Works in Progress - 08/18/2021
Hello everyone, Book IV- M.U.T.T.: Frost Wolf is about two-and-a-half chapters into rough draft at this time. Every book has its own process and in the case of Frost Wolf, the fact that I have been mentally working on a fairly stout framework for it while writing the first three books, means that I am proceeding carefully at first. I am attempting to not throw my concepts off track, or if I do, in a manner in which I know why.
P.U.P.: Practically Useful Patrol, the children’s book spinoff of the M.U.T.T. series, is also in development. I have downloaded Open Dyslexic and converted the existing text to that font. Among the themes I’m trying to portray in this book; cooperation, community service, consideration, education is diversity. I thought publishing this book in either Open Dyslexic or Open Dyslexic Mono might include and encourage those children who traditionally would find it difficult to read. Perhaps other authors will do so as well.
Writing News - 08/22/2021
These are the Word Clouds from the three novels to date. They are mostly for fun, but one of them did illuminate my overuse of the word “actually” as an adverbial modifier.
Works in Progress - 08/28/2021
Hello again. Something I see authors proudly trumpet is their word count progress. This is usually from independent or small press authors for whom writing is a hobby, a psychological necessity, a secondary means of income, or they are just beginning to actually make money as an author. This is a natural and in many cases, useful metric for progress and motivator for further effort when energy, imagination or motivation wanes, as it certainly will for the overwhelming majority of authors at multiple points in their writing lives. I find myself less and less interested in how many words I have written and more interested in whether or not those words are leading me where I want to go as the author. Alternatively, when I feel the story needs to lead itself, are those words taking the characters and action where they to go?
Nothing of any of this is the best way or the right way to go. Authors must do what they need to do when and how they need to do it, processwise. You will see different authors give very definitive operational concepts and use their own success as proof of their effectiveness. This may have some truth in a general sense, but especially now in the age of electronic submissions and post-submission editing, people can take a variety of tracks to publishing. Furthermore, authors like N.K. Jemisin and Laura Esquivel, among others; have shown that stories do not have to follow all of the same conventions in style and structure to be successful. There is growing acceptance for reasonable variation in construction among some and strong resistance from others.
Usually, those who went through the arduous, but often rewarding process of traditional publishing, are the most resistant to new processes of publication. This is by no means universal nor even common, but those who are the strongest gatekeepers are usually those who have been traditionally published. We have seen among the old school science-fiction/fantasy writers, some resistance to stories that are specifically written as either inclusive or folkloric as opposed to action, technologically or epically oriented stories. More to the point, the opposition was that those stories began to win awards that used to be reserved for the old “Genius scientist solves great galactic mystery while the Space Admiral outmaneuvers the overwhelming alien fleet.” or “Great wizard guides unexpected heroes to stop the Dark Horde” stories. Again, no one doesn’t love those old tropes, but it was time for other stories to be told and recognized. Science fiction/fantasy is better for it.
Some of My Thoughts on Writing - 08/31/2021
Writing is endlessly fascinating. It's like vomiting up a dream on purpose and with purpose.
Writers exist in multiple quantum states.
I'm about to go really George Carlin here. Just a riff about writing that happens to come out that way.
Sometimes when you're writing, especially if you've written more than one work and doubly especially if you're working on a series, you end up with a thing. I've found out I've got several things. Some of the things are things I planned to be things right from the start. Some are things I didn't know were things until I looked up and realized, "Oh look, that's a thing." Now sometimes the thing is just the thing and you keep doing the damned thing. Sometimes, planned or not, it's an okay thing, but at some point you decide, "That's enough of that thing," or, "I can still do the thing, but not in the same place in the same way I did it last time." Sometimes, you look at the thing and wonder how you even came up with that terrible thing. If you're either lucky or skilled, you catch the bad thing and eliminate it before anyone else sees it other than beta readers or editors, if you have them. Hopefully at worse, you do the horrible thing once and never do it again. Ultimately, writing is about trying things and working things around the other stuff that either holds things together, or vice versa.
Limitations - 10/15/2021
I am purposely not setting a deadline for myself for P.U.P. as it is something of a side project. It can come out anytime between Books IV and V, to after Book VIII of the M.U.T.T. Series. However, I am irregularly reconnecting with it so that I do not lose the thread entirely. Fortunately, as it is a children’s book, it is much less dense in content than the adult books, so it is easy enough to just go back and reread, even from the beginning. So far I am pleased with the initial thrust of it. I am also experimenting with both landscape and portrait orientation. All of that being said, I am running into my limitations as a children’s author. I am having a good deal of trouble knowing how far to scale back my vocabulary and beyond that, conceptual framework. I want all of my works to offer a challenge to vocabulary and thought, without becoming stilted, overly academic or just plain too hard to read. To that end, I already have a few mechanisms in mind to help the story find its proper level.
First, I am very probably going to create both a Beginning Reader and Young Reader version of the same story.
Second, I already have had one of my very giving friends offer to help me with the language and concepts for younger people. She is a teacher and a mother. I will also enlist my own former school librarian mother for aid on this.
Third, I’m hoping that as I start to incorporate illustrations down the temporal road, some of the context will become clearer, though obviously, it will have to be fairly clear on its own in order for the illustrations to mean anything much.
Fourth, I’m trying to use more dialogue and less narration. In doing so, I’m imagining my own twelve-year-old self speaking. I’m also tapping into the conversations I’ve had with young people throughout my life. I am considering writing from a first person perspective, but as with the adult series, there is not one single protagonist. It is the group that is the main character and while I do not mind, and will readily employ perspective-hopping in a narrative, I fear such would cause confusion for children and even their parents in a personalized tale.
As with all things creative, we shall see.
Inspirations - 11/19/2021
I guess a common question for authors or any other creative types is “Where do you get your inspiration from?” That is such an open question. Even if the person being addressed has a clear idea, I believe for most, the answer has many levels. I commonly describe the series as Tolkien meets Star Trek meets SEAL Team Six. Not entirely accurate on all counts because if it were, that’d be IP theft. They supplied some of the framework I could use to build my stories upon. My years of playing roleplaying games has given me all sorts of thoughts on ways to adapt real life and mythological imagery for my own writing purposes. Obviously, by extension, real-life, mythology and fairy tales are also inspirations. I can show anyone interested, areas in my hometown of Houston and down the road at Galveston that I derived imagery from for particular scenes. The story of Hanopy’s Lyre in the first book has direct influence from tales such as the Pied Piper of Hamlin and Jack and the Beanstalk. The worship of such deities as Takl-Hadeema and Angrassa are strongly molded by my understandings of classical mythology and yet, Takl-Hadeema was directly transplanted from one of my homebrew roleplaying worlds. The inspiration which I find the most difficult to understand, but which is has become very important to me, is music. I have assigned songs for each character, for units, for all of M.U.T.T. That playlist is sizable. Undoubtedly cinematic use of music has had a strong influence on me in that respect, but also “walk up” music from baseball games. What I imagine would be most confusing for anyone listening from the outside is that I use music from all sorts of genres. It’s simply based upon a feeling of what that character is about. Some are better matches than others, based upon the limits of what I’ve heard over my lifetime and my grasp of the character. I’ve reexamined the natures of characters based upon their songs and changed songs as I’ve learned more about certain characters, so it works both ways. Fortunately my experiences as a modern dancer and as a sci-fi/fantasy nerd have helped me have a wider palate than I might have otherwise. Often when I’m writing, I’ll play the M.U.T.T. playlist or one of the shorter lists I have for my roleplaying characters, just to help me stay “grounded” within the world or the realities of the moment.
Keeping that Writing Feeling - 01/13/2022
I have just finished reading N.K. Jemisin’s Obelisk Gate, the second book in her Hugo Award winning (each book won) Broken Earth Trilogy. You would think I would launch straight into The Stone Sky, book three, but her books are so entertainingly weird, I have to let my brain reset, much as I did between books one (The Fifth Season) and two. I decided, with some trepidation, to go back and read my titles to date. I’m just into book one, M.U.T.T.: Multiple Utility Tactical Teams. I say with trepidation because even having read it multiple times during editing and constantly referring back to it to write the next two books, I feared that I would read this, my first attempt at long storytelling, and suddenly realize that it was trash. Much to my relief, I find that I do not hate it so far, and in fact enjoy it as a reader. Admittedly, I have the advantage of knowing where it’s headed. Nevertheless, despite being aware that it is not perfect by any means, it’s still readable and for me at least, enjoyable. The fact that it has been some time since I read it through, gives me the thrill of not remembering everything I wrote. For example, I had forgotten how many short backstories I had included in the first prologue. I have to thank Chris Lewis for giving me the note on needing some backstory. It might have been fine without it, but I think it does add some flavor to the beginning, though some readers might have preferred to jump directly into the story proper and have told me so.
This is where I first encountered the obvious fact that you can’t please everyone all the time. As an author, or editor, you have to make choices, some of which you will always wonder about. This is why there are Director’s Cuts and Extended Editions of major motion pictures, especially in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero, mystery and thriller genre’s. They can show the different choices and let the audiences choose the ones they prefer. With the publishing industry moving more towards Print on Demand and special editions for various outlets, there isn’t the full-blown commitment to multiple edits being distributed simultaneously, but it may be moving in that direction. Even in decades past, different editions of classics such as The Chronicles of Narnia, for example, have made editorial choices that have changed and sometimes changed back over time. Generally, previously the only simultaneous varied editions have been for those books which were produced in unabridged and abridged versions.
Getting back to my re-reading my own books, as I’m working on Frost Wolf and P.U.P., it is my thinking that it is time for me to reconnect to the overall arc in more than just a piecemeal fashion to simply maintain continuity. I need to rediscover how I put these stories together previously. I fully expect and am witness to my evolution as a writer, for better or worse; but when writing a longer series, it could be easy to drift into something unrecognizable as part of said series, especially for a newer author such as myself. I hope to refresh my commitment to the overall story and to inspire my own self with the confidence that I have an idea of what I am doing. That is an author’s greatest bane, loss of confidence.
It Has Been a While - 5/10/2022
I have just completed one of four different writing/editing projects I’ve been working on and have submitted some editing corrections to Book I. I am now working on editing for a friend. Book IV-M.U.T.T.: Frost Wolf, and the children’s spinoff book-P.U.P.: Practically Useful Patrol, are temporarily on standby, but I will continue work on them soon. This post is just for fun and the previous updates. The fun part is my favorite book titles. This list comes more from my work as a bookseller than from my personal reading habits. These titles, from various genres, are intriguing, bold, and witty. Without further ado:
3) The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
I find the very thought of there being some type of conservation effort for giant, city-wrecking monsters intriguing and a little bit hilarious, which is Scalzi’s style.
2) Thong on Fire: An Urban Erotic Tale by Noire
When subtlety just really isn’t an option.
1) Huda F are You? by Huda Fahmy
There really can’t be a better play on an author’s name, especially when it fits the subject of teenage identity so well.
Here We Are Again - 11/29/2022
Well, I’ve been busy. My friend Chase is just about to release his autobiography, “Into the forest We go, to lose My mind and find Our souls.” Yes, that’s how he wants the capitalization on the title to read. The person or persons are highlighted, as is the concept of “Into,” as in inward reflection and discovery. It is both an incredibly wild ride and a reflective journey. I’ve been privileged to be able to help him in his publishing efforts.
I’ve also picked up a couple of consultation clients, one of which is already published and the other who soon should be. Taylor Thao Ho has put out her book of poetry entitled “Truly Home.” It is comprised of eight chapters, each of which is comprised of several connected poems with a common theme to the chapter. Her expression is unconventional, but her meaning is crystal clear and it is quite uplifting in tenor.
Carly Wiggins is soon to release her book of faith entitled, “June’s Faith.” Many may recognize their own moments, even extended moments, of doubt in June’s response to multiple tragedies in her life. This book will be unapologetic in it’s portrayal of faith as the underpinning of all that makes life meaningful.
I am now DM’ing for two Dungeons and Dragons campaigns and writing articles for Dungeon Master’s Deep Dive Magazine.
Finally, in writing for Book IV of the M.U.T.T. series, I have just slammed headlong into an unforeseen, hydra-like divergence of possibilities for one character. I thought I had it all worked out, until, “Whoops! <Or, I could do this…>” Progress has been slow enough because I am suddenly assisting other authors fairly regularly. Now I have a fairly major decision to make. One that might require me to write the rest of the book twice because the choice is that kind of 50%/50% thing. Hey, if it were easy, right?
The Slow Trod - 9/14/2023
Yes, believe it or not, I am still working on Book IV: M.U.T.T.: Frost Wolf. Not that I did, but I cannot ever think badly of an author or other artist that for any combination of reasons, either slows down or takes a break from producing their chosen work. I am finding that writing more about interpersonal, familial, local and cultural content is in many ways far more intricate and taxing than writing about taking down the bad guys or guarding a charge. I have managed so far to stay vaguely on my waypoint track, but it is taking the scenic route, to put it mildly. Previous bouts of writer’s block or writer’s octopus pale in comparison to judging who is mad with whom and whether or not they want to express their indignation or hold it in. If they express themselves, in what form does that anger occur? How does that affect others outside of the immediate conflict. There are, of course, elements of this in the previous books of the series, but even where the potential enemy was ill-defined, courses of action were fairly preset. As this books takes place largely outside of the military confines of the other book, but also in conflict with them at the same time, there is for me, a lovely messiness of feelings and customs and taboos. This is one of those “stretch yourself as an artist,” moments for me, I feel. I will endeavor to keep you more closely informed as I get closer to finishing, editing and publication. I have already engaged one of my illustrators for this book, so I am finally allowing myself to think about getting to the end. I intend to get back to more regular updates as I go along, so bookmark this page and/or sign up below so you can keep informed on my progress. Thank you.
The Signing - 5/1/2024
My Station at the recent Houston Authors Across Genres signing at Barnes and Noble River Oaks in Houston, TX. It was on April 13th and was successful for all. It was the first time I got to sell Book III, (Wind Coyore) at a signing as the COVID-19 shut downs hit right as initial plans for such a signing would have placed it. My thanks to Jacques Oppinger, the Store Manager and especially to Noella Rismay, Events Coordinator. Many congratulations to my fellow authors, Natrix Davis, Chase Fortuno and Carly Wiggins. We truly covered a swath of genres. Fantasy, Biography/LGBTQ, Christian Fiction and Children’s were all represented. Plans are for this to become an annual event.
Hello Again - 4/1/2025
It has been exactly 11 months since I last posted here, but I assure you it will not be so long until the next one. Here’s an update on M.U.T.T.: Frost Wolf - Book IV. It has been the most taxing of all the books to write so far because of several concerns I have had with trying to write something of this nature. It keeps with the themes of the previous M.U.T.T. Series books, but is more interpersonal and cultural than any of the other books to date. It has been challenging to be sure that I was not writing stereotypes or being culturally insensitive. I don’t know if it’s completely possible to completely avoid someone’s disdain. It goes with the territory, but I have tried to do my due diligence, if such can be said about the matter. What has given me some leeway is that it is a fantasy story set on another world. What I write is analogous to some cultures in some respects, but is not intended to be a perfect match for any particular Earth societies. Still, I can remember an infamous Star Trek: The Next Generation episode that failed to dodge the pitfalls, even though they were working under similar conditions. All this is to say, I have finished the first draft and one edit. Due to life and my own indecisions, I do not yet have a front cover, though it is in the works and I will take on the responsibility, under the consultations of an artist friend, of doing the back cover and likely the map. I will do one more edit, but I have taken so long to finish, because of my carefulness, that I have found it largely pre-edited. If the next pass results in minimal further changes, that will do it.
I had hoped to have the book ready by this year’s Authors Across Genres Book Signing Event, but alas, I have had to turn my attention to hosting the event itself, which is both anxiety-inducing and a great deal of fun. We will be running it for two days this year, Saturday, April 12th and Sunday, April 13th. There will be seven authors each day, with three authors from each group being children’s authors who will each get a short storytime during the event. I am really looking forward to it, though it will likely mean that I will sacrifice some of my own table time to check on the other authors. I hope some of you can come to the River Oaks Barnes & Noble from 3-5 pm on one or both of those days. We’ll have authors sprinkled throughout the store. It’s been nice to talk to you again. I’ll be back soon.