Tag: urban fantasy

I’ve written a lot in the past year about writing, but unless you’ve downloaded the free short story I have hanging out on the side bar of my website, you have no idea if I know what I’m talking about. This post will, I hope, fix that. I am nothing if not a fixer of problems (in my mind at least). So here is a sample of a scene I’ve written, I hope you enjoy it:

Excerpt from, “Midnight at the Sultan’s Palace”

  “The Sultan’s Palace is a bit of a letdown,” Chaz said. He adjusted his glasses and gestured out the van window to emphasize his disappointment to his crew. “I expected a grand mansion with minarets or something. That’s just a fancy three-story house like dozens of others we’ve seen around the French Quarter. We’ll really have to over-sell it to the audience.”

  The pale pink building towered above his oversized van parked across narrow, one-way Dauphine Street. The four men inside craned their necks for a better view of the house. Its’ elegant wrought-iron balconies and railings surrounded the upper floors like the decks of an old riverboat tied to a pier whose passengers were too well off to notice the men in the van below.

  “Three and a half stories,” Barry, his tech guy said. “I found the plans for the place before we came out to film. The house has an elevated basement under the main floor. You can see the little cross-barred windows from here.”

  Chaz couldn’t care less about how many floors there were inside. This investigation was supposed to recharge his audience for the third season of his Spirit Searchers cable TV show. He needed a ratings boost for the network to renew them for season four.

  The Sultan’s Palace had sounded like the perfect December filming location. It was warmer in New Orleans than most places they investigated this time of year. The location had lots of reported activity, from door slamming to full body apparitions. Best of all, unlike Eastern State or Trans-Allegheny, there was no competition from other shows trying to film on the longest night of the year.

Back to writing about writing…

Chaz and his crew are in for more excitement than they planned. Their investigation happens to be on the night that magic returns to the Earth. The spirits of the house come barreling into the present, scaring the cable TV crew out of their minds in the process. I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination until I add this short story to the downloadable content on the site.

The point in sharing this short bit of the opening scene is to show how many of the elements I’ve talked about come together in writing. This snippet grounds you in time and place, New Orleans after the advent of cable TV paranormal programming. It’s 2012 in this case. Description, dialogue, and internal monologue all flesh out the scene as the crew arrives to start their investigation.

Had I shared more of the scene, I could go on about differentiating characters, showing vs. telling, building suspense, depicting action sequences, and showing character growth. All of that is hard to cram into a short story. But once I could do that, scaling it up into chapters was simple. Once I decided I could master the short story, writing a novel length story was well within my grasp.

As much as I prattle on about getting my butt in the chair to write, I don’t always push my self to finish what I start. So every chapter or short story I finish feels like a bigger win to me than it might to others. Tonight was one of those nights, I’ve had less than four hours of sleep in the past forty-eight hours. Somehow, I got the story done, and scrubbed through Grammarly to boot.

I’ll let the story sit a day at least before I try to polish it, then share it with my critique group, before submitting it for the monthly challenge. I have most of a week till the deadline, which should be just about long enough. That sounds hectic to me, I’m used to a much more leisurely pace when I write.

Like Hannibal said, “I love it when a plan comes together.” No matter how often I write, or how many new worlds and characters I create, the joy of finishing a project is exquisite. It never gets old, even if it’s just a milestone like finishing a scene I struggled with, or polishing up a chapter in a novel. Each bit of forward progress is its own reward.

I’m worn out but smiling. Sleepy, but proud of myself. Sometimes, I need that little rush of endorphins that tells me I’m making progress. I few likes from readers does the same thing, but feedback from my critique group helps fill that void, too. Writing in a vacuum leaves my soul stagnant, I like to hear back about what I write. Whether it’s glowing praise or a harsh reality check. As long as my work improves, I’m happy to hear either one.

Short stories are so much fun to write!

The story of the Centriole is coming together, and I have some great twists in mind. It’s another story I’m writing for a monthly challenge. I tried not to build a whole new world just for one short story, but I failed. Fractal is a folded world near the very heart of creation. Life evolved there before it did anywhere else in the universe (several times). Naturally this gave the original inhabitants of Fractal a huge advantage over other more primitive life.

Rather than launch an empire building interstellar civilization, the Uluuan explored the universe, cataloging the species they encountered. They eventually encountered sentient species, but were reluctant to make direct contact. After much debate, the Uluuan extended offers of membership in a union of social, economic, academic, and military to those they deemed worthy of association. More violent or barbarous aliens were left to their own devices.

The Centriole is more than just a club…

The esteemed center of that exploration began (and continues to this day) in the Centriole. It is home to the Society of Explorers, a club of enthusiastic adventurers from thousands of species. Their quest to understand the universe and its former iterations is matched only by their success in amassing knowledge from billions of galaxies. My story focuses on one such Explorer, Ailish Halfnine.

Ailish is on the eve of launching the first full expedition from the Centriole to the primitive planet Earth. She has already scouted the planet alone, and brought back enough data to bring a full team. Her experts will examine our cultures, sample our flora and fauna, and duplicate and collect artifacts from our world.

Is a utopia founded on lies still a utopia?

She is understandably excited, and rushes to the Centriole to meet one last time with the patron of her expedition, Count Baalan of Derent on Time. She expects a routine send off from the Explorers Lounge with the Count’s inner circle, before embarking on a fantastic journey of discovery. All of that does not go entirely to plan. I can’t wait for you to discover the truth along with her.

In the world of my debut novel, Fantastic America, zombies and ghosts are the least dangerous things that go bump in the night. After the return of magic, monsters from many worlds reappear in the modern world. Creatures of nightmare, legend, and folklore prove they are all too real.

Unfortunately, animals considered myths by our ancestors are not the only creatures stalking the dark places of the world. Wraiths, shadowy imitations of life seek to terrify and corrupt the living. As magic grows stronger, the creatures it empowers grow bolder, and a scream in the night might not be human at all.

Other, far more potent monsters emerge from other worlds, intent on more than food and shelter. Mortal flesh provides more than nourishment to the fiends in the dark. They can also increase their numbers from victims of their wild hunts. Our ancestors were right to fear the dark, a lesson the modern world will need to relearn.

In the world of the Magic Unleashed series, the monsters in the dark are not content to stay in the shadows. They wait only for enough time, flesh, and blood to leave the darkness behind. No one from the modern world has learned how to fight back against the evils that lurk in darkness and only retreat from the light for the time being. Who will save humanity from such diabolical dangers?

The setting for a scene, or series of scenes grounds your story in more ways than one. Locations can impact everything from mood and theme, to climate and time periods. How you describe those elements can make or break a good scene (or scenes). Memorable settings come alive with appropriate (not just detailed) descriptions.

For example, how could I describe the Pantheon of Rome from the picture attached to this post? Depending on the scene I’m writing, there are any number of details that I could include. But the scene, and to an extent, the characters determine what is important for the reader to experience.

Is there action in my Pantheon scene, or is it a a puzzle to be deduced like a Dan Brown thriller? Maybe I’ll try my hand at Romance and describe two history buffs exploring the rotunda. They would notice far different things than a super-sleuth. Perhaps the building and it’s history are irrelevant to my story, and the people crowded inside are the focus of the characters.

It might go something like this:

A shaft of sunlight pierced the ancient oculus in the ceiling of the former temple. It bathed an empty niche high on the wall in vibrant light, as it had for two thousand years. The couple stood transfixed by the light that managed to reach them on the polished marble floor. For just a moment, they could step back in time together.

Even stripped of it’s Roman identity, and festooned with later Catholic regalia, the sight reminded Ian of the glory that was Rome. He squeezed Miranda’s shoulder as they gazed at the wonder of engineering the Pantheon represented to both of them. The crowd of tourists faded away as he imagined statues of the Gods in their niches, and bronze eagles surrounded by laurel wreaths representing the majesty of the Empire.

The characters drive the description but I still have to pick the right details

Ian and Miranda might not even see the same details, but writing the scene with a single character’s Point Of View requires a good understanding of Ian, too. A historian (even an amateur student of history) would pick out different details. Ian is focused on the Roman history of the temple, but in modern times, the Pantheon is a Catholic church. Miranda might pick out those details.

Even two people with similar interests might see things differently. Had I written the scene from Miranda’s POV, the later pieces of Christian decorations might have been her focus. Either way, the couple moving through the space determines what elements the readers see through their perspective.

Fantasy descriptions and real locations can overlap…

The Pantheon of Rome is a fabulous location, but it isn’t a fantasy setting as we know it. One thing I love to do is dress up a real location with fantasy trappings. I can imagine the same setting Ian and Miranda moved through, with an added fantastic element (or several). Not to detract from the real location, but to raise the expectation of the audience.

Perhaps the characters are fleeing a horde of zombies, or are racing against time to perform a ritual in the ancient temple. Only a site standing for thousands of years can give them refuge, or allow the spell to reach its intended effect. The appropriate details would be far different than a casual stroll through the rotunda. Barring the doors, measuring out the space for the ritual, setting up barricades, or lighting ceremonial candles might be more important. Characters and the events they are involved in direct their focus and what details I include in the scene.

I’m in the last stages of some site updates to clean things up a bit. The changes shouldn’t impact reading my posts at all. If you do run into trouble loading a specific page, please let me know. Everything should be finished and stabilized in a few days at most.

In the mean time, I’ll be adding new download options for free short stories once the updates are done. Some of these are new stories for me, and a couple have been on the shelf fermenting for a few months. I’m excited to share them with you.

My 365 days of consecutive blog posts is coming to an end, too. August 28th will mark a full year of daily posts. I feel like an out of shape runner who can finally see the finish line. My vision is blurry, but I’m almost there. I will probably still post fairly often, but not daily.

Just to keep you in the loop, I’m still working on the Centriole story. I’m mixing genres with it ever so slightly, as science fiction meets fantasy. My take is very human centered, though the perspective readers will see the story from is very alien. Magic remains the great unknown in this story.

I think that’s about all for the end of summer. Kids here are going back to school, I have more peace and quiet, and that should translate into more writing time. I’ll keep my progress posted here, and I hope you’ll check in on me from time to time. And remember, like Heinlein said, TANSTAAFL!

I had a lot of raw emotion to deal with last week, and to be honest, I let it get the better of me for a while. I’ve tried to slide back into my writing routine, tried to follow my advice and get back to it. I failed. Repeatedly.

Failure is a great teacher though, it tells me all the things that don’t work. For one thing, trying to ignore how sad I was didn’t help. Drinking to excess also didn’t help, it was fun while it lasted, but I have new bruises I can’t account for. The only real solution I found was to confront my feelings and get my butt back in the chair.

Funny how that works, isn’t it? I penned a post about how much I’d miss my cat Chloe. What I didn’t mention was any of the stress induced medical conditions that flared up while I was in my feelings. Those are gross, and I’ll spare you all the details. I’m better now.

And since I’m better, I’m back to my desk and pushing out more words. It isn’t exactly work, but without my muse over my shoulder, it does take some effort. The truth is, it feels good to create, to overcome my inner struggle and produce meaningful content. Even if it’s only meaningful to me and a handful of other people.

So, expect to read about Ashley, Gari, and the other new characters I’ve been writing about lately. There are adventures to be had, strange settings to explore, and new conflicts to resolve. I may not be 100% again, but I’m well on my way.

Catching up takes us to weird topics…

I had a long talk with an old friend today. One of the topics that came up is something I address in my writing. Are humans the only sentient species in the universe? It reminded me of Arthur C. Clarke’s quote, “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Which is an excellent summation of Enrico Fermi’s famous paradox, probability says we are not alone, “But where is everybody?” It’s been 70 years since Fermi’s comment, and there is still no accepted evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations.

In my writing, I solve the paradox by imagining what that life may look like. I’ve created a number of civilizations who have visited Earth in the past. In my first published short stories, the Renegade Galaxy series, Humanity is part of a small group of interstellar civilizations in the Milky Way. In my fantasy series, Earth is also connected to alien worlds but has played a mostly minor role in their history.

Is there anybody out there?

In real life, Seti (the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence) has yet to find solid proof of alien life. NASA has tantalizing evidence that Mars may have supported life in the past, but has yet to publish anything definitive. I get to bypass reality and speculate, “What if…” in my fiction, but the underlying question remains. Are we alone or not?

The implications are staggering regardless of the answer. Fundamental questions humans have grappled with about why we are here, what our purpose may be, and whether this was all just a big mistake could be answered once and for all. If we’re the center of creation, maybe we are alone. If we’re not, humanity may be more insignificant than we thought. Or so rare as that our sentient nature alone makes us special in the vast void of space.

Maybe it doesn’t matter one way or the other.

Regardless of the answer to Fermi’s question, there is certainty in the stories I tell that we are not alone. Even if we haven’t been visited recently. My biggest practical lesson from either outcome is this: Life goes on. Humans want to live, to thrive, to leave something behind for future generations. Maybe that’s the only purpose we can hold on to with the data we have right now.

As I inch closer to 365 consecutive blog posts, I’ve spent a lot of time looking back to plot my course forward. What should I do next? What worked or didn’t work in the last year? What options will I have to make the most of my time? I still don’t have answers to all these questions, but I’m working on it.

In the next few months I plan to write at least four distinct short stories. Two I’ve already started, with Gari on Torthal, and the Explorers Club. I’m entering writing contests with each of them, and hope to build up diversity in my work. Winning any of the contests isn’t really the point for this exercise but it would be nice to place.

As the seasons change, I get nostalgic and restive. I want to hold on to the easy pace of warm summer days, but look forward to a quiet house to write without distractions. Part of me is always looking back even as I try to decide where to go next. Janus, or my idea of that august Roman deity, is never far from my thoughts about coming and going.

A year ago I had an unfinished idea for a book, and little faith that I would ever finish it. Now I have a completed, edited, and polished manuscript. It turns out, that was the easy part. I’m still querying, still writing, and still building up towards whatever future writing may bring me. The one thing I’m not doing while looking back is regretting the steps I’ve taken along the path. My writing journey continues.

Writing is my passion, but I also like to collaborate. I love to share ideas and work together to make something none of us would have created alone. I don’t get to do that nearly as much as I’d like. My critique groups come close sometimes. Their focus is building up a single work by one author at a time. I want to try something new.

In my experience, writing is often solitary. We have to reach out after the work is drafted at least to get feedback from others. I’m not talking about that kind of format. What I envision is a more collaborative effort from the start. I’m not entire sure what this will look like, but here’s what I have so far. I’d like to set up a video call, with about four or five other authors, and share a google doc to work on.

The work would probably be best among authors of the same genre. I’m primarily a fantasy writer, but have some science fiction leanings, too. I can’t be the only person to think of this, but I haven’t found another group like it in my limited search for a good format. If anyone has a good example or a place to look that I haven’t come across, please reach out!

That brings me to the crux of this post, I’m looking for other writers to join me. If what I described sounds interesting, or you have more ideas to make it better, I’d love to hear from you. Maybe it doesn’t sound right for you. But if you know someone who might be interested, please share this post with them. You (or they) can comment here, email me at SteveAnderson@thesorcerersrealm.com, or find one of my social media profiles (Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Tumblr, or LiknedIn). I’m out there, looking for collaborators!

In my debut novel, Fantastic America, that’s just how the international TV News coverage begins. Ashley Monahan is on hand to make a live report as Salt Lake City, becomes a focal point for magical energy unlike anything in recorded history. Experts scrutinize events like it around the world, government agencies, and private citizens alike. None of them understand what they see.

These events are only the beginning of a longer period of change that humans have not seen in thousands of years. The return of magic also heralds the return of creatures of myth and legend, along with people who can use magic. Magic is inherently dangerous, even to those who can wield it. Magical creatures or any creature empowered by magic can be deadly.

The earliest news from magical event sites make no mention of magic at all. Modern society is so far removed from all things mystical, that no one reporting on the events recognizes magic. Even after hordes of zombies appear, the scientific (and medical) communities find it impossible to admit magic is at work. Only Ashley’s reporting finally breaks through the modern sensibility that magic might be responsible.

As more creatures appear and the first hints of magic users reach law enforcement, the truth becomes impossible to ignore. Phantom animals that disappear, fires that burn without consuming any fuel, shadowy monsters that fade into the night, and ghosts that hold conversations with the living are just the first signs of change. Folk remedies and mystical guidance once thought superstitious becomes essential to survival. No one ignores the spreading weirdness for long, as paranormal bumps in the night become actual menaces to society.

I’ve been taking on writing challenges lately. My last foray gave me Torthal, and the mysteries outsiders have been unable to investigate. I spent most of July developing that story into an ongoing series. This month I’m starting a new adventure, the Centriole.

The Centriole is a building, but it’s also home to the Society for Exploration. They are a social club of interdimensional explorers, scientists, and adventurers. Together the Explorers have mapped, sampled, and catalogued trillions of worlds. In some cases they have acted as diplomats on behalf of their far more advanced civilization to other primitive cultures.

The Centriole exists in more than one dimension, but physically, it exists on the planet Fractal. The origin of the club’s charter members, and the original source of civilization throughout every iteration of the universe since they began keeping track of big bangs. Fractal is a ‘folded’ planet. The technology that allows a single building to house the Explorers Headquarters allows Fractal to house trillions of sentient beings.

Fractal is a unique world, connected to many other planets throughout this universe and many parallel realities. Through the Centriole and the Society for Exploration, the number of worlds connected to Fractal has continued to expand for hundreds of Universal Cycles. The destination of the latest expedition to leave the Centriole through it’s interdimensional Dive Chamber is a primitive backwater planet in an otherwise unremarkable galaxy called Earth.

1 – I really can come up with 365 things to write about. (Even when I’m sick.)

2 – I can never predict what will resonate more with my audience. Sometimes it’s a post about writing, sometimes it’s a poem. So I quit trying. I write and hope my meandering ideas are enjoyable to my audience.

3 – Research is critical to sharing authentic experiences. It is also a dangerous trap that can consume more time than the research is worth. It is better for me to research before I write than while I’m writing, but sometimes I don’t know what I need to research until I get to that point in my writing.

4 – Editing is best done after filling the sandbox. I need to throw everything I can think of onto the page before I start to polish anything. Most of the time I’ve found my best ideas come during the editing phase once I have a deeper appreciation for the characters, setting, and plot.

5 – Writing habits are a double edged sword. You can develop a terrific writing routine that works perfectly for you. If that routine is disrupted, it can ruin all your progress. I have to be flexible, and kind to myself if I don’t accomplish as much as I planned.

6 – Inspiration comes from literally everywhere. A song, a book, a movie, a TV show, a conversation, or any number of random thoughts can inspire me. Even weird dreams can spark my imagination in ways I hadn’t expected. I try not to close myself off to any avenue of inspiration.

7 – Hope, my muse. She is a generous but fickle mistress. Hope can give me everything I need, or withhold any words she might otherwise share. I still have to write whether she is cooperating or not. The only way to do that is to settle in and write. Procrastination won’t help, waiting for her to come along won’t work either. I have to write. Sooner or later she’ll peer over my shoulder and add more of her influence to what I’m working on.

8 – Updates about what I’m writing are more interesting to me than to my readers. They want a finished product, not my gushing excitement about the latest chapter or short story I am writing.

9 – Querying is my greatest struggle. Writing a book, or a series of short stories is easy. Finding a publishing professional who believes in that work, and will work with me to build a business relationship together is far more difficult. I’m still searching.

10 – New work is always going to come from sitting at my desk. Even if I scribble a note for later, or jot down ideas on my phone. The outlines, timelines, and actual prose comes from planting my butt in the chair and writing. Nothing else will substitute for that.

11 – Reviewing where I’m at is helpful, but only to show me what else I can accomplish. I can’t navigate in reverse all the time, planning where to go based on what I’ve already done works. I won’t limit my vision based on where I’ve already been either though.

12 – Using the real world versus my version. Early on while I was writing Fantastic America, I got a lot of feedback about setting my books in a different version of the real world that didn’t use actual living people, businesses, and so on. I resisted. That was in my mind, part of the appeal of the stories happening in a contemporary setting. Once I embraced the idea, my version of the real world made the story better. I was free to manipulate the world we all know and fit my story into better settings, with better characters, and a history that preserved my ideas.

13 – Poetry has been my communication style of choice since I was in high school. I drifted away from it, but always circle back to some couplet or another. Sharing my poetry has not always been a great experience. Friends and family may love my words, but I’m convinced professional poets are on a different level than most humans.

14 – Writing during the pandemic. Lockdown hasn’t felt all that constrictive. I’ve gone where I wanted to for the most part, and done the same kinds of things. I’ve lost friends to the virus, but for the most part, I’ve stayed safe. I wouldn’t wish the kind of suffering it causes on anyone.

15 – People love lists. One of my go to blog ideas is to write a list of things people might enjoy. This post is one of those lists, in fact. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. As I close in on 365 posts in a row, I thought it would be a good idea to examine more than just how these posts were viewed. I enjoyed writing it, looking for details from other blog posts to create it, and sharing it with the folks who follow my posts. Thanks!

In the world of Fantastic America, wizards of the last magical age created familiars. These were human followers who were drawn to serve a specific wizard. Each kind of wizardry has a ritual for this purpose. In general, the wizards and familiar entered into a pact. A magical contract where the wizard empowered a newly created familiar with abilities from their kind of magic. In return, the familiar was linked to the wizard and pledged allegiance to them and their interests.

Each kind of wizardry created a specific kind of familiar. Life wizards created paladins who defend life and impose order. Sorcerers created apprentices who seek knowledge above all else. Aqueous wizards created water warriors who prefer to spend their time beneath the waves. Necromancers created obedient fiends who stalk prey for their cruel masters. Lithic wizards created beast lords who in turn, bonded to one or more land dwelling animals to protect their wizard. Fire wizards created hellions to burn away weakness and sow chaos.

All familiars created this way have a single overriding mission. To protect and serve their wizard. The pact that empowers them continues till the death of the wizard or the familiar. Though in practice, the familiar often died at the same time or just before their wizard. The ritual that empowers them does not remove free will from the familiar, but it does subtly influence their behavior.

In the world of the Magic Unleashed series, wizards have yet to re-discover familiars and their empowering rituals. Readers won’t encounter their fist familiars until book two of the series, Midwestern Magicians. Like familiars of old, those with a calling will seek out a wizard and make a pact. Their power comes at the price of unswerving loyalty, but it is one they are willing to pay.

Coming up with interesting topics every day has been exhausting. Sometimes, I’ve needed help. I’ve scoured other bloggers posts for ideas, and read lists of their favorite topics. Not all of that has helped or made into this blog. But I have managed to get a post of some kind rounded up for almost 365 days in row now!

That may not be a huge accomplishment, but I’m excited to cross it off my writing bucket list. I have no idea if I’ll post that frequently after I pass the one year mark, but right now I’m leaning towards cutting back to one post a week. Maybe special posts for special events or announcements. That makes more sense to me.

I have more projects coming up too. Gari in Torthal is continuing his journey. As the plot has expanded, I’ve needed to rewrite his introduction story in, “Gari and the Pox”. Expect an update for that when I have it polished up. I’m working on some new short stories unrelated to Gari or my Magic Unleashed series. The ideas are still percolating, but I’m excited to share more about them as they come together.

I’m also still querying agents for Fantastic America. The process is torturous for me, but I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess. My critique group is also still writing and critiquing. We added a new member this week, so I’m excited to read her work. I have plenty to keep me busy at any rate. And I’ll have more to post about now that I have all these projects coming together.

Magic, or the potential for magic, is always present in the world of my debut novel, Fantastic America. Even in the bleak times of no magic, there are means (some more abhorrent than others) to work magic. The majority of these means are difficult to achieve, or unpredictable in nature. This is especially true considering most of the knowledge was passed down in spoken form. Writing actual magical instructions poses numerous dangers, some more obvious than others.

Still, magic is powerful, when it works, even in the bleak times. Traditions from all over the world have persisted, despite the dangers their knowledge represented, with wildly different mystical practices. Most of these groups adopted some form of secrecy to maintain their legacy. Few of them retained a full understanding of magic in the absence of flows from other worlds.

The return of those magic flows to the modern world, brings a new dilemma to people who still hold any magical knowledge from long ago. They must decide whether to remain in hiding or reveal themselves to the world at large. For most, enforced secrecy is too integral to their identity, and sustained magic is too new to reveal themselves. However, the best laid plans of mice and men…

Summer in Iowa is a little different from the season I grew up with in North Carolina. There isn’t as much shade in the middle of farmland as there was under the pine forests I wandered in as a child. That said, Summer is still my favorite season. Seeing it draw to a close is bittersweet for me this year.

Until this year, my son spent the season with us before going back to school in Colorado. This year he’s more focused on the next steps in his life and I’ve missed him terribly. In his absence, the house has been filled with grand children, there have still been hours of pool parties, and visits by friends. Cook outs, story time by the fire, and our annual Fourth of July party also bounced back from the pandemic.

One thing that has been missing over the past few weeks (or longer) is new fiction writing on my part. I wrote the introduction to Gari on Torthal, and am rewriting that. Otherwise, I haven’t put nearly the effort into new writing that I expect. I plant my butt in the chair as always, but I’ve worked on other projects. I’ve caught up on critiques, read books on my TBR, and found every other excuse to keep busy without writing new material.

The end of Summer means the house will quiet down again. Kids go back to school, my wife goes back to teaching, and maybe the solitude will help me get back to what I love, creating new adventures. The characters are there, my muse is patiently waiting, and new worlds await my fingers on the keyboard. I’ll be sorry to see the cold weather return, but I’ll be glad to get back to the strange company I keep with my stories.

I write every day. At least the post for this blog. I may not post here every day for the rest of my life, but I’m almost to the end of a 365 day cycle. I wanted to prove to myself that I could write original content every day for a year. Like Bruce said, “I see this as an absolute win!”

Most days, I also work on other projects. I still have my toes in the water for Ashley Monahan and Fantastic America, and more than that in Gari Garcia in Torthal (a project that is changing as I write it). I also read and write critiques with partners in a couple of groups each week. So I’m never far from my keyboard for long.

Good Habits are helpful.

That brings me to the topic for this post, the habits you develop as you write can help or hurt your writing. Every author is different, like every person is unique, but there are a few constants in writing that I’ve found helpful. There are far more that I’ve found distracting or harmful, but I’ll get to them in a minute.

The first helpful habit to get into is the most basic advice I give throughout all my posts, write. Put your butt in a chair (or on the floor or stand if you have to) and put words on the page. Daily. It may help to write at the same time every day, structure is great for many writers. But I write at any time of the day or night that suits my lifestyle. Each to their own in how you live and fit writing into that life. Just write.

I need peace and quiet to write, my wife and I have a lot of grandchildren here in the summer, so that time is precious to me. If you need quiet to focus on your words, find some. Children sleep, pets sleep (we have four dogs and two cats), and devices can be silenced. There have been times, I had to get work done but couldn’t wait for quiet to fall at our house. Headphones and music is a good substitute for me, at least it masks the majority of the chaos around me.

Bad habits can ruin the best of intentions.

Procrastination is my kryptonite. The worst excuse I make about writing is to put it off for some other task, or to find a reason I can’t put words on the page. Most of it is nonsense, and this is true of most of the procrastination in my life. Once I am in motion to get something done, it takes far less time and effort than I built up in my resistance. But that brings me to another point, resistance.

Resistance in writing usually has another source. I hesitate to write a scene I’m not completely comfortable with, or tackle a project I haven’t thoroughly examined in my mind’s eye. Uncertainty can manifest as doubt, it can cause delays or avoidance (for me) to even attempt to write. So I spend some time examining where resistance is coming from.

Outlining helps me overcome this problem, I can settle the doubts with a plan and get words on the paper. They don’t always survive, but effort build momentum, writing and rewriting move me toward completion. Even if the words are terrible, I’ve found what doesn’t work, and can write something else till I find something that does work.

Find what works for you.

Develop your routine with what you want to accomplish in mind. I have a different mindset for ‘exploratory writing’ on a new subject versus the sandbox method I use while writing the first draft of a novel (pile everything you can into the sandbox edit it later). Both of which are different from blogging, writing poetry, or editing work that needs more attention. Only you can find the methods that fit your writing style.

Maybe you need to shut off devices, close browser windows, and tune out the world around you to do your best writing. Music in the background (or other noises) may help you. Turn off your phone, or set a timer if you think you might write for too long (gasp!). Read blogs to find other suggestions, for every problem you encounter, another writer ahs probably written about their experience along the same line. Help is out there, if you seek it out.

Ultimately, my advice is unchanged. Write. Write well. Repeat until you have something to share with the world. Find people and places to share. Then write more and share that, too. Writing can be solitary, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, I’ve found the best of my writing came when I planned to share it with the world. You may find the same thing.

This is the opposite of the Chosen One. An ordinary person sees a need and steps up to help. They don’t have an agenda, or ulterior motives, just a sense of right over wrong. Maybe it stems from all the 80’s movies I watched as a kid. The group or lone wolf who wants to change the world for the better still resonates with me.

Destiny forces the Chosen One into saving the world. The reluctant hero decides they have a moral obligation to risk life and limb. Of the two, I’d prefer the latter over the former. Both are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. The reluctant hero can be any of us though. The Chosen One is set apart. Destiny doesn’t care how they feel about it.

I’ve lost track of how many Chosen Ones bemoaned their fate. “Why me? I didn’t choose this!” The Reluctant hero doesn’t ask why me, they ask, “If not me, who will?” It has a more honest, more human, feeling to how any of us might respond given the situation. That is the core of the idea for me. Whether it’s the lone office worker stopping tanks on their way to Tiananmen Square, or the guy fed up with red tape taking on the system directly, defiance is my jam.

I’m not trying to encourage random acts of violence either. The movie, Turk 182 comes to mind when I think of this trope. Non-violent protest and civil disobedience can still bring change. It may not be as sexy as a kill-dozer, but not every story has to include death, destruction, and mayhem.

In my lived experience, the right person, in the right place, at the right time, can make change happen. Others have to embrace what begins with one voice. The chorus is powerful because they sing together, not because of the soloist. No matter how great that single voice may be.

I’m on the writing spectrum some where in between a pantser and a plotter. I like have things planned out, but I also like to see where the flow of words will go naturally. When I wrote the short story introducing Gari and Torthal, I pantsed. When I started a follow up story, expanding on that introduction, I tried to pants it again, but failed. So now I’m plotting out his next series of adventures.

So here I am, writing a new story bible, filling in the blanks I left, and following an outline. Gari has a bigger story to tell (or show) than I expected. One that is appropriate for the times we are living through. Although he is as far from those events and ideas as possible, the world seen through his eyes will be hauntingly familiar. Gari examines prejudice, fear of change, and what it means to be human. Heady ideas indeed!

I’ve also expanded my ideas for Torthal. The kernel was already there in, “Gari and the Pox”. Now I have a deeper purpose behind how I approach this strange new world, and the distant civilization it represents. The world of Torthal will be a character in Gari’s story as much as any person he encounters.

But my revision of the second installment is where my mind is right now. I want to bring the world to life around Gari, and my first attempt fell far short of that. The great thing about words on the page is that they can be rewritten, deleted, or replaced with new words. So that is what I’ll be doing for a while, rewriting for Gari’s sake.