Susan Buffum's Blog: Welcome to My World, page 32

71,000 Words in 12 days

I have been typing away on my NaNo novel, Life Study, based on a series of short stories called Life Skills. I have no idea where I am going with this, but am pleased that I am flying along without plot or outline to encumber me along my journey. I am a totally freestyle writer, trusting in the Muse not to fail me.

The Talon Series

Books one and two in the series are now available on Amazon and direct from the author. After the 14th of this month I may also be selling the books on ebay for the time being. Talon:An Intimate Familiarity started out as a series of three linked Halloween stories I wrote to entertain my daughter and friends. In 2012 I used the characters and wrote the novel version, fleshing out the three individual stories and changing them somewhat. It was a RWA Golden Heart entry in 2013 but it hadn't yet reached it's final version. I rewrote it from Bryce's POV and that is the version that is now available. The sequel, Talon: A Sense of Familiarity soon followed. In book two Bryce has moved in with Talon and their relationship is hotter than ever, yet still prone to being volatile at times. There is tremendous passion between them. I love the characters, their volatile yet dynamic relationship- how they both evolve. I also like the cast of characters with whom they interact- Ollie, the porno addict nightshift morgue attendant who is more developed in book two. Then there is Ed Wrisley, Bryce's only friend who adores her, and kindly, elderly Doctor James Everett who becomes like a grandfather figure to Bryce. Then there is Adrian Fox and Vera Cotton, members of Talon's household staff who are more than they appear to be. Every time Bryce gets upset or angry bad things come through from the realms beyond earth to attack her. She has trouble trying to understand why the grim reaper seems to always be there to protect her and save her from these vicious beasts. And then there are her erotic dreams about the icy cold Dr. Giles Talon. He's not icy at all in her dreams! He' scorching hot! Bryce learns why she has always been different from her siblings, and then she has to struggle to accept what she is and learn her place as Talon's chosen portal through which the souls he harvests pass on their way to Heaven. There is a third book in the series half written, and that book will also include a bonus- a Christmas novella in which Talon gives Bryce a very special gift on Christmas Eve. My friends love these books. I love to here them say, "You go girl!" They want book three in the series NOW!

NaNoWriMo

This month I am busy participating in NaNoWriMo. This is my fourth year doing it and I am 65360 words into Life Study tonight. I hit 50,000 words in just over 4 days, a new goal for me. I always write like the wind. It's the going back and checking the continuity, and for typos, comma errors (commas are the bane of my existence) and making corrections that bogs me down. I never write with a rael plot in mind or an outline. I had a synopsis going in, wrote 27.000 plus words the first three days then trashed the whole thing on the November 4th and started over. I just rewrote the synopsis based on the new story. I've always been a by the seat of her pants writer. I trust my muse implicitly to provide when needed. I hope to finish the novel at about 75,000-80,000 words and then do clean-up the week of Thanksgiving. Medea, written and self-publish under my pseudonym Victoria Bell, was written in about 10 days last year. Three years ago, Talon: An Intimate Familiarity saw its genesis s a NaNo novel, written in 18 days. It underwent a major rewrite since 2012 and was just self-published last month along with its sequel, Talon: A Sense of Familiarity. The third book in the series is underway but on the back burner during NaNo, and then I need to concentrate on putting together the annual button society magazine I am editor of for the state of Massachusetts. I've been the editor since 2007, a contributing writer of articles for it since 2005. After that annual project is completed, usually in March, I can start focusing on writing stories again. So-Good Luck NaNo novelists! Keep writing!

First Giveaway

I'm excited about my first Good Reads Giveaway. Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales, Volume I is up for grabs to ten lucky readers. I don't write horror, I write quirky, weird tales that are atmospheric and have a little romance in them, some suspense and some little surprises. My major influences as an author have been Shirley Jackson and Edgar Allen Poe. I'm also a big fan of Darynda Jones and Victoria Thompson. Miss Peculiar's Tales, all three volumes, are collections of my annual Halloween tales for friends and family-always anxiously awaited this time of year. Blackstone's Menagerie was a second place winner in the annual Saugus.net Halloween story contest in 2014. I can hardly wait to send the winner's their signed copies!

Addictive Fiction

This is the feedback that I have been consistently receiving from those who have read or are currently reading my books- "I couldn't put the book down." I have heard this from a 9-year old all the way up to a 92-year old. That's over an 80-year age span in readership, yet they all say the same thing, "I couldn't put the book down," or "I can't put it down." I guess that's a good thing. I guess it's better to become addicted to an author's books than it is to become addicted to anything more harmful. I work in the field of medicine and see all sorts of addictions on a daily basis. No one ever books an appointment to be treated for an addiction to reading. So, that's a good thing. And I guess it's a good thing to be writing books that people can't put down once they pick them up. I guess that makes me happy. So-get addicted, start reading! Just remember, I'm not available for interventions!

My Brother, My Fan

This past Saturday, I gave my brother a copy of The Archetypes-Shockwaves since he had already read The Archetypes-First Generation. On Sunday, I received a text from him raving about how he had started reading the book and could not put it down. He read for three straight hours the previous night, then had the book with him at the pharmacy and was reading more of it while waiting for his prescription to be filled. He said he was drawn into the story, and loved the characters, being familiar with them from the first novel and seeing how they had grown and developed in the sequel. He wanted to know when the third in the series was coming out! I texted him back that I had 19 pages of the third book in the series written, but had put it on the back burner for now. He sounded disappointed!

Thaddeus, Scarlett, Benjamin "Beans" Carter Rex and Amanda Pennington Rex, et al, have captured his imagination- and that makes me, as their creator, a very happy writer/author, indeed!!

(Truth be told here- every time I pick up an Archetypes book to check a reference, or what I had written about something, I honestly cannot put the darn book down. They are even addicting to me, and I wrote them and have read both books a minimum of six times apiece so far, and will probably read them again at least that many more times. There is just something abut these two books that is compelling.

I can't explain what the attraction is to the family Rex- but there is definitely something there.

A Haunting We Will Go

While vacationing in Maine a week ago I began working on this years' Halloween stories or Haunting Tales as I refer to them. The three volumes of Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales contain what I've written to date.

I wrote two stories in Maine. The first one I emailed home to Kelly who was home alone at the time with a black box warning not to read it after the sun began to set. When she asked what it was about and I told her, she actually elected not to read it ever! Now that's scaring her but good!

The second story is set at a college with four young ladies and four young men who are now seniors about to graduate who have all been friends since freshman orientation gather to dine. There have been several murders on campus since the start of senior year. Within the next few days, two of these young people will be dead, one under arrest and one severely traumatized.

The third story was written over the past few days here at home. It is probably the most disturbing and chilling story I've written. It takes place on a farm that has been in the same family for generations since the first forefather staked his claim and began farming the land in the 1730's. Now young Radley James is the last in the James line and an heir must be produced. Watch for Prince Cyrus in the next Miss Peculiar volume to be published, possibly next summer, just before autumn arrives.

Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales, Volume III

Done! I just finished a marathon editing and proofing session on the eight suspenseful and supernatural tales included in volume three of this series. I hadn't realized that I'd written so many 'haunting' tales until Kelly said to me the other day, "Mom, you write some really weird stuff sometimes. Your stories are disturbing and your characters are peculiar."

Well, I guess that's true since I now have three volumes of Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales done with a total of seventeen short stories, novelettes and a novella included between their covers.

Halloween is coming!

Labor Day Labor of Love

I spent Labor Day weekend editing and proofing The Archetypes-Shockwaves, the second in the series. Amanda Pennington and Benjamin Carter Rex remain two of my favorite characters, and they are surrounded by a cast of interesting characters themselves. This volume is set a few years later than The Archetypes-First Generation and starts with Amanda, Scarlett and Ariana Rex and Amanda's two children and Ariana's two children being kidnapped by the Rex's archenemy Cornelius Renfield. Tragedy and trauma pursue the Rex family as they deal with the death of infant Raven, Amanda's burn injuries, and gunshot wounds. Then Amanda is inadvertently fed a piece of chocolate poisoned with the only known toxin that can kill an archetype. As she fights for her life and recovers, a Renfield is captured and held prisoner. Then, Amanda and Beans are attacked during an idyllic date. Before long, the Rexes are shocked to discover that Amanda's evil mad-scientist father has preprogrammed them all to turn upon one another and destroy one another. Amanda must now rush to develop a vaccine that will stop this rogue genome before it's too late. It is Benjamin who must face the madman in the mountainside laboratory in the final showdown, the survival of the Rex family depending on his success.

This volume contains a bonus short story-'Rex Family Christmas.' The time is the Christmas Day of the year in which Beans' return to the family, when there appears to be peace the the future for the Rex family.

Six Copyright Apps are DC Bound

Six copyright apps and twelves best copies are DC bound this evening. It is an amazing feeling to put so much into projects and feel the satisfaction of accomplishing something completely independently- something I've been wanting to do for years.

I am not too concerned about my books selling- it they do, that's great. I put a lot into writing them and the people who have read them have been happy with them. I'm an old school writer. I put some atmosphere into my books. They aren't just headlong rushes from point A to Point B and so on. Characters develop, flaws and all. Relationships blossom.

I am attaining my personal goals.