Fight Club said it best: “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.  You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.”

Despite my recent blog post, I have to say that Chuck Palahniuk was spot-on. We’re not special, our stories aren’t ground-breaking and we’re not going to be buried in Westminster Abbey.

In other words, I suppose the first step to actually making progress with this novel project is to pay attention to what I’m writing in my blog. Earlier this week, I wrote about starting small and building my story slowly, paying attention to the current step and not looking at the whole picture.

Completely ignoring my own advice, I fell flat on my face this week. I became overwhelmed. I had a beginning, two characters and a semblance of an end, but I was so focused on the whole picture that I couldn’t just write and see where it took me. Long story short, I forgot to follow the Snowflake Method.

I began to hate the entire story. I went from feeling satisfied with myself for having a general direction to loathing the protagonist and the entire story itself. I chose it because I thought it would be the easiest of all of my ideas, yet I couldn’t even write more than two pages.

The most difficult part of writing is accepting that it’s perfectly okay to be bad because it will all be fixed later. I’ve read this a thousand times and I’ve shared this advice with several friends, yet I still spend hours trying to figure out the language for a particular scene.

So last night, I decided to stop taking myself so seriously and be rid of any expectations for greatness I might still have deep down inside. I wrote a terrible ending. By having a horrible and ridiculous ending, I will no longer have outrageously high expectations for my story.

Matt stared at her with his baby blue eyes. Nervously, he started to open his mouth to say something…

WHEN SUDDENLY, A DECAYING HUMANOID RESEMBLING A ZOMBIE LEAPED FROM BEHIND HER. Matt’s facial expression shifted to one of horror, and he lifted his hand off hers and took a step back. Anna was oblivious to the danger behind her UNTIL THE ZOMBIE SUNK ITS REMAINING TEETH INTO HER SOFT FLESH. She let out a blood-curdling scream as a chunk of her shoulder was torn from her body. She was frozen in place from the pain. Whatever feelings Matt was about to express to Anna were quickly forgotten as he flew for his life.

Epic. Simply epic. There’s nothing like a good zombie to save your story.

I have to look at that little triangle that I posted earlier and not the completely formed snowflake. The point of this blog is to learn something on Wednesdays and share how I’ve benefited from it on the weekend, so it’s time to be rid of old habits and take the advice of writers more seasoned than I.

But there will be plenty of time for me to consult Randy Ingermanson. We’ll be seeing more of him soon, since his Advanced Fiction Writing E-Zine is one of the many resources I’ll be looking at.

Lesson learned for the week: zombies fix everything. You’re not a beautiful and unique snowflake, so take yourself less seriously and start writing.

Randy Ingermanson is an award-winning author of six novels and one non-fiction book. He has a Ph.D. in physics from U.C. Berkeley, earning him the nickname of “America’s Mad Professor of Fiction Writing.” He often teaches at writing conferences,  and his Web site has multiple resources for writers. He is also the writer of The Advanced Fiction Writing E-Zine, which I will feature later.

The most popular page on his Web site is called “How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method.” He uses a snowflake fractal as a metaphor for writing a novel, referencing this Web site for the process: http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/frac/koch/koch.html

The novel starts out as a single triangle, or a simple idea for a plot, which is represented by the first triangle.

This serves as the foundation for the rest of the novel. Other triangles are added, making the novel more complex and substantial, thus looking more and more like a full snowflake. You can find the other steps at the bottom of this post.

Right now, my vague story idea is my first triangle. In the past, I’ve been overwhelmed with the idea of having so much to do to get my stories to where I want them to be. I hope this method helps this novel to become more manageable. The key is to look at it as a series of steps, not as one big project.

Step 1: Come up with an idea. Check.

Step 2: Sketch out a plot. Check.

Now I just need to figure out what comes next so that I can reach iteration 1 (or what looks like the star of David).

It’s a fictionalized version of someone else’s life (this may or may not be appreciated, we’ll see) and takes place in Elgin. It’s in 3rd person limited and my goal is to finish by August.

I need to find people to critique it as I get going, and I’m hoping to attend a writing conference of sorts between now and August.  I have no idea what I’m doing, just jumping in and doing.  Thinking I can realistically devote 2 hours a day to this, maybe more on weekends.  The joys of being single, childless, and mortgage-less!

I wrote a novel once as part of NaNoWriMo and it was terrible. I had no clue what I was doing, didn’t even start with an outline or anything, and half-way through I decided it was a novel aimed at middle schoolers because I had failed at writing something at an adult reading level.

This time I googled “how to write a novel,” and came across the snowflake method. So that’s what I’m doing. The Snowflake Method.

Will never post any of it here unless it’s already been published, but just felt like sharing.

Other things I’m thinking of doing: becoming a transient for a year.

The wonderful Bill Wolford has informed me that he has selected my short story (‘Everyone Fears Death’) for his Inner Fears anthology, due out sometime in mid-2010! I am so excited. Although I love writing speculative fiction, horror, to me, is something else entirely. I try my hand at it every so often, and it never quite seems to fit. I put a lot of sweat and tears into ‘Everyone Fears Death’, and I am so glad that other people will read it. I’ll post more details on exactly when it will be out, and where you can buy it, when I know more.

I’ve had an idea for a novel rattling around in my brain for a little while, and I intend to get started on the Snowflake Method for that this afternoon. If you haven’t heard of the Snowflake Method, you can check it out here. It’s absolutely an essential element of novel writing, in my opinion. It helps you get organized, and if you’re a goal-oriented person like me, you will fall in love  with it! I used it for my first novel (which lies quietly in the depths of my hard drive), and will use it for this one, which I intend to finish in 2010. This second novel will be written with the intention of getting it published. Big gulp.

Hope everyone’s Christmas was more than merry! I can’t believe that this weekend we’ll be in a whole new year. 2010!

Since I haven’t really updated to let you guys know how the novel writing has been going, I decided to do an update before all of the Christmas craziness begins tomorrow. Writing continues on the novel, though not quite as I had expected. Things are being rearranged, concepts are being readressed, and the paragraph summary is not quite as concrete as I had hoped. Every day, it seems, a new idea will pop into my head and I will have to go write it down. I have decided that this is just the nature of writing a novel; things are transitory. Although I have written almost a 10-page manuscript summarizing the main sequence of events, I know that this is subject to change. Brilliant ideas seem to come in bursts, and I have learned to utilize them when I recieve them or they will leave just as fast as they came. Being the perfectionist that I am, all of this abstraction and craziness has me unnerved, but I know that it will all come together in the end, and I am determined to make it happen. After celebrating Christmas, I plan to do some intensive research related to my ideas and nail down the main sequence of events and construct character analyses. This is my goal by January 5. We’ll see how it goes.

Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared, Credit: R. Kennicutt (Steward Obs.) et al., SSC, JPL, Caltech, NASA

Today I managed to find a little time to continue working    on a novel-length piece of fiction, even though the deadline that I set for myself during November, when NaNoWriMo (that stands for National Novel Writing Month) was going strong has long since past.

To qualify for Na NoWri Mo certification, one needs to complete 50,000 (hopefully coherent) words within the 30 day period, we call November. I barely managed 10,000 during last month, but it looks like I might reach 25,000 by the first of the year. Not the fastest pace in the world, but I do kind of like the way the story is developing.

This is my second attempt with this organization. Last year I sat down and cranked out 40.000 words for a manuscript that still sits in a drawer, half finished. However early last year, I did manage to forge a large group of related short stories into a workable novel, which I thoroughly shopped around this past summer to no avail. Maybe this year’s effort will go better. I hope so, for I would like to think that experience amounts to something.

For those of you, who like myself are struggling through the never-never land of novel writing, you are in luck.  “TheWriter” magazine has just published a list of its most favorite literary websites and there are several that may be of help to aspiring writers, like myself. Most obvious is a site called How To Write A Novel (you have to give them credit for honesty in advertising). There first suggestion is to write one word at a time; can’t go wrong there!

Another intriguing site is Advanced Fiction Writing, which features the snowflake method. Seeing that today is the first day of winter that might be a good idea also.

Also of importance is a place called the Fiction Factor. This is an informative site that has articles in the form of an online magazine, as well as a listing of markets and contests. Looks like another good choice!

And then last but not least is a place on the internet called “Chapter One“. This website is put up by the Washington Post and it is place where you can go to read (for free) the first chapter of recently published books that have been reviewed by the Post newspaper. Be aware that there is a lot to choose from, as the Washington Post book reviewers are a busy lot.

So there you go. No need to procrastinate, the time to write is now.

pastel drawing of a house in winter

Have a happy solstice,  and enjoy the fact that the days will start getting longer from now on.

Best wishes,

Everett Autumn.

Here is the updated one-sentence summary. Things are coming along nicely. I can’t wait to begin character development in the next couple of days.

Despite a successful career and a recently published book, college professor Nicholas Santini realizes his marriage has failed when his wife asks for a divorce. While trying to piece his life back together after the collapse of his relationship, Santini receives a mysterious phone call from Europe informing him of the death of a relative he never knew existed and advising him of the existence of a secretive object located in a vault in an undisclosed location left to him by his recently deceased relative. However, in his attempt to retrieve the object and to expel the shroud of mystery surrounding it, he begins researching his family’s past and traces his roots to Italy, where he discovers his family has been a part of controversy involving secret societies, the Italian government, and even the Vatican over the years. In his efforts to learn as much as possible and solve the mystery of the object, he realizes there are those who wish to leave the past in its rightful place. As things begin getting dangerous, Santini must enlist the help of someone but doesn’t know who to turn to because he has hurt most of those he holds dearest to his heart, and the Italian government seems to be leery of him as well as any of his associates. In his quest for answers, he must also decide what is most important in his life, but the mysteries of the past hold him captivated and he may endanger too many people before he realizes the consequences and it’s too late.

After many hours of deliberation and tweaking it, I have drafted my one-sentence summary. I know it may seem like this was an easy task, but it was anything but. For me, this step was of the utmost importance because everything else will build upon this one simple sentence. Yes, it’s vague and elusive, but it’s a start and my hope is that it will keep you guys interested. From here on out, it is going to be more difficult to post what I am writing because I will be creating the “meat” of the novel, but I will be posting excerpts and character synopses as I go along. Here it is:

After going through a tumultuous divorce, an uncertain college professor researches his European lineage and enters a world of mystery and conspiracy as he uncovers the secrets of his family’s past, discovering more about himself in the process than he ever could have thought possible.

These are some themes I am considering exploring in my novel. I am almost ready to create my one-sentence summary which will serve to sell my idea to a publisher later as well as precipiate the writing process in the meantime.

• “closed-mindedness” in the South/ rising above it
• “magical” feeling of European metropolitan areas
• quest for happiness/ self-made happiness (at expense of others?)
• learned wisdom vs. experience (college education vs. real world knowledge)
• modern-day family drama
• self discovery
• ancient cities and the discoveries therein
• cultural heritage
• emotional struggle
• social standards
• conspiracy theory
• natural disaster
• governmental secrecy
• technology and its implications (good or bad?)
• ancient artists/ symbolism/ riddles
• wealth and happiness

As you can see, these are in no particular order and are not related in any way. The challenge of writing a novel is deciding what you want to say, and incorporating it into the plot. I’ve discovered that I will not necessarily be able to do this right away since I am starting small, but coming up with themes I may want to explore has led me to develop a sense of what has to happen in the novel for me to be able to explore those themes. Thus, I will post the one-line blurb when I have perfected it, probably very soon.

Due to spyware and viruses on my computer, I haven’t been able to update the blog in a while. I apologize. The first semester at South has come to a close, and I can honestly say that I survived without major harm. In fact, I consider my first semester a great success. Not only did I successfully overcome major personal and social hurdles, but I ended up finishing the semester with all A’s. Well, I’m about 80% positive. Final grades have not been posted yet. Like millions of other college students around the country, I have returned “home” for Christmas, and the holidays are probably my favorite time of year. Something about the sound of a crackling fire and the idea of curling up next to it with a good book makes me smile. While most worry about whether or not they will be spending Christmas with boyfriend or girlfriend, I fret about which authors I will get to read or which books I have heard advertised that spark my interest. Call me crazy or call me prioritized, whichever you prefer. This year, however, I have something else I plan on doing during the short recess from school- begin writing a novel.

I have always been interested in writing. Something about being able to express myself through words is extremely appealing, and I do it well. I promise I’m not bragging. Some people are just gifted with the ability to write and some aren’t. Through feedback through peers as well as college professors and high school teachers, I have been able to come to the conclusion that I am. Since both my parents seen to have the same ability, maybe the trait is hereditary, but I will leave that to scientists to figure out.

Returning to the subject, I have decided to finally write a novel. For many years, I have tossed ideas through my mind without concrete intentions. However, after coming across an article online written by an author about writing a novel, I have decided to try his method. Of course I will have to tweak it as I go along and discover my own method of writing, but I think everything is learned from observing and imitating and this principle can be observed especially with the Renaissance. Writers and artists during that period learned from having a mentor through an apprenticeship. I simply wish to make my mentor some of the greatest authors of the time that I respect. Namely, Dan Brown- probably one of my favorite authors.

I intend to document my experience in writing the novel here on the blog, including the methods I am using to go about the writing. First, though, I need to give a lesson in meteorology to explain the method I will be using. The method I will be using is called the “Snowflake Method.” You may have noticed the snow falling on the blog in celebration of the holidays, and as most of you know, snowflakes begin thousands and thousands of feet above the surface of the earth. What you may not know is that they begin as supercooled water droplets, that is, miniscule droplets of water that exist below freezing temperatures as liquid water. When these droplets to freeze, they become heavy and can no longer exist suspended in the cloud they originated from. As these complex geometric shapes begin to fall, they may pass through a layer of air that supports temperatures above freezing. When passing through this layer, the edges of the snowflake melt, allowing snowflakes to coagulate and become larger snowflakes. (Note: This is what produces the heavy wet snow that falls in the South.) It is during this stage that the falling snowflake demonstrates the “Snowflake Method.” Basically, I will start extremely small- with a sentence- and gradually grow the novel from that one sentence. Granted, there are things I will need to do outside of the actual writing of the novel, such as character synopsis and things of that nature, but that still could be considered “coagulation.”

Now that you understand more of what I intend to do, I will being posting and documenting my experience as I begin the process. Know, though, that I may not be able to post everything I write because of copywright issues, but I will try to at least give you an idea of what I am writing and how I am writing it. Please feel free to post comments and suggestions. Hopefully, I will be a published author one day. That is the plan.

I made some serious progress today and this weekend… on my Snowflake outline. No more writing done, which isn’t great, but I’m more interested in using NaNoWriMo to make sure I crank out a finished first draft than I am in meeting the 50,000 words by Nov 30 deadline. Sure I’ll still try and hit it, but if I take a week (or two) to finish up organizing the novel so that I have a clue who the characters are and how the plot flows, then I’m much happier.

Unlike in the past, I feel good that the organizing is actually product and not my typical spinning my wheels endlessly planning with no real progress. The snowflake method has worked great for me.

Early on, I lost a lot of time feeling beholden to the Snowflake structure even when it wasn’t clicking well. For example, I was still quite unsure on many of the characters, but I was ready to do the 1 page summary and delve into the flow of the story. However, I felt that I couldn’t just skip a step and it made sense that I should have some idea of the characters before the details of the plot so that those characters are pivotal to and drive the story.

So I lost a couple of weeks stumbling over forcing myself to clarify characters I didn’t have clear yet. When I finally said “screw it” and moved onto the plot, the characters then fell naturally into place as I have been fleshing out the flow of the plot. So the Snowflake has worked wonders, but I need to remember to trust my gut and ignore the structure when necessary. I’m feeling better this time around that I’m still able to avoid the endless planning even if I wind up skipping around the process a bit.

This afternoon I snuck down to the Med Student study lounge and managed to finally get a detailed flow of the plot without any “(This section needs more detail)” or “(Should I do A then B, or B then A?? If B useless?”) kinds of notes. So I’m feeling quite comfortable in the story now.

Just have to make the switch over to producing some word count now. I hope to keep detailing things and get an actual scene breakdown, but at least I have it planned well enough that I won’t have to worry about writing a few more sections and possibly throwing them away completely before I even finish the draft.

1525 / 50000 words. 3% done!

Well, I’m giving NaNoWriMo a shot this year. Considered it a few times, but never really went anywhere with it. This time I’ve been doing a good amount of planning between the Snowflake method of novel planning and the 30 Days of Worldbuilding. Unfortunately, things have been busy as usual and my planning is behind.

But I have 1500 words down and am feeling close on the planning. Besides as others have said, your first novel always sucks, so my expectations are low. As long as I can clarify the vision enough to not ramble aimlessly, I’ll be happy.

So, we’ll see what the rest of the month holds. But it’s been fun so far.

1525 / 50000 words. 3% done!

Day 2 of NaNoWriMo is fading, and my word count is getting close to my Day 1 target. The Snowflake method seems like a good thing, but I’m rushing through it (and skipping ahead) so quickly that it’s hard to say. Part of me wants to hold off on the novelling until I’ve finished the snowflake, but another part keeps reminding me that that’s not how NaNo is supposed to work, and I’m falling behind!

My slow start is only slow in terms of building word count. Coming up with characters and a plot in two days–that’s fast.

I’m really enjoying following the steps of the snowflake method for this year’s nano novel.  It’s given me a way of getting the ideas down without having to actually write the story or worry about sentence structure or dialogue. It’s also at that point where, if I’m interrupted by my bubba, it’s ok, I can walk away and keep thinking about the story. In fact, when I reach the end of a step, I feel like taking a break and that I’ve achieved something.  I guess it’s really breaking novel writing down into manageable steps.

I’m up to step 5 now – writing a one page description of each major character. This will be interesting since I haven’t really even described the characters appearances yet. I think I’ll have to devote a bubba-nap to each of my main protagonists so I can focus on them individually.

NaNoWriMo is bearing down upon us! Are you ready? What are you doing to prepare for your thirty days and nights of literary abandon? Are you the type who plots and plans and schemes your novel down to the very tiniest detail or are you more the fly by the seat of your pants type? Do you have any particular planning techniques that help you reach your word count goals?

I’m more of a discovery writer. I do some very general outlining, then make the rest up as I go along. I’ve tried doing detailed outlines, but they they usually work for me. Knowing exactly what’s going to happen before I even start writing seems to spoil some of the fun for me. I tried the snowflake method last year and it really didn’t do much for me. For Zombie Town I had no concrete outline, just a general idea in my head of what I wanted to happen, and as I wrote, other subplots and characters popped into the story. Funny how that happens. For my 2007 3-Day Novel, Ugly Cupcakes, I wrote a brief outline, which ended up being more helpful than I thought it would. So I guess light outlining works best for me, and that’s what I plan on doing this year for NaNo.

The writer’s group I’m in has an annual NaNo kick-off party, and we usually do some kind of planning activity. I’ve been trying to think of one to contribute, and I’m drawing blanks. I’m just not much of a planner.

So, wide world of the interwebs, how do you plan for NaNoWriMo (or novel-writing in general)? Are there any planning methods (like the snowflake method) that have worked well for you in the past? Anything that hasn’t worked out so well? Post them in the comments and help and planning-impaired person out!

No, it’s not winter yet. It’s just… well, here’s the story–

It’s not often that I voluntarily expose a personal failure, especially not right out here in cyberspace for scrutiny by all the world (or whatever small portion of said world might find its way to my blogging doorstep). But in a weak moment I agreed to share my experience with Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method of writing as a guest post on Jordan McCollum’s website today.

My attempt at snowflake storytelling design wasn’t pretty. In fact, as a plotting device it didn’t end up resembling a snowflake at all. You’ll find the story of my sorry attempt posted there if you’d like to mosey on over. You can even leave a comment but please say something nice; ridicule is hard on my morale.

So I asked on Facebook for suggestions for my next article and got this:

how to develop characters? how to move the plot along….hmm something like that. have fun ‎

Thanks for the suggestion, Saira! I decided to go with the bolded section. I’ll do something on developing characters in another article. Maybe the next one? Anyway, today’s post is all about moving the plot along and how you do that.

I’m sure every writer has faced this dilemma a number of times when writing. You get an SNI (shiny new idea) or not so shiny new idea and start writing. But eventually, you run out of steam or your story stalls and you think, “Where the heck do I go from here?” You know where you want to end up but you have no idea how to get there. I’m not claiming to be an expert (far from it) but over the years (which aren’t too many) I’ve read about and used a number of methods which have proven successful for myself and others.

The Motive: This is really the core of your story. The motive of your main characters pushes everything along. It’s the reason why Harry Potter is determined to defeat Voldermort, why Buffy slays vampires and why Gossip  Girl writes her gossip. If your characters don’t have a motive, you, dear writer, have no story. What you do have are a bunch of people floating around in your mind doing random stuff that may or may not make sense. So ask yourself, why is Agatha trying to find the golden goblet? Why is Mindy trying to ruin Veronica’s reputation? If you can answer these questions (or whatever ‘why’ questions pertain to your story) you are on your way to making sure your story doesn’t stall!

The Stakes: This ties in with ‘The Motive’. Actually, it’s a very big contributing factor to it. The stakes are what your character(s) have to lose. For instance, if Mindy doesn’t ruin Veronica’s reputation she won’t get the guy and won’t be prom queen. If Agatha doesn’t find the golden goblet the world will burst into flames, claiming her life as well as everyone else’s. Everyone has something to lose. Everyone.

Conflict: This is a crucial way to keep your plot moving. Every good story needs conflict. It pushes the stakes, motivates the characters and its what you resolve at the end of the story. Conflict keeps your reader reading and your pages turning. Seriously. What would Harry Potter be without the conflict. Harry versus Draco. Harry versus Ron. Harry versus Snape. Harry versus the World. Harry Potter would not be as cool or interesting if he didn’t have so many problems. And problems equal conflict.

So, how do you make these things work for you? How do you work them into your story?  The proven suggestion is to outline, outline, outline. You can outline in your head or outline on paper – but having a working idea of what you want to happen, why it’s supposed to happened, to who its going to happen and when its going to happen is a good idea. I’ve come across a few of suggestions – it’s up to you to see which will work best for you.

The List: This is the loosest way to go, as far as I can figure and allows the most creative leeway later on in the writing process. Simply list the major events of your story. Once you’ve listed them, go back and add meat. This means emotions, motivation, who is there when the event happens, etc.

Scene Chart: This is what I’ve started to do and is a variation of the above – only much, much more specific. It works for me, but might not work for everyone. List all the scenes that will happen in your story – all of them. Then, go back and answer why they need to happen. If you can’t answer why, scrap the scene and move on. When you go into the writing stage, add the meat. It’s liberating and constraining at the same time – for me, the scene chart makes sure that I stick to the plot and the story doesn’t become a monster (as mine are wont to do) but I also know exactly where I’m going and why. If the story changes I just go back to the scene chart, and rework it. Excel is a really good tool for this.

The Snowflake Method: This is what I first used when I started working on my novel and its really helpful all around. The Snowflake method makes you flush out characters, events, etc. It forces you to understand your characters, their motivations, how the plot molds them and how they mold the plot. If you’re just starting out and the idea of writing a novel is freaking you out – the Snowflake Method might be the way to go. Stick it in google and Randy Ingermanson’s ‘The Snowflake Method’ should come up.

So I hope I’ve given you some tools to help you keep that plot moving! As always, comments are appreciated – and any suggestions you may have for future posts are welcome.

Hampton is an ordinary city on the outside, but it has a dark current underneath. Long ago back before the United States was founded ancient tribes of man lived in the darkness of night. They claimed immortality but it came at a price – they needed to survive on the blood of others. During the colonization of America another creature came to Hampton – half man, half wolf. These two clans began to war for power with in Hampton. It was transparent to those who did not believe in their existence, but the lines of the city were always changing underneath. This is the world that Val Storm calls home.

Val Storm is considered by most normal people to be a wacko or making things up to sell her magazine. Underworld: The magazine sells to those same people who buy the tabloids and to those who live in that world with Val. To them it is real. To them Ms. Storm provides valuable information. It is for this reason that Val’s help is much more that what Charles had anticipated at first.

But before Val can help him, Charles must go through her keeper, Johnny Rose. Johnny owes Rose Brewery and well established business man – and vampire. The world sees Johnny as eccentric but completely normal in his 50’s attire. Johnny’s Master gets wind of the detectives need and he intervenes with the War Council. The council consists of ironically the Mayor of the City and the Local Werewolf Alpha male. They all form a group to help Charles learn what he needs to. It is a temporary truce.

The group helps Charles and Juliet integrate into their world and when they feel he is successfully integrated they take him to where the killer seems to be pulling his victims from, Escape. A club that changes locations nightly and only those who know how to find it can ever get there to join the festivities. But that night turns dark when one of their own goes missing. Three days later she is found dead – same MO, same killer, the fight to look for the savage murder grows stronger for all of them.

There is a fight to who will act on their plan. The bait is the most important thing to lure the killer out, but the detectives want the bait to be Juliet, but the vampires and werewolves don’t think she can pull it off and want Val to do it. After some trial and error they all agree it should be Val in disguise, since most people know Val Storm. It takes several days before the killer bites, but when he does, the police are almost too late to save Claire’s life. T the detectives now face a dilemma. Do they reveal the vampire and werewolf world to the population of Hampton and look like crazies or cover up the details to save their jobs and the lives of those who had helped them. Val gives them the best option. They cover up the vampire and werewolf involvement and motives of the serial killer but Val would publish their side. She was already a crazy, but her words would reach many.

Claire Valentine lives an ordinary life in an extraordinary world, but she straddles those two worlds with ease. Her alternate persona, Val Storm is sought out by a Detective Charles Peterson to help solve a murder that seems to point to those who live in the “underworld”. Claire enlists members of the vampire clan and werewolf pack to help solve the murder but one of their own is taken victim. An elaborate plan relies on Val’s ability to be something she is not, one of the killer’s profiled victims. Their plan leads to the culprit but the bigger dilemma of the killer’s plan could ruin the world as they know it.

A girl from the underworld must help a detective find a serial killer before another war is started.

Well, January is over and I do want to report on my progress.

First for some really GOOD news!!  I had a short story accepted at Reflection’s Edge and it will be published in the February issue. Actually, I think, any day now!

Now for the mixed news. For the new novel, I am still following the snowflake method, and I am now making spreadsheets with all the projected scenes. Yes, by the way, I did learn how to use Excel. Anyway, this won’t take much longer, and once I have completed this, I will be ready to start the draft.

Now for the bad news. The two short stories are not finished. Partly, this is becuase I was without my laptop for 16 days. It crashed, and while waiting for the manufacturer to send me the recovery disks, I had to borrow my daughter’s computer. So I had no time for blogging and very little time for writing. For this reason, I am granting myself an extension.

I will post another update soon. In the meantime, feel free to shake your head and roll your eyes.