Red Ice Final Check is done and future plans

Well, Red Ice's final check (from me) is done......

It was like crawling over broken glass. I went over the novel, word by word, making spelling and grammar corrections, cutting words here, adding words there. And I noted every change in another file (I don't have a full-function Word program to use --- I've used WordPerfect 8.0 for years, and I like it. Besides, I don't have the money to buy Word and even if I did, I wouldn't). Below is an example of the changes I made....

Prologue

Page 3, 3rd Paragraph, 3rd line --- Changed "he'd hadn't" to "he hadn't"

Page 3, 6th Paragraph, 1st line --- Changed "begin" to "begun"

Page 5, 5th Paragraph, 2nd line --- Changed "sub as the" to "sub was the"

I had to note the changes because Rick needed to know what I changed when he makes his final check. So, the manuscript has changes in red, and the second file has entries like the ones above, telling Rick what changes I made, and in a few cases, why I made the changes.

Going over the manuscript word by word is tedious and slow. More than once I was asking myself, "Who the *#&@^ wrote this?" There were many, many changes that had to be made, all types , each one changed and documented like the example above. Sometimes, changes in one place cause a cascading effect down the page, leading to several more corrections that had to be made.

But it's done.

Now, what am I going to do? Well, three things:

• Work on several Battletech short stories.
• Continue plotting The Assassin Prince
• Start plotting my own thriller for NaWriNoMo

So, Red Ice is done, onto the next project(s). I'll be expanding on two of these projects in future posts. (The Battletech stories will be handled in my other blog, The Battletech State)

If you want to read African Firestorm, it's on Amazon and is part of the Kindle Direct program. African Firestorm on Amazon! For those in the UK, click here! Red Ice should be be for sale early in November.


Take care,


Craig

Future Plans

Rich Chesler is still working his way through Red Ice, but he's busy juggling several other writing projects and it looks like he won't be able to commit to another Outcast Ops novel in the near future. I may go ahead and outline another OO novel, but it won't be a priority.

So, what does this mean? It means that I am free to work on my own projects and I've already started outlining a fantasy novel, The Assassin Prince, which I hope will be the start of a series I plan to call The Night Blades.

Why the change in genre? A change of pace. I love technothrillers, both reading and writing them, but I also love fantasy and decided was the time to try. It more worldbuilding then with technothrillers, because, it's literally a whole other world that has to be built from scratch. While I wait for Red Ice to be sent back for my look-over, I want to use this blog as a guild to how I build this world.

I won't bother with the African Firestorm updates anymore, but if you want to read it, it's on Amazon and is part of the Kindle Direct program. African Firestorm on Amazon! For those in the UK, click here!

Later!

Craig

Red Ice is done!

Well, at least my first run through it......

The revision is done and I sent it off to Rick Chesler to add his part of the story. He'll go through, note what he sees as problems, list questions he wants me to clarify, makes his additions to the story, then send it back to me for my review. Which means with a little luck, Red Ice will be in the Amazon Kindle store by the end of September!

This novel is longer than African Firestorm --- 80,000 words or so, in comparison to Firestorm's 65,000 words -- and takes place in one city (See the picture above.) It didn't start out that way, but the story didn't fit into the smaller word count. After discussing it with Rick, we decided to try for 80,000 words --- and that's what it ended up as.

Why is it longer? For one, there's more action in Red Ice, on both sides of the table. After some discussion, there was some altering to the outline, but it did add more action. I was willing to increase the length, because I want to see if I could sustain the story for another 15K words. And I think I have!

As I wait to hear back from Rick, I'm working on other projects. Once Red Ice is out, I'll talk about the writing process more and maybe even answer some questions about writing.

And for the snapshot of AF's current standings:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#170,808 Paid in Kindle Store
#482 in Kindle Store > eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Military
#1129 in Kindle Store > eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military
#1256 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Military

While that doesn't look like much of an improvement, it's only because I caught it on the downside. The last three weeks have been up and down -- as low as #368,051 (August 30th) and as high as #56,604 (September 11th) On September 14th, it was ranked at #57,154. Sales are still steady, so we shall see.

As for overseas.....Amazon.uk

#85,096 Paid in Kindle Store

#277 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Thrillers > Military
#1438 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Thrillers > Action & Adventure
#1601 in Kindle Store > Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military

Again, higher than last time.......

If you are a member of Amazon Prime, Outcast Ops: African Firestorm is on Kindle Direct! Use this link! African Firestorm on Amazon! For Amazon UK, click here! And please check out the other two (soon to be three) novels in the series!

Back to writing!

Craig

Red Ice -- The Rewrite Begins.....

I started the rewrite of Red Ice on Wednesday, and I've finished the Prologue, Chapters 1&2, and most of Chapter 3.

I read somewhere the following: "You can't edit a blank sheet of paper." I translate that into "Finish what you start. It doesn't have to be perfect, polished or ready to be published, just done." The first draft is a piece of stone, and I have to sculpt my final draft out of that stone.

I have said before I do not write perfectly. The writing is rough, extra words pop up in the paragraphs, plot lines are dangled but are not followed up on, exposition need to be made, and scenes trimmed. Bits and pieces came to me deep into the writing. Sometime, I go back and something into the story before, other times, I move on and make note of where to go back. Things like foreshadowing events, introduction of characters and locations earlier in the storyline.

For example, in Red Ice, the Main Bad Guy (MBG) attends a meeting with his allies in crime in Chapter 7. I wrote the MBG being accompanied by two of his own men. After that, I found myself using these two characters more and more and near the end I realized these two were the MBG's chief lieutenants. In the rewrite, I being my introduction of them early in Chapter 2 and flesh them out more in a new scene in Chapter 3. I also plan to expand of one of the main plot lines in the novel, and alter a few other things to bring them into line with the new flow.

What it all means is that I have only done half of what I need to do; I have my Stone; now I need to create the story as a smoothly-running novel.

And for this weeks' snapshot of AF's current standings:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:  

#240,765 Paid in Kindle Store
#593 in Kindle Store > eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Military
#1441 in Kindle Store > eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military
#1494 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Military

The sales are still strong (Believe it or not) but the borrow amounts are still way off. Hopefully, the Borrows will pick up in the last week.

As for overseas.....Amazon.uk

#118,973 Paid in Kindle Store

#319 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Thrillers > Military
#1725 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Thrillers > Action & Adventure
#1988 in Kindle Store > Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military

A corresponding drop in the sales rankings over here too, but I think sales will leap again, as they have in the past.

If you are a member of Amazon Prime, Outcast Ops: African Firestorm is on Kindle Direct! Use this link! African Firestorm on Amazon! For Amazon UK, click here! And  please check out the other two (soon to be three) novels in the series!

Back to (re)writing!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Eighty Through Eighty-Six

Has it been almost three months since I started writing this? Wow, times flies when you're writing.....

Anyway, I'm in the final stages of the next to last action piece in the novel. I finally got through Chapters 27 and 28. After I'm done, it'll be a set up leading into the climax and the climax itself. Maybe three or more updates. After that, it'll be going back through and editing and rewriting. But the first step must always be, Get the First Draft done!

There have been a few changes from outline to the actual writing --- I need to go back and add a few foreshadowing bits to set of actions that happen later in the book, maybe switch around a few scenes, proofreading and some editing. It's about halfway done -- the easy part is the first draft.....

And a snapshot of AF's current standings:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,852 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#494 in Kindle Store >  eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Military

#1105 in Kindle Store >  eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military

#1199 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Military

These are the lowest rankings since I started doing this --- but it only takes a couple of sales to boost it back up into the top 100,000. We'll see if the downtrend continues.

As for overseas.....Amazon.uk

#45,458 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#160 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Thrillers > Military
#886 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Thrillers > Action & Adventure
#949 in Kindle Store > Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military

So they finally broke the sales down on Amazon.uk by category. While the sales look much better here than on Amazon, there is less competition here, where a couple of sales here have a greater effect on sales. Right now, one out of every four sales of African Firestorm come from the United Kingdom.

It still making money -- It's not a mega bestseller, but I'm not looking to write one. I'm looking to write books books that sell consistently, over a longer period of time. More books means more money. It isn't a sprint, but a marathon.....

Remember, if you are a member of Amazon Prime, Outcast Ops: African Firestorm is on Kindle Direct! Use this link! African Firestorm on Amazon! And check out the other two novels in the series!

Red Ice Progress:

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-30, 40% of Chapter 31
Words Written the last six days: 4,070
Total Word Count: 53,415 (82.18% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 621/day (-4)

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Seventy-Two Through Seventy-Nine

I took Sunday off, as it was my Birthday, but I still managed to add a nice chunk of words to Red Ice. I have noticed that there's a twist in the plot I hadn't considered, so when I'm done the first draft and go through it again, I need to add bits and pieces to strengthen this subplot.

Chapters 27 and 28 have needed some reworking, for several POVs, make sure plot threads stay current with each other, and to make the action scenes flow better. I have them just about worked out and they should be done before the next update.


And because I'm a sucker for punishment, Here are the latest sale rankings for Amazon :

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:  #37,208 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#189 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Military

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

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

It bounced up father than I expected. Under the new system, there is a surprisingly large number of pages being read. How that will translate to actually money at the end of the month is not known. We'll see. I have a target page count in mind by the end of the month, and we'll see how close it comes.

I welcome reviews, so if you have read it, please post a review!

Amazon UK Bestsellers Rank: #65,205 Paid in Kindle Store

If you are a member of Amazon Prime, Outcast Ops: African Firestorm is on Kindle Direct! Use this link! African Firestorm on Amazon! And check out the other novels in the series!

Red Ice Progress:

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-26, 85% of Chapter 27, 65% of Chapter 28
Words Written the last seven days: 6,025
Total Word Count: 49,345 (75.92% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 625/day (+15)

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Fifty-Seven through Sixty-Six

A short update tonight -- it's late.

Managed to continue rolling forward, closing in on 40K, but I ran into a a timeline problem, and a discussion with my co-author means I need to add in a chapter that promises to up the stories tension a few points. So, that took some time, but I think the story is still on track, maybe a little longer than I had planned, but it should help the story a bit.

The latest sale rankings for Amazon :

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,393 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#337 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Military

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

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

A few sales (or lack of) will make this number jump up and down a lot. But Rick and I are watching the borrow stats for the Kindle unlimited and Amazon Prime programs. This is the first month Amazon is paying by the page for borrows, which means more pages read = more $$ at the end of the month. The last two months (May and June) we were looking at a 75/25 split and a 60/40 split between sales and barrows, but this month so far, it's more of a 50/50 split. We'll have to watch this some more.....

As for Amazon UK, the ranking is below:

Amazon UK Bestsellers Rank: #123,973 Paid in Kindle Store

If you and are a member of Amazon Prime, you can borrow Outcast Ops: African Firestorm 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 1-22, 75% of Chapter 23
Words Written the last nine days: 3,610
Total Word Count: 39,650 (61.0% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 600/day (-44)

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Fifty-One through Fifty-Six

And Red Ice is past the halfway point!

It's going well, bouncing between this and a short story submission for an Anthology and both are proceeding smoothly. But as I said in my other blog, I'm expecting something to go wrong --- it's the way of Murphy!

So, what have I been looking up for Red Ice lately? More street level looks at San Francisco (Google Maps are a writer's best friend when they need to describe a place they have never been!), how to breech a door, 12-Gage breaching rounds, and several shotguns to find the right one. Make of that what you will.....

And African Firestorm has been bouncing up an down on the sale ranks. Starting today, Amazon  has changed the way authors get paid for Kindle select titles. Before, an author got paid if a reader read 10% of the book -- in African Firestorm's case, 24 pages. But if an author write a 20-page story, they would get paid the same rate as I would after a reader read 2 pages. Now, someone read African Firestorm entirely, Rick Chesler and myself will get paid more than some author who wrote a 20-page story. It's only fair.....

Now, the latest sale rankings for Amazon:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,229 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#252 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Military

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

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

As you can see, it's popped up again. A few sales will do that, and if you brought it after visiting this blog, I thank you. Looking at where the sales are coming from, over 70% are in the US, over a quarter from the UK and 2% combined from Canada and Australia. Interesting......

As for Amazon UK, the ranking is below:

Amazon UK Bestsellers Rank: #45,253 Paid in Kindle Store

Apparently, Amazon UK hasn't gotten around to breaking down the rankings below 100 in individual categories like Amazon US has. Hopefully that will change in the future.

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 1-20, 5% of Chapter 21
Words Written the last six days: 5,000
Total Word Count: 36,040 (55.44% of 65,000 words)
Average Words Written per day: 644/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

Writing Red Ice; Days Eleven and Twelve

Well, I managed to break 10,000 words before the weekend. I don't know how much writing I'm going to be able to do over the weekend, since it is a holiday, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'm now into Chapter 6, and the novel is coming along. It's a matter of plowing forward and worry about rewriting when the novel is done.

Interesting research of the day: Finding a couple of quotes from Kim Il-Sung. I won''t say now why I need the quotes, but it works. Also had to dig up some data on North Korean Cartridge markings.

Not much more to add to that tonight. It's time for bed.

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-5, 50% of Chapter 6
Words Written the last two days: 2,670
Total Word Count: 11,020 (16.95% of 65,000 words)
Average Words per day: 918/day

Until later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice; Days Eight through Ten

It was a good three days -- averaged over a thousand words a day and nearly doubled the word count. Prologue and first three chapters done and now working though Chapter 4, which is a groundwork chapter --- explaining some plot background, giving the characters some depth, and reinforce the series premise.

I had to do some research on organized crime for what amounts to a couple of throwaway lines, a couple of organized crime groups that are only mentioned once each in the entire novel. But I don't mind. While these novels are gear towards action, I also want the story to be plausible throughout, and that mean anchoring as much as I can in the real world. I mentioned this before in regards to the weapons and equipment used by the characters. The same thing with the locations I use for the most part --- I do fudge a few things, and some places don't exist when I say they do. But I usually try and keep things grounded in reality.

That doesn't mean I have to stay 100% in reality. The main bad guys' gang is 100% fiction, as well as spots where the gang has businesses. The drug that forms the main plot point is fictional, yet grounded enough in reality to make it believable. In short, I take a few facts and build a story web around them.

My goal for the next blog post is to have Red Ice up over 10,000 words. Hopefully by the weekend!

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1-3,  40% of Chapter 4
Words Written the last three days: 3,470
Total Word Count: 8,350 (12.85% of 65,000 words)
Average Words per day: 835/day

Until later! 

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Days Four through Seven

Well, the weekend has come and gone and I managed to get in nearly 2,000 words done on Red Ice. That covers the introduction of the heroes and most of the first combat sequence. But there were a couple of things that had to be done and the big thing was the local Hurricane Seminar on Saturday.

You can tell it's Spring down here -- May is the time of Hurricane Seminars down here in Florida. And over ten years ago, I saw the power of a hurricane up close and personal --- Hurricane Charley. And with the area have a 60% turnover in population every eight years, that means that roughly 2 out of 3 people living in the area have never seen or felt the effects of a hurricane. SO, I make it a point to attend these seminars every year, pick up information, and hope we avoid another hurricane this year.

So, that disrupted the writing some, but progress has been made. I'm also going to start including a words per day line, in part to see how I'm progressing, but also to remind me that I need to pick up the pace.

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1, 80% of Chapter 2
Words Written the last three days: 1,990
Total Word Count: 4,880 (7.50% of 65,000 words)

Average Words per day: 697/day 

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Day Three and Four

I didn't post a Day Three blog, so I held off until tonight and combined both Day Three and Four. I may do that more often.

I had to sidestep from Red Ice to edit a couple of short stories and get them ready for the next step. I'm bouncing between more than one project in order to keep me fresh. There may be days in which I work on Red Ice for most of the day, while other days may see only a couple of scenes written. There may be days in which I don't write at all (Hopefully very few).

The first chapter is done and it ended up being more complex because I had to add some details to the plot that weren't in the original outline. There are five scenes, all very short, but needed to help explain what happened. Tough to do when you're lacking the right expertise and knowledge.

But it's done and it's on the chapter two. I want to devote the whole weekend to Red Ice, so there may be another delay for this blog. But I will keep you up to date, either every day every couple of days, or maybe every three days. Depends on what gets done when.

Done: Prologue, Chapter 1, 5% of Chapter 2
Words Written the last two days: 1,280
Total Word Count: 2,890 (4.47% of 65,000 words)

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Day Two

Well, Day Two didn't go as well as Day One did, but I did complete the Prologue and I'm working through the first scene in Chapter One. Only managed to get a little over 600 words today, but it does introduce two of the novel's major supporting characters and goes a long way to setting up the first combat scene. Important progress.....

What took time today was finding the right locations for the first two chapters.While Google Maps can give me a lot of street-views, there are areas where there are NO street-level views and I have to stare hard (and use the zoom-in feature) to get a feel for the location so I can describe it in the novel.

So, why didn't I make up a location? I could, but I like using real places as much as possible. I do mix them up a bit -- For African Firestorm, there was a hotel where I had the team stay, but I didn't use the actual hotel's name, description, or floor plan in the novel. Instead, I replaced  it with another hotel. For a couple of the houses, I use real house descriptions, but the house I describe is actually the next street over, or up the street from that location.

But a few places you can't fake. Red Ice's prologue's takes place in a well-known San Francisco tourist spot. So I have to "block out the action that takes place so anyone who knows that area can imagine the action taking place instead of saying to themselves, "That's not right! There's no road there!" or, "There's no pier in that location!"

That's just the way I write.

That's all for tonight.

Done:  Prologue, 30% of Chapter 1
Words Written Today: 630
Total Word Count: 1,610 (2.47% of 65,000 words)

Later!

Craig

Writing Red Ice: Day One

And we're off and running....

First day of writing the new Outcast Ops novel Red Ice, and it was a good one! Most of the prologue is written and I only had to spend a little time checking San Francisco street views and making sure a character's mindset was plausible for someone on a certain drug. The writing flowed decently and I managed to get over 900 words of a novel that will be around 65,000 words.

(The Word totals at the end are rounded off to the nearest ten.)

A good start, let's see if I can duplicate that in the morning.

Done: 75% of the Prologue
Words Written Today: 980
Total Word Count: 980 (1.5% of 65,000 words)

Craig

Outcast Ops: Red Ice is a Go!

Rick Chesler got back to me a lot quicker than I expected and he gave me the go ahead to start writing Outcast Ops: Red Ice!

So, starting tomorrow, I will be working on the novel. I expect to be working on it during the mornings, while other writing projects will be worked on during the afternoons. I will be keeping you updated on my progress. While I won't be able to work on it every morning, I will endeavor to put in at least five morning a week and keep you updated.

Unlike African Firestorm, I didn't do the in-depth research for Red Ice when I wrote the outline. Instead, I will be researching as needed. I do have some research left over from African Firestorm that I can use for Red Ice. I'm going to be looking at Google Maps a lot, as the area where the action takes place I've never been anywhere near.

I'm excited about this new novel, and I hope you will be too!

Later!

Craig