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Well, the MacBook was officially pronounced dead.  There was a great fourth Stars of the New Gods book, not complete, but close to a couple hundred pages.  Along with that, the first novel of my new trilogy, The Order of Devotion.  Those books, what they were, are now gone.

Let's find the silver lining.

I was honestly struggling with The Order of Devotion.  I know exactly what I wanted to happen story wise, but there were so many characters to guide through the narrative it was overwhelming.  Now that I was forced to step away from the story I am beginning to form some more economical ways fo characters to get from chapter to chapter.

It's a damn shame I lost book four, though.  It's always been one of my worst nightmares, and like a motorcyclist putting their bike down at 60 mph, I learned the hard way and it won't happen again.  If you use Scrivener make sure to set up a Dropbox account and back EVERYTHING up.  I can't imagine how many times I will be hitting the SAVE drop down.

Luckily, I still have a pen and paper.  I remember a good deal of what I've written, so once I'm ready I can start shopping for a new computer and step up to the keyboard well prepared.  

Thanks to whomever has been buying stuff through my Amazon widget.  Every bit counts at the moment

Still working...

I've actually put the logic board of my MacBook in the oven.  Hoping to at least get it to turn on.  Until then I've been using my iPad, notepad, and getting a lot of reading done.  Taking this as a sign that I need to write this story the long way.

Pretty sure there will be a fifth book at this point in the outlining.  Yay

Feeling cursed and asking for a little help from my readers and friends

I was off to a great start.  About 200 pages into the first book in The Order of Devotion trilogy, tentatively called Worse Things Than Death; as well as book four in Stars of the New Gods.

A few months ago I decided to start using a composition software called Scrivener.  For everything published up to this point I used a combination of Microsoft Word and Google Docs.  Scrivener is excellent for raw composition.  You can tailor the templates however you like.  The sidebars offer notecards, character descriptions, outline, location descriptions and a nice bar to separate your chapters neatly.  There is even a built in Name Generator, my most used tool! Once finished, the software preps your book with page breaks and a table of contents.  It's amazing and I love it.  I could not give it a higher recommendation.

All that being said, I was so head over heels for this software I forgot to back up my work as I went along.  Partially out of neglect and also taking for granted Microsoft Word and Google Docs have cloud based back-ups that do it automatically.

Two days ago I go to turn on my MacBook and nothing happens. To make a long story short, the black screen of death greeted me.  In all likelihood my MacBook is dead.  There are a few technical possibilities of salvaging it and the parts are in the mail.  We will see, but everything I have read points to the computer being either dead or in the throes.  All I'm hoping for at this point is to boot it up a few more times long enough to get my books (between 200-300 pages of hard work) in Dropbox until I can find another computer.  Time is of the essence because I'm pretty sure I can keep the momentum if I get back in the saddle quick.

Here's where I turn to you, any of my readers who may be listening.  There is an Amazon search window on this site.  It should be in the upper right hand corner above this post.  I'm hoping to buy a used MacBook off eBay, which can run anywhere from $300-400.  That's not too much, but it's more than I can spend in the immediate future due tomonthly budget.  If you feel inclined to share any of my books you may have enjoyed with your friends, please ask them to purchase my books through the Amazon purchase window on this site.  That way I will get a bigger percentage of the sale through Amazon. If you buy anything through that Amazon window, I get a cut.  Yay! They can also click on any ads here and that might put some change in my pocket.

I hate asking this of any of you.  I appreciate your support and any kind words you all have shared with me.  I plan on keeping the stories coming for as long as I can come up with them.  Assure your friends there will be no shortage of creativity.  Any help is much appreciated and I will make my books free to download anytime Amazon allows it (they authorize special sales, not me).

Thank you.  *hat in hand*

^^^world map I'm drafting for the Order of Devotion trilogy

Blog Hell

When I first started this blog it was done with the intention of adding something to my Amazon Author page.  I did not, nor do I now, have the intention of spending my time writing about my fun trip to the grocery store or whatever other meaningless shit you find on most blogs.  To be honest, I'm not a fan of them and think if one has the desire to invest the time writing stories it is an absolute squander to waste it on a goddamn blog.

My point with this rant is I have just spent a good portion of my day trying to get Google to remove the malicious spam advertisements that keep taking over this blog.  Yes, I've allowed Google to post their AdSense ads on this blog.  I've also added an Amazon.com search bar that can take you directly to Amazon to purchase one of my books.  Simple additions for what should be a simple blog.

The malicious ads are gone for now.  Hopefully they won't be back.  Google has done about fuck-all to help with the situation.  I toyed with moving this blog to WordPress, but that turned out to be even more of a nightmare.

Anyways, when I get a chance and my web developer skills are a little more savvy, expect this blog to get a massive overhaul so it becomes more pleasing to the eye and I don't have to toy with malicious adware or other distractions.

Book Four was started this morning.  First chapter in the bag and loving it so far.  A ways to go, but feeling good about it.

Reboot

Hello.  My blog was hacked by spammers, shut down by Google, and reinstated after I asked the powers that be to review it.  Should be working properly now.

The fever

Sometimes people need change.  Sometimes the best thing to do is not force routine.  Routine is something I cherish.  There is nothing mundane to me about taking a couple hours out of my day, putting on headphones, and trying to use a keyboard to spell out the stories in my head.

I forced myself to step away from the keyboard the last few weeks.  I've been writing some articles for a sci-fi website, taking online classes to learn about web development and coding, and focused a lot on running.  It's been nice to be free of the urgency I often feel to finish a book.  Exercise truly is the best way to clear the mind and keep the gears moving.  It is a great time for thinking up more stories as well.  Endorphins are pretty great.

When I sat back down to routine for work on the first book in The Order of Devotion Trilogy, I hit a wall.  This wall came to me because I realized I depended almost entirely on the notes and outlines I made.  Outlines have always helped me establish the pace of a chapter, as well as setting up the following one.  I'm a huge fan of the scribbled legal pads and note books that help me design the flow of a story.  It's a loose design, and I know it's malleable, so that's helpful to know I can grab those ideas out of my head that super cede the outline.

The problem with the first book in this trilogy, which is tentatively titled Worse Things Than Death, is the words were not coming to me.  My mind was a vacuum and when I wasn't writing I could not stop thinking about what Marshal Noel and Violetta Iolanda are up to.  

There is a story cooking and I think this series needs to be finished before I can write anything else.  I intend for this fourth book to be the last.  The two characters have become real to me and I cannot ignore my thoughts turning to them and what needs to happen next.

I intend to begin writing the fourth book in the next week.  I'm taking a week to write up a rough outline and then I'm going to hit the ground running.  

From the last three novels I should have this done and published within the next year.  I'm excited to spend the rest of the summer and the remainder of 2015 with Marshal and Violetta.  The Order of Devotion Trilogy will be next, but I need to finish what I started first.