New Direction - Revisions

I made a promise to my self and others and in the excitement of my ideas for 'Monster in the Woods' and the 2012 NaNoWriMo season I got a little carried away. I've decided to skip it again this year and instead try to complete the next round of revisions on 'Speaker of the Winds' in the same time frame. I'd like to send out to my Beta readers an early Christmas present in early December.
Speaker of the Winds needs to get out into the big bad world. I promised myself and to you that at the start of the year that I would share my work by year end. It's time to open my self to a bit more risk and get it out there.
So, if we've spoke about you getting to read a story of mine 'Some Day', well, that day is coming. It'll be in early December.

Monster in the Woods is still going to happen, it just might be a few months later. It's going to be really cool. And scary.

Lol. ;-)

Zombie Wife is finished

Isn't it great!

I finished Zombie Wife yesterday. It's all backed up and loaded onto my wife's Kindle for a first read.
Isn't she brave everyone?
I like to think so. She's like a test pilot that keeps getting back into those planes I build even though they crash every time. She must love me.
Still, with that said, I think this is my best novel yet. It's shorter, by more than half than Speaker of the Winds. It clocks in at just over 42,000 words. Likely that will grow by another couple thousand in the second draft, I already know of several things I need to add and expound on. It was intended to be a short story of 16,000 words or so. Something to keep me busy while Brittany read Speaker of the Winds. But it grew... and grew.
That's a good thing I suppose.

So what's next?

Well it should be Draft 2 (well, three really) of Speaker of the Winds. Once I finish that I can finally get it out to my Beta Readers. I'm going to say that, but I've never sent anything out to anyone yet. Nothing has been polished enough to do so. I have at least four willing and uber brave volunteers. Maybe more.
O.k. half of these are family, but we hurt most those who we love.

However, I must procrastinate. November is NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. Last year I didn't participate. Which is a shame! I had just started Speaker of the Winds. Knowing it was going to be epic in length I didn't want to have the pressure. I did participate the year before and got half of Lightning Child out of it. In one month!
50,000 words in one month is great for writers like me who slave away in the wee hours of the morn' before work. I'm going to do it again this year. I want to kill it in November and knock out most if not all of the next novel I've just got to get out of my head. With luck I'll have it finished by mid-December and can then revise Speaker.

I've spoke of it before I think.  Monster in the Woods. Like anything that's a working title, but I think it's evocative  It comes from an amalgamation of concepts and has grown over the past few years in my mind. It combines plot lines similar to (the classical) beauty and the beast, phantom, snow white (again classical, which means not Disney), Quasimodo and more. Not full plot, just elements. It has a feel similar to a fairy tale, but without the 'fairy' elements or creatures. Kind of like something M. Night Shyamalan would write. Everything will be real, but so strange and creepy you'll swear I made it up.
Remember when you were growing up and were being read a really well told fairy tale. How it seemed anything could happen. It was magical, mysterious and moving. Maybe some other M words too.
I'm headed in that direction. It will have a love triangle, a twist in that and a big plot twist. It will keep you guessing to the end. You'll expect one thing and then it will change, believably just like in real life, and when it's over you'll be relieved, pleased, pissed and slightly sad.

I grew up in northern Idaho and spent a good deal of time out in the mountains. Truly some of my best memories. Today in Utah I still love getting out and hiking the steeper slopes up here. Nothing beats the great untamed north. There is an edge when it's just you and mother nature. She can have you gazing out into glorious visa's one moment and clinging to life the next and it means nothing to the heartless girl. You're just as valuable to her as one of her gnats.
Have you ever walked a game trail miles from anywhere in the pitch dark? Or in a deep fog? Have heavy things moved just out of sight?
Fear moves in all of us and we've tasted it. Not knowing what lays just out of sight or worse believing it might come into sight, this frightens us. It's the unknown. I think the woods are the perfect setting for such a mystery. As all good Mysteries, the most horrible come from the workings of man's own hands. Bathed in sin and twisting in debauchery. The darkness comes from within. With no where to run, we are entirely alone. If we live or die it is entirely in our own hands. Will your heart fail you out of your own imagined fears? You wouldn't be the first.

In Monster in the Woods, we'll follow a hero-ess who will be forced into finding out if the legend of the Monster in the Woods is real, and further more if she'll survive it.

Although it could be classed as a monster story, I think it's more of a fantasy romance with a fairy tale feel. It won't be half as dark as Zombie Wife, but it will have it's scary moments. After all... There is a Monster in the Woods.

Zombie Wife Progress

I'm so excited to say that I've reached the 80% mark on Zombie Wife. Don't worry, that's just a working title. It's just over 31,000 words so it's looking to be just over 40,000 total. Maybe my Novella might graduate to an actual novel? I suppose it will if the SFFWA members were evaluating it's length.

It is a zombie story like the working title suggests, but it's playing out as more of a post-apocalyptic redemption story. I don't use the word zombie, but treat it as more of an infection. I suppose you could draw a similar line to the infection concept like 'I Am Legend', but that's where the similarity ends. Personally I think there is a dedicated market to zombie stories and this one could do well.

The main characters of the story  are the remaining survivors of a broken family in impossible times. Society was shaken as the illness swept the world severing contact and killing half the world population. Some regions experience total annihilation  others managed better, but hometown USA lost at least half. Similar to the impact of the Black Plague. Their community around them is making it. They have an additional police group who's whole responsibility is to protect the community from further outbreaks. They hunt down and destroy zombies in the community. Although this branch of the law it is heavily regulated by government authorities and elected officials, it is a vital service and one that requires little to extinguish an infected person. Greg the main character works as a member of this justice branch and spends his nights slaying the infected.  His partner on 'Patrol' is a fun ex-surfer and near militia classic corvette loving Dayne. Gun, car and other manly talk ensues...

Greg is married to Heather who unbeknownst to him has been rather un-loyal. She 'visits' with a Phillip on a regular basis to meet her personal needs. Greg has been aloof since his only child was slaughtered with dozens of others after a post recovery (after the governments regained control of the initial outbreak and established order once again) outbreak swept over the school she was attending. He's never forgiven himself as he had promised her he'd always take care of her.

It's been years since, and he can't let go of the pain he was left with.  Greg and Heather's poor choices come to a climax in their lives as they both are left with one final choice. The weight of their relationship and lives hang in the balance. One bad choice could end it all for them.

Zombie Wife will take you deep into the soul of a failing family and the human decisions people make when they seek redemption and forgiveness. It deals with the harsh measurement of an unforgiving disease and the price everyone must pay to regain the sweet peace of forgiveness and the love of their past.

I hope that the readers will enjoy the fun of the guns and cars. That they'll be committed to the characters because of their relateable human choices and emotional drama. The action and zombie slaying will be fun for certain. The tension is high and stakes are higher.

Undoubtedly this is my best plotted story and I plan to ensure it flows well through it's peaks and valleys of tension and recovery.

In rough I'm not certain what my timeline will be on this one. I do know I'll be done with the first draft in the next week or so. Just in time for me to make a tough decision. I didn't do NANOWRIMO last year and I want to this year.  But Brittany just finished reading Speaker of the Winds and I would really like to get through and edit that thing into a submit ready manuscript. I figure I have to get something out there into the market if I'm ever going to get published. It's like the lottery in a way. (I don't gamble.) If you never play, you'll certainly never win. So I want to get my work out there and see what people say.

Assuming I go straight into edits on Speaker of the Winds I might not revise Zombie Wife until February or March and I'll probably not get it out to people for Beta reading until late spring 2013.  Either way. I'm pumped for the story and I think you'll all enjoy it.

What Have I Been Up To?

Seriously, I've been belaboring over the revision of Speaker of the Winds. It's my first time revising anything except my short stories.
This has been an eye opener, because when I've written my first drafts of novels, it was anything goes, get the words on paper and you're good. But, now, it's all a matter of every word counts.  So, I've been learning a lot about revision.  How it should be done, and how I shouldn't have been doing it. But I suppose that's how we learn.
I'm finishing my first draft of the revision in the next few weeks, then I'll start over the right way after I've taken a little break from it.
I'm going to write a short story about a couple in love and the wife turns into a zombie, but he can't let anyone know because of his job. (Zombie slayer) Yeah I know, it sounds incredibly lame, but I'm going to make it awesome. Any how it's a short so it doesn't matter.  It just needs to make me feel like I can get something completed from A to Z so I can feel some success and get back to work on the bigger projects.

FYI, I've decided to try out Brent Weeks revision methods. After all my failings in revision, they seem to make the most sense. Plus I can't wait to get it out to first readers. My wife (Brittany) and a few other family members who are also writers. That will be a stepping stone for me. Brittany thinks I need another contest to get me motivated, and I believe she is right. So we're on the look out. Personally I think I need one that has a prize if I'm going to draft an entirely new work so I feel some pressure about getting it done.  So I'll look for those.  Let me know if you see any.

Oh, I also went to the 'Got Stories' Rhemalda Publishing event here in SLC last month. It was awesome to meet some of the local and other small press authors.  I'll probably never get so much one on one time with other published authors. My gratitude to Brett and Emmaline Hoffmeister for putting the event on.
You can check out their books and authors here at their website.
It was really excellent. They had tons of snack foods, a half dozen authors presenting and another half dozen hanging out in the audience. All the participants were dedicated writers and supporters of the presenting authors. One author, Cass Peace, came all the way from England to present. Some other came from back east.
Brett and Emmaline are so generous. They even gave for free many of their authors first edition's.  I took the poster/calendar, King's Envoy by Cas Peace (she signed it for me!!!), Son of Ereubus by J.C. Chancellor (she also signed it for me), and The Bone Sword by Walter Rhein.

Did I ever mention that I'm using some new writing software?  I had been using the Space Jock yWriter software. I've since purchased My Writing Spot. It's only a few bucks on Android Market and the free Google Market place web app allows me to write from anywhere with an internet connected computer and pick up where I left off. Even from my phone. So I bought a wireless keyboard and I've been doing that occasionally from my phone at work. I'm thinking an Android tablet would be better as I can't see, but a few sentences on my phone thought.

I Won & The Savage Grace Launch

I'm so excited to announce that I won 1st place in the short story contest for Bree Despain's The Savage Grace.  There was a lot of competition (I think nearly 30 stories) and thanks to so many of my friends and family I managed to be voted into the finals where the judges selected my story over all the others to take first place.  Although I truly am surprised, Brittany isn't. She's always been such a great believer in me.  And a magnificent editor!
What this means for me is that I get a 15 page manuscript critique from Bree Despain!  Hurrah!

Bree Despain presenting at her book launch March 13, 2012 for The Savage Grace

Thank you to everyone who voted for me and crossed fingers, toes etc or what ever you did to help. It worked. I've decided to post my short story here, and I'll load it here at the end of this post.

The Savage Grace is the concluding volume to The Dark Divine series.  Links to all three books can be found here.  

My short story, Savage Beginnings, is a direct tie-in short story.  It is written with permissions.  The story introduces you to Grace, the main character.  You meet her as she's seen in the first book, but through the eyes of a character of my own Angel.  She gives you perspective of what Grace is now, in her innocence, and what she will be come.
Welcome The Savage Grace through the award winning short story by LC Piper Savage Beginnings.

Savage Beginnings

By LC Piper

“Hottest guy ever?”

Angel froze at the sound of the voice.  She barely heard it over the ruckus of dozens of teens moving through the halls.  Her ears still hurt and her mind swam in the chaotic mix of sounds.

“No way…” another voice began.

Angel eased her locker door shut just enough to see the two girls.  They didn’t look familiar, but there was something about the voice of the first that dug at her inside. 

The first girl dropped her backpack and a box of pastels fell to the floor. They scattered across the industrial tile of the high school hallway.  Angel could hear each stick snap in slow percussion.  It was almost musical.  She smiled at the clarity she now found in sound.  Before it would just have been a clatter and crash, but now it was a chorus of hollow thunks, crisp crackling snaps and a crescendo of chalky tinkling.

“I wouldn’t know,” she spoke.  The girl knelt down to pick up her dropped art supplies.  Leaning over the mess, her hair fell into her face.  She pushed it back, smudging red pastel from her finger along the top of her cheek. 

It was a welcome imperfection to her smooth light complexion.  Like a streak of war paint it made her look primally attractive and a little dangerous, Angel noted.  

            “Hurry up,” painted girl’s friend said, glancing over her shoulder.

Angel ducked back behind her locker swinging it to hide her face.  She had been caught staring.  Her breath stalled in her throat.  She waited for a moment, both fearing and expecting she’d been discovered eavesdropping. No one came. Angel relaxed her grip on her locker door and pulled her fingers free.  Three spiraled silver metal filings fell to the floor from where her hand had dug into it.

“You could help.” Painted said.

Angel peeked around her locker again.  Her embarrassment at being caught lingered in her face and she blushed, but curiosity compelled her to look again.

The painted girl crouched there with her friend collecting her things.  Something about this one spoke to her. 

Was it her voice? How she fussed over the broken colors?  Her worries are so inconsequential, Angel thought.

She had felt like her before and ached to be carefree again.  Overwhelmed by the desire for her past life, her heart skipped a beat.  Suddenly she was short of breath and had to inhale deeply.  Things would never be the same for her.  She was a fallen being now.  Twisted by darkness and bathed in corruption.  Doubt ruled over her. It told her she was beyond redemption and she believed. 

Watching painted girl, Angel was reminded of who she had been. How similar they were! She could smell the memory of it.  It’s the scent of how she was right before a single bite corrupted her.

This girl’s life was about to change. 

Finished, the two stood and left.  Angel couldn’t resist and crept after them.  A short distance later they came to a classroom door.  She stopped across the hall to watch. 

Angel sensed him before she saw him.  Tiny hairs on the back of her neck flared.  A wave of alertness fueled by adrenalin surged through her body.  A growl grew under her breath.  Muscles in her arms, chest and back spasmed.  Angel fought back the growing change in her, searching for her calm.  There was no doubt he also knew she was there, but he didn’t show it.  He knew that he was being observed.

Friend of the painted girl gestured to him.  He was dressed in a ragged t-shirt and jeans.  Or what was left of them.  His dark black hair hung down just enough to obscure his face and hide bared and gnashing teeth intended for Angel.

Painted girl’s eyes narrowed in offense.  Ever more she looked dangerous and native from the red pastel on her cheek.

“Excuse me, you’re in my spot.” The painted girl said.

Instantly he soothed himself and looked up.  His hair fell back from his face revealing a small, practiced smile.

The growl quieted in Angel’s throat and her limbs relaxed.  She felt her inner wolf lay to rest. 

“Then you must be Grace,” he said.

Deep inside a portion of hope for herself and the savage Grace failed.  There was nothing she could do here.  Everything was already in motion.

Oh Grace, Angel thought.  You have no idea how he’ll change you.