III Crimsonstreak speeds off!

Although it's much later than I intended, III Crimsonstreak is racing (via email) toward Candlemark & Gleam!

I finished the appendices this week, and the book weighs in at a meaty 102,000 words. To put that in perspective, the previous two books were about 95,000 words each (with II Crimsonstreak being slightly longer than I, Crimsonstreak in total length).

In its current, unedited form, III Crimsonstreak's main story is about 85,000 words (similar to II Crimsonstreak, which was about 84,500 words but considerably longer than the original book, which was a much briefer 72,000 words).

As for the appendices, the third book is about 17,000 words. That's more extra material than II Crimsonstreak (11,000 words) and less extra material than I, Crimsonstreak (a whopping 23,000 words). The extra length of the third book's appendices is due to a long-form magazine article and a pair of short stories.

And, just because I like to fiddle with Photoshop, here's a completely unofficial mockup of a promotional banner:

Writing update

I've been working on a fairly intensive rewrite of III Crimsonstreak using my own notes and those from a beta reader. It's almost finished and ready to submit. I have some material left to polish and I have to work on the appendices. Like II Crimsonstreak, I'll probably only write about 10,000-12,000 words of extras. For comparison, I, Crimsonstreak had significantly more extra material--in the ballpark of 20,000 words.

Once I get that finished, I'll send it off to Candlemark & Gleam. I'm submitting later than I intended, but sometimes that happens.

This will be the third and final book of the Crimsonverse series, although I may do a couple novels set in the same universe. Crimsonstreak's story, I feel, is complete.

After that's finished, I'm working on a science fiction-comedy novel that I'm really proud of. I think it has a lot of potential, but I'm keeping details under wraps for now. I don't like to do that, but I'll have to in this case. The book is ready for a good polish and revision, and then I think I'll see if I can get any bites.

Everyone needs a vacation

After finishing up edits on II Crimsonstreak and The Franchise, I took a break. I haven't written any new words in about two weeks. Part of it is that I've been trying to figure out what to write next. Part of it is that I've been reading through III Crimsonstreak as I prepare to get notes back from Super Beta Reader Mike so I can get it ready for submission.

I finally settled on what my next project will be. I'm not going to say what it is--it's an existing draft that needs about 30,000 or 40,000 more words--because I want to keep the concept guarded. I downloaded it to my Kindle so I can read it easily. I already know some changes I want to make, but the first order of business will be to read the current draft to re-familiarize myself with the characters and map out the rest of the book.

You see, even though I wrote it, even though I created it, I don't remember 100% of everything in the book. So I have to go back, take notes, check my character beats, and then map out the rest of the book.

My writing vacation, it seems, will soon come to an end.

I have to finish my new work in progress. I need to revise III Crimsonstreak and write the appendices. I want to work on the chapter-by-chapter commentary for II Crimsonstreak. It all starts next week.

Waiting for the next project

Well, we've had some busy times lately. Kind of.

I blogged last week over at the Candlemark & Gleam website about the importance of being ready when you submit. We also unveiled the stellar cover for II Crimsonstreak by artist Brooke Stephenson. We're looking at a release date of October for the Crimsonstreak sequel.

That leaves me wondering what my next project should be. III Crimsonstreak is off to Super Beta Reader Mike. I just finished polishing The Franchise as I prepare to send it around (it still needs another beta read before I do that). I have a half-finished book with a terrific premise that needs about 40,000 more words before the first draft is complete.

I just don't know what to do next.

I do know that I'd like to get III Crimsonstreak ready to go by the end of the summer/early fall. However, until I hear back from my beta reader, I can't do a whole lot of work on it. I'll re-read it and make notes, but I need someone to give me the "outside view" of the novel and its inner workings. I think the last act is problematic and needs more setup in the earlier parts of the book.

So what should I work on?

I have a space adventure book about a former gladiator trapped on a planet that I really like. I wrote it a couple years ago, but it needs some major polish. It's not exactly pleasant to read through because some of the writing is rough, but I'm more adept at fixing it now. The title of that one, by the way, is Sheridan's Hammer. I really like the main character in that one. Hmmmm.

I haven't written any new words in about a week. I have to figure out something to work on. Quickly.

Another quick update

I plan to turn in "final" revisions on II Crimsonstreak by the end of the week/weekend. My rewrite fixed most of the issues with the book. Obviously, when you rewrite something significantly, you'll always find little bits that need to be tweaked. While reading through the book on my Kindle, I also spotted a few misspellings. I have to correct those and look at a few dozen notes I made while reading the manuscript. We shouldn't be too far off from having a cover reveal.

I'm also rereading III Crimsonstreak and making some notes on it. I want to give it some more polish before sending it to Beta Reader Mike. I need to consolidate a few things that happen in the last third of the book with events from the first third.

After that, I need to figure out which project I want to do next. I have a fantastic idea for another novel (one that's actually not a superhero book). I also have a book that's about 60% finished; I should probably go back and finish that (and re-plot the last act). I'm leaning toward working on the latter. I have a tendency to want to work on something new ("Oooo...ooooo...SHINY!") and leave other projects aside. It's very difficult to finish anything that way.

III Crimsonstreak and II Crimsonstreak latest

Not much of an update here, but I thought I'd post something today.

I finished my first draft of III Crimsonstreak and read through it (via Kindle) this weekend. I think it's in much, much better shape than its predecessor. An outline did wonders for the book, something I will one day blog about. It's...uh...right next on the list to the Jurassic Park book vs. movie post that I've been planning to do. Anyway...it's nice to have a first draft done. Plenty of work is ahead, of course, including revisions, the addition of appendices, and the incorporation of reader feedback.

As for II Crimsonstreak, I received feedback from my publisher and my second-round edits are due near the end of May/beginning of June. We're on target for an October release and should have an exciting cover to reveal soon. The same awesome cover artist is on the case, so I know we're getting something fantastic.

II Crimsonstreak revisions and notes on III Crimsonstreak

I'm wrapping up the last book in the Crimsonstreak series. I didn't set out to write a trilogy...it just kind of happened. Currently, the end of the book feels a little too much like the end of Peter Jackson's Return of the King. By that, I mean there are several plot threads/character moments to resolve. A few character threads got lost throughout the first draft and will need to be added during revisions.

It's tough saying goodbye to these characters. I'm not saying I'll never revisit them (in fact, I have an idea for a book based solely on Mortimer P. Willoughby that traces the history of Morty and the various Crusading Comets), but I'm going to take a break from this particular group of superheroes. I can't say much about the book (or II Crimsonstreak for that matter), but Christopher Fairborne goes on quite the journey. He has to learn to say goodbye and let go of many of the people close to him. So, as he says his goodbyes, I say my own to those characters. The ending packs an emotional punch...and I hope it translates for readers.

III Crimsonstreak is a long way off, though. That manuscript will have to be revised, I need to come up with some appendices, and my Super Beta Reader will have to Super Beta Read his way through it. Even in the best case scenario, in which I turn it in at the end of summer, we're looking at we're looking at a spring/summer release. But I'm getting waaaaay ahead of myself.

Let's talk about II Crimsonstreak. I received edit notes back from the massive revision I did on the book. Seriously, it was like performing major surgery (or at least my fictional conception of what performing surgery is like). Mastermind Kate at Candlemark & Gleam was very pleased with the edits. I have about two weeks or so to go through the additional markups and make any changes, a process I plan to start this weekend after wrapping up III Crimsonstreak's first draft.

Make no mistake, II Crimsonstreak revisions were a major undertaking. The book had a great concept, but my execution was lacking (I'll do a separate blog post about this soon). I twisted myself up in plot threads, had dodgy character motivations, and underutilized a major character. I some parts, our fair protagonist acted like a jerk simply because it was convenient for the plot.

No more.

I've fixed most of that, meaning that my biggest concern revolves around whether Falcon Gray has a beak or not. I think I can live with that.

We're shooting for an October release.

Decent writing weekend

I didn't have a great writing weekend on III Crimsonstreak, but I turned in a decent effort. Friday netted only 1,000 words. I rebounded with 3,000 words on Saturday.

I fared better on Sunday despite a terrible start. After several hours in front of the keyboard, I ended up with only 1,600 words. I went back in the evening and pounded out another 3,000 words, bringing my total for the day to 4,600 words. For the weekend, I finished with 8,600 words. That wasn't quite the success story from a couple weekends ago, when I averaged 5,000 words over a three-day span.

The first draft now stands at more than 82,000 words. I'm wrapping up the main storyline now. The last act will need some major revisions--I'm again juggling a lot of characters and my "character geography" is a little off--but the important thing is that I kept at it. I think the first three-fourths of the book are solid since much of that is revised from a previous, inferior version of the story.

I will end up making a flowchart for the final battle because I need one.

Boom, baby...times three!

I haven't dragged out the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum in a long, long time. However, after a blockbuster weekend of writing, I needed to do it. I hit the hallowed level of "Reggie at the Garden" on three consecutive days, churning out more than 15,200 combined words on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I'm hoping to finish the first draft of III Crimsonstreak before the end of July. The draft currently stands at about 60,000 words and I'm aiming for 80,000 to 85,000. That does not, of course, include any supplemental materials.

Update on projects

Writing production was non-existent last week. I read through some projects but didn't write anything new or revise III Crimsonstreak.

Shame on me.

I'm usually good about writing five or six days a week--it just didn't happen this time. It's okay; sometimes you're going to have a bad week. Usually, I'm able to eke out a few words even when I'm feeling a little stressed out, but I just felt stretched thin. The important thing is not to allow last week's drought to turn into a drought that drags on for several weeks.

I'm working on revisions for III Crimsonstreak tonight. I've also read through The Franchise as notes trickle in from Beta Reader Extraordinaire. I expect to work on final edits for II Crimsonstreak, first draft/revisions for III Crimsonstreak, and reworking of The Franchise simultaneously. This will leave blogging at a premium...and content is at a dearth as it is.

On the plus side, I finished reading Jurassic Park and hope to write a book/movie comparison soon. It won't be comprehensive, but I'd like to talk about the key differences and what I liked/didn't like about each version. I've also started reading Les Miserables to give myself an infusion of the classics.

My reading list is waaaaay too long, FYI.

Still revisioning

I hit the "halfway point" on revisions for the third Crimsonstreak book. I put quotes around "halfway point" because I'm not really halfway finished. As I've written before, I had about 70,000 words written on the book. Then, after doing revisions for II Crimsonstreak, I realized the third book needed a fresh coat of paint and wasn't going anywhere. I trimmed 10,000 words immediately (a section that was fairly pointless) and ended up cutting another 5,000 words.

This was after I went back to the drawing board and wrote an outline that laid out the plot in great detail. Since I'd tweaked the ending of the second book, I had sections to rewrite and characters to add. Some things from the original draft stayed, some things went away. So when I say I'm at the "halfway point," it means that I'm at page 170 of my 340-page Word document.

And I still have LOTS of work to do. Once the revisioning is done, I'll have to write the darn ending. And, yes, I know "revisioning" isn't a word. Then again, neither is "Reaganing" and that worked out well for Jack Donaghy.

I decided this week that I wanted to read Jurassic Park again and write a blog post about the differences between the book and the movie. I started last night and got about 50 pages in. More on that later.

Getting it covered

As I continue to work on self-imposed revisions to III Crimsonstreak, we're getting closer to the release of II Crimsonstreak. By closer, of course, I mean fall 2013. It'll get here before I know it.

I received an email from the publisher asking if I had any ideas for the cover.

Of course I did. OF COURSE I did.

I spend plenty of time writing and revising, but I also like to play around with Photoshop. So during a period of writing inactivity (shortly after the completion of the first draft of II Crimsonstreak), I started outlining some cover ideas for the sequel.

I did the same thing for I, Crimsonstreak. I mean, even when I wrote the first draft in 2007, I started coming up with cover concepts. They all SUCKED. Every single one of them. Like writing skills, Photoshop skills improve over time with practice. I toyed with the idea of self-publishing I, Crimsonstreak--seriously, it almost happened--before submitting to Candlemark & Gleam. Because of that, I came up with a bunch of cover concepts. I can't draw worth a lick, so I used stand-in heroes like Captain Canuck and the Flash for Crimsonstreak. I just enjoy tinkering with that kind of thing.

Were those attempts fantastic? Of course not. While I'm not terrible with Photoshop, I'm also not an expert. In addition, I've never been "trained" in publication design; I always go with my gut. I'm the kind of person who can tell you that I like or dislike something, but I often struggle with telling you why. Perhaps that's the essence of design.

When Candlemark & Gleam accepted I, Crimsonstreak for publication, Mastermind Kate asked me if I had any ideas for the cover. It was like asking a person who'd just returned from vacation if they had any pictures ("I just happen to have the slideshow ready, folks! Here we are booking the hotel online..."). I had probably six or seven concepts and emailed them.

The artist's original conception (the back cover picture of Crimsonstreak in a straitjacket) didn't quite give the right "feel" for the cover. When I saw the proofs of two new concepts, I was pretty darn surprised to discover that one of them was based on one of my ideas. We ended up getting a GREAT cover from artist Brooke Stephenson.

That's one of the cool things about going with a small press or self-publishing; you get a little more control over things like that. I've talked to other authors who've recounted stories of being shown their cover and told, "There it is. Enjoy!" While I'm sure it's not like that in every case, it's nice to have some input.

Update on projects

I really don't have a ton going on right now. I just wrapped up rather intensive revisions on II Crimsonstreak for Candlemark & Gleam. I still have a few things to shake out, but it's much stronger than it was before. That's the great thing about having an editor: they really help you stand outside your work and see how other people view it. I know there are writers out there who don't think they need help like that...but I think a good editor is essential for a great book. There's no way II Crimsonstreak was ready to go in the form I submitted. Part of that was my eagerness to get it out there. I should've worked on it for another month before submitting. Then again, sometimes you get so close to your work that you stop being able to actually "see" it, so sending it off and getting feedback was probably for the best.

I used a very light outline for II Crimsonstreak. Since that book needed so much reworking and lacked focus in many respects, I'm attempting a tighter plot for III Crimsonstreak. You see, the second book ends on a cliffhanger that I have to resolve. I was already about 70,000 words into III Crimsonstreak, but the revision on book two helped me see some real problems with the third book. I sat down and wrote a five page outline based on some of the stuff I'd already written for the book. I immediately deleted four chapters (about 10,000 words) and started revising what I'd written. What about the other approximately 60,000 words? Some of that will remain, some it will be modified, some of it will be merged with other parts of the book, and some of it will be scrapped altogether.

Once I get III Crimsonstreak into better form, I have another novel that I'm about 50,000 words into. Before I continue with this book--a kind of Three Amigos/Galaxy Quest/Redshirts mash-up--I want to check my character beats and get a tighter focus on how I resolve the plot. My outline isn't very detailed. After rereading the book two weekends ago, I think it's a great concept and the writing is very strong in points. I want to change around some character traits (one character is very whiny at first and then isn't so whiny later in the book...and I like the latter version) and get some specific notes on plot points I want to resolve.

I don't define myself as a plotter or a pantser, although reading the above probably makes you think I'm closer to the latter than the former. I outline my stories and write character bios/sketches, but as the book develops, things change. I see nothing wrong with "going with the flow," but it's clear to me that I struggle to resolve those changes with the existing progression of the book.

I've written about 9,000 words on another project that's heavily inspired by Les Misérables with a little Revolutionary War and masked avenger flavor thrown in for good measure. If I can pull this one off--I have ten page outline for it--it would be somewhat more literary than any of my other books. I'll just have to see what happens.