Cyber Monday Special - Mind of a Writer, the Evolution of a Story... Andrew

Welcome to CyberMonday! Today I have for you a blog about the evolution of a story.

Once a short story, now a novella, it is called, "Andrew". Want a free download of it? If you wait, you can have the re-edited version, but it might take a while, we're working on it now. Or you can have both! Either way.

Currently I am re-editing it with my editor, Ilene Giambastiani. If you are interested in reading it as it is now, here is a coupon ( GN32P ) good through this week. If you contact me later after we re-released it, just let me know you read this blog, I will give you a coupon for a free copy of the new version at that time. But stick with me, there's more coming.

This, is a story that has had big ramifications for me.

"Andrew", cover by Gosling called "Andrew's Final Vision"

This is the story of that tale....

Before we get started however, allow me to invite you to read my ongoing story on Wattpad titled, The Unwritten. A mixture between old fashioned horror, sci fi and biblical nightmares, I doubt you've ever read anything quite like it. But then, that's my forte. The odd, the unusual, the macabre and the horrifying.

Okay now, let's get on with it....

In 1983 I was a senior in the Psychology Department at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, up near the Canadian border. I was taking my first university fiction writing class. Finding that I had enough credits to get a double major if I took another two or three quarters of classes, I decided I would settle for a minor in Creative Writing .

I took Fiction 101 as my first class toward that minor. I wanted to force myself to actually write a story, beginning, middle and end, as I had written quite a few interesting stories with no endings, much to the frustration of my friends.

Our professor in Fiction 101 tasked us to write a story, make enough copies for all in class, then everyone would read the stories for the next day, the night before, and the writer would read the story in class. We would then round table and critique it.

There were some interesting stories, but mostly as I remembered it, there being more females than males in the class, there was a high degree of romance based stories. The Assistant Editor of our school magazine wrote a story but I found it rather dry, though well written. Then it came to my day. I wrote a story that I titled, "When Fades The Shadows" (later titled, "Andrew").

After I read it in class, I discovered two things. They all liked my story. Our Professor hated it. Perhaps partly because I was overplaying my hand, writing beyond my capabilities, but also because he didn't like how melodramatic it was. He especially mentioned a scene in the TV room when five year old Andrew envisions a horror all around him in the room.

Cover art by Marvin Hayes

I was voted along with another, to write one extra story than the others in class to be read on finals day, as we had no finals in that class.

Also available as an audio book

My stories were, "Mea Culpa" (which I've expanded now and have included in my collection of short stories, "Anthology of Evil" and as a standalone ebook); and, Sarah (same situation), about a woman with Alzheimer's disease and based upon the story of a coed's grandmother that she told me right after Abnormal Psych class one day at Western Washington University.

Cover art by Marvin Hayes

Over the years I fooled around with Andrew and it grew and changed. But the core of the story is the same. A child who is very advanced, who has parents who were into using their child as an experiment, did everything in their power to push his intellectual capabilities to their extreme limits and beyond. This is juxtaposed with his adult pursuits and an ending for Andrew that is really just a new beginning.

Years later, I had an opportunity to put my stories into a collection of my works but it was over 1,000 pages. So I made one volume ("Anthology of Evil") with the stories in it that I couldn't fit into a more novel like book I titled, "Death of Heaven" (for more see, DeathOfHeaven.com). Here is a coupon for this book, good through December 7th: RM89D - feel free to share this with your friends and their friends.

Here is what one reviewer had to say about it:

"[Death of Heaven] ... has a Books of Blood vibe [referring to Clive Barker's seminal book series], which really works well. It's in these tales that the author's writing ability shines. He demonstrates a lovely turn of phrase and some of the writing is almost poetic in its beauty.
Michael Brookes - Author & Reviewer

All that from two tiny little stories. Well, little stories with massive story lines. Story lines big enough to evolve into an epic science fiction horror story.

To create that book, I also took another short story I wrote on a lark at midnight one night on a single page, single spaced and then turned it in to my Psychology professor the next day. He then made copies and passed them out to all his classes so that I walked in the next day and received an unexpected handout of a purple inked, mimeographed copy of my own short story, "Perception", which is now included in the back of "Death of Heaven".

Between those two stories, in 2012, "Death of Heaven", was born.

I finally got an editor, end of 2013 and she agreed to work on Death of Heaven with me. We republished that on my birthday August 30, 2014. Because that book meant so much to me and the reviews were so good,

Cover art by Marvin Hayes

I realized I should try to re-edit all my stories in my first book. In that book was my first ever published story, "In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear" and the last story was "Andrew", the lead in to my next book, Death of Heaven". I just thought that Andrew and In Memory, both, especially, deserved to be properly cleaned up and re-released finally.

So now I am working on the re-edit of Andrew, my first short story written for Fiction 101 at my university in 1983. Now a novella, it is the basis in part for my book, Death of Heaven, along with another story titled, "Perception".

I had originally labored so hard over this first story while both fear and trepidation watched over each shoulder as I concocted this story that brought such great irritation to my writing Professor and yet such awe and fascination from my fellow students on that day that it was read in class for the first time.

Now after so long, so much tinkering with it over decades, after publishing it and now working on it with my editor (thanks Ilene Giambastiani), it is so very strange indeed to be thinking once again on those words burned so long into my mind. I find myself once again struggling to find the rightness in the morass of meaning and words that it is or maybe, has become.

The words are there and like a sculpture chiseling at stone, I'm trying hard to find the art that has been set in stone for so very long. It's a process of birth and death, joy and sorrow, of rebirth and, like a phoenix rising, honing it down to a deft flame of time and tale into an appropriate foundation for what a vast story that has come of it since it was originally conceived and shared.

Here is the original version presented to my class that day in 1983, the first published version released in 2012 and the newest version, so you can see how it has changed over the years. In these three snippets, you can see how I was writing in the beginning, how I had gotten to be after several decades had passed, and finally how I am now after several very intensive years of writing in the public eye.

Original version of Andrew:

When Fades The Shadows (1983)
"Invisible movements. Billowing, cotton-like breaths of pressure descended gently from on high. "Appearing to be only a breeze, the molecules conveyed along ever so imperfectly, the breeze gathered unto It any and all particulate matter; whatever was accessible to it; thereby hiding somewhat, It's violent loneliness. The gregarious animation of those particle's, was forced plastically, and yet...gently...tenderly, even perhaps, affectionately. One whispering sigh of wistful ardor, slowly succoring up to the clean, bright, and powerful Lifeforce of...a child; listlessly sitting within the confines of a window frame.
"An owl, sensing something amiss, swooped serenely into the midst of the Entity's presence. She then stumbled, surprised, in mid-flight. Never had she ever come across anything with such purpose, and yet, almost completely hidden within Nature."

Then I published it in a book, Anthology of Evil and after that as a standalone ebook novella.

Andrew (2012)

"Invisible movements of a honeysuckle fragrance; billowing, cotton-like Breaths of gentle Pressure cautiously descended into the suburban neighborhood from on high. It hesitated, looked down into the white, picket-fenced yard, and pondered on Its achievement. Appearing as a mere cool dry, fall breeze, the molecules conveyed along ever so— imperfectly; it gathered unto Itself any and all, particulate matter in proximity. In fact, whatever was accessible to It, hiding somewhat in a loneliness of vast and violent proportions.

"The gregarious animation of those particles was forced plastically and yet— gently, tenderly, perhaps even affectionately, up against a window. A whispering sigh of wistful Ardor that slowly succored up to the glass and the clean bright, powerful Lifeforce of— a little child. Listlessly, the boy sat on the window bench, one leg bent partially beneath him, looking out the window. He shifted his feet allowing them both to dangle loosely at the ends of his legs.

"Sadly, he remained crowded within the white rectangular confines of the untattered window frame, vacantly staring off into the yard beyond the panes of glass, bearing forth no remembered regrets.

"Trailing the breeze at a distance was an owl."

As I said, I am now re-editing it with the help of my editor, Ilene.

Today as I write this it is November 30, 2014. I wrote the following and including this version of the first few paragraphs, in an email to Ilene.

"Here are the first three paragraphs, of Andrew, reworked. It took me all week to get up the strength to work on this, though I had the week off from my day job. I was a bit hungover from a great time on Thanksgiving. Today, I think this sudden cold change in the weather is messing me up and I feel pretty lousy. But bucking it up, I finally tried to work on this, but after only three paragraphs, I feel artistically and emotionally drained.
"You know, I wrote this living with Monica in college and I wonder how much of that is tied up in this. In working on this, aside from the poetic nature of my attempts in writing this originally, to expand myself artistically and creatively, this is like reliving my college years, including a long term, intense and failed relationship and memory of how much has happened since with two more failed marriages, living alone, and so intensely wanting to quit my job in IT work, being where I am now and also where I'm headed to.
"What a chump, right? I do find working on this story much harder than anything else I've worked on, and not because of the difficulty of the piece, though that is some of it, but for all the emotional reasons. SO here is today's pass: "

Andrew (2014)
"Invisible movements of a honeysuckle fragrance; billowing, cotton-like Breaths of gentle Pressure cautiously descend into the suburban neighborhood from on high. It hesitated. Looking down into the white fenced yard it pondered this achievement, concealed somewhat in a solitude of vast and violent proportions.
"Appearing as no more than a cool, fall breeze, airborne particulates of all kinds were gathered unto it and carried along ever so lightly into the picket fenced perimeter. The gregarious animation of those particles was forced plastically and yet— gently, tenderly, perhaps even affectionately, up against a window. A whispering sigh of wistful Ardor slowly succored up to the glass and the clean bright, powerful life force of— a little child.
"The young boy sat on a window bench, listless on the warm side of the glass, one leg bent partially beneath him as he gazed out. Shifting somewhat he unfolded his slightly numb leg, allowing both feet to dangle freely. He remained sadly crowded within the white rectangular confines of the untattered window frame, vacantly staring off into the yard beyond ancient panes of glass, bearing forth no remembered regrets.
"At a distance an owl trailed the entity, sensing something amiss."

And well... that is where we have gotten to so far and there is much more to come. It may get another run through of these passages as I've not yet heard back from my editor. We will continue to edit and re-edit until "Andrew" finally becomes the story it could always have been.

Once we finish, I'll repost this blog and update it.

Stop by my web site for information on any of my other writings. at JZMurdock.com.

Cheers! And have a great holiday season!

Free ebooks, Death of Heaven, and The Rules of Writing

Free ebooks? Yes, there's a wealth of reading materiel coming to you here, today. First, though....

My birthday is Saturday, August 30th, but more about that later. Starting Friday, August 29th, 2014, I will be offering my catalog of ebooks for free for a few days in celebration of my birthday, which will be available thought Tuesday, 9/2/2014.

Right now however, you can get a free ebook copy of Death of Heaven right now (see below toward the end of this blog for details).

That all being said, now let's continue....

There are several rules of writing that you're not supposed to break. Rules that sometimes, I find irritating. Some are reasonable, some necessary, some are just marketing issues infecting the publishing industry and therefore, the writer's domain.

Some rules as I indicated, are just common sense and necessary, but some... some I feel just hamper the creative process and the artistic endeavor.

Again, take my book, Death of Heaven.

Over all, I've gotten pretty good comments on it. Like this one from Author and Reviewer, Michael Brookes:

"[Death of Heaven] ... has a Books of Blood vibe [referring to Clive Barker's seminal book series], which really works well. It's in these tales that the author's writing ability shines. He demonstrates a lovely turn of phrase and some of the writing is almost poetic in its beauty."

Original cover of Books of Blood Vol. 1

I kind of like that. 

There was one comment about the storyline that I was expecting and that finally happened. The comment was that the two main protagonists didn't really do, anything.

I beg to differ. SPOILERS here, but mild ones.

First of all, the protagonists referred to ARE doing something. They are documenting for all humankind, what is about to happen. Things that have forever been hidden and are completely missing from humankind's understanding of their entire existence, their world, and their universe.

These documentors are striving to stay alive. They have enough to deal with in simply staying alive and handling their task, to document, to pass it all on to others, should the earth survive. Then there is book two, yet to be written, where perhaps they do have a chance to "do", something. After an entire book of being trapped in their own existence, how could they not be wanting to do something, once and for all?

EarVu a short ebook sci fi horror story

The typical comment from editors and publishers on something like this (and in film, producers, studios, etc.), is to add in something for them to do besides what they are doing. Things like, make a conflict with local government or secret government agency, or a secret society. Hollywood and publishers always want more, bigger, betterer! But that is pure sensationalism and if you put too much into it, you get overload. Like sugar is good so diabetes is better?

And there you have it, this mode of entertainment building can and has led to "entertainment diabetes". Avoid it. It's fine to build on something to go bigger and better, but at some point, if you have a brain cell left, you'll recognize that you need to pull back, start over, reset, so that what had been immense turns into little, and if you revert to the beginning, you can again make the little immense; make a tiny bit simply seem like so much more.

Still, I can understand how one might feel a "hole" in the protagonists' situation.

That however, was my intent. For that feeling to exist. It exists, for a reason.

There are some things in life where you literally can do nothing, where there is no where to hide, nothing to do, but survive; where you should feel a "hole" in the story. That's not very interesting reading though, is it? I mean, that's the argument, right? But these protagonists serve their function, they move things along, they acquire and bring us along with them as they acquire, knowledge.

They had been friends since childhood. One who suffered serious damage through his espionage work (among other things); the other damaged with emotional issues from a childhood trauma that they both amazingly survived. Neither is finding getting through their daily life, easy; for both it is a challenge within itself. And actually, that's okay.

When I was in college in my first fiction writing class, one of the editors of our University magazine said that he didn't understand why he liked my writings, because I broke rules, but for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, he enjoyed my stories. Good stories are written by good authors who follow the rules; great stories are written by great authors who set out to break those rules. It's not for me to say what kind of an author I am, but I will guarantee you one thing, I do have an interesting and at times unique perspective in all of my writings.

As for others who wish to be writers, write. Write and learn rules, so that you can creatively break them, or try to do so, to make your own way, to set your own path so that possibly others, may follow you.

Audio book version of The Conqueror Worm, first full chapter of Death of Heaven

Still there is another issue, however.

Are these two actually the main protagonists? And if not, who is? Because there are others who are doing something and who in the end, absolutely do something. But they too mostly sit and wait, acquiring information, growing in knowledge and strength, much like the other two mentioned above; but also, damaging bits and pieces of human history.

This is a book in some ways, of very little happening, actually.

There is a tension building right from the beginning of the book's story, even many years before the opening of the main story, where that builds and builds until finally it all comes to a head in the final battle for the life of all on earth, and others. There is a lot going on between the lines.

Quantum History short sci fi comedy ebook

If I were to use some of those rules to add in elements to the story, it would be due to marketing reasons, not reasons of story or necessity. Because what is necessity in writing? To tell the story, to keep the reader's attention, to entertain and enlighten, to leave the audience wanting more at the close and to leave them with a feeling of time well spent.

It is not all about the end however, but the journey. The journey in Death of Heaven is long and diverse. There are turns and massive jumps but it is all tied together by only a few elements, a few lives. You come to know those lives. You come to wonder about them, where did they come from? How did they come to be here, and now?

Some of those questions are answered in a novella that came out before Death of Heaven, titled, Andrew, which is also included at the end of another book of mine, Anthology of Evil. Questions like, where did these powerful beings come from in the first place?

I don't like stories with easy answers.

I don't like books I can read in thirty seconds. I like the kind of book you can take your time with, think about a little bit and where you really don't mind that it's taking longer than many books do. It's all about the journey. Who cares if you zip through to the end, just to get to a great ending?

If I really enjoy a book, I will savor it, draw it out. I don't WANT it to read easy and fast. I want it to read like it will tear my guts out, affect me, even change me possibly; make me remember it. When I first read Lord of the Rings in high school, I limited my reading per day. I wanted it to last as long as possible. I could have read it in a day or two, but I made it last a couple of weeks so I could ruminate about it, think of it as I was falling asleep and even when I woke up.

I'm kind of like that though. It's how I like my beer, when I bite into it, I like it to bite back a little. I want something with full body, full flavor, a full body experience; Thai food at five stars of heat, using Thai tea to cut the heat when I can't take it anymore.

And that's what I try to deliver. More than the usual, something different; a little unique, or a lot.

On August 30th, 2014 I am officially re-releasing my book published in 2012, Death of Heaven (2014 print and ebook versions).

I have always liked giving gifts to those closest to me on my birthday, so it seems an obvious day to celebrate this new release. It has several new sections, has been re-edited and I believe it is an even more powerful read than before.

Check out the reviews it was given before the re-edit on its web page at, DeathofHeaven.com.

You can get an ebook copy right now if you like from Smashwords, just use the coupon - WC22Z . The coupon expires on September 2nd, so get it now.

I will also offer my collection of short stories, Anthology of Evil on Smashwords, use the coupon, DV57H. Over this next few months into next year I will be working on a re-edit of this book as I have done with, Death of Heaven. Anthology of Evil has two important stories, In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear, my first published short story and, Andrew, the novella that Death of Heaven is based upon.

While you're at it, don't forget this free, little two page story of mine on Wattpad, To End All War.

If you want a quick and easy read there are plenty of authors out there for you. Some of them I highly respect and read myself. Others, not so much.

Mr. Pakoo's Spice a short zombie tale ebook

Rules are pretty much mandatory for new authors, they are okay if you want to simply sell a lot of books, that is, if your goal is only to make money. But if you want to write (or read) a good book that challenges you, ignores rules at times for the sake of entertainment, just understand... that is what I am always striving for.

To offer you the reader, something... different; something, provoking; something you won't soon forget.

For now, here's a few freebie short stories:

• Another experimental debacle, in a two page horror sci fi story titled, To End All War, on Wattpad. 
• My rather well liked sci fi romance tale, Simon's Beautiful Thought on Smashwords.
• Free this weekend - A return to my exploring scientific research as in my horror sci fi EarVu and,
• Free this weekend - A humorous experimental debacle Quantum History (see covers above). 
• Along with these all my other ebook short stories will also be free through the weekend.

Note: Due to an oversight the last two stories above were not marked free as planned, but will be this weekend.

Check them out and have fun. It's what this is all about.

Cheers!

Writing Process Blog Tour - Part Three

You've arrived at the third round for the Writing Process Blog Tour!

Thank You to Lily for passing people along from her blog! Loved that one answer of hers... writing as, "Free Therapy". I think that's a very good reason for becoming a writer!

Welcome. I'm JZ Murdock, I'll be your host for this session....

As a blog about writing, there are really two sides to this thing. Are you a reader looking to understand a writer's perspective?

Or are you a writer (or want to be a writer), looking for a writer's perspective? I'll try to cover both, just skip what isn't intriguing you. Okay?

What am I working on?

The almost final cover version of the new release

My editor and I just finished a re-edit of my book, Death of Heaven. It had previously received good reviews before but I suspect (and hope) they will be even better now. Much thanks to my editor, Ilene Giambastiani and her husband Kurt, who is an excellent writer in his own stead. 

You'll be hearing more from him shortly.

I also write screenplays and currently have two new in process. One is a true crime story about a murder I knew of years ago when I had helped someone evade organized crime who she had said, committed the crime (news articles from that time indicate it was a random killing).

The other is a sequel to one of my current screenplays titled, Gray and Lover - The Hearth Tales Incident. It's about two Steampunk demon hunters, sent to protect a famous horror writer. The writer's friend from his military days in Afghanistan, named Saleel, is also briefly in Death of Heaven. The end of the screenplay neatly dovetails into the sequel to the book. Yes, I'm writing a sequel to an as yet unsold screenplay. But I find that writing in multiple disciplines helps each one of them in various ways.

Then there are always the inevitable short stories and mini-stories like I've started writing on Wattpad.

What is my background?

I grew up reading sci fi, horror and science fact. Before that I loved watching old sci fi films on TV and my favorite show, the original, Twilight Zone.

My first ever written short story was a sci fi story I wrote in tenth grade. My next full story came more than a decade later at university and was horror ("Andrew", is now a novella at the end of my collection of short stories, "Anthology of Evil").

My first sold short story was a piece of social horror titled, In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear, also in Anthology of Evil, and that book opens with that story. We are starting the re-editing of that book with Andrew, because it is the prequel and basis for my book, Death of Heaven.

Then I want to do, In Memory... and release it as a stand alone ebook because next year will be it's fifteenth anniversary since it was first published. Some of the other short stories in that book have already been released as short story ebooks and a few even as audiobooks.

In Memory... came to be when friends of mine challenged me when I said I could make any story workable. I was teasing them but they put me to task by saying that I couldn't write a believable story about a man who turned himself into a computer chip. In the end, I won the dare with that short story (as they had judged it) and eventually it was the first short story I ever sold.

The title of that story was an homage to Isaac Asimov (his first autobiography was, "In Memory, Yet Green". If you're a fan of traditional sci fi in its Golden Age, you really need to read that for a glimpse into the history of many of the old, great sci fi writers. In that book, Isaac had said that many of these great sci fi writers started out as Technical Writers during WWII.

Isaac thought that their need for attention to detail, working on cutting edge technologies in some cases (at the time) and all the practice they got finishing projects on deadline, as well as in needing to write and finish large projects, all made it easier for them to eventually become published as sci fi writers. 

So, I got a job as a Tech Writer too; later to become a Senior Tech Writer. I was working in Information and Internet Technologies (IT work). I finally got out of it because it just wasn't that much fun and really, I just wanted to write fiction, anyway. Besides, people found their team Tech Writer to be annoying as they were always trying to drag information out of team members who were just trying to get their work done. On Time.

I just wanted to write their work up as was a required part of the process; but I didn't want to be an annoyance to people. So eventually, I moved into other areas of IT work. I hope one day to make enough to support myself fully upon my writings. For now, I'm lucky to have the situation I do have. Lucky, though I have worked hard for years to be in a situation such as this, where I can work from home and have time to write in my off hours. You too can find your favored situation in your own life, but it takes hard work and is not without difficulties.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

That's a hard thing to ask of me. I'd consider my genres to be horror and sci fi, speculative fiction in general. Though I write a lot of non-fiction, too. Mostly on my blog here, and elsewhere (Facebook, Wattpad, etc.).

I wasn't sure what to say on this so I asked my editor, Ilene what she thought:

"I think your work differs within your genre in that it is deeply psychological in it's heart.  Certainly, there is plenty of gore to go around, but the gore tends to serve the psychological suspense in the story, rather than be an end in itself. Your work is also very engaging to the reader--meaning that I get lost in it. You weave very wonderful stories, with eroticism, suspense, and just plain horror! Yay!"

Well, thanks Ilene! There's more on my page for Death of Heaven and my web site at jzmurdock.com.

According to author Michael Brooks as he puts it in having reviewed, Death of Heaven:\

"[JZ Murdock] demonstrates a lovely turn of phrase and some of the writing is almost poetic in its beauty."

High praise which I will always endeavor to live up to. Thanks Michael!
Why do I write what I write?

Again, I agree with Lily's answer, "Free Therapy." Honestly, I got my degree in Psychology for free therapy. After I got out of the military, I thought I could use some therapy and so I figured that getting a degree in Psych might just be a good way to go about it. Plus I wanted to learn true characterization, not through a literary degree. I think it worked out well on both accounts. 

I received some good ideas for stories in my university Abnormal Psych classes. Gumdrop City was one, a true crime but rather unbelievable story that I heard in class one day. Sarah is another one. One day after Abnormal Psych, a girl stopped me in the stairs on the way to my next class and told me about her grandmother's experiences with Alzheimer's. Of course, I fictionalized them both but GC is much closer to what actually happened. Sarah is more of a Twilight Zone tale.

To answer why I write what I do, it's when I have a story I inside that wants, needs to get out. It's like seeing a puzzle, one that you know you can solve and just have to work on. It's just very rewarding that I can share those with others; others who seem to enjoy reading them.

How does my writing process work?

I don't really have to brainstorm ideas. They come to me in various ways. Taking in fresh information is always helpful and sparks new ideas, constantly. I like to stay abreast of cutting edge technologies and consider where they could take us. What fresh nightmare could they visit upon us at some unforeseen time?

I get a kernel of an idea in my mind, it starts to grow and there is nothing I can do to stop it. Then I start writing it down. Write and re-write till it's polished.

There is one writing method I suspect some people don't use: Massaging your text. It's a term familiar (or should be) to all Tech Writers. In all the re-writing, sometimes things get messy. Maybe all the time. So once in a while you have to start at the top and read down to the end, correcting as you go. It's the only way to be sure you have everything connecting properly and in its right place. 

Sometimes I will have a base outline set up and stick to that, allowing changes as I go and as are necessary for the overall story. But more frequently I prefer to go on an adventure through discovery writing. I get the general idea or just a title; a place to start or sometimes, a place to finish. Then I just start writing. Frequently my beginning will turn into the middle and I will back fill. Or I will back up from the end and try to find the beginning, then flesh it all out. I try to write it all down and then edit, and re-edit, rewriting over and over until it's done.

I am constantly writing ideas down for later. Otherwise, no matter how great it is, it can vanish. Don't listen to people who say (or your mind telling you) that if it's such a great idea, you won't be able to forget it. You can forget, anything. Write it down, with as much detail as possible to spark your mind, to get you back to where you were when it seemed like a brilliant idea.

I also write down the title of the film or show I'm watching in my notes (or song, or whatever sparked the original thought), then store it on my hard drive under novels, or short stories, in a folder called Ideas, or Titles. Then later I have a lot of ideas to write out, or get more ideas from. It's been very valuable.

I never through away anything, idea-wise.

Getting a reader, someone to read my writings, to catch anything I missed, is a must. But for years I never had anyone to read it by myself. I'd put it away for a few days or a week (months or years sometimes) and then re-read it anew, as a fresh read. It can then become painfully clear where the messes are that need to be cleaned up.

As you may have noticed at the beginning, I have been creating a Universe in my writings with crisscrossing interrelated characters and timelines in my stories, novels or screenplays. Why? Because I always loved it when other author's did that. I just accidentally fell into doing it myself. But once I realized what I was doing, I kind of got into the idea and have been consciously trying to build on it.

Like one of my new short stories for an anthology of writers called, the Giant Tales series of books. For World of Pirates, I wrote a story called, Breaking on Cave Island, which became a prequel to a character I wrote in a bizarre story called, Poor Lord Ritchie's Answer to a Question He Knever Knew, contained in Anthology of Evil. That was a story actor Rutger Hauer chose as a winning story back in a 2004 contest he put on. 

To sum up, my writing process is just like that of most writers: write, finish, re-write, re-write, re-write, massage, till it feels solid and truly is finished. Then if you can, have someone read it (or put it away and read it again later). Tweak it some more and then, get it published; and that, is an entirely different blog.

What exactly is the key to my writing process and style, then? Same as yours would be. It's all about what one's "voice" is, as it has developed through the art and practice of writing. My voice comes from what I've read before and all through my life; what I've learned about the mechanics of writing and how I enjoy applying them, correctly or incorrectly; how I see the world in general and at times in specific; and in the end, how it all sounds to myself when I read back what I have written; does it then please me?

That's it, really. That and lots of practice (writing is rewriting) tied to how an audience of readers responds to my writings (or how I expect they will) along with my consideration of how I wanted them to respond and how I then react to that in my writings. Still, in the end it's really what's pleasing to me.

Hopefully something useful came out of these last few minutes. Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all the best! May you always find new and fascinating stories to read. 

The next blogger up is for next Monday's (June 23, 2014) Writing Process Blog Tour! He is author of one of my favorite stories of all time, a revisionist's history called the Fallen Cloud series, as well as other very enjoyable books and stories.

I now turn the Blog reigns over to friend and fellow author, Kurt Giambastiani,

Cheers!