If it's three, let it be

photo credit: IMG_2692 via photopin (license)

I have to say, if I had known how difficult it would be to write a trilogy, I might have chosen otherwise. Although revisiting my characters on a long-term basis is a satisfying gig, just the mere weight of having to dissect and present their lives in literary form has also been a trial. Sometimes, especially with these edits, I wanted to yell at my characters and say, "I don't care about your stupid lives! Please stop doing stupid things!" Lol. Oh, but it's true. It's hard enough trying to justify my numbnut actions on a constant basis!

But I guess in a way it's also gratifying. You can learn a lot from your characters, such as: don't make promises with a half-soul human; if you see a coin while hanging off a cliff, don't pick it up; don't time-travel unless you absolutely have to; stay out of those creepy cults; don't let a-hole rockstars rule your life; if you have a gift, use it, don't lose it; gun fights with a soul stealer is a ticket to death. And many others.

I think my next book will be a standalone. No sequels.

Hope your day is excellent! Thanks for stopping by!

Shoo Fly!

photo credit: The eyes have it . via photopin (license)

The other week the kids and I were hanging out in the backyard when all of a sudden this nasty little insect came and sat near Julia. I thought it was a wasp. And what do you do with a wasp? You scare it off, of course! Without letting it know what's what I squirted it with a water gun, which turned out to be a really bad idea. That thing went psycho and attacked Julia full-force, who screamed her head off. Then it went after me, and still thinking it was a wasp, I let it sit on my finger while not moving. That's when the little sucker bit me. Oh, heck no! I swatted it away, because I'm not getting bit by anything, and then the flying Hitler went even more psycho and dive-bombed all three of us. I wish there had been a camera on the backyard, and perhaps Google does have one, you never know, but we three screamed and bee-lined to the house. Well, before Julia made it to the backdoor I saw the little winged a-hole was on her head, and she was about to go in! Oh, double heck no! I screamed that it was on her head and not to go inside, and of course she screamed too. We all screamed. Then it flew away.

Shew.

Turns out it was a horsefly. Yick. And I let it bite me. They draw blood and will suck the soul out of anything they can get their disgusting teeth on. They will also follow an opponent for miles without giving up.

But they do have cool eyes.

Ever had your own experience with this jerk? Do tell.

New Structure, Old Structures

Hey, lovely people! I know I haven't been around much lately, or at all, but I hope life is good and that things are going well. Not gonna lie, edits are tough, but I think stepping back and getting some perspective has helped me figure out a way to go that will be beneficial to the story. Also, life itself has offered some additional insight into my character's motivations. It's pretty interesting, actually. However, I know most of this means absolutely nothing to most of you, especially when I've written it all in gibberish! But thanks for reading anyway.

Here's something I enjoy doing with my time away from writing. I love old houses and caught on to this fellow's massive amount of video footage of abandoned homes. Kind of sad that some of them were torn down after he filmed, but isn't it interesting to get a first-hand glimpse of these forgotten structures? It makes you wonder what happened to make the former owners leave so suddenly, that there's still possessions hanging around. I would love, love, love to go through some of these houses myself. For now, though, I am content to armchair it on YouTube.

Take care, awesome people. Hope you're having a wonderful July!