Here’s the second episode I recorded with the Writing Excuses guys.
In the first podcast we talked about putting and not putting ourselves in our writing and making characters who don’t all sound like the author. In this one, we talked about how to not repeat ourselves in ways that make the reader feel like they’re getting the same old same old.
As usual, the guys had some great insights. Check it out: How to Not Repeat Yourself.
Far-Fetched Fables has released the audio version of “Loose in the Wires.” The narrator, Eric Luke, did a great job. This story was so fun to write. If you haven’t read it yet, go give it a listen. It’s free. You’ll also be able to hear the flash fiction piece, “Older, Wiser, Time Traveler” by M. Bennardo, narrated by Rish Outfield. The podcast is the perfect size of a commute.
I reveal the inspiration for Servant of a Dark God and other goodies in a very enjoyable interview with Tia Nevitt of Fantasy Debut.
Okay, okay. So I knew you could pre-order stuff, but I just never expected to see MY BOOK available 6 MONTHS EARLY! Target has Servant of a Dark God up for sale. It’s up on Amazon as well. I’m getting so excited.
I just turned in a 35 page chapter outline of Curse of a Dark God to my editor. This is the third iteration of the outline since December. Hopefully, at last, we have a story we can all agree on. Keep your fingers crossed.
Of course, since this back and forth has been a process of write like mad then wait a few weeks then write like mad and wait again, I’ve been working on another project during the waits. It’s a straight-up thriller.
Leon is ex-Special Forces (or an Army Ranger, but I’m leaning SF). He left the service when a colonel decided it was his job to make Leon’s life hell. He did security and a number of other things. Tried to be a plumber, but fell into bad company and then crime. And then was send to the big house and learned about a whole new theater of war. During his stay, he saw the light. Changed. He shaped up, and despite the swastika tatoos on his feet, flew straight when he got out. He had his odd jobs, but figured it was easiest to avoid all the questions and fuss that arise when you tell a prospective employer that you’re a felon. So he got himself a laundromat. Then another. Then he invested in a car wash. There’s good money in cleaning. And with the proceeds he bought himself a little ranch.
Leon’s a big man. Knows a lot about guns (although he can’t possess one), security, and crime. He lives in Rock Springs, Wyoming. On occassion, the sheriff is known to ask for his services. On more frequent occassions, the sheriff’s wife keeps trying to set him up with an unending line of women. But he doesn’t know if he’s ready for women. He doesn’t know if he’s ready for his nephew that his sister wants him to reform.
Then two old buddies from prison show up one night. They’ve got a girl with them. They need a place to stay. But it’s clear the girl isn’t there of her own accord. He figures they’re either holding her for ransom or blackmail. He’s not sure which. He knows these boys are connected to some bad men. Then his nephew breaks her free. The excons get in their car and chase after her. Leon gets in his car and chases after them. And soon he finds himself in the middle of something bigger than he could imagine.
Or something like that. I should have the chapter outline ready to go as soon as I finish Curse. I can’t wait to write it.
How do writers juggle writing and family?
One of my heroes is Mary Higgins Clark who, as a single mom, started a career. She got up very early, wrote for 1-2 hours in the morning, and became a mega-seller.
I have four girls. And a full-time job. When the first two were little my wife was working and I was Mr. Mom going to school. Then we switched.
Here’s my experience. While I love writing, my stories do not run to me and give me wonderful strangling hugs after school like my youngest. While I laugh at the humor I come up with in my stories and enjoy it, it cannot replace the uncontrollable giggling I experience when I go on dates with my second. While writing lifts me, it does not fill my office with notes and wallpapers of love like my oldest. And writing never drags me out to play ghosts in the graveyard or hide and seek–daughter #3. Nor will my stories and novels be there for me when I’m old.
While writing is incredibly fulfilling, my wife, kids, and other relationships are a joy it cannot replace.
What all this means is that I try to recognize that I can’t let family and writing compete. They can’t be equal priorities. Family comes first. But this doesn’t mean I don’t write. I block out times to write. These are my writing times. I get up early to make time for this. I don’t watch a lot of TV. I don’t read a million blogs, nor, alas, can I read fiction at the level I used to. I make time. But I also make blocks when I just forget writing (even though it can be hard).
Specifically, here’s my average work week.
5:00 AM rise, wake and get centered for the day
6:00 AM work (“work” is my day job and writing)
6:30 AM family and breakfast
7:30 AM go to work (at home). Try to get in 7-8 hours at day job and 2 hours writing. When I did commute I wrote for 1 hour during lunch and 1 hour in the morning before I went to work. Then I’d take a 2 hour block on Thursdays.
5:30 PM family etc.
9:30 PM bed
On Saturdays I get a few more hours writing. Sunday I forget everything but family.
With the new book contract I have to become a bit more creative. But if it ever comes down to sacrifice the last 2 years of my oldest being at home and writing, well, the books will go.
When my writing plans meet reality, I try to adjust and find other slots for writing. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, but it’s become much easier. And I don’t worry about what I might have accomplished in writing if I’d just had the extra time. Such what-if’s, I’ve found, are almost always poisonous. And who the heck cares? Because while I want to write wonderful stories, I think the greatest loss I think I might experience at the end of my life (believing in an after life or not) is looking back and seeing that I traded the opportunity for wonderful relationships for a rapidly mouldering spot on the shelves.
Washington Irving wrote a funny and wonderful piece on this mouldering in his “The Mutability of Literature” in THE SKETCHBOOK OF GEOFFERY CRAYON. I recommend every writer read this to put life and writing into perspective.
Boom, baby! Today is thriller day.
Frank’s an ex-con, trying to go straight. Then an old cell mate shows up and . . . let’s just say things go downhill from there. Throw in a Mormon, some drug lords, and a good helping of guns, and, man, was this book a blast to write!
You might be interested to know that this story was inspired by a fine old brother in my church in Ohio who was one of those salt-of-the-earth folks who also happened to have been at one time a bank robber.
When he got out of prison, he determined his life would change. He married a good Methodist girl he met at a church dance, went into the laundry business, and never looked back.
It was my privilege to record his life history. Not a single event or detail in the book is about him. But I can tell you that his story deserves a book. Hopefully, my character Frank ends up doing as well in life as he did.
The new release sale will run this week only. Same great prices as the last time. Get ’em now while they’re hot.
Bad Penny – Trade Paper (Amazon)
I’ve been working the last two weeks like a freaking elf from the North Pole trying to get these distribution channels set up, but the holidays seem to have stretched out the channel lead times.
So here’s what you do: email me right now (click on my face in the sidebar) and tell me which platform you’re interested in. When the book goes live on that platform (and that should be soon), I will set it at the new release price and email you with the news. It’s that easy.
See how good I am to you? (grin)
If you’re lying around on the 24th and don’t know what to do get the holiday spirit, please watch Merry Madagascar. It’s short, you’ll have a good time, and if you’re not already a King Julien fan, you will be.
Have an awesome Christmas!
Sincerely,
John
