Moving Day

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And artwork matters

I feel absolutely obligated to up the ante now. So, here’s the conceptual cover of the “new” novel. What is coming is going to be an expansion of the first two short stories into a feature-length novel. If I can figure it out, what I’ll do is post an update such that anyone who has bought both of the first two stories will get the update for free. And if anyone knows how to do that, I’m absolutely taking comments.

The final cover will be in vector graphics so the size doesn’t matter. Ah, I crack me up. Ok, back to writing the actual novel. Just wanted to check in so that when it’s done, we have a way to post the update for those loyal fans who were willing to pay so much for so little. You are the reason I am finishing the story, no matter how slow it may be going.

Where have you been hiding?

Despite the apparent abandonment of this blog, things are not as bleak as they may seem. Rather, behind the scenes, the opposite is happening. The creative juices have been flowing and the saga of Stacey and Adam has been driving toward novel length proportions. Maybe one day we will get there, together. Until then, I have certainly learned a lesson about promising dates!

What’s your story?

I don’t have one. Wait. What? This isn’t some kind of Seinfeld thing where it’s something about nothing, is it? Well, for the moment it is. But at some point, I will have a story and then there will be plot and characters and all that good stuff. For now, I’m just trying to do this whole, showing more than one POV and having more than 2 characters in the foreground.

That might help a little bit. Part of the dilemma with the SAM series is that there is no Meet Cute. They start out totally married and stuff. Technical term, that. So, maybe I’ll have to throw in some flashbacks. Apparently, zombies are pretty hot right now. Nothing says the series can’t turn paranormal.

Except that would completely derail the reality of it all. The common, everyday struggle just to stay with the one you want. Blech. Escapism is too easy. This down and dirty little saga needs to mean something real to me. How about you? Is there a point you are trying to make with your story? What’s your story?

Support groups

Along with returning to the fold of the local city writing group, I have also joined a small group of writers for a weekly lunch. This is turning out to be the most productive use of my time and I am looking forward to at least being able to make my words per week goal, even if it’s not done daily! In the long-term, it’s the writing that matters. Getting these little fingers going makes a big difference in reaching the end goal. Or so I have heard…

Back in the saddle

Made it back to the local writing group. Man, I need to set a daily word goal again… oh that’s right, I already had one. It’s just time to start paying attention to it. Hubby thinks I should do a sidebar topic and write about something completely nonsexual. Is there any subject/book/story in the world that is truly asexual?

Schmedlines

Now that almost all of my deadlines have passed, it seems like a good place to get back on the wagon. I wrote a short scene (less than 1,000 words) last week or two from a new story line.  What is it about frustration that brings out the writer. I have been reading decently bad romances again. It does seem like I write to have something I enjoy reading some times.

Of course there is good stuff out there, and if you have a recommendation, I’ll gladly take it. Because Amazon’s reco’s leave me a little bit cold. I have discovered and accepted Scrivener as my writing tool. Now I just want the ability to write from any of my machines on the same file.

Where was I? Oh, right. Frustration. It comes from many places and funnels into the creative. I don’t think that is solely relegated to the written art form, either. So is that a good muse, or is it too fickle? Do deadlines help you? (They clearly did not work for me.)

Where have you been?

No, that’s not right. More like, where have I been. Yup, that’s it. Unfortunately, I just don’t have a good answer. Google+ has been addictive. The girls are growing up so fast. And writing has been neglected. I have been researching writing aides like Dragon and BIAM. No good review material yet, but I would love to hear your opinion.

Does a writer need special tools? As a programmer, I used to pride myself on working solely in Notepad, until I found Visual Studio. The return on time alone makes having a tool completely worth it. I suspect that writing will turn out to be very similar, if I can find THE tool to use. For now, it’s Word and simple text entry.

I am a little concerned that PostADay could be a full time job, but I will try to get back onto the wagon.

Targets

If things that I think are completely obvious as part of my story line don’t get caught by a single person in the writing group, does that mean I should do a major edit or that they are not my target audience?

I know they are an awesome group from the comments they made. They found holes and questions and all kinds of things that I hadn’t considered and that no one else had mentioned. But again, is some of that simply that they lack the background that the standard fantasy fiction reader has? Or does my first draft expect too much of my own experience to be inherent in the audience?

Since writing for a living puts the creative process into the realm of a business venture, I wonder if the business marketing suggestions for targeting your audience apply? Any D&D or MMORPG player would immediately have gone “ah, a cleric,” but not one of the other writers even mentioned the concept or possibility. So, I think in the interest of a broader appeal, I will have to put more explanations in, much like the last book I read with the computer gamers.

Critiquing without devastating

What exactly is the best way to tell a struggling author that their work was completely unreadable? If you give line by line suggestions and the entire page is so red that Word runs out of space to squeeze in your comments, even if you are completely constructive, that has to add up to a negative impact after a while.