Plunging Into the Deep End

So, I’m a little late on delivery of Grim Phantasm, I know, and I’m taking steps to rectify the situation by going into overdrive and writing at least 2K a day. The rough draft will be finished by the end of the month, and the final draft should be published by mid- to late-July.

I’m coming up on the climax of the book, and I have to say, it’s a real heart-stopper. I won’t go into the specifics, but I think someone is going to die. Bartholomew has plunged into the deep end, so to speak, and he may not be able to get out of it before the proverbial crap hits the fan. His circle of trusted friends is in tatters, and someone’s preggers!

Cross your fingers and hope that I get the book published on time!

Half-way Through, and Counting…

I broke 25K on Sunday and I’m worried that I won’t get Grim Phantasm done before my second summer semester. I know that if I keep to my daily word count and crank out that plot line, I’ll be able to, but I’ve been having trouble making that count. It’s usually about half-way through the novel that authors slow down, but I wish that I could have finished it earlier, like I planned.

The story is getting really intense, and it may be a longer one than Binding Power, though I hope not because that one is over 80K. I’m planning on making this one shorter (about 60K) so I can get started on Firestorm (WT). Though the series was originally supposed to be five books (one for each Bowl of Power), I find myself wondering if I should put two in one and finish with four.

Right now, I just want to focus on finishing Grim Phantasm and making it better than Binding Power.

Too Much Going On?

Okay, I’m beginning to think that I have way too much going on in my book. My only comfort is that I’ll be pulling all of it together at the end. Still, I hope that my readers can follow my story line. It might be necessary to leave out some interactions until the next book, Firestorm (working title), but I’d rather not. Right now, I’m just writing like crazy, eking out scene after scene until they culminate into either disaster or epic victory.

Book Blitz and Giveaway: Taking Back Forever by Karen Amanda Hooper

Reblogged from Chapter Break:

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In this tour, we are celebrating the release of the second book in the series, Taking Back Forever. Check out both books on the author's Amazon Page.

Title: Taking Back Forever

Series: Kindrily Series Book Two

Author: Karen Amanda Hooper

Publisher: Starry Sky Publishing

Publication Date: May 31, 2013

Forever is worth the fight.

Maryah erased all memory of her past lives, but she couldn’t erase her soul mate Nathan, or his undying love.

Read more… 760 more words

This book series by Karen Hooper sounds really interesting. I'm looking forward to buying it and reading it.

Ready for Summer?

Well, my next semester in college is coming up next week, and I plan on getting as much writing done as possible. It’s important to set aside time each day solely for writing, without distractions of children, television, or a particularly interesting scene in a book you’re currently reading.

Personally, I have my own system of writing so I don’t become brain-dead. I write for an hour, then I take a break for about thirty minutes to read or watch an episode (those usually run about 40 minutes, though, so I wouldn’t do that very often), followed by another hour of writing.

I also have a minimum word count that I hold to (most of the time), of 1,000 words.

Set goals and rewards for yourself, and the words will flow from your imagination to the computer screen (or notebook) in record time.

Keeping an Outline

I’ve found it prudent to keep a list of major events that have occurred in my books to prevent any unnecessary tangents or repeating a scene I’ve already written (yes, it has happened!). Names of characters are important as well, and with so many, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of who is who and what they’ve done. Nothing irritates me more than to write an entire three to five page scene with a character who was supposed to be on the other side of the world doing something else at that very moment.

The most important advice I can give (from experience) is to make sure your timeline is flowing in one direction, without characters bouncing around the globe doing one thing when you’ve already written a scene that said they were somewhere else doing another. Maintaining continuity can be hard when you have five or six different things going on at the same time in four different scenes.

Keep track of your characters! Make sure they are where they’re supposed to be.

Astral Projection Gone Wrong

So, I have been playing around with the “dream-state” in my book, which is basically just Astral Projection, albeit more intense. An idea struck me while I was writing yesterday, and I wondered what would happen should one of my characters “Astral-project” themselves into another person’s body. The war between the two minds would be intense, and it would most likely turn out the way you would expect. One person with dual personalities.

However, my question is this: If the character were to leave the body, would he/she still retain that dual personality, or would the other mind remain where it was without affecting the other. (It’s a bit complicated, but I’m having fun figuring it out and theorizing with my characters).

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts about Astral Projection?