Updates and Stuff

I completed checking of the revised galley for "Seer, Tyro, Fiend" this morning, so it should be ready to go. My publisher says the ebook should be released in September! Print edition date is December, but advance copies should be available as soon as the POD files are uploaded.

Well, it's official now. I'm a reviewer for Windy City Reviews.This site is where writers help other writers by reviewing their works for free. I volunteered because I know first hand how hard it is to get reviews on a book, and because "Dabblers" was reviewed here. The only requirement is that the author be a Chicago Writers Association member or have some other connection to Chicago, i.e., a Chicago-based publisher. Rules for submission are on the site. Writers looking to submit go through the list of reviewer profiles and choose someone who is interested in the type of book they wish to have reviewed. Then the submission goes to the coordinator who facilitates the process. I'm eagerly awaiting my first reviewer assignment!

Working on the new book, about half way through the first pass at polishing. It has a long way to go. Still thinking about cover art. Is there some other concept other than the one in my head that would be as good or better? Is there any way I could do it myself or should I look for a real artist? Still unsettled on this one.

I've also had some ideas for the third Windsong Lake book which I need to research a bit. They have to do with a puzzle in an old mansion that Stefanie is asked to solve. First, though, I need to know what the puzzle is about and how to execute it. And I already have an opening scene planned in my head.

Eager to Create

Over the last couple of days, I haven't been able to do any writing at my computer (or not much anyway). While at Love Is Murder, sitting at the authors' signing table, I wrote out part of a key passage on paper and was almost late to dinner. I wrote some more during odd moments the rest of the weekend. So this afternoon, first thing when I got home from work, I typed it up. A whole 5 pages!

The story is really coming together, but  in my typical fashion, I still don't know how it ends! I have an idea about how to resolve one conflict, but not the other. Is the missing person at the heart of the mystery still alive? If not, what happened? And if so, who will try to prevent her from being found?

Things are getting very busy. I have a galley of "The Changeling Kill" to proof for the paper edition. I need to start into updating my websites with information about "Stranger Faces." I have a contract to fill out for a paperback edition of "Dabblers," and I think a paperback of "Game Faces" might be on its way too. Whew!

I'm also considering putting together some sort of contest or quiz where the prize is a signed paperback of "The Dreamer Gambit." Haven't quite worked that out, but I will definitely post the details on this blog when I have them.

The Joy of a Series

Haven't blogged for a couple of days. Friday--company holiday party and then preparing for company at home. Saturday--more prep, company stayed until late, but we had a great time. Now I'm looking forward to Monday and Tuesday off to do some series writing.

"Stranger Faces" is slated for release February 1! Still have to proof galley when it becomes available. Feb. 1 is also the date for release of "Two Faces, Two Faced" print edition. And all of this just in time for Love is Murder.

Sequel to "Dabblers" is progressing well, socializing notwithstanding. I had a couple more ideas for the title, but I want to do a search and make sure there are no other books published recently with the same title. Don't want to cause confusion out there.

In regard to the subject for this post, there's a lot of good to say about writing a sequel. It means I get to explore the character more deeply. In "The Changeling Kill," sequel to "The Dreamer Gambit," I got the chance to delve into Jack Watson's past, specifically his hellish marriage. In the sequel to "Dabblers," it's digging into some of Stefanie's unhappy childhood, her early days of dealing with her psychic gift. In both cases, the past is reawakened by current events, so the retrospective angle becomes important and necessary. Applying more history to the character is fun creatively and turns him or her into a more real person, even to me. I get to meet them during their first novel and then we become closer friends, sharing our dark pasts and deep secrets, in the sequel.

Tracy Wiley, on the other hand, did not work out the same way, but that's because her personality flaw, i.e., her withdrawal from people when her mother and brother died, has left some aspects of socialization underdeveloped. Her naivety in that regard is part of what gets her into trouble. Ah, well, if people were all the same, what a dull world it would be.

Pounding Out Pages

New novel, working title "Where Power Lies," is now into Chapter 3 and a crucial meeting of my POV character and the hero/love interest. It's very interesting doing this rewrite because it's like having an outline from the old manuscript and yet not knowing with total assurance where the story is going. Well, I know where it's going, but how it gets there has changed from its previous incarnations.

Usually around Chapter 7, I hit a sticking point, which I believe I've commented on in earlier posts. Lots of things can happen at such a point--revamping earlier chapters, rethinking plot and subplot. Once I reach that point, it may be time to get back to proofing/editing "Stranger Faces." I also have a fair amount of vacation and holiday time away from my day job in the next two months, and while there's a lot of other things on my to-do list, I think I'll be able to press onward.

NOTE: In my post announcing I was starting work on "Power," I erroneously referred to it as my sixth novel. "Stranger Faces" is actually number six, and I have updated said earlier post to correct this. I have now assuaged my anal-retentive tendencies.

On a side note, I started reading (gasp!) a novel. I met the author, Joel Quam, at a book fair during the summer where we shared a table to meet, greet, and sell books. As we were packing up to leave, he offered to exchange "a mystery for a mystery." All these months later, I started reading his "...Or Perish" as noted on Goodreads, where I will provide a review when I'm done. Having been immersed solely in writing my own novels, it's interesting to read something by someone else who has a different style. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I might disagree with the style in some aspects, i.e., I would not have written something the same way, but the story has pulled me in by creating a host of interesting characters, an intriguing premise, and a totally believable small-college-town setting. I've already been tempted to turn to the back and find out if two particular characters get together at the end of the story, proving that I care about these fictional people. That is perhaps the first and greatest hurdle of writing fiction: readers have to care about someone in the story.

You Learn Something New Every Day

I have been remiss. For someone who has spent much of her adult life writing computer programs, I am apparently woefully behind the times when it comes to the Internet, blogging, etc. (Hangs head in shame.)

I have gotten some emails recently indicating that people have commented on my blog, and I wondered why I could never see the comments displayed on the posts. After some searching, I learned what to do to activate the comments even for anonymous visitors.

Voila! I have read the comments I could not see before, now that I know where to look for them and to make sure they are not treated as spam just because they're anonymous. I welcome all comments from anyone, and I was overjoyed with the nice things people had to say. I do apologize for my ignorance which caused my appreciation to be expressed so long afterwards.

For any visitors who are newly published or still striving to be published, I thoroughly recommend my publisher's blog. She is a publisher, an author, and taught writing for many years. Her blog frequently provides important insights about publishing, editing, and writing fiction. I have learned a great deal from it and I visit her posts daily. Here is a link: http://writewordsarline.blogspot.com/

So please keep the comments coming, folks, and know that they will be displayed as part of the conversation. And for those who left links to their blogs, I will most certainly check them out.

Updates and News

After the Glen Ellyn Bookfest in June, I joined the Chicago Writers Association, and my membership may have just paid for itself. I received an email from them with an invitation to participate in another event held by the Joliet Public Library. They are hold an Author Fest in mid October, and I will be attending. I still have copies of "The Dreamer Gambit" to sell--at greatly reduced prices--as well as an abundance of information for the rest of my books. And participation is FREE! (I like free. Anything that furthers the sale of books that costs me little or nothing is like a gift.) I've already started updating promotional materials to include "Game Faces." I'll have a table where I can sell my books and talk to people. Very exciting.

Still proofing galley for "Two Faces, Two Faced" print edition, but the second reading has not unearthed any more changes so far, and I'm up to Chapter 5.

Looks like "Dabblers" will get into the next phase in a few weeks. I sent the cover art to go with the manuscript. Sounds like it will be released in 2012. Three books in one year!

"Game Faces" is starting to show up on other vendor sites, which is great. I also revamped and funded my Google ad.

"Stranger Faces" is progressing, but I'm still struggling/tinkering with that final big scene. I want to try to lighten things up a bit since I just finished a very dark passage. Tracy has reached her turning point, where it's time for her to fight back. I thinking to bring all the different factions together for one final chaotic showdown, and I'd like to do it with a touch of humor.

What comes after "Stranger Faces"? So many possibilities. A third entry for the Jack Watson series? A sequel to "Dabblers"? One of my old manuscripts resuscitated? There are a fair number of those to tap into. Ah, if only I could spend all my time writing . . .

From Adversity, My Darker Side, Dabblers Re-envisioned

Entered one of my books in a contest (and paid for the privilege). Results came out today--I didn't even make the first cut, i.e., the screening process. Bummer. BIIIIG bummer. I started thinking about it and decided that perhaps the book did not seem to fit within the category in which it was entered. It always struck me as a sort of genre-bender anyway.

So in a black sort of mood, I went out to do some errands, and on my MP3 collection, "Lady In Black" by Uriah Heep played. For some reason, all the elements combined and, voila!, Stefanie from "Dabblers" got a make-over. I had noted in a previous post that I stopped work on "Dabblers" when I realized I found her too weak, too needy. That meshed with the idea of my contest entry not clearly fitting into a specific genre. My dark mood morphed into Stefanie's personna. While the original premise of a woman with unique talents trying to hide and deny them getting into a situation where she must embrace them still stands, some fresh ideas were born out of my sudden inspiration. One, she doesn't deny them but tries to hide them and control them because she still wants to fit in and enjoy normalcy. But instead of being frightened, nervous, and lost, the character will react in a far different way. I also had some ideas about important elements of the story, certain events, and how they transpire. I'll be thinking about all this more in days to come.

But I am also in the middle of Book 3 in the "Faces" series. I got past the first "stuck place" and have formulated some events that will move things forward. Still need a vision for the dramatic climax though. I may be interleaving this one with a bit of work on "Dabblers." Two books at once? We shall see...

Someone I know bought and is reading "The Changeling Kill," and I warned her before she started that there was a scene that might prove shocking. Well, she reached it, and shock her I did. Let us just say there was an abrupt need to do some laundry. (If that makes anyone curious, read it and find out.)

I Feel the Magic

Great progress yesterday in the newest "Faces" entry. I started in Chapter 4 with a general--really general--idea of the things that needed to happen, but without specific ideas for conveying them. I knew I wanted Tracy to find herself in a sort of surreal situation, beyond the fact that she doesn't really know what's going on. Once I got started writing, the ideas just flowed. The last part I wrote for the day gave me one of those "Oooh that's good" moments.

On another note, visits to this blog have increased a lot in the last few days, and I can only assume it has something to do with BookFest, just based on the timing. It is very gratifying to know people are interested enough to stop in and I hope some of them are repeat visitors.

Updates and News

Received confirmation that I will be participating in Glen Ellyn BookFest 2012, sponsored by the Glen Ellyn Public Library on Saturday, June 23. I will have a table in the tent where I can sell copies of "The Dreamer Gambit." There will be more sales opportunities inside the library before and after the speakers--one-minute pitches to the audience--as well as a morning program about promoting your own books.

I've already put together a single-sheet summary of all my books which I can give away. Books will be deeply discounted and signed. I also need to make up signs, and I'm contemplating doing something extra. One idea was, in line with the chess theme of the "Dreamer" cover, offering Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies to passers by, maybe attached to the summary sheets.

Should be a great promotional opportunity!

Cat and Mouse

Not much done in writing today. Just a couple of pages. This is a tricky passage, and I know how part of it should play out but not all of it. Certain things must be accomplished to move forward, but it's all going to happen in conversation, a duel of wits. That can be difficult to do while making sure the upper hand is evenly divided between two characters. Tracy is a smart woman, and the man she is facing off against, is smart too. When their conversation is done, a new source of conflict will emerge which will be vital to the final "big scene."

Once again, I had to stop at various times to do research: what is the location of the Miami Police Department headquarters? What other places surround it? These are minor details, but they are the sort of thing that a reader familiar with the locale would notice. If I get it wrong, such a reader might be distracted from the story with an "Aha!" moment of noting my error. Some details of this sort are bound to get by me, but the more I can eliminate up front, the more comfortable I'll be about knowledgeable readers.

OTHER UPDATES: Now have  7 cover designs for "The Changeling Kill." Two might already be out of the running, and three of them are essentially the same but with slightly different color schemes. I'm not sure which would be the most eye-catching. Maybe I should post them on this page and see if anyone has a preference!

Tempus Fugit

Gosh, a week's gone by since my last post!

Still working on "The Changeling Kill". Got a new idea for the cover which will require me to exercise my amateur photographer skills.

In the publicity department, I signed up for Writers Cafe and created a Google page for my books. It's called Kathryn Flatt, Writer. It's mainly a landing place for upcoming ads that I am working on using the AdWords feature in Google. We'll see how that goes. I also looked into Facebook ads, but I'm still not sure I understand how their billing/funding works. Both books already have pages on Facebook, though.

Looking forward to getting a lot done on the writing front this weekend.

Love Is Murder 2012 - Recap

LIM is over for another year, an ending which one speaker called bittersweet. For me, it had its ups and downs. First the Ups.

1) The opportunity to talk to other writers or listen to those who have "made it."

2) Picked up some fabulous information from the workshops given by

• A former NYPD undercover cop discussing how they do the job
• Two Chicago cops with the truth about guns
• A former CIA operative telling about the real world of espionage and what it takes
• A forensics expert discussing what crime scene investigations are like
• A financial fraud analyst who tracks where the money goes

3) Sat on a panel of newly-published authors and heard my bio and book blurb read to the assembled attendees

4) Heard my name and book listed among candidates for an award for best first novel.

5) Learned about additional ways to promote my books

6) Had some of my promotional materials picked up by others (all "Faces" chapbooks gone!)

Now for the Downs

1) Did not sell any books. :-(

2) Discovered how much distance there is between my recent success and that of best-selling novelists

3) Did not do any writing all day Saturday.

4) Walked my feet off.

I'm sure there will be more coming, but those are the highlights/lowlights.

Now I can't decide whether to dive into new promotional ideas or get back to the writing I sorely miss.

Updates

Two posts in one day! A first for me I think. But the post before this one, i.e., the music from "Two Faces, Two Faced", kind of demanded being in a piece by itself.

Today on the Fictionwise site, the list of best sellers for ebooksonthe.net had my two novels as #4 and #5.

"Faces" is getting more attention on Goodreads--10 people have put it on their lists, and one of them gave it a 4-star rating. (Thanks, Livy!) Interest is picking up on the "Dreamer" ad as well; it's getting some clicks. I'm thinking about changing the ad copy to mention the sequel.

Working on the final chapter of "The Changeling Kill", but the wrap-up is sometimes the hardest part. Gotta tie up all those loose ends. At some point, though, I'll hit upon what the final sentence is. I know it when I hear the movie music come up in the background as the credits begin to roll. I'm not quite there yet, but it's coming.

Chicagoland is in the midst of a winter storm. It took me an hour to drive 9 miles this afternoon, and it is still snowing. But the fridge is full of food and there's nowhere we really need to go this weekend. It'll be a good time to work on those chapbooks for "Faces" to hand out at Love Is Murder.

Authors Den Update

Now that I am a paying member of Authors Den, I get more space to post stuff on the site. I added my short story "Squatters" which was my first entry into the Writers of the Future contest a ways back and which achieved an Honorable Mention. Here is the link to my Authors Den page: Kathryn Flatt at Authors Den .

There was another entry I had been working on for Writers of the Future, but things got busy with my books and I never got the chance to finish it. Sometimes I feel torn between pursuing an even higher standing with another entry or finding out that I've sold so many books I am no longer considered eligible.

Still working on "The Changeling Kill." Last night, as I considered what ground needed to be covered in the final, wrap-up chapter, I had an interesting idea for one of the characters. Of course, it will require going back to early chapters and sewing the seeds for it.

Three weeks to go until Love Is Murder conference:

The Latest News

My shipment of paperback copies of "The Dreamer Gambit" arrived the other day, and they will be sold on consignment at Love Is Murder.

I purchased a color printer for making chapbooks of "Two Faces, Two Faced" to take along too, as well as long-reach stapler. Still fiddling around with the cover for this, but once I get it all looking good, I can become my own mini print shop. I also want to make labels to apply to the business cards I had made up for "Dreamer" to announce that the sequel will be coming soon. The chapbooks and cards will be distributed free at LIM any way I can manage it.

Regarding the "Dreamer" sequel, "The Changeling Kill," the first draft is past the big, climactic scenes and is winding down to the conclusion. By all means, that does not mean the writing is done. I'll go back over it a number of times for typos, punctuation, and formatting. Also for continuity checking and addition of descriptive stuff where needed. Then I'll use the tool I've noted before which counts the number of occurrences of each word and how far apart they are to see if any are overused or could be removed or improved. Editing is hard, hard, hard work.

And then what? Someone who read "Faces" asked me if I planned to do a sequel for it. I hadn't thought about it up to that point, but her question got me to thinking and voila the beginnings of a plot concept were born. Alternatively, there are six other manuscripts in various stages of completion (enumerated in an earlier posting called "The Writer Between Projects") which could turn into my next project.

Stay tuned.

Shocker!

Just visited my publisher's blog -- http://writewordsarline.blogspot.com/ -- and saw "Two Faces Two Faced" was #5 on the Best Sellers List!

Don't know how many actual sales that translates to, but to be on a Best Sellers List at all is just an amazing feeling!

Happy New Year to all!

(Oh, dear. I just realized that I used an exclamation point after every sentence above. Guess I'm just that excited.)

Catching Up

I know for a fact that someone has purchased "Two Faces, Two Faced" already. While it's gratifying to know that, such knowledge is really a rarity. I'm also waiting for the book to be available on more websites, since right now, it's just Write Words and Amazon.

The Goodreads ad for "Faces" started this week and it has garnered three clicks so far. Not a bad start. I've also been seeing a lot of new followers on Twitter. That venue is a new concept to me, and maybe I haven't made as much of it as I should. It's always been my problem though when it comes to the world of computing. I get into the newest thing long after everyone else has gotten used to it, and by then, it's hard to learn the basics because everyone thinks everyone else already knows the basics. I've been in the information technology field for 30 years, too. Laugh if you want to, but after I spend all day in front of a computer screen, using my free time to explore the latest in software and services is not a thrilling idea. Of course, to spend free time in front of a computer screen writing is a whole 'nuther thing.

I've hit a "stuck place" in writing "The Changeling Kill." This often happens to me as the manuscript gets closer to the big climactic scene. I know what happens next, but I don't want to get there too quickly or too slowly. I'm also still working out the final confrontation of good guy versus bad guy which could be tricky. My baddie has remained somewhat mysterious thus far, and his true nature must be revealed quickly and dramatically yet thoroughly and satisfactorily. Waiting now for the burst of inspiration to break the logjam.

Corruption Problem - Solved!

In an earlier post, I commented on having problems with corrupted files, which I concluded were due to (a) a trojan which infected my computer last winter and possibly infected my Word 2007 templates, or (b) my own fault due to editing a document on a flash drive (which is bad because the drive gets all screwed up as the file continues to expand).

Well, it happened again today. The row of little black boxes showed up as I typed into the "Dreamer" sequel manuscript. I'm now into chapter 4 and I sure did not want to go back and create another new document. So I did some web searching. First I found a number of places that will let you buy software to correct the problem. THESE MAY BE A SCAM BASED ON WHAT I FOUND OUT NEXT!

What actually was happening is something that is built into Microsoft Word. When you type three or more hyphens, underscores, hash signs, asterisks, and then press Enter, unless you change a default setting, Word applies an automatic border to the paragraph before it. My publisher, and I assume others, requests using three asterisks centered in a line to indicate a scene break because many of the programs used to publish ebooks will drop the break if it is only white space. By resetting the Autoformat as you Type defaults, you can prevent this from happening entirely; there is a setting for creating bottom borders. To get rid of the boxes, just select the paragraph above and below where the boxes appear and then select "no borders." Voila! Boxes gone! And it didn't cost a thing.

Similar conditions apply to earlier versions of Word. Here is the website where I found this so you can find the details:

http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/CantGetRidOfLineContent.htm

I wanted to spread the word to all other writers using Word to not jump in and buy some "solution" which will most likely simply copy your file to a format which does not retain formatting and then have you copy it back and manually reset your lost formats. By all means, try this solution first!

Writing Updates

"The Dreamer Gambit" is off to the presses! While Barnes and Noble is already taking advanced orders on the paperback edition, the expected release is early 2012.

Up to Chapter 4 in the sequel now. As much as I thought I had the story pretty well outlined, I'd almost forgotten how challenging it can be to actually get it down on paper while making sure: the pacing works, the scenes are balanced, the clues are disseminated equitably but without giving away too much, the characters are fully developed, the interactions are believable, the time line is neither too compressed nor too extended. Whew! Granted, once the first draft is complete (or sometimes even before), I can always go back and adjust things back in Chapter 2 when I need to support a great idea in Chapter 10. Whatever did writers do before the age of computers and word processors?

My next ebook is going to be "Two Faces Two Faced" as previously noted. No estimate yet on when it will be available, but most likely in late 2011. December, maybe? I'm trying to put together some cover art, but while I have great visions in my head, executing them is also a challenge. I bought some graphics software which I need to learn how to use to combine the different elements. Good thing Write Words handles the lettering. I don't know if I'd ever be able to get that right.

Really looking forward to the Love is Murder conference in 2012. The last time I went, I was still unpublished and agent-less. I'm still without an agent, but now I am an Author. (It's my blog so I'm going with a capital "A".) This time, I'll be out there promoting my work in any way I can. Maybe even autographing paperbacks of "Dreamer."

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.