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That’s Three Novellas Done, Gang.

devil-1last-tomorrowVoid3

I just put the most satisfying words – THE END – an author ever composes onto Void. The last three chapters will be available in their entirety in the next issue of Unnamed Journal.

Which means I’ve finished almost a week ahead of my June 1st deadline.

Which means I’ve hit all my deadlines this year – with time to spare. In January I had none novellas finished. Now I have three.

So now what?

First, these need to be revised, and then published. On Kindle certainly, and with paperback versions as well.

I’ll probably go back and revise them in order of composition – Devil, Last Tomorrow, then Void.

So let me set myself some more arbitrary deadlines:

  • The Devil Left Him – Let’s say June 23rd. That ought to be plenty of time. I don’t think this one needs that much revision.
  • The Party at the Last Tomorrow – I’m going to give myself more time with this one. It’s kind of half-baked at this point. We’re going for July 28th.
  • Void – I don’t know that Void is going to need much work. I’m going to give myself three weeks. August 18th.

While I’m doing this, I will be working on a full-length novel. It’s the Civil War novel I’ve already started, working title The Sword. If I can get it done over the summer, I’ll be pretty pleased with myself.

Watch this space.

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Quick Void Update

Last time I posted, I sounded a little overwhelmed by the threads I needed to nail down to finish Void. Today, I can safely report that I’ve finished the 6th Chapter, and am confident that I’ve set the third act up in such a way as to be able to be confident of a quick Chapter 7.

In the end, it’s all about character. I stopped trying to create competing motives and just let the protagonist and antagonist work it out for themselves.

I also snuck in a classic philosophy problem, which students of the art should catch right away. Hopefully it’s not too on-the-nose.

Also, since 6 is done, I’ve made 5 available to read on Tablo, for anyone who wants to catch up. Enjoy!

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Pre-Vacation Update

A bunch of merry business has gone by. Allow me to fill you in:

  • The Party At the Last Tomorrow is finished. Drafted, anyway. I’m going to go back in the summer and give it a thorough edit, tie down some loose threads, establish the things in the early chapters that I pantsed in the later ones, but you can read the existing draft on Tablo. Since my due date for finishing this draft was Easter, I’m pretty pleased with myself.
  • Unnamed Journal put it’s ninth issue out, and it’s full of WWI-related shenanigans, plus some other fine fare. You’ll never look at scarecrows the same way again.
    • Included in the above is the first piece I wrote using Scrivener instead of Microsoft Word or the Tablo app. It took some adjustment, but I really do like the way Scrivener works. I look forward to using it for the Summer Novel (I NaNoWriMo whenever I damn well please).
    • Also included is the fifth Chapter of Void. It’s the shortest chapter so far, but I like what I did with it. It sets up the actual thing that made me want to write this in the first place. Read it on UJ exclusively for the next few months. Get caught up with previous chapters on Tablo.

Oh, and Void has a new cover:

Void

 

Not bad. I’m not sold on it, though…

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WriteTip: When You Get Stuck, You Just Keep Going

last-tomorrowWriting -any creative endeavor, really – is all about giving yourself permission to fail.

Now, in one sense, that’s idiotic and ridiculous. The purpose of art is not to make something that’s bad. It’s not to allow something that’s bad to enter the market. The purpose of art is to make something that people respond to in some way, either by giving you money for it or by offering criticism on it. Creating something that will do neither is a waste of time and energy.

So I don’t mean that. What I mean is, when you’re working on something, and you’re not sure if you have a way forward, and you start looking at it like it’s some wriggling obscene bastard creation of hubris and wishful thinking, you may be tempted to scrap the thing and move on.

This is what you should not do. You should finish it. You should keep going. You should say to yourself the magic words:

Continue reading →

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One, Down, Two to Go…

The first draft of The Devil Left Him is finished. Read up to the penultimate chapter for free on Tablo. Just in Time for Lent, which, among other things, honors Jesus’ Fast in the Desert.

The last chapter is done, too, but I’m holding on to it for now. It will be edited and then published on Amazon and iTunes.

So that’s a deadline done two days ahead of schedule. Next plan is to finish Last Tomorrow by Easter and then Void by June 1st or so. I’ve also got short stuff to work on, and I’m just about narrowed down what the next novel will be.

This is happening, people.

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I Don’t Know If This Means Anything…

…but I have been collecting followers on Tablo at a fairly rapid clip. Without too much promotion on social media, either. I’m going to chalk that up to the work appealing on some level.

The last chapter of The Devil Left Him is started. I can still finish if I sit down and make it happen. I’ve also started the next chapter of Last Tomorrow and outlined the next chapter of Void.

Somebody on Tablo liked Void. I feel like good news is breaking out all over.

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