Stephen Burckhardt's Blog: My Blog Ramblings, page 73

Pushing Through

[image error]I am trying to find my motivations for book three and it is just not coming. I tried reading a favorite author but their latest installment was about as disjointed and hard to follow and I have been feeling lately. I'm trying some writing exercises to get the story flowing again but lighting hasn't struck yet. Maybe I should try working on the audiobook version again of book one and see if that helps. Dianne Burckhardt and I had put that on the back burner for a while because the platform we were going to use to put out the audiobook stopped supporting audio, maybe now is the time to start looking into that again. I'm trying anything and everything I can think of to break through this writer's block. I'll keep try to push through. Think good thoughts for me.Stephen

Second Western Anthology On Sale Now

I may be having a hard time writing book three in my own series right now but I have been able to finish all my contributions for Scott Harris' western anthologies. For those who don't know, I have been lucky enough to be included in a group venture with award-winning and best-selling Western author, Scott Harris. Harris challenged a group of western authors to craft 500 word stories using the exact same writing prompt. The result is a book of 52 short stories from 52 different authors all putting their unique spin on the same few words. We all had such a good time with his challenge, Harris decided to make it a series. He issued three more challenges to us. I've have written all four of my contributions and am just waiting for the book releases.I used these challenges as a way to expand my own western universe. I use characters and places from my Into the West Serial Saga for these writing challenges. One story features character who would be the next generation of my current story while another is set just a few months ahead of the current storyline. It has help get me past my writer's block to some extent and been an avenue to help me keep writing about my western world even if I wasn't working on finishing book three right now. For those who have read my first two stories, these shorts might be a fun read to get a new look at the same storyline. The first two anthologies, are on sale now on Amazon. You can find links to them on the Homestead and My Books pages of this website. Be sure to check them out.I am still plodding away at book three but it's just not coming together as I had envisioned. I will keep working on it. Who knows, maybe all of this angst and stress will lead to this installment being the best one yet. I can hope! Thank for following along and I will be sure to keep you all updated on the progress. Sincerely,Stephen

July Has Come and Gone and I'm Still Stuck

My stepdaughter came to visit and it was fantastic. I didn't write a single word the entire time she was here. I tried on a few occasions to work but then we would start talking and decide to go out and run errands and I got distracted like a Labrador seeing a squirrel. She has since gone back home to Chile and I am once again trying to get back into the swing of writing. I finished my last short story for the group projects with western author, Scott Harris. This makes the forth story I have contributed to his western anthologies. It's been a real pleasure to be a part of these books and I look forward to buying a few copies so I can read all the other submissions. Now it's time to focus on my own work. I have decided that I need a break from westerns. I have been promising book three for so long |I know I need to get this finished first before I move on to anything else. I still plan to finish out the entire 5 or 6 book serial but I think I want to try my hand at another genre after I finish book 3 before i go ban and finish the serial.I really think taking the break will help with this writers block I've been having with the serial. At least, I hope it will. |i really want to finish write book 3 by the end of the month and get it to my editor. With luck I can have it ready to publish by September. I might still be able to make it to the book convention in October but we will have to see how things go. Until then, I plan to keep plugging along. Thanks for sticking with me!Stephen

What Happened to June?

[image error]I have been having a difficult time getting work done the last few weeks. I'm so far behind my self-imposed deadline that I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep my schedule I had in mind. Several things have contributed to this lately.First, we finally had friends come to visit. They were our first house guests since we moved into this new home three years ago. It was so much fun! We took them on a tour around town and spent a lot of time out going to shows, restaurants, and shopping together. I didn't write a word while they were here. Second, I have been having a difficult time writing part three. I'm not sure why. Parts one and two were no trouble. I sat down and wrote them straight through pretty quickly but three has been like pulling teeth.I have been trying to get into the grove and keep sitting down to write but it feels clunky and disjointed. I'm still pushing through but I have a feeling this one will need a lot of rewriting when it's done.Third, my step-daughter is coming next week for a visit. She will be here for three weeks. I doubt I will get much written while she is here. I haven't seen her for about two years so I want to enjoy as much time with her as possible. I hope to get a lot written this weekend, we will see. Think good thoughts for me.Thanks for sticking with me and my crazy life as I try to figure out how to be a writer. Sincerely,Stephen

Sneak Peeks, Promo Goodies, and GDPR

I think the time I actually spend the least amount of my work time writing books. Most of my time is spent taking care of the behind the scenes promotional and business side of trying to build a writing career. This Monday was a work holiday for P.R. so we had a long weekend. We packed up on Saturday and Headed off to yet another Sci-Fi convention. I had gone 50 years without ever making it to a science fiction or comic book convention and now so far this year I have been to three and there will be a few more before the end of the year. I'm having the best time! But all of this fun is distracting me from writing. I have been trying to stay up late and get some actual writing done but it's been difficult when I'm wiped out from running around conventions all day. Sunday night I seriously wanted to get a good excerpt for my fist Sneak Peek Sunday for the Members Only page on my website, StephenBurckhardt.com. I want to give you all something at least slightly juicy but I just haven't gotten that far into the story yet. I was trying to write up to a really intriguing part but I was literally falling asleep on my keyboard. I decided to just grab something and post it so I could go to bed. I still haven't reread what I posted on the Sneak Peek Sunday section. In truth, I'm a bit afraid to see what I put on there. God only knows! I am also hoping to make it to a writers convention this year in October. To that end I have been designing and ordering promotional material to get ready for the event. I want to design things now and get a small run printed so I can make sure things will look good and all be in order before October. Here is what I have been working on. Last, but most certainly not least, I have been trying to make sure this website is GDRP compliant. Since people have accessed this site from Europe, I have to meet the personal data protection standards the European Union is putting in place in regards to the collecting of personal data online. I think I have everything in place now but I'm not a real wiz when it comes to these kinds of things so I hope I got it right. P.R. looked it all over for me and seems to think I will be in compliance. I hope so! Now, I'm off to see just how crazy my Sneak Peek Sunday post actually was. I hope it wasn't too weird because I was so tired, anything is possible! Thanks for following along with my work, I hope at the very least you find my misadventures entertaining. Sincerely,Stephen

Monday Writing

I actually got a good start on book three yesterday. It's such a relief to finally have at least the first three chapters locked in my head. The way I'm setting this book up is a little different than the last. I still go back and retell part of the story from the point of view of another character like I did with Sister Mary Clare in book two but this time I am doing it with two characters, Tim Ruth and Doc Pete. Chapter 11 is all about Tim Ruth and what leads him to go to the meeting and take on the care of Elizabeth. Chapter 12 will be about the events that lead Doc Pete to ask to adopt Conner. Then we go back to the meeting where Mrs. Kelly makes her decision and the story takes off again from there in Chapter 13. This next Sunday will be the start of my Sneak Peek Sundays where I post an excerpt from what I have been writing. Be sure to join my Members Only page on my website so you can get the sneak peeks on available on the Members Only page. It is free to join and you can leave at any time.Today I was really excited. I had a doctors appointment (that is not the exciting part) and I thought today would be a great day to finally take advantage of the portability of the Notebook computer I bought. I was going to be spending a lot of time on public transportation an waiting in the doctor's waiting room so I thought I could take the Notebook with me and get some more writing done. I was also planning on doing some grocery shopping so I seriously considered whether or not I would want to carry around that extra weight when I was going to be carrying home groceries too. I decided to do it. I got to the bus stop and took the Notebook out to finish this blog and realized the battery was dead. When I got to the doctors office I remembered I had a back up battery for my iPhone and thought I could use that to get my Notebook charged enough to at least finish this blog post but I didn't have the right cord to hook them up. So I just ended up carrying about the extra weight for nothing. But now the Notebook is charged and I was able to finish this just before I need to go to bed. Ah well, tomorrow is another dayThanks for following along with me. You'll never know just how much I appreciate it!Sincerely,Stephen

Eureka!

It is no secret to those of you a who are following me, that I have been struggling to get book three written. For my process I always think about the book, figure out the basic outline of the story in my head, then sit down and put it on the page. I write one draft, do my edit, have it edited by another person (now that would be Greg Wood), run it through a reader so I can listen to it, then do the final edits. I never do a major rewrite on the page. I do all of that in my head before I ever put a word on the page. With Into the West: Sharon Springs, I've had a vague idea of where I wanted the story to go but It didn't click in my head the way books one and two did, until today. I was in the shower thinking that I wanted to spend today writing and trying to figure out just what I wanted to write when is all fell into place. Well, to say "äll" is a bit of a stretch, the first three chapters locked into place in my head. I still have just a vague idea for the big conflict and the resolution but I feel confident they lock into place as I work my way through the first three chapters. It's crazy how writing can seem like such a chore when you are struggling to find your direction in a story but then once you find it, it all becomes as natural as breathing. I think next Sunday may have to be a Sneak Peak Sunday. I'll post a special excerpt from my current work on the Members Only page on my website. If you haven't joined the Members Only page yet, it's free to join and if you join before June 1st, you will be eligible to win an autographed copy of the Special Edition of Into the West: A New Home.As always, thanks for following along with my crazy life as I attempt to create a functional writing career for myself. Your support is priceless to me!Sincerely,Stephen

Too Much Fun!

I have been off line for a few weeks now essentially. The reason for that is I have just been having too much fun living life with P.R. Last year was tough for us. I was finishing up some classes I had to complete and P.R. was traveling all over the world for work. I think out of 12 months we were actually in the same country only about 9 of those months, if that much.So this year we have been enjoying the fact that we actually get to be together a good deal of the time. Two weekends ago we went to a Star Trek convention and last week we went to a comic con, my first. It was so much fun!Not only did we get to have fun with cos players, meet stars, and get photos and autographs but I also hit it off with another fan there and P.R. and I have now become friends with another sci-fi fan. Something I never expected to happen at a convention.I have to admit, the comic con was a bit hard on me physically. I stood in line, on a cement floor, for an autograph for more than an hour. Most of that time the line wasn't even moving as we waited for the star to come back from taking a break. I was in pain for days after that but I did eventually got to meet them and get their autograph which I will have forever and the pain will eventually all pass so to me it was worth it. This weekend we are finally going to see the new Avengers movie before I learn any more about the plot than I all ready have. There is also a food truck festival going on somewhere in town this weekend so we may have to hit that up before the movie. I am doing my best to work in writing too. I just designed and ordered some business cards to hand out as I visit local bookstores and libraries to try to get my books on the shelves. We will see what happens. I want to design either a post card or flyers to have printed up too. Besides all of this, Dianne has a voice again so we are going to try working on getting some recordings done for the first audio book and see how that works out. If it goes well, we will then worry about recording the other books as they come out. if is doesn't, then we won't be likely to devote any more time to that venture. I think what I'm going to start doing is set it up where I work on certain things on certain days. Right now I'm just trying to do everything everyday and we have all seen how well that has worked out for me. From now on, Monday's I will focus on the audio books, Tuesday I will try to at least write a blog. Wednesday, I will work on short stories for the website, the anthology I'm partnered with, and contests. Thursday I will focus on publicity and Friday through Sunday I will focus on book three. I'm doing my best to do better with time management. We'll see how this works out. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for following along with me as I figure this all outSincerely,Stephen

A Quick Note

Things have been crazy around here the last few weeks. To be honest I haven't gotten a lot of writing done. I know, shocker. P.R. has been surprising me with a lot of fun adventures. The last few years, P.R. has been working a lot and we haven't been able to go out as much as we would like but lately we have been making up for it.We've been going out to eat quite often. We have gone to sporting events. We have gone to a Star Trek convention and this weekend we are going to a comic con. We have tickets to see Tom Jones, and later in the month, The Hollywood Vampires with Johnny Depp, Joe Perry, and Alice Cooper. We have tickets for movies and more.I swear I am getting writing done between all these things and still teaching my ESL classes but it is going slow. In the mean time, The Shot Rang Out is on sale now on Amazon under Scott Harris. I am one of the 51 friends whose work is included in the book. Be sure to check it out! The Shot Rang Outby Scott Harris and 51 Friends

Craziest Writing Distraction Ever

So . . . we got a new umbrella for our patio. This is great because I can write sitting out on the balcony now that the weather is nice again. However, today, it is proving to be a bit challenging to stay focused on writing a western when I feel like I'm in some weird sci-fi/horror flick. Let me explain.It's fairly early in the morning and the sun is still low in the sky. I set up the patio to settle in and write in the fresh air for a few hours. I open the patio umbrella, but the cushion on my chair, a cloth over the table, and set down my industrial sized cup of coffee and a plate with four frozen Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. I was just about to start writing a blog when Shaggy began begging for a cookie. Since dogs cannot have chocolate, I got up to go get him one of his treats. I try not to gag as I give him a dehydrated chicken foot. Shaggy takes his treasure and runs off as I go back to my place on the patio. I settle in my chair as I take a drink of coffee. After setting my cup back down, I place my laptop in my lap (seems like the appropriate place for it) and as I wait for my computer to start up I reach for a cookie. What my hand hit first confused me for a minute. It was a little spongy and sticky but gave way as I pushed my hand forward. I pulled my hand back instinctively and looked at it. I had a cobweb on my hand. I looked around the table but could not see any spider. And more odd that that, the cob web had been built over my cookie plate in just the time ti took for me to walk inside, hand Shaggy a treat, and walk back outside again. What kind of Ninja spiders do we have here?I wiped the web off my hand and took another big drink of coffee to help dispel the heebie jeebies I was feeling. I tried to but the incident out of my mind and proceeded to log into my webpage. The morning was unusually quiet and I decided I needed a little music to add to the noise in my background. I can't work if it's quiet, it's distracting. So I get up and go into the house to get my Bluetooth speaker. I come back out and place it on the table and connect my phone to it and pick a playlist to listen too.As I settle in again, I reach for another cookie only to feel the same sticky, stretchy sensation. Again I pull my hand back and look at it. This time there is more webbing than before and I was in the house for just a few minutes! I search the table and the surrounding area for any signs of a the spider doing this. Nothing!Looking at the table I found it fascinating that the only place I could see any webbing was over my cookies. It is as if the spider was using it as bait to trap something. Me? I can almost hear him plotting. "The next time he goes inside, I'm going to make my trap even bigger and this time i will surely capture him! I will eat like a king forever and never have to hunt for a meal again!" Then the spider laughs maniacally while rubbing two of his legs together in melodrama villain style. And people wonder why I take so long to write at times, this is why! Things like this happen and I go off into my own little word of being in an epic life or death battle with a ninja spider using Girl Scout cookies as bait. I will get on track now that this is out of my system and hope to have a good portion of chapter one written and a first edit pass done today. The thing that worries me is I need to go get more coffee and who knows what ninja spider will so not that I have finished off the Girl Scout cookies. God only knows his evil plans. Wish me luck! Thanks for following my insanity. StephenUpdate: Before |I was even able to press send on this he struck again! While I was distracted writing this blog, my stealthy foe was able to lay another trap. With the cookies gone he used the only other bait available to him, my coffee!! As I was rereading this and preparing to post it, I mindlessly reached for my coffee and took a drink only to end up with a web in my mouth! This stealthy ninja spider was able to weave a web over the top of my coffee cup as it sat beside me and I never saw a trace of him! My foe is formidable but I will not fall this day! The epic battle continues! (Seriously, see why it's so hard to get things done around here? My imagination is like a bag of squirrels on crack sometimes.)