Not trying to please everyone

If you are a writer, like me, you hope that everyone who picks up your books, who spend their money to purchase your book, who borrowed your book from a friend, will like your book. But the reality is not everyone will. And I'm okay with that.

So let's get honest here. I write like I talk, with a lot of expletives. That means the characters I write are usually peppering their conversation with a s**t or d**n or even stronger language. Does that mean I don't have a good grasp of the English language, no. It just means I like to cuss. It gets my point across sometimes better than if I "politically correct" myself.

I write about prisons because I worked in them for ten years. Does that make me an expert on inmate behavior, not really. But it does mean that I have watched human interactions in which someone else (guards) controlled another persons (inmates) interactions when they didn't necessarily want them controlled. It means I saw some crazy activity between people when they might have acted differently if the space between them had a little more breathing room and less confinement. I have seen people raped. I have seen people stabbed. I have seen heart attacks. I also saw kindness. Just because a person gets locked up doesn't mean they aren't still human. But I also saw some animals.

I actually stopped working in Corrections because the last prison I worked at started to bore me. Yep, working in a prison can be monotonous and boring.

I write about magic. I write to imagine how things could be, should be, isn't, might be. I write stories that feature lesbians, heterosexuals, and maybe some children. I try my damnest to write without grammatical errors, but they will get through. I write to entertain and I write because I also love to read.

So if you ever buy my books, or if you have ever bought my books, I hope you know what you are in for and I hope you enjoy the ride.

Challenges of a writer

I wanted to have the third book in the Perri Stone series ready for release on April 30, 2013. But so many things are going on.

In my day job, my promotion to Supervisor, took (and takes) a lot of my mental capacity on a day to day basis. And I have to force myself (which is not conducive to good writing)  to take time for my creative time. On the other hand, I know that without my creative self being able to write, my mental state will break down considerably because I need to write (just like I need to breath).

I don't want to seem overly gushy or whatever, but I am taking time to write what I think is the best story I can write at the time I write it.

My fictional Kansas City is just that Fiction. My prison, Dexter County Correctional Facility, is just that, Fiction. I have taken the good and the bad from my ten years in Corrections to try and write entertaining stories. I get that everyone won't like what I write. I am okay with that. I am always trying to create the best story I can and if you have read any of my stories, you may or may not know that.

I have been writing for over thirty years. I am always trying to improve my craft. I used to write to feed my children. And actually I'm really sorry that I don't have all the Penthouse Letters I wrote all those years ago because they also helped to make me the writer I am today.

So, if you are a fan or supporter and are wondering what is taking me so long to complete book three, understand that I don't want to put out a rushed job. I want to put out, it bears repeating, "the best story I am capable of writing" at the time I write it.
Juin

Challenges

As a writer and one who is constantly learning and improving on her craft, I understand and understood some of the reactions I received to the second book (more of a novella) that I self-published. What I understand is that people wanted more, but the story that I was writing was complete to me. And that's the big thing, the story I wanted to tell was complete. But I understood that people wanted more. So when I upload the 3rd book which is a continuation of the ongoing current story, I'll upload it in a way that people that have already downloaded it can download the new version for free. I'm trying not to have to have too many links out that may confuse the issue. But my thoughts are that 2/3 as one. And then 3 solo for those that want to read it that way. Still unclear for me right now.

Aiming for April

This has been an exciting few months. I am also finished with the draft of "After Shock", the 3rd Perri Stone book.

Super excited. Will give to beta readers soon.

Juin

Working on Anthology pieces

I have been waylaid by 2 pieces for Anthologies being published by a couple of folks.

So one is an essay of 1000 words and the other one is 4000 words. So those have kept me occupied from my regularly scheduled writing.

Tight deadlines. Due date February 14 and March 31. So you see I have a lot to work with and towards.

Peace.

Mad at myself

This has been an incredible stress filled week at my day job. I took over supervision of a program that someone else was over seeing. And it made for no energy at night other than the sweet relief of sleep.

But I'm mad at myself because I can't allow that to interfere with my creative time which is my own. So now, I'm stressed on my word count for this week...sucks, sucks, sucks.

Okay, I'm over it. And I won't beat myself up and over do tomorrow to make up for the week. I am about 3600 words behind. Tomorrow I will focus (it's my day off) and write what I will and not fret about the lost words to paper because every night I have visualized the scenes I want to write. So I'm hoping the actual words to paper will be easy tomorrow.

:(

Peace

hope it went better for you all.

1285 words

I'm on a roll.

If I pace myself correctly, I'll have 30k words more or less by month end. That is completely on track with around 90k at the end of March.

I wish I could take a 2 week vacation to just sit and write but the reality of eating and having a nice warm apartment prevent that from happening yet.

And who am I fooling. Even when I do have the luxury of a two-week vacation, in Cancun no less, which was in December, I spent a lot of time (whispering - not writing) but I was researching.

Next month I will contact the person who completed my last book cover and let him know what this story is about to see what concepts he can come up with. I want something sharp, not blurred this time around.

And now I'm rambling.

Happy writing folks
Peace