A Grimoire

NaNo – #amediting

Posted on November 20, 2016 by L. Jacob

I gave up on NaNo. I’ve instead turned my attention to Grimaulkin, with the intent of getting it ready to go by December 15. Hopefully then it’ll get read by February and be ready to launch in November.

In the meantime, it seems War Mage has taken a turn for the back burner. I am tempted to rewrite the entire thing from scratch. Well, I’ll keep the first chapter. I haven’t noticed that there is no plot. But I noticed that if I sit on something for a long enough time, that I can rewrite it from a different point of view and it’ll come out better. Grimaulkin, I had written from the first time he summoned a demon and did it chronologically. This time, I wrote it after he gets out of magic prison. Maybe I should write War Mage in medias res, after he’s been introduced to the dragons? Maybe he’s the first one exposed to the dragons? And StarForce comes in to try and take over?

I’ll brain storm more.

I’ve also noticed, the more I edit, the more stilted it sounds. I’ve been reading a few writing books, and most of them say to outline or plan out your story. I found it a lot more fun and enjoyable to just sit down and write. “Write hot” as one person in a writing book said.

I tried to read Chapter After Chapter, but found it to be one of those essay booklets like Bird by Bird or even Artist’s Way. Some “artist” in a beautiful, idyllic setting, writing about the craft. Oh, please. I tossed it. I also tossed “Plot Perfect” because I found out I’m not a plotter. Let it happen, write without guidance, and then, at the end, put it away. Go back to it with fresh eyes, now that you know the end, and cut everything that doesn’t have anything to do with that ending. Easy, right?

Meh.

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Survived the Con

Posted on November 14, 2016 by L. Jacob

Yes, I survived. But not as I had hoped.

I hoped to sell a lot of items for the Press. Building Baby Brother and Best Intentions. Unfortunately, nothing sold except 4 copies of my book, Homecoming. I have a feeling if War Mage was available, then things would have been more brisk.

If I do this again, I need more books of my own to sell. Next year, I hope to have 3 books: Homecoming, War Mage, and Grimaulkin.

I gave up on NaNoWriMo this year. The story just isn’t in me. I’m itching to edit Grimaulkin instead. My plan is to get Grim in the publisher’s hands by February of next year, and hopefully have it ready to go by November again.

Maybe I’ll do the Con again. I’ll have to come up with the table fee, which is insane.So far what I’ve put out in table fees is way more than what I’ve made.

Military speculative fiction is a very tight niche. I might have written War Mage for a too-tight audience. Grimaulkin is more general. Mercedes Lackey did okay with her gay mage; I don’t see how I can’t do well with Grim

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Comicon, WNRI

Posted on November 6, 2016 by L. Jacob

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.

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Waiting

Posted on October 30, 2016 by L. Jacob

Comicon is happening in two weeks. I have a booklet that I’m waiting for the publisher to send to me, which will have a short story (Custer’s First Stand) and the first chapter of War Mage. I hope that comes in before Comicon.

I have 20 more copies of Homecoming on its way for Comicon, and I’ve still got the five copies each of Building Baby Brother and Best Intentions to try and sell.

My cards say I’ll do well, but not blockbuster well; my expectation is to sell five copies. I hope I can do that.

Grimaulkin is still going. I had a mini-climax and expect to do about another 10-20K words after that. I hope to finish it in time for Comicon. Not that I have to, but NaNoWriMo starts on Tuesday, and I don’t want to put Grim aside for that. I don’t think I’ll be able to succeed with NaNo this year, but my own personal NaNo happened to succeed (as of last week, I was 50K words, and as of today it’s 53,000 words.). So I’ll order the NaNo winner t-shirt.

Still upset that I lost my novel notebook. I keep a notebook on the novels I write, with brainstorms and notes on things that I write. As a discovery writer, I need to refer back to things here and there and instead of going in the document, I have a notebook with notes of things I created on the fly. I had it two weeks ago, and when I went looking for it last week, I couldn’t find it. So I created a new one, but I really miss my old one. Oh, well.

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Grimaulkin 1 – War Mage 0

Posted on October 23, 2016 by L. Jacob

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.

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Results

Posted on October 9, 2016 by L. Jacob

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.

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Sold!

Posted on October 2, 2016 by L. Jacob

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).

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Mission Statement

Posted on September 25, 2016 by L. Jacob

I’m terribly sorry for not putting up a blog last week. I got bitten by a writing bug, and I’ve been on Hemingway (my iMac Mini, located in my cellar) this past week, rewriting Grimaulkin, while I wait for War Mage to get out of the editor’s hands. So far, in one week, I’ve written 20K words I’m dong this instead of NaNoWriMo. Maybe. I have a story idea for NaNo which, depending, I might do.

Anyway, last week I planned on a blog based on a podcast that I listen to. It’s called Write Now!, by Sarah Werner. She’s refreshing because she has a gentle and encouraging voice, she hasn’t published anything yet, and she wants to give encouragement “to write every day.” Her last podcast (not the “Coffee Break” one) was about developing a Mission Statement. What is my purpose for writing?

I did a little journaling about that. (Which reminds me: I need to somehow burn my journals so that no one finds them after my death.) I came up with something that might sound pretentious, but I think is truly why I write.

I will express what I intrinsically believe through authentic stories.

All of my stories have a theme. these themes are my values. “Home and family is where your heart is.” “Revenge is sweet at first, but eats you up inside.” “The straight and narrow is difficult for any man to follow.” These three themes are for Homecoming, Dark Prison, and Grimaulkin respectively. These are things I believe. How can I write something I don’t believe in?

This is why I can’t write romance. I don’t believe in it. Why is it important for me to show people what I believe? Because, I think, I never had any validation for my beliefs. What I believe in, my values, are progressively odd according to my family and even my friend. Somewhere out there, others believe in my values.

The key woard here is “authentic”. This is why I feel guilty for creating Jake Logan. He’s not real. He’s not authentic. L. A. Jacob is. And from now on, I’ll be writing as L. A. Jacob. This is why War Mage has jake Logan and L.A. Jacob, because I’m eliminating Jake from my consciousness. Maybe if I ever become famous–which I doubt–I’ll re-release Homecoming under my own name.

Next week, I’ll be appearing at the RI College (my alma mater) Homecoming Day, in front of the Adams Library. I’ll be signing books and probably writing Grimaulkin while I wait for people to come by. Like the last time, I don’t expect to sell much because my subject matter is not, shall I say, pertinent or interesting to most of the people there.

Comicon is just over a month away!

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The Market

Posted on September 11, 2016 by L. Jacob

Went yesterday to an Author Meet & Greet in Narragansett. I had the best table–right at the door.

I sold nothing.

All around me, (memoir, children’s books) they sold at least 2 copies. I sold nothing.

I’m still depressed over it. But as I was thinking about it on the way home, I realized two things.

The story is too niche.
The market wasn’t right.

The story is about a bisexual wizard, in the US Army, during the war in Afghanistan. My audience is guys who are into the military and fastest on a fringe basis. They like reading military stories, but aren’t into the nitty-gritty.

I’m probably not going to sell anything at the next two places I’m going to, because of the same reason. My market isn’t there.

Makes me wonder if I should write to market, if I’m going to make any sort of money out of this.

I have the feeling too, that my editor doesn’t even like the story. She did two books ahead of mine, knowing that mine needed to be done by November. Supposedly we pushed back the date to October, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening. If the second book doesn’t come out in November, then I might as well hang up this series. I’m tempted to say the hell with trying to publish in general.

This third book is a bear because I’ve been stuck every single time on the interrogation scenes. Grimaulkin is stuck on the prison scenes. Why? Because I have no experience in either one of those things. And I’m not going to sit down and binge watch Oz for the prison scenes.

If I go to Comicon and sell nothing there, not only will I be out of $300, but then I’ll know that my story is too niche. And the 50 or so people who has bought it so far either did it by mistake, or that is where my true market is.

So maybe I should write a book for the general market here (my memoir-in-three-parts is still in my head). Nothing I have is really good for a general market. I could pull out Casey and do some historical fiction, or clean up Blood From a Stone. Or do something entirely different.

At this point, right now, I’m too depressed to write about anything. The muses are crying.

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Update

Posted on September 4, 2016 by L. Jacob

Sometimes I can fake being an extrovert.

Next week, I’m going to have to. It will be an appearance in Narragansett, along with about 40 other authors, at a theater by the pier marketplace. I drove by there, being that I’m unfamiliar with the southern part of the state. I couldn’t find the exact place, but hopefully I’ll be able to get there early enough on Saturday to find it.

I have my dragons, my candy, my books, and books that I’ll be selling for the Press.

This week I sent my novel to the editor. Yes, I know I did it earlier last month, but she didn’t get a chance to look at it until now. And come to find out it was a physical mess. I needed to put it through Word’s grammar/spelling paces (I later found out that Scrivener has a more robust one). After fighting with Word’s choices of grammar (which took two days), I resent it to the editor and hopefully now she’ll get a chance to look at it. Our timeline is to have it soft-launched on October 1, so it’s in time for the big launch at RI Comicon.

Book three of War Mage is coming along slowly. I think I wrote two pages last week, which is pretty sad on my part. I am reading “Make a Scene” which deconstructs scenes, the building blocks of story. I really should stop reading books on writing, because they’re not telling me anything I don’t already know; but I have so many of them on my shelf to read. Go to my Goodreads list and take a look to see what I’ve got there. Way too many writing books.

I’ve put aside Grimaulkin. Part of me wants to dump the whole thing. I’ve been working on it for over 6 years. It’s a good story, but damn, I’m bored with it.

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