Ain’t Nuthin’ Bettah!
Day Nine of NaNo
Wow! Time passes when you’re having fun! It has been a week since my last post and I’m now up to over seventeen thousand words in Cloud Dancer.
So far, there have been two romantic interludes, two battle sequences, many historical references and some required expository text. Things are shaping up nicely and I’ve not even revealed the Cloud Dancer.
Just to give you an idea of some of the research I’ve been doing, here are just a few of the more than two dozen links I’ve bookmarked just for this novel.
http://www.prinzeugen.com/SBOATIND.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waychinicup_River
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS2U_Kingfisher
Those are just part of establishing the initial backstory.
Posted in Art, Craft, Publishing
NaNo Day Two
Well, I managed to break six thousand words in the NaNo challenge this evening. It would have been better to hit my initial goal of eight thousand, but I got sidetracked.
It seems that there were several spots where my memory failed and I had to do some quick historical research. That led to adding a dozen more links to my note document. After adding text, two more characters and some historical quotes, I managed to double the size of Notes to more than fourteen pages. The good news there, is that once I have built these research tools, I’ll not have to revisit them very often. If I were to count the typing I did in those notes, I’m sure my final numbers would have been higher.
There was another pair of projects kept me busy for several hours. As I was describing the fictitious town of Tupole Rocks and the surrounding area, I realized it would be nice to have a map. More time was then spent on creating several graphic map files. I’ll add to these later on and they may show up in part, here. The other project was the first of several design drawings for the Cloud Dancer. More on that fine ship, later on.
At the risk of sounding like I’m whining, I woke this morning with a splitting headache and running nose. I truly hope this isn’t the start of the same plague some of my coworkers have endured, the past few weeks.
Posted in Craft, GeekStuff, Publishing
NaNo Count
As of shortly before midnight, last night, I made it to 5070 words. Not bad for a first day, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a daily run.
Posted in Craft, GeekStuff, Publishing
Off to a Flying Start
Today is the first day of the NaNoWriMo challenge and I started at midnight, last night.
So far, I’ve added over a couple of hundred words to my note file along with a half dozen more URLs for research as I get deeper into the tale.
The word count on my actual novel file is up to 2400 and with any luck, I’ll be able to add another couple of thousand before the day is done.
Shifter Born Cover
Shifter Born is the first book in a series of tail tales that will be released on December 31st, from Red Rose Publishing.
I just got the cover art and love it! Theresa McKinney is the artist and has done a marvelous job. 
Posted in Art, Craft, Publishing
Becoming an adult is scary. Even with fang and fur.
NaNoPrep – Dramatis personæ
Last time, I spoke of the process I find useful for larger projects. Since NaNoWriMo is getting closer, I’ll share a few of the details.
I’m planning a Steampunk theme tale with the working title of “Cloud Dancer” that is a bit of alternate history combined with a bit of romance in a war novel. A brief back story starts in the glory days of the British Empire and the Victorian age. The main body of the tale will cover the early days of WWII on the south coast of Australia.
Let’s take a look at the characters. Read More…
I’ve Been Thinking Again
I know, I know, that’s a sure sign that you should run for cover. The fact is, NaNoWriMo is sneaking up on us and since I won’t start writing my great novel until November first, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept, the characters and how I’m going to market it.
Yep, you heard me correctly, I’ve not even written the dang thing yet and I’m already looking at ways to grab your attention and get you to read it. I had thought I was alone in this when I was introduced to another writer’s blog, where she discusses the exact same thing. Debrah Riley-Magnus wrote:
“You know I’m a writer, but I’m also a publicist. When I write, I let the concepts for the book’s future flow through me and onto a cool little note pad I keep to the side. Those thoughts are vital, they will plot the road to success. I’m receiving those thoughts because they are elemental to the creative project at hand.”
Let me tell you where I am right now, with my NaNoWriMo project. This is how I start most of my longer tales.
I have a basic document template in .DOC format that has all my basic settings pre-configured. That gets loaded and then Saved-As in a new folder with the working title of the story. In this case, the working title is Cloud Dancer, so my filename is Cloud_Dancer_Notes.doc.
The first thing I did was start a very rough, stream-of-consciousness series of notes. This includes scenes, technology, locations and situations that I want to include. The next thing I did was generate a list of character names. Each name had a paragraph of two, describing their appearance, personality and relationship to the other characters.
And finally, I have been surfing the web, doing research on the time, place and major personalties that my characters might encounter.
As we progress, I’ll share some of these notes. Keep in mind that once the tale starts to unfold, things are expected to change as the characters take over. I so love it when that happens.
The notes file also gives me a place to add promotional ideas. Cloud Dancer is going to be a steampunk tale, so it will be told with the Maker spirit and attention will be paid to device descriptions and operation.
It will take place in the area around southwest Australia, in the late thirties.
Stay tuned now, more to come!
Posted in Art, GeekStuff, Publishing
New Series Coming Soon!
My new urban fantasy series will be coming in the next couple of months!
I’m overjoyed that Red Rose Publishing is going to release Shifter Born.
My editor is working on it now and as soon as the edits clear, I’ll have some excerpts to share.
I’m also working on some new audio files which should be ready during the holiday season.
Thanks for all your support emails. These are exciting times, indeed.
Posted in Craft, Publishing
