"Janus Games" making good progress, albeit slowly. While I am now able to type with both hands, all fingers, the cast still gets in the way. Since I have to hold my left arm at an odd angle to make it work, The muscles get fatigued rather quickly and I have to stop and rest. I am grateful, however, that I CAN type at all and that I should be back to normal by mid-June at least.
The other plot line is starting up which will bring in more suspects along the way. Come the first big scene, the introduction of danger, it won't be clear whether Jack or Tabitha is the center of it, so the suspects can come from her celebrity, his past, or his present case. Red herrings everywhere!
I'm hoping that the ebook of "Seer, Tyro, Fiend" will be making the scene pretty soon, and I'll be firing up the promotion engine on that. I had planned to make more of an effort on the promotion front prior to my accident putting me out of commission, but alas, until I can drive a car again, it must wait.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
Progress and a Gotcha
Back to writing "Janus Games" this Monday morning, although still clumsy with the cast on. I made some adjustments to the touch pad on my laptop so that the cursor would not keep moving every time my left thumb brushes over it. Very annoying. The cast will stay on until the end of May, according to my doctor, and then there will be a splint instead. Sigh. Maybe typing will be easier with the splint.
At this stage, I'm building up a list of suspects and now starting on the detective case line of plot. An explosive scene is right around the corner, but I need to make sure that it does not become obvious what has happened. That's why I'm throwing out hints and red herrings beforehand. There are two sections inside the killer's head so far, but those are designed to foreshadow the danger ahead. I've tried not to give much in the way of clues as to that person's identity, only their frame of mind and intentions to a degree.
Over the weekend, I thought of another Gotcha and a good example of why proofreading a manuscript is so vital. Here are two sentences, exactly the same except for the position of two letters.
The first one could appear in a western or wilderness adventure, describing a physical path over the earth, suggesting someone on horseback. The second could appear in almost any story to reference a courtroom situation or perhaps a difficult time of some sort where the "ride" is kind of slang-ish. Both sentences will pass computer grammar checks, yet depending on the context of the story, could still be wrong!
Many people, myself included, have a talent for what is called "closure." The mind is capable of reading text with mistakes in it but automatically correcting them before they reach a cognitive level. People do this to varying degrees, which can be a blessing in that it speeds up reading in general, but a curse when it comes to proofreading. Doing the latter takes patience and concentration, both of which become more difficult if the story itself takes control of your attention.
At this stage, I'm building up a list of suspects and now starting on the detective case line of plot. An explosive scene is right around the corner, but I need to make sure that it does not become obvious what has happened. That's why I'm throwing out hints and red herrings beforehand. There are two sections inside the killer's head so far, but those are designed to foreshadow the danger ahead. I've tried not to give much in the way of clues as to that person's identity, only their frame of mind and intentions to a degree.
Over the weekend, I thought of another Gotcha and a good example of why proofreading a manuscript is so vital. Here are two sentences, exactly the same except for the position of two letters.
- The trail made for a rough ride.
- The trial made for a rough ride.
The first one could appear in a western or wilderness adventure, describing a physical path over the earth, suggesting someone on horseback. The second could appear in almost any story to reference a courtroom situation or perhaps a difficult time of some sort where the "ride" is kind of slang-ish. Both sentences will pass computer grammar checks, yet depending on the context of the story, could still be wrong!
Many people, myself included, have a talent for what is called "closure." The mind is capable of reading text with mistakes in it but automatically correcting them before they reach a cognitive level. People do this to varying degrees, which can be a blessing in that it speeds up reading in general, but a curse when it comes to proofreading. Doing the latter takes patience and concentration, both of which become more difficult if the story itself takes control of your attention.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Oh, To Be Able To Type As Fast As I Think
"Janus Games" is progressing surprisingly well even with my physical impediments. I keep thinking of the Jimmy Buffett song, "Son of a Son of a Sailor" as he performed it on a long-ago TV appearance where he appeared with one leg in a cast. He altered the final phrases of the song in comment: "This cast is a drag. It's really too bad, and I feel like I'm pulling a trailer." Who would have thought that around twelve inches of hardened gauze could weigh so much?
Back to "Janus" though. I started writing another passage yesterday and left it at an anticlimactic point. So Jack has a new client coming in. Big deal. Then I thought of a way to make it a big deal by letting him start to wonder about his client, an old friend who is also his accountant. The friend wants him to investigate who in his firm is giving client account information to a competing firm. Because Jack has done business with that accountant for years, he'll send his new associate in under cover. It also set up the fact that many of the firm's employees had been invited to the big party (trying not to give up too much here), so they become suspects in the stalking case as well because of evidence found there. Of course, only the reader knows the significance of that evidence which was created in a scene from the stalker's point of view.
This is going to get complicated. What fun!
Back to "Janus" though. I started writing another passage yesterday and left it at an anticlimactic point. So Jack has a new client coming in. Big deal. Then I thought of a way to make it a big deal by letting him start to wonder about his client, an old friend who is also his accountant. The friend wants him to investigate who in his firm is giving client account information to a competing firm. Because Jack has done business with that accountant for years, he'll send his new associate in under cover. It also set up the fact that many of the firm's employees had been invited to the big party (trying not to give up too much here), so they become suspects in the stalking case as well because of evidence found there. Of course, only the reader knows the significance of that evidence which was created in a scene from the stalker's point of view.
This is going to get complicated. What fun!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
A Bit at a Time
I made a small bit of progress on "Janus" yesterday, setting the stage for the second plot line of a case for Jack and his new associate to solve. That case will also add to the list of suspects when the first crisis scene occurs when the danger becomes apparent, even if the intended target is not.
I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues of late, not all related to my car accident a couple of weeks ago, and so the writing comes slowly, taking a back seat to more critical matters. Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon and I can find more time to write.
I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues of late, not all related to my car accident a couple of weeks ago, and so the writing comes slowly, taking a back seat to more critical matters. Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon and I can find more time to write.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Characters, Archetypes, and Stereotypes
Yesterday was not a good day for writing progress. It's a long story I would rather not discuss, but hopefully, things will be better today. At least it's starting out more normal. (I probably shouldn't have thought/written that; might have jinxed it.)
I found myself in a number of situations where I had time to think and do little else. One notion I pursued was based on a review of "The Dreamer Gambit" and the role of Victoria, the evil psychologist. Thinking led to a realization about stereotypes.
Back in the day, I took a course in developmental psychology, i.e., studying how the human mind develops from birth to adulthood. A fact that stuck with me was that humans learn about the world by grouping and categorizing things we encounter. We have to. There's far too much stuff in our world to have to identify every single thing as unique. Once you learn the concept of "clock" for example, you will know one when you see one no matter how different or bizarre it is. I'm thinking about some clocks with novelty shapes (a cat with eyes that move) or odd faces without numbers or numbers not arranged as normal. Likewise, you learn the concept of "face" and recognize one on a human, an animal, or an image in a painting. We even look for faces where none exist, like in the clouds.
So on the issue at hand, I considered my evil psychologist character. She was one of those characters who started out as an incidental and became more important and involved. Anyway, the idea occurred to me that someone reading the Jack Watson series might think I "have it in" for psychologists, that I think they are all like Dr. Pressler. Of course, this is not true. I have met a number of professionals in this category who are kind and warm and sincere in their desire and efforts to help people.
Then I thought how it seems that assumptions about a group tend to be negative for the most part. If one member of a category is presented lazy or mean or incompetent, that's what seems to turn into a stereotype. If that member is kind or intelligent or industrious, then he/she is considered an exceptional individual. Back to my novels, I don't think all psychologists are evil, all handsome men are egotistical, all FBI agents are smarmy, all pop singers are sweetly innocent, all secretaries are plump, middle-aged mothers, etc. I create characters to fill certain roles and try to make them interesting in themselves, believably motivated, and memorable enough to stay in the reader's mind doe the length of the book and maybe extending into a sequel.
I checked some definitions--archetype and stereotype--and found that archetype is a model or prototype and a stereotype is something that conforms to a pattern or mold. My conclusion was that people confuse "stereotype" with "prejudice," which when taken apart looks like, and means, pre-judge. That being said, the difference between a stereotype and a character is that a character has more depth, has human wants and needs and history that are uniquely theirs where a stereotype would have those things defined in a set way that is always the same. My dictionary cited the "hooker with a heart of gold" as a stereotype made famous by Hollywood. Yet even one of those can be fleshed out (no pun intended) to be more of a real person, a "real" character.
I found myself in a number of situations where I had time to think and do little else. One notion I pursued was based on a review of "The Dreamer Gambit" and the role of Victoria, the evil psychologist. Thinking led to a realization about stereotypes.
Back in the day, I took a course in developmental psychology, i.e., studying how the human mind develops from birth to adulthood. A fact that stuck with me was that humans learn about the world by grouping and categorizing things we encounter. We have to. There's far too much stuff in our world to have to identify every single thing as unique. Once you learn the concept of "clock" for example, you will know one when you see one no matter how different or bizarre it is. I'm thinking about some clocks with novelty shapes (a cat with eyes that move) or odd faces without numbers or numbers not arranged as normal. Likewise, you learn the concept of "face" and recognize one on a human, an animal, or an image in a painting. We even look for faces where none exist, like in the clouds.
So on the issue at hand, I considered my evil psychologist character. She was one of those characters who started out as an incidental and became more important and involved. Anyway, the idea occurred to me that someone reading the Jack Watson series might think I "have it in" for psychologists, that I think they are all like Dr. Pressler. Of course, this is not true. I have met a number of professionals in this category who are kind and warm and sincere in their desire and efforts to help people.
Then I thought how it seems that assumptions about a group tend to be negative for the most part. If one member of a category is presented lazy or mean or incompetent, that's what seems to turn into a stereotype. If that member is kind or intelligent or industrious, then he/she is considered an exceptional individual. Back to my novels, I don't think all psychologists are evil, all handsome men are egotistical, all FBI agents are smarmy, all pop singers are sweetly innocent, all secretaries are plump, middle-aged mothers, etc. I create characters to fill certain roles and try to make them interesting in themselves, believably motivated, and memorable enough to stay in the reader's mind doe the length of the book and maybe extending into a sequel.
I checked some definitions--archetype and stereotype--and found that archetype is a model or prototype and a stereotype is something that conforms to a pattern or mold. My conclusion was that people confuse "stereotype" with "prejudice," which when taken apart looks like, and means, pre-judge. That being said, the difference between a stereotype and a character is that a character has more depth, has human wants and needs and history that are uniquely theirs where a stereotype would have those things defined in a set way that is always the same. My dictionary cited the "hooker with a heart of gold" as a stereotype made famous by Hollywood. Yet even one of those can be fleshed out (no pun intended) to be more of a real person, a "real" character.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Series Updates
This morning, I had to redo the cover for "Stranger Faces" print edition in order to get the images properly centered. That took some time. Now I'm hoping to get back to "Janus Games" a little bit today.
On the plus side, I am finding I can almost type with both hands again. I am hitting keys with my left ring finger, which is above the bone that is broken, and there is relatively little pain in doing so. The cast still makes typing very clumsy, though, as it does so many tasks. Hopefully, I'll be out of the cast in another couple of weeks.
On May 2, I received an email from the Illinois Center for the Book/Illinois Authors Database asking me for a picture. I sent one, and now my profile on that page has been updated. Here's a link:
http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Kathryn_Flatt
It's a good feeling to have places I never knew about asking me for stuff to put on their site.
On the plus side, I am finding I can almost type with both hands again. I am hitting keys with my left ring finger, which is above the bone that is broken, and there is relatively little pain in doing so. The cast still makes typing very clumsy, though, as it does so many tasks. Hopefully, I'll be out of the cast in another couple of weeks.
On May 2, I received an email from the Illinois Center for the Book/Illinois Authors Database asking me for a picture. I sent one, and now my profile on that page has been updated. Here's a link:
http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Kathryn_Flatt
It's a good feeling to have places I never knew about asking me for stuff to put on their site.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Back in the Saddle
Been off the grid for a bit, dealing with the aftermath of my car crash last week. Lots of insurance stuff and doctor stuff to negotiate. I was also feeling very depressed for a few days and did not do any writing. For me, that's REALLY depressed. But I'm getting it together again, realizing that writing makes me happy and is the best medicine for un-happy.
It astonished me to find that although I have not "blogged" in a couple of days, people are still visiting this site, and that is deeply gratifying.
I left off in "The Janus Games" at the beginning of a new and important scene. It puts the reader into the POV of Angel Ortiz as well as introducing some new suspects, before the "crime" is even committed. I'm sure that breaks some set-in-stone rules of writing, but I prefer to follow the advice I heard at Love Is Murder a year or so ago: Write your book. So I shall.
It astonished me to find that although I have not "blogged" in a couple of days, people are still visiting this site, and that is deeply gratifying.
I left off in "The Janus Games" at the beginning of a new and important scene. It puts the reader into the POV of Angel Ortiz as well as introducing some new suspects, before the "crime" is even committed. I'm sure that breaks some set-in-stone rules of writing, but I prefer to follow the advice I heard at Love Is Murder a year or so ago: Write your book. So I shall.
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