Category: new book

Where away?

For Act 2.5 of Defiant, I’ve dealt a little with Mackenzie and now with Teresa.  They both have more to say, and I was planning on wrapping everything up about (two, three?) months hence with Joe’s diagnosis, say, two months before Nichole & Gil play out Act 3.

But… it seems too episodic:  here’s side character #1, here’s side character #2….  That may work in a seasonal show, but not so much in a novel.

I need a theme for this arc, and I’ve got nothing. I thought it might be family & loss (suggestive of a book title) what with Mac’s dead brother and Teresa’s missing, presumed dead, mother (and I know some of Nichole’s siblings were ‘failures’).  I might even find out more about Gil and Joe.  I did have one of them say or think, “everyone has lost someone in the Breakup.”

Episodic’s fine for blog posts; not a coherent novel.  I guess this is one of those retro times when I wish I had a traditional editor to tell me to get my shit together!  I am not writing one more word until I understand what they want me to say.

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Suggestions welcome.

Heading back Down in the Park

With Pirate Twins, my 4000, er, 17,000 word writing exercise complete, I am now returning to my free webnovel, Defiant, to flesh it out into a proper novel.

. . .

I had nothing.  For about two days.  As usual, at Mass this evening, reflecting on the Gospel reading from Mathew (so you know ‘gnashing of teeth’ will be involved…) about forgiveness.  I don’t know why, but I was led to think about the last paragraph of Act II, when Mackenzie accidently finds out what Nichole is.

In an instant,  I ‘saw’ their conversation and reconciliation.  Later that morning, they stand along the west bank of the Willamette River, watching the slow departure of HMIJS Kongo.  That’s 3k words, right there.  I was going to roll that over into going to class later that day or the next morning, but instead realized, with a smile, they’d be stopping in a Zom’s for a parfait or something.  Add a heaping of Nike and there’s 2k more words.

It’s only when I try do I eff everything up.  Shut up, Clayton, and write down what they show you….

“Cursed Hearts” – published!

At long last, I am very pleased to announce the release of my fourth book – and third novel – of Machine Civilization:  “Cursed Hearts.”  The paperback is available via Amazon and Goodreads.

To make it easier for y’all to celebrate along with me, all three novels, in their ebook form, are available at Smashwords for only US$0.99 each! (note:  you might need to toggle Adult Content: On in the upper right to see CH)

Thanks for everyone’s support and encouragement!

Amazon link!

Goodreads link!

Smashwords link!

Smashwords_eBook

Pirate Twins, 5; End Act I

Europa’s appearance was originally in Part 4, but the break didn’t fit.  This installment is a little shorter, but my action sequences always are.  You’ll see more of that next week once ‘Cursed Hearts’ is commercially available.

Editing of Proof Copy this weekend.  Shall I come back to Logres & Europa?  Move onto something else?  I get many ‘Likes,’ but comments & quesions are very welcome, too!

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Continue reading “Pirate Twins, 5; End Act I” →

Edit Complete.

Via the talented Monica San Nicolas, whom I very highly recommend, editing for CH is finished.  I shall spend this weekend formatting the pages to 6″x9″ (effortless) and creating chapter breaks at the appropriate moments (not so effortless) followed by a hotlink Table of Contents for anyone who buys the ebook version (easy, but time consuming).

And, even though I’ve days left, I shall make a decision about the cover (see post, below).  No matter who wins, there are some minor tweaks to be made to front and back; and, the winner will need the book’s spine width.

I’m already mulling three new story ideas, but also think that I should be older about Marketing and learning to reach out to agents.  Are there any readers of this humble blog that could illuminate me in those regards?

“Will no one rid me of this turbulent Cover?!”

Apologies to Henry II Plantagenet.  I’ve eleven days to decide a book cover between my two finalist.  I’ve been stumped for two days and want to be done by this weekend to get published, soonest!  A link to where you can take a look and vote is below.  Opinions welcome.

They’re both so tanjed good!  How to decide…?

https://99designs.com/contests/poll/2nc3oq

 

Interview About a Vampire

Having recently published my flash-fiction that was the genesis of Cursed Hearts, the folks at Uprising Review were kind enough to follow on and request I submit to an interview.  They seem a sound lot, so I do not think I’m violating Vox Day’s dictum about aiding the enemy.

The interview is here.  After that, please look over the rest of their site:  lots of good stories and commentary; bookmark them and come back often.  I do.

I really would like an answer to the question I posited:  what is it about horror, specifically, the notion of being eaten, that so fascinates people?

The Problem…

…with the dictum of “write drunk, edit sober” is finding the time.  To be sober.  Still, I’ve made the time and had three editing passes at CH.  The third and last – of mine – was tonight.  Just after, I sent it off to a copyeditor I hired from Upwork.com, recommended to me by someone I trust.  I wrote up a story summary, what I wanted, and what I was willing to pay.

A week later (sober!), I reviewed the list of about thirty applicants for my job.  Most of the replies were reasonable.  A few were laughable:  “While no editing experience, I’ve a Masters in English from [insert liberal arts college here] and plenty of time to work on your manuscript while working as a barrista!”  I’ve never grasped why we import Central Americans to mow our lawns when someone from Kenyon can do it; and they’re just up the road.

What’s one of my sig lines, kids?  That’s right:  there are no such things as coincidences.  One of the applicants – with lots of experience – also went to UC San Diego.  I didn’t ask if she was Catholic, but with a surname of San Nicolas, I bet she knows where the Neuman Center is, which looms so large in the lives of Cat and Chris.  After a brief exchange to make sure she was okay with sex and violence, I clicked “Hire.”

I look forward to her telling me how awful CH is.  And, how to fix it.

Now:  where to find designers for the cover…

Fate/Cursed Hearts

Self-publishing is a fantastic byproduct of our modern age.  But, when someone approaches you and says, “hey, your stuff’s pretty good; can we publish it?” that’s wonderfully gratifying to a writer’s ego.

A year ago I came up with a short story called “It’s Just Business.”  Today, it was published by Uprising Review.

That short was the genesis of the idea behind “Cursed Hearts.”  Is it a coincidence that a week to the day when I finished writing CH, someone wants to publish the source material?  Of course not:

There are no such things as coincidences!

“Two trains leave the station…”

We all hated word problems in math.  To commemorate this, forty years on, I created a word problem for myself in English:  Chris leaves home on day -1, arriving in San Diego on day 0; the story between Chris and Cat unfolds, coming to a head when little sister drops into their love nest on day 12.

From the other side, Maya leaves home on day 1, spends some time in a hospital, travels by freighter then airplane, arriving in San Diego on day 16.

16 – 12 = 4.

Well, crap.  I knew there was going to be a discrepancy, but four days?!  So, putting down the coffee and picking up the wine, I did this to the Chris/Cat side:

 A week had passed since their dinner and the odd ceremony Cat and Anton had performed on him. Although he did not understand, it had been efficacious in at least one way: his need to feed on the life force of animals was significantly lessened. Beyond that, home life with Cat had settled into a simple routine where they helped one another as much as they could. Chris still occasionally wondered whether he was imposing, but never detected that feeling from his cousin. If anything, she grew closer to him, both emotionally and physically, although it seemed something held her back from taking the next step, even after her ‘incident’ in the shower. Ah, well, he thought.

That gives me CC at +3 over M.  Sooo…

“She’s made remarkable progress in her recovery over the past three days, barring her memory, of course.” He took a drink of his coffee.

See what I did there?  Now the stories synch, with all my main character getting together for the bloodletting on day 19.  Back to coffee.