New Year, New Website

I have officially launched a new website!  You can find it HERE! 

I will continue to post blogs about the Wil Clarey series here.  The new page will link to here and will have blogs about writing in general and updates for Synchronized.  Come check it out and send me suggestions for making it better!

Thanks

PS - if the link does not work, copy and paste solanowriting.com to your browser.

Not every story is worth publishing.

     I set out to write a Christmas story to share this year.  As I wrote, the story took on a life of its own.  When I was done, I reread it, made a couple of changes, reread again, and wasn’t sure if it was worth publishing.  I gave it to a couple of trusted readers.  They agreed.  I thought about revising it but there just isn’t enough time and I need to give that time to my family in this busy time of year.

     All this is to say, not everything that I or any author is worth publishing.  I could go ahead and make this story available, but I want to leave my readers with a great experience, not a mediocre one. For now this story is relegated to the recycle bin.

     Have you had experiences like this?  Have you started a project that just did not come out right?  I am not an advocate for quitting.  Quite the opposite.  But, I do know when it is time to move on.  I will get back to writing “Synchronized” right after Christmas.  I am excited with how that is progressing.  Perhaps, after the beginning of the year, I will share a chapter of that.  Stay tuned and don’t let the failures drag you down!

What's Next?

     After practice writing first chapters from each of the five projects listed in my last post (and one new one that I may mention eventually), weighing the suggestions of friends online and in person, and debating and debating and debating, I have finally decided which project to work on next.

And that project is.... Synchronized

Synchronized will stretch my writing abilities as it is written in third person and is intended for adults.  In it we will explore issues of national security, trust in government and in each other as well as security through faith.  Feel free to send scene suggestions my way as Roger and Adam struggle to save America as we know it.

FYI - I plan on starting a new website after the first of the year.  It will link to this blog which will concentrate more on the Wil Clarey saga.  It will also bring more general writing news and links to tips.  I am also open to suggestions as to what to put there.  Thanks for your support!

Wil Clarey: School of Hard Knocks is complete! (in rough draft form). Make sure you let me know which project you would like to see me complete next.

     I'm just two chapters away from completing the first draft of Wil Clarey: School of Hard Knocks!  I took Thanksgiving week off of work so that I can finish it and now I find that I have time to start on my next project.  With that in mind, I would like your input as to what direction to go.

     I am thinking that I may want to take a break from the Wil Clarey series and complete one of the several other projects I have started.  With that in mind, I have created some very brief synopses of some of the possible stories.  Here they are:

Please comment here or go to my Facebook page (search "solanowriting") to let me know which you would like to see me complete next.  The images should be clearer on Facebook.  I would be glad to provide more details about any project you are interested in.  Thanks!

Raw excerpt just written

I just had one of those chapters that practically wrote itself.  I decided to be bold and share it with you.  Please be aware that it is raw and completely unedited so please overlook any blunders.  (I already found a couple just glancing through it.)  It may come out quite differently in the final product but, it was fun to write and I hope that it is fun to read.  Enjoy.
Oh yeah, if you aren't one of the few who have read the first book - spoiler alert!

Chapter 34 – On a Sled and a Prayer

Freezing air in my face.  Snow blasted up from the front of the sled and showered on me.  Fingers, almost numb, gripped the edge of the orange plastic.  Until… a lump on the hillside sent me airborne.  What goes up must come down.  I came down on my face. 

Ten inches of snow prevented any injury beyond the drastic lowering of the temperature of my skin.  I picked myself up and ran after the sled that continued down the hill. 

I didn’t see her coming but I heard her.  “WATCH OUT!!”  Hannah barreled by within two inches of my heels. 

I fell back in the snow and only just managed to get up and out of the way of Bill sliding out of control on his little red plastic saucer. Neither Bill nor Hannah made it to the bottom of the hill before wiping out.  We were on one of the big hills on my grandparent’s farm.  Bill had invited himself when I told him by text that morning that I was going to go sledding on the farm.  Mom had brought us out in the cute ute, trying out the all-wheel drive for the first time.

“You need to make a path for the sleds to follow.”  Grandpa shouted up from the bottom of the hill with a snow shovel in hand.  We walked down to him.  “Trample down the snow where you want the sleds to go.  I’ll build up a snow bank down here, so you don’t fly into the creek.”

“Your granddad’s pretty smart for an old guy.”

“Who you callin’ old, Bill?”  Grandpa tossed a snow ball at Bill.  It hit him in the chest splattering snow into his face.

“Oh, it’s on, old man.”  Bill became a snow throwing machine, diving for the ground and grabbing handful after handful of snow, crushing the snow into a ball and throwing it in a single smooth motion.

Grandpa wasn’t as fast, but he had strategy.  He ducked behind a pile of snow he had already started to build and lobbed snow bombs in Bill’s direction.  Hannah joined forces with him and soon I was being targeted too.

Something you should know about Asperger’s is that it enables us to concentrate on something to the exclusion of everything else.  In moments, I was strategizing how to decimate our “enemy.”  As inexperienced as I was at snowball fights, I soon had a winning strategy as I moved to flank Hannah and Grandpa. 

That focus that helps me sometimes makes it hard to know when to stop.  One of my snowballs nailed Hannah right in the face.  Most people would stop and let her recover.  My mind was in video game mode and kicked up the action to win the battle.  Bad idea.  After hitting her three more times in the back of the head, Grandpa had to stand in front of her and yell stop.

That triggered what hadn’t happened to me since the attack.  Defense mode.  I froze.  You would think I would apologize but my mind went into that horrible loop.  Why did I do that?  That was stupid.  I can’t face them.  I can’t.  I plopped back in the snow and started rocking, hiding my face in my icy gloved hands.  The world disappeared. 

I’m not sure what the others did during that time.  I'm not even sure how long I tuned out.  When I looked out from my gloves, Grandpa stood a couple feet in front of my talking to Bill and Hannah.  I think he was explaining my reaction. 

I snapped out of it pretty quickly then.  “I'm okay.”  I got up and stepped around Grandpa to face Hannah.  “I, I’m sorry.  I get…”

“You don’t need to apologize.”  Hannah put her hand on my arm.  “I understand.  Or at least I want to understand.”  She switched on a big grin.  “I’m a tough chick.  I can handle your… unique qualities.”

I stood there speechless.  Could she actually understand?  Even if she could, was it fair to her to have to put up with that in me? 

Before I could think to say anything, she said, “Let’s get this sled run built.”

Stunned, I stood as Bill passed close by me.  “She’s a keeper,” he whispered in my ear.

Yes, she was, but would I be able to keep her?

I would end this chapter there, but I gotta tell you, that was some of the best sledding ever.  Once we had the path made and run over a few times, I swear we set some land speed records for sledding.  We all came away freezing on the outside but warm with joy on the inside.  That was a good thing since the next few weeks would be less than fun.

This Week In (my) History

Are there weeks in your personal history that have significance?  This week is one for me.  28 years ago, this week, I started my first job as a copier field technician.  It was the start of my second career which has taken up the majority of my adult life.

This is not what I had planned in college.  I was planning on being a teacher and maybe a writer.  Then money ran out, I did not make it into the education program at UC Santa Cruz, and job opportunity arose (in my first career in audio/visual).  One thing led to another and I found that I was able to use my talents in fixing things to make a living.  In the meantime, I have also been able to teach and lead children and youth in church and write as a hobby.

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I had decided to switch to San Jose State and gotten my teaching credentials.  I honestly don’t know.  Would I have been a good teacher?  Would I have enjoyed it? 

All those questions are, of course, moot now.  I have had many “woulda, coulda, shoulda” moments through my life.  I can’t change those, and regret would only put a cloud over my life.  Instead I choose to look to the future.  I intend to pursue a career in writing while maintaining excellence in my current career.  Instead of dwelling on the missed opportunities of the past, I will reach for the opportunities out there in the future.

Where are you in your history?  Are you living in regret over past decisions?  Are there goals that you still want to strive for?  Let me encourage you to reach for the stars.  The sky is not the limit.  After all, we’ve already sent people to the moon (thanks Adam Young for that thought).  Think beyond the possible to the miraculous and you might be surprised what will happen.

Speaking of the impossible, I did manage to complete the revision of the already done first two-thirds of Wil Clarey: School of Hard Knocks.  I am excited to be able to move on to complete that book during NaNoWriMo in November.  I encourage all you writers out there to join in and work on your next great novel!  Let me know how it is going.