Game of Thrones is Back

So Game of Thrones season 6 premiered last night. I like the series overall, but individual episodes really are not self contained shows. Meaning if you were to watch a single episode, it wouldn't be very enjoyable. It's the conglomerate of shows, adding up to one episodic experience that makes Game of Thrones something to be watched. So if I had only seen last night's episode, it wouldn't have been something that made me think, "Wow, what a show. I've got to see all of those shows."

But as a continuing story, it is just another show. A lot of shows seem to be following that pattern. Not all shows. Walking Dead, for example, continues to make each individual show interesting unto itself. Banshee, too. But not Game of Thrones.

Many of the shows today continue to take their stories to places I don't agree with, and it is bothersome. But what are you going to do? Write your own story? That's a good idea. Write your own story. That way, the story will go the way you want it to go.

And talking about writing your own stories, I'm still improving Second Chance, and will continue to do so until it's published in August. Same thing with my John Dunn story. I'll keep improving that one until it's published in November. As for my other WIPs, they are pretty much on hold until the other two are done. Because now is the time to do it. Not later.

Three WIPs and Why I Don't like 1st Person POV

Now that Killer Eyes is done, I'm back to work on three WIPs. Second Chance is in the revision stage. I'm going through the third read through. Because it's such a clean ms, I don't think it will need nearly the same kind of attention I had to give my first four books.

I'm also in the process of writing two new books. The third Killer book, Killer on the Payroll, and the YA book, Inside the Outhouse. I'm not so sure I'm excited about Inside the Outhouse. It's more of an experimental book for me. I was never big on the YA genre. And I've always hated the first person POV narrative. But Inside the Outhouse is both. It's YA and it's first person POV.

One of the reasons I've always hated first person POV is that it means I have to become the story's main character. And if it's a girl, then I have to be a girl. And I'm not a girl. This is particularly disturbing when that girl character says something that only a girl would know.

I hate to use this following example, because it's a rather vulgar example, but I swear it's true. I forget the name of the book, but it was a first person POV, where the main character was a woman, and she was looking at some man for the first time. She clearly thought the man was handsome, and the narrative went something like this: "...looking at him made my pussy twitch..." or "...my pussy twitched..." one or the other.

Okay, now, not only am I a woman, I'm a woman with a "twitching pussy!" And I'm not making that up. I swear that the part "...my pussy twitch..." or "...my pussy twitched..." is word for word what that author, (a woman) wrote.

So I have a problem with that. Number one, I have no idea what it's like to have a "pussy." Number two, I have no idea what a "twitching" pussy does or feels like. And number three, I didn't even know pussies could twitch! And besides all of that, I just felt like the wordage was vulgar, and expressing the notion at all was in very poor taste.

Now I'm not a prude, really. But a woman telling the universe about her "pussy" and that it was "twitching" I just think is classless. I was turned off at that point, and since it was in the beginning of the book, I just stopped reading. I never reopened that book.

So, yeah, a lot of books are female first person narratives, and I just can't connect, or identify with a female main character. Does that make me a chauvinist? I don't think so. I don't want to know about a woman's private parts, nor do I want to know if their private parts are twitching. Really, I don't.

So, why is my YA WIP an experiment for me? Well aside from the fact that it's YA, I'm experimenting with writing it in first person POV. I've noticed that many, perhaps most YA are first person POV, and since none of my other books are first person POV, I thought I'd go ahead and make this one a first person POV. It's a fourteen year old boy, and since I was once fourteen, and a boy, I can identify with that character, and make the narrative realistic, as I might have experienced what he does in that book.

So we'll see how that goes. As for my third Killer book, it's back to third person limited, as is Second Chance, a Football Story. Those are really coming along well, and so back to work. That's all.

Killer Eyes-Found an Error

So I knew I was right to read through my MS of Killer Eyes one last time before submitting. I found something that could have been considered an error. Trent meets a girl, and without giving any of the plot or story line away, let's just say they go to his hotel room. So she's wearing a yellow dress. But she has no change of clothes with her. The next day, Trent goes his own way, and so does she. But the day after that, Trent comes back to his hotel room, and the girl comes by, too.

So at this point, it's two days later, right? Right. So what would a woman do after spending the night at a hotel room, and then leaving the next day, only to come back the day after that? Well, one thing for sure is that she wouldn't be wearing the same yellow dress. And THAT is the error I caught. She was still wearing that same yellow dress. But I fixed it. Now, (which is two days later,) she's wearing a crop top and tight jeans. So yeah, changing her clothes after wearing the same dress two days in a row, is something that SHOULD have happened with this woman.

It's all good now, and I'm just about done with this read through. Then I'll send it to Melange and it should be released by this summer. At least that's how it happened before. I look forward to it. It will be three books down, and one more to go. Then back to the WIPs.

Second Chance at 36,000 Words

I haven't been chronicling my progress with one of my WIPs for a while, my football story called Second Chance. But I've been steadily working on it. Mostly I talk about my other WIP, Killer Eyes. And that's because it is very close to being submitted. And it has a publisher waiting for it, too.

But I've been working on Second Chance at the same time. And it's over 36,000 words right now. I really don't know how many words it will total, but I'm at least half done right now. maybe more than half way done, which means it won't be as long as my other books.

I'm thinking the book might max out at 60,000 words. Maybe not as much as that. But I still think it will qualify as a novel. Even books with  40,000 words qualify as a novel, albeit a short one, but Second Chance will be more than that for sure.

It's fun, because a lot of it is about football, which has been one of my passions throughout my life. It seems like I've had a lot of passions. From art to music, and from writing to football. It's made me a very busy person. I've never been idle. I always want to be doing something. Something creative that is. And writing books has been my latest passion. It's been a great ride. And I'm still on it.

Killer Eyes, John Dunn, and Second Chance

Talk about Works in Progress. I have three WIPs going on right now. All at the same time. Killer Eyes, John Dunn, and Second Chance.

Killer Eyes is on its last read-through. I said that a million times already, I know, but this time has GOT to be the last read-through. But who knows. I might end up saying that a million more times. The thing is that the more you read through it, the more you improve it, the better it turns out to be. It happened with Killer of Killers and The Vase. And it's happening with Killer Eyes, too.

And there's my other book called John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu. That will probably take until summer to complete. And then there will be more read-throughs, of course. There's one scene I didn't write that I should probably put in there. It's when the Zulu warriors are getting so itchy for a fight, that they attack another Zulu regiment. That's how bad they wanted to fight. And there's two reasons why I should put it in there. One, it reinforces one of the reasons why the Anglo Zulu War erupted.

Yes, the English pushed the war onto the Zulus, but the Zulus themselves WANTED to fight. War was the Zulu culture. And they had already had wars with pretty much all their neighboring tribes. The English were pushing for war, and the Zulus were not a people to back down from any war. Not even against the white men, who had already demonstrated superior fighting power by then. But what the Zulus had experienced in fighting white men was no modern army. They had only fought bands of Boers, (Dutch descendants who had colonized South Africa centuries before.)

But even the Dutch ultimately got the better of the Zulus. Still, the Zulu didn't back down. Not to the Dutch, not to anyone. Not even the British. Now, King Cetshwayo was a smart king. He knew that fighting the British army would be a bad idea. But the factor that I eluded to was ever present. That factor was the Zulu ritual called the "Washing of the Spears." Young Zulu men needed to prove their skill in battle. They called it the "Washing of the Spears." As in washing their spears in the blood of their enemies. It's one of the reasons they had that fight break out between the two Zulu regiments. They were itching to fight, because they hadn't had a fight since the Zulu civil war twenty years prior to that. They were pretty much demanding for their king to send them to fight someone.

And the second reason why I should put that scene in my John Dunn book is because John Dunn was present when that fight broke out. He was an eye witness to it. He documented the event in his autobiography, which I have. It's called John Dunn, Cetswayo, and the Three Generals. I used it as one of my sources for my John Dunn book. So when I get back to it, I'll see to all POV issues of course, like I was doing last summer, and then see to putting that scene in there.

And my third WIP is my football story, Second Chance. I'm writing that because I'm inundated with football right now. Both of my sons are on football teams. My younger son's Pop Warner football team just went to Spokane, Washington for a regional championship. With so much football in my life, I had that dream about football, so I'm putting that into a novel called Second Chance, a Football Story. Wow, three books at once. That's a full plate right there. I'll keep you posted.

Second Chance @ 29,000 words

Closing in on 30,000 words on my WIP Second Chance. It's a football story, and it's fitting I would write one. After all, football has been one of my favorite things my entire life. But I was really a failure at it, unfortunately. That doesn't mean I wasn't good. Actually, I was very good. I mean I was a very good football player. Many of my peers, no, most of my peers, no, all of my peers knew I was a very good football player. Some even thought I was good enough to play, well, I won't say pro, but I'll at least say college. But here's the let down. I didn't. And that's why I say I failed at it. Because I didn't try. I didn't even try. I let myself down. And that dream was unfulfilled.

When I said dream, I was speaking metaphorically. But because that dream was unfulfilled, I kept having dreams about it. About football. About playing football. From high school, to college, and even pro. No, really. I had recurring dreams that I was playing football. Real football. Organized football, in high school, college, and even pro. It was really weird, like I was dreaming the life I might have had, perhaps should have had if I didn't quit. It's like the single greatest regret in my life.

And since something as unimportant as football is the biggest regret in my life, I must have had a pretty good life. That's the way I see it, now. Maybe it's better I didn't play. I might have had a terrible injury. You never know. But the fact that I don't know, is why I kept having those dreams.

Strangely, when Killer of Killers got published, I stopped having that recurring football dream. It's like being a published author filled that "void" in my life, and was the cure to that unfulfilled dream.

Until recently. I had another football dream last May. I chronicled it here in the blog. It's the dream that inspired my WIP Second Chance. I think it's a good story. Not my best, not my second best, but a good story. A football story. I'm writing it between the revisions and edits to Killer Eyes, the sequel to Killer of Killers. I'm going back and forth on those two. It's fun, working on two books at the same time. I kind of did that with Killer of Killers and The Vase, too.

Instead of getting one book written, I get two. And there's still my John Dunn book waiting in the wings. Can't wait to get back to that one. Stay tuned.

John Dunn Total 120,000 words

After revisions, my WIP, JOHN DUNN reached 120,000 words. And for me, that's a lot of words. Especially since most publishers don't really want manuscripts over 100,000 words. Yeah, many make allowances for up to 120,000 words depending on the genre. Usually it's fantasy. I hope Historical Fiction qualifies, too.

I'm not even sure how I want to proceed. Should I find an agent? Should I just submit to publishers on my own, like I did for KILLER OF KILLERS and THE VASE? Actually, I've stopped submitting THE VASE because I already have it out there with about a half dozen publishers who are considering it. Another two or three have already agreed to publish it. I will see what the best deal is, I suppose. Or maybe I'll bring it to the publisher who is publishing KILLER OF KILLERS.

It's a crossroads for me. Do I want different publishers publishing different books of mine? Or do I want the same publisher publishing all of my books? I'm glad I have this kind of quandary.

But THE VASE is really a special kind of book. Why? Because it's a special kind of story. You already have a feel for it just from my blog's title and the text underneath it. But there really is something special about it. I don't want to put out any spoilers. But the text does hint at it.

It's not a religious book, so let's get that settled once and for all. And it's not about spirituality. But there are elements of that. And as for religion, even though it's not about religion, there are reasons that religious people will like that book. But not just one religion. I think all religions can appreciate the story.

Sure, I know there will be haters. There are always haters. I better be ready for the reviews. All writers have to have a thick skin. How many times have we all heard that? But I don't know just how anyone can hate a book like that one. Still, I know it will happen.

Better get it published first. Then I'll worry about all of that.

Second Revision Completed on WIP

Last night I completed the second read-through of John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu, which is my fourth and latest novel. I liked how it turned out. My only concern when I wrote it was the ending, and I think the ending works well. The Battle of Ulundi is the climax of the story, and the capture of King Cetshwayo and then John Dunn's return to eMangeti, (his home in Zululand,) is the denouement.

So now I think it's ready for the Beta readers. My brother, a lawyer in Hawaii, won't be ready to read it until March, he says. But I would like for Barb to check it out, too. Who's Barb? Well, Barb was the first person to follow this blog. She writes historical fiction, too, and she had made a few comments during the course of my blogging on the progress of this book.

But something happened, and I see that she is no longer on my list of followers. It could be that she took down her own blog, which I read from time to time. But now I can't find it.

So Barb, if you are still there, and if you are reading this, please contact me and I would like to send you the attachment of this manuscript for some feedback. OK? Ok.

Importance of Revising

I'm near finished with my second read through of my WIP, John Dunn, and I have caught some major inconsistencies. It surprised me really, because I thought I cleared them up with my first revision read through. I found a place where I got the friends of the Shepstone brothers mixed up. There were three Shepstones who served as mounted volunteers in the Zulu War. And one of them, George, was killed at Isandlwana. Theophilus Shepstone, the father, was a high ranking official in the colony of Natal, and he is the main antagonist in the story. It just goes to show how important revisions are. I don't believe anyone who says they can write a novel in one draft.

John Dunn Pretty Much Done

So I'm pretty much done with the John Dunn story. I've just about completed the second draft, which was very necessary before anyone could read it. That includes beta readers, of course. I had to tie some strings together. One of them was the fleshing out of the sons of Theophilus Shepstone, who is the main antagonist of the story. The Secretary of Native Affairs in Natal, Shepstone gave up that position to become the president or prime minister of the Republic of the Transvaal, also known as the South African Republic. As such, he sided with the Boers in their land disputes with the Zulus, whereas before that he had favored the Zulus. Talk about betrayal of an entire people. Worse, however, he could have prevented the Zulu War, but he didn't. And a lot of people suffered and died for that.

But his sons weren't bad guys, even though they did fight against the Zulus in that war. They weren't British regulars, they joined up with the the cavalry volunteers, and one of them, the youngest, George, was killed at Isandlwana. At the same time, Shepstone's administration in the Transvaal was failing miserably, and the man retired and dropped from public life. That's the way I have it in my book, too. So in his conflict with John Dunn, it wasn't Dunn who did him in, it was his own failed attempt to lead a nation, and the tragic loss of his youngest son.

Revision Interrupted

After revising the first two hundred pages of my WIP, John Dunn, I only got through ten pages yesterday. Well, I had to work after all, but something more exciting happened. The Art Director of Melange Books contacted me about my book cover to KILLER OF KILLERS, and said she likes it but my name might be too low. So I tweaked the cover, never really coming up with a solution. She sent me a template, but for some reason it downloaded without the template. Maybe I did something wrong, or I just don't understand how to use it. I'm sure we'll work it out. I really hope we can use that cover design. My students love it. Many said that they would buy the book just for the cover. I told them that they are too young to buy it, that they better be eighteen when they do. It's not X rated, but it's a solid R rated book, I'd say. Now, THE VASE is G or PG. But that's not getting published yet. And it's the one I thought would get published first, too. It's strange how things turn out.

Second Draft Half Done

Since yesterday was a day off, I shot through the first two hundred pages of my WIP, John Dunn, applying revisions where needed. Minor stuff mostly. But necessary stuff. But if the second half goes as easily as the first half did, that means I did a pretty good job of it the first time around. Well, it's my fourth novel, so I think I have the hang of this. And since my first novel, KILLER OF KILLERS is getting published this summer, that bodes well for the other three. Very exciting times for me. It's all coming together now. Perseverance pays off.

JOHN DUNN FINISHED!

Well, the first draft, anyway. Last night I got back to work on my WIP, John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu, and decided the only thing that needed doing was finishing it. So I did.

Now that doesn't mean in my rewrites I won't change it some. But the manuscript topped out at 118,400 words. And that's plenty long enough. Most every publisher I have researched caps their word count requirement at 120,000. A lot don't want any more than 100,000. Some even top off their word counts at 80,000.

So I really don't want it over 120,000, that's for sure. Now begins the revision stage. That will give me something to do while waiting for Melange to assign me an editor for the editing process of KIILLER OF KILLERS. Can't wait for that. I won't be idle,that's for sure.

Thanksgiving

It seems that everyone is thankful for something on Thankgiving, and I can't pretend I have nothing for which to be thankful.

Well, I do, but I don't suppose everyone out there is keen on hearing about it. I mean it's great to be thankful and to have a lot to be thankful for, but I find myself not really interested in all the things strangers have to be thankful for. And I don't want to bore anyone who happens to be reading this in that manner.

So, yeah, I'm thankful. Now back to work and get this WIP done. It's over 93,000 words right now, and I still have at least three more chapters to write. Shoot, this book is turning out to be a monster. Tell you what... I'll be thankful for when it's done!