Day 9: The Case Of The Switching Muses

All right, so I hit my 50k goal, as I said in my last blog post. The novel I've been writing is sitting at 62.5k right now. I decided to take a quick break from Kay's story, one that he's been pushing me to write since I started NaNoWriMo and I started on a mystery that's straddling the line between YA and horror, depending on the kinds of supernatural things come out of the woodwork. Here's the summary:

Craig Gallagher's mother is an urban legend for the antics that she displayed right before she was committed when he was young, and the story's about his journey to coming to terms with the trauma in his past. This includes going back to the dilapidated house that he'd grown up in on Halloween and facing the demons of the past. He has no idea what awaits him and what other horrors and traumas he might encounter inside the house when the door gets locked behind him and a few friends on Halloween night.

The thing is, since I started this story a day ago, I haven't been able to go back to Kay's story at all. I've got about 4k in on it so far. I thought I'd be able to balance them, but my muses are so demanding that one eclipses the other. What happened to my ability to write a few stories at once? Am I just getting old and now I can only work on one at a time?

This is a legitimate problem. I suppose I have time to finish Kay's story since I literally just submitted the first part of his story to my publisher and I won't get a response back for a few weeks, but I really wanted to get it finished. Oh well, muses are finicky like that.

At least this story's different, and that's exciting.

NaNo Day 7: Where Are You Now?

So, NaNoWriMo authors, we've been at this for seven days. Exactly one week. Where are you supposed to be? I think the word count is somewhere in the 11k range-- just checked, it's supposed to be 11,666-- but not me. Oh, no, of course not. I have persistent muses and too much time on my hands. So, you ask, where am I right now? What is my word count on the seventh day of November, when most are just hitting the 10k mark?

I just passed 58,000 words. You know why? Because my muses are slave drivers, that's why. Today, I think I'm going to take a bit of a break from writing-- if they let me, that is-- and spend some time doing other things.

I will say that this writing has been causing slight problems. I've been ignoring people I love and care about in favor of writing, and that's part of the reason I've been going slower than normal these past few days. My partner's doing this too, but she has school and homework, so her word count isn't as high as mine. I'm sure her writing is better than mine, though. She's such a talented author, and I hope one day people will be able to read her work as they can read mine: published.

I digress. Today is a day of rest, especially considering I've already written about 2k words today. I'm going to try and step away from the little-- okay, big-- world I've created and live in the real world for a while.

Wish me luck!

The Effects of Sprints

So this year for National Novel Writing Month, I am way over my word count especially for this just being the third day, and that mostly has to do with all the sprints I've been doing over at the Facebook NaNoWriMo page. I can't stress enough how amazing those are to just let go of any lingering trace of your inner editor and just let the words come to you. There's time for editing later and as both my editors will tell you, there have been a lot of editing needed on both of my published NaNo novels because I did just this. Admittedly, I should have done a better job editing myself the first time around, but they were great sports about it.

I've also met a bunch of great people over there. I'm not usually the most social guy, and in fact I'm a bit of a hermit and that sort of hurts my sales because I'm not the type to put myself out there, but this month I've been more involved with the word sprints and the discussions over there than I ever have been before. It shows in my word count, too, considering I'm almost halfway to 50k and it's only the third day. Sprinting is a brilliant thing if you're hung up on editing yourself or you just think you're not cut out for this. Just shut your editor off and write for fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes. However long the sprint is, you just write. It's an amazingly liberating experience.

This story has taken me on a rollercoaster and I'm not quite sure where it's going to end, but this set of characters does that to me. Kay and his friends have always told me to expect the unexpected-- hell, this story had me merging an entire other world from one of my other novels with this one to expand the amount of characters exponentially-- and that's what I love more than anything about it. I'm excited to introduce this other cast of characters, and that's my next step.

I look forward to what else they pull out of their hats for me to write. Now, I'm back to writing. Happy noveling!

The beginning of NaNoWriMo

So today is the first day of NaNoWriMo and I decided to change what novel I'm working on, and put Tempestuous Heart on the back-burner with about six other different novel ideas. I decided to write the third installment of the Xander Series since I just sent the publisher the second one for submission a few days ago. It doesn't have a title yet, but it will, I'm sure, by the end of this month.

This is the widget I have selected to put on here, so people know my progress and can tell if I'm slacking or not. Haha.

As you can see, today's been a good day writing-wise and I feel like this weekend will be just as prolific, because I plan on doing nothing but buckling down and writing, with lots of soda and junk food to keep me awake. I love this time of year, because it challenges me, and I do some of my best work for NaNo. Fun fact: Both Phoenix and One Two Three, Shatter started out as NaNoWriMo novels. That's probably why my poor editors had a slew of mistakes to correct even after I'd gone through it a couple times!

My food of choice right now is Runts and Rockstars, and my music of choice is old Get Scared, before they switched singers. They're a great inspiration for this novel. Originally it was called, tentatively, Best Kind Of Mess, and we'll see if that title sticks, but as of right now it's open for naming.

All right, I've probably eaten up my word count for the day in this blog post, so I'm going to go back to writing. Happy NaNoWriMo to all oter writers participating with me, and good luck!

National Novel Writing Month

So, I have done National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo for short) since 2008, and I've completed every year but once. I am going to embark on that goal once more, but this time I am going to be moving and working on top of it. The joys of being an indie writer!

I digress. I'm gonna talk a bit about the story I have in mind for this most prestigious event. It's called Tempestuous Heart, tentatively anyway. Since I've been re-reading both Wuthering Heights and The Count of Monte Cristo, I've decided I want to write a historical fiction novel. Historical romance, to be more specific. Well, it might end up being romance. It might not. We'll have to see what kind of rollercoaster ride these characters take me on.

It's about two neighbors, both orphans adopted by English well-to-do families, and the way the differences in the way they grew up influence their relationship. One, Samuel, is a stickler for rules and adheres to society and the Catholic faith. The other, Thomas, is a wild child who would rather run in the fields and hunt than sit in a pew for church. The way they clash will, I'm sure, be a lot of fun to write.

I'm excited to begin it.

New Website and Update

So this is going to be a relatively short update, but I've been playing with my website for the past month or so, and I think it's about finished. If there's anything anyone would like to see on the page, by all means, let me know. It's here:

Joey James Hook

In other news, I've been going slow and steady on this zombie novel I've been working on. It doesn't have a name yet but it has a general concept and some pretty strong characters that I think people will enjoy reading about. They're both funny, especially together. I can't wait until I can hit that point where I can just sink into it and start letting it flow. It's always a bit difficult to start a story but once I get in the groove of things, it comes easily. I just need to hit that stride.

I need to get back into reading. Things have been a bit hectic. I'll pick up one of my books tomorrow, lose myself in a fantasy world or two.

That's it for now. I always find myself blogging at three in the morning. It's when I have to empty my thoughts more than any other time. With that in mind, good night!

What I'm Reading/Writing

Normally I just say whatever comes into my head, but sometimes that gets me into trouble, so if there's anything anyone wants me to talk about, let me know!

My novel One Two Three, Shatter just came out on Saturday, and the presales knocked me out! I'm glad it's gotten a relatively good reception, because it's my baby. Now I'm just waiting for word back on the sequel.

Since this is a writing blog, I suppose I should be talking about the things I've been reading as of late. Mostly I've been brushing up on my old American Sign Language textbooks, trying to get a feel for the language again because I've forgotten quite a bit of it, sadly. It helps that I'm writing a novella featuring a Deaf character, though that poor story is on hiatus right now, since it's trapped on a laptop that won't charge and I don't have the money to fix it. Edits for one of my other novels is stuck on there as well.

Starving artist at its finest!

I've been reading a book called The Burning Girl by Joe Niehart, and it's... interesting, to say the very least. The narrative isn't what I'm used to but it's not bad. I have it in paperback somewhere, and I should probably try and pick it up again. I'm also reading DAZED, by a writer friend of mine, Nikki Palomino. I haven't had much time to settle down and really give it the attention it deserves, but it's intriguing so far. Her writing style is rough, but it fits the character she's writing.

As far as new works goes, I've been tinkering with the idea of writing a zombie novel, because I've been catching up on the show, The Walking Dead. I think it'd be fun and fascinating to write something intense and gripping like that, and I have a few pages down. I just need to sit and devote some time to it.

It's almost two in the morning and I should try and get some rest even though my brain is always working on overtime. So I leave you with this.

'Til next time!