At Long Last!

For a long time now, I have been working on the manuscript for my first novel.  I had been working on it when I was on my lunch break at work.  Needless to say the going was slow, but then I changed jobs and it slowed down things even more.  I had hoped to have this thing done this past summer, but that totally fell apart, but now I have finally gotten back into a rhythm, and I am loving it.

Now, let me tell you you a little bit about what I am writing.  It's sort of a dystopian type story.  It is set about a hundred years into the future.  The United States has collapsed and three new nations have emerged, two of which are at war.  One is planning an attack that will alter the course of the war and leave a wasteland in its wake. 

That's all I am going to say about it for now.  I have injected a lot of politics into it dating all the way back to 2001.  I wanted to show how our great nation fell apart, and I must be honest, I think I did a pretty good job of it.  I added a few things I think will get my readers' imaginations going once they see what I have planned.

Unfortunately, it will still be some time before it is ready.  I was just so excited that I got back into a groove that I had to spill a little about it.  I'm hoping I will have a lot of time to work on it and If I'm lucky it may only take a few months.

The biggest thing that will slow me down is a new project I am eager to start.  I will give you a quick peek about it.  It is about the Titanic.  No, there is no Jack, or Rose.

Just some thoughts....

I had not planned on commenting on the tragedy in Connecticut.  I felt that between the news and social media, enough was being said already.  Now that I am seeing so much political B.S. that has been stirred up because of this I feel compelled to throw in my two cents. 

I do have strong political beliefs, but they are mine and mine alone.  If someone asks my opinion I give it, but I do not throw it out there regardless of how good a point it may be or how appropriate it may seem at the time.  Having said that, this is all I have to say about the whole situation.

FORGET the political crap, it does not matter now.  Those kinds of conversations can wait.  Do not forget the victims, the families of the victims (which I consider victims as well), nor the first responders and hospital staff that dealt with, and are still dealing with, this mess.  They are what is important.  Remember the victims.  There is no better tribute.  That is all I have to say.

I will not respond to any political nonsense placed on this post.

A Quick Update

So, I haven't been doing much with my blogs lately, and I'm barely on my social media.  I got wind that some think that I have thrown in the towel.  That could not be further from the truth.  In fact I have a revision of my current book almost ready to go and a new book that is also nearly to go.  All I am lacking is my Achilles heel, cover art, and they will be ready

Beyond that I have been been working on two separate novels, as well as starting the plans for three more projects, which I will not start until I get one of the novels done.  I have also been working to update my blogs and make changes to them, so that they better reflect what I want to show.  I have also have been working on new post for both my main blog and my review blog.  Of course, I have to balance this with that little thing called real life, which has become extremely demanding. 

That's it, short and sweet, and to the point.  Thanks to all who read my crappy blog post and crappier posts on G+, Twitter, and FB it will get better. 

I Remember

Recently my days have been gobbled up by real life, but what is real life?  Very few days in my life have answered that question, but those that have were profound.  Eleven years an event happened that had no direct impact on me personally, but yet it showed what “real life” can really be like, in all its horrific honesty.  So, despite the fact that I don’t have the free days to work on my projects I’m taking this day, even if it late, to remember one day when the complexion of the world was changed.

I worked midnights then, and I had been home from work only a couple of hours.  Like most people that work that kind of shift, I went to bed as soon as  got home, and for once I went right to sleep.  I had not been asleep long before I woke up.  That was not all that strange, it happened often.  I was also living at my parents at the time and on this particular morning when I woke up I decided to see what my parents were up to.

I walked into the front room where my parents were watching the morning news, nothing odd about that.  What was odd was the weird look on their faces and the way they were looking at the TV.  That too, was also odd.  My parents were not dramatic people and their expressions could not have been any more dramatic.  I looked at the TV just as the second plane slammed into The World Trade Center.  I sat down in a chair and did not move for hours. 

I watched the video from New York, I watched the sun silhouette against the burning and smoking towers, I watched them both collapse.  My memory ends there.  I have no idea why, but after that moment I don’t remember much of the rest of that fateful day.

I wish that I could remember the whole day, but I am grateful that I am blessed to remember the events up to the moment the towers collapsed with such clarity.  When my little girl gets older and asks me about that day, I know I will be able to tell her what happened and how it happened, and why in all the terrible color of the truth.

I’m talking about all this not because I wanted tell you about what I was doing that I day, because it is totally unimportant..  I told you this because I remember.  That is the only reason, I remember and I want you to remember.

            I am a firm believer in the idea that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.  I believe that with every ounce of my being.  I ask all of you to remember.  Remember those that died in the attacks, remember those that died trying to save people in the towers and those that died in Pennsylvania and those at the Pentagon.  Remember those tat died in the events that happened directly because of that Tuesday morning.  Remember the fallen and remember the pain, so that the world will never see anything like this again.

I'm Still Here

I'm still around, and I'm still writing some.  I have been absent for so long because of some major changes in my life.  The demands on my time have gotten to the point where I was forced to cut something out, and unfortunately my writing is what got cut.  I am still writing, but it is very small amounts.  I plan to complete the music series I started on my review page.  I just put the finishing touches on all the posts.  Posting them won't be a problem, now that I have them written.

I am still editing my second anthology book.  It should be done by now and out, but like I said I am forced to turn my energy to other places.

I hope to have a new post up on here this week (fingers crossed).  Until then, thanks for not giving up on me. I am serious about my work, but life has taken priority, damn you life!

Help!!!

            I hate plot holes.  In my opinion there is nothing that can gut a story faster than a plot hole.  I'm one of these people that looks for them in any kind of media I come into contact with, from books to movies, and even video games.  It often irritates my friends because I have the habit of poking holes in even the most well written story.  Even stories that I love myself are not immune.  As much as I love the Dragonlance series, there are several places where I can punch a hole in the plot.  I am a terror.

            Why am I bringing this up?  Simple.  A few days ago I was in the middle of doing an edit on one of my short stories for my new anthology book when I stumbled on, you guessed it, a plot hole.  To be fair it's not horrible, and several people I have had read it, never even caught it.  Either that, or they were just being nice.  It's not even about the plot itself.  It has to do with the character himself and an abrupt  transition from one set of actions to another, without any real reason or prior explanation.

            Most plot holes can be fixed quickly or sometimes they require a re-write, depending on how bad the problem is.  Obviously you can see where a quick fix would work in this case, I would just have to add either an explanation or a trait that would explain the sudden change in behavior of the character, but you can also probably see where a re-write could possibly produce a better overall flow.  No matter what though, it is there, and in the words of Morpheus it's like a splinter in my mind, and it must be dealt with.
 
            Now I am faced with a simple dilemma, which method do I use to fix it?  It's not that I haven't faced this before in my other stories, but this time it is different because I could use both methods to remedy the problem.  My biggest dilemma, is that a quick fix may make the character seem too unrealistic, or a total re-write may produce a purely malevolent person, which is not what I was aiming for with this character.  To be honest, the character is a villain, but now I must decide what kind of villain he is.  Is he someone who just seems to make bad choices, or is he a sociopath that has no redeeming qualities and should be killed on sight.   I'm not sure which method to choose.

            So, I am going to ask all of you, what it is you think I should do.  Should I just do a quick plug that would do the job, or a total re-write, which could change the overall nature of my character and leave me with something different than what I started from? 

            Granted a re-write may produce something that is superior to what I have now, but I must admit I am quite fond of the story the way it is.  In fact, it is one of my favorites from my new book.  Despite this, I'm leaning towards the re-write since I think it will produce a more cohesive end result.
 
            So give me your opinions and suggestions.  Do I use a quick fix, a re-write or do I forget the whole thing, and go eat some noodles?