It’s the 19th day of NaNoWriMo, and I’m slightly behind, but not by much. I just now started writing for the day, and I have almost 2K words to write just to catch up, but over all, I think I’ve done a remarkable job staying on track, but I never was able to build the lead as I would have liked.
My problem right now is that my characters are flip flopping. One was my killer, a male who became a female-to-male crossdresser, but then the female character blossomed and is now a person in her own right. I’m going to have a lot of revising to do to fix this.
Then my two main characters, ex-lovers who are forced to work together in order to survive, are simply getting along too well. The tension between the two isn’t developing as it should. I need their history to make their close proximity to each other a difficult, almost impossible proposition. They need to become more hostile towards each other. I need Shelby’s animosity to grow to the point where her feelings of rejection and abandonment consume her, and it spills over.
This is the story I want to tell, of two people who once loved each other figuring out how to coexist. It needs to be about the pain of a broken heart, and learning to live when someone leaves when you need them the most. It’s the journey from the bitter edge, where one can lose all hope and direction, and learn that there’s more to life than one failure.
Right now, everything is too convoluted to make sense of it. You’d think I would learn by now, that writing doesn’t always go in the direction you hoped it would. No matter. Onward, ho!
Happy Monday! Well, it’s already almost over, but there’s still an hour and a half left until Tuesday begins, at least here in Texas. I wasn’t going to write anything today, but here I am. I’m still under the weather, but I forced myself to go to work. Somehow, and I don’t know how, I managed to work my shift. When I got home, I crashed. I’m still in bed, only getting up to grab a bite to eat.
But enough of my sad little life, the NaNoWriMo site has relaunched! If that doesn’t excite you, well I’m sorry. I’ve had a few ideas of what I want to write, but nothing concrete. On the way home, as I listened to the songs I have on my phone, one came on that I like. It isn’t one of my favorites, and most days I skip it, but I let it play today. While listening, one line stuck out;
So I wash away stains of yesterday…,
~Forgiveness – Collective Soul 1997~
The wheels in my head began to turn, the idea of heartbreak becoming a much used starting point to my stories. I can’t help myself. It’s what motivated me to begin writing back during my first NaNoWriMo in 2011. I don’t want to give out too many details because I don’t want anyone to steal it, and also because they aren’t fully formed, but it’s enough to get the creative juices flowing. So my NaNo 2015 is tentatively titled Stains of Yesterday.
I’ve already created the novel, and I’m ready to get started. There’s still a chance it may change before November, but at least I have a jumping point. I may start planning a loose plot structure, nothing concrete, just a sketch of what the story will be, where I want it to go, and why. I’m getting excited already!
And if you’re interested, here’s the song, in all it’s 90’s goodness
I hate to do this, but I had hoped to get caught up on my reading this weekend, but alas, it was not meant to be. I’m going to be late on my book review, which is something I really hate to be. I’ve been feeling under the weather and it’s hitting me hard today. Instead of sitting and reading after work today, which was my plan, I fell onto the couch in a crumpled heap.
I plan to get it written and posted asap, hopefully by the end of the week.
Again, I’m really sorry
Happy Labor Day!
I managed to have the rare holiday off, and I took advantage of it and did nothing. That’s right, I spent a lazy day doing nothing, watching reruns of Good Eats, and dozing in and out. It was glorious!
But while I did nothing all day, I received an email from Oliver Chase, an author whose book Marsh Island, I reviewed back in November of 2013. He has a new book on the way, Levant Mirage, due to be published next month and is offering me a copy of it. How can I refuse? Of course, I’ll have to read it and I’ll write up a review to share with you all.
While I’m at it, I should consider writing more reviews. I enjoyed doing them, though I’ll admit to a little stress. I hate being critical of other author’s works. I know how hard it is to write, how difficult it is to shape, and how painful it is to set it free, but a job’s a job, and I have to be honest and give my opinion to the best of my ability.
I started my reviews in the hopes of bringing in some new readers to my blog, but I never saw much of an uptick. That’s okay. I read some good books, talked to people I never would have met otherwise, and seeing what others had to say broadened my horizon. I saw new ways of looking at things, experienced things I never would have experienced, and learned so much that I never knew before. That’s the power reading has. That’s the power a good writer embodies. It’s one I want.
Now I wait to get a copy, and I wonder what else I should read. I have a few books beside me, a couple from authors I have met in a writer’s group I meet with sporadically. I wish I could go more often, but my job limits my Sundays off. C’est la vie. If you are reading this, and you have a self-published book you want reviewed, don’t hesitate to email me at joe@joehinojosa.com.
You can also check out my other reviews here on my blog by clicking here or on the link at the top of the page. I can’t wait to get started again, and happy reading.
Joe Hinojosa 