Book 3 is now novel-sized

Broke through the 50,000-word mark.  It's officially a novel, though one without an ending yet.  I'm still working on that.  But I always end the story; I don't do cliffhangers.  I always wrap up the main plot.  So don't worry about that.

I'm on page 6 of my 13-page outline, but I think the stuff nearer the end of the outline is more dense.  By that I mean it should translate into fewer draft pages than the first half of the outline.  I highly doubt this first draft will break 100,000 words.

Caverns of Mercury and Cities of Mars will both feature in a Kobo promotion in a few weeks.  I'll announce the sale when the time comes.  I've had some small success with these Kobo promotions, and I only need a few more sales before I reach the threshold for Kobo to pay out.  I'm not optimistic about getting traction on that retailer yet, but I'm optimistic about becoming optimistic.  Baby steps.

It's still my goal to have book 3 out some time this summer and book 4 out before the end of the year.  Not sure if I can make it, but I'll try.  Wish me luck.

Man-eating dinosaurs

Suppose I said there were about a quarter million man-eating dinosaurs currently living in the state of Georgia.  You'd probably laugh, right?  Or perhaps you'd simply look at me as if I had just told you that reptilian humanoids from Zeta Reticuli secretly ran the world in the guise of Illuminati, Freemasons, and the Knights of Malta.

But what if I said there were a quarter million alligators living here?  Well, that's a perfectly ordinary and reasonable claim.  Everyone knows gators live down in the south Georgia swamps.  (And, occasionally, make their way up to the Atlanta suburbs.)

The difference in reaction is all in the name.  The names we give things carry power, and how we react to things is, in part, a function of what we call them.  Shakespeare knew this, which is why his "What's in a name?" monologue is recited by a character who ends up dead.  Juliet wants to believe that names don't carry any real meaning, that it's only the underlying reality that matters, and she pays the price for her naivete.  It turns out that names matter a lot.  They're life and death matters.

In the novel 1984, the government is in the process of removing words from the English language.  Its goal is to control thought by controlling the mechanism with which people think.  It's a brilliant bit of imaginative writing by Orwell.  Names have power, especially true names, and if you want to strip people of their power, then one way to do that is to make it impossible for them to speak truly about anything.

So, fiction writers, give some thought to your names.  Not just character names, but names of machines, places, rituals, animals, plants, and so on and so forth.  There's power in those words.

Amazon knows what I want before I do

Last night I was browsing Amazon for halberds.  Because let's face it... when you need a halberd, nothing else will do.  And halberds are just plain awesome to have around even if you never use one for its intended purpose.  I'm not convinced that every household needs a halberd, but I'm not convinced they don't, either.

Anyway...

What do I see in my inbox today?  An email from Amazon advertising medieval clothes and belts.  Cosplay-type stuff.

Now, I'm not a cosplayer.  Not even a little bit.  But I couldn't help checking out those products.  They were interesting, and a part of me was tempted to spend some money.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Amazon is eating every other retailer's lunch.  They know what you might like even if you don't.

I know... "Cool story, bro."  But I found it amusing, especially since I was tempted to purchase things I've never wanted before.

I doubt I'll end up getting a halberd.  But you never know.  And if I do, then maybe I'll get some of those recommended other things to go with it.

Action at Kobo is picking up

I had 215 free downloads of Clouds of Venus on Kobo last week.  This was after the promotion, not during it, so it's all organic.  The folks at Kobo say "free" is the most often searched-for word on their site, and I now believe it.  I moved more copies of this book on Kobo than on Amazon last week, and that's kind of mind-boggling.

Kobo readers, I hope you enjoy the book.  Thanks for reading.  :)

In other news, I've had a migraine for most of the day, which means being in a semi-conscious daze in between bouts of puking, and I'm only just now starting to feel human again.  Naturally, my productivity today has been nil.  Hopefully I can get back in a groove soon.

Progress report

I've started my first scene on a particular Felid world.  This is the second Felid planet in the book so far on which some POV action takes place.

It's a special place, and I hope I get it right.  I'm excited, but also a little nervous.  If I screw up, a certain assassin-monk will come after me, and I don't want that.

Word count so far is just over 46,000.  Still on page 5 of the outline, but the next scene will put me on page 6.  And some of the later stuff in the outline is very detailed, so it's possible I'm already past the halfway point as far as the first draft goes.  I expect to add a considerable amount of stuff in revision.  Some authors cut material during revision; others add.  I'm one of the latter.  My brain zips through the action faster than I can type it out, so stuff gets left out.  I have to go back and add it in later.

I expect to break the 50,000-word mark before the week is out.  When that happens, it'll officially be novel-sized.  My progress has been slower than I would have liked, but them's the breaks.  Just have to try to do better going forward.

In the meantime, if you're in a generous mood, feel free to help me out a little by telling your friends about my books.  ;)

Until next time... free Hesperus, and Free Space!  :D

Finally...

...got the Lightbridge scene done.  Man, that was a bear.  It ended up being longer and more complex than I had outlined.  Anyway, it's finished, so I can move on.  Still on page 5 of my 13-page outline.  Word count is just over 44,000.  I hope to finish the draft before the end of April.

I did some quick math on my KDP Reports page.  The U.K. is responsible for about 30% of my Amazon income over the last 90 days.  Thanks for your support, U.K. readers.  :D

Covers are pretty much done for books 3 and 4.  Still working on the covers for books 5 and 6.  They're getting better, but I'm still not satisfied.

I had planned to submit a short story to Alasdair Shaw for his upcoming anthology, but I don't think I'm going to make it.  I'm behind on this novel, and I just can't spare the time.  But I've got until the end of April, so we'll see.  If I write ultra-fast for the next few weeks I might be able to pull it off.

Got my tax stuff to my tax person

For the first time ever, I'm hiring someone to do my taxes.  That's what happens when you're filing new forms and you dont want to screw everything up.

I'll also be making a quarterly tax payment soon for this year's first-quarter sales.  Another first for me.

Another author once said that if you're a writer, you have to pay self-employment taxes, and if you're a successful writer, you have to pay quarterly taxes.  Does that mean I'm "successful" now?

Anyway, the downside to all this tax stuff is that I've been so focused on getting my documents in order that I haven't written any fiction in three days.  I'm about to remedy that.