Behind the Scenes on Belie

First, before I get too far — just a quick note of thanks to you, my faithful readers! Mirage has been out for a little more than a week as I write this, and I’m overwhelmed that it has managed to stay in the top ten for new releases during that period — and top fifty overall in it’s genre (LGBTQ Mystery).

Concurrent with that, my readers over on Kindle Unlimited seem to have found it with a passion — I’ve only seen such spikes in page reads once before, and, not surprisingly, it was with Vasily’s previous book, Requiem. It means the world to me that that people have connected with Vas and his universe; I know I say it so often now it’s like a mantra, but he is such a unique character, one that feels to me as real as anyone I actually know.

So again, a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has picked up a copy or downloaded the novel.

I have a confession to make: I am behind where I want to be with my latest work in progress, Belie. There are a number of reasons for that, none of them even remotely interesting other than the fact that I am wallowing in immense puddles of guilt over it. My wife — ever the sympathetic support — has gently counseled me that most of my deadlines are self-imposed and therefore, by definition, somewhat flexible. While she is (as always) correct, that doesn’t seem to help my writer’s brain that seems stubbornly stuck on the goal I set for myself how many novels I would complete this year. I’d planned on three; one is done (that would be Masks), and when I started number two back in March, I assumed I’d already be planning book three at this point in the summer — not limping to the final act in book two.

Well… I still think I can get three done this year, but it will be a bit of a crunch. Like I said earlier, I’ve not had nearly the same amount of time to devote to Belie as I have other books; grabbing time in small increments isn’t all that conducive to getting — and staying — in the zone as a writer, and, frankly, I’ve found it incredibly frustrating. The good news is that it appears I will have a bit of clear water in mid-July to try and pound out the final chapters of the book; if I can do that, I might yet still make the starting date for the final project of the year. Maybe.

I don’t often talk about how I write my novels on this blog, though a few tidbits have trickled out in the podcasts I’ve been doing for each book. Since I happen to literally have everything laid out in front of me for Belie as I write this, I thought I’d share a sneak behind-the-scenes peek at one of my writing tools: the Scrap Paper of Destiny(TM). This little beauty is a repurposed page from my Star Trek daily calendar and as you might have already divined from looking at it, contains a simple timeline. It might look short and sweet, but in actuality it’s a cribbed version of a longer item I have in my virtual notebook — the line-by-line chronology I work out to ensure that the “beats” of my story “hit” when (and where) I want them to. I know it’s incredibly old school to have a note like this when writing on a laptop, but for me, the ability to quickly glance at the paper and ensure I’m where I need to be has been invaluable.

But what do this particular notes mean? For that, you’ll have to tune in next week. 🙂