The End of One Thing, The Beginning of Another

So in my last post I rambled on about how I have to finish my novel. Then I sat down and actually finished it since there wasn't that much more to go. As of now, the final word count is 64,705 which more than likely will change before I feel there is a final draft. I double spaced the manuscript and the novel is 210 pages. Which seems like a lot to some people and it is amazing to say I wrote a novel. Hot dog. As I say over and over again, I don't want this to die, I want to edit it and find either a publisher or an agent.  The world of publishing now is a lot different than when Stephen King started so I needed to find an author who was popular and current to figure out my next step so I chose Stephenie Meyer author of Twilight. According to her website, she eventually got picked up by an agent at Writer's House and the rest is history.  I am going to try that one once I get a few chapters edited. There is another agency that I might try first because they are  supposed to be experts in horror, fantasy and science fiction. I think I will fit better there.

Are you wondering why I am not editing my glorious and shocking and amazing novel? You have good reason to wonder. There is one thing that I do if I have the allotted time (sometimes freelance jobs I can't let a story sit, I have to write and edit in the same shot) is the let the story rest. I make sure I "x" out of the file and I don't look at it or read for at least a couple of days. So in that time of rest period (speaking of rest period, did you know when you cook meat you are supposed to let it rest before cutting it up? Its supposed to keep the meat juicer as it is cut up) I am working on an upcoming ebook.  The cover is already done and the story is almost finished. I do have a self-imposed deadline because it is a Christmas story so I want it on Kindle before Christmas.

The ebook is called "Nickolaus" and it is a story about Santa. I will say this because I don't want to give too much away.  This ebook is intended for young adults and older and there is a twist. Sure, there is some sentimental moments but the twist will blow your socks off. It is not a story like Silent Night, Deadly Night (killer Santa) or the other one which has some wrestler in it which I can't think of right now (It was on Netflix maybe it was called St. Nick). Since the cover is done I will be working on finishing the story and editing in the next couple of days.

Once the ebook is published I am going to start editing the novel. I figured out the best way to approach this and that is one chapter at a time. I don't use fancy shmancy writing software, I use Word Perfect which more people should us as opposed to Word because it is more superior than Word. Anyway what I am going to do is copy one chapter and edit that chapter. I already made a list of things I already know I need to fix when  it comes to story. I also know how the story ends, I know every detail so things I wrote in the beginning may have to reflect the ending. One chapter at time, one day at a time. When it comes time to put the book back together it is simple with Word Perfect. I used asterisks for chapter breaks so it didn't interfere with the word count. In the final draft I will have Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc (no titles I don't like them and I think it gives too much of the story away.)

I love Christmas so I tend to write a Christmas story and a poem. I already wrote the poem. I hope to have a Christmas story written for here before Christmas. Suburban Vampires will return in the New Year with an exciting new chapter where I going to try something new and it has to do with POV (point of view. Don't worry I am switching between first person and third person). This is something I dabbled with in the book I wrote. Sometimes things just switch into place.

My advice for the week: drink plenty of fluids, piss often and remember my name.

50,000 and Beyond

I probably was supposed to write about the novel last week but more than likely I forgot or I didn't feel like it. I made it 50,000 words one week before the end of November then I marched right on over and validated the novel. But it is not done and the week between getting that word goal and now well that is a different story. I totally slacked on writing. The novel is not done but it is close at 60,000 words. Then  I went to ultimate panic mood which was not necessary, the going rate for a novel is MORE than 75,000 words. I am aiming for 65,000 because I don't think the novel needs to be boring just to fill in words. Then I did a little bit of searching...

Stephen King's first novel Carrie had around 62,000 words. This novel is special because it was rejected so many times and finally someone had the belief in this book and look at him now. The Old Man and the Sea  was really short with coming in less than 30,000 words. Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby were all short books coming in with word counts less than 75,000. You can look all this up on the web, sites like goodreads.com and amazon.com have information on word counts. So my blood pressure went down, some that is. I am a crux now in the writing, I am so close to finish and I want to finish but the scene I am working on his holding me up. Oh yes, I know that is an excuse and that is probably why I am writing on here right instead of finishing the novel.

Of course, if a book is a good it doesn't matter what the word count is. Speaking of word count, I always hated word counts and many times when I had to write literary essays, my teacher was a stickler for word count and didn't matter if the essay was good with a short word count she want shit filler. For a long time, I wrote what I wanted to and when the story was done it was done. I have written very short stories to novellas in my time. Of course, the anti-word count sentiment does tend to be troublesome when it comes to finding publishers because publishers have adhere to word count because of space issues. Okay that was off topic...

The title of the novel I am writing is Moonswallow Gates which is the name of the house in the book. I wasn't going to use that name as the title but oddly enough there were no other titles worthy. So my main goal now is to finish the book. Then edit the book somewhere in there I should start looking for a publisher because I don't want this to die, this book just might change my life. This might be the book that allows me to stay at home and keep writing without working in the real world. This is my book and I think it is awesome.

Sometimes Life is Moving Fast

My life is moving fast, but it's more like the novel is moving fast. I completed 18 days of Nanowrimo and I have written 40,000 words as of yesterday. This is the longest thing that I wrote thus far. Is it easy? Sometimes, it is easy. I am a short story writer, I have been writing short stories forever and a novel lets me write and write and write some more. There is a lot more exploration in a novel. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes, most times writing a novel is hard. Okay writing in general is hard.

While I'm writing or not writing, I forget how to write. Really I do. I wonder if I am doing enough showing, do I have balance between showing and telling. Is there too much dialogue? Fuck if I know and I guess that what editing is for. I am terrified to edit and I want to fix major story things that I noticed on my first read through. But I told myself no and I just keep going. If writing is like a muscle or whatever the phrase all this bull shit is supposed to start going away, the self doubt, the story malfunctions, the more you do it, the better you become. Okay maybe not the self doubt but it has to subside some, right? I never wrote a novel before so I don't know.

I started one and maybe one of my writing goals for 2014 should be to finish it. Editing this novel, the one I am working on for Nanowrimo, is daunting but at the same time. I want to do it. I want to get my novel published eventhough I wonder about my language (the book is filled Fuck, more fuck and double fuck you get the idea). The novel is demented and twisted which can be good or bad. All I know is I want to do this old fashioned way, I want to publish the novel as a real live book, one that you can sniff the pages and take in the bath tub or read on a subway without the batteries dying.

So as my mind is starting to think about the ending of the novel which still has more to go after the 50,000 words, I am also thinking of a title. The only title I came up with so far was "Sex, Magic and Murder" yes it would sell books, kind of seems clique and clichee and more like a murder mystery than anything else.  It needs a title so I can stop calling it "it." And finally I am thinking about the future of the novel. I don't want it to be half done, thrown in the corner collecting dust, I want to edit it, make the best I can be and who knows I will be more than happy to have a movie deal (you really have to think big, in my case real big). 

On the upside, I changed my thoughts, I am not better or worse than this writer or that writer, I am a writer looking for a break, just like everyone else in this business, this life path, this artistic torture.

This is going to be great and I hope 2014 will offer open doors for you and me.

Thoughts on Writing and Selling Books

Good news, I am still working on my novel but today was a rather rough day. I just finished an important scene and I was lost on where to go next. I guess this is where outlining would be helpful but screw it. I did write 2000 words and the wheels are turning for the next exciting things to happen. With that I am going to give myself a pat on the back.

The two books I have self-published through Kindle, went through some interesting changes. I raised the price up to $2.99 each and the reason is to actually sell books. Yes, I want my name out there so giving them away for free was good but I want to make money off them. Kindle introduced a new promotion but I had to have the books at the $2.99 price. It is the countdown deals and honestly I think I will actually make money or should I say compensated for my writing. What the countdown deals are for a seven day period you can discount your book at varying levels.

People love free but they also love sales. When they feel they are getting good deal, they will pay. I know I am one of those people. I would spend a $1 or $1.50 on an eBook if the listing price was more than that. With this program, I will make royalties. When I sell my book for a buck, I have no sales unless I am giving away the book for free. Also when someone gets the book for free, they are less inclined to leave any kind of feedback. When something is paid for and the book suck they will feel cheated and write a review. My books could really use reviews, good or bad. I could really use a royalty check from Amazon. Selfish? No, you all can read stuff on here for free. This blog serves two purposes: to gain clients for my freelance writing business and to gain a fan base so I can sell books.

One of my plans for the coming year is to have Amazon physically print the books and when I go to sell my jewelry at craft shows and flea markets, I going to try and sell my books.

Yeah I am in the business of writing, I make money off the one side of writing but I figure its time to try and make money off my other books.  The business of writing is more than writing it's selling books (maybe movie deals but that's later in the future.)

Okay so I am done for the day. I am going to keep working on my novel. I am going to try out countdown deals and see how that goes for me. Until the next time, keep your toes warm and your wallet closed.

Week One of Nanowrimo

Technically, it's day ten of Nanowrimo but go with me. It started on November  1st and except for two days, I wrote every single day. So I will pat myself on the back because I am working toward the goal. The goal for Nanowrimo is 50000 words, I want to finish the novel completely but even when I make it to the goal, I will finish the novel because once you reach 50,000 what's another 25,000 or more. What's another of week of dedicated writing to finish the novel?

I want to share with you some of my own personality traits, I have overcome thus far. I have a cold and at the beginning of November it was worse than it is now but I buckled down and wrote. I made the time to write. When I was done with work, instead of napping or watching the boob tube, I made an effort to write. Now some days I wrote more words than others but I wrote and right there is the most important thing. This month I discovered I am more than a web content writer, more than a freelance writer. I am a real writer living the writing dream. On the two days I didn't write physically, I wrote in my head or at least planned the next scenes out and when I would sit down to write again, the words just poured from my fingers.  I can write a novel and I don't know why I quit before.

I also learned the beauty of a first draft and the beauty of chapters. I learned editing is better done at the end, at least for me. I don't have an outline and every time I write, the story surprises me. Just like writing used to when I was younger. I might be thinking of something else but the characters seem to come alive and make the story and I am only telling it. It is a wonderful thing, it is like watching a child grow up. The novel is a discovery onto itself. 

So where does my word count stand? As of right now, I have written 21,764 words. I'm almost the halfway mark. Today was the first day I read my novel from the beginning. I think I may even discovered my voice somewhere after chapter 2. However, this is not the longest piece of fiction I wrote, at least not yet anyway.   I started a novel an couple of years ago and I quit writing it at 27,000 words. Perhaps I should go back to it.

The novel still has no title but that is the least of my worries. I want to publish it when it is done. It is not the Great American novel and I don't think it will win me a Pulitzer. But the novel is demented and twisted, sexy and steamy, sweet and tender all wrapped in interweaving stories. This is a novel I would purchase and read and this the novel I am writing.

So this is the end for now... let wind take you.

Valisa Ravensquire

Stare at that name and remember it because you might see it again somewhere... We really should start at the beginning.

Some of you may know that I was in a car accident in January. At the time, I was working at a job that I really liked and despite my temporary status at the company they moved me to a different department where they had a lot of work to do which meant that I was going to be there for a while.  Apparently, fate kicked me in the ass and I had a car accident in a vehicle that I drove many times up and down a mountain in worse conditions. I believe everything happens for a reason and I believe the reason was I am supposed to be a writer.

Okay so I started my freelance writing career and I feel I am moving toward a very satisfying career. I like writing web content, I really do and I hope to make it grow in the coming year. Those writing books and sites all say web content is fine to start with but I should be working on long articles for magazines. Not my style, there is a reason why I hated my major (journalism), I don't care for non fiction. I really can't come up with ideas and I am not much into hardcore researching. In that time, I also wrote a few ebooks some of them I got paid for and some of them I self-published. Things are looking up for me but as some of you know I have a lot of bad habits.

I have a bunch of stories that I don't finish maybe I can't figure out something or something seems hard so I just quit. Even though I get paid to write which is awesome when I have no work for the day I don't write. I waste a lot of time.  Well so I decided this was the year to participate in NaNoWriMo. Some of you already know what this is but for those who don't National Novel Writing Month.

Starting November 1 through November 30 we are supposed to write 50,000 words maybe a full novel but at least get 50,000 words written in this amount of time. I just decided this week to participate because I need to break some very bad writer habits. I need to start and finish a story. I need to stop talking about writing novel one day and sit down and WRITE.

I know I can do this. For one of my jobs I wrote 10 1,000 word stories in 4 days, that's 10,000 words in four days. I can write thousands of words in one day depending on the work I have. Suburban Vampires- most chapters are around 2,000 words and I write one those in about an hour.

So here's what I know about the novel I am going to write the main character is a female and her name is Valisa Ravensquire. It is a horror and supernatural novel that takes place in Pennsylvania in a stone house called Moonswallow Gates. I have some scenes in my head and that's about it, I don't have much of a plot yet. I'm going to write this one by the seat of my pants and see where this adventure takes me.

Lastly, I want to thank my husband for being my support and kicking me in the ass (metaphorically speaking) when I need it.

Roots

I’ve always been
running, packing, moving
changing and that wind just
keeps pushing me along
now I’m always looking,
finding those secrets
locked in the closet
memories from 20 years ago
because the growing is slowing
and my feet don’t move as fast
two divorces that weren’t my own
then I’m an orphan by design
what is a family that fades by distance
or one that just fades
graduation was just a place in
this orbiting galaxy
and 15 years later there’s
bits of home in this state and
in that state yet the wrecking ball
keeps on wrecking and 35 mm
photos disappear from losing
it’s fight with time
time never changes
only circumstance
nostalgia- movies made in 1985
that I didn’t see until I was an adult
those rule breakers, detention getter kids
they were nothing like me the quiet one
the smart one but I lived with out shooting
the school and buying drugs
there is my home, ground base
now I am flying, dreaming, living


Thinking about what's going to happen in the next chapter of Suburban Vampires but until then I hope you enjoy the poem