Another chapter done.
This chapter was really hard for me to write. It took me about a month of thought, planning, research, and even visiting the location where the chapter is set…
No matter how carefully you plan, prepare and execute, you don't really know how the story will unfold until you wade in waist deep. Things that look and feel ideal in the beginning of the project reveal themselves to be the wrong direction once you actually get to them.
Here we are again. I'm not happy with my current writing pace, but I'm averaging about a chapter a month, with some months seeing two. With 13 chapters left in the original outline, at my average pace, I should be done with the rough draft in under a year. My hope is to be done in well less time than that.
Finally finished Chapter 22 today. DIon's is 12 pages and 3,050 words. It introduces a fun new location, and really starts to expand Michael's view of the fascinating new world around him.
It also has a Mountain Troll, so there's that.
I'm still slowly marching through The Second Beast, and I swear I'll finish it someday.
I've spent some time doing minor tweaks to Chapter 20, Survivor's Guilt, tweaking things to get the right emotional notes. Today, I finally felt able to move forward
It's been a while since I've posted any updates. There are several reasons for that. First, we took a family vacation to Disneyland, during which I got no writing done (the wife probably would have killed me if I tried).
Here we are again. If I keep up this pace, I might just finish this thing some day.
Just finished Chapter 19, Holding Out for a Hero. It's 15 pages and 3777 words. It's pretty late, so I'm sure there'll be some major editing in the last couple of pages I wrote tonight, but half asleep me has read it, and thinks it's pretty good.
Well, I can finally say it. After an extended hiatus (which sounds so much better than "after being too damn busy to write for a year"), I've finished up my second chapter in a week, and am officially half way done with the first draft of "The Second Beast".
It's been a while since I've posted any updates. To you, my faithful (or even adulterous) fans, I humbly apologize. Unfortunately, as much as I'd love writing to be my full time job, it is not. There are several things in my life which take priority, including my day job, my wife, my children, and my home.
Now that I'm back at my day job, progress has slowed again. However, I found a few hours today to finish off the sixteenth chapter of "The Second Beast", Face of Evil. It's 12.5 pages and just shy of 3,000 words. Yes, part of the chapter was written in December, but we'll just keep that between us.
Zeroing in on half way done with the first draft.
Well boys and girls, I know I was bad about updating my progress during the month of December. I got less done than I wanted, but what I did write is high quality.
I played with a couple different methods of increasing my output speed, without much success. I think I'm someone that just really needs to edit on the fly.
Popping My Book Club Cherry
A local Mom's group has a book club, and they've chosen "His Name Was Death" as their next read. I've even been invited to their discussion of the book, to impart my (admittedly limited) wisdom. Very exciting!
Well here we go!
My December writing streak starts today, and my first December chapter is done. "Into the Fire" is 9 pages and 1934 words.
Hello friends and fans. December is swiftly approaching, and I'll be producing a bunch of chapters over the month while I'm off from my day job. However, I haven't been completely stagnant, finding some time to edit the first nine chapters and, now, adding Chapter 10
It's been almost two months since I've posted an update. Life has been getting in the way of writing for a while, but I was finally able to find some writing time and finish Chapter 9, The Howling. It's 2010 words in 8.5 pages, and is the first in a key set of chapters.
It's been a while since I've posted anything about new chapters. Unfortunately, that's because life has been getting in the way of writing a lot lately. Things are getting back under control, and I was able to celebrate a chunk of the holiday weekend with writing.
Cover Reveal, Take Two
Introducing the new cover for His Name Was Death. Not only do I have a new cover, but we've established a consistent look for the entire series. I can't wait to start working with Fiona on the cover for The Second Beast. The new cover is currently making its way through the Amazon machine, and should be available for purchase shortly.
Just finished the rough draft of Chapter V - "Angel of Mercy". It's 15 pages, and 3900 words, a little bit longer than I planned. Wouldn't be surprised to see a few of the words fall by the wayside during the editing process.
In other news, I've hired a new artist to redo the cover for "His Name Was Death," trying to address some of my issues with the original cover. I hope to share more on the new cover soon.
Took me a little longer than I'd hoped, but I just finished Chapter IV, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?", tonight. It's 13.5 pages, and roughly 3600 words of Michael Reaper goodness.
I'll be starting Chapter V, "Angel of Mercy", in the morning.
And yes, for those that are paying attention, Chapter V was originally entitled "Angel of Death", but we all learn things as time marches on. I reserve the right to get better as I write.
T-Shirt Giveaway
Would you like a free "His Name Was Death" t-shirt? Through the end of September, I will give two of my Facebook fans, chosen at random, a free t-shirt every time "His Name Was Death" receives ten new qualifying reviews on Amazon.