Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 260
May 26, 2014
Done, ye bastard!
I have an official first draft of "The Vanishing of Owen Taylor" completed. Holeee-effin'-doggiedoo. 517 typed, double-spaced pages, 114,819 words. And it ended just like I thought it would...almost. This was some dance you put me through, Jake...and I know the night's still young and there's more dancing to do in the rewrite. I have a number of details and revelations to reconcile...so it should wind up shorter...but then again, the way I write, I could still add a hundred pages to it.
But I am as exhausted as Jake...so I will sit this dance for a few days and get back to it when my head's stopped reeling. I won't be able to get to anything else until I have a decent draft ready to send out for feedback. And next week will put the kibosh on finishing that anytime soon.
I've got two and a half packing jobs set up -- one in Indiana, which means not all that much but is time consuming; another in NYC that has already threatened to explode into a disaster. On that one, I can't get a simple answer from anyone on how many books to expect. Based on the initial information handed out, I only allowed 2 days for it...but I got a bad feeling it'll be more like 3.
What's even nastier is, I'm catching a 5:40 am flight to JFK, on Monday, and will start packing that same day. Check into my hotel, that evening, finish packing the next day and head out to the JFK warehouse to do the half-job. Guess we'll see how this goes...but I HATE getting up in the morning.
Why can't the fates just let me win the friggin' lottery, already, so I don't have to deal with this crap and can just deal with my characters' crap, instead?
But I am as exhausted as Jake...so I will sit this dance for a few days and get back to it when my head's stopped reeling. I won't be able to get to anything else until I have a decent draft ready to send out for feedback. And next week will put the kibosh on finishing that anytime soon.I've got two and a half packing jobs set up -- one in Indiana, which means not all that much but is time consuming; another in NYC that has already threatened to explode into a disaster. On that one, I can't get a simple answer from anyone on how many books to expect. Based on the initial information handed out, I only allowed 2 days for it...but I got a bad feeling it'll be more like 3.
What's even nastier is, I'm catching a 5:40 am flight to JFK, on Monday, and will start packing that same day. Check into my hotel, that evening, finish packing the next day and head out to the JFK warehouse to do the half-job. Guess we'll see how this goes...but I HATE getting up in the morning.
Why can't the fates just let me win the friggin' lottery, already, so I don't have to deal with this crap and can just deal with my characters' crap, instead?
May 25, 2014
Battle scars...
All has finally been revealed in OT. It wasn't easy. I had to chop off 5 pages I'd written and work through the whole revelation chapter, line by line, almost, to get to the end of it. I'm now at a total of 111,351 words over 499 pps with probably 20-25 pps left and god knows how many words. Because I have one last chapter to write, and a bridge between two sections...but that will be that.
Then comes the rewrite...and the re-rewrite. And then feedback to see if it makes any sense or if I've gone off on a tangent, again.
I don't understand why this book's been so damn hard for me to finish. It's almost like I slip into avoidance or some sort of passive-aggressive stance when dealing with it, and Jake's been just as hard. He told me who killed his uncle, and then fought me on how to reveal it. I didn't figure it out until I'd gone through this whole chapter and then it was just handed to me, as if it was no big deal.
Crap, I hope Carli's not gonna be as much of a bitch as Jake has been. No...I don't think she will. She's got a simple goal, and her being the powerhouse lead makes her happy. Doesn't hurt that Zeke's going to be easy on the eyes...even with his tatts. Maybe because of them.
This potential book cover now looks a bit amateurish. I like the images -- and if I can get the okay to license one of Logan McKree's photos, I definitely will; he is the perfect Zeke -- but the layout and lettering are all wrong. One good thing about doing my own covers while republishing my books is seeing what works and what doesn't.
Of course, it'd be a good idea to write the book, first, wouldn't it?
Then comes the rewrite...and the re-rewrite. And then feedback to see if it makes any sense or if I've gone off on a tangent, again.
I don't understand why this book's been so damn hard for me to finish. It's almost like I slip into avoidance or some sort of passive-aggressive stance when dealing with it, and Jake's been just as hard. He told me who killed his uncle, and then fought me on how to reveal it. I didn't figure it out until I'd gone through this whole chapter and then it was just handed to me, as if it was no big deal.
Crap, I hope Carli's not gonna be as much of a bitch as Jake has been. No...I don't think she will. She's got a simple goal, and her being the powerhouse lead makes her happy. Doesn't hurt that Zeke's going to be easy on the eyes...even with his tatts. Maybe because of them.This potential book cover now looks a bit amateurish. I like the images -- and if I can get the okay to license one of Logan McKree's photos, I definitely will; he is the perfect Zeke -- but the layout and lettering are all wrong. One good thing about doing my own covers while republishing my books is seeing what works and what doesn't.
Of course, it'd be a good idea to write the book, first, wouldn't it?
May 24, 2014
On the pains and pangs and pissiness of putting pen to word processor
Sometimes I hate my characters. They can lead me places that make absolutely no sense or are so simplistic and ludicrous, it's like they're trying to sabotage the work they want me to write. Jake's fucking me around like that, right now. "Let's go here, now let's go here, now let's have this confrontation, and never mind it changes everything you've already written; you can rewrite, right?"
What infuriating about this is, I've only got one bridge, the rest of this chapter and one more chapter to do, and that will be a first draft.
So what's he done? He's gone and changed who the killer is, on me. Again! Like he's slapping paint on a canvas just to see what happens and thinking, "Naw, instead of purple I'll have puce...or maybe persimmon." Pissant.
And now he's got me alliterating Ps.
What infuriating about this is, I've only got one bridge, the rest of this chapter and one more chapter to do, and that will be a first draft.So what's he done? He's gone and changed who the killer is, on me. Again! Like he's slapping paint on a canvas just to see what happens and thinking, "Naw, instead of purple I'll have puce...or maybe persimmon." Pissant.
And now he's got me alliterating Ps.
May 23, 2014
John Waters at his bestest evah!
No further comments necessary.
May 22, 2014
Off the rails, Jake...
My big bad lead almost talked me into making the killer someone who stole the identity of someone else to keep their plans hidden...and that was so daytime soap opera, I had to stop it. What's next? An evil twin? Transplanted brains? A woman who used to be a man becoming a man, again? Can't use that last one; it was too neatly done by Gore Vidal in Myra Breckinridge. "Where's my tits?"
Man...that was such a wild book AND movie. I read it because Gore Vidal and William F Buckley got into a nasty argument during the Democratic convention in 1968, where Vidal kept calling Buckley a crypto-nazi. Which he was, but it still pissed him off and he threatened to punch Vidal out. Then he and Vidal penned dueling articles in a magazine -- The New Yorker? Esquire? GQ? I don't remember -- and Buckley used Myra as an example of how depraved Vidal was.
I bought a copy the next day and read it on the bus to school, every morning. And when Myra raped Rusty, I giggled like a little girl. Of course, I saw it on a double-bill with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, even though I was underaged, and even then I thought it was insane. Imagine Raquel Welch playing a female version of Rex Reed in a film starring Mae West, John Huston, Farrah Fawcett and film clips from a hundred different movies...not to mention a bit with Tom Selleck about to be ravaged by 80 year-old Mae. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls paled in comparison. It's still one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures.
Anyway, this time I went on strike. I don't want easy answers, here...and doing crap like General Hospital is not leading up to any. I need to earn my quiet ending, because for it to work, the turmoils have to have been great and glorious.
What's been interesting this time around is how they've also been wacky.
Man...that was such a wild book AND movie. I read it because Gore Vidal and William F Buckley got into a nasty argument during the Democratic convention in 1968, where Vidal kept calling Buckley a crypto-nazi. Which he was, but it still pissed him off and he threatened to punch Vidal out. Then he and Vidal penned dueling articles in a magazine -- The New Yorker? Esquire? GQ? I don't remember -- and Buckley used Myra as an example of how depraved Vidal was.
I bought a copy the next day and read it on the bus to school, every morning. And when Myra raped Rusty, I giggled like a little girl. Of course, I saw it on a double-bill with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, even though I was underaged, and even then I thought it was insane. Imagine Raquel Welch playing a female version of Rex Reed in a film starring Mae West, John Huston, Farrah Fawcett and film clips from a hundred different movies...not to mention a bit with Tom Selleck about to be ravaged by 80 year-old Mae. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls paled in comparison. It's still one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures.Anyway, this time I went on strike. I don't want easy answers, here...and doing crap like General Hospital is not leading up to any. I need to earn my quiet ending, because for it to work, the turmoils have to have been great and glorious.
What's been interesting this time around is how they've also been wacky.
May 21, 2014
Rickety bridges
Man...sometimes things go interesting directions when I'm writing. And weird. More than once I've wondered if I'm certifiable...not just when I'm working on a story but when I'm dealing with the day job. It's like I think I know what's going on then find out I don't have a clue. And I wind up totally confused and feeling psychically misused at the end of the day.
But this confession scene in OT...it's either going to work or make readers throw the book across the room in anger. I honestly don't know. Hell, I may change it, again. Anything's possible...but I like how off-beat it's become. A confession that's not a confession...but is.
This is the sort of thing going on in my head. Not necessarily a South American model (Brazilian?) moving left then bouncing right and pointing at me in a slightly snarky way...and yet...
Damn...I think I know what they mean by scrambled eggs for brains.
(BTW, the guy's name is Gui Inacio, actor and model, and adorable.)
But this confession scene in OT...it's either going to work or make readers throw the book across the room in anger. I honestly don't know. Hell, I may change it, again. Anything's possible...but I like how off-beat it's become. A confession that's not a confession...but is.
This is the sort of thing going on in my head. Not necessarily a South American model (Brazilian?) moving left then bouncing right and pointing at me in a slightly snarky way...and yet...Damn...I think I know what they mean by scrambled eggs for brains.
(BTW, the guy's name is Gui Inacio, actor and model, and adorable.)
May 20, 2014
All worded out...
Here's Steve Hayes discussing my favorite Hitchcock film -- Notorious. Damn near perfect.
May 19, 2014
The joy of re-re-re-re-writing
Looks like I can have my cake and eat it, too, in OT. In a way. I added six more pages and smoothed over some that I'd already smoothed over...and now see the ending clear and clean. As I've said, before, I know...but this time I'm so close I can smell the rot.
I halfway want my next book to be a simple romp in the sack. Men having sex and nothing more. This mystery crap is driving me insane Hell, maybe I'll make Carli's Kills an erotic tale of heterosexuals humping like bunny rabbits. I know Carli'd be open to that. But would Zeke tolerate being the sex object? Do straight men like being used by women for nothing but pleasure?
I have another story sort of like that -- Brand of Justice. It's about a female cop on the fast track to being Chief of Police when her brother-in-law is killed and events from her past keep mixing in, threatening not only her life but her sister's and her lover's. She's in her thirties and he's five years younger, at least, and deeply in love with her while all she wants is a good romp.
I actually wrote the story as a screenplay, but it's a bit too MOW for film and not MOW enough for TV. Seems Lifetime and Hallmark want women in jeopardy stories of a different nature. At least, I've been told Claire (the lead) is too able and aware and not enough the center of the story for them. I have things happening outside her purview.
That ain't happening with OT. If Jake don't see it or learn about it, he don't know it. Very much first person. He can work things out in his head and get people to reveal details to him without realizing it, but he makes mistakes and goes batshit crazy, himself, a couple of times.
It's going to be interesting to see the reaction o this book, once I'm done. See if I'm able to throw out enough red herrings to keep the reader wondering. Keep 'em interested to the end. Not aiming for much, am I?
Hell, right now I'd be happy to see if I can find an answer to the question that starts the story off.
I halfway want my next book to be a simple romp in the sack. Men having sex and nothing more. This mystery crap is driving me insane Hell, maybe I'll make Carli's Kills an erotic tale of heterosexuals humping like bunny rabbits. I know Carli'd be open to that. But would Zeke tolerate being the sex object? Do straight men like being used by women for nothing but pleasure?
I have another story sort of like that -- Brand of Justice. It's about a female cop on the fast track to being Chief of Police when her brother-in-law is killed and events from her past keep mixing in, threatening not only her life but her sister's and her lover's. She's in her thirties and he's five years younger, at least, and deeply in love with her while all she wants is a good romp.
I actually wrote the story as a screenplay, but it's a bit too MOW for film and not MOW enough for TV. Seems Lifetime and Hallmark want women in jeopardy stories of a different nature. At least, I've been told Claire (the lead) is too able and aware and not enough the center of the story for them. I have things happening outside her purview.
That ain't happening with OT. If Jake don't see it or learn about it, he don't know it. Very much first person. He can work things out in his head and get people to reveal details to him without realizing it, but he makes mistakes and goes batshit crazy, himself, a couple of times.
It's going to be interesting to see the reaction o this book, once I'm done. See if I'm able to throw out enough red herrings to keep the reader wondering. Keep 'em interested to the end. Not aiming for much, am I?
Hell, right now I'd be happy to see if I can find an answer to the question that starts the story off.
May 18, 2014
Twisty-turny-stuff...
Well...one bad guy I thought was a bad guy turned out not to be a bad guy and yet is still a bad guy...and that makes sense once you get to it. I think. But Jake's waging war, now, and he's in the mode of the enemy of my enemy is my friend...until the war is over. Then he'll turn the cannons.
I've decided to push on through to the end of the first draft, starting from page 460. Of course, that's based on pages done in 12 point Courier and double-spaced. I figure the final book will be just over 325 pages long. I don't know if I'm going to self-publish it or submit it to STARbooks Press. They said, a couple years ago, they'd like to see my next novel...but I think I'll still have to make sure they're still open, it's been so long.
Right now I've got a headache from a stiff neck and just want to sit in the tub for the rest of my life. I did do some ironing and watched another episode of "Firefly", on a friend's recommendation. This title was "Out of Gas" and I was taken in by how it jumped around in time. The resolution was a bit of a cheat, but redeemed itself by the final line. I think I might have felt differently about the show if they'd done things like this from the beginning.
Guess I will watch the rest of it.
I've decided to push on through to the end of the first draft, starting from page 460. Of course, that's based on pages done in 12 point Courier and double-spaced. I figure the final book will be just over 325 pages long. I don't know if I'm going to self-publish it or submit it to STARbooks Press. They said, a couple years ago, they'd like to see my next novel...but I think I'll still have to make sure they're still open, it's been so long.
Right now I've got a headache from a stiff neck and just want to sit in the tub for the rest of my life. I did do some ironing and watched another episode of "Firefly", on a friend's recommendation. This title was "Out of Gas" and I was taken in by how it jumped around in time. The resolution was a bit of a cheat, but redeemed itself by the final line. I think I might have felt differently about the show if they'd done things like this from the beginning.Guess I will watch the rest of it.
May 17, 2014
Sometimes it takes a while...
Okay...today was interesting. I spent most of it working through my apathetic crap. Wasn't easy. I had to make myself do simple things like go deposit my paycheck because I got it a day late...and too late to hit the bank, yesterday...and I'd left my checkbook at home...so even though I really did not feel like leaving my apartment, I did. I also had to hit the PO to send off those free copies of David Martin and hope they will generate some interest on GoodReads.
I also half-heartedly tried to update some information on my books with Amazon...but what they told me to do didn't work. I did make some other things better. Sort of. Then I took a nap and woke up with a headache so ate and made potato leek soup for meals, next week, and balanced my checkbook.
Then I sort of wandered into working on The Vanishing of Owen Taylor...and saw some mistakes I was making in the narrative, not to mention a solid possibility that I was overlooking...and 'round about nine-pm I got back onto it...for a while. Now it's low-ebb, again.
When I get into these moods, it usually takes a long time for the residual sense of "Why bother?" to go away, completely. But I can finally sense it's finally drifting off. Tomorrow, I'm inputting corrections and changes into what I've already done on the book and aiming it to dovetail into a confession that will only be a hint of a confession. No Perry Mason crap here; my killer's not stupid. Neither is Jake. I have to honor that.
No, I don't have to...I want to. I fucking like Jake. He's a pain in the ass, sometimes, but he is what I wish I was. Funny...I have to build a fictional character to be the man I want to be. I wish I had been. Of course, I felt the same way about Curt, to an extent, but he's a bit on the crazy side, and I've always been more like Antony and Daniel and Eric...and...
Shit, look at what I'm doing -- mitigating a positive, definitive comment about one of my characters. I like Jake, who's a part of me, but there are all these other characters who really mean I'm nothing like him and WTF? Why the hell do I do that? Why can't I just let it be? Even when I read positive and glowing responses to my work (and there have been plenty), I think of ways to minimize their importance. Why?
Just one more aspect of my own private psychoses.
I also half-heartedly tried to update some information on my books with Amazon...but what they told me to do didn't work. I did make some other things better. Sort of. Then I took a nap and woke up with a headache so ate and made potato leek soup for meals, next week, and balanced my checkbook.
Then I sort of wandered into working on The Vanishing of Owen Taylor...and saw some mistakes I was making in the narrative, not to mention a solid possibility that I was overlooking...and 'round about nine-pm I got back onto it...for a while. Now it's low-ebb, again.
When I get into these moods, it usually takes a long time for the residual sense of "Why bother?" to go away, completely. But I can finally sense it's finally drifting off. Tomorrow, I'm inputting corrections and changes into what I've already done on the book and aiming it to dovetail into a confession that will only be a hint of a confession. No Perry Mason crap here; my killer's not stupid. Neither is Jake. I have to honor that.
No, I don't have to...I want to. I fucking like Jake. He's a pain in the ass, sometimes, but he is what I wish I was. Funny...I have to build a fictional character to be the man I want to be. I wish I had been. Of course, I felt the same way about Curt, to an extent, but he's a bit on the crazy side, and I've always been more like Antony and Daniel and Eric...and...Shit, look at what I'm doing -- mitigating a positive, definitive comment about one of my characters. I like Jake, who's a part of me, but there are all these other characters who really mean I'm nothing like him and WTF? Why the hell do I do that? Why can't I just let it be? Even when I read positive and glowing responses to my work (and there have been plenty), I think of ways to minimize their importance. Why?
Just one more aspect of my own private psychoses.
