Sunday, June 22, 2014

What a glorious, calm day...

Today was awesome.

No trips to the mall. No phones calls; NOT A SINGLE TELEMARKETER!!! No doctors appointments. Nothing that had to be done today. No honey-do list (thanks, Babe!).

And other than this entry, done while watching TV, on the couch and relaxing with a brew, no thought about all the writing I need to do.

Not a single word written on 'Arlo and Jake', book 3 or 'Etchings', another short story I'm working on.

Nothing.

What did I do? Glad you asked.

For the first time in ages, I spent all day on the patio, reading 'The Dream Map' by Jason Luthor. I started at about 9AM. I took my time, savoring the work of an author new to me. I love finding a new writer; it peaks my imagination to view a story through new eyes. You can see my review of Mr. Luthor's book on my 'Reviews' tab.

The day started perfectly; it was lightly raining when I woke. There is something about waking to raindrops and cool weather that just makes the world seem calm and peaceful.

Grabbing a fresh mug of coffee and the Sunday paper, I walked out on the patio, savoring the smells and sounds of a soft Texas drizzle. The coffee tasted extra bold, the Comics were extra funny and I even read the front section of the Dallas Morning News.

Then I grabbed my Android tablet and loaded up the Kindle App. I spent the rest of the day playing in a realm of Sword, Sorcery and Dragons. It was wonderful.

Next week is a new chance to write. A fresh set of moments to let my imagination roam and play. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

My wish for you is a fresh set of moments and the desire to embrace your challenges.

Be cool.
Be happy.
Just Be!




Monday, June 9, 2014

Now that's more like it!

I just passed 15,000 words on book 3 of my 'Arlo and Jake' SciFi series. Whoo Hoo!

I've been pushing myself nights to move this story forward. I really want to get book 3 published this month! But it's been a real struggle some nights.

Part of the problem is that I want this book to be better than the first two. I want a really satisfying, interesting plot, better dialog, more laughs and guffaws but with a great adventure story. Not too much to ask, is it? ;-)

The first book was short, meant to be an novelette to introduction the series and give readers a taste of what's to come.

Book two brought in some more characters, including a nasty antagonist with his own back story. Taash and the D'bak bring some evil interest into the story line.

In book three, I want to explore and enhance everything in this series!

Therein lies the rub! ;-) I've been pulling what little hair I have left going over and over the story and dialog, trying a plot twist here and a pun there. It's been a real challenge.

But this weekend I used the old backup trick that's got me past this 'problem' before. I read, re-read and re-read the story, out loud, from the beginning to the end, over and over. Each time I found the little glitches and fixed them. Until I made it all the way through without any major hiccups. I still have little places to improve but I just marked them with 'XXX need this there' comments and moved on.

It feels great! Now on to the mid-point of the story! Yaaahhhhhhh.....!