Chapter 6 - Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

Sometimes more complex is just that: complicated. This book is the most tangled I've ever tried to write, and sometimes I'm not sure which piece should come next.

One night earlier this week I had trouble getting to sleep, so I pondered "what next" for Bury the Hatchet. I realized quite quickly that I didn't really need any continuing description of the events that began in Chapter 5.

Sometimes writing a story is just as much about what to leave out, as what to put in. Sure, I could have spun out those events, but it wasn't necessary, and one sentence covering the outcome was fine, less boring, and moved things along.

Instead, Chapter 6 goes in a completely different direction. In fact, the reader might think the plot isn't being advanced, but that it only serves to develop characters. Hopefully, it does some of each.

An excerpt from Chapter 6:

    My brain was seriously foggy, and I might have dozed off because I jumped at the sound of a knock at the door. I hadn’t heard anyone drive in.
    The knocking was repeated, more insistently, and I hurried to the door. Whoever was out there was standing to the side, out of sight. I couldn’t see anyone through the old wavy glass door panels, and no vehicle was within view.
    “Who’s there?” I called.
    There was no answer, but a squareish shoulder eased into sight and the person knocked again.

Keeping Web Sites Up to Date

One of the biggest killers of interest in your work is having a web site with wrong information on it- usually because it's out of date.

I'm guilty of falling behind sometimes, too. But it does hurt. I just did some updating on my publishing site Books Leaving Footprints, and I've added two ways to get to know me better to the sidebar here. I've also added them to this blog post.

Here's an author interview with me on "A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book," an excellent show by Jennifer Walker.

Listen to internet radio with Jennifer Walker on Blog Talk Radio

And here's a news video created by the Petoskey News-Review of the day I completed my 4400-mile hike on the North Country Trail.

Chapter 5- Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

This chapter was fun to write in one way. I've always admired authors like Ngaio Marsh and some others who can handle a whole room full of characters, keep them straight, make something important happen, and befuddle the reader enough that a major clue is slipped in right under their noses.

Well, I certainly didn't take on that big of a challenge. All I tried for was to have a room full of people, and have the scene make sense. Since I personally have trouble dealing with more than one or two people at a time, it's hard for me to write about crowds.

Tomorrow night, my writers' group will help me decide if I succeeded! Meanwhile, here's a sample:

An excerpt from Chapter 5:

    “Caulfield’s...” she began tentatively, but was cut off by Adele who swept toward us.
    “This is one sad day for our community,” she announced loudly, shaking her head.
    From a couple of tables away, a man yelled, “Where’s the Sheriff? It’s 6:58.”
    “Damn mysterious, if you ask me,” said a woman I only knew as a one of the Lutherans.
    People had continued to drift in, and now the room was packed. I saw Cora and her son Tom, but they sat down on the far side of the room, and didn’t even see me wave.

I wasn't sure when I began where this chapter should end. But when I got there, today, it was obvious!

Book Sales- August 2012

  I've decided to post sales numbers for August, because if nothing else, I hope they will be a benchmark I can compare to later and see the growth.

My goal was to sell three ebooks a day, and I (or the books on their own merits) succeeded. Promotion is such a crap shoot, but I keep trying to get more links and mentions and reviews and...

With all venues together that I know about (North Country Cache is in a number of bookstores on consignment. I won't know those sales numbers for months), here are the August results. All the others are ebook sales.

North Country Cache (paperback only)- 7

Devotions for Hikers- 4
Get Off the Couch with Joan- 1

News from Dead Mule Swamp- 74
The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp- 1217 (free)
Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp- 39

Total ebooks sold for money- 118

My goal was to have more than 3 sales a day. If I'd remembered to count in the Smashwords distribution sales I would have realized I was already close to that and might have chosen something higher. Nevertheless, I'm pleased. So the overall average of paid ebooks was 3.8/ day. I was thinking I should only hope for 3.5 for September, but now 4/day is looking very possible.

If you are a member at Smashwords, and haven't clicked me as a favorite author, I'd really appreciate it if you would. You can do that at my Smashwords author page. It only takes a minute!

Chapter 4 - Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

Chapter four begins to move the story along with a big announcement. But, hey, I'm not going to give that away here!

I think my writing is improving. I managed to show a lot more emotion than telling it in this chapter.

This is from one of the sections my writers' group especially liked last night

An excerpt from Chapter 4:

    Two cats watched me from the porch railing as I got out of the Jeep, and an aging beagle heaved himself from the grass and waddled toward me. “Ar-oooo,” he said, without much enthusiasm, but he had his duty to do. I reached down and scratched behind his ears.
    “Hello, Bub,” I said. Janice appeared on the porch. Her face was red, and she was wiping purple hands on a towel.

I'm forging ahead with this book even though I don't have all of the plot elements nailed down. Some people seem to write this way all the time. I guess I'll find out if I can do it.

Lots of Writing, Little Inspiration

 
I wrote my monthly column for the Ludington Daily News this morning. It wasn't brilliant- pretty much a straightforward account of my recent hike.

I've written a whole lot of content articles for Textbroker and have about half the money I need to attend Blood and Tea.

Now, I'm trying to work on Chapter 4 of "Bury the Hatchet..." No inspiration. Will have to settle for slogging along. OK, back to work.

Chapter 3 of Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

This writing is moving very slowly, but it should start to speed up a bit soon. I've been having some trouble getting into the groove of this story.

However, I spent a lot of time on Chapter 3, and it paid off. I read it to the West Side Gang (my local writers' group) last night, and with a couple of places that need some tweaks, they greatly approved. I think that's significant since I was still doing a bunch of backstory and local flavor.

I've also heavily reworked the first two chapters, because they were, I have to admit, a bit shoddy. I wrote them in a hurry. No apologies- getting something down gave me a draft to improve on and got the story going.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 3:

    A few other people were seated in the restaurant, but most of the breakfast regulars had left and it was still a bit early for the lunch crowd. Two older men nodded at us as we entered. The odor of grilled hamburgers and onions hung about the room, with overtones of black coffee.
    For the most part, the Pine Tree hadn’t tried very hard to keep up with the times. From past experience, Cora and I headed directly to the booth to the left of the door, but not the one by the window. I knew those vinyl benches had fewer duct tape patches than others, even though it only mattered when you slid in and out and the rolling corners of the tape caught against your pants.

Is the Pine Tree Diner in Cherry Hill like one you know?