Making An Office Away From the Office

I don't always have the opportunity write from home, and I do have my favorite places to write from in those cases. I've had to settle for spotty internet from places like Starbucks and Panera, which I know you've read about from me both here and on my Facebook page.

My number one favorite out-of-the-office office is in a data center in downtown Los Angeles. Whether or not I can work there depends on whether or not I can find street parking, which isn't always a given. This is downtown Los Angeles, after all!

While I'm here, I put on a set of comfortable headphones and play music as I write, as it helps to put me in the right frame of mind to write. I try to use music that's appropriate to whatever it is that I'm writing.

For this blog post, it's Cat Stevens.

In this office, which is about 400 square feet in size, I've got a gigabit wired connection and a quiet room all to myself on a rarely visited floor. I even have a locking cabinet in here with me (I have the only key) I can use to store the things that are good to have with me, but that I don't want to have to haul all over the damned place. It makes life so much easier, as I haul enough heavy crap around with me all the time without having to add to the burden.

I've still got to get the proper wiring to connect my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (my workhorse computer) to the currently unused monitor that sits atop the upper level of the glass and metal desk I use here. Of course, that wiring would hit the cabinet when I wasn't around. It would stand too much of a chance of being appropriated by someone else.

As this office is also periodically (though very rarely) used by data center employees for working on computers and servers, it's cluttered and full of boxes and equipment, both working and dead. It's sort of a peripheral computer graveyard, if you're familiar with the concept. I've seen the main graveyard, and it's much more cluttered than this small room.

I've done my best to clear the area I want to work in, although periodically I'll walk in and discover that some asshole has been in here to work and strewn their discarded crap across the workspace I use. Then I remember and practice at least a few of the bad words my father so thoughtfully taught me and proceed to tidy up the electronic and cardboard carnage.

I'm considering putting up some simple artwork on the walls to quietly suggest to those people that they aren't the only ones using this space for something. I clean up after myself well enough that they might not realize that someone else makes use of the space, but you'd think they'd have noticed that the open desk surfaces aren't covered in greasy black dust anymore.

That might be expecting too much of them, I suppose. If you have any suggestions for simple artwork that can be printed up, please let me know. I'm open to new ideas.

On Writing...

People out there say that anyone can write, and that's true, but it's not true that anyone can write well.

That's not a criticism. It's a fact.

Authors don't just sit down and figuratively spew forth words onto the page or screen. They agonize over every word that is chosen, and agonize when those words don't want to come, even though they know they have a story to tell.

You can usually tell when an author has pretty much phoned it in. When you read what they've published, you find multitudes of spelling/grammar/punctuation errors, and it's clear that they edited their own work.

I've found that to be a mistake. You must have an outside editor. You can't just rely on yourself to get it right the first or even the second or third time around.

But multiple drafts of your work are a subject for another time.

Most writers can find beta readers who will read over what has been written and then give feedback. I recommend asking those beta readers to be hard in their response, and to give an honest opinion and feedback. You don't want kudos, you want brutal honesty, so having a thick skin for criticism is a necessity.

I also recommend reading your work aloud. It's much easier to find those inadvertent mistakes that way. Wouldn't you much rather be embarrassed discovering those errors yourself and then fixing them, rather than having screenshots posted by readers who want to poke public fun at your efforts?

When you write something, you aren't necessarily going to notice the mistakes you make, and you can't rely on Spellcheck, either, as if you've used a homonym for a word and spelled it correctly, it's not going to alert you to the issue. There, their, and they're are prime examples of that. I'm sure you've seen your and you're used incorrectly all the time.

I know someone who writes too instead of to all the time. The day he tried to convince me he was a mutual friend, I knew it was him from the moment he made that error. (I've never confronted him about the attempted deception, as I don't know what that would accomplish.)

In regard to beta readers, if you'd like to be considered as a beta reader for my works in progress, please let me know!

New Stuff!

After much thought, I’ve decided to make lined journals available with cover images from my novels and stories. 

I’ll let you know when they are available. 

They will be at least 100 pages, and have lines that go all the way to the edge of the page, for as much writing space as possible. 

Latest Work In Progress

I'm currently working on the sequel to AYA'S DRAGON. This one is called SARA'S FIRE.

It's been a longer adventure than the first story, as I've had to rework parts of it when things started to wander far afield from where they were supposed to be. That's necessitated gutting it in places and then rewriting where I did that.

Dragons are fun to write about, and dragons and humans working together are even more fun to play with in a literary sense.

I fell in love with dragons when I discovered The Dragonriders of Pern as a teenager. I've lost count of how many times I've read that series, and I've even memorized the "Teaching Songs" Anne McCaffrey created.

By the way, The Fire lizard Song can be sung to the tune of Puff, the Magic Dragon. Now try to get that earworm out of your head. <grin>

I'll try to keep you updated on how things are going with this latest story, and I will, eventually, get the final book in the Sumaire Web series of vampire novels completed. I'm trying to get through some issues with continuity and avoiding plot holes that would annoy me, if I were reading it as a fan.

Wishing you all the best. If you've been affected by the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida, I hope you, your friends, and family are all safe and sound and that you will be inconvenienced as little as possible in the coming days, weeks, and months.

AYA'S DRAGON Update

Well, AYA'S DRAGON has been sent off to my covey of beta readers for editing.

They will be doing everything from opining about the subject matter to grammar and sentence structure. They have all been encouraged to be harsh, if and when necessary.

Once I hear back from the first bunch of beta readers, I'll make the necessary changes and send it on to the next group of beta readers.

So far, we're still on schedule for that July 25th release date, and of course, if there are any changes, you'll be the next ones to know.

My New Main Blog Site

Believe it or not, it's not all about vampires out there. I also write on other subjects as well. Thus, I decided I should create a catch-all blog page where I can tell you what I'm doing in "real" life, and what I'm working on at any given time.

I'm currently working on a short story aimed at more mature young adults called AYA'S DRAGON. 

Working cover image for AYA'S DRAGON

As you can probably guess from the title and the cover, yes, dragons are involved in the story. I've loved dragons since I was a kid but fell madly in love with them when I discovered Anne McCaffrey's DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN series, which begins with the novel DRAGONFLIGHT. That series began with a short story called WEYR SEARCH, which was published in a science fiction and fantasy magazine, and the response was so great that she published the novel, and a substantial series of books was born.

AYA'S DRAGON was supposed to clock in at around fifteen thousand words, but over time, it has ballooned to over twenty-three thousand words, and I'm not done with it yet. A lot of that has happened during the editing process when I discovered that something might need to be explained a bit further or to add things that I must have been assuming the reader would be able to extrapolate.

All of that said, I'm expecting the story, whatever length it may ultimately reach, to be released to the public on July 25, 2017. If there are any delays, I'll certainly let everyone know.

I look forward to feedback, both positive and negative, on the story. 

It will be available on for Kindle on Amazon.com and will be part of their KINDLE SELECT program, which will allow you to borrow it as part of their KINDLE UNLIMITED lending library.

And now, back to writing. Have a splendid day, folks!