Series

I am working hard on getting the third in the Perri Stone series ready.

But I am also excited to start working on "Coven of Tree Witches" a series about witches, duh, tinged in minor reality about what we think we know about witches and my made up reality. But that's the excitement of creating something between what is expected and what is unknown.

Thanks you again to every one who is reading and enjoying what I want to write. I am struggling between writing stories about people who I don't see and as always creating a story worth telling. Keep strong in the creative struggle to all my fellow writers and even when others throw stones, remind yourself, you created something from nothing but your imagination and no one can duplicate your mind.

Outlining with Scrivener

I have always written as a sit-of-the-pants writer. This time around, for book 3, in the Perri Stone series, I have decided to outline. Why? Because I need a way to keep track of people, places and things. Really. I noticed that I called the facility where Perri works "Dexter Correctional Facility" in book 1 and "Dexter County Correctional Facility" in book 2, not a major slight and one the can be explained in book 3 but I don't want to have to explain simple tracking like that.

And with book 3 clocking at between 200 - 250 pages, I can't afford errors.

Perri and Cassidy are not done. With "Creep" as a bonus short at the end of book 2, people wondered if Cassidy was out of the picture. No, she isn't. And "Creep" is set ten-years in the future. Plus it was a short story I wrote around the time I wrote "Inside Out" but included it with "Quiet Riot". And there are people introduced in "After Shock" (tentative title) that I need to track.

My house has note cards, 8x11 slips of paper, legal pads all over the place because I want something to write on when I need it. And my purse overflows with paper nuggets. That's why I thought I needed to outline and find software that supposedly makes the transition easier. So I am trying Scrivener so that my note cards can all be in one place. My plot points and eureka moments can not be lost (in my cluttered mind) but placed in a single location (okay, netbook and desktop in the cloud) and I can handle the real task at hand. Writing. And it was recommended by another writer who has over 30 books written. So hell yeah, if I can get organized in a big way, I'm all for it.

Now, if only I could find software that makes me focus on one story at a time without trying to distract me with "ooh, here's a good idea".

Not writing is writing (kind of)

You know those times when the story is percolating. And even though you aren't putting words on the page because they are still floating in the ether of your brain, it still counts. Of course, you eventually need to put those words somewhere but in the in-between stage of brainstorming (internally) and regurgitating (externally) if you are holding true to your character, nothing is wasted.

I'm sure I've said this before but all those friends who don't see you writing daily, who then want to question whether "you are a real writer" well to them, I say suck it. They don't write, they don't have the tenacity or guts to do what you are doing, so they can suck it. So while you may panic because you haven't or aren't producing as much as Joe Blow will have you thinking, remember that you are working on your writing while you are processing.

And hell, the first draft is just that anyway, so once you run through your second or third or twentieth draft, your story will be all the better for it. So mull. Walk through the park and be like the person talking to themselves without a blue tooth, we won't mind, we'll know you are talking to your characters and will be writing their story soon.

By the way, if you see me, talking to myself in the park, I'm not alone either. Peace.

Writing is my Independence Day

While people are grilling and waiting for fireworks, I'll be sitting in a prison cell. I won't get to smell the hot dogs, bar-b-que ribs, potato salad, pork and beans, chicken. I won't get annoyed when the drunken uncle or aunt who has sipped too much wine or drank one to many beers starts reminiscing about the good old days from twenty years ago. I wish I could be there in my lawn chair watching the kids run through the sprinklers because it's 90 degrees in the shade. I wish I could snuggle up behind my woman and tell her how much I appreciate the hard work she put in, getting the in-laws to visit, setting a wonderful table, letting me kick back and play a slamming game of bid whist or spades...

...unfortunately.

My spades partner will be sitting across from me holding on to his cigarette bids like they were chips from a casino. My "cocktail" will be surreptitiously sipped out my coffee cup between guards roaming eyes. My  beanie weenies will have to suffice as I imagine them tasting like smoked dogs off the grill, dripping with mustard and ketchup. My snuggle will happen later in my cell, as I can only visualize my dream lover, who is plastered on a cinder block wall, taped to stay in place.

My Independence Day was taken long ago. Well, I did my crime, I am now doing my time.
If you get a moment, come visit me.
Thompson
Inside Out

Tiny but growing daily

As a writer who is going the indie route, it is easy to feel lost and under appreciated when you look at the sales reports on your book sales. But you have to look at it another way. For every person that has decided to purchase your book, they might tell another reader friend about it and yes, slowly though it may go, you build a following. But the bonus is those are people who didn't know you, weren't friends who were doing you a favor by purchasing your book, but honest to goodness other people who decided to take a chance on a writer whose last name wasn't King, Patterson, etc. And every time someone new buys your book, they have validated your option to put words on the page as a storyteller. It would be nice to see reviews from every person who reads your books but realistically, look at it this way, if the millions of readers for say "King" put a review up on Amazon, it would blow out the server. So take a small bit of pride in the reviews you do receive, good and bad, and keep writing because you are tiny (today) but growing daily. Peace

Unintentional Actions

Sometimes we act in ways that cause a really negative action and we wonder, about three weeks later, where the fall out is coming from.
In fiction, this is the good stuff that makes a story rock. You're thinking, what the hell are you talking about, but go with me here. Say you start your story and your character has unprotected sex with a stranger and 3 weeks later starts having a burning, itching sensation. It either came from the random shag or something else is up, (I don't know, it's your character) but  it opens the door for all kinds of conflict in your story. Because your character either already has a partner - which is going to piss them off (std, anyone). Or the slag finds out who you are and comes knocking on your door because she missed her friendly visitor. So, all this is to say, unintentional actions sometimes have consequences that you don't foresee but can rock the hell out of your story with some beefy conflict.
Peace

Quiet Riot available

Quiet Riot is out on Amazon and Smashwords. This story continues to follow Perri Stone, prison investigator, in the Correctional Facility where she works. She has returned to work after being away for a little over a month, only to find out some big changes are going into affect and the prison population isn't very happy about it.
A riot ensues. Some actions take place that will change people forever.
I hope you are ready for the ride.
There is also a short piece on a different installation of Perri Stone's adventures once she leaves Kansas. The next book will be out soon.
Juin
Quiet Riot
Inside Out

Working hard and smart

The goal is to have "Quiet Riot" finished by the end of the month and uploaded to Amazon Kindle for April 1, 2012. I like the irony of it not being an April Fool's joke. But in all seriousness, the idea that one must write every day in order to produce is not synonymous with writing every day and producing good work. I write sporadically, but am writing three books at once. Does that mean my energy is split and the end results are bad. I hope not. Actually, I think not.
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I write like I read. And I usually read multiple books at one time because my interest wans as I read and my interest level fluctuates between what I want to read for entertainment purposes and for knowledge sake.
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So work hard by making your writing time count for what you want it to count for. If page counts are important to you and you are comfortable with maximization on certain days as opposed to all seven in a week, then work the model that works for you. You can't be prolific if you are chasing someone else's idea of what works for all writers.
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Just my two cents for the day.