The Next Release...

I've finished the final edits on THE FAULT LIES NOT... The final word count is 18,712, which makes it comfortably a novelette.  It's the story of Special Agent Lin Sillo and her partner, Special Agent Vincent DeBurg, as they try to stop a serial killer before he commits more murders. There's something behind the murders, something that reaches beyond the city of Naufolk...

I'm going to upload it to Smashwords and Kindle tomorrow.

Here's the cover...

One of these days, I'll be able to afford to have a cover professionally done. Until then, I'll keep putting covers together on my own. Thank God for public domain images.

Revelation

I think I've reached a bit of a milestone. A bit of a realization, actually, something that's taken me over fifty years to suss out. And the realization can be stated with two words:

I'm okay.

I'm over (mostly) the self-loathing that I've dealt with most of my life. I don't look in the mirror and hate what I see anymore. So, what led me to this incredible revelation? Simple: I'm a writer. More than that, I'm a published author. Self-published, but still published. There are three books out there with my name on them, a total of seventeen individual stories all written by me.

And there are more coming...a novella titled ON A COLD WIND and a novelette titled THE FAULT LIES NOT..., both being edited right now. Plus I'm working mightily on completing more stories, which will either be published individually or combined into an anthology (depends on their assorted lengths). On top of that, there's the vampire novel UNDER THE DARK OF THE MOON...which I'm hoping the third draft will actually be finished.

So there is something positive in my life...and it's about time I actually acknowledged it.

And to end this bit of revelation, here's the appropriately titled "I'm Ok" by Styx...

Not Ready To Give Up Yet

There comes a point in every novel when you have to acknowledge that you're stuck and can't get unstuck.  It's the point where you have to decide to either continue to struggle or put the work aside.

Regarding BEFORE THE DAWN, have I reached that point?

I've been sitting at the same place, in Chapter Twenty, for quite a while now. I know what comes next but I can't get it down on paper. I've gone back and rewritten the chapter multiple times trying to get through it. So far, it hasn't worked.

I could put it aside easily enough. God knows I've done that enough times. Sometimes, leaving a project to sit and simmer for a while has been beneficial. "A Voice in the Darkness", "The Fault Lies Not", "Rae" and A Bright Symmetry were all completed after sitting for variable amounts of time.

I just don't think I'm there yet.

I'm going to give it one last shot, go back to the beginning and pullout plot points that have been nagging at me and adding something that's been missing.

I'm also going to change the title.  I was never happy with the novel sharing a title with an Evanescence song. So I've changed the title to BY THE DARK OF THE MOON, which I like better.

I made notes of every chapter and what has to be changed (if anything), removing a plot point I never was able to resolve. (Brynna was exposed to some mysterious compound that evoked a terribly bad reaction. I never figured out what that compound was. So I'm going to limit its appearance in the story, leave it as a bigger mystery for the characters.)

There's also going to be a new first chapter, showing a day in the life of Brynna and Georges. This was something else that nagged; I kept referring to Brynna as a published author...yet I never showed her writing. So the first chapter will show a bit of their domestic life, Brynna writing...before everything goes to hell.

While I'm doing that, I'm going to continue typing up what I've already written and continue plotting the last third of the novel. With luck, I'll be able to complete the work this time. Of course, I'm still working on "Raven", "Stranger" and "My Soul To Keep".

Just keep moving forward.

Progress Report 12/06/13 - "Rae" Is Now Complete

It took a while but "Rae" is finally finished.

Thinking back, I really can't believe how long this story has been in progress. If my memory serves me correctly, I started it back when I worked at Lowe's, which was from 1999 - 2001. So yeah, that's a long time to be working on one story. Not as long as I had been working on "The Fault Lies Not", but still a significant stretch of time.

The word count for the first draft came in at 14,210 words. That puts it squarely in the novelette range.

I'm not completely sold on the ending, but it's only a first draft, so it's goal was simply to be completed. The editing process will polish it up.

Now to turn my attention to the next uncompleted story, "Raven".

Three Books Now Available

Just want to take a moment to mention my three books, available on Kindle, Smashwords, iTunes and NOOK.

The first, With Eyes Open..., is the story of Mira Frayne, who thought she was going to make a change in her life, to try and make a better life for herself. Her life did change...but not in any way that she expected. She learns there is more to the world than she ever believed, a discovery she would deal with far into the future. What are the Adityas and why do they want her?

The second, Campfire Stories, is a collection of stories, ranging in time from the far distant past to the not too distant future. These are stories of self-discovery, exploration and duty, and the consequences of each. What happened before the beginning? What if the world changed and you were the only one who knew it? What if you found out that your childhood friend was more than you ever thought she was?

The third, A Bright Symmetry, tells the story of Scott Madigan, immortal, and his lover, Zoe Baird, over the course of a year. An archaeological expedition leads Scott to reassess and change his llife...though nothing compares to the changes undergone by Zoe.

Links can be found on my website, Wordboy's Words - wordboy1.wix.com/wordboyswords…

11/15/13 - My Soul To Keep - The Tralamafan

Here's a quick sketch and notes on the Tralamafan, from MY SOUL TO KEEP. They evolved in the space between universes and are driven to learn everything they can about the physical universes. They consider every life form in the universes as nothing more than test animals, to be used as they see fit.

Yes, I know...I have no artistic talent. That's why I'm a writer.

11/08/13 - Website Maintenance & Some Progress

I've updated the website and corrected a couple of things that I had neglected for a little while.

On the BOOKS page, each book now has links to each of the four major markets they're available on (Smashwords, Kindle, iTunes & NOOK). Now I can put up a link to the BOOKS page and know that most people will be able to get to them.

On the writing front, I've made good headway on both "Rae" and "Raven".  Now I have a little planning to do.  I have to figure out the layout of a warehouse and a neighborhood that I need for each story.

For BEFORE THE DAWN, I have to decide how drunk Scott is so I can continue on with it.