Hey folks,
I know this is the area where writers are supposed to keep the readers up to date on current and comings events but I've got nothing to contribute except random rumbles.
My most recent stories marked my movement from someone who writes stories to someone who writes novels. I don't want to be gauche and claim I'm a novelist -- or even an author.
Just as I don't consider college professors "doctors" but rather overly educated teachers, I don't consider everyone who strings together 12 sentences to be an "author."
"Teacher" is not a pejorative and neither is "writer." At least I don't consider them to be offensive. There are a couple of contributors to SOL who can claim the title of "author" and I am not one of them.
Still, it's fun for me so I'll continue so long as that's the case -- and I don't have a dozen other draws on my increasingly limited time.
For now, I have three stories that are complete or nearly so.
The next is the sequel to "The Outsider" that I've mentioned previously in this blog. "A Flawed Diamond" will start either March 29 or April 1. The story is more than 90 chapters and my posting schedule will be determined by how quickly I can get the chapters together.
As of now, I have up to Chapter 10 ready to post (edited, proofread and formatted for SOL). If I have at least 20 in hand by mid-March, I'll post more frequently but since I will continue to use the serial format that has served me so well, I don't want to run out of chapters and force the reader to wait months for it to resume.
Too many writers on SOL do that and it pisses me off. I will not begin to post a story that is not complete. There are too many "incomplete and inactive" stories on the site for me to contribute more than the one I already have under my name.
The next story that is 90 percent complete is about a police detective in a South Carolina resort town. It's probably going to clock in at about 60 chapters or so. The gist of it is finished but I have some filler to write. It's called, tentatively, "Life and a Death in Emerald Cove."
No, I'm not planning a jewel heist (unless one of the kids needs braces in the next few months), it's just a coincidence. I've moved away from it for the past few months while I let my trusted editor, BlackIrish, take a run through it.
For the past few weeks I've been working on a story about a kid who was popular in high school finding tougher sledding when he hits college. It's going pretty well. I was amazed today to learn I'd already written 61 chapters.
Not all of them will survive. I'm my own harshest critic (except for a couple SOL readers who shall remain nameless -- because they send their shit anonymously). There are some repetitive parts and some parts that just aren't very good. The thing is ... I'm only about halfway through it (maybe less).
It's taken me 61 chapters to get through to the summer after his freshman year. This story has far more sex in it than my usual work (except for "Daze In The Valley, of course) but I like the relationships between the main characters. I'm not sure this story will ever see the outside of my computer. I'll have to make sure it's not a rewrite of "Daze" without the porn industry. That thought just occurred to me as I was typing this.
On a completely different subject, "A Flawed Diamond" should mark the 1 millionth download of my works from SOL (unless everyone hates it). The vast majority, 700,000, have come from "Daze" and "Guard" and both rank in the Top 30 of most downloaded stories on the site but my earlier stories all performed more to my expectations than the later ones.
It is truly humbling (and my ex-wife will confirm that humility is not one of my stronger suits).
The sequels to "Unending Night" are coming along but slowly. I'll find the flow for a day or two and then lose it again. "Unforgettable Week," which documents the week after Andy and Regan talk on the phone is about 30 percent done and "Unimaginable Life" which will follow that one is outlined. ETA on "Week" is probably 2015-16 and "Life" is more likely 2017.
Who says I don't plan ahead. Of course, that could change completely if another story like "Daze" hits my brain and takes five years to complete.
I hope this finds everyone well,
Jay C.