Tentative Title for Book Three in Killer Series

Last night I was mentally brainstorming titles for Book Three in my Killer Series which I'm outlining at this time. Actually, I went ahead and wrote the prologue. Only for my Killer books do I write prologues. Neither The Vase nor John Dunn have prologues.

It came out pretty well, but I had no grip on a title, and I think I came up with a possible title now. Killer on the Payroll. Sounds different than Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes, doesn't it? It's supposed to. I was thinking Killer in a Box, because the story is about a kind of martial arts tournament that takes place in an arena on an unnamed island in the South China Sea. But after considering that title, it sounded too much like Jack in the Box. So forget it.

The tournament is being held by the Triads, which is a Chinese gang and one of the most powerful syndicates in the world, right up there with the Yakuza of Japan and the Mexican and Columbian gangs in the Americas. Well, really if you include the Russian and Italian gangs, and so many more, which I do include up to thirty, all of them are pretty powerful.

Anyway, all the gangs of the world are coming to participate, with their deadliest killers or fighters competing in the tournament to determine who is the world's deadliest killer. Trent Smith, being the world's greatest martial artist eventually finds himself participating in that tournament, even though he had made it a point to never work for anyone, particularly a gang. But it happens, for the Yakuza of all gangs, and for him to qualify to participate, he has to be on the Yakuza payroll, thus the title of the book. It has a ring to it, I think, at least more so than Killer in a Box.

So, for now, I'll call it the working title. Usually, my working titles end up as the title but not always. For instance for Killer of Killers, the working title was The V Shaped Man. But that changed to Killer of Killers which is way better. For The Vase, the working title was Lord I Am Not Worthy, but that changed to The Vase which is way better. But Killer Eyes stayed, and so did John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu, at least so far. We'll see how that goes.

Least Favorite Part of Writing

Starting out a new novel, which I'm doing at the moment, is my least favorite part of writing a novel. You have to make sure there's a decent plot. Got that. You have to make sure there's a decent subplot. Still working on that. You have to make sure you have the characters you need, and the characters all need a significant role in the plot. Still working on that too. And you have to make sure you have a great climax to the story. I'm working on that, too.

But that's the problem. It's work. Meaning, you have to work hard to make sure it all works. It has to fit together like a puzzle. Like when you compose a song. You have to make sure the different parts of the song flow together seamlessly. You don't want your song to sound choppy, or disconnected, nor do you want your story to be ill-fitting from scene to scene.

And that's the hard part of writing. But once you've got all that done, the revising and editing is the easy part. For me, the revising is the most fun. But the problem is for my five prior novels, that stage is over, and now I'm back to square one for the start of my sixth novel.

Interestingly, for my fifth novel, Second Chance, I didn't have to undergo that beginning stage. It had all come to me in a dream. I know it sounds unbelievable, but maybe it's because, like the main character in Second Chance, I too was robbed of my senior year of high school football. Don't need to get into the details, but as a result of that, I had recurring dreams about it. Almost like a what if scenario in dreams that recurred for forty years.

And it was that last dream, well, the dream from about a year ago now, it was pretty much an entire story that took place in the dream, and I wrote out the outline the next day. And I finished that outline in that same day. Compare that to now, where I'm on my third day trying to pound together an outline for Book Three of the Killer Series, and I'm still not finished. It has to be perfect. Like the first two books are. But the only way you get it done is to do it. So back to work.

Outlining Book Three in the Killer Series

Spent the bulk of the weekend outlining the latest adventures of Trent Smith, the world's greatest martial artist. And what better story to include in an adventure like that than a tournament to proclaim the world's greatest martial artist? Actually it's being held by the world's most powerful mobs. I did some research on the matter, and learned who the gangs are and where they are based. Ultimately, I'm thinking it will include a representation of 30 gangs from 20 countries. That should be a good accounting. And, of course, each fighter will be a deadly killer in his own right.

But the question to a storyline like that is how could Trent Smith get involved in something like that, since he works for no one, particularly no gang or mob. Well, there are ways. And I've solved that question. Now I have to flesh out the plot, the subplots, and figure out what role each character will play, and figure out just what new characters I want to include.

Yes, the bottom line is that Trent Smith is my favorite character. He's up there with James Bond, Captain Kirk and Conan. Trent Smith, the world's greatest martial artist, who believes that guns and knives are the weapons of cowards. Let the action continue in Book Three of the Killer Series. I'm working on it. And just in case you've forgotten, Book Two in the Killer Series, called Killer Eyes, will be released as soon as next month! Can't wait for that one. So get your copy of Book One today, and then you'll be ready for Book Two next month, and Book Three sometime in 2016.

Killer Eyes Copy Proof Sent-Still no Final Cover

I received the copy proof of Killer Eyes, and it was mostly commas here and there that needed to be inserted. I revised a sentence or two, but for the most part it was a very quick process. I didn't read it in its entirety, but for the first time I don't think I had to. It was COPY proofed after all, so it should be ready for publication now.

Which brings me to the unfortunate fact that the cover design is still not finalized. When my new cover design artist was assigned and came up with the radically different design, I liked it and even was excited about it. The silhouette of the martial artist was a welcome sight, and although I believed it needed tweaking, I thought it could be done with little effort and in no more than a day.

But that was near three weeks ago. After some initial tweaks that did improve the design, I thought we were headed in the right direction, and all would be final quickly enough. Here we are three weeks later, and still neither Killer Eyes nor the new design for Killer of Killers is completed.

It all seemed to hit a snag when I wanted the silhouetted figure on the KOK cover to be more like what the main character, Trent Smith looked like. Eager to see it, I went ahead and did it myself, as I have chronicled here on the blog. But it seems that the artist can't make it happen. She told me they are not allowed to use the author's design, (my improved design) for whatever reason, and as a result the design is still not finished.

I brought this up to Nancy, the Melange publisher, when I sent the final copy proof, and she deferred to the person in charge of the Cover Design department, but still no word back to me. I'm left in Limbo it seems about that. My contract does give Melange until August to release the book, but August is a week away. So we'll see what happens.

John Dunn to be released in 2016

My publisher, Dana Robinson at KRP told me that they are going to publish John Dunn in 2016, and that Second Chance would be released in 2017. That's one book a year, not two in one year like I was thinking the other day. With Killer Eyes coming out in 2015, it'll be one a year for three years in a row. If I can get Book Three in the killer series finished sometime in 2016, that might be published in 2017, then that will be the year I have two books published in one year.

That's not my goal, really, it's just something to note. This coming year I do figure to write two books in one year. Book Three in the Killer Series and that MG/YA book I've mentioned from time to time called Inside the Outhouse. If they can be finished by next summer, then that might wrap up my book writing career. Unless I go ahead with that ultimate historical fiction book, I've considered for a while. That will be quite an undertaking, needing an lot of research and a lot of time to write. But with all my other projects completed...well, we'll see.

Second Chance Submitted to Knox Robinson

I just sent the Second Chance manuscript to Dana Robinson, the publisher of Knox Robinson Publishing, and hopefully she will agree to publishing it in 2016 along with John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu, but about two or three months apart.

I requested a July or August release for Second Chance because that's when football season starts. And since Second Chance is a football story, it would be a good time to release it. I asked for the John Dunn book to be released in March or April. If it happens, it will be the first time I had two books published in the same year.

That totals five books, including Killer Eyes, which has just been edited. That means there's going to be no more revisions for any other books until the editing begins for John Dunn and Second Chance. Now what? Well, I have three other books on the back burner. They are:

1-Book Three of the Killer Series

2-An MG/YA story

3-Another historical fiction story.

So which one do I start writing next? Hhmmnn...

Second Chance Revisions Underway

Trying to make the most of the Knox Robinson offer of publication for Second Chance, a Football Story. I need the manuscript and a book description submitted by this Wednesday. I'm almost there. I'll finish the revisions by today. That doesn't mean the revisions will be completed. I'll probably keep at it until Wednesday, just to polish it up as best as I can.

Fortunately, the revisions are not as extensive as they had to be in the past. Being my fifth novel, I've learned how to write novels by now. And the errors I made in the first four I didn't repeat in this one. That's why the revisions will be so much easier and faster, too. So it's all good.

Second Chance a Football story. I suppose it could be YA. Not MG, but YA would be appropriate. They cuss a lot in the book. I'm just going from real experience. And the bed scenes are tame. I've never been too graphic when it comes to sex in my novels. But there is a bed scene or two in Second Chance. But they're so tame, I think the cussing is actually worse. We'll see.