I’ve been doing some behind-the-scenes work on my novel, which, unfortunately doesn’t increase my word count. Listening to audio dramas probably doesn’t help either.

But I’ve been posting the story on my other blog (it’s private and password protected), and I’ve been receiving some great feedback from other graduates. The story, so far, has been very well received, and I’ve gotten some great suggestions on making it stronger. Woo!

Audio Dramas Making a Comeback!

I’m a huge fan of audio dramas from the 30s and 40s, my favorite being The Shadow, but I also enjoyed Suspense, and a lot of the comedies.

I’d heard of audio dramas making a comeback with the onset of podcasting, so yesterday I started looking into it.

And found a gold mine!

Not only can you find all sorts of the golden oldies on iTunes podcasting, but people are actually putting forth the effort of creating new shows!

Pendant Productions being a prime example. I’m listening to their Batman: The Ace of Detectives audio drama. It’s actually very good. I’m not a huge fan of Tim Drake in this incarnation, but I’m told he gets better as  the show goes on (which will be a huge relief). Batman is pretty close-some of the dialogue wouldn’t be of my choosing, and the Joker is really great. Catwoman is also good.

They also do Superman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Martian Manhunter. Right now, I’m listening to the Imperium Crossover, which, given the large cast of characters, is HUGE! So far, very good.

There’s also no advertising, so the producters, writers, and voice actors must all do this for free. Heck, this sounds like it would be a ton of fun, so where do I sign up?

If you’ve got any inclination towards audio dramas, I encourage you to check out Pendant Productions. Besides their original productions (which I haven’t checked out yet…one audio drama at a time), and the ones I mentioned above, they have Catwoman, Star Trek, Star Wars, James Bond and Indiana Jones.

How cool is that?

EDIT: As I’m currently listening to the crossover, I must say Superman will be next on my list. He’s entertaining, and he’s got a good voice actor.

8, 497.  That’s the word count for my short story, “The Black Widow,” which I wrote several years ago. That is my best word count. Now, I’ve written more words than that, namely for character and background development for gaming. But those are what we’ll call “shorts.” They are not whole stories, even tied together. So, 8,497.

I topped 10k words today. 10,935 to be precise. I beat my best by 2,000 words. If that’s not an achievement, I don’t know what is. The best part though?

This story isn’t done. Nowhere near. The story is shaping up to be an amazing tale, and I’m excited about it. Click the “Demonbane” tab at the top for some more information.

I wrote a scene today that I’ve been having trouble getting myself to write. It’s not an easy scene. It is, at times, quite painful, and until today, I just couldn’t see it in my head. But I needed that scene, because it’s where we begin to understand the main character.

It’s a beautiful scene. I’m sure it’ll get better once I come back to it at revision, but overall, I’m very pleased with how it came out.

Ah, Ohio History…

While working on something today relating to Ohio history, I came upon these interesting pieces of information, copied from the Wikipedia entry on Ohio:

On February 19, 1803, President Jefferson signed an act of Congress that approved Ohio’s boundaries and constitution. However, Congress had never passed a resolution formally admitting Ohio as the 17th state. The current custom of Congress declaring an official date of statehood did not begin until 1812, with Louisiana’s admission as the 18th state. Although no formal resolution of admission was required, when the oversight was discovered in 1953, Ohio congressman George H. Bender introduced a bill in Congress to admit Ohio to the Union retroactive to March 1, 1803. At a special session at the old state capital in Chillicothe, the Ohio state legislature approved a new petition for statehood that was delivered to Washington, D.C. on horseback. On August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio’s 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio’s admittance into the Union.^[22]

Emphasis mine. You can’t say we Ohioans don’t understand the use of good dramatics, huh? Speaking of drama, I then read this:

In 1835, Ohio fought with Michigan in the Toledo War, a mostly bloodless boundary war over the Toledo Strip. Congress intervened and, as a condition for admittance as a state of the Union, Michigan was forced to accept the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula, in addition to the eastern third that was already part of the state, in exchange for giving up its claim to the Toledo Strip.

See, the Ohio-Michigan blood feud existed long before the Buckeyes and the Wolverines! It’s in our blood to dislike those Michiganians–they tried to steal land from us!

Further investigation finds that both Ohio and Michigan to be a bunch of whiney pansies. I mean, come ON! They basically yelled at and insulted each other across imaginary and fluctuating borders.  The ominously named Battle of Phillips Corners was, in fact, a group of Michigan militia chasing after a group of Ohio surveyors, with the militia firing their muskets into the air. No one died–no even even got hurt. But, Ohio and Michigan stood on the brink of an all-out war. (Imagine it–maybe we’d throw chickens and launch cows at each other. Or, even better, build corn missile launchers!) Finally, after a series of one-upmanships by both states, blood was shed–Two Stickney (…were the other two sons named One and Three??) was stabbed–with a PEN KNIFE. His injuries “were not life threatening.”

President Andrew Jackson (who had been siding with Ohio the whole time in a political move to get Ohio’s support in upcoming Democratic elections) eventually saw the whole affair to an end with Ohio getting the Toledo strip, and Michigan getting the rest of the Upper Penisula.

By the way, Ohio ended up voting for the Whig Party’s candidate in the 1836 election–NOT with Andrew Jackson as he’d hoped. Go figure.

And the moral of the story?

When you put Michiganians and Ohioans together, rivers will run red…

…with something that probably smells like, and looks, like ketchup.

Okay, a REAL update this time!

Alright. Let’s get this party started.

First off, in my personal life, let me just say that not much has changed. I’m hoping to make a career move in the next few months, but I’m keeping it quiet until I know more. Two momentous things have occurred, and ironically, both involve babies. Last night, one of my dear friends delivered a boy, Cuinn. I’ll be seeing Mom, Dad and the new arrival tomorrow and I’m very excited. But also very cool, my sister is going to have a baby, oh, about nine months from now. I’LL BE AN AUNT!!!! To say that I am very excited, well, that would be a huge understatement.

Now, in the writing world. I didn’t make Nanowrimo. Work interfered and completely upset my plans for the month of November. I did, at least, beat my best ever word count. Okay, it’s a bronze medal, but it’s still a medal. I’m getting back in my groove, and I have, as of yesterday, officially graduated from Holly Lisle’s “How to Think Sideways-Career Survival School for Writers.” I’ll be adding more information about the course to my “Writing Resources” page soon.

The novel has required some reworking, which I’m still working through. Some of the characters were entirely too under-developed, which gave me two choices: beef them up, or cut them out. I’ve done both to some of the secondary characters, and will be adding one or two. I’ll be adding a “promo” page to this site soon. Both as information for you, and motivation for me to finish this bloody thing.

Also on the writing side, I saw today that Lee Lofland was kind enough to leave a comment on my blog. I made a reference to his book Police Procedure and Investigation: A Guide for Writers a while back. This was his comment:

Thanks for the kind words about my book, Police Procedure and Investigation, A Guide For Writers. Feel free to contact me if you have questions. Also, you might enjoy my blog, The Graveyard Shift. It’s a great compliment to the book.

Thanks.

Lee Lofland
http://www.leelofland.com

The Graveyard Shift
http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/

I’ll be adding this blog to the list of blogs I read. And now, I’ll tell you in detail just why I find his book invaluable.

It’s often stated by professionals that crime shows like CSI often get it wrong, more than they get it right. There are two obvious reasons for this: A, they are changing the rules for the sake of the show, or B, they just didn’t take the time to properly research. Most of the time, frankly, it’s A. These shows are fiction, and their primary purpose is for entertainment. Sometimes, the real way just isn’t the best way for storytelling. That is, to quote a childhood favorite fiction detective, “just the facts, ma’am.”

I’m working on a book which has a very important character, who happens to work on the police force. Now, I have no friends or family on any sort of police force, so I have no one to simply ask for all the details, be they cool or down right boring. So I picked up Lee Lofland’s book.

Dude. Short of joining the police force myself, I’m unlikely to find a better source of information. He pays much attention to detail, from an officer’s uniform and equipment, to a detailed description of the process of an autopsy. SERIOUSLY. The book is littered with personal anecdotes about situations in which he was involved. There’s information on DNA, finger printing, and tons of other topics.

This book isn’t just invaluable. It’s that for any casual reader interested in police procedure. If you’re writing something involving police procedure and investigation, YOU NEED THIS BOOK. You will not regret the dollars you put down on this book. I promise you that.

Yeah, it’s been a while. I’m headed out to work, but look for some updates in the next few days.

Quick update, and a snippet!

My word count is slowly increasing. I’m horribly behind on my goal, but I’m writing more consistently than I have been for a long, long, time. And I’ll soon break my personal word count record. These may seem small in comparison to a goal of 50,000 words, but they’re very important stepping stones for me.

I had a tough time picking out a snippet. This is part of a much larger scene, and some things have occurred that are mentioned here. Yes, I’m sorry, you don’t get the full details. What, you want all the details you say?

My friend, we call them books. You’ll have to wait until this one is finished.

Also, I’m pleased with my decision to write in first person POV. It’s very, very tough to pull off, and I can already see things I’ll need to revise come first-draft revision time. But it’s getting easier as I go.

Edited to add: There’s also a very small snippet under my novel info on my Nanowrimo profile. You can find the link to the right, above my word count meter. I won’t be posting that snippet here.

Here’s a snippet from the story so far. It’s less than 500 words, and nowhere near a complete scene. Please keep in mind that this is a first draft, and will likely undergo revision. Even still, do not post this anywhere in any way shape or form. The segment of the story below, though incomplete, belongs entirely to me. I should also note that these snippets will not necessarily be posted in order. Enjoy. Click below to keep reading.

I’m watching a special Inside the Actor’s Studio, in which Dave Chapelle is interviewing James Lipton. It includes a variety of snippets from various episodes of the show. I’m struck by the similiarities between serious acting, and serious writing.

In acting, as in writing, an actor strives to express themselves through a character and a setting, and responds to the plot of the story. Within every character is a small piece of that actor. It is not a representative piece, and not necessarily accurate-you must take the good with the bad. An actor strives to bring the character to life, to draw the viewer in and make the viewer feel the character’s joy, grief, anger, etc. as his own.

As writers, we strive for the exact same things. Our medium is different-we use the written word instead of the spoken. Within every real character is a little piece of ourselves-good or bad. From the most heroic swordsman to the cruelest villian, if that character was memorable, you can probably bet the writer invested something of himself in it.

I don’t think that one is more difficult than the other–both are notoriously hard to get write. I think that writing a story is a more precise art-we cannot rely on our body language to get something across. But, I think that most readers are far more forgiving a writer’s faults, than a fan whose favorite actor delivers a poor performance.

Nanowrimo, week one.

Writing has been slow this week. Between a stressful week at work and the weather (rainy, cloudy days make me lethargic and unmotivated), I’m way behind on my writing goals. BUT, I got a good bit done today, and I AM writing-which is the most important part.

It took me a couple of hours to write a scene, but it ended up being the longest I think I’ve ever written, coming it at just under 2,000 words. In one scene, I managed to more than double my word count so far.

I’ve got a fairly clear idea of where the story is going, and how it will end. But my muse has already tossed in a few surprises, which I’m excited to see how they play out as the story continues.

EDIT: 9:34pm. I got some more writing in, after dinner. I’m up to nearly 6,000 words. I’d call this a highly productive day.

Here’s a snippet from the story so far. It’s less than 500 words, and nowhere near a complete scene. Please keep in mind that this is a first draft, and will likely undergo revision. Even still, do not post this anywhere in any way shape or form. The segment of the story below, though incomplete, belongs entirely to me. I should also note that these snippets will not necessarily be posted in order. Enjoy. Click below to keep reading.

A busy day at work, but I did get my inventory completed by the end of my shift.

I wrote another scene today. It was rather difficult, and it will need to be revised. But revision will wait until after I finish the first draft. If I revise as I go, I’ll never finish. Perfect never finishes, after all.

More writing tomorrow, in between errands. The first PFS game is tomorrow as well.

In other news:

License plate leads police to suspect in fatal hit-skip

The license plate from a vehicle that apparently struck a man walking on the Stringtown Road bridge over I-71 early yesterday led Grove City police to an arrest in the hit-skip fatality.

Aaron M. Sellers, 36, was charged with leaving the scene of a crash and drunken driving. He lives at 1936 Seaside Circle in Grove City, according to court records.

Officers found the license plate to Sellers’ vehicle at the scene of the crash, which occurred about 1:20 a.m., police said. Sellers was arrested at his home.

The pedestrian killed was identified as Lawrence Daniel, 55, said Franklin County Coroner Brad Lewis.

If you’ve ever spent a lot of time in Grove City, you may have seen Larry “Stick” Daniel. He was a quasi-homeless guy, but I never saw him with a sign or asking for money or anything. His family are regular bowlers. I never met Larry, but I saw him often, walking around Grove City.

This struck a chord with me today. Everyone knew about Larry, but who really knew him? What was his story? Michael Stackpole says that everyone has at least one book in them. What would Larry’s book have been? Now we’ll never know, because someone got behind the wheel while drunk, and took away from Larry the only thing he had left to lose.