Musings of Two Creative Minds

     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...

Sorry for the delay in posting this second section, but I’ve been having issues with the Kindle version of my first novel “The Bridge”.  Amazon has been alerted to the problem and are working hard with me to get the problem resolved.  I’ll be creating another post here sharing what happened and how we got things resolved shortly.   In the meantime, back to our discussion about working and juggling multiple stories… So where was I?  Oh yes, why finding that I could work on multiple stories was such a big deal for me.  Anyone who is creative will tell you that when you have that creative mindset going it gives them a surge of satisfaction that’s like no other.  Our minds love to be active and focused on something.  But for artists, writers, musicians, anyone who’s got a creative mind, not having the brain working on something can be frustrating.  You start to feel stale, or like you’re not doing your part somehow.  This is a b...

Well, we're mostly settled into our new place, so the dust is slowly settling from all of that. Well mostly settled.  Still unpacking and organizing where we want things to go and how, but that's just normal  after a move.  But sometimes figuring out how to organize your story and where you want certain events or revelations to go can also be pretty tricky.  It can even lead to problems I'd never  thought about, like Writer's Block.  Or, as it was with me recently,  STEALTH WRITER'S  BLOCK! Now what I mean by that is a kind of Writer's Block you aren't even aware of.  To give you  an example, this is what happened to me.  I had finished a particular scene in my current novel  and had moved way beyond it with the rest of the story.   But for some odd reason, I kept  finding myself going back to that scene and wondering about it.  It would happen every so  often then I'd...

In spite of all the excitement of the anticipated release of "The Vampyre Blogs - Coming Home", this October, I keep hearing people ask 'Whatever happened to "The Door"?  Are you going to finish that story?  I want to know what happened next with Alex, Veronica, Julie, and Cassandra.' For those who are still wonder the answer is a resounding "YES!"  I am currently working on that story as we speak.  In fact I've been working on it for quite a while...  a really long while... like over two years... (groan) All right knock it off Roscoe!  I don't need to hear more laughs coming from the peanut gallery.  Sheesh. Now I hear the rest of you asking, "Why is it taking so long?"  Well the answer is quite simple, I've spent the last 24 months with a serious case of 'too many ideas'.  What does that look like you ask?  Here let me show you... You see one of the biggest problems I've had was that I kept g...

As you all know, for the past couple of months, I was pulled away from my writing by all the demands of my classes at the California State University of Monterey Bay.  But now all of that is over, until next semester begins late next month/early February when it all starts up again... possibly, things may change before then.  I'm up for a couple of job interviews which could change everything. In any case, you'd think I would be eager to jump back into my writing right?  Yes and no.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm still in love with writing, but trying to awaken my muse has been hard.  Being away from my writing for so long left me drained emotionally and mentally on the creative front.  Plus there's been other things I had to deal with which also got pushed aside thanks to all the schoolwork. Luckily a lot of that is done and I have more time to get back to writing, only I found I was stuck staring at "The Door" and not being able to do anything wit...

As you all know I talk a lot about writing and the different aspects of it.  Recently I got to wondering about where it all begins.  Where do most stories originate or come from in the first place?  Naturally the answer is a person gets an idea and starts to explore different avenues with it.  But that wasn't good enough of an answer to me.  I had to ask, where does the idea come from in the first place?    Where does idea get its beginning?  What if...  I began to ask and then stopped.  I'd just found my answer.   Two little words... that's all it takes for a story idea to be born.  But it doesn't stop there.  Oh no, my friends those two little words keep popping up throughout the writing process.  Time and time again, I find myself asking or thinking those two words as I'm working on scene after scene.  Or if I'm trying to decide which direction to take the story next.   Ask yourself, how many...

Recently I was on one of the buses that I regularly take to get to my university.  As I was riding I was taking in the scenery and smiling to myself.  A girl who had taken the seat next to me noticed and said I must be having a good day.  I responded by telling her I was observing the scenery and thinking about some of the trees.  In particular I drew her attention to the Spanish Moss growing on several of the trees.  "Is that what's growing on them?  I've heard of Spanish Moss but I never saw it before," she told me.   I nodded and replied, "Now picture that stuff moving on its own, maybe reaching down and grabbing a someone as they're walking by." That freaked her out a bit as she looked at me with wide eyes and said, "That's creepy!  You must be into horror movies and such." At that point I explained that I was an author who had two books out already and a third coming in December.  From there she relaxed and I told her a...