So, until the new year, keep writing!

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.

Continuing

Still working on Water. Grimaulkin is still with the beta reader, though I have some feedback that I need to work on (add more straight characters because the story takes place in 2000, and gay people are still firmly in the closet, build up the two secondary characters).

So there isn’t much to talk about this week. I’m having trouble with Pisces in Water, mostly because I don’t know many Pisces, and I need to do more research on surgeons and doctors during the Civil War. I know they weren’t looked kindly upon, seen as butchers and cold-hearted men, but Pisces types like to help people. I have plenty of astrology books so I can look Pisces up.

Tomorrow, my son is set loose upon the world. He takes the bus for the first time to get to his new job. I’m terrified and proud at the same time. He’s autistic, so I’m afraid he’ll eventually take the wrong bus sometime and end up in some place he doesn’t know and can’t describe to me, so I won’t know where he is to find him. He is going to have a handler for the first couple of times he goes on the bus, but after that, he’s alone. I’m proud that he’s going to finally go to work.

There’s a story in there.

The Passion is Gone

Saturday was my last appearance for the year, and there’s one thing I learned.

I need a better pitch.

My pitch leaves too much to the imagination. I need to tell the plot of my novel in one sentence.

But I noticed, too, that Homecoming is not my baby anymore. I ran out of passion for it at Comicon. I need to bring out something new. War Mage might fit the bill, but I’ve been sitting with that story for over a year, and it feels old. Grimaulkin is shiny and new (to me) and is what I want to press forward. I got some good pointers from some beta readers, though I need to rewrite it in spots. It’s fresh and new enough to me that the rewrites are still enjoyable. War Mage would be on its 8th rewrite. Personally, I think that’s way too much and far too long for a rewrite. War Mage has turned into work, not play.

I was asked to do some erotica, and I had started an erotica/romance series called Brothers of the Zodiac. I separated them into four novels, three signs each, instead of the initial separation of just 12 short stories. The first novel will be Water, with the signs Scorpio, Pisces, and Cancer. The Brothers are guardians from the goddess Ishtar, who takes warriors from the underworld and brings them back to life. They are supposed to help and support humanity in some way. The only way they can die is if they “find love in the eyes of another man.” Obviously gay erotica. I tried the write straight erotica, but I don’t have a good grasp on female characters.

Unfortunately, both Water stories (Cancer and Scorpio) I’ve done so far equal only 12,000 words. I have to pad the stories, making them at least 20K words a piece. Scorpio is the origin story. My plan is to have them all across the timeline of Western history, and, of course, their story will lead up to their deaths.

Hopefully I can work up the passion, the enthusiasm, for these stories.