Free Kindle Edition

My first book is free as an e-book via Kindle until midnight tonight. Click on the image for the link. I will have the first book in ‘The Fortunes of Chuck Hammer’ series, “A Vendetta’s Wage”, available for free after I finish the next edition/revision. Nothing drastic, just basic editing. And yes, the president ordering a stand down was in there before Benghazi.

I have been pulled away from writing by other demands on my time but am now returning; hopefully full time. I will try to have excerpts from my stories posted here on a monthly basis. I hope you all enjoy my writing. Thanks for the interest.

Summer Cleaning

It is good to follow writing resources such as Create Space or Amazon KDP on Facebook. They provide much useful advice, though often common sense, through links to various articles and inspirational quotes. One such link lead to an article about having a clean organized space to stimulate your creativity.

Well, I was thinking about buying a new file cabinet with a lock to dedicate to my writing files; the various steps in the draft process, character sheets, etc.. I looked at my fairly large existing filing cabinet and decided I could make room and put an end to my open milk box filing system for my writing. Away I went sorting and disposing of obsolete and unnecessary paper matter.

Three days later, after my wife was inspired to join in and rooms were cleaned, furniture and other old and worn objects disposed of, and a more efficient system of storage opened up more pleasant spaces in our home, we were finished.

When all was said and done with our cleaning adventures I was suddenly hit with an inspiration for an entirely new story line, which I quickly began to put to paper. Yes, to paper and I am hitting myself that I have been relying on the computer these many years. The story comes more smoothly and I see it more complete as I proceed. I easily back track and add side notes as I go along. My process, at least for anything short of a full sized novel (over 100,000 words which Loyalty’s Fertile soil will be) will be to go from pencil to typewriter to a word file. Most all say one must print out their work and edit in paper form. After many hard and barren years with many daunting hurdles and realizations I see myself reaching a lifestyle of true industry and filling my days productively and completely.

Even as my CAD computer has become long obsolete and I have returned to hand drafting I feel much more fulfilled and satisfied to create something coming from my own hand. Ultimately I believe the computer will not be deemed a creative tool. That said I have come a long way as a writer having blogged these last seven years or more. Putting out pieces from 200 to 1,500 words at a shot seems appropriate to the computer. The instant Internet research capacity is invaluable.

A month ago or so my flash drive had a catastrophic failure and many writing files were lost. Of course I had a backup disk but I lost over a months work on “Loyalty’s Fertile Soil” and edits on “A Vendetta’s Wage”. After some great expense per our budget and over a month gone by I recovered the latest “Loyalty’s Fertile Soil” file but all my edits on “A Vendetta’s Wage” were lost. It was a set back and a discouragement that lead me to drastic reactions, namely cleaning.

Currently I am working to finish all my character development for “Loyalty’s Fertile Soil” before I proceed. It has over 100 characters and at least two dozen need to be substantially developed. Running into a new character as I proceed, though I have a image in my mind for them, if I do not have particulars written down the whole process gets bolloxed up. After I complete the first draft of the first story in my new story line (I already have the first two novellas working in my head) I will commit to the edits of “A Vendetta’s Wage”.

The new story line as you can see in the photo is:

 

Partisans of the Blue

A Dauntless Recruit

 

 

A storm is coming.

Reading and Writing

I read a lot of fiction when I was young, before High School. In High School there were the assigned readings. I began reading novels again as I believe it will improve my writing.

I am halfway through “Moby Dick”. I started last year and it will be at least the end of the year before I finish. I have developed a deep sympathy for my former classmates that were forced to read this novel in High School. Of course I was familiar with the story and certain quotes and the background for those quotes (I saw the movie). You can recognize allusions to the story in “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron; A Vendetta’s Wage” and there will be more in the next Chuck Hammer, the reason I feel the need to finish the story. I am reading a free Kindle version. Always read reviews of Kindle books, especially free ones, and look for what people say about the formatting. It makes a difference.

I just finished “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. Highly overrated but an important read if you are politically or socially minded. Far too wordy in its philosophical investigations, but if you want to write a weighty novel addressing political and philosophical trends this is what you want to read, and maybe her other books, to know how to and not to do it. My version had an ‘Afterward’ giving examples of the authors notes on characters and ideas she was writing down in preparation for writing the book. It was insightful. Her notes on reviewing her written chapters reflected my own conclusions when I review my work. It makes one feel validated to discover such things. But with her emphasis on competing philosophies and trends embodied in her characters, the characters become caricatures. Also I thought the Kindle price too high considering the formatting I had to endure.

I spent $0.99 for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Complete Sherlock Holmes and The Complete Tales of Terror and Mystery.” One reason I spent the money was that I was checking if I could find all the Sherlock Holmes Stories for free but some titles were not available. Also I was warned in reviews about the formatting of some free stories. The description claimed the profits from my meager purchase went to the estate or Sit Arthur Conan Doyle. I am half way through the complete works and am won over by the concept of getting complete works of out of copy write authors for $0.99. Its about the formatting and having a grasp of the entire scope of an authors life work.

Sherlock Holmes is much more my style of reading for enjoyment. I hope it reflects in my own stories. Mystery is something I need to put into the next Chuck Hammer on a more practical level. The writing is not perfect and one realizes that before the days of grammar checks and editors available at the click of a mouse (if you have the money) books were not nearly refined as what comes out of the big publishing houses today. In “Moby Dick” a room was filled with ‘only…’ but a few paragraphs later there are other substantial pieces of furniture beyond the ‘only.’ In “The fountainhead” parts were outright confusing and impossible to understand outside of the context and maybe even within.

Through reading I gain confidence, encouragement and insight, things to draw upon in my own writing. When reading older works the intimidation of some perceived perfection of grammar and syntax melts away. It can help your writing and and possibly editing, but editing is a tricky business. Self editing the Chuck Hammer story I have to completely, absolutely and profoundly agree with something I read today on an Indie author’s site; that if you self edit (not recommended) put away your story for six months or more before coming back to edit it. I first published via Kindle the first Chuck Hammer in May 2011. Coming back to it later, to prepare for a print version debut, I could not believe how differently it read to me and how many errors I had to correct. The print version and updated Kindle version will come out when I am confident I can get out “Chuck Hammer Rebooted; Loyalty’s Fertile Soil”, the next installment, within a year.

Look for excerpts from the next Chuck Hammer to come out over the next months.

Progress

I am actually excited about the progress I have begun to make on my latest book. Off this week from my delivery job and loving what I could get done. Looking forward to June when I will be free to write nearly full time. (I gave my job six months notice)

If you are a Chuck Hammer fan, or are planning to be, here are some of the Chapter Titles from “Loyalty’s Fertile Soil”.

Chapter 1: The Cell,  or   Reflection

Chapter 2: Living Quarters,  or   A Consortium of Killers

Chapter 3: A Good Meal,  or   Something in the Air

Chapter 4: One in the Chamber,  or   Raw Regrets

Chapter 5: The Sucker,  or   No Pity for the Brave

The duel titles will end with the first trilogy, “Loyalty’s Fertile Soil” being the first of three. The final chapter of book three (four if you count “A Vendetta’s Wage”) will be ‘Hello’.

The Grind, or, Getting Down to Business

I do not necessarily endorse any of the authors, writers or literary professionals who produce the sites I link to in my list of writing resources. I add links for you to those sites because I believe that the sites will be very helpful to you if you write. I am adding a new link, a blog by a Dean Wesley Smith, because I find it extremely enlightening in regards to the production process.

Some of the steps he covers are, to have a place where you can write productively, chart and analyze how you use your time, find out how many words you write per hour and keep a record, a word count sheet rather than a time sheet. All necessary to set your production goals.

This is where I write most of my blogs. It works well for concepts I mull around for a while and plan to put into words over the course of a few hours or less. It does not work for my fiction writing. It is our window to the Internet and the Internet is something one should stay far away from if you value your time. I plan to keep a word count on my blogs and professional work as well as for my fiction. But I also need to seriously set post count goals and stick to them in order to keep my blogs relevant to hold readers. I have seven blogs on various issues, two of which, my first two, I should post to once a week if not more. All my blogs are linked to in the sidebar and yes, that is a rocking chair.

I bought this calendar to track my word count (as recommended by fore mentioned professional). It will be a log of all my work, including time editing. The primary purpose is however to set, track and reach word number goals for new writing. The notebooks I plan to use for my short stories, rather than a laptop.

Here is my true work space; my home office. I threw out all the shoes my wife had filled it with as part of my New Year determination. I am not sure what it says when an Asian woman turns her husbands professional space into her shoe closet. I don’t think I should spend much time thinking about it. The space is well lit by two drafting lamps, a ceiling light and a large north facing window.

This is the place where I write, draw and design. In other words it is where I scribble. My scribble space; a sanctuary of scribbles for scribbles.

Production is something I have been lacking. I have many distractions in my life. I could spend twenty-four seven just rehabbing my house if I had the money. I am very grateful I found this new resource site. I found this through a Create Space Facebook post.

Editing

Last week I thought to myself; I really should move these books to the top of the bookshelf and take the picture I have been planning for my blog. I didn’t and a few days later our dog acquired a taste for books. Books passed down from my father that made up some of my early childhood reading; A source that shaped my vision of Chuck Hammer and his adventures.

I should listen to my inspirations. I should be getting them down in writing as they come, not only so I do not lose them but because time is the best tool in editing your own work. As I review again, more than a year after publishing on Kindle, my first book in “The Fortunes of Chuck Hammer’ series I am a bit embarrassed. The passage of time has given me a fresh perspective, removed me from my own concepts and it will ultimately produce a better product as I prepare to publish a print edition.

I am not sure when I will release the revised edition but one consideration will be how far along I am on the second book of the series. Ideally I would like to release the next a year after the previous volume.

If I could afford an editor the process would progress at a much quicker pace. I did acquire an editor for my first book. Though I would have to wait nearly two months for the completion of one editing contract I now have other books to work on in the mean time. I found this article on publishing via a Create Space Facebook posting. Yes, the editing process is much more involved and extensive than it appears. Can I really have a break through novel without using editing and marketing services?

If you have any considerations of writing a book start getting the words down on paper now. Even if it is only a single scene or chapter of a much bigger plot. Even if you are not planning to sit down and write your book for years. It will pay off immensely if you have your ideas written out, no matter how piecemeal, for review from the distance time puts between the concepts rushing through your brain and proper construction.

I have added additional resource links to the sidebar.