Writing Red Ice: Days Forty-One through Fifty

I wish I could say that I've been working hard at the novel, but there were several days in the last ten I didn't add a single word to the novel. Part of it was an opportunity to pitch for an anthology, while another part was to work on rewriting another story for hopeful publication down the road.

But I still managed to get nearly 4,000 words added to Red Ice, so I'm still making progress. The novel all the way to Chapter 18 has been done and I've just started Chapter 19. The immediate goal is to be over 50% before Monday of next week. Chapter 16 will need to be rewritten, but that's for after I finish the story. I came across this little gem of a image over on Facebook which should be a mantra to all writers:

And, as an experiment, I am adding the Amazon rankings for African Firestorm. The stats are taken directly from the webpage and are as close to being fresh as I can make them. The stats for Amazon:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,229 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#369 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Military

#758 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military

#821 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Military

Looks bad, doesn't it? But that is the first time African Firestorm has been on the wrong side of the #100,000 level since May 4th, when it was ranked #138,516 --- seven-plus weeks (53 days!). The high point was when it reached #11, 231 on May 6th. Between then and now, it has bounced between mostly between #20,000 to #50,000 range, with a few days here and there sprinkled where it was higher or lower than that. And that is out of a MILLION Kindle Books!

As for Amazon UK, the rankings are below:

Amazon UK Bestsellers Rank: #109,459 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

I'll go into detail about Amazon UK in another post.

If you haven't gotten Outcast Ops: African Firestorm yet, and are a member of Amazon Prime, you can borrow it though Kindle Direct! Use this link! African Firestorm on Amazon! And check out the other novels in the series!

Red Ice Progress:
Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-18, 5% of Chapter 19
Words Written the last ten days: 3,895
Total Word Count: 31,040 (47.75% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 620/day

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Thirty-Six through Forty

Not as good, as the past three days, but I did manage to finish a chapter and start the next chapter. The book is still going forward according to the outline, and as long as it's moving, I can claim progress.

One of the fun things about being an author is being about to plan a crime for the book you're working on that if you were to do for real would have Law Enforcement knocking on your door. For example, I spent most of the day plotting an assassination of a city mayor. And as if I was planning to do it for real, I have to look at where the assassination is taking place and plot not only for the bad guys, but for the good guys --- I have to be the assassin leader, the bodyguard leader, and the main characters.

First up is the assassin leader. What is the lay of the land and how can you take advantage of it? I used Google maps (Both overhead and street level) to scout the real building I'm using in the story to get an idea of the location. Then it's choose the method I want to carry out the assassination with, followed by how do the assassins escape.

Then it's the Bodyguard team leader. They has an obstinate person who they are protecting, so they have to protect the principal. Like with the assassination team, I have to follow what I think is common sense and plausible for the scene.

As for the main characters, I have their starting location plotted out and their actions out. I know where the ending is going. Now I just have to get there......

And if you haven't gotten the best-selling Kindle novel, Outcast Ops: African Firestorm yet, and are a member of Amazon Prime, you can borrow it though Kindle Direct! Use this link! African Firestorm on Amazon! And check out the other novels in the series!

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-15, 30% of Chapter 16
Words Written the last three days: 2,475
Total Word Count: 27,145 (41.76% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 679/day

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Thirty-Three through Thirty-Five

Another short update, because it's way past my bedtime.......

Still, it was a good three days -- three chapters completed, and still on the outline. Chapter 15 started, and I'm a third of the way through it. Had to look up a few foreign words, and figure out how to translate them without translating them, if you take my meaning. Let's see if I can duplicate the same result in the next three days.

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-14
Words Written the last three days: 4,070
Total Word Count: 24,670 (37.95% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 705/day

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Thirty through Thirty-Two

A short update tonight -- there was some sad news in the family, which has put a damper on the mood here. An uncle of mine died on Monday, and it's hit the family hard. He was a good man, leaves a wife, a couple of sons and several grandchildren. So, no long rambling post from me tonight.

Two more chapters done, start Chapter 12 tomorrow.....

If you haven't gotten African Firestorm yet, and are a member of Amazon Prime, you can borrow it though Kindle Direct. Use this link: African Firestorm on Amazon

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-11

Words Written the last three days: 1,460
Total Word Count: 20,600 (31.69% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 644/day

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Twenty-Four through Twenty-Nine

Well, progress is still being made, though not as fast as I want.  Real life keeps getting in the way, so it's not as consistent as I want it to be.

Still, finished up a couple of chapter and most of a third, so it's still going. Batted a couple of ideas around for a cover with Rick Chesler, but I'm not worried about that now. Been finding locations for different scenes via Google maps, so, I'm doing all right.

And if you haven't gotten African Firestorm yet, and are a member of Amazon Prime, you can borrow it though Kindle Direct! Use this link! African Firestorm on Amazon!

Short entry tonight. Time for bed!

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-9, 90% of Chapter 10
Words Written the last five days: 3,550
Total Word Count: 19,140 (29.45% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 660/day

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Thirteen through Twenty-Three

I realize that going ten days without a post is not a good thing, but I've been bouncing around between writing projects a bit, handling a couple of family matters, and making a suggestion to the gaming company I freelance for.

But I still managed to get over 4500 words down, complete two more chapters and well into Chapter 8. I also had to do some shifting around of scenes; Chapter 6 was to follow one group of characters, while Chapter 7 was supposed to follow another group of characters. Bu as I was writing those chapters, one scene went in a different direction than I intended, so I had to pull back and alter the scene from what was in the outline. And halfway through Chapter 6, I realized that if I took a scene from Chapter 7 and put it into Chapter 6, I had a cliffhanger to lead into Chapter 7.

So, close to a quarter through Red Ice's first draft and it's going to plan. I can't ask for anything more than that.....

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-7, 60% of Chapter 8
Words Written the last ten days: 4,570
Total Word Count: 15,590 (23.98% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 678/day

Later!

Craig