Listening to Your First Instinct

Death Sword Cover

Last time I mentioned returning to work on Serpent Fire, the sequel to Death Sword. Initially, Death Sword was meant to be a stand alone, until Samael demanded I tell his story. Don't ask. Anyway, Samael's story continued, not only in Serpent Fire, but in a third book, Devil Inside. Unfortunately, Serpent Fire kept giving me fits, and Devil Inside came together faster, although that meant nothing if I didn't get Serpent Fire in shape.

What to do? Considering I wasn't contracted for a series, I had to submit each book on its own and hope the publisher would pick it up. Except Serpent Fire wasn't working the way I hoped, and any hopes of submission were quickly becoming unlikely. I even tried combining Serpent Fire and Devil Inside, given Serpent Fire was a novella and Devil Inside novel-length. But that's only because I cut out a significant subplot from SF.

Know how they say to listen to your first instinct? Yeah. Good idea, in this case.

I was smart. When I decided I wanted to write each book separately again, I wrote down the chapters and scenes from both Serpent Fire and Devil Inside, and used a different process, particularly "Chapter 1, Scene 1" for SF, and "Ch. 2, Sc. 2" for DI. Then a bit of info about what the scene was about and any corresponding plot point. All this done on index cards, which I then transcribed on Scrivener's index cards.

An extra bonus? Pulling out all the folders I had on the latter two manuscripts, I found detailed notes and character descriptions. Granted, some of the plot had changed, but it was enough to work with. Even better? I had the manuscripts available, too. Now all that remained was to reverse engineer the stories, making any necessary revisions, adding in the subplot, and hopefully getting them ready by Spring.

Why wait this long? Why not work on Serpent Fire and Devil Inside years before? Not that I hadn't tried, but I couldn't make the stories work then. Since that time, I've written five angel paranormal suspense novels and one novella. Not to mention, parts of another angel novel and an outline. Perhaps I wasn't ready to work on Serpent Fire until now.

Mission: "Accomplished"

The other day, I accomplished something which I thought I would never do. I completed the sequel to Death Sword. Granted, my original plan went through several changes, and I finally had to concede to the fact that what I wanted to accomplish (a 3-book series) wasn't going to happen. So, Serpent Fire and Devil Inside were merged into one book. At this point, I think I'll continue using the Serpent Fire title.

Not that I ever meant to write a sequel or a series. Originally, Death Sword was a stand-alone. I'd finished the book and had started writing another one, when Samael, the antagonist from Death Sword began grumbling he wanted to tell his story. Our conversation went something like this:

Samael: "I want to tell my side of the story."

Me: "I'm done with Death Sword. I've moved on to another book."

Samael: "But you made me look like the bad guy."

Me: "Um, because you were? Now move along. I have too  many characters running around in my head, and you need to leave."

Samael: "No."

Samael was stubborn, and he continued to nag at me, so I decided fine, I would do a little more research about him, and maybe that would make him happy. Not that I hadn't researched him before, but I had some new material I'd acquired recently, and not only did I find something about him I hadn't seen before, it was something that convinced me that yes, I had to continue the story.

Now, I won't go into details about how Serpent Fire became my bete noire. I rewrote it twice, and finally ended up merging it with Devil Inside, a book that, in my humble opinion, was a bit more "together." Either way, not all is lost. I'm using material from SF in another book.

This new version of SF/DI will go through another round of revisions, but I hope to submit it this year, along with the novella, Hell on Earth, a spin-off of Exterminating Angel.

Cold Feet

Well, it's started again. Cold feet syndrome. Every time I enter a screenplay contest, or submit a manuscript to my agent, editor, or beta reader, I can't help but be bombarded by worries that range from "What if they hate it?" to "Maybe I'm not as good a writer as people say." Most writers will understand this anxiety, although there are those who believe their first draft is perfect and how dare anyone ask them to improve it. I'm not one of them.

I think part of it is I'm struggling with my current manuscript, Serpent Fire, the sequel to Death Sword. Yeah, I blame Samael. Death Sword was meant to be a standalone, and he kept complaining he wanted to tell his story, which became quite detailed, enough for two more books, the third one being Devil Inside. However, even though I know the story arcs for both books, and the overall story arc, have even created a story bible, truth is, I'll probably have to combine both books. Maybe. Anyway, I'm resorting to the index card technique to help me get an overall view of the story.

My goal this year is to write two to four novels, a challenge I'm doing with a fellow author and friend. I plan to write the next two angelic assassin books, although I'd like to write three, and that would complete the series, the first one which I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2015.

On an unrelated note, I got a new laptop, and was able to hook up my old laptop's HD to it, and recover my files. Yay!

Oh, yeah, and about those cold feet? My agent's supposed to call me tomorrow. I'm bracing myself for the publishers' rejections.

Revisiting Old Friends

And by old friends, I mean characters from stories I've either finished and left behind, or stories that I've almost finished, but for some reason put aside.

One of these manuscripts is Cathedral Girl. I actually started CG before I even wrote Death Sword. This was back in 2004. (Interestingly, I found a Zaphkiel Project manuscript from 2011, which would become Exterminating Angel. Makes me wonder how many drafts I have floating around on my PCs, and explains why I usually save them by the title_month_year to keep track.)

Anyway, the research for CG lead to an interest in the Memitim, which was the original idea behind Death Sword, but ended up becoming my NaNo project. The Memitim can be described as destroying angels (mal'ake habbalah) (from the Jewish Encyclopedia). Basically, angels of death.

Which brings me to where I am now regarding two different series about the angels of death, although one isn't an official series, and the other one is in the early stages.

Death Sword was supposed to be the first in a three book series (originally four) with each book focusing on a particular angel of death. For reasons I don't recall, I dispensed with the fourth book. Anyway, I wrote the second and third books, Serpent Fire and Devil Inside, only to realize my second book was a mess. (Ironically, the third book seemed to work better. Go figure.)

So I'm back to revising Serpent Fire. And the story has developed from a paranormal suspense with possible political thriller overtones.

But once I finish Serpent Fire and revise Devil Inside, I can return to the Memitim series.

Let's just say that's a goal for 2016. Year end goal is to write a TV pilot. :-)

Indie Gathering

This past weekend, I attended Indie Gathering International Film Festival in Hudson, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. I went with two author friends, Amy and Missy, and we had a table in the vendor hall, so I took copies of the Reel Dark anthology to sell. I also had rack cards of Death Sword and Exterminating Angel, my two paranormal angel suspense stories. They were the reason I was at Indie Gathering. Both short novels had received an award each.

I'll admit, this is one of the best-run festivals I've been to. All events took place in the hotel, and there was plenty of networking as well as viewing films and attending panels. I went to the short thriller-suspense films and Missy attended the panel on crowd funding. Amy had a couple of short films also screening.

Which got me thinking, could I come up with a short film for submission for next year, plus another screenplay or two? Seeing how they show micro films, maybe it's a possibility that I can enter a project I'm currently playing around with.

Anyway, I have one more con to attend this year in Louisville, Kentucky: Imaginarium. It's a multi-genre writers' conference, with panels, a vendor hall, and a film festival, plus awards banquet.  I'll be sharing a table with Amy and Missy in the vendor hall, which is free to the public this year. Looking forward to meeting new people and seeing old friends again.

"Double Duty"

Sometimes, after I've finished a story or a screenplay, I wonder if it might not be better served in another format. For example, I have a couple of screenplays that I'm probably going to rework because even though I liked the stories in their current incarnation, I feel they'd work better as novels.

I've also taken two short novels - Death Sword and Exterminating Angel - and adapted them as screenplays, even though they've been published. So why adapt? Because I want my stories to do double duty. I have published short stories I plan to turn into screenplays as well. Not all of them, but ones I think are suited to the cinematic format.

Of course, this brings up the question of which is better, the movie or the book? Since I'm only writing spec scripts, I can't answer that question. What I can say, though, is there's a reason why adaptations may deviate from the original source. I've even had to make changes. (While I was writing the screenplays, I found myself asking why I hadn't originally written the story that way. Oh, well, hindsight and all that.)

One reason for changing a story is that screenplays are meant for the screen. Many novels feature detailed descriptions and while this is fine, the writer will not be choosing the film's settings, unless he or she is also directing the film, such as for an independent project. Selecting locations is the production designer's job, in collaboration with the director and producer. So going into vivid detail about that Queen Anne Revival is fine for a book, but the production designer, director, and producer may decide that a Romanesque Revival is better suited for the movie.

Length is another factor, although in my case not so much. Most screenplays run 80-120 pages, and think how long some novels are, many with multiple subplots. Obviously, one keeps the main plot but with time constraints, it's possible that not every single scene of the story can be used. I ended up combining some scenes, not because of length issues, but simply because the screenplay flowed better.

Will anything happen with these screenplays? Hard to tell. But that's another post.

Reaching a Milestone

Yesterday, I validated my NaNoWriMo story, Serpent Fire, at 50,080 words. The novel isn't finished, but all NaNo requires is 50,000 words, and I've met that goal. I suspect many writers are in a similar position, and NaNo is the perfect catalyst to getting words on paper.

This isn't my first NaNo. Death Sword, my short novel, published by Lyrical Press, was a 2008 NaNoWriMo project. Last year, I wrote The Ripper's Daughter, a story about a former Scotland Yard DI turned vampire who's determined to stop the killer of Louisville prostitutes. Another vampire novel, initially titled Marguerite, was the first time I did NaNo (2004).

I'll admit not all of my NaNo attempts were successful. But I never threw the stories away, and plan to finish them. I've also found sometimes it's a good idea to let a story wait.

What do I plan to do with Serpent Fire? I don't know. I'm having fun writing it. At this point, it's a paranormal political thriller urban fantasy. I think it'll be somewhere between 60,000-75,000 words upon completion.

To be honest, I almost gave up on NaNo this year. In the beginning, I was so far behind, the stats predicted I'd finish December 3. I started writing 2,000 words a day, writing scenes out of sequence, just to meet and then exceed my goal. Sorry, folks, guess I'm too stubborn to give up that easily. The last day, I wrote 4,061 words to meet the 50,000 word goal. My process was write 1,000 words, take a short break, then go back and write another 1,000 words, take a break, etc. If I didn't know how a scene would work, I'd write another one, telling myself that I could "fix it in post."

I'll have to let you know how that goes...

Radio Debut

I was going to write a post about leaving writing groups today, but instead I decided to talk about my first radio interview.

Now, as a rule, I like to joke I don't have a face for TV or a voice for radio. Which is why I'm usually behind the scenes. A few years ago, I shot and edited a local TV show called Carl Brown's Reality. I had been interviewed by him on another incarnation of his show but this time I was behind the scenes.

I've also been a freelance magazine writer and have interviewed different people in the community. It's a long way from journalistic writing to genre writing. And it's a long way from being interviewer to interviewee.

My biggest concern is sounding like an idiot and not saying anything significant. At least with writing, I can revise before submitting. Radio interviews? They're live. Of course, I edited the video episodes, removing noise, fixing bad footage, etc.

If you like, you can check out my Edin Road interview here.

Have a great week!

Happy Anniversary

Today is the first year anniversary of Death Sword's publication. The journey began in November 2008 when I wrote the first draft for National Novel Writing Month.

Death Sword is the first in a planned four-book series focusing on the angels of death. Altogether I have eight or nine angel urban fantasy/paranormal stories planned, some partially written, some finished and ready for revision, and the rest mere ideas. Many of the ideas are developed from information I come across in my research.

If you ask me where I even got the idea to write about angels and demons, I would probably shrug and admit I've no idea. Perhaps it was independent filmmaker Kenneth Anger who piqued my interest with Lucifer Rising. Or a question that seems to be a recurring theme through my stories. What I do know is I enjoy upending notions of good and evil. Maybe not necessarily in Death Sword, but the ride's not over.  

You can buy Death Sword at the following:

Lyrical Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Thank You

Writing is a lonely business. No, I’m not the first person to say this and I won’t be the last. But there are people who stand by us, and this post is a thank you to those who’ve supported me during my writing journey this year.

My husband, who always encourages me when I get depressed over weak sales or no reviews. I’ve tried to follow his adage that soldiers (he’s a retired Vietnam Veteran) don’t give up. Not easy but it helps keep me focused.

Kate Lynd, fellow writer and cheerleader. She promotes my book and even allowed me to share in a book signing at the library. Some people talk about supporting an author. She walks the proverbial walk. 

Michele Lee, reviewer. Not counting the few Amazon or Goodreads reviews, Michele is the first one to give me a review on a book review site, Monster Librarian. Much appreciated.

BIAM_Writathon and Creativity Cauldron, two of the most supportive writing groups I belong to. Not saying my other writing groups aren’t, but it is these two who have gone the extra mile, hence their mention here.

Nerine Dorman and Renee Rocco, my editor and publisher, respectively, at Lyrical Press. Nerine keeps me on track whenever I derail. And she doesn’t let me get lazy with my writing. Renee has not only been supportive of Death Sword, she answers any questions this newly published author has.

Sonya Clark and Sara-Jayne Townsend, fellow Write Club bloggers, who allowed me to play in their sandbox and for also being supportive.  

And finally, thank you to my readers. I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed  my angel-centric urban fantasy. And I hope you stay with me on this writing journey.

Note: As a bonus for reading this, I’d like to share a video I taped at the aforementioned signing. Warning, it’s me reading the first chapter of Death Sword. But hell, if you want a good laugh, have at it.  *grin*

    

Prolific Writers

The problem with only having one book publishing credit to my name is having only one book publishing credit to my name. "Backlist is king," or so fellow authors assure me. And while that may be true, unless I self-publish, each story I write must first be accepted for publication. Thus, I can have every intention of wanting to create a backlist but no means to do so. Cue vicious cycle.

I'm impressed at the dedication of writers who consistently publish a body of work. But is quantity really better? According to a recent blog post I read, many commenters bemoaned the fact their favorite authors' works suffered from lack of quality. These readers preferred authors concentrate on writing better stories rather than merely churning out material.

Prolific writers are nothing new. Walter B. Gibson, writing as Maxwell Grant, wrote "more than 300 novel-length" Shadow stories, writing up to "10,000 words a day" to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s"  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_B._Gibson). Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, wrote 92 of the 156 Twilight Zone scripts, not to mention the screenplays Patterns and Requiem for a Heavyweight, among other stories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Serling). Charles Beaumont published over 70 short stories and 15 Twilight Zone teleplays before his death at age 38 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Beaumont).  

Of course, screenplays are different from prose writing. And the 1950s and 1960s are far removed from the publishing environment of today. But while print publishing opportunities may be dwindling, digital publishing is keeping doors open to writers. Not only can writers submit novels but also short stories and novellas. Not that print magazines don't exist, but I imagine that space is a premium and advertisers often have priority.   

While some writers may dream of a contract with the Big 6, I'm happy to seek opportunities with the electronic publishers. Not that I won't ever seek representation. And there's always the chance I will self-publish. But when I do, the work will be as polished as possible. Meanwhile, I plan to keep improving my skills as a writer while the plot bunny whispers ideas in my head. 

Research – A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Perhaps it’s a carryover from my article writing days, but research is an integral part of my writing process along with plotting, writing, and revising.

The reason for research is simple: to bring an air of authenticity to the story. Even a science fiction writer is likely to consider the laws of physics when creating an alien world. Authors whose stories take place in different times study the customs, language, settings, etc. The Prohibition world of 1920s Chicago is far different from today’s Windy City.

I’ve been engaged in fact-finding since high school. Even then my stories were set in the past  (usually Prohibition). Plots take place during the French Revolution, Colonial America, and World War 2. Recently, I’ve started exploring the Victorian era but haven’t yet found myself brave enough to attempt steampunk. (More research is needed.) :-)

One of the biggest benefits of research is it can lead to interest in other areas. The problem is I can become so absorbed in the new information, I forget my original idea. (Which is why I write them down for future reference.)

Research can also be a starting point. For example, in Death Sword, Xariel, an angel of death, suffers from a sex curse as a result of his teaching the lunar cycle and his former relationship with Samael. During my studies of angels, Xariel (Sariel), also a Grigori, taught the lunar cycle, which apparently was forbidden knowledge. Whether or not he was actually punished for this action, or for simply joining the other Watcher Angels, is probably debatable. For me, the important thing is how this punishment affects his character as well as his motivation(s).

Is research necessary? Depends on the author’s preference. Me? I’m the type of writer to go so far as to find out the temperature of a certain location. For example, in a short story I’m writing, I need to know how cold it was during the Louisville winter of December 1917. This way, I know what my characters will wear and how they’ll react.

Apparently, it was pretty damn cold.

Exploring the Writer’s Subconscious: Writing and the Tarot

As a writer, you think I would know everything about my characters, from hair color to backgrounds, even hopes and fears. Wrong. You see, I don’t “create” my characters. It’s more like we meet and I learn about them little by little.

But these are people from my imagination. How could I not know anything about them? I have vague ideas of course. For example, I knew Karla would have one blue eye and one green eye. And I envisioned Xariel as having blue-violet eyes and long dark hair. Not because long-haired guys are trendy in paranormal romances (which I guess they are and which Death Sword is not), but because that’s how they appeared to me.

Sometimes, though, I’m not quite sure about a character and need a launching pad. One resource I use is the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. Not only do I use the Tarot to set up a (nearly) complete character profile but also to plot the story and delineate any subplots.

Since the Tarot focuses on the reader’s subconscious, the cards I lay out for my characters show how I feel about them, even if I’m not aware of it. I drew the Devil for Karla when creating her profile. Considering she wasn’t the antagonist nor a Capricorn the card made no sense. That is, it didn’t make sense until recently when I was writing the first draft of the third book, The Devil Inside. Then I realized why Karla and Samael were so similar in attitude and yet why their personalities clashed. It also explained why Samael was a misogynist. I hadn’t understood this during the initial reading of Karla’s tarot spread because I hadn’t yet reached the point where it was necessary to put two and two together.

My most recent use of the Tarot helped me work out my plot outline for the Zaphkiel Project.

With the Tarot I can go as far in depth with a character or storyline as I want. I can do basic three-card spreads or a detailed Celtic cross. I’ve even done character interviews based on a card.

Incidentally, it was my husband who first introduced me to the Tarot. But it wasn’t until years later that I realized I could use it to help my writing.