I stood stupidly for three beats, with a voice inside my head screaming to pick fun. She needed to be interviewed, and I wanted to interview her something fierce. I wanted to interview her all night long and hard—to interrogate all of her sexy little bits starting with those pretty feet and ending with the…
The first draft of Jeanne Dark is in the books. Now to take a month off to experience life again. After that, I’m on holiday for 2 weeks. Hopefully, my life will clear up by then and I can focus on joy and publication. Woo Hoo. This isn’t my best book, but it was the…
By my estimation, I’m 98,000 words into a 108,000 word book. My detectives have solved the case, and now all that’s left is to try to apprehend the culprit. Oh, that it were so easy. I knocked out about 3,000 words tonight that I think will end up being increased instead of tightened. I’ll be…
One of the best–and the most frustrating–things about writing is that inspiration changes from moment to moment, and characters and plot lines refuse to be contained. In a moment of such inspiration, I’d come up with an archetype for a character in my book. Rather than my normal process of determining a personality type, I…
Starring in the role of Juliette “Jette” d’Arc Dubois, sister of leading lady Jeanne Camille Dark, will be Ms. Jean Harlow, nee Harlean Harlow Carpenter (1911 – 1937). She was not originally whom I had in mind for the role, but The Voices were quite insistent and excited when I consented. Apparently Ms. Harlow was…
Writing a book is an interesting endeavor. What and how you write shifts with your mood, and similarly, how you view what you’ve written changes in the same way. There are times you think it’s brilliant and times you’re positive it’s as dull as dishwater. The truth is always in between the two extremes. Having…
Now auditioning: Juliette d’Arc Dubois, Jeanne’s sister. I think she nailed her audition with Foss. I wonder how Jeanne will react when she discovers her staid, grumpy sister is flirty and open with him. Two hours after my meeting, during which I reached out to every mutual acquaintance that Dark and I shared, I was…
Busy at work all week, with a jacked-up back. As a result, I haven’t been on the computer at all, really. Hope to catch up with all of you soon. Foss and Jeanne will have to keep waiting.
I am writing a character-driven book. I’ve been saying that to myself all day. It’s as much a surprise to me as to anyone, even though by now, it should have been obvious. I’ve always tried to be pretty in-depth about characters, but until now, all my stories have been plot driven. And yes, I…
One thing that hasn’t changed in my writing process is how I inject new minor characters, whether human or some dim, imagined part of my consciousness. (My process for major characters is substantially different and involved. I’ve written about it here, here, and here.) Being largely visual (though Maria argues that I am as auditory…
Raw, Naked Art 