Towards the Last Reel
(And a Christmas competition)
I’m heading towards the last reel of ‘Agents of the Truth’, with the word count now at 72,000 words (draft one). Because of one thing or another, I’ve not been able to set aside as many hours per day for writing as I would like. As you might know, I also freelance for a living, and recently, a job I’d been working for several years suddenly came to an end. Not only has this left a gaping hole in the income stream, but it’s also left me looking around for a replacement job. I’ve been working up some proposals for Fiverr and PeoplePerHour, offering creative writing developmental services, and have a couple of other feelers out, but until things are back on track, I have to concentrate on finding work, while balancing the novel-writing with promotions.
So, instead of writing up to five or six thousand words per day, recently I have only been able to manage two thousand. What this has done, strangely, is make me write more slowly. I am correcting as I go. Rather than correcting a sea of red underlines at the end of a three-hour sprint, I am writing a paragraph, rereading it and making corrections and changes, and then moving on. Odd, I’ve not worked this way before.
It may be because I have the story planned in my head. I am already a few scenes in advance of myself, and, mentally, putting in the details. These often change when the fingers get to work on the keyboard, but at least I have the structure, hurdles, complications and ‘hit points’ ready for when I need them.
On which note, it’s five in the morning and I’m up early so I can do my job-hunting before I settle down to grapple with a guest appearance by a character from the Clearwater Mysteries. After that, my agent of the truth, Dalston Blaze, has another hurdle to overcome before he can move on emotionally and within what’s turning out to be a slowly building climax to a double mystery.
Talking of Dalston…
Christmas Competition with Giveaway
I’m planning to feature Dalston Blaze on the cover of a future book, but what does he look like? We already have Joe Tanner on the ‘Guardians’ cover, but how do you imagine Dalston? We know he’s six-foot, and there are a few other descriptions of him in ‘Guardians’ and ‘Keepers’, but who do you see when you read about him?
Tomorrow I will be the featured author on the fabulous M/M Euro Book Banter Facebook Page. Come over and join me and have your chance to share your image of anyone you’ve seen online who you thinks looks like Dalston.*
Do that, and you’ll be in the draw for a free eBook giveaway of ‘Agents of the Truth’ when it’s published. (Kindle or ePub version.)
Check my FaceBook page for more details.
* This may not be the person I use. I will have to license a photo/model for the cover, but it will be a bit of fun and give me a good idea of the kind of guy you’d like to see on the cover.
