Writing updates

Okay so here's the deal...

I wasn't able to get my usual style of chapter ready for S.O.F. this week, and since it's Saturday morning I figured I would instead give some teasers of the projects I'm working on. I'm gonna be vague on some things, but at the very least it will give you all an idea of the scope of writing I am currently doing.

I'll start with the obvious:

Overshadowed is going extremely well, I am working on trimming one last chapter. It's pretty wordy, and laden with lots of adverbs and adjectives, kind of embarrassing lol. When this chapter is finished we only have one small half chapter left and the final draft is DONE!!!!! I am working on some character bio's, brief summaries, and a major teaser project (more of that later). For now, if you're interested in getting a sneak-peak of Overshadowed, let me know. I am seeking Alpha Readers.

Other projects:

The major teaser project is a prequel to Overshadowed. It is being written in Novella form and is going to be available for your reading pleasure some time in the spring. I'm very excited about this story, it is loaded with action and suspense, and is one of my most favorite pieces.

I just finished up a 1500 word short for a short story contest. The contest deadline is December 1st, so that is going out today, or if I have to procrastinate further, on Monday. I am supposed to hear news of my victory sometime in February.

Those of you who were quick enough to catch my release of 'Glass Walls' a couple of months ago, got to see a completed short story. I am going to try and publish that story, I feel it could do well in the current Sci-Fi marketplace. So in my spare-time, I am working on getting submission packets together.

I have several "Shelf Novels" in the works as well. None of them are true Sci-Fi, none of them are true Fantasy. I'm finding it difficult to fall into a particular genre as a writer, maybe I'm going to need to create a pseudonym.......

One of those "Shelf Novels" is my spin on the current vampire craze. It's also my attempt at humor writing. It's been interesting, but I haven't found much time to work on it in the last year, so it is collecting digital-dust in my Hard Drive.

I have a handful of projects that I am shy about. Primarily because I am extremely excited about them, and the future they present for me as a writer. So they all get categorized as my "Super-Secret, High-Hopes Novels", if I am able to effectively market Overshadowed, I will start working on one of these. One novel, it's working title is called 'Darkness', is a story that gives me goosebumps if I think about it too much. So that will probably be the next project I tackle; and I promise that it won't take me five years to finish it.

And finally, the Overshadowed sequel!!!!! Yes Overshadowed is a stand-alone novel, but the story is not completed. In fact it's just getting warmed up, I have some major things in store for the readers of this series. The sequel, which I have tentatively called 'The Lure of Shadows' is in the basic outline form right now, and it blows my socks off when I go there. I simply cannot wait to start writing this book; I have been stuck in line editing and re-drafting for a llllloooooonnnnnnggggggg time now, and I am ready to continue the story of Overshadowed.

So that is all for now readers. Keep a close eye on this blog, things are starting to get very exciting. I promise that it's worth the wait.

'Til next time...

Sorry for the Absence

Hey faithful readers, I would like to apologize for my absence as of late. When I started this blog, I committed to providing one chapter a week. The last couple of weeks have been full of challenges that have made it difficult to hold true to that commitment.

So I offer you my most sincere apology. I will be back on Friday with a new chapter just for you.

Thank you all for your patience, and as always, for reading this in the first place.

Chapter 18: All It Takes is Imagination

Many of us who claim to be fiction writers can also claim to have an active (or over-active) imagination. There are always exceptions, but for the most part that is the case.

For me personally, ideas come in waves. They start with some imaginative twinge, or some random inspiration. I won't have anything for a month or so, then suddenly there are ten different ideas bounding around in my head. I am once again entering a season filled with new ideas. I love mulling them over and just enjoying the story as it unfolds in my mind.

All this talk of imagination has really got me thinking about something. If you spend much time involved in writing than you know some people view the imagination in a rather funny light, it’s almost placed in a box of sort. It’s venerated for it’s power, but it’s also condemned for what many consider improper use.

Perhaps you're wondering what I'm talking about, perhaps you've already ascertained where I‘m going with this. However one would think, because of my vague opening, that such a presumption would be impossible to ascertain correctly. I can assure you that was my intention. I wanted to give your imagination some time to mull it over, before I pulled back the curtain and revealed where I am going with this.

I want to rant about Mary Sue or Marty Stu (or Gary Sue), depending on gender, and origin of reference. Now I know what you're thinking. What the heck are you talking about? Who, or what is a Mary Sue?

A Mary Sue is the process of an author writing themselves into a story. Not just writing themselves into the story mind you, using their writing as a platform for “wish-fulfillment”. Basically taking the heroic aspects of a character and projecting it onto themselves. This creates a couple of issues, the first being it can be quite egotistical. Secondly it can be classified as wishful thinking, that you as an author are only creating an outlet for your own over-inflated self worth.

Now I say all of this with an addendum, a good author can Mary Sue themselves and disguise it so well that most people can’t discover it. A shallow Mary Sue will usually lack any real development. They will possess something that gives them a completely unfair advantage, and will pretty much always do the things we all wish we ourselves could do.

I have heard all of those comments and more when I have been privy to discussions on this topic. I have heard many people slam Christopher Paolini on this one. They call him egotistical for blatantly “Mary Sueing” Eragon, saying it was based on himself, and they have called him crazy for going so far as to write with a quill. Do I think either of those approximations are true? Honestly, I don't. Writing is very challenging, wanting to create a certain type of atmosphere is sometimes best done by putting yourself as close as possible to the atmosphere you are trying to write. This is actually nothing more than intelligent writing. It helps make it a little bit more real for you the writer, which will translate out into the story, making it more real for the reader.

The area that really makes me angry is how writers are viewed for even Mary Sueing in the first place. It's like you're required to imagine a world, build it from the ground up, populate it with limitless races, fill those races with events of endless combinations, and keep yourself out of it completely. How many of you when you were little, imagined that you were a Jedi Knight? Or you were wielding a sword that turned blue when it was near Orcs? How many of you condemn someone for writing a story, and basing the main character on that very same heart of imagination as a key theme??? Its impossible for me to not plant myself in a story, because at the end of it that is what it’s all about. It's about transporting your mind to a place where your imagination can thrive, and really enjoy itself.

So in all seriousness, why be upset at someone for basing a character on themselves? Is it because we are selfish and want to hold all the imaginative cards for ourselves. Maybe it's hard to allow yourself to go to the place where you're the one walking the hero's journey, if you know it was intended for someone else all along.

I don’t really know why people get condemned for projecting themselves on their stories. I think if it’s an issue of over/underwriting a character, than character development is the way to resolve it. If you want a hero that is able to defeat every obstacle he faces you’ll have little interest in your story (unless your superman).

Anyways, that's my rant for this week. I consider myself an exception to this because I don't Mary Sue myself. It helps having a female protagonist for one, but mainly because I take it to an even higher level. I try to hide a small trace of myself in every character I write. That way, my readers get to know me just a little bit better each time they read one of my stories.

In Overshadowed news we are plugging right along. I'm getting hyped to start revealing a little bit more about the story every once in awhile. I'm going to be building an awesome website soon with plenty of cool stuff to help get you excited for Overshadowed. You're gonna want to check it out, then you're gonna want to tell everyone you know about it. Overshadowed is coming, and it’s going to be huge.

As you can tell, I'm getting excited. You can't blame me though, I've been working on this book for a very long time. Getting so close to the end is so exciting

Well that's all for this week, drop me a line and let me know what you think.

'Til next time.