The Book - Part VII

(I'm spending too much time in the server room, lately)

 
     I think the world has cast bets against me completing the work on my first book.  As many responsibilities as I take on, my lovely wife is always ready to give me more and inform me that I have not taken on my share of the workload at home.  She is probably right.  I have to admit that, but only because her opinion is the only one that matters.

     Regardless, I have gotten much closer to my goal of finishing the thing.  It's gone form a labor of love to being a sightless thing, lurking in the cloud. My book, "Seedling Jack," has reached a word count of 65,226.  That makes me happy, both because I am making good progress, and because there is still room to say the rest of what I want to say in the story.  It doesn't feel rushed and it does feel natural.  I am still sure I'll hit around 72,000 - 80,000 by the time this book is finished, but my goodness, this hunting for time to work on it is making me nuts.  I haven't had time on my lunch breaks in weeks.  Working on the manuscript at home is just not happening. Do you ever get the sense that I should give up? I don't.  I reread the story from page one to 282 and I still get tickled by the way it all unfolds. So, I'll make sure I finish it.

     I'm working on building the finale, piece by piece. The big showdown. It's odd that I started the book as a ghost story and stuck a friend or two in the mix for good fun and now, the characters have run away with the story.  I will be posting the story chapter by chapter up to about chapter eight soon.  It will post to Mayachrome.com, my home page.  I'll announce it here, but if you are curious, and patiently waiting, I will post it by the beginning of October. The book should be wrapped up by then, and I will send out the first portion of the book so you all know what it's about and if you'd like to read the full version.  I am still torn on whether to put it out on Kindle Direct, or to just make paper books available.  I may do both.  Hopefully, a publisher will pick it up, but who knows.

     In the meantime, adieu.

                    D. Paul Fonseca

P. S.  Writing is not my main source of income, and so my domestic goddess sees no real value in spending my time with it.  Do any of you fellow writers ever get that kind of feedback from your spouse? Just Curious.

D.

The Book - Part VI

I found an interesting animal on my route around campus today.  

This 'little' moth was perched on one of my printers.  

     So much is going on and still I continue.  Nobody is watching, and nobody is reading.  I'll make this post short and sweet.

Previous word count: 57,374

Today's Word Count: 62,565

     Tomorrow will bring forth more words than I can imagine. I am sure of it. I never know how much I am going to accomplish until the time has passed, yet optimism feels like the way to approach things. Ever feel that way?

     Spring break is coming to campus next week.  There's a lot of work to be done, but you can be sure I will be typing away on Jack.  I need to wrap it up.  It's making me crazy.  I have been living with this story for far too long.  The notes for the second book after Seedling Jack are in the works.

     Feel free to comment and ask questions!


~ D. Paul Fonseca 

The Book Part V

I don't like distractions.  You know what I mean? Today, the distraction is the pain in my spine.  If you are considering getting old, I recommend finding the fountain of youth and partaking of that sweet elixir.  My darling wife did that when she was in Florida. We were born five days apart but I am aging much faster than she is.  She is beautiful, young and fresh.  I joke with her that she has the body of a 16 year old. But, honestly, she does.  I'm a lucky guy.

But, back to the journey at hand.  At lunch today, I made some progress.  Not a lot, but some.  Things are laying down nicely and I feel like I have my voice back in the story with my head back in the game.  I know this because I can see where I went wrong and am able to make the corrections to make the work stronger and more exciting.  I heard from a friend that if a sentence doesn't create action or move the story forward, take it out.  I have done a lot of editing lately.

I was involved with a local writers group in San Diego this last year, The Science Fiction Writers of San Diego.  I attended a few functions and submitted a couple of stories for publishing in the anthology. As of yet, I haven't heard if either of the stories were chosen.  We'll see. Either way, the work I wrote up will be published either way.  One of them is already out there in cyberspace, "The Silence."  I revised it for the anthology, but it's true to its original content.  The other story is an addition to the world of Talos, and Tales of the Pirate ship Ferryman.  It's a great back story for the stowaway in that deep space story.  I'll unveil it here as soon as I have word that it is accepted, or excepted.

Also, on a side note, I fell into a game online that Google has thrown at all of us.  I try to keep myself from being so 'distracted' by it, but it is entertaining.  The game is called Ingress. (Thank you for the heads up, Gabe.) You should really check it out.  It is amazing.  (https://www.ingress.com/)
If you find yourself in line waiting for something to do, and decide to check out your phone, try it out. Join the resistance, like me.   :)

TTFN,

My Last Word Count: 56,758
Today's Word Count:  57,374

The Book - Part IV

 (Paper Draft (259 Pages and the "Murder book" of Detective Gomez.)

Almost halfway into January and I am just getting back to my book project.  I got into it at lunch. (Ah, yes, the feeling of accomplishment.)

It took me a while to settle in to the mindset I needed, but I got into the story quickly. Sometimes writing is like being in a trance.  At least, for me it is.  I often wonder if anyone else writes the way I do?  I mean, when I sit down I reread where I left off and then visualize the story in my head, just like watching it on TV or a movie.  I just keep typing, putting it all down, describing each scene as it plays out. Do you ever do that?  The characters are so tangible at times.  You know, if I leave off on a scene and don't get back to it, I swear that when I think of the story while I am running around during the day, I can see all the characters just standing around as though on a break on a movie set, chit-chatting and hamming it up. It's like they are waiting for me to say, "Places, everybody!" And, "Action!"

There's a scene I wrote up like that where two cops and a suspect were standing in a kitchen and I didn't get back to it for sometime.  They were only walking through the house to go into the garage.  for days, maybe even a couple of weeks, I kept imagining the scene and how it should play out. there were a lot of logistics to be hammered out. But every time I came back to the scene in my head, all three of them were drinking beer and sitting around telling jokes to one another.  No, that didn't end up in the scene, not by a longshot. But in my own head it was pretty dang funny.

Today I feel like I reaffirmed faith in myself.  I went into a chapter in the book where I wrote in some really good eye catching stuff.  I love to go back after some time has passed and reread thinking, "I wrote this?" Not bad, not bad at all.    

Today was like that.
Last Word Count: Word Count: 56,608 - Jan 12, 2015
Today's Word Count:  56,758

Edited 20 pages today.  Started on a new chapter.

TTFN,

D. Paul Fonseca

The Book - Part III

(The view out here is often distracting.)

I think that the worst part of writing a book between the hours of say, the rest of my life, is probably one of the most frustrating things ever.  I'm going to have to start putting a word count in here just to motivate myself and kick my own ass.

This last month, I have seen my daughters grow and change.  They both had birthdays in the last few weeks.  One turned 18 and the other 12.  Momentous occasions for both of them. I am so proud of those two.  I'm proud of the little one for being brave and for being an all around good kid.  She tries hard to do the right thing and works diligently at school.  My oldest, I am proud of for the same reasons.  She has her moments - the moments when she seems to have lost her way, and I can't deny that there are many, but underneath it all, I know she is doing her best and she has a good heart. I hope she can see that in herself one day.

So, again... time.  Time comes and goes so fast in my day that I scarcely take time to myself - that includes writing and editing in the book. At the moment, the time is: January 12, 2015 at 11:46 AM Pacific Standard Time.  I'm taking a short break at work just to get this out there and maybe I will read it later and realize that I need to keep working on my book.  I have to finish this soon. Otherwise it may just wipe me out completely with the stress of not having finished it.

Word Count: 56,608

TTFN,

D. Paul Fonseca