It’s that time of year again, and it’s been a minute since I tried to pull it together enough to actually finish something.
I’ve been working the last couple of months, but National Novel Writing Month is a huge commitment. 50,000 words in 30 days OR 12,500 words per week OR 1667 words per day. And somehow, these words need to be part of a coherent story. The goal is to write a novel or at least most of a novel.
Seriously, it is not that I haven’t been writing or that I don’t have stories. I have and I do. There are currently two “completed” Blood Link novels (9 & 10), and the beginning of the next one (11). I need to finish the partially written Blood Link novel before I can release the two “completed” ones. I say completed in quotes because they’ll need a little tuning based on what I do in the one I’m working on. Making sure that what’s said in Book 9 actually happens in Book 11 and no threads get dropped is a ton of work. I hate when I read a series and they just wander off in the middle of the fourth book and blow everything up.
There are also two partially written stand-alone novels – maybe the first quarter or third. They both have good legs so I hope to be able to figure out how I want them to go.
The first sticking point is whether my old, partially petrified, and occasionally foggy brain can focus on the task at hand. It’s a huge time commitment. Having a firm goal that I’ve accomplished several times in the past is not a bad thing and it might just carry me through.
While the first issue is my brain, the largest problem may just be the price of coffee. I’m going to need a lot of coffee to pull this off.
Writing
Inspiration
Recently, I saw a meme that stated,
“Waiting for inspiration to write is like standing at the airport waiting for a train.”
That is a well stated fact. Although, I’m not really sure what is meant by inspiration on any given day.
My handy dictionary states that inspiration means:
- the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
- the drawing in of breath; inhalation.
I’ve stared at this for quite some time. #1 makes perfect sense as that is what I’ve always taken inspiration to mean.
But what the hell is #2 all about? I’ve not really thought about breathing as inspiration. My thought process is too literal for this. Is the inspiration in the act or a result of the act? Is inspiration an idea for a story or the whole flipping story? This may be too deep for me today. I’m going to get some coffee and pet the dog.
Going to Audible
It took us some time to come to Audible. I say us because I rely on my friend and publisher as well as Mr. Scott to help me with this type of decision. I like to write—I don’t much care about the business end of crap. When we looked at doing audio books several years ago, the upfront costs, back end royalties, and some questions about book rights and long term exclusivity left us with too many questions. Since then, Audible and Amazon have made enough changes on the business end that audio is now doable.
Once that decision was made, I needed to find a narrator. I considered reading them myself, but I’d rather write and watch football than commit to the hours needed to accomplish the task. Most of the women narrators that I sampled just didn’t do it for me, so I went with a male and chose D.C. Newman as the narrator. I liked his tone and balance.
There is nothing stranger than to hear your character speak in a voice that is different than the one that you have heard in your head for the last seven years. I wrote the first draft of Saving Emily in November 2011 during National Novel Writing Month. After much work and editing, the book was finally published 4 September 2012. Saving Emily is without a doubt one of my favorite stories.
The truth is that people move into my head and camp there while they share they lives. They show up out of the blue and they depart the same way. Sometimes their story pours out quickly as Janice Bracken’s did, and sometime they have to be coaxed along and it may take a year to get to the end. However long it takes, they share their story in their voice.
Saving Emily was the first book that I assigned an actual voice and personality to. I’ve said before that I always felt Janice Bracken to be a lot like the character played by Rene Russo in Lethal Weapon 3 and 4. So for the last seven years, I’ve heard Rene Russo’s classy, sultry voice in my head telling her part of the story.
As good as D.C. Newman is and as much as I like his work, he sounds nothing like Rene Russo, so when he spoke her words, it was jarring. Not surprising, I wasn’t the least bit bothered to hear him speaking Mac’s words, even though I’d been hearing Gary Sinese in my head all this time. The strangeness stuck with me through the first couple of chapters, but then one day, I just got into the sound of his voice and let it go. For the first time, it was simply about letting another side of the story in.
The process itself is made super simple by D.C. Newman. He does the reading a chapter at a time. When he’s satisfied he has it right, he loads the chapter through the service, and sends me a message. I open the book and the audio file, reading and listening at the same time. I make sure that he’s read it correctly and that it sounds the way I want it to sound. If there’s something not right, I note the location on a sheet and send it back. He’ll make corrections and move on. Working with him has been incredibly smooth and easy. The completed project goes up on audible and it’s on to the next.
He’s recently started work on Blood Link and the first two chapters are in the can. He’s a busy guy who’s doing the narration on several books at a time and he has a waiting list of authors, but he’s got me scheduled so we’ll just keep moving forward.
If you’d like to hear a sample of Saving Emily, just hit the link below.
That Saturday Matinee Feeling
Sometimes, all I want from a book is a good clean read with some fast-paced action and a hero/heroine without a lot of angst. The kind of story that makes for a good Saturday afternoon movie – Stagecoach, Indiana Jones, Star Trek (the new ones), or Twister. I just want to read something that takes me away for a couple hours and leaves me content to have spent the time.
Thirty years ago, I couldn’t get enough of Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and James Michener. I wanted to be buried in history, intrigue, and details. Great stories and great books. But now, I’m happier with something a little less laden with those things. I’ve gone back to re-read the stack of Louis L’Amour books in the back of my closet.
I’ve tried other western writers, but the only one I really like is L’Amour. He wrote in a clean, crisp style without any fuss or ambiguity. L’Amour kept it simple. His heroes are men who sit tall in the saddle and do the right thing. They’re generally men who read and care about the law. They’re honorable and loyal. All things that I admire. Perhaps that’s why I like them so much. I’m tired of anti-heroes and people with too many “issues.”
Writing a clean lead character like that is hard. We’ve come to expect the complex character and anything less makes them feel “cookie cutter.” Your hero must display an emotional depth under their cool veneer without a buttload of angst to go with it.
Don’t we all just really want a good guy who rides in, gets rid of the bad guy, and saves the ranch for the girl? Throw in a good fist fight, maybe a shoot out, and an Indian attack for good measure and you’ve got a book and movie. A good example would be Hondo . Written in 1952, it was a Louis L’Amour short story (original title The Gift of Cochise) that became a movie in 1953 starring John Wayne. Hardly the best John Wayne movie, but a strong tale, well told.
In watching Hondo again, I realize that I’m frequently trying to just write another variation of one of the many Louis L’Amour’s heroes I enjoyed reading about. I’m good with that – the world needs more uncomplicated heroes. Now if I could just channel a little more Louis L’Amour in my writing, I’d be golden.
“Why did the young think that dreams were only for them? The old dream also, with less hope, less anticipation, yet they dream.” High Lonesome, 1962
Q & A From No Safe Haven
I often get asked questions about the books, so here are a few about the most recent one.
Q – Where did the idea for this story come from?
A – I had lunch with my friend Kit Dodd who played viola with a symphony. We went to high school together, but hadn’t seen each other in years. He and his wife live in a world of music and the arts, and I spent most of my life in the military and then had a construction drafting business. It’s hard to imagine two people with less in common, but we’d always gotten along well. I wondered how I would manage if I tried to live in his world. It might be amusing, but hardly interesting for a book. Then I questioned how Kit would manage if he was dropped into a world of cops and military people? Now that had potential. Then it became about creating a plausible story line. As a side not – Kit would have adapted an overcome just as Ben does.
Q – So is the hero based on Kit?
A – Inspired by is a better choice. Kit provided a lot of background and was generous with his time in answering questions. Certain things that he said made it directly into the book. Kit was such a positive and decent man and irrepressible in many ways that I tried to carry that into the writing. The book is dedicated to him.
Q – Most of the men in your books cook. Does Mr. Scott do the cooking?
A – Not at all – this why it’s called fiction. He’s capable of preparing quality ramen and outstanding fried egg or grilled cheese sandwiches. Anything beyond that is not happening. I’m not particularly fond of cooking, so I fantasize about men who do that sort of thing. I like to think of them as warrior chefs.
Q – The photo on the cover looks like the described cemetery. Is that a real place?
A – Yes. The photo is from a small family cemetery in Southern Arizona and was taken by the editor for this book Arwen Newman. We walked back into this cemetery one afternoon and I fell in love with the place. I’ve visited it several times since, and I try to go in the spring when the irises are blooming. The description of the cemetery is reasonably accurate, but I took a lot of liberties with the ranch itself. There are loads of these small ranch/family cemeteries out here and we’ve visited many of them. This particular one is my favorite and that’s why I incorporated it into the book.
Once again – write what and who you know.
NaNo 2016
I’m sad to see the end of NaNo 2016. I finished with about 58,000 words and it should have been more. I’ll blame my failure to reach my personal goal of 60K on the distraction of a new dog and college football. I’d blame the presidential election, but honestly, I voted early and just tuned that obnoxiousness out.
Congratulations to my cousin, Jennifer Burgraff, on completing her first NaNo. Way to go, Jenny! You’re a terrific writer, and I’m incredibly proud of you for hanging in there and doing this.
Thank you to Mr. Scott for being so tolerant of my pursuits. A big thank you also goes out to all my family and friends also. Your encouragement is always greatly appreciated.
I’m also really proud that once again my 58,000 words are original content and part of the actual story. One of my friends pointed out that I could add to my word count by just typing the same word multiple times. Interestingly, one of the suggestions from the NaNo folks is to do just that if you’re stuck. Some people write the same word, some write a sentence, and some type song lyrics. I get it. Whatever works to get you started. But it’s not for me. I write for the story and if it’s fewer words then so be it.
On my best day, I wrote 5,347 words. On my worst day only 322. My most productive days were Tuesdays when I averaged 2618 words. My worst days were Saturdays when I averaged just 683. I’m frankly surprised I did that well considering the amount of college football I watched. The third week was my strongest when I wrote 16K.
NaNo is a reminder of just how goal oriented and focused I can be. This book is currently about 3/5 of the way done, and I think I can finish this beast by mid-December. However, lurking out there are the edits for No Safe Haven. My inner control freak wants to attack those and get them over with so I can get the book out. After all, my 10 loyal fans are waiting. Knowing they’re sitting there and not getting them done is tough. There are also the beta reads for Book VII of the Blood Link Series to be completed and that story still requires a full self-edit and clean up. Also out there is Book VIII, which is about half written with story notes piling up. That’s a lot of irons in my fire with the holidays coming.
Still, I’m compelled to move on with this story and strike while the iron is hot – sheesh, that’s two branding references for no good reason this morning. So, for now, I’m going to keep my head down and pursue this story with Lisa and Skip – still not sold on her name – they sound a little too gooey and I don’t know why. Maybe the problem is his name… damn it… these are the little things that can annoy me no end and I just have to write through them. Arrrgggghhhh!
So, that it from NaNo 2016.
Once again, THANK YOU for all the support and kind words.
