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Showing posts from February, 2019

Book Review: Kasi Blake's "Vampire's Rule"

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His name is Jack, his nickname is "Jackpot" and with good reason. Killed by a werewolf, but changed at the last moment by vampires he is spared from death. Then by a freak chance, he becomes mortal once more after an encounter with another werewolf. Now he's not completely human, vampire or werewolf... he's something more. K. C. Blake presents us with a unique blend of traditional vampires, werewolves and a bit more thrown in. It's a fast-paced tale of life, death, rebirth. Second chances that may not be all we hoped they would be. Friends and family become enemies and allies, with twists and turns sure to keep the reader on edge.   The pacing is good and the story intriguing.  Definitely an enjoyable read. Now this is the first in "The Rule" series. The characters can be a little hard to like at times, but when setting the stage for a series this can be forgiven as we watch them grow and find that there is still a lot more to come from this

Updating

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The word count is past 42,000, and the main draft may be finished by the end of the month. I call it the main draft rather than first or rough, because I'm one of the weird, rare writers who works to polish their prose from the start and edits throughout the initial writing, so that the final product is very close to the original finished draft. I'm not saying this is superior; actually, I think this insistence on having my language just so before I put down a sentence is why I could never finish writing more than a short story on my own before this. On the other hand, I do want beta readers to help me with cultural aspects (Rafael is part Latino) and other details, such as making sure I didn't mess up the proper terminology for shipboard life, military work, firearms and equipment, and such. It's one thing to do a little online research, but the people who delve deeply are worth listening to-- I respect readers too much to disregard correct usage.

It Is Now Officially a Rewrite!

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     As many of you know I've been working on "The Door" for the last four years. And looking back on that sentence I'm wishing I'd phrased it differently, because it makes me sound like someone who is the lamest handyman in creation. Hmm... there might be another blog post in that. I can see it now "Choosing Your Words Carefully"...          Anyway, getting back to today's topic, yes I've been working on that novel all this time and it still isn't finished. In fact the closest I've gotten is halfway. Why? See below...         But seriously, I was trying to put too much material and characters into the story. I had forgotten one of the cardinal rules I try to write by, which is "Keep It Simple Stupid". When you have a story that already has a number of twists and turns built into it, DON'T MAKE IT MORE COMPLICATED! Secondly, if you are building a series you don't have to introduce every bloody person who&#