It's on.

OK, so the beginning of November has been very hectic for me, but I am now buckling down and getting to this NaNoWriMo business.  Last year I failed miserably after being blessed by success in 2010.  This year I will complete another novel in one month and this will be my best one yet.  If everything goes right it won't be me begging you to buy this one it'll be Barnes and Noble or Apple IBooks or Amazon.  No time to waste have to get back to it, but stay tuned.  big things are happening.  It's on!

Why Should We Have to Settle?

I love this time of year.  That's not true.  I hate it.  It is the time of year when everyone is a political expert and tells me who I should vote for and why I should vote for them.  You’re a Republican? You must be against minorities and in favor of the rich.  Oh you’re a Democrat? You Godless heathen.  I happen to be neither.  I am apolitical.  I believe in my ability to govern myself and that is about all at this point.  Give me a good candidate and I will stand in line to vote for them.  Just don’t expect me to fall for this steaming pile of bull crap about if you don’t vote you can’t complain.  That’s not true.  I can complain as loudly as anyone.  I can complain about the lack of a palatable option for President.  I can complain that neither of the candidates that the parties are trying to force feed me have what it takes to run a gas station let alone our country.  What political experience did Barack Obama have that told millions of Americans he was ready to run our country? What experience does Romney have now? Is your life truly better now because of what Obama has done in office? Does it have more meaning? Do you have more money? What has he really done in four years that tells you he’s earned another four? Is Romney going to drastically make your life any better? Are you going to be happier in four years if he wins? And before you answer that question please do not vomit at me what Fox News, CNN, MSNBC,  or Hollywood has told you to tell me because I don’t care about that.  Don’t give me some statistics you heard thrown around at the Democratic or Republican National Conventions.  Give it to me from your perspective.  How are you any better off now or how will you be better off then? I want someone in office who is interested in pushing the American agenda not their own.  I want someone who spends less time attacking their opponents and more time telling me why they are best for the country.  I want a candidate that is more interested in raising millions for charity than for their own political gain.  Normally I side with Thomas Jefferson and say the “The government that governs least governs best”, but right now I feel more like Henry David Thoreau.  “Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe, that Government is best which governs not at all…”.  This is supposed to be a Government which is “For the People” and “By the People”, but I don’t think any of the candidates we have the great displeasure of choosing from every four years are truly those that “We the People” would really have in mind for ourselves.

Introducing Eric Weiss

     Eric Weiss is another character from the project I am working on.  I find Eric's existence interesting only because he started as a character named Jonah.  Jonah was supposed to be a likable character, but as I wrote him I realized he wasn't.  Jonah was full of himself and kind of a...      ...how should I say it? I guess I'll call it like it is.  He was an asshole which just didn't work because this is supposed to be a character the audience supports.  I couldn't even support him and I created him.  That was when I realized that I had started writing the wrong character.  he belonged in the book alright, but Eric Weiss was the man I had been looking for.
     So that is when I first met Eric.  He was working late in his job as CFO for the company and uncovered something that was going to cause him no end of issues.  If only he had not been so good at his job, but that all comes later.  Eric is a good guy.  He is young.  He is attractive.  He is hard working.  He has his share of trials ahead of him, but through it all we the audience will be cheering him on and hoping it works out for him in the end.  Jonah on the other hand? Well every story needs its villain, right?
     So there you have it.  A brief introduction to Eric Weiss.  I hope you look forward to reading more about him.

How to write a novel in 30 days

I may not be an expert, having only done this once myself, but I am likely, out of the people you know, the most qualified to give advice on this matter.  The reason I decided to bring this up now even though we are still about seven months away from NaNoWriMo is because this is the perfect time to begin.  No, don't begin writing.  Begin thinking.  If you began writing that would defeat the purpose of writing a novel in a month.  That does bring me to my first bit of advice.

Have a well thought out idea.  I am sure there are some who with what amounts to the bare bones of a plot can bang out the needed 50,000 words in 30 days, but I don't think I am one of them and you are probably not either.  'The Death of Harold Hartline' started as a short story idea about ten years ago.  Over the years the idea changed a little, but the basic concept was the same.  When the time came to put fingers to keyboard it seemed to flow easily.  By then it was an old friend and could not have been simpler.

The second secret would be to write whenever possible and especially when the mood strikes you.  This is sometimes easier said than done, I know, but it is needed.  I am not going to be one of those who will tell you that you should be writing every day (you should, but I know I don't so who am I to tell you that?).  Or that you need to set aside a specific time.  These are unrealistic ideas.  I would find myself writing at 3 am on some mornings and then waking a few hours later to write some more.  Other times I would chain myself to the desk at noon to bang out a thousand words.  Then there would be times when I was writing sentences and paragraphs on napkins in restaurants.  You never know when the bug will bite so be ready, but don't force it because it will stifle your creativity and you'll probably start to resent the story you're trying to tell.  The world wants to hear it.  Let them.

That is how I did it.  A well conceived idea and writing as often as possible, but especially when I felt motivated.  It seems so easy now, but I can tell you it wasn't.  Do I think anyone can do it? Yes.  Do I think everyone will? No.  If you are one of the few that has the drive and discipline, join me in November.

Rejection Sucks

     As a writer I spend a lot of my time in a make-believe land.  Sometimes that land feels very safe and lulls you to sleep.  Sometimes you feel so secure in that make-believe land that it is easy to forget that there is a very real land waiting for you when you get back.  A harsh reality that is waiting to slap some sense back into you.  Many times that slap comes in the form of rejection.  I recently received a rejection email.  I thought my first few form letters with rubber-stamped signatures felt insulting, but an email? Really? I know we are high-tech and all, but I thought at least puncturing a hole in my dreams and aspirations was still done in a much more personal manner.  The funny thing was that this email came on the same day that I got an email from a certain major online book selling retailer which informed me that my novel had not made it past the first round in their contest.  To add insult to that injury I continued to get emails informing me of who had moved further toward their dreams.
     This is the life I signed up for though.  It is what I have wanted my whole life and whether I continue to get clobbered by rejection I know damned well that I'll keep coming back for more.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for punishment.  Or maybe I just believe in myself enough to know that one day I will break through and all the rest of this will have just been the first steps on that major journey.  Thanks for reading.

It's amazing what you can find.

So I was talking to my daughter about a novel I had started a few years ago. It was still untitled, but I'd written about 100 pages. She thought it sounded like a cool concept, as I did years ago, and it got me thinking. I wonder if I still have it. So I began to look through files of material I have going all the way back to college. Not only did I find part of that novel, but I also found one titled The Immortals I'd written in college as well as another one I had started. I thought much of that material was long gone. So now I have four partial novels and a short completed one. I guess I have plenty to be working on. Look for some of it right here.