Economic crisis is a boon for writing.

Yesterday was dead ass at work. When the economy is down, I am not very busy. So I wrote. A lot. I clocked in well over 2000 words.

I know, I know, there are writers out there who do that everyday. Not me.

Diggin up bones.

So first thing, I got some writing done today. About 1200 words. Whoo hoo! With the economy the way it is, the day job has been pretty doggone slow. Being a tattoo artist is pretty whimsical when it comes to the steady business. But, that’s ok.

When I got home tonight I dug out a stack of old notebooks that I had scribbled notes in for the Deacon Book and other things as well. There were some good ideas in there. Stuff that I will transcribe for later use.

Then I came across the novella I wrote. God it was horrible. I was trying to be Robert Jordan writing Conan, but not. The character was a celtic prince turned outcast who was a mercenary in Solomon’s army and thus became a believer in Jehovah who later was adopted by a clan of mountain warrior priests of the ninjitsu tradition called yamabushi.

No really, I am not kidding.

Ex-royalty warrior.
Trained in ninjitsu and as a yamabushi.
Believer in Jehovah from the Old Testament.

His name was Theok.

Really.

Fun, fun, fun. But I was young. I wrote it around the time I was 19. So it was awesome for 1989.

But reading it, even with it’s rank smell of old cheese, I did find some kernels of things I could mine again.

Anyways, it was a reminder of my roots.

I know what Larson is going to do.

In the climax of the book. It’s going to work out really well. Plus the addition of a burgeoning love interest and again, redneck vampires, trailer parks and monster trucksd are a comin.

10 Ways You Know It Was Written By Me

I read this over on Fangs, Fur, and Fey. It seemed cool and interesting, so here’s mine.

1) THERE ARE GUNS, LOTS AND LOTS OF GUNS.
Really, my books are pretty violent. I love guns and use them often in my writing. They are not the answer to everything, but when in doubt, shoot the damn thing.

2) THE MONSTERS ARE MONSTERS, DAMMIT.
It us against them folks. Humans against all the ooglies and the booglies. If you are a monster in my book then you will have no redeeming quality whatsoever. Evil is as evil does. No sensual, romantic, tortured monsters here, just evil on epic levels.

3) THE HERO IS LARGER THAN LIFE.
He just is. I am bigger than almost anyone you will ever meet (6’4, 340lbs). I relate to it. My hero will be bigger and stronger and faster, than a normal human.

4) THERE ARE MORE LYCANTHROPES THAN JUST WOLVES.
Any kind of animal can show up as a strain of lycanthropy. And shapeshifters covers a lot more than just lycanthropes. And lycanthropes are not always monsters, in fact, they are human the majority of their lives, at least they usually are.

5) ALL BETS ARE OFF AS TO WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES.
I’m with Joss Whedon in the that if noone ever dies then nothing matters. You can go into any fight without a sense of true danger and a lack of danger is boring. I kill my characters. They live in a deadly world after all.

6) IF YOU DIE IT WILL NOT BE BORING.
Again, my characters live in a world of fire, and blood, and monsters. Nobody dies in their sleep. Nobody dies of old age. In my book a death by gunshot is natural causes.

7) NO MATTER WHAT MYTHOLOGY I PULL FROM IT MUST FIT IN A WORLD WHERE GOD AND THE DEVIL ARE REAL.
Like it or don’t, I don’t care. The world I have built has a God and all that goes with it. My characters hold belief in God. Now, what that means for them is different that what you may have learned in sunday school.

8) MY WOMEN ARE HOT.
Just like the hero is larger than life, there are no plain women in my books. It is fantasy, and I am a man, and I know beautiful women exist in this world. I am married to one.

9) I WRITE FROM A MALE POINT OF VIEW.
I know a lot of this genre is written by women writers and has female main characters. Not me. I am a man, I am very male, and I write from a very male perspective. No it’s not degrading or demeaning to women, I wouldn’t do that to women. I wouldn’t write them as lesser. I’m actually referring not to relationships like that, but the way the main character veiws everything in his world, from other people, to conflict, to food, to his car. He’s not a barbarian or a brute, But at the end of the day, my main character will be a man because that is what I know.

10) MY BOOKS ARE SET IN THE SOUTH.
I was born and raised in the south. I love the south. Plus it gives me the freedom to write about monster truck driving vampires who live in trailer parks. White trash werewolves and zombies who survive on brains and grits. Sweet tea and country music are the fuel for my writing. Y’all come back now, but polish your crucifix before y’all do.

Looking for a critique partner.

I think I need a critique partner. I have a wife who will read my book, but not until it is finished. I have friend, but he hasn’t really critiqued, just minor stuff. I really would like a writer who writes the same kind of stuff.

Urban Fantasy
Paranormal Romance
Dark Fantasy
Horror
Action Horror

And someone who will really critique and who knows enough about the genre to say “That’s been done before.” or “that is so not going to fly.”

So I am on the lookout for this person. I’ll let you know if I find them.

Got it done

So I wrote the chapter in the head of my character. I think it works well. Of course I haven’t written the following chapter, so we will see if it actually fits.
I have gone back a reread the first of the book. I can definitely see a lot of description going into the book on the second draft. My first draft is pretty bare bones. I am following writing advice I have read and that is on the first draft you just spew the story out and fix everything ont he second pass.

That’s my plan, mang.

Sticky chapter

Ok, so I was slammed at work on friday and got pretty much no writing done. Saturday was better, I got a chapter finished and in my head began to flesh out the next chapter.

So far the book has been an action packed one. I’m approx 1/3 of the way thru and my plan is for the next chapter to slow a bit and be quieter. In my head it will all take place in Deacon’s head while he is laying in bed. The last 2/3 of the book are going to be even more action packed than the first 3rd so my plan is for this to be a bit of a breather. Kind of a taking stock before diving into the fire.

I’m pretty excited about it. But it does circumvent a scene in which Deacon and Larson have breakfast at the Waffle House. Who knows, maybe on the way to the big showdown they will stop.

Anyways, g’night.

So, here we go….

First blog on Live Journal. I think I am going to use this to write about writing. Ego has never been my shortcoming, well, at least once I got out of High school. I mean, here I am, starting a Livejournal, to write about my writing, when I haven’t finished my book, and have nothing published. El-Oh-El at me.

But here’s the facts. I am currently obsessed with writing. I have been working rather diligently on my book. I have always written silly stories, well, they sound silly tome, juvenile. They have always been just fun ways to pass the time. I only completed one short novella/very long short story, and that is because I rushed the ending just to finish it.

So I am currently writing the first in a series about a character named Deacon Chalk. He’s an Occult Bounty Hunter, because you have to have a clever title for what your character does. I started this story in 03. It was just another silly story to pass time. I wrote a bunch of character history, and plot ideas, and an opening paragraph.

That’s it. That is all.

Occasionally I would dabble with it and over the next five years I added about ten paragraphs.

Well, now I am writing it for real and having a blast. I am writing a book that I would want to read. It’s not complex, it’s not literature, it’s a kick ass good time killing monsters. The character is larger than life (and yes I am Mary Sue-ing it.) and does things larger than life. But I reread what I wrote and to be honest, I think it is better than a lot of published crap out there.

No I am not being delusional.

I would post some of it, but I am going to wait until I have more finished. Most importantly, my brain is on FIRE with ideas. I have the plot basics of book two, three, and four of the Deacon Chalk series, and the first notes on a new YA series written down. Those came out of nowhere and I furiously wrote down what was in my head, and then promptly put it aside. I am taking the advice I have read and sticking with one project until completion. Deacon Chalk is the man until I am finished with book one, maybe book two.

Just so you know, in the last month I have gone from ten paragraphs to over 23,000 words on the first book. I still have a lot of hunting and pecking to do, but it is coming along.

Now if I could just get off of this blog and go write some real books stuff.

El-Oh-EL.