Heard this song several times on the radio and had no idea who sang it. The whistling part was rather creepy, which caught my interest. Not even sure of the lyrics.
This week will be chaotic and short. The little guy has Monday and Tuesday off from school, so my Internet time will be limited. Maybe. He’s been having some massive tantrums, but mostly at night. These are getting a little destructive too, so we’ve been trying to find ways around it. He has no build up and he gets caught in a loop, but I don’t want to get into the details. This might be due to exhaustion, the heat, or his schedule becoming very inconsistent. It has removed nights from my work schedule too. Makes setting up promos for the next day a headache and don’t even mention writing.
The book isn’t doing very hot, so I’m still hunting for marketing ideas that I can fit into the schedule. Entered a contest that I heard about, so maybe I’ll get lucky there. Not even sure what I’m looking for these days. Interviews, blog tours, cover reveals, and guest posts seem to be getting done so often that I’m not sure it helps me stand out. Also, as said in a deleted post, I feel like I’ve become part of the background. The TWUBS chats were supposed to help, but I never got a big audience for that. Current home issues would make that impossible too.
I’m making some headway with Crossing Bedlam and hope to put up a teaser on Tuesday if things go smoothly. Heck, I’m hoping to get sleep if things go smoothly since this week has been rough. The story is coming along in an different direction than I expected. The serial killer quickly proved not to be as nutty as one would expect and the young woman proved to have a few screws loose herself. As she states in one chapter, ‘All of us are broken here.’ That’s creating a different mentality for the serial killer. I mean, he was the insane one in the ‘old world’ and that was his niche. In the new one, a lot of people are insane and he’s starting to not feel so special any more. To be honest, I like how that mentality is coming along.
4th wall breaking isn’t very easy and I gave myself a loophole. The killer does speak about the audience, plot devices, the author, and acts like a character at times. His reasoning is that him and a stranger are traveling across a desolate landscape to toss her mother’s ashes off the Golden Gate Bridge, which sounds like a story. Most of what he says ends up being hints of comics, movies, and TV pop culture. He can’t say more because he doesn’t want the author to get sued. Anyway, that’s where we’re standing and I’m having fun with the craziness. For example, I asked this on FB once:
“Where do you go after writing a scene where your main characters are in their underwear, armed only with a fire extinguisher, and running from two rhinos that are protected by a crazed sniper?”
Out of context that sounds stupid, but that actually makes a lot of sense in the story. Trust me.
So what are this week’s goals?
-
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
- Wrangle kid for 2 days.
- Write more of Crossing Bedlam.
- Set up more October posts.
- Maybe a little notebook work
- Biking when I can.
- All other writing and work goals spontaneous due to change of situation.
- Eat ice cream.
Legends of Windemere 
Crossing Bedlam sounds really interesting. I agree that ice cream is a good plan too.
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It’s definitely coming out entertaining and oddly freeing. Gone from novella to full-sized novel too. Though it could be seen as a collection of short stories connected by the same central plot and two main characters.
I am a little nervous that the high level of cursing, violence, and occasionally sex talk (not that actual act) will be an issue for some.
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Meh. All of mine are different to a degree. Sex happens in some, not others. Same with cursing. Maybe the inconsistency is part of my problem. 😀
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Part of the issue might be that I started as a Young Adult author. I didn’t know what else to call myself because Legends started in that area, but got more adult as it progressed. A lot of series do that too. So I wonder if people have locked me in there and will expect a YA adventure here. It sounds strange, but part of me wants to put a ‘Rated-R’ warning on the blurb when the time comes.
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I’ve done that. Arson is hot in more ways than one. Wisp is more like Goosebumps. TCOS gets pretty bloody in places. I think mentioning this doesn’t hurt.
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Have you ever received complaints for those aspects?
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No. I got a lukewarm comment about Lisa having sex one time. She has emotional software, and it was part of her character arc. No complaints though.
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For some reason that made me laugh. Guess the person wasn’t sure that it could happen.
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I planted the idea in the build list. She was designed to pass for human, and that struggle is part of her story.
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Lisa definitely seems like she has a lot of stories to tell.
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She has potential, but unless one of my books really takes off I’m not writing sequels. Some of them can appear in short stories.
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Maybe short stories will help the other books. Feels like nothing is skyrocketing these days.
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I keep reminding myself this is cheap entertainment. My cover art is cheaper than a season’s worth of greens fees.
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Sometimes cheap entertainment is what people are looking for.
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That’s why I’m doing this. I’m entertained. I would like to share with a few more, no doubt.
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And if the author isn’t entertained then the readers won’t be either. 😀
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So true.
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My goals? I just want to write Charles and it seems as though everyone else’s schedules consistently get in my way. 😦 I have vowed to make a schedule this week for writing and not only in my spare time which right now is between midnight and 5am. Then there would be no time for sleep and I may give the little guy completion on acting out! ~Elle
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Sounds familiar. I put time aside from writing then one person does something that ruins my plans. Most common is the ‘I have to run an errand and then I can watch the kid’. Seems these errands take all morning and into the afternoon.
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Well, you could be going on band trips that put you getting home at 3:45 am and then you have to spend the next day recuperating. 🙂
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Ouch. Did that in high school, but it’s probably different for adults.
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Not as much stamina as back then, that’s for sure!
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I’m with you on eating ice cream. It’s my comfort food … Ben & Jerry’s Americone 😉 Good luck with your son. I’m not sure at all how I would fare with destructive temper tantrums. Well, I’m confident I would not fare well.
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Just found the Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Peppermint or something. Forgot the exact name, but it’s really good. The tantrums have been a real test. That I’ve apparently failed according to some people. Nothing makes parenting any more difficult than an audience.
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Most kids I’ve known (and there’s been quite a few) seem to go through this stage of tantrums. My nephews did when I had to babysit and get them off to school. My heart goes out to you because, yeah, with an audience, you can’t win.
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Yeah. This one was pretty bad and we’re hoping not to have a rerun tonight. We’ll see what happens.
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I laughed out loud at the vision of running from a rhino protected by a sniper. Sounds good.
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Not sure if anything as weird as that has turned up since then. Although, I’ve had to create some really demented adversaries here. The escapes and solutions to problems are pretty wild. Both characters seem to have the occasional ‘I’m in a rush, so we’ll blow something up’ moment.
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Ha ha ha. I can see the long fuse now.
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I should really have the serial killer make a joke about that. Or have that set up and it’s really a decoy.
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Either would be good.
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I’ve also noticed the writing environment has also changed from two years ago. I think Amazon is seeing an over-saturation of books that people are beginning to become choosy with what they’re buying. I’m sure it has to do with the duds that readers purchase on the promise that it will be a good story, but then find it’s nothing but. Like I said. Different environment from two years ago.
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I always thought it was more saturated two years ago. Then again, it might depend on the genre. One strange thing right now is that I’m seeing a lot of shape-shifting and erotica books get listed as fantasy. So that’s becoming a strange thing to go up against. Probably because somebody defined fantasy as ‘sexual fantasy/fetish’ and that’s where they ended up or something. It’s really weird seeing those turn up on the fantasy lists.
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All you need is one successful author to change the genre on everyone else. BTW, happy Rosh Hashanah.
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Thanks. Good point about one successful author. 🙂
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Charles, good goals for the week! The tantrums will change into debates. A little easier to deal with. My plan this week is to finally get the supporting post up for your Merchant of Nevra Coil. Long story with computer glitches, tech problems, and Synopsis writing! So sorry for the delay! Chryssa
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Looking forward to the debates happening more often. The current versions are him forgetting that he doesn’t control reality. I’ll keep an eye out for the post. No problem with the delay. Though it seems things are going slow no matter what.
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Hopefully your kid is just destroying his own lego builds 😦 My husband and I watch kids three mornings a week. Usually just the youngest but…summers bring in the siblings. Yikes! I don’t handle tantrums well… it exhausted me to remain sweet and under control 😛 School’s started so we’re back to just the one kid.
Happy New Year to you and your family, Charles! I may make a honey bread pudding tomorrow to celebrate with you!
Ellespeth
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Not Legos and not only his stuff. Whatever he set his sights on and no way to predict the target. This included kicking at the toilet and hurting his foot. School started here too, but he’s not going to have a full week for a while. Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, and then Yom Kippur are all throwing his schedule off.
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Happy new year, Charles! Or, if you prefer, L’Shanah Tovah 🙂
Crossing Bedlam sounds real exciting!
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Thanks. I’m hoping to crawl back into bed in a bit, which would be the best way to celebrate. Need to talk to ‘someone’ that letting a person sleep in requires no lights or TV being put on.
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Is that “wee someone” or the big one?
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Big one. Wee someone is still asleep for now.
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Sorry, can’t help you there. Big ones rule the henhouse 🙂
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I’m thinking of putting a spray bottle full of water next to the bed. So I’ll just do a few squirts to drive the big one away.
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ROFL – let me know how that works out for you 😀
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Will do. Though it’s surprisingly hard to find spray bottles.
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Tell me about it! I’ve been searching for a decently-sized one for ages.
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Maybe we’ll have to settle for a bucket.
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ROFL – yep, I can see that working out really well 😀
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