Busy Times

Just received acceptance from Write Words for my second novel titled "Two Faces Two Faced." It was my eighth book written, but it was much lighter than the ones before it. It's a little less complicated because I wrote it in first person POV, so it was easier to polish based on what I've learned in my experiences with the world of publishing. I'm giving it a final once over before sending it off.

I'm also working on the sequel to "Dreamer," which is coming along well when I get the chance to work on it.

My short story entry for Writers of the Future 4th quarter has been sent, but it will be several months before I learn its fate. Perhaps someday, I'll put together all the entries as a sci-fi anthology.

Ah, so much material and never enough time to devote to it.

Catching Up

Okay, so the sequel to "The Dreamer Gambit" is underway. I reviewed and revised the old manuscript and began forging ahead when, lo and behold, the file showed signs of corruption. I'd seen it before: suddenly a line of text is replaced by a row of little black boxes and they cannot be deleted. Oh, they look like they're gone, but they always come back.

So I started retyping, using the custom Word template I set up ages ago for manuscripts. Twenty-four pages in, more black boxes. The light dawns: it's the template! I had to copy the retyped part and paste it into Wordpad as text only, ditto the part that I had not retyped. Then start a new document--no template!--and pasted all the text into it. I lost all the formatting, but it was better than retyping yet again!

Yesterday, I sent off my entry to Writers of the Future for the fourth quarter. Now comes the long wait for the results.

I received the corrected galleys for the "Dreamer" print edition, and I'll review those against the changes I had sent before.

Then I can get back to writing new stuff.

Decisions, Decisions

Well, I'm finally into writing the sequel to "The Dreamer Gambit." I've been revising the first couple of chapters that I originally started a couple of years ago. (Two years? Damn, how time flies!)

The opening chapter, more of a prologue really, is in the point of view of one of the bad guys. I did that in "Dreamer" to start the story at where the trouble begins. The question becomes, how much further point of view does this character get? Tabitha and Jack are the protagonist POVs, of course, but they are the investigators, and much of what they will discover is occurring throughout the story as opposed to some criminal behavior that is over and done before they start. But since the plot is still developing, I need that additional point of view to tell what's happening that Jack and Tabitha have not yet discovered, which also serves to put the reader in the action instead of having to learn about things through some character's later exposition.

Here's the tricky part: not to give the secret away too early. I think I've got it covered, though. My third POV guy doesn't know everything yet; he is also discerning the truth as things progress.

I seem to have set myself on a difficult path, but the story in my head now needs to get out, must be told. The challenge is in telling it well.

The Sequel, Continued

Working out the plot for the sequel to The Dreamer Gambit. Of course, there is a murder in the making, but how to do it? In this day and age, I feel a little uncomfortable doing research on the web for how to kill someone. If I start web searching on murder methods, will some government agency come a-knocking on my door?

So the Internet is out as a resource. Instead, I turned to my resident resource on all things scientific--my husband. I bounced my idea off him and he provided some great guidance that wound up solidifying the mechanism. The man's a genius, actually; the most intelligent person I have ever known.

With so many pieces of the sequel plot coming together, I'm getting that writer's itch very strongly. I know if I open a Word document and start writing, I'll soon be churning out ideas faster than I can type. And I type really fast. What on earth did authors do before computers?

The "Dreamer" Sequel

A long time ago (so it seems), I started on a sequel to "The Dreamer Gambit," before I had even found a publisher. Then I stopped that effort  to work on some other projects. (See an earlier post wherein I list all my writing projects.) I barely made it through chapter one.

Now that a new novel has been submitted for possible publication and my short story contest entry is done, I am getting my head into the sequel. I've started to realize how much time has passed since I actually worked on a brand new novel. I actually experienced a few minutes of trepidation, wondering if I still knew how. But, lo and behold, as I began thinking about the plot and the characters, the old imagination machine kicked in. Scenes began developing in my head, ideas for plot twists pop into my head, scenes and dialog build like magic.

The main problem in the near term is to grab onto all those ideas long enough to keep notes of them and not forget them. Unfortunately, my brain tends to start churning them out at times ill suited to writing anything down, like while driving and trying to get to sleep at night. Time to put that pad of paper on the night table again.

And On To the Next Thing

The galley corrections for the paperback edition of The Dreamer Gambit have been sent.

Next comes the short story entry for Writers of the Future.

Then a new novel to submit for possible publication. It's sort of a mystery/chick-lit adventure with a heavy dose of humor. Final polishing to be done, but then, off it goes!

And THEN, work can start on the sequel to Dreamer. It will delve deeper into Jack Watson's past and his relationship with his ex-wife. Tabitha is in there too, having heavy decisions to make about her future and balancing personal life with celebrity status. At the center of it all is a mystery to solve (of course!) and I hope to make a really tough puzzle out of this one.