OMG an update?

I know I can’t believe it either.  Sorry folks that I’ve been gone so long.  I promise to get back into the swing of things real soon.  A lot has happened recently which I will update everyone on in a later posting.

So what’s the update?

Well even though I haven’t been blogging recently I have been working.   I still haven’t missed a single day of writing since I started writing on May 26th.  How’s that for consistency?

I exceeded the 400 page mark on my Novel WIP yesterday.   Total words to date: 127,771

Good times…good times.

Alright friends well I am off to bed but till next time –   Write on!

What is it about Thursdays?

It seems to me that Thursday is my lucky day.  Well at least my most productive.  After about a week of lackluster writing progress (between 500-1000 words daily) I achieved 4,122 words today and hit page 350.  I wish I knew what the magic formula is…but I don’t.  Oh well either way I am happy and feel like I am back on track.  I am up over 107,000 words total.

I am pleased to say also that I am beginning to tie together some of the errant story lines.  Somewhere in the middle I went off track, inserted a piece that had nothing to do with the rest of the book and was not in my plot outline but now believe it or not it is all starting to come together.  I love how that works.  I just keep tweaking parts here and there and moving the thing forward and it all seems to iron itself out.

Hopefully it won’t take until next Thursday to have another big writing day but either way I am committed to BIC (butt-in-chair) even if that means I just write one sentence each day.

It’s all down hill from here.  I am reaching the apex of my story (aka finishing up the middle) so I suspect that the rest will come at a bit faster pace but we shall see.

Well that’s what is up with me, till next time – Write on!

Well…I did it…

I reached 100,000 words today on my WIP.  Pag 326.  Chapter 29.

Very cool.  Sorry my posts here have been sporadic at best…I will try to get more consistent in the coming days and weeks.

Things are rolling along smoothly oh and I am enjoying reading John Marco, I dig his style its very crisp and tight, short sentences and great command of language.  I am already 300 pages through the Eyes of God, if he keeps it up I might just have to reward myself with book two Devils Armor.

Alright well that’s all for now but until next time good luck and write on!

reading…

So at last I finished J.V. Jones Sword of Shadows series…well at least the books that have been published, I have to wait until April 2010 for the 4th installment.

My review:  J.V. Jones rocks!  She did not disappoint and I loved every minute of it.

So having been in JVJ’s world for so long I came to a crossroads, the all important decision of what to read next.

I chose, The Eyes of God by John Marco.

I cranked through 120 pages like it was nothing and I must say, I am impressed.  Lets see if he can keep it up throughout.

For more info you can check out www.jvj.com and www.johnmarco.com

One additional note, the completion of A Sword From Red Ice marks the 20th novel I have read since starting my book 100.  I set a goal of reading 100 fantasy novels and started on Thanksgiving of 2008.

I understand that it may not seem like a lot to say that I have read 20 novels, but the average length of these books is 600 pages.  There have been a couple of 900 pagers in the mix, the one I am reading now is 800.  And its not like I don’t have a life outside of reading, so its been my side hobby.  I think 20 is nice round number.

Oh and one last thing, I almost forgot.  Hit the library again this weekend, picked up:

A writers guide to everyday life in the middle ages & A day in a medievil city.

Exciting stuff I tell ya…exciting stuff!

Till next time – Write (and read) on!

300!

I did it, I bowled a perfect game.  No just kidding, I did however hit 300 pages on my WIP today!

93,500 words thus far.  Chapter 28.

I am stoked.  It feels unbelievable to have come this far in so short a time.  I am really starting to feel like a writer.

The plot has taken a few turns I didn’t expect, a few characters are becoming far more important that I thought possible and I am taking the big plunge, I am printing this sucker out.  I was going to take the dive and let my girlfriend Val read some of it, and I printed the first few chapters but then I started changing things and we got busy and it didn’t really happen so I decided 300 is a good point to get the whole thing onto a ream of paper and stick it into a binder.

Needless to say, I am ecstatic.  More details to come in future posts, sorry I haven’t been posting too often on here, I have been too busy writing!  4500 words yesterday and 2000+ today.

Till next time my friends – Write on!

sold!

Quick update!

Just recieved notice that I sold yet another article on Helium.com

http://www.helium.com/users/edit_show/498938

The article is entitled “How to survive recession depression”

$60.  Very cool indeed.  I am movin’ on up as they say.

Better still, there are a few new and interesting topics posted in the marketplacet that I am considering on writing to.

So until next time – Write On!

the three r’s

Research -

Over the weekend I visited the treasure trove known as the public library.  I picked up (4) books.

The History of Castles, The Witches Craft, Ancient Inventions, Civilizations

I’ve started to pick through them a bit and actually, The Witches Craft, is a great read!  I sat down to read a bit of it thinking that I need to digest it in small bits but then all of the sudden I was 50 pages in.  Interesting stuff and unique perspective on history that you don’t usually get.

Revising -

I went back and re-read my first few chapters and as I did so I began to revise them.  I realized that just in the past couple of months I have become a far better writer.  My later chapters have much more depth and style to them.  So I have been playing at giving everything the same general tone.

Re-writing -

Last week the little excercise of putting together my novel pitch really opened my eyes.  As I let my pitch stew in my brain for a day or so I started to realize that one of the most critical elements of my story didn’t make sense!  That got me into creative mode and I started to work with these scense in my head until I got them right (or at least right for now until I write something on page 400 that throws the whole book off a cliff.)  I ended up re-writing then end of chapter 3 and all of chapter 4 and today I am working through 5 and 6.

Where some people might be discouraged or dismayed at a mistake of such magnitude, I was actually quite glad that I caught it.  Gave me an excuse to revise and I learned a little bit more about my lead character which is never a bad thing.

Well thats all for now, till next time – Write On!

my pitch…and a cameo?

Distilling your novel (or in this case mine) down to a short blurb, 20 seconds or less, is far more difficult than it sounds. I have an 80 page plot/outline and I have written almost 240 pages and I am maybe 1/3 of the way through.  But was it is about?

My first attempt at a pitch was about 250 words.  That’s short, but not short enough.  Could I spit that out if someone said oh you are writing a book, what is it about?  Um…uh…er…well…so there’s a character and SCREECH.  My second shot was much better and I even got an “Excellent!” from Faith Hunter over on magical words.  So here it is.  This is what my book is about…enjoy:

Covered in blood with a dead prince in her bed a panicked 19yr old Layla taps into her fledgling Weikkan magic and inadvertently wreaks havoc. Instead of saving the prince she transfers their souls between bodies and at the same time opens a gateway that allows a vengeful creature from the underworld to be reborn. Layla must find a way to return to her own body, save the prince, and fight the unimaginable evil that she loosed on the world.

What do you think?  Comments/questions?  Anyway on to the other topic of this post.  A cameo.

I recently discussed how I created a new character.  He is fantastic, so much so that he almost deserves his own novel.  That got me to thinking and I decided that his role in the current WIP is more of a cameo.  He enters, intrigues, saves the day…oh shhh I’m not giving too much away you haven’t even read it yet…and then exits.  His story is a story for another time, he is just passing through.  At least as of right now I am in love with that concept.  I will say however that it’s a bit tricky giving him a viable exit and one that answers enough questions but leaves enough mystery that I can revisit him later on in the future.  But hey I’m a writer, this is what I do.

So till next time – Write on!

The big pitch?

I just posted over on one of my favorite sites, magicalwords.net 

After watching the commentary on Faith Hunter’s latest topic regarding the novel “pitch” I decided to give it a go.  I mulled over it for a short while and believe that I came up with something that was at least somewhat coherent but we shall see what Faith thinks. 

Please check it out if you get a chance http://magicalwords.net/faith-hunter/the-big-pitch/#comments

and as always till next time – Write on!

fascinating

Out of nowhere today a new character came to mind.  He is perfect and adds so much to the story.  He is still shrouded in mystery even from me but that’s okay I know he will reveal himself as I go.  Is it too late to add a new character 72,000 words in?  Nah.  I think it will work just fine, besides a character or two may get the proverbial axe in coming days so that will even things out and my plot lines will not be so much of a spider web.

I am excited to explore this and I have already written his first chapter because as it so happens this is exactly the point where he must enter the story.

I honestly can’t wait to finish my first draft so that (after I got back read it and do some editing) I can share it with all of you.

Well that’s what’s going on in my world, what’s going on in yours?

Till next time – Write on!