Back In the Saddle

I realize I've let this blog lapse for a while. I had a lot going on, most of it not conducive to writing. But I'm back and working on the books again.

I sent The Case of the Lost Werewolf Puppy to beta readers and an online critique group, and the reactions have been interesting. Overall, readers have liked it. I've received some excellent suggestions to make the book stronger, and I'm looking forward to sitting down and making some changes.

But I noticed an interesting trend in the critiques. Several people warned me about "info dumping" in the first chapter. It's a fair comment. This is the second in a series, and I do need to introduce the characters and get readers who may not have read the first story up to speed. I tried to do this by interspersing background information and asides by Dafydd to fill in important information. I do think I will go back and look at what really needs to be there as opposed to what can probably come out or be introduced later.

So, good comment. However, the ones who criticized me for info dumping also requested more information! Seriously, readers can't have it both ways. You can't tell a writer, in the same critique, to both take out and add more!

Part of the problem is I could only submit the first chapter to the group. If a reader wanted the entire book, they had to request it directly from me, and not everyone wanted to take the time to read the entire book, which I respected.

But it still made for an odd juxtaposition of comments.

Until next week, then! Back to writing on the latest installment, which finally has a title! The Case of Old Acquaintances. Intrigued at all?

I'm Improving As A Writer

You know how all those books on writing tell you that the way to get better as a writer is to, well, write?

Yes, I believed them. I mean, it made sense. The more you practice any skill, the better you are likely to be at it. But now I'm seeing the difference that regular writing makes. This year, I've written over 110,000 words of fiction. That doesn't include blog posts or anything else. That's just fiction. And it's only August.

I've never written that much fiction in such a short period of time, and I can see the difference its making in my writing.

I just re-read The Case of the Lost Werewolf Puppy, and it's better than Haunted Vampire, even taking into account that Werewolf Puppy is a first draft. The writing is cleaner. Characterization is better. Description is better. Everything is just better. Once I edit it, the differences will be even clearer. That doesn't make Haunted Vampire bad. It just means I'm improving. Haunted Vampire is definitely good enough to publish.

There were five scenes in Werewolf Puppy that had me worried. Three were fight scenes. One was a ritual casting, and the other was the first introduction to Lounge 201, the vampire bar. Fight scenes used to give me trouble. I'd write and rewrite them and still think they sounded lame. None of the scenes were lame. They need work, but only cosmetic stuff. The final fight scene actually had me tense up, and I wrote the darned thing, so I knew what happened!

The scene at Lounge 201 surprised me. I did some things with description and character actions that I'd forgotten. I think I did a good job setting the mood, which was important. That entire scene was about mood and posturing. I'd never written a scene like it, and I'm pleased with the result.

As for the ritual casting? It took me four days to write that scene, and I hated every  minute. I was sure it sucked. I mean really sucked. When I re-read it, I thought it wasn't too bad. I'll get better at writing them in the future, but it was decent.

So what I'm learning is that writing new kinds of scenes isn't hard. Dialogue has always come easy for me. Action scenes are getting easier. Mood pieces are possible to get right the first time. It feels good to be learning my craft.

Oh, one more result of regular writing. I'm getting faster. Earlier this year, it took me about an hour and half to write 1,500 words. I thought that was pretty good. Now I've got it down to about an hour for 1,500 words. To put that in perspective, I just finished reading a book on writing. The author, who writes full time, sets a daily goal of 1,500-3,000 words. It takes him about 5-6 hours to produce that. I can hit his low-end goal in about an hour. Not bad. I do it by being ruthless about not stopping. I don't edit as I go. Ever. I just keep moving forward. The only time I'll let myself look back in the manuscript it to check a fact. And I don't let myself edit (except for maybe adding a missing piece of punctuation or correcting an obvious typo).

If you're a writer, I'd love to have you share what you've learned from regular writing.

Excerpt from The Case of the Lost Werewolf Puppy

As promised last week, here's an excerpt, showing how I use Dafydd and his non-cambat magics in combat. This is still a draft, so any comments are welcomed!

***

"We've got company," Paul said.

I looked again. Still nothing. "Where?"

The word had barely left my mouth when two things happened, almost simultaneously. One, I heard a low, menacing growl, maybe 20 feet from me. Two, Paul picked me up and threw me, hard. I must have flown 30 feet, in the opposite direction from the growl.

I hit the ground and skidded several more feet. If I'd had a bit more warning, I might have been able to turn my skidding slide into a controlled roll, but as it was, I hit my head and saw stars for a moment. I forced myself to shake it off, knowing, even in my confusion, that I didn't dare stay down for long. Paul was good, but I didn't know how many there were, and I couldn't rely on him to protect me.

Forcing my legs to work, I scrambled behind a nearby dumpster--Paul had good aim and presence of mind—and, hidden for a moment, glanced around to see what was attacking us.

My heart sank when I saw my friend fighting three large wolves.

Have you ever been to the wolf enclosure at the zoo? You might think you have an inkling of what I saw. Zoo wolves have a wildness about them, even in captivity. They pace back and forth, with a smooth motion that you just know could spring into a hunting charge at any moment. They look dangerous, and, on an instinctive level, humans respond to that by keeping their distance.

Let me tell you that there is about as much similarity between zoo wolves and these creatures as between a wolf and a poodle. Sure, similar species. Fur and fangs. That sort of thing. But wild wolves are tame house pets in comparison to these.

In the first place, the three creatures attacking Paul were almost half again as large as even a big wolf, almost all of it muscle. Their fur was long, shaggy and looked like it would offer decent protection, even against small arms fire. And the way they moved? Pure killing power. I've read that man is the top predator on Earth. No way. These things were way above us.

Fortunately, vampires are also above us on the predator scale, and for the moment, Paul was holding his own. He whirled with easy grace, his claws extended to slash first one wolf, than another. While I'm certain he could have handled two with relative ease, three were too much. As he tossed one wolf aside with what looked like a casual back-handed blow, another slid underneath his guard and snapped at his ankles, aiming to hamstring the vampire. Paul twisted at the last minute, and dropped one leg to catch the blow on his thigh. Then he glided to one side, positioning himself so that he faced all three wolves. He was facing in my direction, and I knew he was trying to keep their attention on him and off me.

I appreciated the effort, but I could see he wouldn't last long. Another wolf timed his motion to slash at Paul's side, and the vampire gasped, loud enough for me to hear, even from 30 or so feet away.

Time for me to get into things. Normally, I'm not the kind to get into a dust up like this, but ever since I met Paul, I knew I was going to have to be prepared to get physical, so I've been working on some things I can do quickly. First, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a potion. Keeping an eye on the fight, I unscrewed the bottle top and gulped it down. (In case you were curious, small water bottles are a great way to carry around potions. Much better than the glass vials used in most high fantasy novels.)

I felt the effects almost immediately. My vision sharpened. Sounds were clearer, and I could hear the hitching breath of one of the wolves Paul had wounded. The night air moving on my skin felt like it had weight. I nodded. Good. It worked the way I'd hoped.

I pulled out another bottle and yelled, "Paul. Heads-up!"

He truly is amazing. While still holding off three wolves, he hopped back, putting a few feet between himself and the furred buzz saws. I threw the bottle, trusting my enhanced reflexes and senses to get it moving in the right direction.

Paul did the rest. With one hand, he slashed through the foreleg of one of the wolves. It yelped and hobbled to one side, out for the moment. The biggest wolf leaped for Paul's throat, but the vampire spun one way in a quick feint and then reversed the other way, leaving the big wolf off balance.

The bottle flew, one end over another, seemingly in slow motion, closer to the fray with each rotation.

The final wolf saw it and changed direction, hind legs bunching for a leap.

I yelled. "Hey! Fur face. Over here."

The wolf's head moved to look at me, and I grinned, catching his gaze directly. I tamped down my fear, letting none of it show in my eyes or expression.

It shifted its weight slightly, preparing to leap in my direction.

The bottle rotated once. Twice. Three more times.

Paul dodged the big wolf, slashed at the smaller, which had recovered and jumped back to attack.

The bottle spun again.

Paul reached out with his right hand and caught it neatly. With a smooth motion, he lifted the bottle to his lips, and, not bothering to open it, sank his fangs into the smooth plastic and drank it down.

Immediately, his motions were faster, and his strikes had more power behind them. I nodded. Now he'd be fine. Especially since he only had two wolves to deal with. The other was just starting to leap my way.

But I'd planned to draw off one of them, so I was ready for it. I reached back into my pocket and drew out a small container. I held it ready. The wolf leaped, and it was moving fast. Without my potion, I'd never have been able to follow the movement, much less react. Under the influence of my magic however, the wolf's leap was in slow motion, and I was able to time to action for the top of its arc.

I actually moved closer to the wolf, wanting to show it that I wasn't afraid (even though I was), and needing the distance to be just right.

When the wolf was in position, I held up my container and triggered it.

I'd timed it just right. The spray hit it directly in the eyes, like I'd wanted. I jumped back as the wolf let out an anguished howl. It's precise leap devolved into a helpless tumble, and it fell, hard on one side. If it hadn't been so big, its whimpering would have sounded pitiful.

I smiled as I ducked back behind the protection of the dumpster. I held my pepper spray container in front of me, ready to hit it again.

It continued the whimper, and I peered out from behind the ripe metal structure. The wolf was frantically pawing at its eyes and letting lose pitiful whines and whimpers, in between racking coughs. It tried to look in my direction, but its eyes were screwed shut and watering profusely.

After a moment, it stood up and staggered away, apparently out of the fight for good.

I nodded in satisfaction. I'd gone all the way and bought the Triple Action spray, a mix of pepper spray, tear gas, and a UV dye, for good measure. Not that I thought we'd be identifying him in the near future.

I turned my attention back to Paul's fight, while still keeping some of my attention on the retreating wolf.

My efforts had helped. Paul was bleeding freely from several wounds, but the smaller wolf was retreating, tail between its legs and one paw held up while another dragged the ground in an obvious limp.

The larger wolf was attempting a fighting retreat, but its movements were slow, and as I watched, it turned tail and ran.

Paul started to chase after but then sagged, coughing. I recognized the effect of the potion wearing off, and I hurried to him. My own potion was fading, but I could still see well enough to watch both wolves backing away. I held up my pepper spray and motioned in the direction of the third wolf, whose pained howls could still be heard, moving in the opposite direction.

Both wolves snarled but continued to run (or limp) away.

***

So what do you think?  I was pretty pleased with how well Dafydd did in this fight.

Magic System in the Warlock Case Files

Magic system design is crucial for a fantasy author. You want something that has internal consistency and preferably looks and feels different from other magic systems. By the way, Brandon Sanderson in his Mistborn saga has one of the best-designed magic systems I've ever read. If you haven't read them, do so. They are excellent.

I'm not saying my magic system is even close to his, but I did give it a lot of thought before I started writing, and I've continued to tweak it as I go along. I didn't want Dafydd to feel like a D&D style wizard who tossed around fireballs and called down lighting bolts. I wanted him to use his magic tactically and to give some thought to how he could use his powers.

In the first story, I said he could create potions, do divination-style magic and read auras. I also said that he needs time to do his magic. He can't pop off spells at a moment's notice. He needs time and set-up. As you'll see in the book I'm writing now, I break that rule, but for a specific type of magic. My husband actually came up with a way he could use that type of magic in combat, and I'm looking forward to writing the climactic fight scene in that book where he tries something new.

But until then, I've stuck with the original rules. When I write fight scenes, I have to think carefully about Dafydd and what he'll do. I can't make him sit on the sidelines while Paul does all the fighting. Basically, I've dealt with it by having him augment himself and Paul with potions (enhancing speed, strength and reaction). He uses pepper spray to good effect against a werewolf, and he's used his magic to trick and misdirect.

Sometimes I have him avoid the fight entirely and save someone, freeing Paul up to so what vampires do best. Beat the tar out of bad guys!

Of course, he uses his magic outside of combat. Aura reading has come in very handy while talking to other vampires, and I have a scene where he uses ritual magic to track someone down.

Check back next week when I'm going to post a draft of one of the fight scenes from The Case of the Lost Werewolf Puppy. You'll be able to see both of them in action. I'd love feedback on what you think of how I've written Dafydd and his magic.

Editing and Producing the Best Possible Product

I'm on several ebook forums, and lately there's been a lot of discussion about the quality of self-published works. Most of the discussion has been very distressing to me as an author and sometime editor.

First, let me be very clear. Every author, self-published or traditional, has an obligation to produce the very best product for readers. Anything less is unacceptable, and readers have every right to reward other authors who keep quality in mind.

Okay, now that I've said that, let me also say that editing is tougher than it looks and can be VERY subjective. Many of the people who slam authors for mistakes have obviously never written or edited professionally. It's easy to sit in your armchair with a book and a red pencil, finding errors in a book you never wrote or edited.

It's impossible for an author to proof his or her own work, beyond a certain point. I saw that in spades this week. I was doing a mostly final rewrite of The Case of the Haunted Vampire, and I had been very careful in my re-read and rewrite. Then I pulled out the critiques from the online critique group, Critters. Mostly the story received high marks for professionalism and editing/writing quality. The readers found several grammatical/tense/consistency errors. I had missed all but one in my last re-read.

You know what else was interesting? None of them found all the errors they found as a group. It took eight people to find the errors I corrected yesterday. There's probably a few more out there. I have hired a professional editor for a final review, and I'll bet she'll find some of them. Will she find everything? Probably not.

And this was a work that most readers said was very high quality.

Those were just the objective errors. What about the subjective stuff? A couple of readers commented on my use of tense. One even asked if I had originally written the story in present tense and rewritten it in past. Ugh, no. I wrote part of one story once in first person, present tense. It was an interesting experiment, and I learned a lot, including that present tense is a bitch to both read and write. I went back recently to re-read that story and found a bunch of places I'd slipped into past tense. Never again.

But back to this story, which is told in first person, in a very conversational style. I did use present tense a few times, because it's what we do when we speak. An example is when Dafydd was talking about Annie's, the diner he was going to. I wrote "Annie's is pretty well known as a gay hangout." One of the readers called me on it. Another noted the tense shift but indicated it was okay if I was doing it for style reasons. I was doing it for stylistic reasons. Think about it. Annie's exists today. If I were telling the story to a friend about going there, I'd probably say "We went to Annie's last week. It's a great place to eat!" I wouldn't use past tense in the second sentence, so I had Dafydd use present tense as well.

Subjective, eh? Six different editors would probably give me seven or eight opinions.

What's the point of this rant? Simple. Authors need to have a commitment to writing the best possible story and making it as perfect as possible. If we do that for you, readers, will you give us a bit of leeway and understand it's impossible to make a work perfect, even when we give you our best possible effort?

Thanks!

Rethinking Marketing Strategy

When I started this series, about a year and a half ago, my original plan was to write a series of novellas, which I would bundle together, three or so to a "book." The first piece, The Case of the Haunted Vampire, cooperated, coming in at about 16K words, a bit short for a novella, but close enough.

The Case of the Lost Werewolf Puppy, the second work, was supposed to be about 20-30K words. Unfortunately, that story didn't cooperate, and I realized about 15K words in that I was working on a full novel. Its current word count is about 90K, firmly in the short novel range. I'm not planning to be an epic novel writer, and 80-100K is a good length for a light, genre novel, as this one is.

This all has left me with a bit of a quandary. There simply isn't enough plot to the first novella to allow me to lengthen it. But the second was always intended to be number two in a series. I don't want to market Haunted Vampire as something it isn't, although with e-books, it's difficult to tell how long a book is until you've bought and downloaded it. Deceiving my readership isn't going to win me more readers.

I've been noticing a lot of authors releasing "prequel" novellas and short stories lately as a way to market a longer book in a series. I've decided this will work well for me.

Lost Werewolf Puppy is going to become the actual first book in the series. I'm pretty sure it stands alone, and I've got some beta readers willing to confirm that for me. Haunted Vampire is now a prequel work. Readers will probably want to see how Paul and Dafydd met, and that's the story I tell there. In hindsight, it's not the best story to be first. Lost Werewolf Puppy has lots of action and more character development. It's a good "first" in the series.

My pricing plan remains the same. Haunted Vampire will be .99 on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (where I can't price a book as free), but it will be free on Smashwords, so I can tell people about it as a freebie intro. Lost Werewolf Puppy will be $2.99 everywhere, as will subsequent books. I'll experiment with putting the longer works on sale, and we'll see how it goes.

I think this will work and allows me to adapt to the changing lengths of the stories in the series. I may have a few novella ideas later, and I can always treat them the same way. Offer them up for .99 or free.

And in case you were wondering, the next book is already in progress. About 16K words in two weeks of writing. Obviously, it's going to be another novel, and it's going to be good. We're finally going to find out who Paul really is and how he became a vampire. There might even be a bit of romance in it. ;)

Finished the First Draft!

I finished the first draft of The Case of the Lost Werepuppy on Monday. It was an odd experience. I knew I was getting close. When I finished my writing last Saturday, I knew I had just a few more scenes left. I needed to do some wrap up after the climactic battle, and Dafydd had some soul-searching to do. Several people had just died for his fight, and that's never an easy moment for a character.

I sat down on Monday (having seen X-Men First Class on Saturday), and I knew the scene was going to have some of the feel of the Charles/Erik scene in the library (except both Paul and Dafydd were drinking Scotch--no wine for Paul in my scene--and the chessboard was absent.) Ehm. I digress. Think I enjoyed the movie?

Anyway, that dialogue scene turned out to have a couple of surprises for me. I'd been mentally roughing out the scene the night before, and I knew I wanted Paul to finally reveal how old he was. When I was writing on Monday, I literally typed, "I was born in..." and then pulled out my notes. Remember, Paul is based on an historical character, and I had his actual birthday.

That was when I got my shock. Paul's date of birth was September 10. The scene I was writing took place on September 9. Remember my post of last week on resources? The date of the story was driven by full moon phases, and I hadn't remembered Paul's date of birth. It was one of those things I cut and paste into Evernote to refer to later.

It's funny how things work that way. Kind of like it was meant to be, huh?

My other surprise came when I finished the scene. I was done. I mean really done. I'd wrapped up the theme and the story in that scene. I needed a couple of paragraphs to resolve one last plot point, but I decided it could all happen off-screen. It didn't need to be shown.

So I was done. And I'm very glad these guys are in a series. You know the feeling you get when you finish a really good book? One of those you never want to end? Finishing this one felt exactly like that. I'm hoping that means it will be as good for my readers as it was for me.

But it's not really done. It still needs editing. I kind of figured out my themes as I went along, and now I need to go back and strengthen them. Plus fix inconsistencies, crappy wording and make my fight scenes obey me. I hate writing fight scenes. Good thing I can rewrite them passably.

Oh, and just because I could, I started working on the next book yesterday. I do my best writing in the morning. Editing I can do anytime. Might as well use my time wisely.

One final link to X-Men. Want to see what Paul looks like in my head? 

It was kind of eerie watching the movie. This was pretty much exactly how Paul has looked to me. Even down to the slight head tilt. And Fassbender is almost exactly the same height and has the same color eyes as the historical Paul. In real life, Fassbender's hair is lighter than Paul's, but in this role, even that is right. Eerie.