And Now The End Is Here. #NaNoWriMo

And Now The End Is Here. #NaNoWriMo

Picture courtesy of the NaNoEdMo website 

It’s official! Another #NaNoWriMo is over and in the books. If you participated, I hope that you enjoyed the crazy, hectic, stressful but satisfying experience and accomplished every goal you set for yourself and your novel. If you didn’t participate this year (like me), then I hope that you at least cheered for the participants. Some of these writers were doing this for the first time and giving it their all and that should always be commended.

The idea of finishing a novel in under a month is, hopefully, not as daunting now that many of you have done it. You are now part of the small group of people that have gone from saying, “One uh dees dayz, I’mma write me a novel,” to, “Holy crap! Dude, I wrote a novel.” (side note: Quotes may not be direct). So feel proud that you are no longer one of those if-I-only-had-timers and that you are officially a doer.

So what next? Well, unfortunately, now comes the hard part. I know, some of you are like, “What? The hard part comes now?” Trust me, if you weren’t having some real fun while writing, then you’re never gonna get through this next part: editing and revisions. Remember what I said in my previous #NaNoWriMo post: “Stray far away from attempting to do any editing and revising during the primary writing process during the month, even if you finished your goal early.” People will always try to argue for stopping and going back to fix things but I’m telling you that it can mess you up more than help you. With December being a month full of cheerful holiday greetings, sweet stuff, family and all-over holiday busyness, this month happens to be the month of nothing. Sit back, relax and enjoy yourself, your family or whatever other work that you do.

But even while relaxing, always be open to any little details, facts, factoids, or just cool twists that can impact the story you’ve just written, whether those things come to you on the back of mythical muse’s wings or if you overhear them at a party or wherever. Sponge them in, because January happens to be National Novel Editing Month (or something like that). That month will challenge you to edit, revise and re-edit the book that you wrote in November. You will have had a month to sit on the book and either think incessantly about it or not worry yourself with it at all. And when you come back and read what you wrote, and read all of your notes and whatnot, you might have a new perspective on what you wrote that could completely change your vision of the book or strengthen the vision you already had.

Editing a book that you’ve finished and getting it ready for people to read is the most trying, pressing, stressful work that you can do in this industry, so it is important to make sure that you give yourself every advantage you can. Indulge in your favorite activities and desserts this month, be around people that you love and care about, but also make sure that your mental acuity stays precise and razor sharp, and that your wit is not lost in the mire of sugar-sweet holiday sentiment because the real work, the not-so-fun part of writing a novel, the month where everybody who knows about National Novel Editing Month is a little on edge because half of them are realizing that maybe they need to toss a quarter of their book—that starts in January.

But again, don’t worry. If you are unable to finish the challenge, it’s OK. Many people are never quite able to finish said challenge because as long as it takes to write the book, it oftentimes takes twice as long to edit it on average (my observation). But this is the point where you can really shine, because as great as all of those cheerful, positive quotes about how “if you want to be a writer, then write. Now you’re a writer,” are, the truth is that anybody can write something, but that doesn’t mean they should be considered writers. Real writers take the time to try to polish their work to as pristine of a shine as possible. Here is where we will see if you will be one of those, “Oh, I wrote a book once,” people and that’s where the conversation ends, or if you’ll be a “I wrote a novel and edited it and sent out letters about it and tried to get it published and/or self-published and...” and the conversation gets interesting. Don’t just be a writer, don’t just be an editor, be interesting!

So, how was your #NaNoWriMo experience if you participated? Was it fun or a slog? Was this your first time or are you a veteran? Actually, I’m quite intrigued by that third question because it seems like most of the people I ran into out here on these internet streets were first-timers and I was wondering if people ever really sign up to do it a second time after either succeeding or failing at the challenge. I succeeded but didn’t do it again this November because I had other projects that needed tending to first, but I’m curious about others’ experiences. Anyway, leave a comment below about your experience. If you didn’t participate, then tell me why. Oh, and I’m still looking for people willing to review my new psychological thriller/mystery in the vein of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and In a Dark, Dark Wood, so please leave a comment below if you are interested because I would love to have 50 reviews for this book by the time I release it. Thank you. In any case, whether you just want to comment on NaNo or if you are interested in reviewing my book, I would love to hear from you.

Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking If you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 4 coming summer 2018. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary on Amazon. Season 2 of that coming real soon. And look for the mystery novels The Knowledge of Fear #KnowFear and The Man on the Roof #TMOTR coming this fall/winter. Twisty novels as good as Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train, you won’t want to miss them. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, “Hey, Mom, Dad, I was readin’ in a book that—”

‘Holy crap! You read a book, son?’ (dad)

“Yes, I read a book and—”

‘He said it again. He admitted to reading a book. Like, a full book?” (mom)

“Gah! Yes, a full book.”

‘Hmph! Probably had pictures.’ (sister)

“No... OK, well, yes. It had three pictures, but it was really long. Like, 300 pages.”

‘Well, what was it about?’ (mom)

“I don’t know. It was a mystery.”

P.S. Just admit it, you liked that joke. You liked the whole thing. You liked the setup and lame payoff. You snickered. Admit it. Admit it! I’ll try to come up with a much better, much shorter sign-off next time.

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To Write A Novel #NaNoWriMo #HalfwayMark #TMOTR

To Write A Novel #NaNoWriMo #HalfwayMark #TMOTR

This picture courtesy of the NaNoWriMo commission

Writing a novel can be pretty hard, y’all. Like... yeah! For those that don’t know or who have never tried, writing a full-length novel is very difficult and can be not only taxing on you mentally but quite a pain physically. And that’s even if you’re writing something you enjoy writing, something wonderful, something light and free and fluffy and lovey-dovey! Piecing everything together to create an easy, memorable and enjoyable reading experience for those future readers you one day hope to have is no easy task, but it is sometimes in this difficulty that we stumble upon (mental stumble upon. Wait, what do you call that...? Thunk upon! That sounds right) brilliance. The one drawback to brilliance is that you never quite know if it counts as such until it’s out there for others to see and consume. But that doesn’t mean you have to fret. I believe that all writing, even the fairly bad stuff, contains nuggets of greatness. That means that for you NaNoWriMo’ers this month, even if you struggle to get to your goal, even if you end the month without having completed your task, remember that you most likely have written something great.

Remembering back two years ago, I embarked on my first official (that’s very important) NaNoWriMo in November of 2015. It was a helluva month as I also decided to take on the unnecessary added challenge of NaNoBloPoMo or, wait... Is that what it is? That doesn’t sound right. NaBlo...? National Blog Post Month (NaBloPoMo! Ha!). For those that are unfamiliar with it or don’t blog, NaBloPoMo is where you post at least one blog post everyday for an entire month. Now, if you’ve read anything else on my blog, you’ll know that it is not like me to not be very verbose. Trying to both do my writing on my novel while also doing the whole blogging thing was extremely hectic and nearly pushed me over the edge. Somehow I managed to accomplish both in a whirlwind that saw me complete the month with at least 30 (don’t know the actual number. Would have to look back to check and I’m rather lazy and too busy to do that right now) blog posts and a 118,000 word first-draft mystery novel.

That novel is TMOTR (#TMOTR for social media) but you can call it by its god-given name The Man On The Roof. It was only the second mystery novel I had ever written, yet all the while writing it I felt a surge of energy that continued to push me forward each day and make me cognizant of its weightiness. I felt I was writing something that would be amazing. Now, granted, I am quite often delusional according to my therapist Bert the trash man who absolutely swears he’s just a trash man but is older, black, always has great nuggets of wisdom and totally fits the archetype of the magical negro (I swear that brotha went to Hogwarts or somethin’). But even with that I still couldn’t fight the feeling that I had created something great, which is one of the biggest reasons that kept me pushing through the project, pushing through the small snippets of writer’s block (though I find it insanely difficult to actually get writer’s block when you’re constantly writing and working on at least two different projects at once. I know it sounds crazy hard, but try it. It frees your mind) and the mental fatigue of crafting a story; pushing through the emotional roller coaster that was (and still is) my relationship with each of the characters and growing to love and loathe them as the time went on; charging forward through the quandaries and quagmires of questions that came up in the plot and how to get from point A to point C while making point B the most dramatic; creating a world and setting for not just my characters to live in but creating enough empty space for the reader to slot his or her thoughts and feelings into the setting too, in order to fill out the rest of the environment; battling to create not just narrative but atmospheric narrative; making sure each voice was right, each character just distinct enough; and figuring out a way to lure the reader deeper and deeper into the mysterious darkness while keeping them hooked on every word, every sentence, every idea put forth in the book. It’s a heck of a lot.

Now, two years after having written it, I finally am ready to release it and am looking for reviewers of this book that I think is similar to Gone Girl, The Girl On The Train, Big Little Lies, In A Dark, Dark Wood and the like. No, I wasn’t editing this the whole time. I worked on the editing for three weeks after I finished it and haven’t touched it since but only now do I think the timing for the book is right.

That’s neither here nor there. What is important is that I know your plight dear NaNoWriMo’er and for all you first-timers, I can say that it is wholly doable. Is it a challenge? Of course. And no, nobody expects you to finish over 100,000 words (which is only an achievement if the book is actually good). But push yourself further and harder than you ever have before.

First Mystery Suspense Thriller

Coming In 

December

OK, now it’s that cringe-worthy time where I give you unsolicited advice. I know. I hate getting that kind of advice because it seems to almost always come from some smart-butt who thinks he or she knows everything or knows something that I don’t, and just wants to rub it in. If you don’t want to take it that’s totally fine, but I do find that sometimes this stuff helps. Sometimes it helps to hear something you already know from someone else to sure-up your own confidence and sometimes there truly are things that you didn’t think of that another person has thought of and that can be helpful to you. So, here it goes, my tips on getting through the month.

First, I know that this month, for many, is so often not really about finishing the novel but about word counts and lengths, and as we get deeper into this thing, we’re gonna start seeing more and more people posting about how many words they’ve written in one day or one week, or how close they are to the minimum goal of 50,000 words. Ignore it! Ignore it all. Is it good to keep track of just how much you’ve done, you’ve accomplished? Of course. And taking a peek at how many words you’ve logged in a day or over a week does help you to gauge your productivity level, but don’t let this sidetrack you. In fact, don’t let the word count get you down at all. This is totally gonna sound like bragging but I assure you it is not and it’s truthful (you can go back through my blog and check if you’d like). So don’t judge.

Anyways, as I was doing the posts and the novel writing, and we did have the Thanksgiving holiday on which I am always the primary cook for my family, I still also had yardwork to do. As some of my long-time readers may know, I am a vegetable gardener and all-around environmentalist (Go #CaptainPlanet) so I am really big into composting. Well, that year I foolishly, for the first (but not last) time requested a truckload of leaves be delivered to my house. Leaves which I would use both for mulching all of my aesthetic gardening beds, as well as mixing with coffee grounds, lawn clippings and food scraps to set as the base for my compost pile. The picture below is of the leaf pile.

The pile was taller than me, as long as a full-sized Sedan (maybe longer), and made of the driest, most compact assortment of leaves you can get. Most were maple leaves and they smelled amazing, like warm maple syrup. We had 70 degree temps that week in November which is unseasonably warm but pretty great because it would get dark hella early and it was the week of Thanksgiving so everybody was home and off. Moving the leaves alone, it took me four days to get them all moved from the front of my yard to all around the property where they needed to be. That was four days of not writing at all on my novel.

Whatever time I did get at the end of the night went directly to my blogging and sleep. And another full day of Thanksgiving-ing (uh... That should totally be a word. Yes, I know that thanksgiving in and of itself is technically a verb. Don’t bother me with minutia, reader) where I also hardly wrote anything. So out of 30 days I only wrote for about 25 of them. My point is that if I had stressed over word count and how much I got done during those days (I may have blogged about stressing a little), I would have volunteered my brain for writer’s block and never achieved my goal. How many words you have doesn’t matter as much as how complete the story is and how good those words are. Granted, there is some importance to the word count if all you’ve previously done is write short stories, but even then, I’d say don’t look at the word count until you are satisfactorily finished with the story, then hopefully you still have a week of time left at the end of the month to make some changes or additions within the story.

The Writer Seasons 1-3 Out NOW

on Amazon Kindle

With that point made, I feel everything else should flow easily. Remember, while this month is certainly focused on finishing a full novel, it’s not really about finishing a full novel, but telling a story as best you can in a way that pleases both you and a potential reader one day. Have fun with this thing. Remember that the writing is supposed to be the fun part, even if you are purging anger, resentment, depression or the like out onto the blank page (The Man On The Roof #TMOTR was written in a rage-fueled miasma that stemmed from continuing to be a failure at writing and all-around, and having poor timing in my life). Don’t stress over words. Take risks with your writing, try new things, let the story take you where it wants to venture and be willing to make mistakes. But—this is something that most other authors won’t tell you because everyone is a huge worshipper of the editing and revisions process—make your first draft as near to perfect as possible. Yes, you’ll have plenty of time to go back and tinker and fix and add and subtract, but one of the reasons why this month is so challenging is not because of the word counts or things of that nature, but because it wants you to challenge yourself to write a novel and not just slop together some pretty words that occasionally make sense. If you’re gonna stress over anything, stress over the tightness of the narrative and the believability of the characters (not even so much the relatability as each reader will pick and choose who they relate to based on their own biases).

Another big nugget of advice: DON’T TRY TO EDIT ANYTHING DURING THE MONTH!! It’s tempting, I know. And some people will tell you that it pays to be a perfectionist and if you just go back and tweak things, it’s OK. No. Stop before you do that and remember this thought: there is more brilliance deleted by authors than ever makes it into their novels. Quote from me. Michael Stephenson. If you’re a seasoned writer you should already know that you should never be deleting anything anyway, unless it is a grammatical error like mispalings and such. But sentences that don’t sound right in the flow of things, dialogue that you don’t particularly care for and even entire scenes that you think can be cut—keep all of it in your first draft. And if you want to make an edit later, then mark it as something you want to take a look at, then write whatever you wanted to edit it to be (if you already have something in mind) just below your note, but don’t delete it. And don’t slow down your mind’s conscious stream of thought to go back and question yourself if this one particular word is the right particular word in that sentence, because you could come back to the novel in a month or two and realize that your first choice was the best choice but you can’t remember what it was.

As for outlining and framework construction, I will leave it up to you. I will tell you that while I had been thinking of TMOTR for a while, I hadn’t had a proper outline and, in fact, the original idea I had for the story was drastically different than what the novel ended up becoming. Sometimes I have an outline but sometimes I simply leave prompts for myself, something which I recommend all writers do. The prompts are generally questions or brief synopses about what I want or think should happen either next in the story or what I am comfortable writing next. Again, this month should be about getting into a particular groove of comfort that allows you to open your most creative mindset. Some good questions are: what a particular character learned from what you wrote that day, when you want a crucial event to happen, how you see the characters interacting with each other at the end, and et cetera. Those are just examples, but it is important to think like a reader would which is going to actually drive your narrative. If you can get into the mind of your reader before they are in their own mind, and anticipate what they will think when reading your work, then you can reward them by fulfilling their expectations or yank them deeper into the story by throwing an unexpected twist at them. And yes, sometimes the best thing to do is to let yourself fall into a bout of writer’s block because right after that is usually when the magic happens, but never get concerned about not being able to get any words down on the page.

Extraordinary Season One Out NOW!

This month’s pursuit is solely to make you a better writer, make you a faster thinker and more agile wordsmith. It is meant to challenge your perspective on how you write from start to finish, including the planning process. So get messy, make mistakes, and most of all, have fun! And some of the best times you’ll have during this process will come, surprisingly, not from the writing, though that will be pretty amazing. Some of the best times might very well come from social media and any other offline/real-life socializing groups that you have where you can get together and talk about either writing or reading or both. NaNoWriMo is one of the few months where you don’t have to be or feel alone in the writing process. Yes, writing is often solitary but it doesn’t have to be this month. Go to wherever other writers are and share your stories of what you are doing. Give updates on what you are writing, what characters you’ve fallen in love with, which ones you absolutely loathe, or how the plot has changed from what you thought it was originally. And don’t just share triumphs, share failures, the mundane, the quirky, the questionable and the like. If you’re struggling with a particular section, don’t agonize in silence, take it to Twitter or Facebook or Goodreads or wherever and ask questions about that situation there. Yes, while there is always a bit of paranoia about idea theft, there are still tons of authors out there willing to help you solve your writing problems. And sometimes it’s just good to commiserate with others trying to achieve the same thing. Make friendships and more importantly, make enemies, too. Seriously, haven’t you always wanted a nemesis? You could totally have one and have that person be a writer just like you. It’s perfect!

Anyway, that’s my two cents. To all my fellow writers and authors who dare to participate in the 2017 November NaNoWriMo, I wish you good luck and happy writing. And for anyone interested in reviewing my novel The Man On The Roof, I would love it if you did. Here’s a description:

“There was a man on your roof.” And so starts the psychological intrigue. A small, quiet, Northeast Ohio suburb plays host to a murder when the body of a teenage ne'er-do-well is found hanging from a street banner on a summer morning. At the end of the lane where the murder took place, live five different couples and one old man. Neighbors make for convenient friends as all five couples consider themselves one collective group. But someone here is a murderer. Lies, betrayal and twisted deeds come to light as fingers point and eyes narrow. Who's lying? Who can be trusted? Who has a secret worth killing for? As spouses turn against each other but one thing is for sure: The boy's murderer was trying to send a message. The murderer will kill again.

A psychological mystery thriller in the vein of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, The Man on the Roof is told in 10 distinct voices that dig into the inner marrow of the lives and secrets that the people at the end of Shady Lane hold. Designed to be re-readable and keep readers on their toes, it will keep you up at night and have you second and third-guessing every theory about who done it and why. You might want to take notes on this one because you'll surely be talking about The Man on the Roof (#TMOTR) all year long! If you'd like to review it, let me know in the comments below and we can set something up. Currently, it will only be an ebook but hopefully within six months I will have hard copies.

Otherwise, I wish you all as much success as you can stand this month and beyond. Write something cool, and if it isn’t cool don’t fret, nobody actually reads books anymore anyway ;).

Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking If you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 4 coming summer 2018. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary on Amazon. Season 2 of that coming real soon. And look for the mystery novels The Knowledge of Fear #KnowFear and The Man on the Roof #TMOTR coming this fall/winter. Twisty novels as good as Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train, you won’t want to miss them. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, (looks at book on coffee table) “Wow! Have you read that book?”

‘Uh... Yeah, totally.’

“I love the part when she takes the paddle and starts spanking the guy and he turns into a dragon and—”

‘Well, actually, I haven’t read it at all. I’ve just been using it as a coaster for my tea mug. Dat tea be hot and delicious!’

(exasperated head shakes)

P.S. Yes, I know that was a long sign-off. Don’t judge me. I should be judging you, reader. You totally know that you have at least one or two books that you have been meaning to read but is now serving as a cup coaster somewhere or is sitting somewhere in plain sight to make you look well-read. For shame! Well, at least drink a cup of tea for me. Cheers! I’ll think of a better, shorter sign-off line next time.

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The CBAs Of Life #Positivity #BlogShare #WriterLife

The CBAs Of Life #Positivity #BlogShare #WriterLife

Rainbow!

I will go ahead and admit at this point that I am actually so exhausted from the day of writing I just had that I am finding it insanely difficult to finish these last two posts for National Blog Posting Month (#NaBloPoMo). It's strange how two days ago I had writer's block on my novel and now I'm having writer's block on what to rant and rave about. While I was going to do a post entitled: Why Does The World Love Girls So Much which would have been on the recent Universal Studios acquisition of the film rights to an as-yet not released novel entitled The Girl Before, I decided against it because I didn't know all of what I wanted to say about it as my feelings continue to be mixed. The book doesn't come out until next fall yet Ron Howard is about to make a film out of it and some self-pub writers don't get the time of day? Hmph! That has led me to do this post instead.

Positivity. Everyone tries to maintain a level of positivity in their lives in hopes that it will not only spur on things like good health and good relationships, but success in all areas. Some rare occasions I forget just how important being positive is. Let me give a caveat here and say that I respect and realize the usefulness of all emotions and feelings, but there's just something about positivity which is so addictive and the one thing we must all have if we are going to get through the drudgery of life.

From what I've seen, the world is filled with people who will doubt you and your abilities at every turn. I remember back in college I wanted to start a comedy thing and was immediately told how hard it would be. That is when the idea reinforced in my head that sometimes another person's "negativity" is not meant to be mean or overly critical on purpose. Often they believe the truth behind their words. The great thing is that you don't have to believe it.

Don't get me wrong, we all need to hear the truth from those around us we trust, but we must train ourselves to discern between when someone else may be correct about our reality and when we have the will and/or know-how to prove them wrong. I think it is for this very reason that we sometimes must take on challenges to push our limits and test the boundaries by which others see us and we see ourselves. One of the reasons I took on the National Novel Writing Month (#NaNoWriMo) challenge was not to prove to myself I could do it (I've written a book in a month countless times) but to cheer on others that didn't know if they could or not. In some ways I lost sight of that a little and busied myself with my own novel, but it did reinforce to me the precious feeling you get when you believe in yourself and accomplish what you set out to do.

My standards by which to live have always been summed up in about four or five words. You first have the acronym CBA: Conceive, Believe, Achieve. There is nothing you can do in this world without locking in the first concept of, uh... conception. You have to know what you want to achieve before you can achieve it. Some people don't have much of an idea about that when they start something. It's always too general. Saying that you want to write a novel, even picking the genre is not specific enough to motivate you all the way through to the end sometimes. I know we've all heard it before thousands of times, but writing or picturing clear goals for yourself is paramount to success.

Your Brightest Days May Lay Ahead Of You Yet!

Next, you have to believe. Stay as positive as you can as you start the process of going after what you want. Sure, you may breakdown. That's fine. A breakdown is OK so long as you can recover. Don't be ashamed to fall apart especially if you're trying to do something that others around you know is possible but are too afraid to attempt. Pride can get in the way of you daring to fail, get back up and continue. Don't take this as a continue-at-any-cost thing because when you do fall, make sure you have those honest people around you to tell you if your goal is reasonable. If it is, then keep going after it.

Though it doesn't fit into the neat acronym, the next thing you have to do is work your butt off. The reason I like NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo is because it pushes writers to try fitting into a community where everyone is working their tails off to get their art out and onto the page. You have people cheering on your hard work which can make you want to work even harder. But when this ends, we all must find the desire, the burn, the drive to continue the work we started. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor in a month. Your goal for writing that novel, or losing weight, or getting that job promotion or raise or whatever you want to achieve takes time. Keep at it!

And finally, try to achieve what you set before you. Remember the goals, put a time stamp on when you want to have achieved them and try sticking to it. Admittedly, it doesn't always work, but when it does, it's amazing. Even if it doesn't, you always learn something about yourself and the world around you on the way, and that can be uplifting in its own right.

What do you think? For those NaNoers out there are you staying positive as the month closes out? Do you maybe have some other goals you're trying to achieve that you are trying to stay positive on? How has your November 2015 been? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare, check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "gimme an A! Gimme a B! Gimme a C! What's that spell?"

"ABC is not a word. It doesn't spell anything, it's just the first three letters of the alphabet."

"Wow! You try to do a positive cheerleading exercise and some people just have to be that guy."

P.S. Don't act like you don't know who that guy is. You know. You probably work with him. I'll come up with a better sign-off next time.

P.P.S. Am I tripping or just spelling "positivity" wrong? I used two different word processors and they both underlined it? Guess machines don't like that word.

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What Am I Missing? #NaNoWriMo #NaBloPoMo #TMOTR

What Am I Missing? #NaNoWriMo #NaBloPoMo #TMOTR

Banner courtesy of NaNoWriMo Organization.

Three? First... 10... mine? Hmph? Oh, right. I'm supposed to be writing a post right now. The thing is I'm sort of gone in the head. It's late as I write this. It's late on Thanksgiving Day though you won't read this until Friday or a year from now (hello, future fans! Do you know the riddle?). I am almost done with TMOTR 92,000 words and suddenly I've hit a snag.

That horrid and unsettling feeling that all writers get at some point, many times on one project, even multiple times during the day, I now have. That's right, fellow writers, I have reached a point of writer's block. Don't worry, it's mild. I still have a few things I know how I want to write, but I have the sneaking suspicion I'm missing something... but what?

For starters, I rarely get writer's block anymore. I remember back in high school I used to get it all the time, even abandoning projects because it was too hard to think of the next thing to unfold. It is within those times that I think the truly committed (or crazy or both) buckle down and tell their imaginations how it's going to be, not necessarily reinvent their writing style but their process. It wasn't until my late years in high school did I start writing nearly all stories nonlinear-ly. Don't get me wrong, most of them unfold in a linear progression, but as I've said before, I write what I can write when I can write it. Then the multiple stories thing came in during college. Sometimes I would work on up to eight projects at a time. I really hope that doesn't sound like bragging, I'm just saying what works for me. Rarely have I ever broken from this accept for in one recent case while finishing my epic serial novel Unrequited due out sometime next year.

#KnowFear

To be clear, I haven't had writer's block on a novel or screenplay literally in three years. Now? Something is missing I'm sure of it, but I can't figure out what? For the month I pushed aside my usual routine, working only on the novel and the blog to try completing the #NaNoWriMo and #NaBloPoMo challenges. So far, it's slowed my novel progress but I still think I'll finish, but I can't shake that feeling. TMOTR is a mystery. I don't often write straight mysteries. I have one coming out soon entitled The Knowledge Of Fear, but that's not for a few months. So, since I am stuck for the first time in a while, I turn the floor over to you subscribers and casual readers. Leave a comment below or send me a tweet on Twitter and tell me what you think makes a great mystery. Or tell me what you think the basic structure of a mystery even is. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm even writing a mystery at all. I don't know.

Anyway, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and if you are one of those people who happened to venture beyond your front door into the shopping culture of America for Black Friday deals, you can also leave a comment about what you got or if you really found any deal actually worth the effort. Tomorrow, expect my gardening post finally. I'll be writing that right after this one.

Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare, check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "gobble, baby. Gobble, baby. Gobble, baby, gobble!"

P.S. If you get that dance song reference make yourself forget it so that brain power can be focused into something else like learning a new language or figuring out how to get every last squeeze of meet out of those sausage roll packages. Every single time there's a little bit of meat still left over after I squeeze and squeeze. Eh! I'll think of a better sign-off next time.

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Constructing A Bestseller #NaNoWriMo #NaBloPoMo #TMOTR

Constructing A Bestseller #NaNoWriMo #NaBloPoMo #TMOTR

Courtesy of the NaNoWriMo organization. 

I will probably never do this again! Goodness, this is a lot of work. No, not the NaNoWriMo (#NaNoWriMo) alone, nor THE NaBloPoMo (#NaBloPoMo) alone but combining them is a lot. Don't get me wrong, I have written plenty of stuff in a month or less before--it's kind of my average for a full-length novel--but never have I had to do the posts every day too, coupled with the garden clean-up. MAN, November is just such a busy month for me. Is there any way we can move this to January when it's longer, there's less happening (no Thanksgiving means no Thanksgiving travel), not to mention it's actually snowing then and more people are snowed in and missing school or their other work because of the weather? Seriously, the NaNo people should look into that. Just imagine the rush of energy writers will feel from completing a book at the beginning of the year. Major bragging rights for the rest of the year, but I digress.

This Monday, as I am writing this, I am up to about 80,000 words and still have somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand to go. The book I'm writing--you know, the future bestseller that I told you about in my first NaNo post--is a mystery and it has a lot of moving parts to it. Oh, and remember that hashtag up top, #TMOTR, cause in about a year it will be everywhere, ON everything. Seriously, I cannot stress enough how big this book will be, people.

Courtesy of the BlogHer network.

Having now come to the hard part of writing for me, I am faced with the near insurmountable task of having to cobble together the sequence by which what I've written should actually go in the book. Revealing a little more of my writing process as talked about on my Twitter-friend and fellow author S.M. Dahman's blog, when starting a book, I just write. I have the details of what I want in the story, I have a basic structure of how it goes, I have THE plot from start to finish, and I have a few clear visions of scenes. Starting with the easiest scenes, I push forward and I don't stop until I hit a wall where I have to stop to force myself to think of how to get from point A to point Z (usually the ending is one of those things written first).

I have nearly reached that point. Now, I'll most likely spend a few hours trying to slot the things I've written into where it should go, shaving off what can and can't fit so that the transitions are smooth. Because it's a mystery, I actually will keep a hint of confusion for the reader to feed into the overall aura of the book; everything else must flow. Hopefully I can make that happen for TMOTR and still produce a bestseller. Remember that success starts first with convincing yourself that it's possible, then convincing the world, sometimes one person at a time. When you read this book about this ROOF, you'll know that I succeeded at convincing not only myself, but you as well.

What about you, fellow writers and readers? Writers, are you reaching any of your goals to finish a book or get to a particular word count or scene count (that's important too, as some stories needn't be long but every scene impactful)? Are you already finished or trying to rush to the finish line? And how do you feel about your finished draft? Is it good or did you just slop some words together just to say you did?

What about you bloggers out there? Are you succeeding at the post-a-day for the month of November or did you miss a day or two? How do your readers/subscribers feel about the onslaught of posts? Are you ready to go on vacation from blogging? I sure am.

Well, wish me luck on completing these two challenges as I'll probably be working a little on Thanksgiving too. Anyway, let me know what you're writing/reading in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend now a 5-star rated comedy novel. #AhStalking 

If you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "you want me to do what?"

'Read a book!'

"Fine!"

'And picture books don't count!'

"What hell is this?"

P.S. I like that sign-off. Gosh, I might keep that one. It's just such a long conversation, though. Maybe I can fix it in the editing process. I'll see if it works for the next time.

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NaNoWriMo Progress Update November 2015 #NaNoWriMo #writer #NaBloPoMo

NaNoWriMo Progress Update November 2015 #NaNoWriMo #Writer #NaBloPoMo

Emblem courtesy of NaNoWriMo Sponsors

This book is a future number one bestseller. That is what I have convinced myself. That is what I believe it to be. That is what it one day will be. This book, this mystery, this novel about a murder is what will be on every mature reader's mind come one year's time. The re-readability, the depth of character, the richness of whodunnit--all of it will mingle in people's minds. They may not love the characters, or even like them, but they know them. They know them as well as any person can know a fictional character, as well as anyone can truly know anyone else in this world. And it'll make them fearful. And it'll make them inquisitive. And it'll make them wonder how did he know? How did I know that it was going to be a bestseller, that it would occupy the mind and drive them to talk about it so constantly, to loathe and cherish it all at once. This book is a future number one bestseller, and boy is it pushing me to the brink.

Courtesy Harper Roofing

So, what are we talking about here? A man and a roof. Sounds simple, right? When it comes out, and you see the title, you'll know that this was the book I dared myself to write for NaNoWriMo (#NaNoWriMo) or National Novel Writing Month. For those unfamiliar with it, the name says most of it. Every November for the last few months writers challenge themselves to write either an entire novel or somewhere near 50,000 words (that's the average I've seen). Currently, we are precisely halfway through the month and I am only 50,000 words into my manuscript after 12 days of writing. I had to take two days off to do yard work and get my garden winter-ready. That is roughly just under 4000 words a day--off my usual word count. Why am I so off, you ask? I think it has something to do with NaBloPoMo.

Emblem courtesy of the BlogHer network

NaBloPoMo (#NaBloPoMo) is National Blog Posting Month which I guess is also this month. Me, in all of my genius, decided that not only would this be the first year ever I participated in NaNoWriMo but also in NaBloPoMo since I have a blog and why not. The latter is a challenge to make one blog post per day for the entirety of the month (holidays too. Yikes!) So far so good, but because of that the novel has somewhat suffered.

I don't often get writer's block. I keep my flow going by working on multiple projects at a time. But for this challenge I cut back to just this novel, the posts and editing a short story. Now, much of my time is spent pacing back and forth. I'm near halfway through the novel and the crazy part? I've only just now gotten to the hard part. If I wrote at my normal pace, skipping a few posts a week, I'd probably be finishing sometime at the end of this week, but this whole challenge is driving me crazy #WriterProblems. Have I lost hope that I can completely crush both challenges? No, not yet, but I am growing antsy about the novel.

I know what you're saying by now. You've probably thought all sorts of, "he's delusional" and "bestsellers take time" and "no one writes a bestseller for NaNoWriMo," but a guy can try. And if I succeed I'm just telling you doubters now that I reserve the right to smear it in your face and be as petty as I can. For you supporters, thanks for the support.

On the good note, I have all of my characters well-shaped, I know much of the plot but I am struggling with the ending scene. I've already written the inciting incident, one of the larger action sequences (though I don't feel comfortable with how it unravels), and stuffed it with clues of who it could be. However, I am still struggling to write for three of the characters and haven't been as "showy" and descriptive as I'd like in a few scenes. I know, I rarely ever talk about writing on this blog which is why it is such a (refreshing?) change, but I feel I needed to do at least one post on my month's progress.

So, how are you doing? Are you a writer or a reader or both? If a writer, are you taking the NaNoWriMo challenge? What about the NaBloPoMo challenge as a blogger? Did you even know about the NaBloPoMo? I think it's new to this year. Let me know about your writing experiences from this month and as an added bonus, if you've written something, tell me what was your favorite part and least favorite part of the writing experience. And if you're new to the blog, check out some of the other posts as I usually talk about TV and movies and a host of other things. Know what you should be watching and what's getting canceled and stay tuned for some funny (hopefully) posts in the coming holiday weeks.

Anyway, let me know what you're writing/reading in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend now a 5-star rated comedy novel. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "I'm going to write a novel!

'But Jimmy, writing a novel can take years and thousands of words slung together to make meaning and a plot.'

"I'm going to read a novel."

'They're kinda long.'

"I'm going to take a nap!"

P.S. That would probably be a good sign-off if it weren't so long. Dang it, Michael, you've fuddied it up again. I'll think of something better the next time.

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