Dark_Desires: Blog

I know that I promised that the next chapter would be stuffed full of everything, but I had to split it into two chapters instead. Otherwise, it would have been bloated. Chapter 24-Three Ring Circus is in the process of being written, and I hope to have that ready to go in a few days. The current installment was challenging for me to write. I'm not sure if other authors experience this, but I had difficulty getting the emotions just right for the balance that I wanted to portray. I am happy with how it came out, although it took a while to pull together. Still, this offering is much faster than what I've been producing over the past couple of months, and I intend to do my best to keep up the trend.

What I find the most time consuming is the editing. I do my own, and it takes multiple readings before I'm satisfied with the final product. Adding to that (for Malachar in particular), my chapters are quite lengthy by design, all of which are a minimum of 15k words, I believe. I'm loathed to use someone else, but please don't ask me why because I do not know-a personal peccadillo perhaps. I simply like to do it. One secret I'll share is that my final edit is often after I read it posted on SOL. For some strange reason, it reads better to me on this site than it does on Microsoft WORD, and I often catch a minor mistake or two that I missed. :D

I hope everyone who is following along with me enjoys the latest ramblings of my feeble mind.

Cheers!

Chris

I apologize for not writing this earlier when I posted the last chapter of Malachar's Curse; I meant too but kept getting distracted. I know that I had said previously that the next chapters to be posted were to be for Curiosity Killed the Cat, but I had a most distressing event happen. Unfortunately, the hard drive that I use to store my work was somehow corrupted, and when I ran a disk check, I found that I had a massive amount of bad clusters.

It's dead, kaput, unreadable; thankfully, I have two other drives in my system. However, I lost over two chapters of work and all of my notes regarding plot devices, character development, and key sticking points that I used to make sure that my story stayed consistent. Example-I have notes that I skim through frequently on each character to remember things like David and Amber's mother's favorite flowers are Tiger Lilies or that their father calls her Olive. It's the little details like that which are needed to create a rich environment that flows well, and all of those connect me dots are required for that.

Stupidly, I'd failed to back it up onto a memory stick as I usually do because the one I reserved for Curiosity had died while at my family cottage, and I neglected to purchase a replacement. Thankfully, I have and use a separate one for Curse. So, feeling quite despondent and a little depressed at having lost so much effort, I turned back to Malachar, writing the latest offering, and starting on the next (which incidentally is at well over 10k words right now).

A good buddy of mine who is way more talented at fixing computers and recovering data than I am has taken pity on me and is trying to see if he can recover my writings. My fingers are crossed. He should let me know sometime next week, and then I will either be rejoicing or cursing (play on words intended). Meanwhile, I am smashing the keyboard with two fingers to carry on discovering what is next in store for Jake and friends.

I am also considering getting a Patreon account to maybe help with the monthly bills. I definitely could use a new computer; this one was bought in 2011 and is due for the recycle bin. I am a retired Mason (back and joint issues) and was house-painting part-time until Covid came along. My funds are drying up, and work is nonexistent, and pension age is still a little ways off. Personally, I'd love to get painting contracts again because I actually love doing the work, and it keeps me active. Still, no one wants a stranger in their house right now (at least where I live), and that type of work is something homeowners can easily put off indefinitely. I'll need to figure something out soon because I'm not one to ask for government handouts.

Barring painting, I would love to write full-time if I could; that way, I could spend way more time banging out chapters and have greater flexibility to take care of my aging and ailing father. I have been driving him to numerous doctor's appointments to see if he is eligible to be placed on the lung transplant waiting list. He has COPD, and it has been getting quite severe over the last year. It's hard for my mother to do it because he requires being pushed in a wheelchair and weighs 220 pounds, although she does it when I can't make it.

Luckily, I have supplemented my cash by taking care of a friend's house, property, and cat, but that will end on November first when they arrive back in the country. I see many other authors doing this and am weighing the pros and cons of joining their ranks. We'll see because I have no clue as to what to offer as extras if I do. I know that all the ones that I've seen have multiple tiers, each with a reward of some kind. I guess this is my way of putting out feelers to see what kind of response this gets, if any.

Sorry for the rambling.

TLDR.

Curiosity is on hold until I see if I can recover my data. Malachar is full steam ahead. The next chapter will be posted soon and promises to be stuffed full of everything. I hope that you continue to enjoy it, and once again, thanks for all of the great feedback.

Cheers!
Chris

Unfortunately, in my haste to post chapter twenty-one of Malachar's Curse, I spliced in the wrong page that ends the chapter. I used an unfinished, incomplete draft that has errors and is missing a couple of key paragraphs. The corrected version is in the queue, but I don't expect it will post this late. I apologize, but I suggest anyone reading it to either pause before page three or to re-read it after tomorrow morning.

Cheers!
Chris

Hi everyone,
I see that I have numerous emails to read and answer, I will do my best to get to them soon. :D The last we spoke I was recovering from covid-19, I have fully recovered now, knock on wood. (In this instance I'll substitute my head) What a bitch that virus is! To top off a wonderful end to the Spring, I had to evacuate where I live because of an emergency gas leak. So in a rare flash of sanity, I decided to head to my family cottage for a while.

I love it there, it is my favorite place in the world. Out in the wilderness, right on a lazy river, great fishing, even better memories. My great-great-great-grandfather built it around 1900-1905, (I forget the exact year) with his best friend, who was the Indian Chief of the tribe native to that area. His friend named it Lola Bama, which means happy wigwam, we still repaint it the exact same to this day.

It's so different up there, you forget how awesome nature is when you're stuck in a city for double-digit months at a time. Sweet-smelling fresh air and a sky full of stars at night because light pollution is not even a blip on the radar. It's like living a hundred years ago in the past-no electricity, internet, cell phone coverage, or plumbing. Kerosene lamps, wood-burning stove (propane too), and batteries for everything else. lol

I just got back yesterday, I was super relaxing getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city while getting some emergency forced R&R. I brought my laptop, thank god for car chargers, and wrote a couple of chapters for Malachar's Curse. I fully intended to write some for Curiosity, but unfortunately, the flash drive I had downloaded my story and work on was corrupted, and I couldn't access anything. I plan on getting started on that this week, as I really want to finish book one. I see it as a two-book series, and it should be roughly ten chapters more in the current novel.

I believe that it will take me much less time to finish ten or so chapters for Curiosity than writing the equivalent for Curse. My chapter sizes are double on average for that one, and the story is more involved. I also find myself constantly reviewing my notes to make sure that I keep my details flowing correctly, as I don't want to mess things up. I have a couple of chapters worth already! After that, I will be finishing book one of Curse.

Still alive, still kicking, and feeling much healthier than the last time I blogged.

Enjoy the latest chapters for Malachar's Curse, and stay safe in these weird times.

Cheers!
Chris

Hi all,

First I would like to say a heartfelt thanks for all of the support and kind wishes that were sent my way, I appreciate it more than you can know! I am still under the weather, but I feel much better than I did. I am definitely on the mend. Chapter 19 of Malachar's Curse is in the queue, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy it. I would also like to thank everyone who expressed how much they liked my story, it means a lot to have dedicated readers who like what you produce.

I am starting chapter 20, which, when completed, will let me leave this story for a bit to go and finish book 1 of Curiosity Killed the Cat. I know that many of you have been asking when I would get back to it and have been looking forward to it getting some love. I hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy as best they can.

Cheers!
Chris