t​Under normal circumstances I like to read adventure and intergalactic travel in the summer time but at the moment it’s all I want. Escapism is a very real and very necessary thing. For me at least. It’s why I watch movies and read fiction. I avoid most dramas (even genre dramas) because they deal with real life issues. I want the farfetched and fantastical. I want a fully immersive experience forgetting everything about the current state of the world, whatever it may be. As we enter year two of a world-wide pandemic, I feel this need to escape more than ever.
 
I wanted to share some of my favorite reads so far. Movies and TV are great but they are over in a few hours. Also, they require zero imagination. When I have to conjure up the people, places, and things in my own mind, I feel like I’ve been there. I’m involved. Watching something is too passive. I am a slow reader so it takes me hours to work through a book. The more hours I spend reading, the less hours I have to be bored or freaked out.
 
Here are a few of my favorite escapes so far.
 
I’ve worked my way through a huge chunk of IDW’s Transformers, Phase Two series. Over 80 issues so far. This is a world I have wanted to be a part of since 1984. The comics, unlike the movies and TV shows have little to no humans, something I am very grateful for. I’m here for the giant robots. Period.
 
I recently read both The Night Circus and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Probably the most fantastical novels in this bunch. If I could choose to live in either of those novels I would. They are beautiful and I love them.
 
In contrast, I just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It’s pretty grounded in reality, but not as we know it. It’s fast paced and exciting. The idea it plays with throughout is something I think about a lot and it was fun to see someone tackle the notion of the multiverse and all its possibilities.
 
One of my favorite random discoveries is the The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty. I was in the bookstore and I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the cover of the second book, Kingdom of Copper. I quickly found the first one, City of Brass, and started reading it that day. Growing up one of my favorite books was Arabian Nights. This series is Arabian Nights to the nth degree. The world is vividly rendered in lavish colors and rich detail. The political intrigue and personal relationships are complex and surprising. I love so many of the characters. I have avoided the final book so it can never end but then again, I must know what happens. But Empire of Gold is next read and I have zero doubt that I will cry and be utterly amazed by the time I turn the last page.
 
I really enjoyed The Golem and the Ginni by Helene Wecker. While set in NYC, a place I have visited a few times, it’s in the past and entrenched in the day to day lives of some really wonderful characters. It’s anchored by the lives of these very normal people who have no idea the magic in their midst.
 
The Revenger Trilogy by Alastair Reynolds. I read book one, The Revenger, a couple of years again. At the time I was so bummed because I really liked the world he had built. There were some really cool concepts of time and space. When I found out that it was a trilogy, I immediately bought the other two books. Besides, it’s hard to get much cooler than space pirates.
 
The Prey of the Gods by Nicky Drayden was a little gory but unlike anything I have read in a while. The best word I can think of to describe this one is, unexpected.
 
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was not at all something I would usually read but I don’t regret it. It is a true gothic novel with giant scary house and a cast of suspicious characters. I admit I was enraptured by the mystery of what was going on that I read it only a few days. It was intense. But it did have an ending I could live with and that is important to me.
 
I finally read Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson. I see why so many people love it. It’s set in a hyper reality we move closer to every day and yet I’m not sure our tech will ever be as cool as it is in the book. It’s fast paced from page one and a lot of fun. I am 100% convinced we would not have Ready Player One without this book.
 
Stars Wars and Halo novels are good diversions. I have only read a fraction of these, but I am familiar enough with the overall scope of these worlds that I’m not usually too lost. When I am not sure what to read, I resort to my short story collections of Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, both masters in imagination.
 
Those are few of my humble suggestions. If you have any great escapes to recommend, let me know on FB or Twitter. Stay safe and happy reading!

The process is different for everyone. There is no wrong (or right) way to write. Each person has to figuret out for themselves what works and what doesn’t.
 
The Approach
For me the act of writing is a discovery process. Auguste Rodin said, “I invent nothing, I rediscover.” I am a big proponent of the Multiverse Theory and it’s infinite possibilities. As far as I am concerned each story world is it’s own reality. I’m a visitor looking around and taking notes. My characters are largely independent of me. They have the ability to surprise and infuriate me, just like all the people in my life. When I am not thinking/writing about them, they go on with their lives regardless of my attention. Even in world building mode when I am trying to construct systems of government and politico dynamics, et al, I still have this sense that, like Michaelangelo, the shape of the thing I’m trying to create is already present in the mass/mess, but I have to put in the work to reveal what has been there all along.
 
 
The Method
Generally speaking when I start a story I have two things to work with. A character and the ending. I usually know how a story will end but I have absolutely no idea how I will get there. I am a panster by nature. Whether or not you choose to outline, here’s the thing, a lot can happen between bullet points. You may have a list of well thought out plot points but how you move characters from one plot point to the next is still a crap shoot. There are a lot of choices to make for every scene and how you transition from one scene to next. Anyone of those choices can render the rest of your plot points totally moot and you have to rethink what happens next. Again, this is my writing style. Some authors wield an iron fist over their creations and have absolute control at all times, if that is you, must be nice.
 
The other element I have to work with is a person. Characters are the most important part of a story to me. Clever ideas are good but very few people will stick with you solely because of a cool premise. When I start there I usually have an image in my head and there is at least one person at the center. I have no idea who they are or what they want, but they’re there waiting for me to find out. I used to just start writing, using that one image in my head as the starting point for my exploration. Lately I’ve been intentional about figuring out who the character is first. The internet is full of tools for character building. The one that has really helped me story wise is K.M. Weiland’s book, “Creating Character Arcs.” The time I put into going through her questions and developing my main cast before I start writing has really helped me to understand who these people are. As a bonus I get all kinds of awesome plot ideas. Because the plot is largely determined by the characters, if I have no idea who they are or what they want then I have no story.
 
 
The Hard Part
Writing. Panster or plotter it makes no difference, writers write. Full stop. The internet is rife with memes about procrastinating writers because it is true. Why do so many of us avoid that which we long to do? Ask ten writers and you’ll get ten answers. Whatever the reasons, you will have to wrestle yourself into submission on that one. But there will come a time when there is nothing left to do but put words to a page.
 
Soapbox Tangent
It has always annoyed the crap out of me when people casually declare they will write a book someday. I think because they are literate and know how to construct a sentence they assume a book should be any easy thing to do. Well, it’s not. If it was easy there would not be thousands of how-to books on the subject.
 
Okay, now that I have that off my chest…. Whatever you have to do to get those words down, do it. Habit is your friend. Our brains love routine and patterns so if you can write at the same time everyday (week/month/year) it will help creativity to flow a lot better. I trick myself by saying I only have to write 500 words. That’s it. As an example, the first two sections of this entry are about that. BUT, once I get rolling, I don’t usually want to stop. It’s the getting started part I find hard.
 
I have to schedule my time. I make appointments with myself and do not change them for anyone. There will be a million opportunities to interrupt you so schedule time when you can be the least demanded upon. If you are so popular/busy that this is impossible then you are going to have to choose writing time over social time. If you are serious about writing you will find a way. One of my writing partners is a mother of two little kids. She writes when they nap. Sometimes she can’t because of other things she has to do, but when she can write, she does. Progress is still progress no matter how slow.
 
 
In Conclusion
This is my method. You need to find your own path but it’s always nice to know how other people go about it. Other strong suggestions are: read (fiction and nonfiction, in all sorts of genres,) talk to other writers, and find other writing to workshop your work. It’s scary letting other people see your work in a raw state but you will learn a lot and improve by leaps and bounds if you can take to heart their suggestions.

I was scanning through the site and saw this:

https://www.elbiefree.com/rants-n-raves/state-of-the-trilogy

And realized WOW, i did not make my goal. In the above mentioned blog I said book 3 would be done by 2018 come hell or high water. Well, it's not done and here's what I have to say about that. I did finish complete the 1st draft that November and at over 120k words.

Then it was submitted to my critique group. We have a 5k word maximum for each submission so getting the whole thing by them took most of a year. I also had my writing mentor read it. After it was all said and done I have over 600 comments to address and who knows how much rewriting and restructuring. Not to mention I am still reading several books to make sure I have correct ideas. 

So all that to say. It's really, really, happening. 70 chapters. New characters and old. And completed character  arcs to boot. It's gonna be good y'all. I can't wait for you to read it. I will be asking for beta readers. If you are interested please hit me up on Twitter or Facebook.

​Here is what editing a novel can look like.

​I’m done!
 
Sort of.
 
I can’t believe it took me almost three years to get through the first draft of book 3. But I have completed the final scene, full story arc complete with an inciting incident, defeats and victories, and of course the climax and falling action.
 
But wait there’s more!
 
The first draft, phase 1, is just the beginning. On to phase 2, the rewriting. This is where I get to take all the feedback I’ve gotten from my workshop group and my writing mentor and make upgrades. Rewriting is the heart of writing if you ask me. For a pantsters like myself (writers who don’t use plot outlines,) writing the first draft is like wandering around a dark room trying to find the light. As you grope around you get an idea of the shape of the room and what is in there. Turning on the light is finishing that draft when you get to finally see what it is you’ve got. Rewriting is my favorite part because now I get to really dig into what I’ve discovered and hone it into the best it can be. This is my chance to bring things out, dust them off and let them shine. I can do more nuanced dialogue, stronger foreshadowing, and get the continuity of action shored up.
 
Phase 3 will be finding Beta readers. Phase 4 is the editing from that. And once I am truly convinced of story and all of its parts, I will finally be at phase 5, the actual editing from a professional editor (because you should never edit your own work. Never ever.)
 
Once I make all the updates I get from the editor, a little bit of formatting and THEN I will be ready to publish.
 
Woo.
 
I still have a ways to go, but I’ve  gotten through the gauntlet of getting my idea on paper.

​The old adage is that writers write. I'm a writer, I have two books you can buy right now. Haven't written much in three months.
 
I'm not going to say I have writer block. It may be, but I'm not convinced. I think it's more akin to extreme procrastination. I am avoiding writing. I don't know why but I am. Once I sit down and start doing it I'm fine, it's the getting started part that I am struggling with.
 
Part of the problem is distraction. Unlimited data is not my friend. Netflix and Hulu must think I'm bed ridden. Ray Bradbury has strong opinions about TV and he is not someone I would lightly dismiss.
 
In addition, for the last two years I have been obsessing over various fandoms. (Looking at you RvB and Star Wars.) Other fans are a source of great delight to me but it is a deep hole that can be hard to get away from, especially if I am facing a hard scene.
 
Lastly, people. There is a lot of demand on my time. I strongly believe that investing in the right relationships is important but it has come at a cost and that price has been my dedicated writing time. I have to schedule that time and I have to defend it, vehemently, or it will never happen.
 
I am not saying any of these activities are bad. All I am saying is that for me they are not helping me advance in my writing. If it doesn't contribute to my current goal of finishing book three it has to be set aside.
 
So. This is what I am resorting to. My goal, once a day, just write one sentence. That's it. Five to fifteen little words in the context of my story.
 
But you see it’s trick. Once I write one sentence the next one comes pretty easily. In no time I have a bona fide paragraph. And then I am on my way. As a precaution I have made myself accountable to someone. I text them that I have done my sentence. If they don’t hear from me they ask about it. Somedays I only have enough energy for the one sentence, but it’s still progress, I am still moving forward.
 
This is nothing new, it's Anne Lamont's bird by bird story. Start with one word, then do another. Don't think about the big picture. Focus on that one thing. Because all I need right now is my shitty first draft and the only way to get that is laying down sentences one word at a time.

I love going to the movies, always have since I was little. As a fan of movies as medium for telling stories and as a writer I have a keen interest in books with movie counterparts. I personally prefer to read the book first before seeing the movie if at all possible, but that’s just me.

So I have finally gotten around to reading “All You Need is Kill.” This is a book by a Japanese author, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, that the movie “Edge of Tomorrow” is based on. It’s short, a quick read. A little over the top in some places and it does not pull any punches when it comes to war in its purest brutality.
​
I had a particular interest in this story because I wanted to see how the author wrote the time jumps and repeats. Turns out, it’s actually pretty simple. Deftly done in way that it doesn’t actually repeat the same tuff over and over verbatim. Sakurazaka switches it up to keep you reading and the pace never slows (the movie handles the looping in a similar way, unlike Groundhog Day.) As a writer, it is worth looking at the technique he used.

The weirdest thing about the book versus the movie is that the plot of the movie is significantly more complicated. Usually you have to strip a novel to just its main action for the sake of time (i.e. Ender’s Game) but not here. Except for a few flashbacks, we pretty much never leave the army base that the main character, Keiji, wakes up in every time he dies.

There is no scientist that worked with Rita when she was stuck in the time loop. And all training is on the day of battle, during the same battle over and over (implied.) No training room montage with cheeky banter. Though seeing Tom Cruise get beat up by robot arms is pretty gratifying.

The movie slows way down when Cage, Tom Cruise’s character, tries to break the repetition of days by running away. This happens in the book too, but only once and it’s a much shorter scene and ends in an unexpected way.

The biggest point of divergence is of course the end. I will not give anything away but I have read other science fiction novels by non-Americans and it’s pretty easy to tell American writers from others, at least with the books I have read. I find writers from other countries are okay with having wide open endings with no sequel in mind. Unsettled endings and unanswered questions, not an issue. Leaving the reader in a destination they had no idea they were going to and have no way of getting back from doesn’t bother them one bit. As a child of the 80s and the American sitcom this is not how I like to walk away from a book.

But anyways, the ending of the book took me by surprise from the moment it started and I liked that. And when I think about how the movie went about solving the problem of the time loop and its creators I just think, why mess with what the author had intended? It was so much better. Why add complication where none is needed?

I’m sure it was a decision made by the powers that be at the movie studio but to me it’s an insult. Either they didn’t trust the actors to pull off that kind of complexity or they didn’t trust the audience to be able to feel something without having to have loud music and contrived conflict. See what I mean? Insulting.
​
One point of cool for the book in particular. The author has included an alternate chapter sequence (below.) It ends on the same chapter but huge chunks are moved around. I intend to re-read this book with this order in a few months. I want to forget it a little bit so I can enjoy it more and be surprised again.

If you’re so inclined and don’t mind some colorful language or violent deaths, I recommend reading this book. The movie's pretty good too.

Because of the terrible weather that day I didn't make it to the after party for NaNoWriMo. There you can bring two pages of our novel to share. Since I didn't get to share it there, I will share it here.

Downtown Los Angeles, 3:00pm

Lysandra watched the steam from her coffee swirl in the afternoon sunlight. Her mind turned over all the possible explanations for the consistent smell of boiled cabbage that permeated the tiny cafe.

“So...” Matt sat down across from her with his usual glass of whole milk and a warmed chocolate chip cookie.

The Formica table they sat at looked like it had been stolen from a fifties drive-in dinner. The small mom and pop type shop was directly across the street from the Department of Planetary Affairs building. When the DPA had fist moved into the neighborhood people were alarmed by their presence. The imposing uniforms with classified weapons and an association with the government intelligence and the mystique of dealing with aliens unnerved people.

Lysandra imagined this must be what it’s like to be a cop, a strangely contradictory position for her. The nervous looks and the way people moved out of the way for them wherever they went. She had never liked giving the authorities deference and she certainly did not like receiving it.

But now after months, the area workers and residents had gotten used to them and the interactions with public were usually positive. Putting names and faces with mysterious members of the DPA really helped people feel more comfortable with their presence. Most officers had gotten used to the impromptu question and answer sessions citizens asked them. Commander Draegg had been very pleased with this turn of events.

Matt cleared his throat.

“Sorry,” Lysandra shook herself and took a sip from her coffee. “What were we talking about?”

“We weren’t. You’ve been suspiciously quiet all day.”

“What’s suspicious about it? You’re the one who usually does all of the talking anyway.”

“Not all of it. And yes, I have always been more talkative than you, but today it’s like you’re not even here.”

“Sorry, I’m distracted.”

“By...”

“It’s nothing.”

“Uh, I wouldn’t call staying out all night nothing.”

Lysandra could feel the heat in her cheeks. She was not going to be discussing her sex life Matt of all people. The thought made her cringe. How many people knew she had been off the premises all night? Did it matter? She had never cared what people thought about her before, but it could make for awkward working relationships.

“Edward Drake asked me to marry him.”

Matt gagged on his milk and started coughing violently. Lysandra jumped up from her chair and got him a cup of water. She patted him on the back until he regained his composure. “Are you being serious?”

Lysandra nodded solemnly.

“What did you say?”

“What any sane person would say, ‘we’re not going to talk about this.’”

“Uh- huh.” Matt turned in his chair to sit square with the table and held his milk at arm’s length, silent and unmoving.

“Speaking of which, how was your date?”

“Not yet, no changing the subject on me.” He relaxed again and looked at her. “So what are you going to do?”

“Do? There’s nothing to do.”

“Well you have to give him an answer.”

“No I don’t. Where’s the rule on that?”

“Lysandra. Come one. The guy is—“

“Is what, Matt? Being vulnerable with me? Going out on limb? Exposing his soul? What are you going for here, buddy?”

“Okay, sarcasm is your defense mechanism. So for whatever reason, this is hitting a raw nerve. But yeah, all those things. This is some serious stuff.”

“Okay. Now you and me are not going to talk about it.”

“Hey, woman, you’re the one who brought it up with me.”

“True. But only because you’re supposed to agree with me. You’re my friend, on my side, partner.”

“Friends don’t let friends act stupid unless it will be hysterical.”

“I. Am not Derek.” Lysandra tapped the table with each word. “So you do not get to make jokes at my expense.”

“I’m just being honest. I don’t like the guy but I think he’s good for you.”

“Why don’t you like him?”

“For all the same reasons you shouldn’t like him either.”

Esben was the Elbie, not the man. Esben had been the worst of them all and caused all of them the most suffering. Edward, as a host, had not come onto the scene until well after the damage had been done. Being allied with the worst Elbie of them all did not help his case in the eyes of Matt and his friends.

“You mean you don’t like his Elbie.”

“I don’t like either of them, but as a host Edward has really tamed that Elbie and I’m sure the world is a better place for it, even though he refuses to register or cooperate directly with us.”

Lysandra drew doodles in her cup sleeve with her thumb nail. Edward and Esben were very distinct entities that happened to work really well together.

“You’re smiling.”

Lysandra looked up. “What?”

“I said, you are smiling.”

“Shut up.” She sat up in her chair and took another sip of coffee. Matt broke off pieces of his cookie, looking at her. “Fine, Matthew. I’ll think about it.”
​
“There ya go.” He gulped down his milk in triumph.

My first obsession was (and still is) Transformers G1. I love Optimus and his Autobots. I'm also a sucker for classic good versus evil showdowns that were so prevalent in cartoons of the 80s: Justice League vs. Legion of Doom, Thudercats vs Mumra, G.I. Joe vs. Cobra, X-Men vs. Brotherhood of Mutants, He-man/She-Ra vs. the Horde, et al. 

But what good are Prime and his noble Auotobts without Megatron and the Decepticons? You can't have one without the other. I'm not an advocate of wars or violence but there is always a fight to be won. It could be in your own head, a co-worker you don't get along with, whatever the obstacle(s), life is a series of battles. And the thing about those battles is the people that see you through, that fight along side you in those things, you never forget. Sometimes they are the people you fight and you realize you've picked the wrong battle and now you're best friends. 

Which brings us to my newest obsession. Red vs. Blue. A certain streaming service that shall remain nameless, had been recommending it to me for a while now and I finally decided to give it a try. That was two months ago and a day hasn't gone by that I haven't spent sometime watching the show. In two short months I have probably watched every episode five or six times. 

I had this vague notion that it was based off of the Halo universe. I'm not a gamer but I have played Halo 3 at a friends house so I had a little background on things. But then when I ran out of RVB episodes I needed more. So to the Halo universe I turned. Suffice it to say You Tube has been scoured for in game videos and I am almost done with the 3rd book of the series. And several of the comics from my local library have been read and returned. (Master Chief is the Optimus Prime of the Halo universe. But this is a great topic for another time.)

Now when I get hooked on something like this I like to stop and ask my self, why? What is it about this thing that has gotten a hold of me? It didn't take long to realize it was the Transformer affect all over again. What that means for me, is characters, it always come down to character for me. But it's the chemistry of all of them together. The interplay between the factions and even within the factions. The relationships. I don't know if the writers of the original TF had that in mind and I don't know if the writers of RVB do either, but it's there. 

The best part about RVB is that it started out so organically and the creators have really upped their game as their fan base has grown and they've taken all of intertwining relationships as seriously as the fans do. Season 13 is currently underway and it's still great character building with the humor and heart that it started with. RVB has really nailed that camaraderie that comes with fighting along side and often against other people but coming out of the fray all the more wiser for it. 

That is the other thing about the sim soldiers in red and blue. Everyone is exactly who they are and are totally accepting of who they are within themselves. The integrity of the characters never waivers and I personally really appreciate that. To be honest, do not judge the series on the the first four seasons. You may like the humor, but I recognize it is not for everyone. My favorite season so far is 10, but the stories and animation start getting really sophisticated in season 6.

I recommend you watch season one as a foundation, then jump to five and watch everything after it in order. If you are in love with the knuckleheads by the end of season ten, go back to two, three, and four so you can see how far they've come. My deepest appreciation to Rooster Teeth for giving me my newest obsession and the other fans who have just as much fun with and love for it.

One of my favorite things about writing has always been naming characters. First it was just about the sound of the name or the significance of the name but it quickly became about the meaning of the name. I think it's important that as you build your characters you take their names into serious consideration.

I think I have a preconceived notions about certain names and these names often get used to fill side characters as a kind of stereotyping. Like Arthur. First things that pops in my head is King Arthur. I don't think of a bear, which is what Arthur means, I think nobility and integrity. This is how I feel about many English/Welsh names.

Sometimes I discover a cool name and I want to find a person to go with it. This is the case with Esben. It's a male name that means "god." With that kind of name I needed a character who thought the world of himself. I wouldn't say Esben is conceited but he is extremely confident and sure of who he is and what he wants.

On occasion I have characters that name themselves. When this happens I think a lot about the meaning. What is my subconscious trying to tell me? I have a fantasy type character who just appeared one day and I knew that his name was Thomas, which means twin. Thomas Anderson is Neo from the Matrix. Neo is the twin of Thomas, they are two sides of the same person. I haven't found the actual twin of my Thomas which makes me think it's metaphorical. 

The only precaution regarding naming is you want to mix it up. Don't have all your characters names start with the the same letter or the reader will get confused. If all the names rhyme or end with the same sound it could get confusing too. Say the names out loud. List them together and see how they look on the page.

In this day and age it doesn't hurt to have a unique name but always Google it make sure it's not already taken by some famous book or movie you aren't familiar with. That is of course you are wanting to create an association in the readers mind, i.e. Darcy.

When in doubt workshop it or take a poll. You'll know the right name when you see it.