Nanowrimo is Officially Over!

So it is now officially December, and I am pleased to say that I did complete Nanowrimo 2015 by writing 51,234 words. YAY! Oh stop it you!


That being said, I still think I'm going to stick to my guns from my previous post. Writing isn't just about one month--it's about writing every single month. I plan on self publishing my first book in late February/Early March and a second somewhere around May. There may be a third book done by the time the year is over, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse.


In any case, congrats to everyone who participated in this year's Nanowrimo. Don't ever stop writing! It's simply the best.

The End of Nanowrimo (For Me)

 

I really meant to write more blog posts about Nanowrimo since this is my first time really trying it out, but life happens. I'm sure all of you know what it's like to get busy with all the festivities and with work.

Anyway, this year was a rousing success. It's just barely Thanksgiving, and I've completed 45,000 words. Though the sequel to Skies of Madness will most likely clock in at around 80,000 words, I am certain that the last 5,000 words will be easy to fit in on the remaining days of November.

That being said, I don't think Nanowrimo is for me. It's great to have such great motivation that others are right here with me--typing madly to get to that blessed 50k word count. However, it didn't suit me very well as a writer. I felt almost panicked when I didn't get my word count in and quite frankly the whole word count thing just seems so pedantic. I'm more of a 'write a chapter/scene' sort of person to feel a sense of accomplishment.

For instance:

Example 1: Guess what? I just finished my 1,667 word quota for the day!
Example 2: Guess what? I just finished the scene where my protagonist meets his nemesis for the first time.

To me, that 2nd example is far easier to get excited about, and that's what gets the writing done. It's not the daily word count or even monthly quota. The whole point of writing is to tell a story. If a book is only 49,000 words but tells a full story without all the fluff that a 70,000 word novel might, I would rather read the 49k word novel.

When I pick up a book at a bookstore, I'm not looking at it like, "Oh, this looks like it's 80,000 words. That's so interesting! I must have this book!"

I guess to sum up, I won't be doing Nanowrimo anymore. It's great if it motivates you or someone you know. Fantastic! Keep the writing going! But it's not for me. I know what works for me and I'll stick to it.

Nanowrimo 2015

As I'm nearing the end of the second week of Nanowrimo, I'm met with a mounting sense of apprehension mingled with doubt. Can I finish 50,000 words this month? 

You would think that since I managed to finish my first book already that that would provide a way to move past the self-doubt, but it doesn't.

Here I sit at a little under 16k words. 5k of those don't count because I wrote them in June. So, that leaves me with just 11k and I'm almost feeling unequal to the task. To get it done evenly for the 30 days in November, a writer should write the recommended 1,667 words per day. That makes me 9,000 words behind! Sigh.

Wish me luck!

Developmental Edit Part 2

I am so grateful for today--this moment. Suffice it to say that I am reeling from the beautiful compliments that my editor paid to my writing. 

She found dozens of errors that I need to correct, and I was beginning to worry about the integrity of the story. Then she wrote 3 pages of comments about how I could strengthen the story, and I cannot help but feel touched when she mentioned several times how much she loved the story.

Doubt, as any writer will tell you, is a plague that we are never fully rid of. Doubt makes us believe that what we have spent months or even years crafting is just a steaming pile of shit that was once our hopes and dreams. 

My editor gave me hope after pointing out all my flaws. I will be forever grateful.

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.       -- Johnny Cash

Developmental Edit Part 1

So I finally found a good editor and just received my first half of the developmental edit. Seeing as it has been read by about fifteen people now, I was surprised that she found things that are glaringly obvious. How could I miss those?!

Example:

He made his way in the direction of the shout. After a few moments of dodging the traffic of mages and witches[AG1] , Keiron reached the boy.

---

 [AG1]This is the first mention of witches. Are they different from mages?

It was upon reading this comment that I realized that I had completely forgotten to explain the differences in classes of magic users. Thankfully, this will be corrected, and I'm glad that this wasn't published with such an erroneous lack of clarification.

I was beginning to lose faith in finding an affordable, reputable editor, but I think I finally have. Not only has she renewed my faith in the editing process, she has made me realize how indispensable editing is to the entire manuscript.

Catching Up

Well, time has just flown by and it all seems mostly wasted to me now. Life happens and you just have to roll with it.

To sum up, in September, I got married to my beautiful wife, Angela. On October 16th, my father-in-law, Steve, lost his battle to small cell lung cancer. I take comfort in the fact that he was able to walk his daughter down the aisle. It was his last great wish, and he got it.

I have put off my writing for so many things, and now I'm determined to get back to it. Everything flows into our writing, both our joys and our sorrow. I can only hope that the result will be worth a tenth as much as the memories that inspired them.

Longing For Melancholy

It is indeed a strange thing to feel nothing. I can usually pick up on other's emotions if I focus which only makes my predicament stranger still.

I feel nothing,  not happiness nor sorrow. It is a curious emptiness that lies in the infinity between emotions.

Whenever this happens to me I'm left wondering at the lack of emotion. It's so calming and peaceful. I'm fascinated by it, and yet I wonder how long it will last this time.

From Jurassic Park to Skies of Madness.

I've been thinking a lot about dinosaurs lately and yea it's because Jurassic World came out in theaters yesterday. BTW, if you haven't seen it, go. It's awesome. Why are you still reading this? Go see it!

I was 11 years old when I finished reading every dinosaur book in the children's section for the second time. Resignation to the fact that I would have to start reading older kids' books struck me hard. Surely they wouldn't have a single dinosaur in them. 

Looking up and down the library, I remember frowning at the situation and yearning for just one more dinosaur book. Then suddenly I remembered the most famous dinosaur movie of all time. 

Jurassic Park.

I wondered if maybe there had been a book that had been written about the movie. Of course by now, many of you are probably laughing at me because of course Jurassic Park was written by Michael Crichton 3 years before the movie was released.

But I digress.

From the moment I began reading Jurassic Park, I knew that something incredible had just happened. The picture books about dinosaurs were great in their own way, but in Jurassic Park there was a world that my imagination crafted along with the story that was as complex as it was riveting. I couldn't put it down and as soon as I was done with it, I wanted more so I read the sequel: The Lost World.

Where am I going with this?

Jurassic Park was my stepping stone into the world of adult books, novels that wove stories that drew me in. That was when I truly wanted to become a writer. In that moment, I wanted to write something that could captivate a reader as I had been captivated by a park where dinosaurs thrived.

As I've gone on to other novels, my mind always goes back to that first one. It was my entrance to the magic of imagination through the written word. It's all thanks to Michael Crichton.

And dinosaurs.

Fast forward 17 years. I still love dinosaurs, but I've found something even better.

Dragons. 

You'll be hard pressed to meet someone who doesn't love dragons. They're everywhere! In games, movies, comics and novels. Beyond the old myths, generations are falling in love with dragons. 

And dragons are at the heart of the issue in my debut novel, Skies of Madness. It'll soon be available for purchase on Amazon when I get everything squared away. You can read an excerpt here.

You see, I never outgrew my love for dinosaurs. I just discovered that some of them could have magic. Because as any boy or girl will tell you, the only thing better than a dinosaur is a dragon. Dragons are basically dinosaurs with magic. Who could say no to that?

And dragons are to dinosaurs what a novel is to a picture book. The magic of a good story is what bridges the gaps of our sad moments into a glimpse into the infinite world of imagination. Not just a reprieve from a stressful day at work or a long night with the kids, a good novel will take you to a place that only exists for as long as you keep wondering about it.

So keep wondering and keep reading. You won't regret it.

Whispers in the Dark: 10K Mark!

Whispers in the Dark is the sequel to Skies of Madness, and I have high hopes at reaching my goal of finishing the first draft by the end of the month. 

I have just passed the 10,000 word mark. It will probably be about the same length as Skies of Madness so about 65,000. 

I think it's a good stopping point and doesn't leave the reader bogged down with too much reading time. That's another reason why I like separating my chapters by scene. If something comes up while someone is reading my book, I want there to be a good stopping point. 

That being said, there will always be cliff hangers at the end of chapters to entice the reader to keep reading. I always loved that when I read books that I love, and it seems to be the perfect thing to do in my own novels.

I think once I have this novel finished, I will finish up the novella that takes place between the two books. Then I'll self-publish all three to Amazon. I just need to decide if I want to space them out--maybe by a couple weeks each--or publish them all at once.

On Words and Writing

I've read so many books in my life. They have contributed to many of my deep thoughts, epiphanies and moments of wonder. Books are made of words and when artfully crafted they have brought meaning to my life so profound that words don't do the feeling justice.

Words are never enough, because the truth is always bigger than the words we use to describe it.

With words and books come writers who are eventually authors. I don't know if I can call myself an author or even a novelist before I have published a single word. I am, however, a writer through and through. It is my utter pleasure to be a writer and my sense of purpose to write has been at the core of everything that matters.

Perhaps none of this makes sense, but I am writing more for me than for you,  Dear Reader. If there is any central thought in this ramble, it is this:

Writing is pure, blissful, aggravating, unconquerable, maddening, unadulterated joy.

Maps

As I prepare to write the remaining 50,000 words of my sequel for JuNoWriMo, I've been looking into having someone draw maps of my world.

On realizing that my maps would be too intricate to explain, I've decided to make my own maps with a program called Campaign Cartographer 3. I made a sample pirate island that looked pretty good. When I have the maps finished, I'll post them on here.

Distractions

I'm trapped by my ancient enemy: distraction. At this point I'm not sure if it's worse than procrastination or if it's just the same thing. Xbox games, Netflix and video editing take up so much of my free time. The fact that they are so fun is what makes it a threat to my writing.

Then with my writing, I cant decide which project to work on. Do I work on the sequel to Skies of Madness or the short story that occurs between them? Or do I finish the short story I was writing about a former monster hunter?

I should probably just stick to one and finish it, then move on to the next. I must find a way to motivate myself.

Money or Readers

I was thinking about money today and came around to the inevitable writer's pipe dream: writing for a living aka making millions.

I don't try to think of myself as a writer so great that hundreds of thousands of people will download my books, but the thought does crop up. I may be alone in this, but I think every writer hopes that their work will be wildly successful.

So say I do make a million bucks and never have to work again. What then? What becomes the focus when making a living isn't an issue anymore?

The readers.

They are who ultimately decide whether we are successful or not. Whether the book is good or not is not really the question, but I strive to be the best writer I can be.

So when all is said and done, it boils down to the readers. So if you ever read any of my work, thank you. It's for me, but it's also for you. Thank you.

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Finale (SPOILER ALERT!)

This is a post of raw spoilers! Read on, if you dare.

This may seem a little out of context with the rest of my posts, but oh well. I just saw TBBT Season 8 Finale, and this nerd lost his shit! Sweet mother of cliffhangers, Batman! 

Raj tells Emily he loves her which is big, but then on the way to a spur-of-the-moment Vegas wedding, Leonard drops the bomb that he cheated (kissing) on Penny when he went on his sea voyage. That was enough to leave me sitting on the edge of my seat. Spoiler: they're still getting married, but Penny is not happy about his dalliance.

But THEN because of the fight that Sheldon and Amy had (he asks her about The Flash tv show in the middle of making out), Amy decides to take a step back from the relationship. He had started trying to tell her that he had been thinking alot about relationships on their Skype call, but she cut him off mid-sentence. After she hangs up with him, he looks at a Gollum figurine from Lord of the Rings.

"Well Gollum, you're an expert on rings." Sheldon opens a drawer and takes out a ring case and opens it to reveal a gleaming gold engagement ring. "What do I do with this one?"

I am beyond freaking out right now. Every time they have a fight about commitment, nothing has really happened. It's been 5 agonizing yet wonderful years of seeing them awkwardly fall in love with each other. Now, just after their 5 year anniversary, they break up, and Sheldon was going to propose all along! 

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?????

So excited for the next season. I have to wait months, but it will be worth it.

A Mother's Worry

Here's an excerpt from the beginning of Skies of Madness. It seemed fitting considering today is Mother's Day.

        Amelia Nathron bent down to plant a soft kiss on her baby’s forehead. He was turning two next week, but it seemed like only yesterday that he had come into this world.

        Memories of pain, fever and being bedridden for a month afterward drifted in her mind before she brushed them away. One look at him and there was no doubt in her mind that he had been worth every second.

        Keiron chose that moment to giggle, clapping his hands together and pointing at her. His foot bumped the smooth wooden ball he had been playing with, and it rolled away from him.

        Amelia laughed with him. Her heart filled with a profound love that made her feel like her body was too small a frame to contain it. When she was younger and wanted to have a baby more than anything, Amelia had never imagined that she would come to love him as fiercely as she did. She was a witch, able to manipulate magic, but there was a mightier magic to her devotion to Keiron that was beyond anything that she had ever known.

        Her son by now had noticed that the ball was no longer there. He caught sight of it rolling to rest against the far wall and began to cry. His hands reached out for it.

        “It’s alright, Keiron,”she said as she stood to pick it up.

        The ball wobbled and began drifting back toward the baby—against the incline of the floor. It rolled back into Keiron’s outstretched hands, and he giggled again. The sound was like music, but Amelia stared at her tiny child in alarm.

        Her baby boy had just used magic.

        Amelia knew very well that it was a rarity for a witch or mage to manifest their magic before they were in their teenage years. But her baby boy, just beginning to walk, had just used telekinesis for the first time.

        She kissed her son again. “What will you become, little one?”

Words to a Writer

Final Draft Complete

I just put what I hope are the finishing touches on Skies of Madness. The journey to outline, write and edit this has taken longer than 3 months. The first time I wrote this story it took me almost 6 months just to write it and another 6 to get it edited. There were a lot of plot problems with the old one that I didn't like so when I rewrote it, I was determined to get it right. I think I have.

Now that I've finished it, I've got to move on to the sequel. There's also the short stories bumping around in my head. Better to have too many ideas than not enough.

I'm faced with the sudden frustration of realizing that I have a very common name. So many Daniel Smith's already on Amazon where I plan to publish that I have to either choose a pseudonym or stick with my own name. I'm going to settle for Daniel J. Smith. The only other author on amazon with that name has published 2 children's books. My fantasy books will be easily distinguished from his so there should be little to no confusion. I hope.

Waiting and Writing

I'm just sitting here, staring at a blank page of a new story. It won't be featuring any of the characters from Skies of Madness. Just something that I wanted to write after a Walking Dead marathon. 

It has--you guess it--zombies, some ghouls, vampires and one nachzehrer. There are so many types of undead that get overlooked and they are interesting folk tales that definitely flow with a fantasy story. Its main protagonist will be a former monster hunter.

Also, I'm waiting anxiously for my copy editor to finish going through my manuscript for Skies of Madness. It might not be until tomorrow. Oh well. Patience is meant to be practiced.

Final Edits

Well, my edit of Skies if Madness is finally over. Whew! I put it off for far too long. This makes it exactly 3 months since I penned the first word. Hopefully the sequel won't take so long now that I've got the ball rolling.

I'm having someone else edit it for me as well as to catch things I might have missed. Once I've read over their suggestions, I'll make the necessary changes. Then it will be truly finished (I hope).

I think I'll take a week off before I start writing the sequel. It's exhausting.

A Wordle of Skies of Madness

I thought I would paste all of Skies of Madness into a wordle generator and see what it came up with. What do you think? I kinda like it.

Rising to the Challenge

As I go through the process of revising and editing, I'm faced with a few dilemmas. What do I keep? What do I get rid of? Is this part slowing the story down or is it necessary information? If it is necessary, am I writing it in the best way possible? Is dialogue better than info dumping? Should I just have my character observe all these things? I have to answer all these things so that the story will be the best that it can be. Not just for me, but for the people that will read it. Someday I hope that number will be a million, but for now I'll settle for anyone that I haven't met in person. (That means you Kyanna Kitt!)

Each time that I rewrite this book it seems I have more to learn from the process of what makes a good book. I suspect that each time I write a book in the future that I will learn a little more. It's a good thing. Every writer should always be challenged and learn new things even if he/she are writing in the same genre for decades. It's a comforting, changing consistency.

At Novel's End

Well, the novel is finally finished, but far from done. Now I begin the tedious process of editing, revising and adding to flesh out the characters. 

I settled on the title SKIES OF MADNESS after about four more changes since my last title I wrote on here (WARLOCK?). It explains the basic summary of the book without giving anything away.

I'll hopefully be posting more on here now that the bulk of the novel is done. I'm thinking of writing a novella and a couple short stories to tie into the book about some of the minor characters, but that'll be after this one is done. Wish me luck.

Oh, and I also found this super interesting article how being tired can make you a better writer, and how incredibly important it is to write no matter the distractions. Great read!

Show Me the Glint on the Broken Glass

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint on the broken glass.” -- Russian author, Anton Chekhov

I was looking for some advice on how to write the perfect ending (nearly there!) when I came across this quote. I loved Lady With The Dog which is a brilliant showcase of what a short story should be. It came as such a surprise that this quote of Chekhov's was one I had never seen before. Facebook usually assaults us with quotes from famous writers but not this one.

In this quote is everything that I have ever thought was important in anything I wrote or read. Showing is better than telling. 

ALWAYS.

It draws me in and creates that tangible world around me. I can only hope my own book will do the same.

New job

I would love to be able to write on here that my new full time job is writing, but sadly that will remain my second job. At least until I finish the first book, a novella and a short story or two.

No, the new job is working graveyard shift. Not hard work so far but there's a lot of downtime. Maybe it will give me some time to write a little.

The novel is at 40k words. My writing has slowed but I will finish it soon. Having to change some subplots so it won't have holes in it takes time.

Word Count and Balanced Romance

Well, the hour is late, but it's never too late to blog. I was able to use some scenes from a previous version of my book, but out of 10,000 words that could have possibly been used, only 3,000 were eventually used. That was after cutting out lots of dialogue and changing of characters as the story altered. I had originally planned to have the story based around two powerful twins. Lots of people liked the story that way, but in the end I decided it was too cliche. 

I'm starting to get into the meat of the conflict. I'm very excited to finish that so I can go back and flesh out the character development especially between my two main characters: Keiron and Nysana.

I always knew I could write a strong, flawed male character. Nysana is proving a little more difficult to write (namely because I'm not female), but I'm doing my best. There is no room for pathetic damsels in distress for my main character. Nysana is strong and superior in her own way to Keiron. Even by the end of the book he is not better than her. I really just want my readers to see them as two halves of the same coin, perfectly balanced. 

I've never written romance in any story, novella or book either. My fiancee tells me that it is good, but something tells me she is more than a little biased. Or maybe, I dare to hope that I'm better at it than I think.

The Hook for WARLOCK

Here is the hook that I have in mind to draw readers in. The picture is just something I stumbled across while researching dragons.

Keiron Nathron. Warlock. Gifted with vast power he can barely control. Brash. Helplessly in love with Nysana.

Nysana Merethyl. Maja. Peerless with the blade. An opportunity for her freedom might spell trouble for Keiron—the fatal kind.

Surogeth. King of the dragons. Child of the Titans. Powerless to stop his race from succumbing to the madness that is rapidly devouring their minds.

Writing VS Procrastination. FIGHT!

A week with no work before I start my new job. So much time to write. I mustn't get distracted by things like the internet. Ah crap.

10 Things About Me

Taking a break from writing and cleaning for a few minutes. I thought I should probably make a post on here even if no one sees it. Eventually someone will and this might be insightful (I hope). I haven't really said anything about me so here's 10 things:

1. My first love is Star Wars (can't wait for Episode VII). I can't seem to get enough of it, and I don't care what anyone says, I still loved The Phantom Menace. As long as there is a lightsaber scene in the movie, I'll probably love it (Even if Hayden Christensen is in it). One of my favorite movies of all time is the Empire Strikes Back.
2. My favorite movie: V For Vendetta. Where else are you going to have Hugo Weaving giving a soliloquy as only he can while incorporating quotes from Shakespeare and Faust? Uniqueness and the creativity of ideas are at the core of this movie. It may seem like this is just a movie that centers on justified revenge, but the idea is still sound if a bit dark. Plus, as V says in the movie, ideas are bulletproof. The movie itself is very thought-provoking about how we as a society view things that we consider 'abnormal' and how it can be taken to extremes i.e. extermination. 
3. I don't have a favorite book. I have about 100 which someday I will get around to writing in a list. Then maybe another 100 on an honorable mention list. Then another 100 that . . . (you get the picture)
4. My favorite food is pizza. I will eat anything on it except onions and anchovies.
5. I lived in Mexico for 2 trips of 4 1/2 months each the year after I was out of high school. It is an amazing country and I've been saying for the last 10 years that I'm going to go back and visit. Maybe next year . . .
6. I am an avid lover of cilantro, bacon and butter. These 3 things make everything taste better.
7. I have a dog named Ruby and a cat named Draco. Ruby is a lovable black ball of curly fur who loves to snuggle in the middle of the night. Draco is a Garfield-sized white fluff ball who will take any attention at any time. He will cuddle you whether you like it or not. And you will like it. He is also capable of crying for food while stuffing his mouth with cat food.
8. I love petrichor especially on concrete. There's just something wonderfully nostalgic and comforting about the smell.
9. My favorite drink is Mountain Dew, but sometimes a Monster is needed to keep writing.
10. I wrote my first story when I was 8 years old. It was about about a white blood cell named Nick who with the aid of antibiotic reinforcements was able to fight back the hordes of bacteria. (Yes, I was that big of a nerd at age 8). I loaned it to a friend to read and never got it back, but the old lady named Pearl who I lent it to before that told me it was good. The jury's still out on whether she actually thought it was good or was just being kind to a dorky 8 year old.

Novellas and Short Stories

After a bit of cleaning, I read some articles about Kindle Singles, and they honestly blew. My. Mind.

Imagine for a moment that you can make a short story or a novella, and it will cost 99 cents or 1.99. Thousands of people are buying up these Singles and the market has be growing greater and greater since it first started in 2011.

I'm still going to focus on my book, but unless something changes, I'm going to be writing some Singles that will hopefully get approved to be published. This is a very great look at the future for myself and writers who will feel the pressure to churn out 100,000 word ebooks just melt away. The competition will get fiercer as time goes by, but the rewards are still there too.

(Sigh of relief)

Beautiful Words

At my work today, I heard someone say the word 'opulence,' and it got me thinking about dozens of words that are so beautiful that they flow off the tongue like a symphony of syllabic magic! Too far? Yea I figured. The point is, there are tons of words equally as potent and precise that people never use.

Opulence: great wealth or luxuriousness

A few others I thought of were these:

Vestigial: with small or trace elements

Iridescent: showing luminous colors that change from different angles

Effervescent: bubbly, vivacious or enthusiastic

Quintessential: most essential

I'm still amazed that after 28 years the English language can reach out and show me how beautiful she is once again. Ah well. Enough ranting. If anyone ever sees this hopefully they will love all the loveable parts of English and love to hate all the loathsome parts of English (will vary from person to person, but the semicolon comes to mind.)

Titles

Well the book is coming along very well. I've stopped with a word count just over 29,000. I've changed the name half a dozen times before settling on WARLOCK. I think our hero will be the Warlock and not the villain as I had originally intended. Maybe just a stupid changing of titles but it might become important before it all comes together by the end of the book.

I'm still doing research in what to do to start the marketing and/or promoting process. I want to make sure that I not only write a great book but make sure that thousands (dare I say millions?) of people get the opportunity to read it. They can't do that without knowing that it exists.

If anyone is reading this has any ideas, let me know.

Sea of Shadows becomes The Warlock King

Alright, I figured that I should start blogging again. If nothing else it will give me motivation to keep writing. 

It's been so long since I finished Sea of Shadows. I tried (quite unsuccessfully) to get an agent, but after 8 or 9 rejection letters, I gave up. I never tried going through a publishing house because my manuscript would have just been one more on the slush pile.

So, here I am at the start of 2015 with Sea of Shadows and I see so many problems (mainly the ending). So I've decided to rewrite it completely although I will be using some scenes of the original. I've changed it so much that I'm changing the title to The Warlock King.

Wish me luck!