Both Dark Prey and my current work in progress, Dark Fraud, grew quickly to about 40K then I struggled to find consistent elements to tie all the parts and pieces together. So I rewrote them, and its honestly like starting all over with a blank page and saying okay, produce words. Dark Fraud finds Emily and Ryan thrust into an ongoing insurance investigation where the original investigator was murdered as part of a cover-up by the shipping company. No more details, just know that it is a wild ride and at some point in the book everyone feels like a fraud, even me, because I’ve struggled so hard to write this story. Most of the time, I can come up with the beginning and the end and everything falls into place. This one hasn’t found an end so I’ve struggled because I’m a pantser, someone who writes by the seat their pants with little to no outline. Think that’s easy? Its great when I have the kernel of a story and the first part just flows. Then I get to the middle and my mind bogs down and I have to jot down an outline then find the end, from there its a sprint to get it done.
In Dark Prey, I started to write about COVID-19, but decided my politics were coming out more and more so I axed it. I chose to write a world free of an virus that has a 99% survivability rate (Damn you politics, get back in the box). After all, I write fiction, so why do I have to include elements of today’s world when often the historical times we live in are far more fantastical than what I’m writing. I touch on all kinds of topics in the books from addiction to PTSD to difficulties of paraplegics and amputees. But COVID is out. Its too polarizing. Regardless of how you feel about the character or me, politics has intervened in everything and where we come down on a issue ends up being the dividing line between ourselves and our neighbors as we all have probably experienced at some point in the last year. You might disagree with what my character says or does or me on a certain issue. I don’t want that to be so polarizing that you put down the book. After all I’m in this to make money now that I’ve fulfilled my dream of publishing a book.
Thanks for listening to me rant. If you agree or disagree, post a comment and tell me about it. I love a health debate.
Image by Florian Berger from Pixabay
