R.M. Ridley's Blog, page 30

Tide Has Turned

At some point yesterday, I realized I had stopped writing in the novel and was writing the end of the novel.

I had finished a good session and closed one of the last missing scenes down by half. I thought I should run through what remained,  just to see where I really was plot wise. It turned out, that once I’d wrapped up the scene I was working on, that scene lead directly into the climax.

Finishing this scene, lead to Jonathan Alvey coming to understand a final piece of the puzzle, from there everything changes and it all works to the final scene. A lot of the ending is written or has detailed notes, so although-yes, many words are left still to be released from my finger tips. I am closing this up.

In part, a large part, I know this is noting more than a change in outlook. I am not all that closer, word count wise, to having this novel finished. However, in my mind I am playing a different game – no more writing the story, come what may, but wrapping it up.

A simple change of perspective can make all the difference. It is feeling less laboured, the desire to keep writing, to keep getting back to it, is increased with this revelation. It may be the very edge I need to get this one done before I find myself working on number five.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Corrupted Souls, current work in progress, Jonathan Alvey, muse, novel, paranormal private investigator, plot, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, world building, writing

Ellen Ripley, Where Are You?

I seem to be racing against myself – or maybe my Muse.

Apparently, I’m not working hard enough, or applying myself enough, because the pressure to start the fifth White Dragon Black novel is building like a typhoon behind a beaver damn.

I still really have only one scene, but the urge to write it has just grown over the last few days and my mind is gathering little facts, and bits of trivia, from its dark recesses.

I knew I was lagging a bit, that the fourth novel, ‘Corrupted Souls’,  novel should have wrapped up now. What  I didn’t know was that I was actually running on a time line.

It seems, not only do I have a time line to adhere to in regards to getting the first novel, ‘Tomorrow Wendell’ ready for release, I also have one for writing the other novels as well.

I don’t have edits today, so I’m going to try and use the time usually set aside for them to see if I can’t push out a few hundred more words On ‘Corrupted Souls’.

I don’t want a pissy Muse – nor do I want to be writing the end of one novel as I write the beginning of the next… though it may simply come to that.

This scene is ready to burst out of me in a way that calls for Sigourney Weaver to strap on a flame thrower.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Corrupted Souls, current work in progress, Jonathan Alvey, muse, novel, paranormal private investigator, plot, publish, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, writing

Edits! Oh My, The Edits!

So I had a brief sabbatical from editing, ‘Tomorrow Wendell’ – a little shy of a week – while my editor at Xchyler Publishing dealt with other projects. She started back cleaning up my debut novel yesterday afternoon – and she did so with the vengeance of a Fury!

Usually I get two chapters a day from her. This morning, I logged on to find 5 chapters waiting. This  is good news. It means no playing solitaire in the afternoon, a good work load to tackle, and – in a bitter sweet way – the end of this phase. There are only seven more chapters until those infamous two words ‘The End’.

The content edits will be done this week. There are still many chapters that have to pass through line edits, but for the most part those are quick, easy things, done with little thought on my part.

It is a bit scary to know we are this close – after the edits are done everything shifts. The focus moves and the anxiety about marketing, release, and reviews begins.

Writing and editing – I know these things. I am in a close relationship with them- we are intimate with each other. The rest–what comes after– is unknown territory.

Still, I trust in my team, and know my publisher will be with me through it all.

Filed under: Publishing, Writing Tagged: current work in progress, editor, edits, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal private investigator, publish, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, Xchyler Publishing

And Now… The End is Near

I have an almost continues flow of words from the title ‘Corrupted Souls’ to the ‘current scene’. One gap remains. One session of writing and I should be able to close the last of the scenes, written out of order, together… to a certain point. There’s still a couple scenes, already written, but they are ahead – they are closing chapters.

Tomorrow, if I can fill in that one remaining spot, then I can proceed in a linear fashion from the last place I stopped, the last scene in sequence, towards the conclusion of the novel.

There are still many words left to write, but I feel they will come relatively easy now. Knowing I’m closing in on the end itself, will encourage me to work at it just that little bit more.

It’s a good tale, but it is time for my brain to be able to leave it alone for a while. I like the novel, I think it’s good, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t time to allow my thoughts to roam a little more freely. I think, in part, that is why the first, and now the second, short story happened. My brain is ready to move away from this particular tale.

Soon enough, I’ll be itching to start number five in the series. I believe my Muse is already gathering those notions together. All the more reason to wrap this one up.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: characters, Corrupted Souls, current work in progress, Jonathan Alvey, muse, novel, paranormal, paranormal private investigator, plot, short story, Urban Fantasy, writing

One Step Off and To the Left

I seem to be a slight bit off kilter, my brain doesn’t seem to be aligned with itself quite perfectly. Time has gone a little wibbly, without the wobbly.

I don’t know if it’s just the day, a spike in my brain causing my medication levels to be a bit off, or that things got out of whack when I awoke from a horrid dream (even for me – who has nothing but bad dreams) and stayed up for a half an hour in the middle of the night, to try and rid the lingering tendrils of it from my mind.

Whatever be the case, the result is a feeling of not quite with it.

I didn’t bother even trying to write yet this morning – this blog post is enough of a linear strain on the brain.

I hope this just drifts away, and I can be productive this afternoon. I want to get somewhere close to 1k written in the fourth White Dragon Black series and stab away at the new short story – oh, yeah… I started another short story yesterday. Sorry should have mentioned.

So lets hope the fog lifts and the hemispheres of my brain re-align. I have words waiting for me.

Filed under: Mental Health, MIscellaneous, Writing Tagged: Bi-polar, Brain, Corrupted Souls, crazy, current work in progress, cycle, Jonathan Alvey, Mental Health, muse, novel, paranormal private investigator, plot, short story, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, wierd thoughts, writing

I Must Admit – I’m a Little Surprized

The edits have been going good. Yes, that surprises me. I expected more … complaints, issues, problems. I just dealt with a chapter that, in my mind, I was sure would be seen as boring and over loaded and… meh.

I got none of that. I was a bit surprised, and a bit buoyed up. I think it is possibly the chapter I worried over the most in the whole novel, so if it didn’t raise flags, and alarms, then I think the rest will be smooth sailing.

I mean it all needs work, here and there; words cut, phrases tightened, and bad metaphors swapped out but, plot wise, we are passed the roughest patch – I believe.

I re-wrote… well no, I wrote a whole new scene in a chapter because my editor pointed out that I had added a couple sentences that did nothing for the story but slow it down. So I just dived in and tried to pull the best pearl I could get back up. Hope it it works, time will tell.

This whole experience also gives me a good feeling about the rest of the novel already written in the series (though needing heavy first round edits) because I believe them to be stronger than the first in many ways. I progressed as a writer during the time and became even more familiar with the characters and world.

And because I was feeling good about it all, I opened a twitter account for the series @WhiteDragonBlack … you know to keep my throngs of fans updated about the series and share links to where they can find more stories about Jonathan Alvey’s adventures.

 

Filed under: Publishing, Writing Tagged: @WhiteDragonBlack, characters, current work in progress, editor, edits, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal private investigator, plot, publish, Tomorrow Wendell, twitter, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, world building, writer, writing, Xchyler Publishing

Chapter by Chapter

I just finished editing two chapters of ‘Tomorrow Wendell’ my debut novel and first in the ‘White Dragon Black Series’. I’m sure they will come back to me at least once from my Content Editor, before moving up the line to my Line Editor but this marks, roughly, the half way point.

I love having the two editors, not only does it mean less chance for mistakes to slip by, but I get two different reading- two different views, and minds, analyzing my story.

The work, so far, hasn’t been taxing. My editor flatters me by saying that’s because the story is already good. If that’s true, it is because of my personal editor and my beta-readers – I assure you.

I have been forced to put my creativity to work during the process, however. They aren’t letting anything slide, as it should be, and I feel a responsibility, in turn, to give back as good as I can. I don’t return an edit until I think it is the best I can make it… and sometimes I’m given a chance to improve on that. Amazingly, I manage to even accomplish that goal.

My story is rife with similes and my editor is making me turn them to metaphors – a tricky task to say the least. It really makes me think in new directions and different angles.

I’m not tooting my own horn here- actually I’m waving the banner for my editing team at Xchyler Publishing. They have a great way of encouraging so I want to find the best in myself.

So my opinion – half way through? I would do this again with them in a heart beat and sincerely hope I get to.

Filed under: Publishing, Writing Tagged: beta reader, current work in progress, editor, edits, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal private investigator, plot, publish, readers, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, writing, Xchyler Publishing

Another Vape Post – I know, I know.

I’m not being lazy, and I’m not trying to force anyone to start using E-cigs. I’m really not. What I AM trying to do is help dissimulate the truth. The media jumps all over any possible bad press and all too often skews the truth, ignores facts and villainize the evidence.

I do this to get all the information out there.

Please read – not to convert but to be educated.

Please share – not to force opinions but to allow honest education and decisions.

Too many lies and half-truths are being assimilated by the general populuse because the rest of the story isn’t being told.

Thank you for your patience with me on this issue.

Another Important Link is HERE

Filed under: Vaping Tagged: E-cig, educate, facts, health, truth

Nicotine and Mental Health = E-cig

Helen Redmond writes for Al Jazeera, AlterNet, and the Socialist Worker. She is a licensed clinical social worker, an expert in addiction, and an adjunct faculty at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University.

Here is the link to the article – READ IT!

Filed under: Vaping Tagged: antisocial, Bi-polar, blog for mental health, Brain, crazy, E-cig, frustration, medication, Mental Health, nicotine, vaping, wierd thoughts

Might Actually Be getting Better at This

I got my short story back from my editor and —- she liked it!

When I first took her up on the offer of being my personal editor, I accepted with enthusiasm and trepidation. I knew she would help me, but I also knew she wouldn’t let me get away with anything.

The first short she sent back to me dented my thick skin. But, I worked with her advice. That story bounced back and forth between us until it was decent.

That was quite a while ago now, and I owe her a lot. She has improved my style, voice, plot devices, done her best to teach me grammar, and helped me hone my skills as a writer. I wouldn’t be half the writer I am today if it were not for her – it is that simple – and I know it.

The short I just got back from her had a note attached which made me swell with pride, because she had nothing but good to say about the tale. Oh sure, there will be red marks all through the thing, but that will always be true – there is always room to improve. What counts is that I am improving; that instead of – ‘the bones are good but this needs a lot of work’, I now have, ‘this story was delicious’.

Higher praise, I couldn’t ask for.

So thank you, Sheila, for working so diligently with me over these years and making me an author – not just a writer.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: anthology, editor, edits, Jonathan Alvey, paranormal private investigator, plot, short story, Urban Fantasy, world building, writer, writing