Someone is going to die

I've been struggling with Book 2 of my Hell's Belle saga for a few weeks now. Part of it is being too damn busy. Work exploded and the promo for the Hell's Belle release is picking up, cutting into my writing time. And when I do squeeze in the writing time, it feels like slogging through syrup.

It's frustrating, but it's also confusing. Hell's Belle felt almost effortless, especially in comparison to this. So what's my problem? I think it's because I have to kill someone off.

I don't consider myself an old softie. For the most part, I am a tough broad. By the end of Hell's Belle, I knew that someone was going to die in book two. I have a ton of other characters that want to get onto paper, and I am no George RR Martin. I can't handle character overwhelm.

But I love my characters, even the ones that I personally think are enormous pains-in-the-asses and want to punch every time I write them. So I am struggling with who's going to get it, which is keeping me from seeing my ending clearly. And I am the type of writer who needs to see the end. I need to know where I am going so I can chart my path there.

So someone is going to die in book two. Time to start mourning.

is Stephanie Meyer a "bad writer"?

There's a hot debate happening over on Goodreads about Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series about sparkly vampires and the humans that love them. It was sparked by the question, "Is Stephanie Meyer a bad writer?"

I found myself in the bizarre position of defending her (odd since I was not a fan of the book). 

Anyway, Dan says she's a bad writer. Her grammar is awful. She misuses words. She's a menace to the English language.

I contend that she could have used a better editor to fix her grammar/usage issues, but ultimately she wrote a mega-best selling novel that spawned a major film franchise and her success snowballed. Clearly, there are readers out there that think she's the bees knees. Otherwise it would have come to a screeching halt, like Beautiful Creatures (speaking of bad writers). So she cannot be classified as a "bad writer" since her success speaks otherwise.

Dan counters that it's all marketing. Meyer ain't no Oxford educated linguist a la Tolkien. 

Now I think we are getting into apples and oranges territory, but in my opinion, Tolkien could have used some judicious cutting for Lord of the Rings, a book that frustrated me with its self indulgent ramblings. 

So, the debate continues. But I stand by Stephanie Meyer. She is not a "bad writer." She knew her market and wrote something that resonated. She may not be grammatically proficient, but she can clearly tell a story that engaged readers. And isn't that the point?

taking care of business

I just submitted the mms of the novel to the US copyright office. For 35 bucks, it's peace of mind that my work is protected. Extra thanks to my dad for bringing it up. I would have never remembered.

This is my second (!) work submitted to the copyright office. The first was submitted in 1990, by an attorney who knew someone at the RI Council on the Arts, and he did the work pro-bono.

Here's some fun facts that not too many people know. I had written a play that won a major national award, it was produced for a few performances at the Kennedy Center, and was directed by Jack Hofsiss. It was a two-hander, and one of the actors was Sabrina Le Beauf. She chewed me out for watching a bit of the "closed" rehearsal from the doorway until I explained that I was the playwright. Then she was absolutely lovely, and they invited me in to have a seat and watch rehearsal for a bit.

Anyway, the RI Council on the Arts was involved in the whole shebang, since it was a Very Big Deal (cover of the ProJo arts section, wearing horrid watermelon colored pants). The attorney did loads of pro bono for them, and was in DC for the play, and offered to do the copyright for free. They even paid the filing fee.

Of course, that was before The Interwebs were discovered, so copyright was this Big Scary Secret Process. Now you just go to a web site, fill out a bunch of pages, submit the credit card info and boom! Copyright filing done.

Of course, the DIY method was not half as glamorous. Back then, I visited a lawyer in a fancy office in a high rise building in Providence, and they had a soda machine that dispensed soda for NO MONEY WHATSOEVER! Twenty years later, surrounded by dirty dinner dishes in the kitchen, I protected my copyright without an ice cold free Diet Coke. But it's protected.

Next it's onto finishing the book cover, getting the ISBN number, formatting into the various ebook formats, and then I can send it out to bloggers. And I keep going back and forth about doing a website. Part of me is just UGH about spending the time and money developing another website that I am not so sure is necessary. But in for a penny...

And so much of this admin work is keeping me from working on Book Two, but it's work that needs to be done. Of course, now that we are getting down to it, I am getting super nervous about shoving it out into the world, so procrastination is kicking in. But I committed to doing this, and I can't chicken out.

ten thousand words

I am about 10,000 words into Book 2, and still going through Book 1's copy edits. I know I am dragging my feet on this a bit. Part of me wants to hold on, make it perfect. But I'd be perfecting it forever.

I am also working out the ebook formatting, trying to figure it all out myself before I hand it over to someone better qualified. Had my first go at InDesign. Successful? No idea yet!

If you had asked me two weeks ago, I would have said I was ready to give up at Book 1, say I wrote a novel and call it a day. But I hit the 10k mark, and I started to see this follow up take shape.

I know I struggled similarly on Book 1. Some chapters felt like I was just spinning my wheels. Those were the calmer chapters, the more "introspective" ones. Frankly, I am way more comfortable writing balls-out fight scenes. Trying to balance action was a challenge. My first readers were exhausted the first time through--I didn't let up until it went through edits. So I am trying to find the balance again here.

But damn, I do love my fight scenes. The blood and the gore complete me.

greetings from typo land

The book is back from the proof reader, and I am going over his edits plus the last of the edits from the beta readers. And, man, does it take a village! My typos are simply astounding!

I have been participating in a great discussion over on Goodreads about reviews--specifically about nasty reviews. It's been great chatting about this, particularly given my job in publicity. One of the things we discussed were reviews that slammed books for what are essentially editing issues, and nothing else.

Now that I am in the thick of editing, I can say that it's a tough slog. I get how these books can come out with so many errors. I try to be more forgiving of the indie books. It's not easy DIYing this part. And even with the pros I enlisted to help me get my book "camera ready" I am still finding issues in the copy.

Slog on, my friends. Slog on.

Layers

Moving from writing purely dialogue with some stage directions thrown in has been a challenge. A friend once described to the act of writing a novel as filling a swimming pool with a syringe. Oh yes.

I write a section, and walk away. A few days later, I'll suddenly realize that I need to go back to that section and write in a character, or even just a beat or moment. It doesn't change the course of the narrative, but adds an additional layer to the story. It's more like "local color." And this happens over and over again. Write, walk away, add layer. Rinse repeat. 

I have to constantly remind myself to stop and be fully present in my character's moment. What does the temperature feel like? What color are the walls in the room? Is there a carpet on the floor, or is hard wood, or tile? That small detail can change the sound that my character makes when she thuds, or scrapes, or shuffles across the room. 

These moments are the syringe. The white space on my computer screen is the pool I am trying to fill. 

Kicking some ass...

Book 1 is finally in the hands of the professional proof reader now, who is picking up all my errors, misspells and probably tearing apart my grammar. I am actually pretty excited that I am working with this guy. He's worked on a number of UF books that I have really enjoyed. I am pretty stoked to work with someone with his level of experience in the genre.

While I have downtime, I am pushing on with Book 2. Since work is pretty demanding, I can't sneak in time to write during the day. But I am committing myself to 500 words a day. Not ideal, I prefer to do 1,000. But what I learned from Book 1 was that 1000 words a day, plus full time work = burnout.

But even as I move along at a sloth's pace, I am pretty happy with the start. Chapter 1 is kicking some serious ass. Literally. I just finished Chapter 2, and I am not too happy with it, but it's just the rough and there are still a lot of holes to fill. Plus, that chapter pulled away from the action. I really enjoy writing the ass kicking scenes. They are, hands down, my favorite chapters in Book 1.

I feel like I have found my groove with the action scenes, and am really stretching my imagination. I look at everything differently now. Random household items inspire new ways to pummel vampires. Great fun!