Where are you? (in your novel)

My main character just had an argument with one of his good friends about the legitimacy of magic in general. This was just after having been pressured into leading his group of friends in a ritual in the middle of an abandoned asylum they are trying to get proof of the paranormal from. They all say he is a natural, he doesn't believe in it and hates being considered a natural at something absurd, but loves them, so he deals with it and backs down from the argument.

Just published one to KDP/Amazon yesterday. Good feeling. Several purchases but no reviews thus far. I desperately want reviews. And at the same time I'm currently editing the next one I plan on publishing this way. Right now I'm not writing anything new which is a wee bit frustrating because I have a lot of ideas but I have 54 novels, and I plan on uploading about 30 of them to Kindle in hopes of building a brand that I can put in a query letter for some of the novels I plan on pursuing traditional publishing with. I am really enjoying the process. But I do wish I had more time to just write.

I'm starting very tentatively on a new project. I got out a few thousand words before I went on a big trip. After I got back, my brain was fried, and other real-life things befuddled my wits, so I haven't gotten an further on that. In fact, I'm backpeddling (sort of) to do some research. My trip was actually research, in a way.

See, there are a couple major bears that I have to deal with for this project. Number one, the big one, is that it's about real people who lived only a hundred years ago. Actually, the youngest of the brothers died in 1980, so not that long ago at all. Their story is also VERY well-documented. There's a major motion picture about it (which is not at all accurate) as well as many, many news articles. So, I have a lot of information and material to process. That's overwhelming. Second, my concept is going to be a difficult one to pull off, and it requires three different characters in first-person present tense, but switching to past tense (sounds weird, but the present-tense essentially frames the past-tense; each of the three characters in the "present" is telling someone else about what happened in the past; added humdinger: the "present" for each character is different: 1907, 1915, 1921, but they share the "past").

So, yeah. This might not be the easiest project I've ever tried to tackle.

Task one: create a timeline with major dates that I can refer to throughout.

Very excited. Just got my first review for Murder in Venice, which I published on Kindle Direct Publishing on Monday. Reviewer gave me 5 stars and said my book was spellbinding. Absolutely the high point of my writing career, thus far.

In the meantime, I've started editing another of my novellas which I plan to upload on Kindle around the first of November. I love being a published writer. Most fun ever.

After letting my first draft sit for almost a year, I am about 6500 words into draft 2 and enjoying it so much. It's slow going compared to the first, though, as I wrote that one during NaNoWriMo.

Rhodri is sitting through a boring dinner party with his boring parents. He's about to bail.

melaniehoo said:

MC just went to a spanish-speaking obgyn, but she speaks very little spanish. Husband is now the designated translator but is more interested in chatting with the doc than helping his wife.

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This made me laugh out loud!

Anele is having a tense encounter with her older sister Dyshiki, because Dyshiki has just found out Anele was invited to Deliberations--where the family will discuss war strategy.

Flailing around uncertainly, unsure which project I should pursue.

If current book sells, then I'll need Project B done asap. But if it doesn't sell, I'm far better havign Project A complete. I suppose not selling is more likely, though.

Editing the sequel of a series, about a third of the way through. It's changed so much that I've had to write a couple of new chapters. Letting the first in the series lay fallow, while I mull over the sequel.

Ralenna's father is angry at her because she rode into a battle. He says he would be less upset if she were a son instead of a daughter. To ease his worry, she offers to have a penis carved from wood that she can attach to her belt and take with her when she engages in dangerous activities.

Nathan the scientist has just had his first opportunity to inspect "The Worm", a giant, one kilometer tall pipe, at least twice as tall as the tallest building in NY, that has wrapped itself around the earth several times.

I'm a quarter of the way through a sequel to a book no one's read (yet).

I've written the first chapter, lots of bits in the middle, but struggling with chapter two and how I want to end it. And every time I sit down to write I find new ways of procrastinating - being on here my latest one.

My male MC is getting up in the middle of the night to get a glass of milk.

BT Lamprey said:

I'm a quarter of the way through a sequel to a book no one's read (yet).

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Feel ya, me too.

Delilah's second craft is disabled, and on fire. It recedes quickly in their wake as full darkness arrives. Orela speaks up. "Now she's really mad."

Currently questioning if the flaws of my novel are so great that it cannot be salvaged.

I’m in the final revision

Reworking my third draft in preparation for attacking the sequel in NaNoWriMo. Questioning everything.

aryheron said:

I’m in the final revision

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Wow. Good luck and good job.

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Emermouse said:

Currently questioning if the flaws of my novel are so great that it cannot be salvaged.

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I feel that way all the time. You just have to keep on editing.

First draft of Desperation was finished last week - this is the second novel in a scifi series about human extinction.

Currently I'm about 20% through my first editing pass. I have a professional lined up as an editor, but want to catch as much as I can on my own before I send it off to her.

New novel time! My last novel has gotten the line-by-line grammar edits done, and is now in the capable hands of my beta-readers. The new one has a synopsis, a scene list, and I'm working on my character profiles. My main character is a Time Tourist Outfitter, an older woman with lots of snark. Think Dame Judi Dench (any role) mixed with Shirley MacLaine in Steel Magnolias and a dash of Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter.

Suspended, that's where I am in my novel.

My aged desktop computer gradually and gracefully expired (with no loss of data). Unfortunately, a big, broad desktop is, as I see it, the appropriate apparatus to use for writing novels.

The smaller (though newer) laptop is appropriate for only shorter works--right?

So now I'm writing (gasp!) short stories and waiting for my new desktop to arrive.

aryheron said:

I’m in the final revision

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Yay! That’s awesome. Congratulations on making it this far!

greendragon said:

New novel time! My last novel has gotten the line-by-line grammar edits done, and is now in the capable hands of my beta-readers. The new one has a synopsis, a scene list, and I'm working on my character profiles. My main character is a Time Tourist Outfitter, an older woman with lots of snark. Think Dame Judi Dench (any role) mixed with Shirley MacLaine in Steel Magnolias and a dash of Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter.

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Ooh. This sounds really interesting and like a character I would enjoy reading.

TellMeAStory said:

Suspended, that's where I am in my novel.

My aged desktop computer gradually and gracefully expired (with no loss of data). Unfortunately, a big, broad desktop is, as I see it, the appropriate apparatus to use for writing novels.

The smaller (though newer) laptop is appropriate for only shorter works--right?

So now I'm writing (gasp!) short stories and waiting for my new desktop to arrive.

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Oh wow, sorry about that. I can kind of relate; I’m so nervous my laptop dying. I have to keep reminding myself to transfer my files to my husband’s computer “just in case” until I can afford a new one of my own. Hope your new desktop comes soon!

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In my story, I just finished a chapter where someone reveals that their cancer has returned. The protagonist is understandably a little shocked/upset and is trying not to cry in front of everyone.

Little does she know that her week is going to get crazier as it goes along. I jokingly refer to this week in the book as: “The Week From Hell.”

I've got several projects currently being actively worked on in various states:

No Good Deed...: Rewrites/expansion from a novella to a full-length novel. Maybe about 2/3 finished (it's already expanded from 30,000 to 60,000 words, with more to go).
Bait And Switch: Out of print after the publisher folded, pending rewrites.
Prize Play: Drafted, edited, and beta-read. I had been shopping it to agents, but it's currently on hold while working on the rewrites above (it's book 3 of the series).
Gonnes of Navarre: Book 4 of the above series, some concept and outlining work competed, but I've not yet begun the first draft.
Gyldenéage: Book 1 of a trilogy. First draft completed, waiting to get a response from all my beta readers before I begin editing. I have basic concept work done for book 2.
Shield-Maiden: Comic book (yeah, I know, not a novel, but it's a project in progress). Script for issue 1 drafted, and the complete first miniseries has been outlined, along with some conceptual work for more.

I’m over my block and getting things going again. I’m starting the second part.

Just delivered novel #31 (a creature feature, Operation: Loch Ness) to the publisher. Will be starting #32 on 1st Nov after a wee break.