Archive for the ‘Novel’ Category

Laura Horn: Prologue’s Done

Posted: July 24, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Looks like all of my goals for today are done. I stopped by the library, saw The Conjuring (and really enjoyed it) and I finished the Prologue section of Laura Horn. Not a bad day’s work, considering I slept in late.

I’m not sure if I write prologues the same way as other writers do. Most only use a single chapter, but I use several chapters, each no more than 10 pages, to tell a short scene that sets the mood for the novel. In this case, I wrote three chapters, about ten pages total, to start the mystery that is at the center of Laura Horn and will affect our heroine later in the story. It worked very well for Snake, so I’m doing the same thing here, but I still wonder what other people–especially other writers–make of my use of prologues.

Did I mention Laura doesn’t show up in the Prologue? It’s true, she doesn’t make an appearance till Chapter Four, and we don’t see things from her perspective till Chapter Five. Why do I do that? Well, I guess she didn’t need to appear in the story till that point, and in order to understand Laura, it’s best we find out what happens to her in Four before we see things through her eyes, which I save till Chapter Five. Besides, if Harry can wait to appear till the third chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, why can’t Laura Horn make her first appearance four chapters into her own novel?

Just saying, is all.

Anyway, I’m satisfied with the Prologue. I may have to take a couple more looks at Chapter Three, I feel like something’s missing from it, but I’m not sure what. Chapters One and Two are pretty good though. Very dark and very informative about what’s to come in the novel. Just need another run-through on Chapter Three when I get to editing the first draft.

Tomorrow I’ll switch back to Video Rage, work on a chapter that includes some nasty character conflicts. After that I’ll start Part I of Laura Horn, which is where things start to get moving. I’m enjoying being busy with two novels. Perhaps it’s something I should make a habit of. Could lead to faster publications, at any rate.

And by the way, what do you think of the picture above? I personally like it, and I think Laura would like it too. She’d draw it herself…if she was good at art and wasn’t so badly traumatized. If we had the former, her subject matter would definitely be more dark, and if we had the latter…where would the story be for me to write?

Characters Taking Over The Story

Posted: July 22, 2013 in Novel, Reflections, Writing
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I belong to a group of suspense and thriller writers on Facebook, and occasionally the subject has come up in discussion on characters taking over the plot of the story and acting in defiance to the author’s expectations for the story. Until recently, I had no idea what that meant, though I may or may not have said that I did. With my stories, especially my novels, I wrote an outline, then I wrote the story. The characters mostly followed the outline, and any changes, such as certain areas of the climax of Reborn City, I felt were my own creative decision.

It wasn’t until this morning, waiting for the bus to work, standing in the pouring rain, that I had a little epiphany of the subject. I remembered when I first started writing the outline for Reborn City, back in high school when publishing a book was still just a very far-away dream. Originally I’d planned for bad-boy Rip to be the star of the show, and Zahara Bakur to be the deuterogamist (secondary protagonist for those of you who don’t know that term). But as I started outlining the novel, I saw that Zahara was taking up more of my attention and more of the story than Rip was. Consequently as time went by, Zahara went from deuterogamist to co-protagonist, and by the end of the outline, she’d gone to leading lady, with Rip being the deuterogamist.

Reborn City

And you know what? I thought the novel benefited from that. Sure, the Hydra leaders have a plethora of problems, and having Zahara around doesn’t exactly make them easier. But I think they benefit in some ways from Zahara, and she’s the one who goes through the biggest transformation of all. Heck, I’m only two chapters into the second book of the series (three if I can stay on track for tonight), and I’ve already noticed that she has a confidence that wasn’t present in the first book.

Sure enough, my characters are having more of a say in how the story turns out than I am. If anything, Zahara’s dictating her story to me, rather than I’m coming up with it. It’s a weird feeling, but it’s also kind of fun and exciting, and I get to experience my characters’ growths, decisions, and tribulations with them. And isn’t following a character through all that just the reason we pick up books in the first place and read them?

I’m looking forward to see what happens from here on out. I’m also hoping to see if I’ll write any more stories where the characters do more of the dictating than I do. If I do, it’ll probably be sometime soon, especially since I’m working on two novels at once!

I’ve Been Using Drones Recently

Posted: July 18, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Yes, you read that title right. I’ve been using drones recently. I started using them sometime this past weekend, and I’ve been using them almost every night since. Mostly I fly them around certain sections of the state of Colorado, usually near Interstate 70. I’ve fired a few missile and several bullets. The drones were fun to pilot, but they had a bad habit of getting destroyed, and it’s not really my fault. Still, I might get blamed for it, so I won’t be piloting drones for a while.

This is actually the model of drone–or a variation of it–that I used.

Now you are probably wondering variations of “What the f**k is he talking about?” and “How the hell did he get his hands on drones?” Well the answer is simple: I wrote them into the second chapter of Video Rage as part of a fun little battle sequence. I thought it’d be interesting to use drones in this chapter, especially since drones are still relatively new to us now and many people, myself included, are at the very least a little wary of drones and their use by the military, if not downright scared of them. It ended up working out very well, because the drones showed how powerless my protagonists can be even with their powers, and how hard they have to work to stay alive.

Got you, didn’t I?

The drones also allowed me to do something I planned for this novel: cause friction. Something happens to one of the characters during the drone attack, and it causes some tension in the tight-knit group of people who star in this novel of mine. Later on there will be more tension between the Hydras, and we’ll see what happens when that tension hits a boiling point. Believe me, things will get ugly as a result.

I’ll be using drones again later in VR. The drones in Chapter 2 are very similar to drones used today by the US military, but in later chapters I plan on using new drones that the military probably hasn’t dreamt of yet (or if they have, my friend Matthew Williams will know of them). It’ll be interesting to see how the use of drones will work out, both for the story and for the characters.

At the very least, it’ll make for some interesting reading.

Now I’m going to take a break, shower, and then sit down for a movie. Tomorrow I’ll try to start the next chapter of Laura Horn. Things will heat up over in that storyline as well.

 

Is It The Style, Or Is It Me?

Posted: July 14, 2013 in Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Writing
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Lately I’ve noticed I’m a bit more irritable when I read works by other authors. I had some trouble getting through the slower parts of Stephen King’s Cujo, becoming annoyed with the style of King’s writing (imagine that from me!). And when I was reading the first couple chapters of A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, I kept glancing at things she did that I did not like about her writing style. Granted, her book was like a bad combination of Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Da Vinci Code, making it so that I couldn’t get past page 70, but there were still many things about her writing style, particularly in the first chapter, that just bothered me.

Perhaps this might have something to do with my own writing process. Over the past year or so my own style of writing has emerged, and I find myself much more comfortable with that style of writing than I do with other styles. Or maybe now that my own style’s emerged so much, I tend to nitpick at the styles of other authors, thinking about what works and what doesn’t work. After all, I was reading Horns by Joe Hill recently, and while I liked the overall story, the non-linear structure and the lack of warning between traveling bacwards and forwards in time confused me quite a bit. I don’t like to do flashbacks without some sort of warning to the reader, so maybe it has something to do with that.

Not to say that I may just not like reading the styles of other writers. In fact, I’m reading two books right now: one is the zombie novel of a friend of mine, and the other is the memoirs of an Israeli soldier. I find both of their works intriguing and fun to read, though all the military jargon is a bit difficult for me. So maybe it’s not that I don’t like the styles of other writers, but more that I know what I want when I read a novel and when I don’t get it, I feel annoyed.

Whatever the reason is, I’m pretty sure it has something to do with my own writing in some way or another. After all, plenty of the authors I read are responsible for the author I’ve become, so perhaps I’m picking up on something that connects me to them.

What’s your take on this?

Laura Horn: First Chapter Written

Posted: July 12, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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The cable/phone/Internet may be out at home, but that can only keep me from doing what I have to do so much. And last night, while listening to classical music and with plenty of time on my hands, I wrote the first chapter of Laura Horn.

Like my other thriller Snake, the chapters of Laura Horn are short and quick, so I was able to finish by the end of the night. Also like Snake, Laura Horn‘s first couple chapters are the prologue of the story, and set up the conflict for the story. In this case, Laura doesn’t even appear in the prologue, but what happens in the prologue will impact her very soon.

While I was writing that first chapter, I really felt in the zone. The words were coming clearly and quickly to me, rapidly filling up the pages on my laptop. I finished with three pages and about nine-hundred words total, setting up for the continuation of the scene in Chpater Two. Of course, Chapter Two will have to wait for the second chapter of Video Rage to be written, but I have a feeling that won’t take too long to write.

I’ll let you guys know how things are going when I finish the prologue, probably sometime in the next two weeks. Until then, wish me luck!

Video Rage: First Chapter Written

Posted: July 11, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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And it has begun! Last night, with my cable/Internet/phone service out but my electricity still working, I set out to work on Video Rage, the sequel to Reborn City (out November 1st). I had started on it several days ago, truth be told, but I had run into all sorts of distractions, so finishing just one chapter was not easy. But last night, with classical and opera music in my ears and no TV or Internet to get in my way, I set about finishing up the chapter. And sure enough I did, with 11 pages and a little over thirty-two hundred words total (page count is based on Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-spaced lines, so that is not a reflection of what it will be when the novel actually comes out).

Video Rage starts about 11 days after the end of Reborn City, so besides setting the tone and the setting for the story, I used the first chapter to reveal what had happened to the ten main characters since they left the titular city in RC. Suffice to say, I did not make things easy for my characters. They are now wanted for crimes they did not commit and are trying to head east across the North American continent to find asylum somewhere. Of course, things don’t go as planned, especially when a powerful corporation with its own private army is searching for you.

And I’m bringing back a very fearsome and dangerous character from RC to further impede the progress of the Hydras (that’s the name of the gang my main characters belong to, in case you didn’t know). Mix in a little conflict between the main characters, and some rather bloody but heroic deaths, and I think I might have a decent sequel on my hands.

Now that I have one chapter of VR written, I’ll switch off to my other novel-in-progress, Laura Horn. The chapters for LH are much smaller than VR (which shows how differently I write thrillers versus how I write sci-fi novels). I’ll probably do another progress report on VR when I’ve written five more chapters, putting me one-sixth of the way through the novel.

Until that time, look out for a few more posts, including the announcement that I’ve finished the first chapter of LH. Should make for at least a good time-killer.

An Idea From A Dream

Posted: July 6, 2013 in ideas, Living and Life, Novel, Writing
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It’s just amazing what you can find on Google, isn’t it?

Last night I went to bed sometime between half-past eleven and midnight, had some trouble falling asleep, had a nightmare or two, needed a drink of water, finally got to sleep, and then I had the wackiest dream. When I woke up, it was past ten and I was late for synagogue. But it was okay. You know why? That dream I had, the wacky one? It ended up being the basis for an awesome novel idea that I refined throughout the day.

The dream involved me and a bunch of wizards in a cabin. I was a young apprentice, and my own master was telling me to get a certain spell book for a spell that would recreate the ten plagues. In the dream, certain phrases kept going through my mind–Divinity of Israel, Vashta Nerada, etc–and in that weird dreamy way they were all connected and relevant and made sense.

When I woke up, I thought it was a weird dream to have and it was going to make me late for synagogue, but I later held onto the details of the dream and figured they were a gift from The Big Guy Upstairs, a little something to metaphorically chew on for the Sabbath. And I did manage to get to the synagogue for the second half of the Torah service. Heck, I managed to catch a few ideas for the novel from the rabbi’s sermon. If that’s not God doing me another favor, I have no idea what is!

And this is my 500th post. What an interesting thing to write about for it. Gotta give the Big Guy His props when they’re due.

Now I’m going to try and finish a book I started yesterday before I go to bed. Tomorrow I’m going to be doing so much writing I won’t know what to do with myself. Wish me luck!

Snake: The Final Draft

Posted: June 30, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Now that’s a scary image.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but for some reason it keeps slipping my mind. Might as well write it now while I wait for the Doctor Who episode I’m watching to load.

Well, it’s finally happening. Snake is getting its final draft before I get ready to format it, create a cover, and send it off for a copyright. And helping me with all this is Angela Misri, who goes by the screen name Karmic Angel and writes the blog a Portia Adams adventure (and I so wish she would publish her casebooks, independently or otherwise. They sound really good!). Anyway, Angela’s been looking at Snake and giving me her thoughts. I’m telling you, she’s very good. She’s pointed out several inconsistencies and problems I hadn’t even noticed.

Well, that’s why I like beta readers. They see the stuff I don’t. And Angela’s doing a great job. She’s currently got chapters 9-12, and at the rate she’s going, she’s going to have the whole book done by September, December at the latest.

Angela, thanks for helping so much. You’ll definitely get your own special mention in the Acknowledgments section of Snake, the one I have yet to write but will once the novel is finished.

And speaking of which, I know what the basis for the cover of Snake will be. I plan to use Lilith, a painting by John Collier. It features a humongous snake, and it has parallels to themes within the novel. Of course, I’ll have to use a type of cover available through CreateSpace that covers certain things. After all, I don’t want people looking at this book the wrong way.

I’ll have more as time progresses. Hope you’re as excited as I am, and thanks again, Angela.

My Exceptions To The “Friends In Books” Rule

Posted: June 29, 2013 in Novel, Reflections, Writing
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A while back I wrote a post about how I why I tell friends and family that characters with similar names aren’t based on them (if you wish to read said post, click here). The basic idea was that I don’t put people I know into my books for a variety of reasons and I always let them know that the character isn’t based on them if I know anyone with a similar name.

Well, there are a few exceptions to that rule of not basing characters on people I know. But I’ve only done it twice and only for special reasons. Like, It was for charity. Before I started writing Reborn City, there was a charity drive at my high school. my school was a private school and wasn’t exactly rolling in money, so the yearbook club literally had to pull every cent they could find to afford to print copies of the yearbook and give them free of charge to students. One of the ways they gathered funds was an auction, and I auctioned off a role in RC, starting at $5.

Yeah, that low. Well, I was still dreaming and writing then. I hadn’t published a single short story, let alone shown that I was going anywhere with the writing I was doing. But that didn’t matter for some of the people in my high school, because a bidding war began between two friends of mine, one a junior at the time, the other a freshman. The freshman won with $12 (yes, that low) and true to my word, I included my friend in RC when I wrote the outline and later the story as the main antagonist’s assistant.

I actually enjoyed writing that character, and instead of killing him off, left open the possibility of his return in VR and Book 3. When I told him over Facebook that the book he was in was coming out in November and he got excited, I couldn’t help but think, Not a bad investment you made, my friend.

The other time I included someone in one of my books actually happened rather recently, and it was To prove a point. I was talking with my sister Adi, a mutual friend of ours I’ll call J, and that friend’s younger sister A. Adi and J wanted me to include them in Laura Horn, despite the fact that I normally didn’t do that sort of thing. Even better, they were both demanding main character status. And J’s younger sister was just standing there quietly, not demanding anything of me, just rolling her eyes in amusement. So I went and said, “A, you’re getting a role in Laura Horn.”

Adi and J were like, “Are you kidding me?” I just laughed and laughed, and for added measure, said A was going to be a mean girl with a different last name. A, being A, didn’t care one way or another, but I proved my point: Don’t ask to be in my books, because there’s no guarantee you’ll get a good role or any role for that matter. I’m not sure J and Adi got the message though, because they were asking for roles again this evening. Well, J was asking for a role.

If I ever do another auction, maybe then I’ll give J a chance. But until then, I’m not letting anyone bully me into giving them a role. After all, what would be the point? And what do I owe them that they should badger me constantly? And if I included them, wouldn’t that mean I had to include everybody who wanted a role?

Only a few exception, EVER. And that’s the way I’m going to keep it.

Do you ever include friends or family in your books? If so, who and why?

Laura Horn: The Outline Is Done!

Posted: June 28, 2013 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Dye this angel’s hair brown and she could be Laura.

Oh, I’ve had a good day. I got up on time for once this week, I had a good breakfast, went for a jog, started on the new Dan Brown novel, had lunch with my stepmother, and…oh yeah. I FINISHED THE OUTLINE FOR LAURA HORN! Twelve pages, eight-and-a-half of them devoted to the plot, the other three-and-a-half devoted to character summaries. And you know what? I LOVE IT!!!

To tell you the truth, I think it’s kind of ballsy to write this sort of novel. Not only is this novel’s heroine a victim of sexual assault, but it’s plot revolves around a…well, a plot. Against the President of the United States. And I have said victim trying to save the nation while the people behind said-plot are after her. And through all this she confronts her past and takes the first steps to moving on. I also make references to the NSA scandal and PRISM. Plus I write my first actual rape scene (not looking forward to that).

All that, and there’s an interracial cast of characters that would make the KKK run out of the movie version screaming like a bunch of banshees (makes sense given their wardrobes) and enough characters that slightly resemble actual political figures that if I ever get any devoted fans (perhaps I already have them but I just don’t know it? Like my grandmother?), they’re going to be wondering which characters are based on which politicians.

For the record, no one’s directly based on anyone. The President character is not a Hispanic version of Barack Obama, he is not based on Marco Rubio, and I didn’t even hear of the senator with the same last name as my guy until this evening, when I watched The Colbert Report! But yes, this is going to be a ballsy novel to write. I’ll have to do some more research as I write it, and it’ll be difficult to write at times.

But like I said, I love this novel. It’s going to be 67 chapters long (I guessed 61-67 chapters, so I’m glad I was right), and I love the twists and events that happen. At some point I stopped writing and was like, My God. I feel like I’m writing a James Bond movie with a teenage girl as Bond. That’s a huge stretch, but it’s what I felt like at that moment. There are plenty of crazy things that happen in the story, including a chase across the Georgetown University campus, a gunfight in the Blair House, and a trip down the shaft of an elevator, just to name a few.

To quote somebody from my generation, it’ll get cray-cray. But still, I love it, I’m looking forward to writing it, and the fact that it’s 30 chapters longer than Video Rage means I’ll finish Video Rage long before I finish Laura Horn. I’m either very good at guessing how long my books or going to be, or I’m a psychic. God, I hope it’s the latter.

Good night everybody.

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