30 October 2010
Typically, when I sit down to write a book I have a pretty good outline and I know what the outcome is supposed to be. Sometimes (in fact, often) that outcome changes as I write, but I start with a direction. For example, I know what the outcome of The Volunteer is expected to be. I know how I'm going to get there. The rest is writing.
When it came to Stocks & Bondage, though, I've had a lot of what happens in mind, but not what the outcome is. I know that the key has always been in the six computers that the dead woman has in her home. (Why else would you hire a computer forensics detective to investigate the death?) But I really had no idea what was on the computers that was so important. I had thought vaguely that it had to do with finance or credit card theft. But this morning as I tossed between not enough sleep and have to get up, it finally dawned on me. Oh my! Suddenly, my book not only has action, it has an outcome and it is mind-boggling. No wonder Deb Riley has to get into those boxes. Now if she can just do it without being exposed...
If you'd like to read the adventure in November as Deb blogs it, just go to my Sponsor Me page and make any donation. Send me a note (comment here) with your email address, and I'll unlock the blog for you. There's other great prizes, too.
Now that I know where I'm going, I can't wait to get started.
When it came to Stocks & Bondage, though, I've had a lot of what happens in mind, but not what the outcome is. I know that the key has always been in the six computers that the dead woman has in her home. (Why else would you hire a computer forensics detective to investigate the death?) But I really had no idea what was on the computers that was so important. I had thought vaguely that it had to do with finance or credit card theft. But this morning as I tossed between not enough sleep and have to get up, it finally dawned on me. Oh my! Suddenly, my book not only has action, it has an outcome and it is mind-boggling. No wonder Deb Riley has to get into those boxes. Now if she can just do it without being exposed...
If you'd like to read the adventure in November as Deb blogs it, just go to my Sponsor Me page and make any donation. Send me a note (comment here) with your email address, and I'll unlock the blog for you. There's other great prizes, too.
Now that I know where I'm going, I can't wait to get started.
27 October 2010
When I write a mystery, especially one that happens in real time for 30 or 31 days, I do a lot of planning ahead of time. Having only decided to do this mystery 2 weeks ago, my planning time is short to say the least. This story has been in my head for quite some time. In fact, I intended to write it immediately after Municipal Blondes was finished. but I've learned a lot about the few factual events that surrounded a somewhat similar case than I did at the time. Nonetheless, I have to do planning. I thought you might be interested in seeing the first week of the plan for Stocks & Bondage.
| 1 Monday | 2 Tuesday | 3 Wednesday | 4 Thursday | 5 Friday | 6 Saturday | 7 Sunday |
| I got kissed. Her new assignment. Going to a party at Jordan's house. | I met Detective Handsome. I have to get new car tabs. I'm running errands. Jordan wants to talk to me | I hate funerals. Dealing with Davy. Running into Simon. At least Brenda is dead. | Call from Det. Handsome. Going to visit Grover Sat. Getting a new look… or two. | Date night. What do you do with a man? | Savannah. Stepping into a dead woman's shoes. | Seeing Savannah through the eyes of Georgia. A ragged old man. |
13 October 2010
Dear Friends, Family, and Righteous Supporters,
This November, the nonprofit Office of Letters and Light will be bringing together the most mighty of endurance novelists for an event that will define our generation forever. I'm speaking, of course, of National Novel Writing Month. It's a global writing challenge in which participants spend November (and portions of our sanity!) writing a 50,000-word book in just 30 days. This will be my 7th NaNoWriMo and my 8th and 9th novel since November 2004!
My good friend Cloister has a way of bringing out the best in me, whether it is as a book doctor analyzing and improving what I write, as a business partner choosing books to publish, or as my own personal social conscience egging me on to do some good. I met Cloister in 2004, just after finishing my first NaNoWriMo novel, Willow Mills. Over the course of the next few months, I convinced him that he should join me for the next NaNo and he finally agreed, providing we find some way to use our books for a good cause. Joined by "GCK" the three of us combined our first drafts of the 2005 NaNo into an anthology and used sales of the book to raise over $5,000 (including Microsoft matching funds) for The Office of Letters and Light (sponsor of NaNoWriMo).
When the idea of sponsorships came up this year, Cloister beat me to it and pledged to raise $1,000! What could I do but commit to match this great fundraising effort for the Young Writers Program at the OLL? The problem is that neither of us work for Microsoft anymore, so we can't get matching funds there. That means we're really counting on the generosity of our friends across the country to help us out.
In order to reach this goal, Cloister has put up the offer of a bunch of prizes for those who sponsor him, so I of course, I'm putting up some prizes, too. I'm upping the ante a little, too. I have a novel that "needs" to be written called "The Volunteer." It will be my cradled baby during November. But I also have a novel that "wants" to be written called "Stocks & Bondage - A Deb Riley Mystery." Yes, Deb Riley is back! So I'm going to do them both! At the same time! Now, here are the prizes:
The Wallet Quick-Draw winner: The first person to donate (other than me) gets the first bound and printed copy of their choice of "The Volunteer" or "Stocks & Bondage". I'll produce a special edition from a print-on-demand service just for you, sign it, and ship it.
The Luck of the Draw winner: From the list of sponsors who don’t win any other prize, I’ll pick a random person in traditional raffle-style fashion. That person shall receive a free Book Cover Design for their own novel. Don't think that you have to be a NaNovelist to enjoy this prize. You come up with the title of your novel (even if you haven't written one) and a two sentence blurb about the story. I'll create a cover for your novel, and print the dust jacket. Even if you haven't written the story, you can frame this full color print for your wall!
The Grand Prize winner: Whomsoever shall donate the single largest lump-sum to this sponsorship drive shall receive a free Book Cover Design for their novel, a complete print layout in PDF form, and an industry-standard ePUB of the book, delivered on a CD in a case with your cover on it. Yes, that assumes that you've actually written a novel. If the grand prize winner has not actually written a novel, he or she may either donate the prize to their choice of budding novelist, or a short-story written by me following the blurb they provide, designed and delivered as above.
The Everybody’s a Winner winner: This is the one that everyone really wants. In the tradition of "For Blood or Money" and Municipal Blondes, I will be blogging "Stocks & Bondage." Because everyone who donates deserves something, each donor will be recognized in the "Sponsors" sidebar of that blog (unless you prefer not to be) and will have access to the new novel while it is being written on Deb Riley's blog. You will be able to interact with the story as it takes shape, communicate with computer forensics detective Deb Riley of DH Investigations, and become an active part of the story from the inside! I've blogged several previous novels, but this one will be locked for access to sponsors only until the end of November.
That's it! Click here to donate and win a great prize, but more importantly, support the great work being done in the Young Writers Program, encouraging kids to put their dreams in print. And, by the way, after you donate, leave a comment to this post so I can unlock the story for you. You'll get a sneak peak at what Deb's been up to when you do!
This November, the nonprofit Office of Letters and Light will be bringing together the most mighty of endurance novelists for an event that will define our generation forever. I'm speaking, of course, of National Novel Writing Month. It's a global writing challenge in which participants spend November (and portions of our sanity!) writing a 50,000-word book in just 30 days. This will be my 7th NaNoWriMo and my 8th and 9th novel since November 2004!
My good friend Cloister has a way of bringing out the best in me, whether it is as a book doctor analyzing and improving what I write, as a business partner choosing books to publish, or as my own personal social conscience egging me on to do some good. I met Cloister in 2004, just after finishing my first NaNoWriMo novel, Willow Mills. Over the course of the next few months, I convinced him that he should join me for the next NaNo and he finally agreed, providing we find some way to use our books for a good cause. Joined by "GCK" the three of us combined our first drafts of the 2005 NaNo into an anthology and used sales of the book to raise over $5,000 (including Microsoft matching funds) for The Office of Letters and Light (sponsor of NaNoWriMo).
When the idea of sponsorships came up this year, Cloister beat me to it and pledged to raise $1,000! What could I do but commit to match this great fundraising effort for the Young Writers Program at the OLL? The problem is that neither of us work for Microsoft anymore, so we can't get matching funds there. That means we're really counting on the generosity of our friends across the country to help us out.
In order to reach this goal, Cloister has put up the offer of a bunch of prizes for those who sponsor him, so I of course, I'm putting up some prizes, too. I'm upping the ante a little, too. I have a novel that "needs" to be written called "The Volunteer." It will be my cradled baby during November. But I also have a novel that "wants" to be written called "Stocks & Bondage - A Deb Riley Mystery." Yes, Deb Riley is back! So I'm going to do them both! At the same time! Now, here are the prizes:
The Wallet Quick-Draw winner: The first person to donate (other than me) gets the first bound and printed copy of their choice of "The Volunteer" or "Stocks & Bondage". I'll produce a special edition from a print-on-demand service just for you, sign it, and ship it.
The Luck of the Draw winner: From the list of sponsors who don’t win any other prize, I’ll pick a random person in traditional raffle-style fashion. That person shall receive a free Book Cover Design for their own novel. Don't think that you have to be a NaNovelist to enjoy this prize. You come up with the title of your novel (even if you haven't written one) and a two sentence blurb about the story. I'll create a cover for your novel, and print the dust jacket. Even if you haven't written the story, you can frame this full color print for your wall!
The Grand Prize winner: Whomsoever shall donate the single largest lump-sum to this sponsorship drive shall receive a free Book Cover Design for their novel, a complete print layout in PDF form, and an industry-standard ePUB of the book, delivered on a CD in a case with your cover on it. Yes, that assumes that you've actually written a novel. If the grand prize winner has not actually written a novel, he or she may either donate the prize to their choice of budding novelist, or a short-story written by me following the blurb they provide, designed and delivered as above.
The Everybody’s a Winner winner: This is the one that everyone really wants. In the tradition of "For Blood or Money" and Municipal Blondes, I will be blogging "Stocks & Bondage." Because everyone who donates deserves something, each donor will be recognized in the "Sponsors" sidebar of that blog (unless you prefer not to be) and will have access to the new novel while it is being written on Deb Riley's blog. You will be able to interact with the story as it takes shape, communicate with computer forensics detective Deb Riley of DH Investigations, and become an active part of the story from the inside! I've blogged several previous novels, but this one will be locked for access to sponsors only until the end of November.
That's it! Click here to donate and win a great prize, but more importantly, support the great work being done in the Young Writers Program, encouraging kids to put their dreams in print. And, by the way, after you donate, leave a comment to this post so I can unlock the story for you. You'll get a sneak peak at what Deb's been up to when you do!
09 October 2010
I'm thinking I may do two novels during NaNoWriMo this year. Yes, crazy, but "The Volunteer" is going to pretty much write itself and I've been thinking about a sequel to "For Blood or Money" and "Municipal Blondes" for some time. To recap, FBOM introduces computer forensics detective Dag Hamar and his assistant Deb Riley. It is told from Dag's perspective. "Municipal Blondes" is fully a Deb Riley mystery in which she chases down a corporate cartel using cell phones to rob the industry blind.
In "Stocks & Bondage" Deb is back and in disguise as she investigates the apparent suicide of a 50ish woman who had a roomful of computers. Working with police in a sting operation to catch the woman's boyfriend, Deb is trapped in her new identity, unable to risk her friends, her business, and her life as the boyfriend relentlessly pursues her. And at each step of the way, the dead woman's computers reveal a little more of the story.If you want to get caught up, "For Blood or Money" is available in eBook and paperback from Long Tale Press. "Municipal Blondes" (and Deb's view of the FBOM story) can be read on-line at Municipal Blondes. (The story starts with the blog entry on November 30, 2006.) If I pursue the Deb Riley story, you'll be able to follow the daily action on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dhinvestigation.
08 October 2010
November is nearly upon us once more, and that mean National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This year will be my 7th Nano. My subject this time is very different than anything I've done before. Here is the blurb:
Yes it is dark. No, the ending is not particularly uplifting. In reality it is the shadow self that haunts the dark places in my mind.
Wandering through the streets of America's cities and towns looking for a handout, a meal, or a bottle, Gerald Good has lots of time to think about what led him to chronic homelessness and alcoholism. He was so certain he would rise above it thirty years ago and thinks often of the life he left behind. When it is all offered back to him, however, he realizes the true reason he volunteered.
Yes it is dark. No, the ending is not particularly uplifting. In reality it is the shadow self that haunts the dark places in my mind.
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