Back From Trip, and Episode 69

I got back from a business trip to San Francisco last week. It was completely exhausting, but I still found time to address the latest edits on my manuscript from my editor, who has definitely slowed down over the past month. It's now not uncommon for a week or two to go by before I get a new chapter from her. I know she's busy, so I'm just staying patient. But still, there's just two chapters left! C'mon, let's get'er done! (I find that expression hysterical and ridiculous).

In the meantime, here's Episode 69 of the Dark InSpectre, in which our hero finds himself a bit tied up at the moment.

Here’s an excerpt:

I stopped for a moment as my focus slipped, the pain in my head causing everything to go hazy. The smell of the cleaning supplies clogged my nose and the ties around my ankles and wrists cut off circulation.

I centered again, sending my thoughts out to the bar area. There were a bunch of guys who vibed thug sitting at the end, their eyes trained on a door around the corner of the bar. One of them was Slats Capezzi. Tied up in my dark, cramped closet, my feet and hands going numb, I smiled.

Check the episode here.

DIS Episode 68 Plays Cat and Mouse

Episode68 of the Dark InSpectre is now online, in which our hero finally has the infamous Multiple Man right where he wants him, or does he?

Here’s an excerpt:

I raced to head him off, making several quick turns until I skidded to a halt at a dead end, a cul de sac with a door that looked like the back entrance to Lo Bianco’s. Except no Multiple Man. There were Flacco and a hood I recognized as Jimmy “Slats” Capezzi. And me, doing my best deer in the headlights impression. Uh oh.

Check the episode here.

The Lost Chapter

In going through my latest chapter, my editor ran across a character where she was like, whoa, where'd he come from?

The answer is he was first introduced in chapter 1. Except the first chapter was taken out. In one of my former editor/publisher's last acts before she officially and finally fell off the face of the earth, she told me I should take out the first chapter and weave in the "details" throughout the rest of the book, that chapter 1 wasn't worth keeping.

I had a somewhat violent reaction to this since I thought chapter 1 actually had quite a bit of good stuff, combining action with introducing some fairly major characters, like the one in question. But whatev, I can certainly take criticism/instruction from an editor, and I took out the chapter.

Fast forward to the present, and my shiny new editor has the revised manuscript without chapter 1. I explained the situation to her, and guess what? Yup, it's going back in. This marks the last of the major edits instituted by my former editor/publisher that my current editor and I are undoing. Feels good, too, since I disagreed with each one of them.

Unfortunately, things have slowed down a bit on the editing front. It seems my editor has taken up some new responsibilities with the publishing house, and I haven't gotten a chapter back from her in about a week. And counting the re-constituted chapter 1, there's only 3 left! Once that's done, I get to go back and "spice" it up a bit.

So hopefully I'll get another chapter soon. But it's okay. I've been patient this long, a little longer ain't gonna kill me. :)

DIS Episode 67!

It might be Presidents Day, but it's no day off for The Dark InSpectre. Episode 67 is now online, in which our hero learns the shocking identity of a certain ever-changing villain.

Here's an excerpt:

Heske wiped the blade on Walter’s shirt as he lay there looking up, eyes wide, the light going out of them. Then Heske chuckled to himself and walked out, muttering to himself, “too bad I don’t have time for a snack.” 

I bowed my head and let the echoes dissolve until I was back in the present. Even with my eyes shut I could feel the presence in the room. I raised my head and there he was, the translucent form of the deceased Walter Boyd just a few feet away, his stomach dark with slash marks. 

Boyd gave a mock bow. I trust you enjoyed the show.

Check the episode here.

To Hell With the Rules

As some of you may know, I was forced by my previous editor/publisher to write my forthcoming crime novel under some rather restrictive rules: 1st person POV, no cursing, no sex.

Needless to say, I found all these rather limiting, and some outright ridiculous. Nevertheless, I did it, and after said editor/publisher went poof and disappeared after her publishing house went under, I found another publisher and am now going through edits.

Edits have been going really well, and I just sent back chapter 8 (out of 11). But after a few comments from my editor, I felt I had to explain the conditions under which I wrote the novel. Once I did, she experienced a big aha! and understood why some things are the way they are in the piece.

So what she wants to do is after we're done with the first round of edits, go through the whole thing again and "spice it up." What that means is having the main character swear like the foul mouthed son of a bitch he is, and turn up the heat on the one sex scene I did put in.

I can't tell you how glad I am to be doing this. It's completely ridiculous for my main character not to swear. He's a god damn cop! Let alone all the other low-lifes he encounters. And of course he's going to have sex, he's a man, it's what grown men do! Especiallly when he's involved with a sexy broad like he is in my story.

Making these changes will bring my story much more in line with the world I have created, and that makes me happy. To hell with the rules!

Novel Progress

I was getting worried because I hadn't heard from my editor in a few days. This brought up a host of bad feelings and paranoia, cuz as some of you may know, my previous editor/publisher had a habit of falling off the face of the earth and staying out of contact for months at a time, much to my frustration.

But huzzah, it turns out my new editor just has the flu! Actually I feel really bad cuz the flu sucks. But she has been able to keep up a reasonable pace with the edits. She's sent me 5 chapters, each of which I've promptly sent back to her. It's going really well, no major plot problems, all stuff that's easily fixable in terms of cleaning up language, etc.

Of course, the way my stupid brain works, I start thinking, why isn't she pointing out bigger things to fix? Maybe she's only reading this on a superficial level? Because, you know, I'm so insecure that I can't possibly accept the fact that my book might actually be pretty good, or at least not terrible.

So, like I said, we've been through 5 chapters, which means 6 to go. After we're done, my editor will read through the whole thing again and see if there are any further issues. And once that's done, it goes to the publisher, at which point, if everybody's happy, I'll sign a contract.

After the first round of edits are done, though, I'm going to ask her advice regarding the title. I'm not thrilled with it, and I will certainly listen to any suggestions she has. When I write something, if a title doesn't come immediately to me, then I struggle with it, and that's what happened with the novel. The title is okay, even serviceable, but there's gotta be something that when I hear it, it just fits. And that hasn't happened yet.

But anyway, that's a little bit down the road. For now, I'm workin' on edits as fast as they come at me, and lovin' every minute of it. :)

Get Your Kicks with Episode 66!

Episode 66 of the Dark InSpectre is now online, in which our hero finds his boss in a rather "indisposed" state.

Here’s an excerpt:

On the sixteenth floor I walked down the silent hallway, two distinct strategies in mind. Plan A: Ask Walter real nicely what I wanted to know. Plan B: Beat the shit out of him until he talked. 

I was debating skipping straight to Plan B when I neared the door. It was closed, but when I put my hand on the knob, the riot of psychic echoes that flooded into me almost knocked me over. Violence, fear, anger. Something real bad had just gone down.

 

Check the episode here.