Control Me Cover Reveal

I doubt I really need to say anything. Been busy writing my other book and figured this would give me drive to edit more.

Hope you all like. May be fixed before publication date.

Almost Time to Edit…Again

Well, that title pretty much gives away what this post is going to be about. I finished typing up Control Me, reaching just over 90,000 words. There is one problem though, I tend to add more than remove in my novels.

I find when I write I forget parts of sentences or I don’t fill in the blanks when it comes to describing scenes or parts. It’s the only downside of handwriting what I think of at the time.

Editing will resume soon, I just need to make sure I’ve taken a long enough break. I did do all the chapters, making sure that they were not too long. I like smaller chapters, easier to read. This, too, may change as I edit. I remember changing a lot with Murder Never Dies and Unknown Caller.

Once I get the first 10-15 chapters edited I will post them for free for people to download and get a feel of my novel. It’s not like any other I have written and I enjoy it, but I am sure most may not.

For now, I have been working on the sequel to The Selected while processing two other book ideas. This tends to happen a lot, I get many ideas, but I have to make sure I really want to edit or not. The sequel is going well. Most of the plot is starting to fall in place already, making it easier to write. The only problem is my work and health issue is making it difficult to stay awake once I am home.

I am 60 pages into the novel, which is a nice chunk. Some day’s I wish I was a full time writer with a schedule I created and had a room I could lock myself in that never let me get distracted. I’ll continue to dream.

Back to writing! I am in the mood to do it and have not done any yet…I am terrible. Next week I should be editing and should have Control Me up by the summer!

Word Count and Control Me

I didn’t feel like posting two small blog posts for two things that are both small. Update on Control Me will be my first topic. I am already 76k in, with more still to type. I think this will be my longest novel yet; which I cannot tell if that is a good or bad thing.

I also need to start getting a good little description for it to tell people what it is about. That part is the hardest for me. I tend to ramble. Alas, I need to think back to my schooling.

What I have so far:

What would you do if people were hunting you for your special abilities? What if you were the one to discover this?

Janet Clemmons was trying to get her Master’s Degree in Rhetoric when she gets offered a job to help the government. While working for the government she discovers that people are hunting for an object that can control people. As she continues to analyze she discovers that she is the object that is being hunted.

In order to help her the government assigns her a personal bodyguard that makes her travel the world to keep her safe, but that is not possible.

She is forced to use her powers to escape being captured causing her to do things she never wanted to do: kill people.

The more she uses her abilities, the more she is hunted. Arguing, fighting, and death are becoming popular in her life because of what she makes people do. Soon, she will have to make a tough decision to stop the hunt and end her having to murder people in order to live.

I hope it sounds all right. Once I find someone to edit my novel I can do more and get their opinion. I love this novel because it is not my normal style, but that topic is for another blog post.

New Year, Time to Write and Another Part of Control Me

Don’t worry, that is not my resolution. I never was a fan of them. What’s the point of setting a goal to last all year? Why not strive to be happy and do what you love? Well, and I have to learn to stop doubting myself. I have a tendency to think my writing is awful and I will never get published. No, I don’t have a fear of rejection, more a fear of being accepted. Maybe I will finally get over my fear and send out Query Letters. Hence the word ‘maybe’.

In regards to that, I plan to do what I have been doing for the past couple years: write a novel a year and type up a novel a year. Hope that I can do that. Writing is my hobby, but my passion. Plus, if I don’t get confident and published, lots of friends and coworkers will be angry about not going on any trips.

I do have to say, I was spoiled for Christmas. I got a lot of amazing writing gifts. I can admit this, getting anything like that makes me feel like a little kid again.

Favourite one is this:

All I am waiting for is the blue ink I ordered so I can write my novels with it.

But, seeing as I have gotten side-tracked, I will stick with what I had initially planned: posting a little bit more of Control Me. Remember, it’s not edited yet, but enjoy! One of my favourite parts:

I helped Jared fold up the tent and stuff it in his bag. We woke up as soon as the sun hit the tent. There was no chance we wanted to risk being caught while packing. “Do we need to pack up anything else?” I said to Jared as I did up all the clasps on my large bag.

Jared closed up his bag and put it on his back. “No, the tent was the last thing.” He grabbed his small bag and waited for me to get the bags situated on me so I was able to move with ease. “We’ve got to grab a train to an airport. It’ll take three hours.”

“Fantastic. Let’s get going then.” I began to follow Jared through the woods. As we walked we listened for the sound of footsteps. Last time we checked a group was close to where we were. Every twenty metres or so he would stop and signal for me to do the same. It allowed us to be safe and protect ourselves in case people were near. This particular pause was longer than normal.

“I think that there are people near us,” Jared said as he focused on listening to the area around us.

When he went to reach for his weapon I placed my hand over his to stop him. “Let me handle this.” My method was quieter. I stood against Jared as I listened to find where the people were hiding. Not being able to see the people would make it difficult to control them. I signalled to him that I needed to move closer. Don’t follow. I need to make sure I can run back and find you. I waited till he nodded in acknowledgement of my message before I began to make my way through the brush towards the direction of the voices we had faintly heard. There was a group of twelve discussing the plan to do the search of the area. Now the method of trying to incapacitate them at the same time was going to be tricky. Either they would all attack us after they revived if I just put them to sleep or I could kill them and not worry about them chasing us. I decided to do the latter because it was the best decision for Jared and me. All of them had weapons, which made it easier on me. All I had to do was make them go after each other like they were all enemies. I stood, hidden by the trees as I looked at the group, thinking of the thought I had created in my mind. Within seconds one man had pulled out his gun and killed the guy across from him. After that shot it was chaos. They all fired at each other, falling to the ground in agony. As the last guy fell I dropped my head and stopped thinking of the thought. The deed was done. I was a monster. I had killed twelve people by making them kill each other. I was a monster. I had killed twelve people. Not wanting to dwell on the facts, I turned around and walked back to where Jared had stayed hidden.

Jared looked at me with a concerned face. “What happened?” he said when I had not spoken a word to him once I returned.

“They’re dead, or dying.”

“How many?”

“Twelve.”

“The others will notice. We better start moving, and fast.” Jared started to jog, weaving around the trees. He could sense my dislike of what I had just done, but he had no time to console. Twelve people were dead and whoever they worked for would take notice. He knew that my decision was the correct one. “You made the right decisions even if it seems like you haven’t. I told you, the first time always is the hardest.” That was not at all that supportive, but it was all he could think of while navigating back to the train station.

“I hope it does. If not, I don’t know what I will do.” It was hard to keep up with Jared’s pace carrying a large bag on my back and carrying a smaller one in my arms. The death of those men should distract whoever sent them long enough for us to get on a train and head towards an airport.

“Another ten minutes and we’ll be there.” He increased his pace, not wanting it to be longer than ten minutes.

Help? Just More Insults Towards Characters and Difficulty Writing.

I have blogged about writers attacking others before. Once again, I have found more of this happening. Some writers have voiced their opinion on this matter. Instead of copying and pasting what is being said, I am going to do a spin-off of what was asked and answer it in a better manner.

1. Character Development

One writer asked for some help in regards to their main character. The writer provided the name and wanted to get some feelers for what people thought of when hearing the name.

This s the constant response:

“Character's come from the author, and really needs to be the author's job to create them. As a wise woman once told me, writing is a solitary endeavour for a reason. The more people get their fingers into the pudding, the more it'll be messed up.”

I am not going to lie, sometimes I have problems with my characters. Most are based off a bunch of my friends and acquaintances, but mashed together. Putting out feelers helps me make sure my character is right for my book or for the name.

Yes, they are created by the author, but if your future readers cannot imagine them then there is no point of writing that person. Instead of saying make them whomever you want, one should ask what is already known to see if you can help.

I start with a basic character and develop them as they go. Characters are important to my novels, but I want them to grow with me as I write. My advice then is:

• start with a basic idea.
• look to your close friends for advice, traits, behaviours and looks.
• names can always wait unless the name is essential to the story.
• go with your gut.
• remember, how you envision them is not always how readers do.
• let your character grow and show you who they are.

Hope that helps with that. My advice is from my own experience and may not work for all.

 

2. Writers’ Block/Difficulty Writing

Every writer has this problem. If they  don’t they are lying. For once, I can say that I am happy how this thread turned out on the page. The original person said they were having a hard time writing because they edited as they wrote.

I always tell people that do that to stop. Write the entire story in one shot, take a break and then go through to edit it as many times as you want. You cannot edit it before you even know the entire story/plot.

One person’s responses that started an attack against them:

“I find it interesting that you say it went well, but only wrote two pages. I'm not sure what to tell you -- you either have the desire or you don't. Writing should be enjoyable. If it's not enjoyable for you, maybe you shouldn't do it.”

Some days I have issues writing two pages because writing seems so hard, other times I can write a lot. It happens. People have lives and cannot always write. Telling someone not to write is the worst thing to do to a person.

People say don’t push your writing, but at times you will need to do that in order to regain interest. How people gave advice made me smile. By far, this is the nicest response and one I can support because I agree 100% with it:

“But the good news is that in the case of writing, practice makes perfect. The more you do it, the better you get. And that's kind of a cliché line that people tend to throw out about a lot of hobbies and it isn't always true. But you definitely get better the more you do it. Again, I look back at the previous things I've done and I can note a clear line of improvement from work to work.”

Most of my work is crap, and I know that because I read it and laugh. I have gotten better, and that is from practice. To this person, it is their first novel. To those that loose interest or have issues, it is a learning curve. My advice when it comes to writing the first novel:

• write first, edit second.
• write as much as you can, when you can.
• if struggling wait it out. If it has been a long time (more than 3 days) sit down and try to write a paragraph or two.
• think about your novel whenever you can. This helps keep your interest.
• writing will be frustrating, sad, happy, pretty much any emotion you can think of, but that doesn’t mean to stop.
• lastly, NEVER stop writing. You will never know if you like it until you have finished a novel. If someone tells you to stop, laugh at them and keep writing.

Sorry about my rant again. I find it hard to check this forum site without finding some problems with people. Hope this helps others.

If any writer has advice, comment away so other writers can read about how you handle these situations and what other viewpoint can be offered.

Back to typing up ‘Control Me’. Over 45, 000 words and counting!

Control Me Preview

I haven’t had much happen in my life in almost a month. I have been busy working, Christmas shopping and preparing to go to two football games. One game involves me dying my hair bright green and blue, and painting my face. Will post some of those pictures.

Instead of ranting I figured I would post some of the book I am working on typing up, Control Me. Be warned, this is the typing up of the rough draft, I haven’t gone through to edit or make sense out of most of the novel.

Hope some people enjoy it, this is one of my favourite parts that I have typed up so far.

Cpt. Anderson saluted his superiors before he guided me to the chair next to where he sat down. His face was serious and he stayed quiet. Technically, he was not forced to attend this meeting, but he chose to for my sake or the sake of his superiors for he was unknowledgeable with how much power I acquire.

When I sat down I glanced at each officer before looking back at Cpt. Anderson. No one looked pleased to be here.

“Well, Miss Clemmons have you been briefed as to why we asked to meet with you?” the officer directly across from me said. His tone made me feel like I was less intelligent than them.

“Yes, I have,” I replied. For first introductions, this was the worst. It felt like each of the six officers were trying to see through me

“before we proceed with making a decision and meriting your proof, we need to see evidence.”

What type of evidence? I said to each of the people’s minds in the room. I had enough of their attitude.

“I’m sorry. What did you just say? The officer sitting beside me said.

Cpt. Anderson tried not to laugh. Since yesterday he had adjusted to me talking to him through his mind.

I asked you gentlemen, how you would like me to prove my abilities.

“Your lips are not moving,” the officer sitting at the head of the table stated.

I know. I am not using my mouth to speak. For being superiors they lacked imagination and intelligence towards something other than literature and facts.

“But, how?”

Cpt. Anderson put his left hand over his mouth to help disguise and resist laughing more. He felt my frustration that I was feeling because he was sitting directly next to me.

I am speaking to you through your mind. I can say anything to you this way.

All six officers stared at me in awe and confusion.

“Nope. I don’t believe you,” the officer that addressed me first said.

I sighed. It’s true. It would be best if you realized it now before I show you the next part. I assure you it will not be pleasant for you. Not that I was complaining about potentially causing harm to them. This was what I feared: disbelief. All I wanted to do was scream out of frustration. If I became angry it would spread to everyone. I had not properly worked on my powers to handle too many people, or designate each person a different reaction.

“Was that a threat?”

Yes, it was. I do not like when people do not believe me.

“And what could you possibly do to make that threat a reality Miss Clemmons?”

Glancing over at Cpt. Anderson I smiled. “Sad or angry?” I said to Cpt. Anderson.

“Sad, I guess,” Cpt. Anderson responded. Although, it was humorous to think of the men in charge of him getting angry for no reason, sadness was more of a proof of my abilities.

“Excuse me Cpt. Anderson and Miss Clemmons, what are you two discussing?” the officer beside me said.

You will see. I focused my eyes on the six of them and began to send out the emotion of extreme sadness. My body did not react as I pushed the feeling onto them. If I was using my ability correctly, Cpt. Anderson was not to be affected by the feeling.

Each officer’s eyes began to tear up before they started to cry.

Believe me now?

“How? Why? I feel so sad right now,” the officer across from me said. His eyes were red and puffy from crying.

I am making you feel sad. It’s a way to prove to you my abilities.

“Enough! I can say that we believe you now.” He wiped his cheeks with the back of his left hand. His cheeks were damp from tears he did not know why they were shed.

Within seconds I stopped sending them the feeling of sadness. My point was proven my abilities existed.

“Do you know how much danger you are in with a third of the countries trying to find you?”

“As you have seen and experienced, I am more dangerous than any of them,” I said. Instead of speaking to them through their minds I opted to speak aloud. “Emotions are only one aspect of what I can control.”

“You are a commodity that people will do anything to get a hold of. As you have analyzed, people have ideas with the use of you.”

It felt like I was to be disposed of like I was a threat to the country and world. Fear set in as I saw their faces. It was a mixture of concern, anger and no emotion. This was business, and I was their business. “So, what am I to do?” as the officers discussed me, I sat in silence and waited for a response. No other option but waiting existed for me.

After seven minutes all the officers returned their attention to me. “For now you are to remain here and monitor any new messages received from these countries involved. You no longer need to look at previous documents,” the officer across from me told me. “You will be supervised and escorted at all times. You are to keep your abilities a secret. Only the people in this room are permitted to have knowledge of your abilities and the full extent of them.”

What he told me was not difficult. The supervising and escorting aspect bothered me though. “Anything else?” The tone of annoyance was strong in my voice and I didn’t bother to try and hide it.

“You are to not use your abilities.”

That statement bothered me the most. My abilities were a part of me. There was no switch to turn them on and off. “I’m sorry, but that one I will not agree with.”

“You have no say, we are telling you that you are not allowed to use them.”

“I do have a say.” I clenched my hands into fists to try to suppress my anger.

Cpt. Anderson put his left hand on my right forearm. He gave my forearm a light squeeze. “Sirs, you cannot ask her to not use what is a part of her,” he said to his superiors in defense of me. He chose to remain silent throughout the meeting, but now he intervened for my sake. The majority of the rules were able to be respected. The last one was not.

“Did we ask for your opinion for Cpt. Anderson?” the officer across from me said. He was displeased with Cpt. Anderson for speaking out.

“No, sir, you did not. You are making a terrible decision assuming Miss Clemmons will agree to the rules.” Cpt. Anderson knew that I was able to leave at anytime, and then they would be unable to control me.

“No offence, gentlemen, but if you want me to stay then I get to deal with all the rules except for the last one. I had the decency and respect to inform you of my abilities. I could have let the people try to find me and invade Canada,” I said. What I said was the truth. How they came to have knowledge of my abilities was from me informing Cpt. Anderson. They were not in charge, I was.

“We will have to discuss this,” the officer beside me said.

“You have till lunch. If you do not agree to my use of abilities I plant to pack, leave and return home this afternoon.”

“Another threat?”

“No. As you should have realized by now I do not threaten. I warn before I act.”

“We will notify Cpt. Anderson of our decision at 1100. Dismissed.”

Cpt. Anderson saluted as he led me out of the room and down to his office. Once we were out of earshot of his superiors he looked at me. “Well played, Janet,” he said. It sounded like congratulation. As we entered the stairwell he held the door open for me.

“I did my best. They were difficult to convince.” I walked down the stairs beside Cpt. Anderson without him the meeting may not have gone as well. In my defence he stood-up for me, not wanting me to be taken advantage of. Thank you for helping me in the meeting. It was nice having support. Support was not a concept I embraced often.

He smiled, knowing I was able to decipher what it was about. Once we reached his officer’s floor he stopped me outside the entrance. “Even if they told you that you were not allowed to use your abilities, would you have listened?”

“No.” I smiled. My rebellious nature made me unsuitable for the army. Taking orders was difficult for me.

“Come, we’ll keep you occupied as we wait for the decision.” He held open the door for me before he began to lead me to his office. Even after several days of me working in the building, the people in uniform still gave me awkward looks. Most of them he caught and gave a look back. Civilian workers were not uncommon, but it was rare to see a new one without a connection to a person already working on base.

 

Keep writing everyone! Never give up on it!

Too Hot to do Squat

That is my mom’s line, not mine. Mind you, I do use it quite a bit. I have done some writing and finished knitting my first eReader cover. Yeah for me!

To go along with my writing theme of trying to help others know more about writing techniques I am giving another definition of what I use: flashback. Here is the definition, including more specific ones.

Flashback: is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial back-story. A character origin flashback shows key events early in a character's development. In the opposite direction, a flashforward (or prolepsis) reveals events that will occur in the future. The technique is used to create suspense in a story, or develop a character. In literature, internal analepsis is a flashback to an earlier point in the narrative; external analepsis is a flashback to before the narrative started.

Trust me, this is handy to use and a lot of writers use it. In my latest novel. Murder Never Dies, I start the novel with a flashback. This part is essential to the back-story and instead of writing another entire novel, or a hundred pages at the least I include some smaller flashbacks. Here is the beginning of my novel as an example:

Blood; there was lots of it. It was everywhere. It was all over me and the floor beneath me. I looked around the room, trying to recognize where I was. I tried to move my head, but it would not re­spond to my command. Something was wrong beyond my ability to see or comprehend. My eyes were all I had to allow me to figure out where I was. The wall I was facing was dull, except for when the lights which flashed or highlighted it. The colours and patterns of the lights looked like those from emergency vehicles. Red, then white, then blue and it repeated. Not in a set pattern. I knew the pattern: officer down, in need of backup. Worse call to get and whenever the call came through it required the patrol cars full sirens and lights. I knew that call all too well and in this case, the officer was me.

I tried lifting myself off of the concrete floor. My mind seemed to not be able to send these thoughts of movements to my nerves in order to get my body to react. I looked at the ground in front of me and all I could see was blood. Is that all mine? It could not be. I was not alone in the room. There was someone else with me. Someone else that had been hurt or killed. I looked up as much as my eyes would let me without going blurry or crossed-eyed and saw the body of a man. He was not moving. He—too—was surrounded by blood; which I knew was his. His face seemed familiar to me. I looked at his features. The dark, empty eyes; the long black hair tied back in a ponytail, matted with blood, sticking to his cheeks. The expression on his face was not of sorrow or of pain, but of anger: pure hatred. Whoever he was, all I could get a sense of was that I had killed him. Shot him with a gun not belonging to me. My hands seemed to not want to work for me at the moment. The place became even lighter, like spot lights had been aimed at the building to see who was or was not inside it. To see the dead man or me would be hard, unless people were high enough up off the ground and that may not have been enough to see us on the floor.

“Brady Oakes. Come out with your hands up! Release Detective Walden!” a man with a megaphone said slowly, boldly, so that I could hear him with ease inside the building.

Brady Oakes? The name of the dead man came slowly back to my memory. I had been investigating murders and he had been the prime suspect. Had I come here to stop him or had I been taken as his next victim? I looked at the dead man or Brady Oakes as he was known as. Confusion set in, my thoughts and memories were all a mess in my head. The noises outside worried me because I could not remember what was going on or what had transpired. All I could hear was the sounds of vehicles running, no footsteps or voices. I wanted to cry out for help, but my voice would not allow me. Am I dying?

“Detective Walden? Can you hear me?!” the man on the megaphone said.

I tried to yell ‘yes’ in response. It failed. Everything I had tried to do failed. There was a noise, which sounded like a door being broken into. Where? I was unable to see, or tell where it was coming from. The loud thud surprised me. I did not know if my body had reacted to it or if my mind was the only part of me that did.

“Get a paramedic in here! She’s still breathing!” an officer yelled out to the emergency personnel on the other side of the door when he had reached me.

I felt a presence of a small group of people near me. Something unnatural was happening. My body was reacting to the presence of one person in particular: a man. He had to have been out of my range of sight since his presence was barely felt.

“Detective Walden, can you hear me?” a paramedic said to me as he crouched down by my face.

I tried to tell him that I could hear him. Why can’t I respond to him? My mouth was moving to the response that I wanted to say to him. I wanted to tell him, but no sound was generated or moved from my vocal chords.

“She can’t talk! We need to get her to the hospital immediately!”

The paramedics, slowly and carefully, rolled me on to my back, placing a neck brace around my neck. They checked my vital signs and wounds as quick as they could. The total amount of noticeable wounds was seventy: a large and concerning number of wounds for any person to obtain and still be alive and breathing. “Let’s rush her! She’s lost a lot of blood and if she loses any more she won’t be conscious for much longer, let alone alive!” They lifted me onto the stretcher and rushed me out of the building.

“I will be there in a bit,” the man that had spoken on the megaphone informed the paramedics. “I’m all that she has!”

“I’ll let the nurses at the hospital know, Sergeant,” one of the paramedics said before he closed the ambulance doors, allowing my sight of the man to no longer exist.

The following chapter begins with: “Chapter 1: Two Years Later”.  If I did not do this at the beginning I would have to do this at the end. Flashbacks are a major part of this novel because it relies on the connection of a past case with a current one.

Next week I will think of another common writing aspect, unless someone would like to suggest me to explain one. This helps me remember what I learnt when I got BA. in English and Professional Writing.

Proud of my Mommy

This week I went to my mom’s for a change of scenery. I tend to do this more now that I am off because it helps me in a way. I read several books because my stupid pain pills make me all hyper when I should be sleeping. Only wrote a little; I feel like writing today so I can at least make up some lost time.

Now, no one laugh, but I am helping my mom out with her crafts by knitting again. Yes, I know how to knit, laugh all you want. I re-learnt in less than a day. We went to the little shop that hosts a lot of crafters, maybe to sell some things (we hope), or just to get their stuff out there. Here are a few of what my mom had displayed. She is working on ereader/tablet covers. I kind of am helping knit them. Hence kind of.

While knitting I told mom about my dream I have at least once a week about starting a Creative Arts Summer Camp for kids; primary focus is writing. She wants me to consider trying to do it because it would be something I would love to do and also something no one teaches anymore. To be honest, I learnt to write a novel by myself. Sure, you can get support, but no real lessons on how to start or what to do.

Enough of that idea/dream. Off to do a little bit of writing. Took my time to do this. It is amazing how one can do something to pass the time and turn it into something other people can cherish. That is why I love writing. I will blog again about why I hate writers that just want to write to get professionally published. Writing should never be about money making; if that happens, great, if not, one is still creating a work of art.

Hope everyone likes my mom’s work!

Foreshadowing

If I were to post this topic somewhere else I would get an onslaught of hatred with a few loves. I figured I should blog about it after talking to another writer.

Definition:

Foreshadowing: An indication of events that are to come. In fiction and drama, hints of forthcoming events prepare the reader or spectator for the eventual outcome of the action.

I don’t care what some writers say, I love it! Of course, you cannot use it all the time because it will loose it’s lustre. Some writers can pull this off well, while some do too much. To me, if you want to use this only put in a small section. If you give away too much then the reader knows what to expect. Mind you, I have only done this with one book: 1440. Okay, I am not fully experienced but I have done it before.

How I used it:

Sometimes, I wonder how I got here. Why did I deserve this? I have wondered a lot during the past day. It was all I could do. I have been alone most of the day. I spent most of the time in silence. Now I lie here, silent, and alone with my thoughts. I listen closely, and jump at the sound of gunshots, outside of the room I was locked in. I can hear the screaming and more gunshots. I turn my head and look at the empty doorway. I desperately want to know what is happening outside. Who is dying, and who is being injured. I cough up blood and spit what was left in my mouth on to the floor. I continued to listen to everything happening outside of the room I was in. I wished I could just get up and unlock the door to see the horror outside. My body will not move, except for turning my head. I cough up more blood and my eyes began to tear up. I know that this is not good. I know that I am dying. I look up at the door and watch it slowly darken. First at the edges, then the darkness swallows the door. The last thing I comprehended is the sound of a single gunshot and then utter silence.

This paragraph is the only thing in my prologue. I did not feel like it was necessary to put in more from the later chapter this comes from: second last chapter in my book. Oh yes, I do use prologues. Only in 2 books, so no need to yell at me.

I suggest that if people cannot think of a first chapter and want to write mainly the action or climatic scenes to use foreshadowing. It is a great way to draw in readers if done properly. Use it wisely and not for every book. I think it worked quite well for 1440.

Hope this helped other writers. My goals have always included helping other writers and never judging.

Back to reading I go…for now!

Nothing and Need More Books to Read

Absolutely nothing has been written in a few weeks. Damn health…I have been reading more, but also sleeping more. The pills I am taking are such a low dose that sleep helps with the pain, and gives me nightmares.

I did have a really vivid dream that I could tie into my book later on it. Too early to have such a highly action packed part, despite what my friend thinks. This happens quite often to me. I get started with a book, then lose my feeling for it. Trust me, once I get the feeling back for it I will write a lot. I just need some extra motivation.

I hope with all the blogs I am reading, and my writing friends on Facebook that are doing so well with their books, I can become motivated again by them. Or hope my emotions get in check and let me.

Also, anyone have any good books they have read? I am doing the Bentz & Montoya series and  the Necroscope series. I am looking for more reads. My sick leave length is now unknown until I get a surgery date. Plus, I just love to read. I am trying to read slower because I tend to read a book in a sitting.

Back to reading…not writing. I suck at being a writer and being so distracted.

Don’t Know Where to go

Ugh! I hate being a writer…sometimes!

I’ve been so distracted by everything that seems cool and well, my health. So what has happened to my writing? Pushed aside!

Not good. My goal is to try and write more when I go on sick leave. Why? Because I have been slacking. I have no clue where I want to take my story or what to do with it. I have gotten over 80 pages in and now am kind-of stuck. It doesn’t help that when I am in pain I do not want to write. For some reason I feel like my  writing is worse when in pain…or just in general.

Hopefully I can write. Most people are having success.

On another note, I am doing a free ebook giveaway for my newest book. Giving out 5 copies. Only thing to keep me entertained right now it seems. Back to playing video games until I force myself to write something, anything. This is just sad. Amazing what an organ can do to you. Love writing, but unable to.

On another note, another great writer has died. I loved Fahrenheit 451. Fantastic read.

Here is the ebook giveaway link. Anyone can join. Just be nice to me if you give me a review. I’m not intending to be the next James Patterson.

https://www.facebook.com/events/407215529322487/

So Many Distractions

It happens, right? The hubby left Monday and I have written, oh, maybe 10 pages. Everything is so distracting! I have had two girl date nights, so that took up time.

And, well, Diablo 3 has become my new thing. For those that don’t know me, I am terrible with video games. I generally suck and get addicted to playing.

Well, it doesn’t help that I am still getting a feel for this story. It’s tough for me to write something so new. I have done a fair chunk of introducing and training to the characters. I am just not sure what to do after that. I am sure one day it will just appear to me and I will have no problem writing it. This problem is why I always have two book son the go, one I am experimenting with, the other I can easily rely on writing for a bit. It will be written; it will just take some time.

It’s summer too! I hide inside when it is hot and go outside when it is cooler and I can sit in shade so I won’t burn. I love writing in the summer, but it is tough. I am having a writing struggle. I actually have to struggle to write. Stupid tumour is on my mind no matter how much I try to push it out of my head. No worries, not cancer, just a giant pest. When I am in pain I don’t want to write and the pain has been around a lot lately. Maybe I will learn how to write while in pain…hmm…must think of how to do that.

On another health note, I have decided that if the Docs approve, I want to go on sick leave June 11th. I see the surgeon the 15th, so if I get an appointment booked I am fine. My not glamorous at all job is becoming a little too tough on me. Hoping for a surgery soon. I am tired of waiting, especially over 7 months. Alas, Ontario healthcare is terrible.

Soon I will show people what is wrong with me, but for now off to eat breakfast, have a cup of coffee and write for a bit. Write first, video games later….but before 2 because I work at 3. Well, I best get going, I am even procrastinating on this blog. Five pages is my goal. I think I can manage that.

Picasso’s Work & Inspiration

Come on people, that one should have been obvious.

Yesterday, the hubby and I took my mom to the AGO to see Picasso’s work for Mother’s Day. Fantastic to see! We all enjoyed it, more so my mother and me. We grew up with my Uncle and Grandpa interested in art, both quite good too. It was only natural for us to want to see it and enjoy it. Plus, once in a lifetime thing.

What we discovered was how you had to look at each picture differently in order to see the pictures. It was fantastic. My mother and I would angle our heads opposite of each other to see what we could see. Each angle brought out something different in the pictures.

We ended up with two favourites. Viola! Here they are! One on the left is called Two Landscapes and the other I cannot remember for the life of me, it involves a guitar.

 

All this made me think. He started becoming noticed when he was 14. Now, I am not saying I should have been recognized at that age for me books. I look at how things have changed. When we wandered the contemporary exhibits we did not like much at all, well….we maybe liked one or two things and really disliked the rest.

I am picky about art and I will admit, I prefer paintings more than anything else. I remember knowing some people that went to Brock and enjoying their paintings. They were unique and beautiful to look at. Not some backyard looking things.

As you can tell, I am not cut out for art, I am cut out for writing. I found this trip to be helpful, more of a “stick to your roots” when it comes to my writing lesson. Sure, I dabble here and there. Everyone has to. I am sticking with my roots because it is my better style of writing. I just think back to what inspired me. My inspiration is not so visual as in Picasso’s works. I have to mould the inspirations to make them work for my writing.

All right, enough rambling about me! I best try to write a little before I fall asleep. Long days and not enough sleep for my liking.

I will say one thing, the show was fantastic and very inspirational. Happy I went and happy that it has helped inspire me to keep writing. Oh, and I got a writing book from there. Hehe, got the mom and hubby annoyed. I needed to keep a little memory of the trip!

Murder Never Dies Completed and Ordered

It is finally done. Took long enough. I have ordered a bunch of copies and that’s that. I should be more ecstatic, but that will be once I get the copies. Even if it is self-published it is still so nice to see a book with my name on it and knowing that I wrote it.  Plus, that’s 80,000 words handwritten and then typed up. Brain=mush.

I have done the same thing I have done with my other two books: publish through lulu and smashwords. It’s nice having a print copy, but eBooks are everywhere and are now becoming a very popular medium. Took so much work to format them, but now I have set templates so that will make a little easier when I decide to do it for another book.

The book blurb can be found in my Books page. That way I do not have to paste it here when it is already on my blog. I updated it early this morning when I ordered copies.

All I know is it is nice that I can write freely and not force myself to edit. Now that it is done I can focus on writing my new book. Hopefully more inspirational blog posts will arise from this. For now it is just pure happiness that my brain can rest and no more typing is really needed to be done.

Such Good News That Other Authors Would not

Today my blog has reached 2500 views. For most, I know, it is small, but for an unknown blogger it is a a big deal. Mind you, I don’t know if people are actually reading my blog. Who cares! Still views.

Also, I have sold a few eBooks now and am content. Not a tonne, but enough to make me smile. And my free 10 chapter preview has done well. Barnes & Noble has had 184 downloads of it. Excitement. Maybe people will actually read it once it is officially complete.

Talking about that, the brother is getting the last chunk of editing today. Lot’s left for him, but then I can get a chunk done of the final revising. Ugh, almost done the painful part of completing a book to self-publish. So I hope by the middle of May to be at the end of revising, that way it can be out by June. I like to have books out for the summer, best reading time because people like to lie out in the sun. Also I can ignore the idea of having to type up another book.

Oh yes, so the YA novel is going well. Over 40 pages in. Fantastic. Thinking of the name “The Selected”, but knowing me, that will change. I suck at titles and I think one is great and the odds are never for me. I have named two books by myself out of 17.  Not a very reassuring number. I am not lying though, I like this book idea. It has been so long since I have been this dedicated to two books right in a row. This must feel like most writers when writing a new story…or I hope so.

Plus, I cannot understand how I am failing at my two hours of writing a night. I can do a chunk on my days off, but right after work when I should be relaxing and writing would be nice, I cannot do it. I get distracted, even with the hubby having to use my computer because his died. So sad.

One day I will get over my phobia of telling the world about my new book once I get over halfway through. Sorry, my only bad news of this blog posting.

All right, rambling aside, I must get back to writing before the doctor’s appointment. All I do is do the whole wait and see game with doctors. For those that know me, six months of this is not good. I have now lost all patience and am getting pretty moody. Due to that, I am off to write. Helps me vent and relax.

New YA Book

Oh my god!!! If I were a dog I would be running around in a circle for several minutes. And yes, that was far too many exclamation marks, so hate me all you want for it.

I have not written or even thought of writing another YA since I was a YA. This seems a little strange to me. No, I am not writing it because it’s the most sold age group for novels or because I want to be the next Suzanne Collins or Stephanie Meyer. I am writing this because for some strange reason this book idea came out of nowhere.

I am over 20 pages in, which is not much, but remember, I handwrite like I am an old woman. By now if I did not like the book I would stop. Instead, I am stuck in the debate of how many novels should be in this series. 2? 3? 4? It’s so tough. I am thinking four, but then I have to make sure I talk about the characters and what is happening and not jump right to the action.

For those of you that do not know me, I love action. Ok, fine, I also like getting to know characters too.

As you can tell, I am excited about having a new book idea that is sticking and so soon after completing both writing and typing up one. I do have to edit my other novel at the same time, but now I can dedicate some time to writing.

Trying to write two hours a night is tough, but I have to. Not for myself, sadly. I have a demanding friend, aka the sister, who wants to read as I write. So, lots of writing needs to occur.

All I can say is that it involves teenagers, violence, training, education and survival. Yeah! My style of novel!

Back to writing I go. Yippie! Oh, here is the novel that a friend chose for me to write in.

Even 7 year old me Knew I Should be a Writer

While at my Mom’s we found these old school reports. I read them and well, laughed. Thanks for the hint people. Took me till I was 12 to start writing novels. Jeez!

Here is term 1!

And here is term 2!

Hope all can read! If not, let me know and I will type out what it says!

Needs Motivation or Dedicated Writing Time

I understand that full-time writers are able to create a work schedule to write. Say 9-5, or something like. Whatever works for them.

Alas, that is not me. I wish I could do that, but, unfortunately, I have to work. Writing gets bumped back. And no, for those that wonder, I do not come home and write/edit till I go to bed. Half the time I am lucky to get to write for more than 2 hours.

Honestly, what happened to me. As a kid I could write all night. Now that I’m older I want to sleep a lot, or that is the whole health problem. That too adds to my lack of writing, damn health.

I am now wondering if I should force myself to write for 2 hours a night and make it a habit (except for my days off, then I can clearly write more). I have no clue if it will even help any. Some days I know I won’t be able to write due to pain, but I think it is worth a shot.

Motivation for working out was never a problem, but for writing, yes, it was a big problem. If I want a shot at getting publishing, hence the word ‘if’ I have to get back into a routine. I love routines. This should be simple…I hope.

Well, time to rest and hold my food belly. My aunt cooked an amazing meal, great times with the Fam, and my soon-to-be cousin-in-law as of this morning. Love when holidays have amazing news.

Oh yes, I will try to write. I can balance a book or laptop on said food belly. Time to instil the new routine as of tonight, if my eyes stay open. I hope everyone’s holiday was enjoyable and delicious.

Stuck in Writing Limbo

Writing ideas are appearing, but….well…they suck. Nothing can be flourished with them.

Instead, I’m writing one of my nameless books I started years ago. It’s a part of the series with the same characters from Unknown Caller. I’m already 70 pages in. Yeah!…I think.

I want to write new books, I really do. This book is just so comfortable. It is perfect for writing limbo.

Oh yes, Writing Limbo is a time between not wanting to edit a book I’ve just finished/recently self-published a book and starting a new book idea that I just cannot wait to write.

I really hope every writer has this time. Maybe they don’t call it my morbid name, although it suits it. Limbo is the place between phases/steps/anything you want to place in here.

I feel different during it. I feel, not myself. Normally I am proud to be a writer and writing a new story. Not right now. Well, okay, I am a little proud because I can list off what I have done. It’s more the lack of a story I want to really talk about.

All I can hope for is that during Writing Limbo this unnamed book will be complete. Hey, it’s a bonus. Make something out of limbo.

I am sorry if this is random. My mind is everywhere. So, with that, time to stare at my writing book and see if I can muster up some energy/ideas to write. Here’s to hoping.

Ideas and Books Never Planned Out in Advance

While checking my writers site thingy I discovered that people have their books entirely planned out. I mean every chapter has an outline.

Either I am a horrid writer or am just a different type. Nothing is set in stone for my books. Ever. Having that much planned out to me seems to be unnecessary and forced.

I get an idea, like everyone else, but I don’t force out the rest of the story before it has even evolved yet. It takes time. Sure, the main idea is there and some important features, but its not an essay.

I find that when people put so much effort into the outline of the book it looses touch with the readers and writers. When writing one would want to stick to the plan and not let it wander.

I say let it wander. Most book ideas come from my dreams. If anything important needs to happen with or in my story it would appear in my dreams, whether its daydreaming at work or sleep dreaming. Like the two books I am working on. One scared the crap out of me. Well, most do.

What I am saying is, if you are an anal person and cannot do anything unless it is strictly planned out, creative writing may not be easy for you. If some can do this, good for them. My opinion is that it would just ruin the flow of the book. Try just writing. It can work just as easily.

I always let books take me where they want to go. I suck at writing, but I can follow what things want me to do. Right now, they want me to relax my mind and write later tonight.