Cover Art is Taking Longer Than Expected

Looks like I'm missing my own release date for the 1st of May.  Admittedly it was an arbitrary release date, but what I've been struggling with is copy editing.  And obviously I'm still waiting on the cover.  I think next time I'm considering actually spending some money on the cover art, I just wish I knew how much money I could be making--I hate the idea of going into the hole on this.  I think about how I've already spent a little something, other than my time that is, just in the money it took me to print copies for writing group.  That last part has actually been getting pretty expensive.

I'm officially sick of working on this novella, it's slowly killing me how much it won't go away and be finished.  So, surprise surprise I'm fucking editing Bad For Business again.

Missing Deadlines, Making Excuses

I missed my deadline for group last night, couldn't finish the second chapter of Lost Lamb.  It bugged the ever-loving crap out of me.  I couldn't stand it.  I was kicking myself in the ass all day over it.  I tried excuses or rationalizations--even good ones like the fact that I've worked overtime everyday this week--and none of them made me feel better.  I guess it wasn't really that big of a deal, other members in the group did mention that I had read every week since we'd started meeting, and that it was understandable for me to miss a week.  That wasn't good enough for me.

I feel like there's some underlying reason why I want to write so bad, I can't really place it.  I've wondered before if it's a side effect of getting older--the need to see one's dreams become at least a little more solid if not completely true.  I'm wondering now if that isn't it, I've always wanted to create, for a least as long as I can remember.  I've never been very good at art, drawing, painting--whatever, terrible at it.  Mediocre at best.  But I've always been good with words.

I read a study about "the raisin effect".  I won't summarize it here, you can look it up if you're interested, but the conclusion was one about experiencing vicariously through another person.  What they found was that the centers in the brain fire identically, when you're hearing a story, as they would if you'd experienced it for yourself.  I suppose as a writer I want to give others the experiences that I have in my own head, fiction lets me do that in a small way.  They are still your thoughts and emotions but I may have inspired them.  I think that's cool.

Expanding My Internet Presence (e-presence?)

I decided that while I can't make the shift to Twitter yet, I have made a "professional" Facebook page.  I'm excited about getting my first like--it will probably be from myself, but I guess I have to start somewhere.  It was easier than I thought it would be to write about myself, I guess that's what I do here.  It's disgusting to think about it that way.  But in the words of Mel Brooks, "Moichendizing!"

I am freaking floored that I may make some money from my writing.  I've been looking up income reports from indie authors and I have to say that some of them look bleak.  A whopping twenty percent report no income.  That's a one out of five chance that I will make no money in a year.  But I guess I'm balls in it now, might as well keep on going.

I've decided to include an excerpt from Lost Lamb in Bad for Business, I see a lot of other authors do that.  It's kind of a no-brainer really.  Next time on this show--this stuff happens.  After that I'm going to get some more work on Chapter 2 of Lost Lamb, it's cool to finally get to shift gears.

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/StevenJayHamiltonAuthor

Bad for Business is Really Done This Time

I get excited every time I think I'm done with Bad for Business.  These revisions have been like bubbles in wallpaper, each time I think I've got one down I find myself turning right around for another one.  I do have the story in chapters now, today I wrote the forward and the about the author section and all that.  I have a headache if you haven't noticed.  I figured I should consider some other media for promoting my work, I'm worried this blog isn't reaching a very wide audience.  I'm reluctant to join Twitter, though it does seem to be where everyone is going.  I guess the idea of it sickens me really, I want to reach people that want to read.  If you need your reading mashed into 140 characters, my style probably isn't for you.  Still, I could be reaching more readers.

I've been thinking a lot about this urban fantasy novel, I think have some new angles for the narrative to take.  Hopefully I can keep getting usable ideas, of course, if it's short then it can be short--no biggie.  Sometimes I wish someone could just tell me how to write.  What the characters should do and how the story progresses should be accessible.  I know there are formulas to writing fiction, but then you end up with formula-driven fiction.

I guess sometimes I wish writing was more like following a recipe.  You need a brooding hero, a smart villain, a dash of intrigue, and a sprinkle of sexual tension.  Let these simmer over an interesting setting and add sidekicks to taste.

Still Here

Been working but not really writing about it, I'm hitting crunch time on Bad for Business (still no cover yet, AHGG!) Chapters are almost finished...not really, more like two thirds finished.  It occurs to me I should have been writing in chapters all along, but I didn't know I had been working on a novella until a month ago.

I read the first chapter of Lost Lamb to the group on Thursday, it seemed to go over well.  They think I should focus on that before continuing Adrian's outer space adventures.  I couldn't agree more.  I do have a sharp story in my head for Adrian, when I get back to him he'll definitely have shit to do.  I'm thinking I'll work on Lost Lamb until I get sick of it, then take a vacation back to space with Adrian.  I love writing.  And hate it.

Market Research Findings, Apprehension

Recently I discovered the Author Marketing Club, apparently they will do non-biased book reviews so that I don't have to burden my friends.  I think I'll still reel in about a handful of the people I've asked to review, but I will also post on AMC.  I'm hoping this venture works out, I really am.  As I approach the finish line on this piece, I feel that I should be taking a rest before I start the next.  I have no plans to do that.  I already have a clear story in mind for the next Adrian installment and I have a few others on the back burner.

Over the last day or so I've been doing some market research to see what sells the best--I am largely unsurprised.  My findings suggest that Romance, Thriller/Suspense, and Mystery are still among the highest grossing genres.  Figure that's a no-brainer.  The new kid on the block, as it were, is Paranormal fiction, a genre that is largely choked with 'tween romance and straight-up supernatural erotica.  To my surprise however, the Urban Fantasy market is actually quite slim.  This bothers me greatly.  I am still working on my Urban Fantasy project (Lost Lamb) but now I'm wondering if anyone will buy it.  Much of the Urban Fantasy that I've tried to read is actually quite disappointing.  I'm still having trouble finding another Dresden Files to get into, which I love of course.

Random Unrelated Post Title

I premiered the final installment of Bad for Business to the group, receiving actual applause when it was over.  Our meetings are very encouraging and constructive, each time I come away from one I feel like I can write anything.

Regardless, I thought the novella's climax could have been sharper and deeper.  During revision today I added a new thread to the story that I felt made the climax more meaningful.

I'm hoping I can get a hardcore detective fiction buff to do an early review, I'd really like to know what someone familiar with the genre would think.  It's seems that several of the group members are saying they know little of detective fiction but they still enjoyed it--that's what counts.  Anyone should be able to read a good piece of fiction of any genre and still enjoy it.

Give me a Side of BBQ Sauce With That

I did my best not to write or think about writing yesterday. Now is the time when I know the piece needs to sit aside for a while. If I keep working on it the revisions will be endless. Of course, I didn't make it the whole day yesterday. I laid in bed with my Kindle and started "just reading" Bad for Business, I got about a page in before I was scanning for edits and improvements.

Today I'm going to give in and finish scanning the first section, see if I can smooth the prose even more and get it to really grab the reader. I think the abstract I wrote has some punch--I really like it. I think it's a good plot summary that doesn't give away too much.

I haven't worked on Lost Lamb for a few weeks, Bad for Business is eating my creativity like a Texan at a buffet.

I wish I could pop into a time machine and see how my writing turns out--maybe I should have gone the traditional route. But in all fairness if I had, Bad for Business would probably not see the light of day. Getting a novella published in a magazine is tough stuff. But the ebook market has a lot of them. I'm hoping that means that they sell.

The Longest Part

All this revising on Bad for Business is taking forever, but I think a deadline is finally in sight.  I had a few more people agree to early reviews, few of them are science fiction buffs so there's that.  Either way I get the reviews on Amazon as soon as possible, marketing this piece has become its own journey.  I've been writing this thing since February and I'm suspecting it'll be finally done and completely revised and critiqued and reviewed and ready to buy in a few weeks.  I really wish I could see how much money people make from their ebooks, but there is no such data.  Short of communicating with another successful author I don't think I will know until it's happening.

Today I'm continuing to rewrite the final portion of this novella--the last installment is here and just needs to be spit shined a little.  That's right, apparently it's been a novella for a while, since it hit 20,000 words I guess.  I think there is a lot less work to add to it now that I've finished with the changes I made before.  I'd say what the change was, but this is a no spoiler zone.  I guess now all I have to do is wait for Loki to finish the book cover--which is excruciating.  I'm already looking into other services to make a cover, just in case he doesn't pull through.  But if I buy one it's expensive, then I've officially invested something other than my time.

I'm projecting that Bad for Business will hit Amazon Kindle and Smashwords around the first of May.  If things go unbelievably well in the later stages of revision and copy editing, there may be an early release--fingers crossed.

Trail of Breadcrumbs

As I drove up the hill to my house, I saw two uniformed police officers interviewing a teenage boy in a ragged gray sweatshirt.  He was slumped against a tree in the graveyard, arms folded over his chest and shaking his head as he said something that I was too far away to hear.  I figured that would be the last the cops spoke to him unless he was booked for some other reason.

In life, things happen that don't relate to a larger story.  Chance encounters in the supermarket are meaningless, you never find the hoodlum who graffitied your car as it sat in your driveway, and cops never catch several unknown criminals.  That's life.  We know this.

But as I drove by, my mind tried to fill in the blanks, make sense of the random event that was in itself a group of particles and wavelengths of light that just happened to coalesce in this exact universe in this exact spectrum of time.  What were they saying?  I knew I could guess based on what I had observed.  The graveyard in not closed to the public so I figured it wasn't trespassing.  Of course it is a center for illegal activity in this sleepy northern California town.  I've heard stories about all manner of things happening in that place.  Given the kid's dress and his age it was a safe assumption that it was a drug possession matter.  Probably a warning since he wasn't being cuffed or driven away in the patrol car.

In fiction that would have been our first breadcrumb.  The tiny bit of interest and mystery that answers a few questions but raises many more.  The first piece that wets our appetite for what's to come.  Not only does the trail lead our characters from one place to another, but also the writer takes the journey--wondering what the story is that he is telling.  In many ways if someone were to ask how I create a story I'm not sure I would have a satisfying answer.

"I really just write them down," I would say.

Leave a Message After the Beep

I'm not sure if I have enough blood running to my brain to write at the moment.  Most of it is being used to digest large quantities of chow mein and sweet and sour pork.  The rest is being used to repair my sore muscles.  My girlfriend and I went on an hour and forty minute hike off a trail head near the north side of town.  It was a really nice time, we saw a cute frog on a leaf near a stagnant pond.  There was a group of small birds in a nearby bush that the dog sniffed at.  Anyway, we figured we would go to a Chinese buffet afterward.  Hence the stuffing and the sore.

I'm phoning it in today, I'm tired.

Abstracts and Covers Covered

Today I'm going over a cover design for Bad for Business.  I have a friend who does Photoshop and a bunch of 3d programs.  I'm pretty excited about seeing it all put together.

My reading last night at writer's group seemed to go over pretty well.  The other members didn't have a lot of critique and said instead that they were invested in the story and just wanted to know happened next.  In the end that's how I want my reader's to react.  I feel like when I read I get hung up on parts of the manuscript that I think could be better--it makes it hard to enjoy a lot of fiction.  I'm just hoping that my readers don't feel this.  I just want them to be along for the ride.

I'm working on an abstract that will accompany my piece when it's available online.  I figured I could post it here.  No spoilers, promise.

"Adrian Shetler is a private investigator on an orbital city called New Independence.  When the alarm for his office is triggered, he finds the body of a dead woman in the shattered office window.  In a world of surveillance and data collection, Adrian must find a killer who is quickly covering their tracks, deleting any evidence of the crime.  Standing in his way are identity scanning checkpoints and vicious gang members.  Will he find the murderer in time or will they escape to kill again?"

Hard Fictional Lives for Our Characters

I think there's something to be said about pacing and conflict with good fiction writing.  That and difficulty, which I guess is the easy way to put it.  What we want to read about is our characters overcoming adversity and triumphing over challenges.  But back to pacing and conflict.

I was doing some light editing of my urban fantasy novel today and I was thinking about a change that I made in a scene that gave me a lot more good stuff to write about.  The opening scene is supposed to be the hero accepting a job from a band of local orcs in the Sacramento area.  In the original writing the scene was only a page and a half long, if that.  The orc comes to his house, Jaden is distrusting at first but he lets the orc in and they get to talking.  I stopped writing right there, thinking in my head "This isn't compelling." And it wasn't.  Do we really want to read about the time that chumbo went to the grocery store and bought a gallon of milk and nothing bad happened?  No.  Have somebody rob that grocery store while chumbo is inside and now I'm interested.  I had the same problem in my manuscript.  I needed some shit to go down, as it were.

The change I made was a simple one but it ended up yielding a lot more compelling material in the end.  I had my hero Jaden react differently to the orc messenger appearing at his home.  He became distrustful and paranoid.  This enriched his character on its own, and when the orc turned to leave Jaden followed him.  Now I had something to write about.  Jaden ended up infiltrating the orc camp and nearly getting strangled to death in the process.  That's compelling fiction.  What had been a mere one and a half pages had blossomed into a sturdy ten page scene that showed character, conflict and setting simultaneously.

Blue Writer Needs Food Badly

Not sure what to journal about today, feel like I've said all I can and that I repeat myself a lot. I got another person to agree to an early review, a co-worker. I feel like it's taking forever to get this story to a sellable point--almost there though.

I really want a burger. Doesn't have anything to do with writing but I still want it. I'm on this diet and usually it's fine but right now it sucks. You don't really know what you want until you can't get it I guess. There's an age-old lesson for you. Grass is always something or other. I hate fast food but right now some greasy fatty thing drenched in trans fats and cholesterol sounds better than sex.

Hmmm, could be that it's time for me to have a meal and there's no food in sight. I hate banks. They suck copious amounts donkey ass and balls--like, at the same time some how. Just waiting in front of one for a while. I'm going to see what I have to do to get a burger.