Hate being sick

Posted on September 24, 2017 by L. Jacob

I have anemia. Among some of the symptoms is constant fatigue. Because of that, I haven’t been writing. I haven’t been playing games, either. I eat dinner, and an hour later, I’m in bed. Even on the weekends, I pass out for an hour or two at a time. It’s like narcolepsy!

My writing is suffering. My podcast this weekend was three whole minutes.

I have to get a particular shot for the anemia every month, and I’m due to get this shot on Wednesday. Then it takes about a week for it to kick in, so I hope I’ll be better by Columbus Day weekend.

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My endings suck

Posted on September 17, 2017 by L. Jacob

Yesterday, I read through Grimaulkin Tempted in one sitting, and got to the end. It sucked.

This isn’t the first time I realized this. My beta reader for Grimaulkin told me that my ending for that was too short. So I added a couple of scenes, and I suppose it came out more satisfying.

Grimaulkin Tempted‘s initial ending is “the cops came, arrested everyone, and it was over.” Noooooo. It can’t end that way. Too easy.

The idea about endings is that things are ramped up to a point where something breaks.  You have to give the hero something to want throughout the story, and the ending is the climax of either getting what he wants, or not getting what he wants. He has to fight for it, too, which means “the cops came” is not a good heroic ending.

But I hate endings that drag on…and on…and on. I want the book to end, not go on for fifty pages describing the inner thoughts of the main character and how he feels about things. The ending is action. The denouement is reaction. I have the last line in the book, and it’s a hard punch. I have the denouement, and I’m happy with that.

The climax toward the end? Sucks.

I plan on getting this to the editor by October 1.  I’m giving myself a week to come up with an appropriate ending. I hope the muse comes up with something better than “the cops came”.

Started writing Earth/Virgo from the point of view of the gangster. Let’s see if I can make him interesting.

My next appearances will be at the Scituate Art Festival on Saturday, October 7, and Autumnfest in Woonsocket on Sunday, October 8. Check out my calendar for future events.

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Insanity

Posted on September 10, 2017 by L. Jacob

Had the Calamari festival yesterday. Sold one book. (Better than last year, when I sold nothing.) Was not worth the table fee. I’m not going to do it next year. It’s too much money and most people who came had no idea we were there. So they didn’t bring money. I didn’t even get to try any Calamari! But my tentmate helped me with a new elevator pitch for my first book.

My next festival is Saturday at Scituate Art festival and Sunday at Autumnfest. October 10 & 11.

This week I’m going to start the rewrite of Grimaulkin Tempted and develop the elevator pitch with that.

Next time, I’m getting the kid to schlep stuff. I’m too old to carry everything. I’m also going to buy a luggage carrier with wheels because I now have three bags of stuff to carry. Maybe I should just get a suitcase.

Also got the DSM-5 manual for research. My psychologist suggested it, so I could believably put in a mental disorder with some characters. Also interesting to read about my own disorder.

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Grimaulkin Tempted…done!

Posted on September 5, 2017 by L. Jacob

I just finished Grimaulkin Tempted this morning at 9 a.m. Now I need to kick back, celebrate, and let it rest.

Next Saturday I’ll be at the Narragansett Calamari Festival (alone…my assistant bailed on me yet again). Next Sunday will be rewrite day.

So next on my bucket list is Earth. Virgo is the one that’s calling me right now, so I’ll work on that.  We also got an audition for Water‘s audiobook.

Podcast 7 to drop tomorrow, once I figure out what to talk about.

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Music to Write To

Posted on August 27, 2017 by L. Jacob

I have a playlist for Grimaulkin. But I’ve found a radio station on Sirius XM called Turbo that has a lot of the music for the mood of Grimaulkin. It’s hard rock from the 1990’s and early 2000’s, just around the time period that Grimaulkin takes place. (Trust me, I’d rather listen to that than Y2K Pop.) So when you read Grimaulkin Tempted, know that I listened to this radio station which caused a lot of the action scenes–especially during Rage Against the Machine songs.

Water was written over three years. Cancer was written first and set aside; Pisces written earlier this year. Scorpio was initially the prologue, but I didn’t like it because there was no sex, and it didn’t espouse the, er, talents of Scorpio. When I changed my initial Scorpio into the prologue, that set me free to write Scorpio as you see him, which I’m very proud of.

So good news, I was able to put my book in a store! Bewitched of Scituate is a little witchy store in Scituate, RI, where I got a card reading. Afterward we talked about putting Grimaulkin in her store. She said that she would be happy to put my book on her shelf if I would donate one to her library. So I provided three copies to sell (because three is a magic number) and donated one.

Next is getting it in the library. My next day off is September 8, and I’ll get down to the Pawtucket library to beg them to take Grimaulkin. Maybe head up to Worcester to donate Homecoming, too.

Meanwhile, my plan is to hit the 45K mark with Grimaulkin Tempted this weekend (I’m at 44,783 right now, so it won’t be difficult) and start tying up loose ends. I was thinking of continuing a plotline into the next book, but decided against it. I want this to be tidy, because the next book is going to be really deep and conflicted. Maybe I’ll finish it by Labor Day. If so, I’ll put it aside to rest and rise, then work on Earth. After I write one of the novellas in that series, I’ll go back to Grimaulkin Tempted and do the first edit. It will definitely be on its way to the editor in October.

Things are going well!

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Plugging along

Posted on August 20, 2017 by L. Jacob

Grimaulkin Tempted is at 40,000 words! That was my goal for this weekend. Only about 20K more to go, and then I’ll let it rest. I will give it a week off, maybe start writing Earth.

Water is out and available under the name Maxwell Thomas and Zarra Knightley publishing.

Grimaulkin will be in the Rhode Island Authors’ Catalog coming out around Labor Day. It will also be at the New England Book Fair and another book conference in Boston sometime (I just signed up for it; I didn’t pay attention to the details because I don’t have to request a day off). Association of Rhode Island Authors will be doing the selling for me.

My next door neighbor, who bought my book last weekend, stopped me while I was heading out to work and told me he “absolutely loved” Grimaulkin! He told me I made one little mistake, and I did a facepalm when he told me. It went right past me and the editor. Oh, well; that’s what second editions are for.

Review:

I read On Writing by Stephen King, supposedly THE BEST WRITING BOOK OF ALL TIME. I was like, “Meh.” I felt like I had read it before because so many people pull out quotes from it.  He’s absolutely right about writing with the door closed and editing with the door open. I’ve found I can’t write with my son in the room. And he comes in a lot because he’s bored.

Anyway, I left it on my Keeper shelf because I suppose in order to be a writer, you have to have it there. Along with Bird by Bird (another book everyone quotes from). Kind of like if you’re going to be a tortured writer, you need to have Hemingway along with your bottle of Jack.

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The Loof

Posted on August 13, 2017 by L. Jacob

The Loof Festival happened yesterday with the constant threat of rain overhead. The authors had a great spot. I sold 1 Grimaulkin and 2 Homecoming books. Anything is better than zero!

A few people asked me if it was in the library. Next on my list is to screw up my courage and beg my library–and the Pawtucket library, where Grimaulkin takes place–to take a copy.  When I get a day off, I’ll start doing that.

My next event is the Calamari Festival in Narragansett, on September 9 (the Saturday after Labor Day). If you don’t like books, you can always taste-test fried squid rings from restaurants all over the state. I tell you, if you like Italian seafood, you’ll love this festival.

Grimaulkin Tempted is going along. I’m in the middle of one of the big reveals of the series, and I don’t want to do it, because it’s key to Mike’s character. But it’s at the right place and it’s something I have to do. I hope it doesn’t turn people away from the series. It’s a fine line that I have to keep in mind.

And my tent didn’t blow away this time!

 

 

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When the muse dances…

Posted on August 6, 2017 by L. Jacob

My muse is happily writing Grim 2, though I’m just about half way through and I need to either add another subplot or do something else crazy to plow through the rest of the book. Discussed the cover with the publisher, and I hope they can do it. If not, I’ll take a new picture.

I’ll be talking to the radio guy for an interview, so I hope I can get in on August 15, when Water comes out.

I’ll be at the Loof festival on August 12 (with a new, blue canopy) from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. A long day. If the weather is a day like today, it’ll be awesome (70’s, light breeze). Need to purchase more weights. Just in case.

Royalty payments came in. Homecoming is still selling! One copy…yay!

 

 

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Changes

Posted on July 30, 2017 by L. Jacob

So I didn’t get to sell at the Farmer’s Market yesterday. It was very windy, and my books were flying off the table, literally. And then my canopy tent flew off and snapped in four places. It was wrecked.

I have to wait until Friday to get a new canopy, because for the Loof Festival on August 12, I promised to have a canopy tent. We have a local seconds store and they’re cheap there. But it’s an unexpected expense.

I spoke to the publisher and told him I really wanted to do Grim 2 instead of War Mage. War Mage is just not happening. I don’t feel it. (It might be that one-star review that’s biting at the edges of my imagination.) So we switched it up–Grimaulkin Tempted is going to be December.

Set free from the bonds of War Mage, the muse is having a field day. I already had 19K words going into Grimaulkin Tempted, and I had an idea of where it was headed. So now we’re in sync. What a great feeling. I did 2K words yesterday.

Podcast to come out tomorrow. I promise. That’s what I’ll work on in between writing.

And Water is set for August 15. Maybe I’ll do Earth for NaNo.

 

 

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Mysteries

Posted on July 23, 2017 by L. Jacob

So. Since I missed last week’s podcast, I’m just going to do one podcast on the 30th. Maybe it’ll be longer than the usual 5 minute blurbs.

War Mage is up to 7K words. I’ve been lax at writing during the week, so I do most of my writing on the weekend. In addition, I can’t see what I’m writing because my reading glasses aren’t strong enough, and my prescription glasses are messed up. It’s terribly frustrating to read.

I am going to come at War Mage from a different angle. Instead of worrying about the military details, I’m going to worry about the mystery plot. Most of the story takes place at Camp Blessing. A couple of scenes take place in the field. I think what I will do in this “first” draft is get down the mystery elements, and then fill in the military details, nor not even bother with the military details. I’ve got a few side “mysteries” going on so far already.

I received two readings for the Grimaulkin audio book. He’s got Scott down. Mike isn’t bad–I hear him in my head with a gruff, slightly Maine/New England accent. Frank is pretty good; sounds like he has smoked way too many cigarettes and is jaded and slightly angry. Frank does not suffer fools gladly, so it fits.

Water is expected out August 15. I will start Earth next.

And lastly, I will be at the Richmond Farmers’ Market on July 29, rain or shine!

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