I feel like I have accomplished a whole lot with regard to
the 3rd book in my Unconditional Love series. Book 3, Love, Trust,
and Learning to Live Again, is about Darian. (You all know this.) But I was
having trouble figuring out HOW to tell the tale and not recap everything that
happens in book 1 & 2 by flipping the info around to see it from Darian’s
POV. Not really where I wanted to go. However, to understand Darian you have to
read his life from the beginning. How do I do that and not keep you waiting
until page 7000 to know what happens after the last chapter of TCOL? Hahha.
(Because I couldn’t be that cruel, muahhahaha.)
Well, I think I figured it out. Over the weekend I came up
with a structure for this novel that I think is consistent with the other two,
yet different on its own. Can it be read as a “stand alone”? Probably. I tried
to write TCOL as a “stand alone”, yet it would be better to read after WLINE.
LTLTA is the same basic concept. You CAN read it 1st, but you won’t
want to. It has dates for reference—I wouldn’t want to confuse people too much
while they read. I am using my nifty timeline and making sure the facts fit the
dates. As of right now, I have 16,322 words. I wrote about 2k over the weekend.
It is on several word docs so the count is confusing at times. I found it
easier to open another document and write the scene in my head rather than
figure out where in the story it fits. Why? Haha, this is not a chronological
read.
Questions you may ask: Does it have annoying POV shifts, you
ask? No, not really. I am trying to keep them to a minimum. What about time-jumps
and flashbacks? Yes, I have those!!! As is true to my style of writing, I weave
the past and the present, and unfold my tale in an unconventional manner. TCOL
is probably the most chronologically consistent book I’ve written. (Maybe.
“Jock” was mostly chronological.)
What I learn through blogging about my thoughts on writing,
and what I learn from readers of the few things I have published, is that
opinions vary! LOL, imagine that!!! There are those who hate the over use of
exclamation points, and those who yell, “Bring them on!” There are those who
like POV shifts, saying they give the readers a look into another character’s
head, and those who hate them with a passion. There are readers who like
flashbacks at random moments, and those who’d rather take the action one event
at a time, in sequential order. There are readers who like lots of sex in a
book, and those who’d rather go without it. There are those who like reading a
sequel about the same characters, and readers who want to read about someone
new. What does this all tell me—the writer—about what I should write? Nothing,
and everything. It tells me I can’t please everyone all the time. I will please
some, sometimes, and therefore I can not write to please the audience.
I am voicing thoughts here for those out there who are
future writers and those who just like to hear me ramble…
I have learned I need to write for myself. For the most part.
When writing, the author needs to think of the audience. If I have NO audience
besides myself, then I can not think to publish things. Publishers what to know
who the audience is. They want to know genre and age group (for the most part).
So, I CAN write for myself, but it is to my benefit to write to a specific
audience as well. Who reads M/M romance? Some gay men, and MANY straight women.
A rather large audience so I’m fine there. Haha. It is good to know what is
popular and selling the most, but I have also seen that some people like to
read something NEW. In this area, I find I can write for myself. I want to
write, what I want to write. If I totally give in and write the “popular”
stuff, then I end up being just like everyone else. I don’t want to be. I want
to find my own voice, and my own readership that likes my style. That’s the
dream, isn’t it? (Writing whatever you want and people will read it.) I can’t
assume that will hold true if I publish crap. I’m trying not to. I know I need
to improve on editing and learning proper grammar etc. Are there grammar police
out there who would like to beta-read my next one? (comment below.)
So, basically, I write what I feel, I know what I know, I
write what I think others need to hear, and I write from my experience (or the
experiences I have witnessed.) Most things though, are taken from my life in
one way or another. TCOL especially has loads of scenes from the reality that
is my life, but written into the life of Matt Dixon. When TCOL come out, I’ll
talk and blog more on the content in the novel.
It has been almost 5 weeks since I submitted TCOL one last
time. Are your fingers crossed? How about your toes? Tongue? I need all the
well wishes you can send. Please. Pretty please.
Timeframe, in a PERFECT world… (perfect being the one where
the publisher wants TCOL because then ALL forms of the books actually come out
at once and I get decent exposure.) … TCOL would come out ASAP. (LOL) And after
that, LTLTA would come out in September. (Before the conference.) This would
mean I need to write and finish LTLTA as fast as I can—hopefully by the end of
April. I don’t know if that is all possible, but I’m picturing the perfect
world. (I’m a dreamer, remember?)
Non-perfect world… Publisher rejects it. THEN, I would
self-publish TCOL as soon as possible because it would be only available in
Kindle for 90 days. I would write LTLTA with enough time to publish it by June
sometime, so that paperback (and eBook other than Kindle) is available by late
September or October. (Before the conference in Atlanta.)
And what do you lovely readers think of that? Do I dream too
big? Can this happen?
I think it can, I think it can, I think it can….
Repeating myself: Please, follow me on Twitter,
"follow" my BLOG,
"like" me on Facebook, add
me to your "circles" on Google+,
check out my pins on Pinterest,
review my books on Goodreads;
and by all means, check my webpage
often for changes.
Read my books: My Roommate's a
Jock? Well, Crap! and When Love is Not
Enough. Thanks.
Your grateful servant,
~Wade J
FYI: acronyms: WLINE (When Love is Not Enough), TCOL (The Cost of Loving), LTLTA (Love, Trust, And Learning to Live Again), "Jock" (not an acronym) My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap!
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