Crusade For Vengeance

Something very surprising happened this morning.  I finished the first draft!

As I said yesterday, I had a really good days writing and I knew that the scene was coming to an end.  I had to stop as I needed to have dinner before going to Karate.  This morning I did my normal read through and started writing.  A hundred words in I realised that this was the perfect ending to the book.  There were six more scenes that I originally had in mind to write after this one but I realised they wouldn't work.  Three were no more than filler that could be covered in a bit of back story in book two and the other three were too long.  They would have forced a whole new act in the story and that didn't work.

There I was staring at my screen having written a whopping one hundred words and I wasn't sure if that was what I wanted to do.  I spent the next hour going through it from as many angles as I could think of and always came back to the same conclusion.  In the process I even came up with a kicker start to book three.

So that's it, the first draft of Dark Vengeance Book Two, Crusade For Vengeance, is done.  I think I'm going with Crusade, it fits better and has more ompf to it, as Mr Cox used to say.  He was my primary school headmaster.

I'm going to take a couple of days to rest my brain and help my sister move.  After that I'll get the cover sorted and book description so I can post it for pre-order on Smashwords.

Oh, as it turns out I didn't double book myself for Sunday.  Belt test is tomorrow so I'll be heading back to Essex on Sunday.

Total of the First Draft - 132,132 words.

Crusade for Vengeance

I'm liking Crusade more and more as the title for book two over Return.  It is popping up more often in my writing and it's natural, I'm not forcing it in.  If anyone has any opinions I'd love to hear them.

Return For Vengeance
Crusade For Vegeance
They are both awful and you need to back to the drawing board.

Today was an excellent day's writing.  Almost 7,000 words completed which includes what I think is an absolute stonking chapter (yes I used stonking, I like to stonk and you have to be over thirty in the UK to get that one).  It had lots of emotion and tied up several things I have had in my head since day one, well maybe month one but you get the idea.  They have certainly been on my cork board since it went up.

Karate tonight and I find out if I've been stupid, double booking myself for Sunday.  I've got a very strong suspicion that I have.

Total now at 132,000 words (actually 131,898 but I'm in such a good mood I'm rounding up, I think I've earned it today).

Lucy

I came away from the cinema last night trying to work out what I felt about Lucy.

I'll say right off the bat that I ignored the whole using more than 10% of the brain stuff as a Macguffin and left it at that.

The visuals were fantastic all the way through, particularly the wild life inserts that gave an extra depth to the scenes.  It was truly inspiring story telling.

From the trailers I was expecting an action film and for the first half, that is pretty much what I got, fear, excitement, payback, everything.  Then things started to get metaphysical as Lucy expands her mind and powers.  It was strange in a way, as it switched from Leon to the Fifth Element without being as good as either.

Worth a watch I would say and I enjoyed it but I doubt I'll be buying the DVD.

Return For Vengeance

It's getting harder.  There is no other way to say it.

The writing itself is OK I think when I can get the proper concentration behind it.  What is making it harder is remembering everything.  Below are a few of the things I keep having to refer back to.

Who knows what?
Where has a character been?
How does this tech work?
What is this tech called?
What are the rules for this?

I've got a hard copy for Reason For Vengeance, an excel spreadsheet, a notebook for soft notes (writing things out), a notebook for hard notes (rules set in stone), a cork board and a white board.

I am constantly checking all of these things and referring to the previous 100,000 plus words I have already written for book two.  When I look at people like Terry Pratchett, David Weber, Raymond E. Feist, Robert Jordon and George RR Martin I don't see how they don't just drown in information.  Pratchett, Weber and Feist are the real heroes though Martin is getting a lot of kudos at the moment.  Martin has done six books in Ice and Fire where Pratchett has 36 Discworld novels, 26 Harrington novels for Weber and I lost track of Feist a while ago with his series beginning with Magician.

So hats off to these astounding authors and I'm sure there are many others like them.

Anyway, that's my gripe for the day.  Not too bad at 4,500 words.  Dinner is cooking and then I'm off to see Lucy at the cinema.  I've been looking forward to that for a while and I think I've earned a bag of minstrals as well.

Total now at 125,000 words.

Return For Vengeance

Boy am I struggling a bit at the moment.  Ever since Tuesday last week it has been hard to write.  Hmm actually it seems to go back to the week before that.

I wonder if it is because the end is in sight now and I am down to 30,000 ish words left to go?  I'm really not sure.  It could be that I'm just tired.  Writing a book in a month and a half is hard work.

Well I am onto the home straight so I need to dig deep and keep going.

The good news is that the cover art is in from Matt Hubel and it's excellent.  Grittier than the first one I think and that does fit in with the scene it comes from.  Have a look on my blogs main page, I've put it up there.  I'll also have it on Facebook once the full size imagery comes through.

Well time for dinner.  Total now at 120,000 words.

Return for Vengeance

I had a bit of a surreal experience while writing yesterday.  I was quite happily knocking out the story and then at the 3,000 word mark for the day I hit a wall.  It wasn't like I didn't know what I wanted to say next.  That was fine, I was in the middle of an action sequence and generally it's the easiest thing for me to write.  It was more like I completely ran out of energy.

I then spent the next hour procastinating and doing anything but writing so I decided to jack it in for the day.  I still worked for the next couple of hours, but it was more to do with back ground stuff rather than directly writing.

Oh well.  I've got a couple fo days with my daughter so I won't get back to it until Friday.

Speaking of which, she's down stairs playing with her toys so I better get back to her.

Total now at 117,000 words.

Return For Vengeance

After a relaxing weekend I was ready to get on with it and start playing catch up from Friday's appalling day.  I pleased to say that I managed it.  The story has been flowing, with new twists and turns popping quite naturally.  Of course that is how I feel about after just writing it.  Readers may well disagree and so might I when I do my read through in the morning.

While I was relaxing yesterday a new story idea came to me.  It's in a completely different direction and comes under Urban Fantasy, possibly Horror.  I've had an Urban Fantasy story kicking round my head for a while now but it was too Supernaturalesk for my liking.  Not because I dislike Supernatural.  No, it was too on the nose really.  Two women going round fighting vampires, werewolves etc in the modern day.  See very similar.  The characters are very not Sam and Dean but the rest kind of smacks of plagiarism.

My new story is completely different and from a bit of research I did at the weekend, I think it is even original.  It could really have a Horror take to it but I think I've read a total of two Horror books in my life so I'm not comfortable writing it.  This story has grabbed me so much that I'm tempted to do it between book two and three of Dark Vengeance.  It might give me enough distance to keep book three fresh.  I'll have a think and make a decision after book two is published.

The other question is to make the main character male or female.  It could go either way but the female version is taking shape in my head.  I don't want to be too samey in my writing but this one is nothing like Valerie, Hanna, Troll, Julianna or any of the others in Dark Vengeance.  I might do what Writing Excuses advised and write a monologue for both and see who jumps out at me the most.

On a completely different note, I forgot to buy a cucumber for my salad.  I'm very annoyed with myself.  Speaking of which, the potatos are almost done so time for dinner.

Total now at 114,000 words.

Return For Vengeance

Friday was a very poor day, only 600 words.  It wasn't that I had nothing to write, I knew exactly what was going to happen.  I just struggled to have the drive to do it.  After five hours struggling, I gave up and went and watched the West Wing for about five hours.

The most annoying thing is that I was 2,000 words ahead of schedule.  Now I'm 2,500 words behind again.  The silver lining though is that, when I was behind, I worked harder.  Maybe that'll help.

I know what caused it and I think that I'm over it now so come Monday morning it should be a different story.

Return For Vengeance

A very good day today.  The story is really coming together and flowing constantly.  I wrote almost 3,000 words this morning and I have hit the 6,000 word mark well before 6pm.  I could have kept going for another fifteen minutes or so but my hands are tired and so is my brain.

I've got a couple of days off from the writing now as I'm spending time with my daughter.  Well worth it and I go off 2,000 words ahead of schedule which is a good feeling.  It's the first time I have been ahead since I started work on this book.  Long may it continue.

Nope I can't think of much else to say really.  Oh there is one thing.  The weather was very nice today and particularly when I got to 5,000 words I had to resist the temptation to go sit in the garden.  It wasn't easy I can tell you but I persevered and I feel better for it.

Total at 107,000 words.

Return For Vengeance

I just had a nice boost.  Someone gave Reason a four star review on Goodreads.  I dropped her a note to say thank you.  I did worry that it might have freaked her out, I'm still learning Goodreads, but she just sent me a nice note back so hopefully not.

Reviews, good or bad are important.  The bad so I know where I am going and what I need to improve on.  The good have a two fold importance, an emotional boost for obvious reasons but also they let me know I'm heading in the right direction.  I write in a vacuum pretty much and the only way I know that what is coming out of my head and is being translated in a well told manner is through unbiased reviews.  My friends and family say it's good but I always have they niggle in my head that says "are they just saying it to be nice?"

It was also perfect time for a nice review.  I'm taking my daughter to see my family in Essex on Wednesday and I'll have the dreaded question from my Dad.  "How many books have you sold?"  He's asking as he is genuinely interested and worried.  I'd prefer he did ask than not but it is good to have something positive to say rather than just give a depressingly low number.

Well I am going to keep plugging away until this series is finished at the bare minimum.

On that note another 6,000 words written and the total stands at 101,000 words.  Two thirds of the way in.  Yay!

Autumn TV Schedule

An additional post as I've been going through what is going to be showing in the UK over the next few months.  In no particular order:

Gotham
The Flash
Forever
Legends
The Last Ship
Dr Who
Graceland
Falling Skies
The 100
Rookie Blue
Franklyn & Bash
The Veep
Castle
Continuum
Covert Affairs
Defiance
Have I Got News For You
Hawaii Five-O
Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
Person of Interest
Scandal
Sleepy Hollow
The Blacklist

That is a lot of shows to be all running concurrently.  I'm going to have to be ruthless with my times to make sure I can watch them all while keeping up with my writing.  Also I'll need to cut any that aren't good enough.  Sleepy Hollow and Graceland are both maybe's.  I used to enjoy Lost Girl but that had a really poor last season so that is not going on the list.

The Weekend

After a very full week it was nice to have the weekend off.

On Saturday I was at Warwick Castle with my lovely Daughter and her family on her mother's side.  It was a great day, not too hot, not cold in the slightest and the castle itself was fascinating.  Too be honest, if I'm with my daughter it is always a good day but it was still enjoyable.  I think her highlight was playing around a tree with her cousin who is also her best friend, while we had lunch.

Unfortunately, I didn't look after myself.  I didn't drink enough and ended the day with the worst migraine I had experienced for years.  When I got home all I could do was drink some water, have a couple of Ibruprofen and collapse into bed.  After an hours sleep, I felt a bit better, enough to stick a pizza on for dinner anyway.  I really didn't feel like any food but I knew I had to eat and I'm glad I did.  I felt almost human afterward.

Today has been a relaxing day.  This morning I spent reading a set of comics I had really been looking forward to, I missed an issue so I couldn't read them all until today.  Then it was the Italian Grandprix in Monza.  What a race and what a result for Williams!  I think that may be in the top three for the year so far.

This afternoon I cut the grass and sat in the sun reading a new book - Fortune's Gambit for a reading group I've just joined on Goodread.  I'm not sure about it at the moment, nothing new or surprising.  I'll finish it and see what others think.

Now to water the garden, dinner and the BTCC.

Return For Vengeance

I really need to re-look at the title of this one.  I'm not happy with it.  I'll leave until after I've finished the first draft though.

Talking about the first draft, it is going well.  As I finished on 68,000 last week I wanted to get to 95,000 this week so I could round out the numbers again.  Monday put me 1,000 words closer and Tuesday dropped me back so I had an extra 3,500 words on top of the basic 5,000, to complete over the next three days.  It has been a real challenge, illustrated by me still at my desk at 7.00 pm and putting in a total of 45 hours work this week.  If you include lunch, that is a 50 hour working week.

I wasn't writing for the two hours after lunch today as I worked out the next big section.  It was worth it and I managed to get right on it and do what I wanted to.

I'll actually looking forward to writing the next bit, it's going to be a big action laced sequence similar to the raid on Tumbler's building but bigger, more complex, more characters and more POV's.  Should be fun.

Now off to put some dinner on and enjoy a well-deserved pint of cider (I still have quite a few in my cupboard that I had earmarked for hot sunny days but we've kind of run out of them).

Total now at 95,000 words (as I'm sure you guessed).

Return for Vengeance

It is days like today that make me think that I can really do this.

I set myself a challenging target of 5,750, to continue my catch up from Tuesday.  The problem was that I didn't really know what I was going to be writing about today.  To say I had a rough outline would be a gross understatement.  The first couple of thousand words were OK, covering a bit of the continued characters getting into position for the big finale.

After that I wasn't sure but I dropped in on Valerie where she is kind of out of the way at the moment and a great scene came to me.  I'd had this idea kicking around the back of my head for months, aimed for the third book as a maybe.  I put it into play now where Valerie was and it flowed really well.  I know have three new characters with their own back story and they are the closest to an alien race I am going to have.  Well I say that but there is always book four. 

I'm kidding, once Valerie has finished her journey I'm off to write some fantasy.  I've a couple of really good ideas that are killing me not to write at the moment.  I don't want to get distracted until Dark Vengeance is completed.

Total now at 89,250 words.

Oh and I passed the halfway mark on Tuesday without even noticing!

Return For Vengeance

Today was a very good day.  First of all I added another 1,300 words to a chapter I thought I had finished but it was just yesterday's funk crimping my creativity.  Wow, that sounds almost artistic like.  Not how I thought I would be when I started this.  I've never thought of myself in a creative way.

Anyway, secondly a chapter that I thought was going to be a couple of pages naturally and hopefully correctly ended at over 5,000 words.  It was a nice chapter that included character motivation and development, world building and protagging (double g in that?)  I really am very proud with how it turned out.

I wonder if any one will ever read this and then try and put all my comments together against the finished article to work out I am talking about?  I don't like to go into specifics just incase a reader is reading and I spoil the book for them.

Total now stands at 83,500 words.

Sin City 2

I just got home from seeing Sin City 2.  I have to say that I thoughly enjoyed myself.  It was an absolute blast to see.

The visuals were that mixture of film noire with splashes of colour mixed with Frank Millar artwork they used last time.  I saw the film in 3D and usually I'm not a fan but this it worked perfectly.  Every scene had that extra depth rather than the one or two.

All of the actors got into their characters fully without over playing them as can be the tendency for this kind of film.

There was gratuitous violence and nudity but it's an 18 certificate, everyone in the cinema was old enough and you don't go to see a film called Sin City without expecting it.

Out of the films I've seen so far this year I would say that Guardians of the Galaxy comes closest for having the most fun.

Return For Vengeance

Not my best day ever, that's for sure.  2,500 words to show for a full days work.

Valerie is in a building that I hadn't planned out, so when I started writing I was going all over the place and it didn't make sense.  It was like putting the cart before the horse.  After 700 very slow words I had to stop and start from scratch.

It wasn't really a waste as I was able to realise in my head the building, its mechanics and rules.  I was actually discovery writing.  The following 1,300 words was much better and every fit together.  It was still slow going and at one point I found myself telling rather than showing.  I was almost going to scrap it all again but I went and had a cup of tea and a think while it brewed.

I decided most of the 1,300 words was showing with only the last paragraph turning to tell so I switched it to a flash back.  I don't generally like flash back's, they're over used in my opinion.  I despair when a TV show starts with a dramatic scene and horrors of horrors the lead has just been shot!  It then switches to 24 hours earlier...  Very annoying.  Of course that isn't really a flash back but some shows do them too much.  The exception is Arrow, I like how they do it.

Anyway, I stuck in the flash back and I liked how it turned out.

I'm not happy with the word count today but I'm not depressed about it either.  I did a full days work and didn't let myself get distracted by Castle or Settlers - Rise of an Empire so it's not luck I sat around doing nothing.  What have a learnt?  Take some time on Sunday's to sketch out that weeks writing.  I've just done some of that so hopefully it will be easier for the next three days.

Total now at 76,500 words.

Return For Vengeance

After a very nice relaxing weekend it was a tough start this morning.  As I had done the read through of Thursdays writing on Friday I saved myself an hour this morning.  That was fortunate as it took me over three and half hours to write 2,500 words.  The afternoon was much better and by 6.00 pm I had done 6,000 words and was so fired up I wanted to keep going.

Being tired and right at the end of a chapter I decided to call it a day.  It made a lot of sense and it was a natural part of the story to stop.  I'm off to a completely different area tomorrow.

My plan is to do 6,000 tomorrow as well.  That will get me to 80,000 and back to whole 5,000's.  I can then start to gain ground again.

Total now at 74,000 words.