Carla Stockton asked me to participate in this
chain gang blog hop.
1)What am I working on?
Novel in progress
working title: Eco Terrorist
Natalie Clark retires
from MI5 during the Great Drought. Seeking a life far away from her job as an
Analytic Soothsayer she buys a ranch in
rural Wyoming. Two men will pull her back to her old life. One wants to poison
the Ogallaha Aquifer (all the remaining water in the West and Midwest). The
other desires to control it all. Can she stop them?
Currently the book is 188998
words. I’m revising. Preparations are underway to send to my editor. Revision
for me is on a paper printed copy. I read each word aloud. My goal is to edit
ten pages a day.
2) How does my work differ from others of
its genre?
I’m a member of
International Thriller Writers. The underlying structure of my novels are “thriller”;
however they are literary. I ghostwrote a few thrillers for someone else first.
I’m not following the typical format. My hero is heartbroken. There are two villains. Readers may
relate to the bad guys. Both are fathers, both have built lives for their
families. However the process in which they achieved their goals is dead wrong.
The setting is the Midwest /West after climate change has left most with no resources
for water. My work has been called “transgressional,
dark, poetic, and gothic.” This story is written in four different voices. Each
has their own version of the story within the tale. Mise en abyne in which the
French would look for clues in each voice.
Thriller genre seems at
odds with literary fiction and poetic structure. In this novel there are
secrets, song bird calls and bits of tornadoes. Someone else may categorize the
book as apocalyptic.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I have a million
stories to share. I hope to make a reader think. I’m writing about this time
from my spot on the planet. My poetry, short stories and novels aren’t easy
reads but they are true.
I write or I must surrender
to the ashes.
4) How does your writing process work?
To write a novel:
I start with drawings,
photographs and my moleskin notepad. This year I used instagram as a journal to
keep ideas flowing.
First I use a white
board. It is four feet by six feet. The story is mapped on the board as a
graph.
Next, I write every day.
The Chapters are not numbered. They may be shuffled around like cards later.
Sometimes I begin with the middle of the narrative. I have a full time job and
am a single Mom besides writing.
I am disciplined. Every
morning at 5:25 A. M. I’m working on our kitchen table. Weekday evenings I will
put in two more hours. I set word count goals. Each day that I achieve the goal
I reward myself by going for a hike or working in the garden for an hour.
Once the first draft is
completed I print the novel. At this point I will write a short story or poetry
to give the draft a rest for a couple weeks.
I am creative in my
daily life. Come over for dinner. You will be entertained.
Revisions begin: this
part is slow. When I wrote I often will put two or three words to express an
idea in a sentence. I’m not doing spell check or grammar check. I read aloud.
Muddling over the exact word choice, uncovering the tool that clearly expresses
not just the meaning of the sentence but the sound and rhythm I find my way.
Second edit is to take
all the handwritten notes on the hard copy and put them back into the computer.
Total process takes a
year or more.
I purchased a couple
writing programs (Final Draft, Story lit, White smoke, Story book)
none make it easy. This is a long process. My editor uses one then I will finish with whatever
he is using.
Word does some tricks
with auto saving the wrong copy. In long form at this point you better be labeling
each copy and dating it. Otherwise you may have to go back and rework. Ugh.
After editor makes his
notes I will share with a couple beta readers.
I lost both mine. My
mom had a stroke, then open heart surgery. She’s no longer up for the task, but
I will give her a printed copy this summer to attempt the red pen. Any
volunteers? Prizes, vacations and wine promised for certain.
Next up:
Judy
Serrano graduated from Texas A and M University, Commerce with a BA in English.
She is a member of Romance Writers of America and Dallas Area Romance Authors.
She spends her days writing on her laptop and living in her imagination, when
she can steal a private moment. She is the author of "Easter's
Lilly," "Brother Number Three," "Relatively Close" and
"Memoirs of a Mobster."
Judy
currently resides in Texas with her husband, four boys and five dogs. She is
also a singer/songwriter in her spare time.
Ewa Zwonarz is a Polish-American writer, author of the soon to be released
paranormal young adult novel “Moonchild.” She is a recipient of several awards
in journalism and film production, a published poet and an author of a blog. She
graduated Valedictorian with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications and
works as a Strategic Analyst for a Silicon Valley start up. When she is not
working, Ewa is traveling the world collecting morsels of inspiration for her
future projects.
Link :
www.dare2begin.com
DAVID B LENTZ
Was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, David B.
Lentz graduated from Bates College and has published six novels: "For the
Beauty of the Earth", "Bloomsday: The Bostoniad", "AmericA,
Inc.: A Novel in Stream of Voice", "Bourbon Street", "The
Day Trader" and "The Silver King." In addition, he has published
two stage plays, "Bloomsday" and "AmericA, Inc.", as well
as a volume of poetry, "Old Greenwich Odes." He introduced a new model
of critical literary theory for reviewing novels in his "Novel
Criticism." Selected excerpts from his collection of literary works among
his novels, stage plays and poetry are available in "Essential
Lentz." He is a member of the Center for Fiction in New York, the Royal
Society of Literature in London, the Academy of American Poets, and the
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He has served Bates College as
an Alumnus-in-Admissions (18 years), Stamford-Greenwich Literacy Volunteers of
America, Midnight Run for New York City Homeless, Healing the Children
Northeast, Inc. (Board), St. Baldricks Foundation for Children's Cancer
Research and as a Volunteer in St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero. Lentz has
lived in the Garden District of New Orleans, Boston's Back Bay, Houston,
Philadelphia's Main Line and Greenwich, Connecticut.
Caroline Gerardo
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