I had a thought some time ago and had stated awhile back that I won't be known until my tenth book. I still believe this to be true. I'm five books in of various styles. Three from a publisher and two self-published. The two poetry books were works that I had lying around for some time. The two horror anthologies were adapted from screenplays before I had ever written a novel which is why they have that feel. The hard science fiction novel was my first attempt at writing a novel and stylistically was my merging from (attempted) screenwriting to book writing. Writing Last Rites of the Capacitance was eye-opening and a game-changer for me. After finishing it I thought "Yeah, I guess I could do this." That book was really unconventional with use of found footage, camera angles, journal entries, and news streams but it all helped me tell the story I wanted to tell in the way I wanted it told. So, poetry aside, going from writing comic scripts and screenplays to trying to adapt said screenplays and trying to finish short stories, writing Capacitance was a big step forward but I knew that eventually, if I were to continue, I would write some more conventional looking novels.
I have a book in me that I've started but had felt it was too big for me at the time. But earlier this year I had thought of a story that I was compelled to write and it just so happened that the format which the previously 'too big' story would work best for it. It's a format that has helped me as a writer trying to deal with various characters and various stories tying together by a common theme or conflict. About a week or so into June I sat down to start writing it. There were so many moving parts for me that I just had to jump in it in hopes that it would all fall into place - which said format helped. For the most part it's unlike anything else I've written, having to do more with real world problems. Once a chapter was done I had my wife read it and she was shocked. Then, knowing what I was doing, Anchanie began sending me news reports whilst I was working on it. Between what she was sending me and what I was looking up it all added to the mood and the feel of what I was doing. Nothing was replicated or used in the book but it was, again, used to for the fuel. In the fastest first draft I could really imagine doing, my second novel was finished before the end of July. Writing it was grueling. Though it's more conventional than Last Rites of the Capacitance and written a lot quicker, it was a harder write. I was already not in the best of places mentally, emotionally, what have you but writing this was brutal. It didn't help the fact that whenever I sat down to work I had to get into the mindset of the characters and their stories and it's never sunny. So when I was finished, I was happy to walk away from it. My wife had mentioned how different I was while writing it, not in a Jack Torrance kinda way, but there was definitely something 'not me' about me during work on it. I knew there was something missing from it but couldn't figure out what exactly. Of course, I was in a weird rabbit hole throughout so I had gotten to a point where I couldn't even think clearly, or optimistically for that matter. When it was done I had her read it and she picked it apart to say what she liked and didn't like. The things she didn't like were definitely telling to the something missing. I was afraid of having to rewrite the whole thing in order to find that something. I was still unsure how to fix it for some time until I was falling asleep one night and the exact thing (or two) needed presented itself to me. However, I was still apprehensive about returning to it, knowing exactly the effect it would have on me, even if it was temporary.
Since July I have been tinkering with several projects, mostly in the realm of scifi. I've been writing my fingers to the bone to set up books to get done. In that time I self-published a horror anthology, saw the release of my second volume of poetry, self-published my second horror anthology, and saw the release of my first novel (my third release from Supposed Crimes). I don't know if anyone's reading them but they exist nonetheless. Regardless of not having a readership, I've continued; mostly setting up a future. During this time I started looking through screenplays I'd written that aren't gaining any traction. I settled on the script Anchanie and I had come up with, A Quiet Moment in the Symphony. It falls more in the genre of psychological drama/thriller. I had learned since adapting the horror anthologies and knew I wanted to take what I'd learned and really put forth the time and effort. Instead of just stripping away the script speak and putting it out there, I was going to flesh it out and try to make a real novel out of it. Much like the book I wrote over the summer, this one too is a bit personal and taxing but it was almost more so for my wife to read. When we had come up with it originally and I wrote the screenplay, it was so much that she ended up having nightmares from it. This script is over two years old and neither of us had really looked at it since my shopping it around. I adapted the first chunk which would be chapter one and had her read it. And all over again, from that first chapter, she had nightmares that night. I've been trying to promote Last Rites of the Capacitance since its release so I haven't made it back to complete it but I feel good about it and where it's going.
While working on this first chapter, I thought about the other scripts I'd written and my failed dream of being a screenwriter. I thought about how much I'd put into the scripts and realized it was a blessing in disguise. These screenplays would no doubt be rewritten or scrapped or what have you but writing them as novels I can do whatever I want with them. The thought was encouraging and I definitely look forward to doing them. Some of them, including A Quiet Moment in the Symphony, are a great challenge for me as they're fairly visual; which is fantastic because I want to expand my visual writing. Around that time I had another idea gnawing at me that I needed to get down. It all seems like a lot and not very focused but, again, most of this is just setting up for future works. I needed a change in writing for something different so I went back to a notebook and pen and began writing it at night before going to sleep. Another hard scifi not based on anything prior. Both that yet-to-be-titled book and Quiet Moment are just in phases of casually working on here and there with no set laser focus at this time.
After doing the promoting for Last Rites of the Capacitance I needed a break and took about a week off from any real writing. I continued to think about all the work I'm juggling and took notes here and there. Of course, I'm constantly coming up with new things so I have to catalog most of it because I can only do so many at a time. Usually I work on several projects when one becomes the main focus. I thought about it and ultimately felt it was time to return to the novel I wrote this summer, editing and adding. I started back on it a couple of days before Thanksgiving and it was hard going back. It was as if I had almost forgotten the impact or effect it has on me so it was a slow start. I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the year (month, hopefully) and then I can start trying to find a home for it. Then I can give you the title and all that. For now it's just a 'secret mystery project' of mine.
I have a lot going on. I plan on self-publishing some more things, writing more for Supposed Crimes, and finding other publishers for what's to come. I don't know how many people read this blog or read my work and furthermore I don't know what the tenth book will be or when it will come but I hope you guys check it all out.
My library available now - All available in paperback and digital:
Gun Control for Polar Bears & Reflections at Various Speeds.
Poetry of different kinds, ideas, emotions, stories, etc.
Last Rites of the Capacitance.
A hard scifi about survival, medical space exploration, and more.
Sharp Items & Bad Intentions & Beyond the Wall.
Two horror anthologies that are just brutal, often 'hardcore'.
