Trey Stone's Blog, page 17

It’s Okay To Have 1.9 Day

You ever feel like you’re doing everything wrong? Like, no matter what you do, it just doesn’t come out the way it’s supposed to? That’s alright – we all have bad days now and then. But what about when you do everything right and it still doesn’t work? That’s what my wife and I call “a 1.9 day”.

The term comes from a thing we noticed kept happening when we were out running. We would be jogging along our normal route, feeling good and fast, and like we were nearly done (our daily goal was 5k), then we’d check our fitness trackers:

“1.9 kilometers.”

Every, single, time. It kept happening so many times, always 1.9, so we had to give it a name. A 1.9 day. A day you thought you were running fast, but when you stopped to check it seemed like you’d never reach your goal.

And this of course translates to other aspects of life, we noticed. Word counts, for example. I’d sit there thinking it’d written thousands upon thousands of words, only to glance at the counter: “534”.

It’s discouraging. Almost more so than having a straight up bad day when you’re sick or feel exhausted, because a 1.9 day feels like it’s going great until you realize that it doesn’t. And since you think it’s going great, it’s not obvious what you’re doing wrong.

I’ve thought about it a lot. Why did it feel like I was running fast and far, when it always seemed to be just 1.9 kilometers? Why does 500 words feel like a couple of thousand at times?

I think the answer is two-sided. First of all, it has to do with expectations. Just because you’ve started, and it feels great, doesn’t mean that you’ve reached your goal yet. Being on a roll doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll get to the end faster, just that you’ll get there without as much trouble as usual. You still have to do all the work.

Second, it has to do with goals. Of course writing 500 great words won’t seem so amazing if I feel like it should have been 2000. That doesn’t mean that those first 500 aren’t fantastic though. And even if I wrote another 1500, that still doesn’t mean that those first 500 aren’t the best ones I wrote that day.

I’ve come to recognize a 1.9 day as the strange hybrid cousin of a good and bad day. It’s a good day if I realize I’m on a roll and just stick with it; but it can easily turn sour if I think too much about it and get hung up on numbers.

Maybe that’s the lesson here. Don’t think too much about it.

What do you think? Ever had a 1.9 day or am I talking crazy here? Let me know in the comments!

And as always, I’d love it if you would check out my books!

Get My New Book Early!

This year is exciting for me for many reasons – but one of the most exciting ones is that my psychological horror At The Gate is being published!

And you can get your hands on a copy early! My publisher is looking for people who are interested in receiving Advanced Review Copies. Just head to their website and sign up using the form below.

They’re planning on sending the copies out between February/March, so the wait won’t be too long. Go sign up!

And don’t forget to check out my psychological thrillers, and as always, thanks for your support.

New Year, New Book Review! – The Stand by Stephen King

What a great start to the new year!

I set out to read this at the start of the pandemic, some time in spring, 2019. It was a weird mix of wanting to read a book about the world ending due to a super-flu (wonder where I got that idea), finding the book on offer (way to take advantage of the situation, King’s marketing department?), and reading somewhere that The Stand inspired Justin Cronin’s The Passage series.

I loved The Passage and the two sequels, and I’ve struggled to find anything that compares since I read the first book ten years ago. The last few years I’ve been on a Stephen King binge, and I’ve managed to get through The Dark Tower series, IT, The Shining, Pet Sematary, Carrie, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, The Dead Zone, and now finally The Stand. It was just what I was looking for, and it’s fantastic.

It took me about three months to get through it. I read the “complete and uncut” version from sometime in the ’90s which I think comes in as his longest book ever, slightly overtaking IT. When I first started reading it, I thought I’d never get through it, and as I neared the conclusion I wanted it to never end.

One of my problems with King (and every other author out there) has always been length. His books are just too long. Not because they take too long to read, but because they lose momentum. The story goes off on tangents that seem to never lead anywhere. I understand the need and want to add backstory to characters and sub plots, but there’s a fine line between adding to the story and choking up the natural tension of the story. I felt like this was very noticeable with IT and the whole of book #4 of The Dark Tower seemed like a side track. I used to say that I’ve never read a book that’s too short, but plenty that are too long.

I’ve never read a book that’s too short, but plenty that are too long.

But The Stand is the book that has turned me onto long books.

For those of you who don’t know: The Stand is an apocalyptic thriller about the world ending due to a viral outbreak. We follow the paths of multiple characters as groups of survivors settle in Boulder, Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada, and a battle between good and evil ensues.

At first it felt like a bit of a slog to read. There’s a lot of people to get to know and stories to understand. From right before the disease breaks out, to when it ravages through the U.S. But as we stumbled out into the wasteland that remained, I found myself getting lost in those stories. Every little resting campfire between travels, every memory from before, and every dream about what the future might bring. It was magical. I read the book faster and faster, thinking (and eventually hoping) it was never going to end. Then suddenly it all disappeared between my fingers.

Now, with The Stand gone from my shelf and permanently engraved in my mind, I’m going to try and get my hands on the TV show from the ’90s and then stream the new series that came out last year. I’m not done with these characters yet.

If you like apocalyptic thrillers, are looking for your next favorite book, if you want to start reading King, want to get lost in a book that seems to never end, and haven’t already read The Stand I highly recommend it. If you, (weirdly), find yourself drawn to books about the world ending in this strange time we’re living in, this is a really good one. And don’t worry, there’s hope in there too.

I wasn’t able to read as many books as I wanted last year, but I’ve read a lot of great things. I hope to read as many amazing things this year, and starting the year with The Stand has motivated me. I might be done with King for a while (though I haven’t picked up Salem’s Lot yet), but I look forward to losing myself in some new adventures. I – like every other reader out there – of course have a long list of great reads I want to get through.

What are you planning on reading this year? Let me know in the comments below! And please, if you like psychological thriller, check out my books!

End Of The Year – 2021 in Review

And there we have it—2021 is nearly over. It seems like just a few weeks ago it was January, right? And then a couple of days after that it was summer for a bit, and now it’s somehow Christmas.

When I think back though, (and check my notes), a lot of stuff has happened in the last year.

I started 2021 just having published my second book, and I was still living away from my wife (in the Arctic, no less!) I was lucky to have her with me for a while at the start of the year and it became kind of a secluded getaway kind of thing because of the pandemic. We had some adventures, spent some quality time together, and then went to back to our own again.

During spring I found time to draft a sci-fi thriller as a challenge to myself to see how fast I could do it, (14 days I think it was), but my biggest accomplishment of the year was submitting my horror novella to an indie press and getting a full request!

I moved back with my wife at the start of the summer, after two years apart, and it was like we fell in love again all over again, even after 15 years together.

Then I had a short sci-fi story called ‘Contact’ accepted for publication with Black Hare Press. I spent the fall working away from home for weeks on end, which was almost harder than living away from my wife because the little time we got together on the weekends seemed to just slip through or fingers. But then I came back home again, and after a round of edits on that horror novella I mentioned, I signed a contract for publication.

At The Gate will be published next year, and I couldn’t be more excited!

I also got involved with writing for a fiction podcast this year, and I can’t wait to share with all of you, hopefully sometime next year.

I also plan on publishing my third thriller, which I know a lot of people have been asking and waiting for. There’s been some bumps in the road, but it’s basically finished at this point and I hope to have it out fairly soon.

My wife and I are planning more adventures for next year, and even though we feel like we’ve just come back together, we’re already cooking up where to go next. Will we stay put or move again? And will it be together, next time?

I’m excited for what the new year will bring—but I also don’t mind that 2021 will last just a little bit longer.

But first, Christmas! And in Norway (where both us are from and currently) we celebrate on the 24th. So now I’ll be resting for a week, celebrating, reading (nearly finished The Stand!), and enjoying good food and better company.

Happy holidays everyone, and have a happy New Year!

Readers Wanted for ‘At The Gate’ – Get My Horror Novella Early

My psychological horror novella is being published next year, and I’m still over the moon with excitement about this. I can barely believe it’s real.

But it is – and we’re getting to the point where we’re looking for readers who are interested in receiving Advanced Review Copies.

This is your chance to get your hands on a really powerful and meaningful book, and some of what I dare say is my best writing ever. Oh – and it’s terrifying.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in, head over to my publisher, Inked In Gray’s website and request an ARC. Just fill in the form on the page and they’ll send you a copy as soon as it’s available.

And thanks a bunch for your continued support – it means a lot.

Comparison Is The Thief of Joy

Why do I always compare myself to others, and how do I find a way to stop?

It’s the end of November and NaNoWriMo is over. People are tallying up their words to see if they’ve hit the magical 50,000 word count, and if they’ve “won” or not.

I didn’t win. I had no aspirations to, because I knew when I started the story I was writing this year that I wasn’t prepared enough and wouldn’t have enough time. But I’m very happy I sat my ass down and started something, because now I at least have a decent first draft going and this story is going to be amazing.

“Winning” doesn’t really matter to me.

But that doesn’t stop me from looking at what other people are doing and wishing I was doing as well as them. (Yeah, I know, that’s kinda weird).

“Comparison is the thief of joy,” was an unknown saying to me until very recently, but boy did it strike a chord. I think I heard some fitness Youtuber using it when talking about personal goals, and according to the almighty Internet, it’s originally attributed to President Theodore Roosevelt.

The meaning is simple: If you compare yourself to others, your accomplishments will never seem enough.

I struggle with this a lot. It’s not that I want to “win” or be “the best” at what I do – because I’ve long since acknowledged that I’m a jack of all trades, and you don’t get to be the best at one single thing if you spread you focus out over many things. That’s okay, I’m quite content with my many different interests.

But I wish perhaps that I was able to be prouder of my own achievements.

It’s easy when it’s someone else. I get genuinely excited for friends when they announce news that they’re being published, have found an agent, or sold a short story. I’m proud of my wife who is furthering her academic career this autumn with conferences, talks and academic papers.

And I try to be excited for myself as well. But it fades so quickly when it’s about my own things.

Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy

I have a book coming out next year. A psychological horror novella that is honestly some of my best writing. This week I was just discussing cover art and artists with my publisher, and every time I realize that this is actually happening to me I have to pinch myself to check that it’s not a dream.

Then I come across someone doing something (anything, really) on social media and my excitement fades.

It’s not that I’m jealous, and don’t want other people to succeed. But I envy them. I think Homer Simpson said it best when he said: “Jealousy is when you worry someone will take what you have. Envy is wanting what someone else has.”

The thing is, I already have what others have, in my own successes and excitement. And I also have what others don’t have, because we’re all different, we do different things, and succeed at different times and places in our lives. I just got to learn to hold on to it, and not let comparison be the thief of my joy.

NaNoWriMo was good this year. I should have written this thing ages ago, but something has kept me waiting. Now I’ve started, and it’s really a very good start. I’m very happy about it. I’ll try to hold on to that feeling for a bit longer, this time.

How was your NaNoWriMo? Do you find that you compare yourself to others like I do, and do you find that it takes away from your own achievements? Maybe you’ve come up with ways of dealing with it?

Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to check out my books!

Book Review: Rise Of The Watchers by Ted D. Berner

This is what you’d get if Dan Brown wrote an Indiana Jones novel.

A incredible fast-paced, action-packed, thrilling and intriguing mystery about Biblical myths and Nazi conspiracies.

I read the first of these books a few years ago, and I though I have to admit I don’t remember it in detail, I remember being hooked. As an archaeologist I love this kind of stuff. People who can take real-life myths and lore, sprinkle on some conspiracy theories and pack it all in to an action-packed thriller – it’s one of my guilty reading pleasures! Tom Egeland does it well, as does Dan Brown, and now Ted Berner is climbing up toward the top of that list.

The writing is fast-paced, enticing and it sticks to the point, which I love. Berner must have done a ton of research before he got into this, and it shows. Though at times I feel like maybe characters reveal a bit too much and over-explain things to each other to keep the plot rolling. I would have preferred to be left in the dark for as long as possible and been strung along to try and understand what was going on.

Also, some characters seem to be taking everything has truth much faster than they should. I would – knowing the nature of this book – be in utter disbelief if these things happened to me.

But all in all, Berner is making a mark with these books and I hope to see him tackle a completely different old world myth or legend in a similar series in the future.

You can check out Ted Berner’s Rise of The Watchers here.

And as always, if you’re into psychology thrillers and want to support an indie author, check out my books here.

Book Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The fact that I love thrillers, am Scandinavian, and have never actually read this book before now is kind of embarrassing.

At the same time, I feel like I’ve read it many times before. I’ve read “of” it, heard about it and I’ve seen at least two of the movies (one Swedish and one American, I think? I feel like everyone was making this movie a few years back).

But boy, do I regret not reading this sooner, because this had me hook, line and sinker from the get go.

Short plot summary: Harriet Vanger, a small part of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared under strange circumstances years ago and her uncle (and head of the family) hires journalist Mikael Blomkvist to figure out what happened. To help dig through the family mystery Mikael acquires the help of Lisbeth, the girl with the dragon tattoo, social outcast and hacker extraordinaire.

This is part cold-case, part legal thriller and part amazing conspiratorial, plot-twisty genius. I loved (almost) every second of it.

It’s the cold-case part I loved the most, combined with the fact that Bolmkvist isn’t actually a detective, though he’s used to digging up dirt on people. But it’s exactly that he’s having trouble with in this case, because it happened so long ago, and it seems Harriet’s uncle has turned every stone already to uncover the truth. Right from the start it seems like this case will be nothing but dead ends, but Blomkvist keeps chipping away at it and every little piece of the puzzle leads to something new. At the same time he’s dealing with a ton of his own personal stuff – why do you think he took on this case, after all?

Larsson’s writing is gripping and captivating almost always, if almost a bit too dark and on point sometimes, but the mystery is fantastic. I’ve already bought the next two books and I can’t wait.

The only two things I didn’t like about it was that I felt the ending was drawn out and – since I listened to the English translation of this on audiobook – the translation isn’t great and the audio quality wasn’t the best.

Still, for any lover of thrillers or Nordic Noir, highly recommended!

Have you read this or any other of Larsson’s books? Let me know what you thought in the comments below, and if you’re interested in reading something else by a Scandinavian author, check out my books.

Book Review: In Somnio: A Collection of Modern Gothic Horror, Edited by Alex Woodroe

Woah! – What a unique collection of horror stories.

I was very lucky to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of this anthology and I knew almost immediately that I had something special in my hands.

I like to read mysteries, thriller, and horror because I enjoy not knowing. A big part of that is also trying to figure out the unknown, to beat the words to the punch, to get there and reach that understanding right before it’s revealed to me. Very often I manage exactly that, and though that usually feels like a win at first, I also wish the stories managed to keep me in the dark a bit longer.

Well, this time it did.

The stories Woodroe has collected for this anthology are something else. Not only are the plots thick with mystery and intrigue, but they’re written in such an original way, like things I’ve never read before, things that don’t compare to anything. It was truly a breath of fresh air to sit down and read stories that felt entirely… new. With the exception of a few, I really enjoyed all the stories in this anthology, and would recommend it to any lover of horror, gothic or otherwise.

I do love to have a good short story collections or anthology on hand for when time is sparse and I can only read a little bit here and there. I’ll definitely keep my eye out for more by Tenebrous Press and Woodroe.

Why You Should Do NaNoWriMo – Especially If You Don’t Want To

Let’s talk about NaNoWriMo – or National Novel Writing Month as it’s called – the annual project everyone goes crazy about in November as they try to write a 50,000 word novel in a month.

This will be my fourth year “competing”, but my first since I started doing it where I’m not actually prepared at all. Since 2018 I’ve always had a project I’ve been planning and was excited about doing. I’ve been counting days, prepping my manuscript, and getting ready for a challenge. This year, however, I just threw myself around and did something.

Thing is, before I joined the NaNo club 2018, I really never saw the point. I’m sure there are loads of people like me, people who are sitting back working on their regular writing, watching a bunch of people on Twitter or other social media go crazy for…well, for November I guess. Why not just write what you were always going to write in November, and call it a day, right?

What is it about sitting down to write specifically in November that makes it different?

I don’t even do it properly. I don’t have an account on the NaNoWriMo website and I don’t track my word count for anyone except for myself. Also, I haven’t actually ever “won” NaNoWriMo – but don’t tell anyone, that stays between us.

Every year I’ve participated I’ve written novellas that have come in under 50k words by the time the first draft was finished, and this year (even though I’m aiming for higher) I’m pretty certain I’ll never meet 50,000 words before December.

Still, there’s something about sitting down with a specific project, for a specific amount of time that just… works.

This year, I haven’t drafted anything new since February, beyond a handful of short stories here and there. Most of what I’ve been working on have been editing a future crime novel and a horror novella (which happens to be my 2018 NaNo project, actually!)

The thing I’m working on now has been in the back of my mind for a while, and I’ve really been wanting to get it started, but I guess I’ve been putting it off because I’ve been focused on other things. It never seemed the right time to start something so huge, you know what I mean?

For this year’s NaNo I’m writing my first Young Adult novel – and not just that, I’m also attempting to write something in Norwegian for the first time ever.

And that’s where the beauty of NaNoWriMo comes in. Not because it means anything, really, or because it’s different than just doing your regular writing in November. But because it’s a thing. It’s a time, and a place, and a setting to work on your project, and you know others do it too. I have friends who I excitedly talk to about my NaNoWriMo project, we chat about getting ready for it, about being hopeful (or not) about getting it done before December comes around, and it’s a different way of keeping each other accountable.

That’s a great source of motivation and inspiration for me.

It’s a time, and a place, and a setting to work on your project, and you know others do it too.

So yeah, it’s not any different than if you just write the book you were already working on. Not necessarily. But if you give it a chance, maybe it will “feel” different. Maybe it’ll change the way you see your writing.

As always, I’d love you hear your thought and comments and don’t forget to check out my books!