I’m not dead. I don’t think so, at least. I’m still working, and I’m still going on nature excursions. This should continue at least two more weeks — it depends on the weather. At some point, I’m going to hibernate until spring. This winter will be filled with chicken breasts and exercise and writing — specifically finishing my editing of old projects and beginning a new one. As for my newfound passion, I’ll soon have a complete itinerary for 2027 travel, including a few hotel stays. I’m going to Pictured Rocks, Hocking Hills, and a lot of other places. And I’m going to see way too many waterfalls in Tennessee. Seriously, Tennessee is filled with waterfalls. The unique geography, specifically where the Cumberland Plateau drops off into deep gorges and valleys, keeps water flowing across the terrain. It’s going to be awesome.
Project news:
The Opening Night Murders 2.0 — I’m adding a lot to the Gvzbgul naq Nyyvfba fgbevrf. These are barely explained in the first edition. They not only drive the early plot, but they put so many pieces into motion. Most of the dialogue has remained the same, but there are delicate strands of dialogue that go nowhere. Rereading Hemingway has helped a lot when it comes to necessity. Is it important? No? Kill it…with a machette…slowly. Seriously, you have to torture those words so they never even think about entering your manuscripts again.
The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire — I’m worried. The main fixable issue is the fact that Nzbenegvf vf npgviryl urycvat Oebjavat jvgu gur pba wbo ba Znqrf. Again, I barely touch on this. I don’t clue it. I don’t use it for misdirection and I barely mention it in the solution phase.
WHAT THE FUCK?
I’ll fix that – no problem. That’s like 7 or 8 carefully placed lines. The problem is the third act. This is the weakness. After anyone reads Vampire, the first criticism is going to be the anemic and abrupt third part.
Looking back, I recall that I had read a couple of French mysteries at the time. Both had great set ups and rising action, and both had rushed third acts. (I’m not talking about the solution scenes, but rather the bridge that gets us to the solution scenes. The beforementioned aside, I quite like my solution scene.)
And yet? The structure gives this book a fair amount of its charm. That third-part change to “real life” (train rides, cafe meetings, kitchens) is meant to be jarring after the nightmare parts. Then again, Maybe I should have continued the nightmare until the very end.
I reread it for the first time in a while, and I haven’t the slightest idea what I’m doing with the third part. I have to decide what I want to give future readers. I’m a better writer now than I was then. I want it to represent my ideas about the genre.
But there’s time to figure it out. I’ve got The Opening Night Murders to finish. And best believe I’ll finish it quickly once my hiking trips go on haitus. I’ll give a plan soon — maybe the date you can expect to start hearing about a new project.
If I do Sapphire Veil next, it will be different. Before, I had a young man (an innocent, inexperienced babe) fall into the hands of a femme fatale. I’m bumping up the guy’s age and making him less innocent. I don’t want to write about characters who are victims of anything other than murder and fate.
I may write a short story and post it on my blog for christmas. No promises.
I hope you’ve got agency. I hope you’re not pissing and moaning. I hope you are actively doing the things that make you happy and I hope you are doing them voluntarily rather out of an obligation to an image of yourself that doesn’t really exist.
