Title for the Fifth Novel

First of all, I must apologize for not writing sooner. I'm not going to make any lame excuses, but I will say it's a little surprising how crazy life gets sometimes.

In between counting birds this weekend for the Great Backyard Bird Count (go to birdcount.org for more information), I'm actually working on my fifth novel.

And believe it or not, I'm finally past the rewriting stage. It took me a lot of time because I sent it off to two very helpful readers, who pointed out a few things that didn't work or just didn't seem quite right. That led to me discovering a few other problems, so I had to put in quite a bit of time to tweak and rewrite. I'm not complaining: I'd rather get it right! Thanks to Bill and Deb for your help.

At some point, however, I realized that I HAD TO STOP REWRITING. That's one of the hardest things for me to do! I keep thinking there's one more error to be caught, and I keep reading it over just in case. I could keep doing that forever, but it's a little hard to get it published that way.

So here I am. I've signed it up at the KDP site and now I'm formatting the whole thing. This involves several steps: adding the front and back pages, setting the margins, justifying the text on all sides, adding drop caps and setting the trim size. After that, I need to scroll through the whole thing page by page, looking for awkward breaks in sentences. For example, I don't want a character's whole quotation and name to be on one page with "said" on the next page. That one little word looks lonely by itself, so I have to tweak things so it can join the rest of the sentence. You might find this surprising: I don't consider this process tedious at all. In fact, I enjoy it. I don't know if it's because I'm crazy or because I realize that I'm actually getting closer to finishing the whole process, but I don't mind spending the time.

The good news for you is that when I signed it up on KDP, I had to submit the title. That's right: there's finally a title ... and here it is!

The fifth novel will be called Parting Shot.

Some of the characters and events in Another Shot are mentioned in Parting Shot, so I like the similarity in titles. I hope it helps tie the whole series together.

You may be wondering if this is the final novel in the Penumbra series. The short answer is that I don't know. I had five novels in mind when I started, and this one sort of ties up a lot of things, but I can't guarantee that I won't find that I want to explore these (and possibly other) characters some more in the future. Or I might start a new series. The only guarantee I can give you is that I won't stop writing. I might not publish again, but I can't promise that either. I'm going to leave that open for now.

I will let you know as I proceed, especially when Parting Shot is available.

Stay tuned!

Shaken

By now you've probably heard about the earthquake in Oklahoma this morning. It was 5.6, centered a little north of Pawnee, OK, and we felt it in Pittsburg, KS. I was in bed when it felt like a strong person had grabbed the frame and was shaking it vigorously. I could hear items on the dresser rattling. My brain ruled out a passing truck and something hitting our house before it settled on "earthquake." It shook us a little, but no damage was done.

I've also been a little shaken figuratively.

When I first published Outsider, I thought I'd probably sell about three or four copies, mostly to family members. To my amazement, the people at work were excited to hear I'd been published. They lined up to buy the book and asked for my autograph. One even wanted to have her picture taken with me. This was followed by a whirlwind of books signings and an interview for the local newspaper.

Hindsight now tells me the truth: they thought "published" was the same as "famous." They thought I was already there ... and after a while, I believed it, too.

Lately, with book sales at zero, I've realized that we were mistaken. I'm not a failure, because I have four books published, but I'm not really successful either.

That's okay. Not everyone can be Stephen King or J.K. Rowling and I'm fine with that. The problem is that I spent too much time worrying that I didn't try hard enough or wasn't good enough ... and that's dried up my writing. That's not okay.

I'm going to try to go back to that feeling I first had when I saw Outsider pop up on amazon.com: happy and excited. I'm going to try to reacquaint myself with my characters. I might try to introduce myself to some new characters. Most of all, I want to reorient my thinking so that I don't obsess over how many books I've sold and instead concentrate on the joy of writing. That's what matters to me.

I was a little shaken, but I hope no damage was done.

Three Years

Believe it or not, today marks the three-year anniversary of this blog! (It doesn't look like it because my first official post was July 28, 2013, but that's because I accidentally deleted the first post from July 23! I was off to a great start there.)

It's hard for me to believe that I've written posts weekly for that long. It's hard to believe I found that much to say. I don't consider myself particularly thoughtful or opinionated, so it makes me wonder what all of those posts were about! Ha.

I would like to thank you if you've read one, all or some of my posts. I'm not exactly sure how many readers I have out there, but I thank all of you.

Here's the latest news on Diane McCallum and the Penumbra series. My fourth novel, The Other Side, is published and awaiting copyright registration. It's also in the local bookstore, Spellbound, so be sure to check it out! There is a fifth novel, but it needs so much work that I can assure you it will not be out for more than a year. I have a tentative title, but it might be a while before I release that.

I intend to release news about the fifth novel when I feel there's something worth mentioning.

However, the weekly blog is going to have to stop. I'm very sorry, but I am truly running out of things to say! When I have a novel that I'll be releasing soon, that keeps the ideas coming and I don't have any trouble writing a blog, but when there's no novel scheduled, that leaves a bit of a void (especially in my brain!). I've spent three years pushing to get the word out there and I won't just stop, but I have to take a break. That way I can spend more time on the fifth novel.

Please be assured that this blog won't die. If a certain team wins a certain series, you'll probably hear something about that. If a thought strikes me, I'll share it, whether you want to know or not! When there's progress on the next novel, I'll let you know that, too. My goal is to write something at least once a month. If I find that I'm posting at a particular time of the month, I'll let you know, but I'm afraid I can't give you any specifics right now. You can also follow me on my Facebook page: DianeMcCallumAuthor

Please keep spreading the word to your friends and family about the Penumbra series. I'd love to share my novels with a lot of people. My dream is to have people discussing the characters and plot (especially if I get to hear the discussion).

Thank you again for reading this blog and putting up with me. I will try to post again next week, just to round it out, and then we'll see what happens. Please check back!

The Other Side

If you scrolled down the page on my blog in the past few days, you might have noticed that there's a new book cover in the lower right. That's right: The Other Side is now published! It's available in paperback on Amazon: The Other Side  I hope to have it available for Kindle by next week.

What a process this one has been! It really tested my patience (which was probably good for me), but I'm so glad I stuck with it.

I want to thank Nicole Smith, the artist who created the cover image, for her patience and willingness to work with me to get the image right. She put up with a lot of emails from me and she was always gracious and helpful in response. Thanks, Nicole.

I also want to thank everyone who put up with my hand-wringing and eye-rolling throughout the long journey that led to this novel. You were all very kind not to tell me to shut up and get control of myself.

Now I hope at least a few people will read it ... and like it! Please spread the word that the fourth novel in the Penumbra series is out: no one will read it if they don't hear about it. (And if you buy the novel from Amazon, please write a review.)

Thanks for your help!

Finally Some Good News

I just returned from Nebraska, where I spent some time with my parents and sister. The weather was spectacular for us, except for one brief downpour that managed to drench me thoroughly. We did a little sightseeing (driving past the Nebraska State Capitol never gets old), watched a little hockey and baseball, and did a lot of talking, which was the most enjoyable.

It's always nice to spend time with people who accept me for who I am and don't seem to mind my company, amazingly enough.

When I got home, there was a brown cardboard package waiting for me in the stack of mail. I knew it was the latest proof copy of The Other Side ... and once again, I was a little afraid to open it. We've had so much trouble with the cover image and I wasn't sure I was ready to go through that again. However, I knew I had to do it, so I opened it.

I think this is the one! The image is much better and I think the artist has fixed the problem. I can't tell you how happy I am to report that to you.

Tomorrow after I get unpacked and do the laundry, I'm going to try to go through the whole book once more (just a run-through, not a complete rereading), and then I'll most likely approve it at CreateSpace.com. When that's done, it won't be long before The Other Side shows up on Amazon!

I must admit that there were times I wondered if that would ever happen, but I was determined to see it through, so we're almost there. You can either watch for the news on my Facebook page DianeMcCallumAuthor on FB, or keep checking Amazon, or check back here next week for the latest news on when it will be available.

Tell all your friends that it's almost time for the fourth novel in the Penumbra series to come out!

And thank you again for your patience.

Out of the Habit

Some habits are bad (like that mid-afternoon snack of Pringles chips I just had). Some habits are good (such as using a seatbelt or brushing one's teeth). It seems to be easy to fall into a habit if you don't want it, and hard if you do want it. (For example, regular exercise is difficult for me, although I've been working on that lately with more walking.)

I've had habits come and go throughout my life. Some of them are pretty weird: when I take a carrot stick from the refrigerator, I always tap it twice against the rim of the container and then shake it once over the sink to get the excess water off. At bedtime, I start by lying on my left side and then turn over onto my right side when I'm ready to sleep. I'm sure there are others I'm not even aware of.

Could I break these habits if I wanted to? Yes, if I put my mind to it ... but there seem to be more important things to worry about than these little quirks.

However, I find I've lost one habit that I had for a long time: writing. I think I need to clarify that: writing fiction. For years, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for me to be working on two or three novels at the same time. Short stories also swirled through my brain. I was always scribbling down ideas or daydreaming to bring the ideas into better focus.

Then I got my first novel published. Suddenly I had to concentrate on the details of the novel (fonts, front pages, title, back cover text, etc.). Then I had to worry about book signings, copyright protection, marketing and social media. So I worked feverishly on all of those things.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped writing. I've done plenty of rewriting (enough for a while!), but the ideas have dried up. I'm pretty sure it's just because I got out of the habit. Unfortunately, this isn't a habit that comes easily, at least not this time. I've been trying, but there aren't any ideas in my head yet. It's going to take some practice. I'll have to get into the habit of putting myself in front of a keyboard and forcing myself to find words to put on the page. (I think that short story I wrote last Halloween was a good beginning.)

I know it will come back sooner or later. There are hints of images or considerations in my head. I just need to tease them out and turn them into something resembling a story. I'll probably write some pretty terrible stuff before I get something good.

Don't get me wrong: I'm very glad I published my novels. It's been an exciting ride, and I'm not done yet. It's just that I'm ready to get back to creating more of them!

Update on The Other Side: the artist is working to make the cover image a little lighter. I expect to hear from her in the next few days. After that, I'll submit the new version and order a new proof copy. (I'm getting into the habit of patience, not entirely by choice. Ha!) Stay tuned, and thanks for your patience.

Onward

Happy 2016!

I've done some of my year-end tasks: changed the calendars, taken down the Christmas lights, put away the tree ... oh, and run some year-end sales reports.

Whew. That added a solemn note to my day. If you include all formats of my novels (paperback and Kindle), I sold 78 copies in 2013, my first year at this. That was with only one novel out.

In 2014, I had two novels out and I sold 36 copies in all.

In 2015, I had three novels out and I sold 16 copies in all.

Ouch. Sixteen copies all year! That's not the direction I saw things going. It was easy to feel gloomy about that, and I did for a while.

But then I took a step back. When I first released Outsider, I thought I'd probably sell about three copies (mostly to family). I've sold a few more than three, so I think I can be proud of that.

Besides, sales weren't really the point. I started writing Outsider because I thought it was fun. As I went along, I realized I cared about my characters and wanted to explore them some more, so I wrote a few more novels. At some point in the continuous rewriting of Outsider, I decided it was time to stop doing that, so I published it. I really wanted to share my characters with other people. And I've done that. It's pretty amazing to me that Lamont and Reg and Sean can live in other people's heads, not just in mine. They can do that if people share copies of the novel or check them out of a library, which won't show on a sales report.

So I'm going to do what I was doing before I ran the reports: go back to making The Other Side as good as I can make it. I'm going to fix the problem chapters, determine when I think it's ready and then publish it.

That's what I do. I write and rewrite. If I sell some along the way, that's great. I really appreciate all of you who have bought a copy or two! It would be nice if we could make 2016 better than 2015 ... but if not, that's okay. I'll be working on the fifth one!

Happy New Year

I'm taking the weekend off, due to the holidays, but I want to wish you all the best in 2016.

By the way, I was informed that it's hard to leave comments on my blog, so I've made it easier and I can explain the process. If you look at the bottom of each blog post, you'll see "No comments" in blue (or "1 comment," etc.). If you click on that blue phrase, you'll be taken to another screen. There you can type in your comment. Then you need to click on the drop-down box to identify what type of user you are. You can choose Anonymous or you can choose Name/URL (and leave the URL blank) if you want people to know your name. Then click on Publish. You'll have to tell it you're not a robot. Then you're done!

Now that's it's easier, I hope you'll consider leaving a comment sometime. I'd appreciate it!

Have a very happy New Year.

On My Own ... For Now

I came home from work this past week to find a message on my answering machine. Before we get to the message: yes, I have an answering machine! No, I don't have a smartphone yet. (Insert amazed gasp from the audience here.)

I guess it's ironic that I write science fiction, which involves changes in technology that I haven't always embraced myself. My characters fly in a spaceship and I'm still using an answering machine. I never said I always make sense!

Anyway, the message was rather hard to understand but it appeared to be a publishing company. This gave me an instant rush of excitement: this was my big break! Next stop, New York Times Bestseller List! Fortunately, I do have some common sense, so I looked up the company online. I then realized it was not a publishing company, but a publishing service. They want me to pay them to format, design and market my book. (I'm not going to name the company since I decided not to go with them.) Thanks, but no thanks.

It made me think, though. If an actual publishing company called, would I go with them? At first, I thought, "Heck, yes!" But then I thought more about it. It's true that my marketing attempts are feeble and would be wildly improved by a national publisher, but that's one of the few benefits they could offer. Right now, I control my future and my novels. No one else has told me how to format the next novel or when to release it. No one else has told me what to blog about or what I need to put on my Facebook page. No one else has told me what my next story should involve. Those are the advantages of self-publishing.

I'm definitely not saying I wouldn't change my mind. If anyone at Tor is reading this, for example, I'd love to hear from you! But you'd better have a very good offer. The one thing a big publisher could do for me is this: they could spread the word and interest a whole new group of readers. I'd like that.

For now, I'm on my own. And that's okay.

For those of you who have been asking, I'm hoping to release the next novel in January. Thanks for your continued patience!

P.S. Happy Flag Day!

100th Blog and 4th Title

Believe it or not, this is my 100th blog post! I don't think I quite believed I'd get to this point when I first started blogging, almost two years ago, but here I am. And I want to thank those of you who regularly read these little batches of words.

Here are a few of my favorite posts: Late Bloomers  How to Write a Novel  Taking Flight

Here are some little-known facts about my first novel: Part 1  Part 2

Here's my first Closet Spaceship post: CS Part 1

I intend to keep writing this blog, at least until I publish the fifth novel. Sometimes that thought is a little scary because I can't imagine what I'll have to say for that many posts, but that's what I thought after the first post ... and I'm still going. (Put me in a pink suit, hand me some sunglasses and a drum, and turn me loose!)

Now, as your reward for bearing with me while I indulged in a little nostalgia, I'm going to reveal the title of the upcoming fourth novel. Are you ready?
Here it is: The Other Side

I hope that will pique your interest. None of my novels is the same, but this one is going to be a little different than the others, a little more "out there," I guess you could say.
I tried to stretch myself a bit. Time (and my readers) will tell if I did it successfully.

Thanks again for reading!

How I Made a Video

I hope you've seen my video for Outsider by now. Please share it with your friends: you can either send them a link, or you can go to Youtube, find the video and click on "Share." Then you can choose Facebook, Google+ or wherever you wish to share it.

Here's the link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VihpR0pKQXE

I'd been wanting to make a video for quite some time, but I wasn't sure how to do it until I learned about Windows Movie Maker. I threw together a little test video to see how the software works, but I knew I couldn't get away with making a video using others' photos or drawings, so that was my first hurdle.

To solve it, I bought some Crayola markers and cut some sheets of paper into fourths. Each quarter was one of the images. I drew up a little storyboard so I would know what images I needed. Then I drew images on the paper and scanned them into my computer. Since they looked a little raw, I fixed them up using Paint. (This was the most time-consuming process of the whole video.)

Once I had my bundle of images, I imported them into Windows Movie Maker. I arranged them on the timeline at the bottom, and then I began adding effects and transitions. This took a while because there are an amazing number of these available! At first I only used fades, but then I began experimenting with dissolves, peels and other effects. It was kind of fun. (The most important thing I learned was to Save Project, so I could save my changes but I didn't have to finalize the video.)

Then I hit another snag: what music to use? I knew I couldn't use someone else's music any more than I could use someone else's images, so I was stuck. (I had some music lined up but couldn't use it because of copyright.) Fortunately, Youtube has free music available in their Audio Library, so I spent quite a bit of time going through that until I found something I liked. Actually, I found two songs and it took me several play-throughs before I could pick one that fit better with the video images. (I chose "Warrior Strife" by Jingle Punks. Great band name!)

Of course, the song I wanted was too short, so I had to paste it in there twice, cut off the excess and add a fade at the end so it didn't just end abruptly.

Then, after some hesitation, I pressed the "Publish" key and there was my video! I still had to upload it to Youtube, of course, but that wasn't so bad after the whole process of creating it.

In a way, this process was a lot like publishing Outsider itself. I created the story, spent a lot of time to format it the way I wanted, and then had to have the courage to press "Publish." I'm glad I did, in both cases.

I might make a video for Another Shot, but I think it will be a while before I have that much spare time, so don't hold your breath.

Thanks again for your support!

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you'll be able to spend the day with someone you love.
"I love you" never goes out of style.

In the Shadows is now available for Kindle on amazon.com. Be sure to note that if you buy the paperback, you can get the Kindle version for only 99 cents!

I have the bookmarks, too. There was a bit of a misunderstanding, which meant that the printers called to let me know my order was ready ... before I could look at a proof! Fortunately, when I went to look at them, I decided they weren't bad. The green was a little darker than I'd expected, but I think it works with the green that's in the cover image, so I'm happy with them.

I just registered for copyright protection today. You can find more about how I did this here.

Here's the poster I created to put up at work:

I've had some good responses so far. I want to thank my loyal readers, who get excited every time I release a new novel. You make a huge difference and I really appreciate you!

Let's keep spreading the word, okay?

Proofing is Done

Believe it or not, I finally finished proofreading In the Shadows. Of course, I could have continued to go over it forever, but I decided it's time to stop that and let go. Unfortunately, I still have to put it through CreateSpace's review process, so it won't be released in January after all.

But I was close!

This novel proved to be a bit of a challenge in more ways than one, but it taught me a few things. One of them is this: don't put it off until near the end of the year! If I'd worked on the novel more during 2014, I wouldn't have found myself releasing it in February instead of January. Lesson learned and let's hope the fourth one will be ready a little sooner.

No time to worry about the fourth one, however. I'm going to submit In the Shadows to CreateSpace. If all goes well, I might be able to approve it tomorrow and then it should be up on amazon.com by Monday or Tuesday!

If you follow me on Facebook, I'll post there when the book is available. Otherwise, you can either check amazon or tune in to this blog next weekend.

Thanks for your patience and support!

Description of In the Shadows

I got the second proof copy for In the Shadows five days early! That means I have something to do all weekend, which is too bad because the weather here in southeast Kansas is beautiful. I did take a break long enough to go for a walk so I won't permanently become part of my reading chair.

While I was waiting for the latest proof copy, something suddenly occurred to me: I haven't yet released even the slightest description of In the Shadows! I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but at least I thought of it before I actually publish the novel.

So here is the cover blurb (fanfare optional):
Assassins are after Captain Ben Lamont and his co-pilot, someone has set an ambush for the crew of Penumbra, and there's a mysterious new wormhole at the edge of explored space.
Lamont has a lot to deal with, but he's determined to find out if they're connected and who's behind them. He'll stop at nothing ... until one of his crew members must make a terrible choice to expose the truth.
Then Lamont must decide: how far will he go for the answers?

I hope that piques your interest. There will be some new characters and you'll learn more about some of the regulars. As usual, I tried to throw a little action in there, too.

Stay tuned! (And please help me spread the word as we get closer to the release.)

Getting Closer

This is going to sound familiar: the proof copy of In the Shadows is on its way to me!

Let me explain. Yes, I did already receive a proof copy, as I reported earlier, but it wasn't long before I realized I didn't have a finished product in my hands. As I told you last week, the cover seemed to have problems, which I hope we've resolved, although I'm not sure. Also, there were a lot of changes to make to the interior.

Changes to the interior? Wasn't that done? I thought so, but I was wrong. I discovered I had two chapters that were simply too long, so I broke those up. I also realized I'd made a big error in one scene, so I rewrote that. I made a few other changes, too.

Since I made so many changes, I didn't feel right approving the novel until I can get another look at it, so that's why I've decided to order another proof copy. This will be the first time I've ever done that for a novel.

So I'm afraid we're back to waiting. The ETA for the proof copy is January 27, so that will give me a few days to check it closely and still release the novel by the end of January. We'll see if it's possible. I hope so!

Thank you for your patience.

Slight Delays

Now that I have the proof copy of In the Shadows, I thought I'd just sail through the rest of the process ... but I wasn't quite right about that.

My biggest problem is that I happen to have a job where I basically proofread all day. During the week, I get home from work to discover that more proofreading just doesn't sound fun, so that mostly leaves the weekend. By then, though, my eyes are tired and need a break. Because of this, I'm moving a little more slowly than I thought I would.

Another issue involves the cover. When I took the proof copy to the artist, the first thing she noticed was that part of the right side of the image was cut off. When I picked up a ruler, I discovered that the width that CreateSpace lists on their site for my cover design is actually about .25" more than what the proof copy width is, so that's a problem. The artist and I are working on that and hope to get it resolved soon. (Actually, she's doing more of the work on that right now.)

So things aren't moving quickly. I promise I'll keep working on the proofing, but I already see that one scene needs a rewrite, which will take a little time.

I'm still aiming to get this novel released in January, but it's starting to look like it will be late January.

Stay tuned for updates.

It's Here

Happy New Year! 2015 has arrived and we are now responsible for making it the best we can.

The proof copy of In the Shadows has also arrived! I almost missed it because we'd already brought in the mail when the carrier apparently made an extra trip to deliver it. My husband happened to be going next door and stumbled on the package tucked in our box. Thank goodness!

The first thing I noticed is that it seems small! When I hold it up to Outsider or Another Shot, it's a little smaller because it's a little shorter. This one is 291 pages (Outsider is 359). I guess you don't have to worry about me getting too wordy this time around.

Since I got it late in the afternoon and I'm working on the fourth novel today, I had to make myself put down the proof copy so I can look at it tomorrow. Once I start, I'll probably be studying it non-stop, so I need some unbroken time. I keep looking over my shoulder at it, though.

Meanwhile, work on the fourth novel continues. I think I have a title, but I need a little time to mull it over and decide whether it will work. The novel has chapters, though! That's never easy because some chapter breaks are obvious but others are hard to shoehorn in there. There were times I thought I'd have a 20-page chapter because I couldn't decide where to break the action. Let's hope it will work the way I have it.

Don't worry, though: I will start checking the proof copy of In the Shadows tomorrow. I want to get that part done so I can keep my promise of publishing it this month. It shouldn't be a problem, but I'll feel better when it's done. Then will come the scary part: seeing if anyone will 1) buy it, 2) read it, and 3) like it. That part is out of my hands (which is probably why it's scary).

Stay tuned!

In the Shadows Update

I've made more progress since last week, so here's the latest update.

On Monday, I got the final image from the artist for the cover. It's now on my hard drive, ready to be submitted.

On Wednesday, I registered In the Shadows with CreateSpace.com and received an ISBN for it. (That's always one of my favorite steps.) I then typed the ISBN on the copyright page.

On Thursday, I submitted the interior and it was accepted. Whew! I paged through their Interior Reviewer, which shows me what the interior will look like once it's printed, and it all looked pretty good. I also got some Likes for my posting about it on my Facebook page, which I really appreciated. Thanks for your support, everyone!

Now I'm frantically trying to write the cover blurb. I've told you a little about this in the past: I need two blurbs, one for the cover and one for the Amazon page. I think I've got the one for Amazon done, but the cover blurb is proving to be pesky. I'm getting some editorial help from my husband, who keeps telling me to "punch it up," so I'll work on it some more and try to get that finished today or tomorrow. Once that's done, I can start working on the cover at CreateSpace.com.

The book is starting to come together! Don't forget, though, that I'll have to order a proof copy and proofread the whole thing again, so we're still looking at January for a release date. I feel I'm getting closer, though!

Thanks again for your support.

How Many?

I got a reminder this past week of how important it is to proofread a novel several times. I can read over the same thing three, four or five times before I catch an error. As it turns out, I can fix the error and still have a problem ...

I was reading over an action scene in the third novel. It's one of those scenes with a bunch of characters all moving at the same time, so I knew I had to keep careful track of who was doing what. I'd already mapped out the scene once before, but I apparently made some changes after that because when I read it this time, I realized something was wrong: I had someone appear out of thin air!

That's right. The scene takes place in a closed room and when I walked through the actions of the characters, I got one person too many. It was frustrating because I couldn't make it work the way it was written.

Time to rewrite.

I finally got out some colored paperclips and arranged them on a chair to visualize which character was where as I worked through the action. I think it works now, but I might put it aside and reread it in a few days to see if that's true.

And that's one of the reasons why I don't release a novel every few months! I can only imagine the stupid mistakes I'd find if I rushed through the process.

Speaking of stupid mistakes: the next time you have a few minutes, check out "Weird Al" Yankovic's video "Word Crimes." Even if you don't recognize the song it's based on (I didn't), it's a lot of fun. Grammar counts!  Here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

Outsider is Back!

Well, that took less time than I expected! Here's what you'll see at amazon.com now:

Status of Outsider on amazon.com Feb. 2, 2014

Yea! That was much easier than I anticipated. You should be able to buy Outsider in both paperback and Kindle versions now.

And don't forget Another Shot!

Remember, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, so now is the perfect time to grab a book or two for those times when it's too cold to go outside. Tell all of your friends and relatives!