Killer Eyes Ready to be Published

Killer Eyes is on its way to publication! I sent the absolute final draft last night. Nancy, the publisher at Melange, was so wise to give me a final shot at fixing all inconsistencies, and it paid off. I found a place in the beginning that wasn't consistent with a place in the end. Had the book been published, that inconsistency would have been permanent.

I'm referring to POV. It's something I was sure had been fixed completely. A person's POV in the beginning should be the same at the end, and it is now, thanks to that last read-through. And there was one more thing. Main character Trent Smith is more about vengeance than revenge. On the back cover blurb I had failed to notice the word revenge was used. (I had written it that way when I first composed the blurb.) But when I edited the interior blurb, I realized the word vengeance was the right word to use. But I didn't change the back cover version of that blurb. I didn't have access to that file, so I couldn't change it.

I did advise Nancy, and she said it will be taken care of, and then sent off to the printer. So it's a day for celebration for me. Another book is finished and in the process of publication. Even though I don't drink, I'll break out the champagne. I'll have a glass for each book published. Which is three for now. But more to come. And very soon.

Inside the Outhouse creeping along

My WIP, Inside the Outhouse is a slowly developing story. I hate using the first person narrative, but for the YA genre, I've found most POVs are first person, so I'm going with it. One thing for sure. I'm never writing in first person again. This will be my only time. I don't understand why so many authors write in first person. It's a very limited POV. You can't switch to anywhere else in the story, or write anything other than what the main character is experiencing.

So I'll ride this one out, if for no other reason, to see how it goes. But even if it goes well, I'm still not going to write in first person again. I remember HG Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote some first person books. I read Well's War of the Worlds and one of Burroughs' Venus books as a teenager, and the first person narrative in those books didn't bother me.

But lately, any  book that's first person is a book I will put down and never pick up again. As for Inside the Outhouse, it's a good thing most people are not like me. After all, I wouldn't want anyone to pick up my book and then, after learning it's first person, put it back down. Nevertheless, I'll proceed and keep everyone posted here on the blog how it's coming along. RIght now, I'm only on chapter two, so like I said, it's creeping along. Slowly.

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.

Meanwhile, Second Chance Over 55,000 Words

I was talking about how John Dunn was over 123,000 words, well I've still been working on Second Chance, and it's over 55,000 words now. I suspect it may reach 75,000 words, which will be a good enough amount of words for a book like that.

And what kind of book like that is it? I call it a sports story. More specifically a football story. There's no sex, practically no violence, as almost all of the action is on a football field. In fact you might have to be a football player to understand a lot of what's going on. Maybe not.

Yes, it's character driven. And like all my books, there's a lot of characters, and the POV does change to follow some different characters. Of course I use the scene break when I change POV, as I've learned that lesson by now. It flows well, I think. But I'm still on the first draft, and like all books, it will be revised who knows how many times.

I'm still involved in my agent search too. And I've got a couple agent rejections by now. I'm thinking that a historical novel like John Dunn would have more of a chance of attracting an agent. I've queried about a dozen or so by now. And I'm only a week into it, so those two responses came pretty quickly. Still I hope I do land an agent. Agents can get you into the Big Six and get your books made into movies too. Hope it happens. Fingers crossed.

Wow, John Dunn near 125,000 Words

That's quite a manuscript for John Dunn, my historical fiction story, based on the true story of John Dunn. It's currently over 124,000 words, and that doesn't include that extra scene I was considering putting in. The scene in question only moves the plot in one way. It shows the Zulus are getting antsy to fight, so much so that they had a fight amongst themselves, two different regiments, and up to seventy of them were killed.

But the story really doesn't need it. And since it's already so many words, I'm rethinking doing it. I'm closing in on finishing the revisions at this time, but that doesn't 'mean the revisions will be done. Same old story as with my other books, revisions are a seemingly endless thing.

But as I go through this manuscript I really am enjoying the story. The prose is good, easy to read, easy to follow, even though I do write through the POVs of several different characters. Don't worry, I've taken great pains to make sure there's no head-hopping anywhere. Any POV changes are differentiated by a scene break, and I really think the POVs are necessary to tell the entire story.

And that's because it's more than just a story of John Dunn. Sure he's the featured character, but other integral characters include Dunn's first wife, Catherine Pierce, the Zulu king Cetshwayo, other Zulu characters like Dabulamanzi, Cetshwayo's brother, and many British characters as well. Among the British characters, there's Theophilus Shepstone, his brother John Shepstone, Lord Chelmsford, the British commander of the South African forces, and many more.

It's an epic story, really. It would take a miniseries to depict it on TV. Not unlike the miniseries they already made about Shaka. And btw, Shaka is mentioned a few times in there. He's been long dead, but his legacy is very clear and pronounced in the story line. As it should be. Can't wait to see which publisher will be interested in this story. I'd think a British one would be likely to be interested. But I hope some American publishers would be interested, too.

New Year Brings New Books

Happy New Year to anyone reading this, and the new year for me will bring new books. I've chronicled the publishing journey of Killer of Killers and The Vase, and I have talked about the imminent release of Killer Eyes. That one will be the first book of mine published in 2015. And then John Dunn will be revised. I can only suppose the revising of John Dunn will take the entire year.

And that's because John Dunn is a long book. Over 120,000 words. It's my longest book, and it's only half way rewritten, in terms of instilling everything I've learned over the years. That means POV, dialogue tags, and the correct use of verbs. And on the surface it doesn't seem as though there would be so much to learn. But there is. You've got to be sure you didn't use an intransitive verb as a transitive verb and vice versa. And you've got to be careful about consistency, and time lines, and who's doing what and when and where, and so much more.

No need to say that the longer a book is, the more effort it will take to make sure it's done correctly. Look how long it's taken me to make sure my first three books were done right. Killer of Killers even needed a second edition to reach that point. Killer Eyes won't, but I've been working on the revisions since last February or so. And in the next couple weeks, I can finally be sure it will be ready.

Which brings me back to the new year. 2015 will be a good year. Killer Eyes will be released. The revisions to John Dunn will be finished, and probably the first draft of Second Chance will be completed, too. And once the revisions to John Dunn are, um, done, then I'll get to revising Second Chance. But that one, I suspect will take the least amount of effort. It's being written with all of my knowledge already intact. Doesn't mean it won't need revising. Just not as much.

So again. Happy New Year, and I look forward to it. Stay tuned.

Second Chance, my Fifth Novel, coming along

I talked a little bit about my fifth novel, Second Chance. I'm at 11,191 words right now, which is pretty good progress, seeing as how I'm not dedicating full attention to it. I'm still finishing up Killer Eyes, which I absolutely refuse to submit, even though it's guaranteed to be published by Melange, the publisher of Killer of Killers. Killer Eyes, after all, is the sequel to Killer of Killers.

I just need to be absolutely sure that Killer Eyes is ready to be submitted. Even now, as I read through what I thought would be the last read-through, I'm finding plenty of places that need to be improved. Yeah, I've got all the plot holes fixed, all the inconsistencies fixed, all the POV issues are fixed, and all the timeline issues are fixed. But still, I'm finding little things here and there that just won't do. I mean, if this was published, I would be thinking, "Now why didn't I write this like this, instead of like that?"

That happened time and again with Killer of Killers, on top of the POV issues that were present and needed to be fixed, and were fixed in the second edition of the book, which is available now. I just want to be absolutely sure that this time it doesn't need a second edition. And I'm close, to be sure, but now quite there. Not quite yet.

With Second Chance, my first novel since I've perfected the POV style, and near perfected the art of writing a novel, it won't be such a major thing to revise, as it was with my first four novels. And the progress is really showing that fact. I've mastered the art of writing a novel by now, and I'm not surprised at all. Two big things to look forward to this year for me on the writing front. The completion of the final draft of Killer Eyes, and the completion of the first draft of Second Chance.

And because this blog is a writing blog, I'll keep you, the reader, apprised as I go along, just as I did with Killer Eyes and John Dunn, as I was writing them. Bye for now.

POV 3rd Person Limited

If you are writing in 3rd person limited POV, which is the expected style of writing a novel these days, (unless you're writing in 1st person, which I hate,) then everything you write must be written in a particular character's perspective. You can jump from one character to another after a scene break, but using a character's POV includes using the names of people the POV character knows.

Meaning if your POV character happens to know the names of the other characters with whom he or she is interacting, (or fighting,) then you can use those names. This came up with my current WIP, because Trent was remembering his training at the Tokyo Dojo when he was sparring against several other senseis at the dojo. At first I didn't call those other senseis by name. I was using "his opponent" or "his foe" or "the man." But last night while rereading and revising, I realized, wait a minute. Trent had trained and worked with these guys for twenty  years. So he would know their names.

I went ahead and gave these guys names, and used them. Now against the  dozens of foes whose names he doesn't know, then they must remain nameless. And that's what 3rd person POV is about. Same thing with first person. If the POV character knows their names you use them. If he/she doesn't, then you don't. Simple as that.

Killer Eyes--Can't Wait to Finish

Working on Killer Eyes has proven to be very enjoyable. I'm referring to the revisions stage I'm on at the moment. For a long time, I wasn't sure how well that would turn out. I knew that there were plenty of holes to fill, and I thought it would take a lot of work.

Well, it did, but that word "work" is relative. It was a lot of fun, and it still is. I've always thought that the revisions stage was the most enjoyable stage anyway. At least it was for KOK and The Vase. But it's turning out to be true for Killer Eyes, also. I guess another thing that made me wary was fixing all the POV stuff. Making sure that all of the third person limited POV was consistent.

Nowadays it seems people are obsessed with not having any head-hopping in a story line, and I'm making darn sure none of my books do. If there is, it's a typo. I found one in the one book I would figure wouldn't have any. The Vase. And that's the book with the editor who made it a big deal to NOT have any. But there it was. Only one. It got by us both, I guess. Because it was sneaky. And I only caught it the THIRD time I read the book after publication.

As for Killer of Killers. I dare say there are no POV errors. None. Zip. No head-hopping whatsoever. That is, KOK the second edition, I mean. I put out the second edition to correct all of that, and I did. Very nicely, too. And it's all fixed in Killer Eyes, as well.

Next, the John Dunn story. That will be a bigger chore. It's a longer book. 120,000 words. My other three novels clock in at about 90,000 words. That's an average. But an accurate one. I have three books on the back burner. The third installment of KOK I may call The Killers Guild, the new book I've already started, called Second Chance, and the YA book I've talked about called Inside the Outhouse.

But first and foremost, I can't wait to finish Killer Eyes, because I'm loving it more and more every time. The future looks bright.

Third Person Limited POV--5 rules or guidelines

Now that I'm back to revising Killer Eyes, the sequel to Killer of Killers, I find myself mostly just reinforcing the 3rd person POV rules, which are as follows:

1-Each scene should be narrated from only one person's perspective--your POV character. Do not divulge anything that your POV character would not know. That means no "head-hopping," meaning the POV character would not know what another character is thinking, so don't reveal what another character is thinking. It's okay to say seemingly or apparently when referring to another character, however. For example: "The stranger was apparently displeased with the comment." Or: "The stranger seemed unhappy when he arrived."

2-When changing POV characters, use a scene break. Usually that means three, four or even five asterisks on a separate line between scenes.

3-When referring to your POV character, (in 3rd person limited,) use that character's first name, as that character would not be calling him/herself Mr. so and so, or Ms. so and so, nor would a character typically refer to him/herself by his or her last name. Nor would the POV character refer to him/herself as "the American" or "the doctor" etc.

4-Refer to non-POV characters by how your POV character would refer to them. If, for example, the non-POV character is the father of the POV character, then it would be "his father" and not the first or last name of the father, unless it had been established that the POV character does indeed call his father by his first name.

5-Take care to be consistent. If your POV character, for example, is a humble person, then don't write a narrative that would hint otherwise. For example, you wouldn't write, "Henry was not going to let his talented hands get dirty if he could help it." Meaning if Henry is a humble person, then simply leave out the word "talented." 

The interesting thing to me is that this 3rd person limited POV is relatively a new thing. I've read books that have been published prior to, say, the year 2000, and I find all kinds of POV inconsistencies. Most of the books I've read, (or all of them, actually,) have been books published prior to 2000, and I was used to those inconsistencies. But as a writer, now, I have to go with what is accepted in the writing styles of today. And I've learned that this 3rd person limited POV is the expected way to write. So go with the  flow, if you will. To be considered a good writer today, you have to conform. And besides, I've found that it really does improve your writing. And what writer wouldn't want that?

Back to Work on Killer Eyes

Finally got back to work on the sequel to Killer of Killers, and I think it's working out. At first it seemed that I would have to make a lot of changes, but it's not as bad as I thought. The amount of changes that is. I did make some rearrangements more than anything. I relocated some passages, and made some chapters in the beginning longer, but that's because I combined some chapters. The Prologue is shorter now, but chapters one and two are longer.

The biggest thing now that I'll be working on is the POV 3rd person limited thing. I have to make sure that whoever has the POV in any particular scene the narrative refers to that person by their first name, and proceed from their perspective only. That means you don't reveal anything from anyone else's  perspective, at least not until you change scenes, and change perspectives. That's my major focus on this current pass. Hopefully, it won't take as many passes as KOK did. But we'll see. It will take as many as it takes. That's all.

Time to Wrap up Killer of Killers

Over the summer, I had been working on the second edition of Killer of Killers, between editing rounds of The Vase. And since late August, pretty much all of my time has been put into the second edition of KOK. And I can say, it's almost ready. I might have sent it in a couple weeks ago, but I really don't ever want to have to revise this book again. Melange, especially Nancy at Melange has been very nice about it. It's a pain for her, I'm sure, to have to reload this thing, especially after doing it repeatedly when it first got published. But it's more work for me, really, than anyone else, rewriting this thing. But when it comes to making it a better written book, I'm OK with that.

Well, it's not really rewriting anymore. At least not at this point. It was when I rewrote several scenes to adhere to the 3rd person limited POV, but since the first couple times going over it, it's been more of a polishing up. I've learned a lot more about comma usage, and I have fixed a lot of comma placements, and even some instances of verb usage. All in all, it's made for a vast improvement in writing quality in all aspects of writing. POV, literary composition, and prose being the top factors. It's a much improved book. I know I keep saying it's almost ready, but this time, it really is. I should be sending it in by the end of this week.

But after saying that, I'll probably be sending it in next week. Early next week. Monday or Tuesday.

The Vase Doing Well, and Killer of Killers Second Edition Imminent

The Vase, now, has been out for about two weeks. I think it's doing well, but I have no data to confirm that. That will have to come later. I just think that it is such a good story, such a unique and original story, that once people get word of it, it will sell well. Particularly to Christian readers. Not that Jewish and Muslim readers can't enjoy it, because I think they will. The main characters are Muslim and Jewish, after all. So of course they can relate to it, in that sense.

It's interesting to me, this third person limited POV. Both Killer of Killers and The Vase are strictly adhering to that guideline, and it makes the story and the writing of it so much better, now that I have come to fully understand it. I never write in first person POV, and any time I find a book in first person POV, I drop it like a hot potato. Third person limited is the way to go. And now that the release of Killer of Killers, the second edition is imminent, both books will be perfect in that regard. That's all for now.

The Vase and Killer of Killers

The Vase is now a published book and ready to be purchased. Killer of Killers was published a year ago, but I would suggest to wait until the Second Edition is released before purchasing it. That is, unless you're a collector. Collectors want the First Editions. That way, if Killer of Killers ever did get famous, or becomes a top seller, than those few First Edition copies might be worth more than their original purchase price.

But that's another thing, entirely. For me, as the author, I would prefer the Second Edition to be the version readers read. Why?  Because I'm applying all that I learned from Penumbra Publishing into that version. Third person limited POV will be perfect in Killer of Killers. Melange was good about it, make no mistake, but they just weren't severely strict about it. They follow Nora Roberts, I've been told, and I understand Nora Roberts herself is very loose about third person limited. So Melange, also, is somewhat loose about it.

Not so at Penumbra. They are as strict as can be. So much so, that not even the slightest stray from third person limited will be tolerated. At first, it seemed to me to be a little too strict. And I was glad that Melange wasn't that way. But after finishing The Vase, I realized that it really did make a difference. The literary prose was improved too. And by a lot. So much so that I just felt compelled to do the same for Killer of Killers. And wow. Killer of Killers has been improved so much now, that I can't wait to submit it for the release of the Second Edition.

I'm in the final stages of it now. It should be ready by next week. Stay tuned.

Now Killer of Killers the Second Edition

Full speed ahead with the final revisions to Killer of Killers, and the second edition will be sent by next week. That means if you're a collector and insist on having a first edition, then don't wait too much longer. I would recommend the first edition for collectors for that reason, but if you're a stickler for literary prose, and strict third person limited standards, then wait for the second edition. That one is super high level literary standards, and sticks to the third person limited POV completely. I used to think the third person omniscient was the way to go because of the old school writers style. But today, you better go with the flow. Omniscient = old school = out. Limited = new school = in. And I want in, so that's what I'm doing. Can't wait to get done. Stay tuned.

Rewrites are great, but...

...you've got to be careful. I mean anytime you rewrite something, that means you reintroduce the possibility of TYPOS. I'm so happy with my Killer of Killers rewrite for the corrected POVs and everything, but in double checking it, guess what? I'm finding some typos. Not a lot. But I've found two now. And I'm only half way through chapter four.

And with 18 total chapters, along with a prologue and epilogue, that means I may have another eight typos in there. So, okay. I'm aware of it now. And as long as you are aware of it, then you're more likely to catch it. Still, I'm excited. Can't wait to complete this and send it in to Melange. I will be tooting this horn very loudly at that point. But let's finish this final read through first. Then we'll talk, and toot some horns. A lot of horns.

Time to Wrap Up KOK

By tomorrow I will finish the edits of Killer of Killers, and hopefully see it reloaded at Melange. Then I will get the promotions in gear. There will be nothing holding me back now. The book will be perfect as far as POV is concerned, and I will try to get it reviewed. Until now, I'm glad it hasn't been reviewed. But after tomorrow, I'll be pushing for it. Better not get ahead of myself. Let's get it reloaded first. I'll keep you posted.

Summer Flying By

Summer's half over now. As always, time is flying by. I didn't expect to write a new book this summer, but I did expect to have The Vase and Killer of Killers completely finished with all revisions, editing, and POV corrections. And Killer Eyes, too, btw. The Vase is done. Killer of Killers is almost done, and Killer Eyes, I expect will be finished by the end of the summer. Really, I hoped to get John Dunn done, too. Because when Killer Eyes and John Dunn have been edited for POV issues, then I'll begin The Killers Guild, which is the third installment of the Trent Smith story. And after that? My YA book. I never figured to write one of those, but I have a pretty good idea for one, and I'm itching to see how it pans out. So I think I will go for it. We'll see.

Revising So Necessary

Even after a billion revisions, a manuscript can be revised for the better. And I'm deleting a lot of unnecessary sentences this last time. Mostly exposition sentences during dialogue. These kind of sentences just make your dialogue longer, and take the focus away from the dialogue. Now there aren't THAT many that I've had to remove, but s few here and there. And it just makes your writing better, so I'm glad I'm doing it. I must say, Killer of Killers and The Vase are very clean manuscripts at this point. No typos, no unnecessary exposition, no wasted words, and most important of all, no POV issues. Both have been specifically edited for third person limited POV errors, and it feels good to know that.

Still Finishing KOK

Well, I've said it a million times. And after two complete read-throughs and revisions to improve all POV inconsistencies, I thought this would be ready. But I'm going through it a third time, and even though the POV errors have all been corrected, I'm still finding ways to improve it. Mostly, just improving the prose. But why not? I figure is this gets reloaded, it will be the last time. So I'm going to plow through this and make it the best it can possibly be. The good news? It's a blast. I'm enjoying reading this every bit as much as I ever have. Truly, this is the best book I've ever read. Truly.