I wrote the ending to A Cold Copper Moon early this morning--finishing around 1:45 a.m. I seem to do my best writing in the late hours of the evening or the early hours of the morning. It never seems to work for me during the day.
What about you? When are you best? Morning or evening? Just wondering. Connie
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I'm almost done with a Cold Copper Moon! Eighty seven thousand words and counting. Cooper is winding up the Big Oil case and he's also about to solve his son's kidnapping.
Time for me to talk to Tris (agent). A Cold Copper Moon--at 80,000 words. If you think it was hard to get to that many words, it was. But that's only half the story-- because I threw out about 40,000 words on the way!
Who knows. Maybe those words will show up later in another book. Maybe not. A Cold Copper Moon is all about Cooper vs. Big Oil (and the Chinese Tong and oil wildcatters) in and around our beloved Everglades. And also the mystery of Maxie's (Cooper's kidnapped son) disappearance is finally resolved. But I can't tell you about that without...you know...that would ruin the whole story. Anyway...the end is here! Connie MWA Florida had its first meeting (I think it was a first) at Florida Southwestern College in the library. Michael Joy organized and hosted it. Nice job, Michael!
Lisa Black, a Clevelander and a NY Times best selling author was the speaker--she filled us in on the realities of forensics--it isn't like they tell us in TV! Thanks Lisa. Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you later. I'm looking forward to more meetings like this on Florida's left coast. I'm near the end of A Cold Copper Moon. A foreign corporation is drilling in Cuban waters between Havana and Key West, and threatening the eco system of the Florida Straits and the Everglades themselves. Cooper is trying to solve a murder that is somehow connected to the big rig and at the same time tackle new developments in his son's kidnapping.
And so he is caught in an explosion of action in the Caribbean and an eruption of a volcano that has simmered within him for seven years as he hears about what is happening in Muskingum, Ohio, the site of his son's kidnapping. More later. Connie Interesting. I thought I dropped 30,000 words in book 3 (A Cold Copper Moon). I didn't realize, that to start over, I had to drop 50,000 words. Ouch.
So my solution: Go back to the first draft (about Big Oil) and continue. And so, I am at 63,000 words--a novel is usually 75,000 to 80,000--so I am almost there!. The main story line is about Oil drilling in the Everglades. The side story is Cooper's final resolution in finding his son, Maxie. It's a crazy ending--can't wait to get there. Connie Talk about throwing out the baby with the bath--maybe I just did. I was up to 62,000 words plus in my latest novel, A Cold Copper Moon, and I didn't like what I was writing---so…I tossed over 30,000 words. They are out there somewhere! But they won't be back in this novel--Geez!
That's the latest in the adventures of this writer. If you have a similar experience--please share. Thanks. Connie It's bugging me. Always has. I asked Tim Dorsey if he works from an outline or just free-wheels it. He looked at me strangely and said something like, I have to work from an outline.
I never have. But lately I'm thinking I should give it a try--especially after throwing out over 30,000 words of my third novel--A Cold Copper Moon. So if any of you out there are writers, let me know what you think. Thanks, Connie So someone asks me "What do you do?" And I say "I'm a writer."
The next question is always, "Have you gotten anything published?" And I fumble around with answers like, "No, not yet…but my agent is shopping my books around--maybe soon…" And then, "Let me know when you do…" And I say, "Yeah, sure thing…" And then I wonder about self-publishing. And if you're an aspiring writer, I'll bet you've wondered about the same thing. Makes sense. The reality is that it does make sense in some ways--and in others, not so. It makes sense because you can see your work in print form (or digital) quickly--no need for an agent, no need to query publishers (most of whom won't take your work without an agent anyway). So… The problems: 1. Who's going to be your critic? My mother would think anything I write is good. So would my wife (although she's a pretty good critic). So would my friends. 2. The expense. The cost of self-publishing is significant (both financially and time spent in getting it done). Better have some bucks. 3. Finally, marketing: You get to do all of that yourself. Fun times. And so the question: When will I get published? is a good one. And with the incredibly changing world of publishing today, one that's not easily answered. But for me--I'm still old-school. I would have sent my first book to my mother if I could have (she passed on to the next life some years ago) and I know she would have loved it. But instead I sent it to my agent and he said I don't love your ending and you need a lot more words! So I did it--wrote twenty thousand more words and changed the ending. I wouldn't have gotten that advice from anyone else that I know--except perhaps from someone who hates me. But I know my agent doesn't hate me, therefore… But you get the idea. So I stick with the traditional way. And hope... Thanks to Ryan (son), our web page has a different look. What do you think!
With his help I have also uploaded an excerpt from Blood Moon Rising. Hope you like it! Let me know what you think. Cooper is off on another adventure in this second novel: looking for his son, Maxie, and tracking a Russian cartel that is selling human body parts on the international market. The story starts with a phone call from a friend, Jackson Lawless, whose girl friend has gone missing. But there are some problems: 1.) Jackson is married. 2.) Jackson's wife is a friend of Cooper's. And then there are the bad guys--the Russians--who make money by stealing people and selling their parts. Like a junkyard dealer. And Cooper wonders if that's where the girl friend has gone--or his son--to a junkyard of body parts where hospitals turn for their transplants. Stay tuned for more. Connie |
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