Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

March Freebies and Deals

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There are only a couple tidbits here this week in terms of March Freebies and Deals. Plenty to keep you reading all month long. The big thing this month is David Neth’s Kickstarter campaign for his Fuse series. He has put together special hardcover editions for this superhero series and needs your help to make them a reality.

Check them out below:

Pretty freaking sweet, right?

Supporting this campaign comes with some great rewards including free ebook editions, bookmarks, even physical copies for the higher tiers. Every little bit helps!

The Kickstarter campaign runs through March 21st. 

March Freebies!

The final days of the Mystery, Thriller and Suspense promo are this week. Be sure to check out these free titles from some of the best authors around.

The deals end on Wednesday!

The Clearing is also part of another mystery giveaway promotion running all this month. Dozens of books to choose from, including the best in cozy mysteries, paranormal mysteries, and more!

A short one this week, I know. Next month will be more jam-packed.

Back to work on Alpha and Omega!

Process Junkies

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I love talking about the writing process. To me, it is the most fascinating aspect of the whole endeavor. Sometimes I can go entire days thinking about nothing else but the work that goes into the actual work. That might just be me, but I wanted to share how my process has evolved over the years as well as where I would like to improve going forward.

Writing process

I still follow the same steps I have since the beginning.

  1. Outline – a chapter by chapter breakdown of the novel
  2. Dialogue – a hand-written version of the character’s conversations throughout the novel
  3. Script – the mashing of the outline with the dialogue to produce a beat by beat spine for the novel
  4. Draft – the actual writing of the book, using the script as a guide
  5. Edit – turning my jumble of words into something impactful and coherent

This works for me. I’ve thought about dropping the dialogue and script phase to increase my speed. On the whole, though, I don’t think it would add anything other than more editing steps down the road. The dialogue and script portions of the process tend to weed out a number of soft points in the outline. They also help flesh out subplots and smaller character roles by giving them some time to breathe.

I like to think of each step as its own level of editing as well. It really is. By looking through the narrative multiple times during the writing process, everything by the end is a million times more thought out than it was at the start. (I hope…)

Changes to the writing process

It’s funny to think about, but I have noticed a need to work from beginning to end more and more. At the start, I always talked about being able to jump in at any story point and go. This might mean following a specific character through a novel (or season) or a subplot or just a plot point.

Lately, though, whether it is through outlining, scripting, or drafting I have started at the beginning and worked my way through to the climax more and more.

I don’t know why. Maybe it is my tired dad brain telling me to keep things simple. Maybe I have a better grasp on the narrative as a whole so I no longer need to attack it willy-nilly. (Sure, let’s go with that… but it’s probably tired dad brain…)

The staggered approach

Once upon a time, in the golden days of writing, I typically followed my process from start to finish with a book. I don’t remember the last time I did this.

DSA Season Two was outlined at the end of 2018. It was scripted in 2020 and drafted in 2021. Edits took over the last five months of 2022 and it is finally seeing the light of day in September of 2023. That’s a ridiculous process with way too many distractions stuffed in between.

Greystone almost followed suit. I outlined the back half of the series in 2020. Insane, right? I am taking my time to put each book together separate from the rest for the rest of the process. No scripting the whole thing (though I debated doing this…), drafting, and then editing. Each book gets the time it needs, and then the additional details will come at the end if necessary.

Hopefully…

Continued evolution

Every book is different than the last. I continue to find that the most fascinating point of the entire exercise. I certainly never get bored. There is always something new to figure out, or a new revelation on the process to integrate into the steps to make the best book possible.

Juggling Multiple Projects

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This is a topic I find fascinating with authors. How in the world can someone handling multiple projects at the same time when it comes to writing? Juggling multiple projects boggles my mind, but it is something I would love to be able to do one day.

The how behind it…

Let’s unpack this. Writing a series is a commitment. It requires an unbelievable level of concentration to keep details in your noodle to make sure the narrative stacks up by the end. I can understand an author wanting to plug away at a series until the end before moving onto something else. That makes sense to me, and how I’ve operated for the most part.

But switching gears completely? Sometimes in the same day?

The time factor

I think this plays a lot into this. I hope it does, or I’m just a lazy sack who needs to step it up ten notches and get back to work.

Having the time to work is huge for this kind of juggling. If you have a full morning dealing with mythological creatures, you can pull yourself away for an afternoon of aliens, or romance, or whatever it is you’re working on. Maybe break it up with a nice lunch, or say some blogging to completely separate the tasks.

So yeah, time has to be a huge player in juggling multiple projects.

What if you can’t?

I constantly try my hand at this. Want to know what happens? I stress eat a bunch of chocolate (stolen from my kiddos – thanks, kids!) and realize I do not have the headspace to pull off multiple projects, multiple series, multiple chapters even with the time I have allotted for work. (At the moment…)

It’s a frustrating conundrum. The ideas are there. The outlines locked in the deep recesses of the brain. Two series running simultaneously, in theory, will be two times the product and the sales, right? Wouldn’t that be nice?

The clock, though, continues to work against me. Against most of us, I would imagine.

Finding a balance

I finished DSA Season Two last month. With the momentum I had from reviewing the novels during the editing process I took it one step further to roadmap the third season.

Then I stopped and shifted gears.

Part of me wanted to continue. The momentum was still there. I could have gone on for the next nine months putting together another six books in the series.

Instead, I returned to Greystone. Part of that was not wanting to put off closing out Greystone. It’s been five years since A Circle of Shadows was released and fans deserve to see what happens to Soriya (wait, she’s dead, isn’t she?) and Loren.

The other part was in keeping with juggling multiple projects. Some readers have zero interest in DSA. Some are begging for more urban fantasy. (I’m right there with them.) Greystone is what they want, and what they’ve been expecting for quite some time.

Do I wish I could switch gears, putting out one of each and flipflopping between the two or three or four series I have projected to come out in the next five years? Absolutely.

Would they be exactly the way I intended if I did it that way? Probably not. It’s tricky to hold yourself back, but for the benefit of the final product it can actually be a good thing. Quality over quantity is what I try to tell myself, but man, there are days when I wish I could just drop everything and throw all the ideas on the table and run with them.

Someday, right?

So why the rant today?

This really is nothing more than that. (It helps me work through things…)

I sat down a year ago with a comprehensive publishing schedule that took me to 2034. Ridiculous, I know. It juggled three series (Greystone, DSA, and an unnamed space opera that is fully scripted and ready to be drafted).

I’ve edited the hell out of that plan in the last few months.

Why?

I didn’t want to screw up on the details. This happened with Greystone’s First Cycle. Having gone back to check out certain details I realized how bad I messed up. That irks me to no end. Story points are crucial for series writing and I blew it multiple times.

I don’t want that to happen again. When Greystone finishes I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. I don’t want anything to be off because I couldn’t remember the details. So, for me, sticking it out the way I am is crucial to a reader’s enjoyment.

The other reason is I didn’t want to break up the flow of a DSA Season. Publishing quarterly will already stretch out certain things, so this will at least mitigate that aspect.

Am I wrong to stick with a single series instead of juggling multiple projects? You tell me.

(Cause I have no clue anymore.)

Writing Update – February 27, 2023

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The first writing update blog in quite some time. Welcome! Below you’ll get a glimpse into what’s been going on behind the scenes and see what madness I’m attempting to accomplish while surrounded by three kids, two cats, and one lovely wife (all talking at the same time… all the time… literally, all the time…).

Writing Update

DSA Season Two

All six books are DONE! They have been for a bit. Last month though, I sent them out to some trusted alpha readers and they seem to be digging the new installments. (Phew.) I’m hoping to be able to show off some covers in the coming months, once I wrap my head around the design elements.

DSA Season Three

Say what? Take a nap, Lou! (Ha. Yeah, right…)

Season Three is now outlined! If you’ve been following the blog this month, which you should be since you’re reading these words right now, you’ll know some of this latest batch were a struggle. I’m sure 99% of the issue was the cloud that tends to hang over my head during the winter months.

But I stuck with it. Each time I hit a wall, I stepped back to figure out exactly where I veered off course to get on track again. It was quite the learning experience, and I think the season is stronger because of it. There are some genuine shocking moments in Season Three. Twists and additions to my original plans that really surprised me at how well they fit into the larger narrative.

It’s going to be a blast to write… in 2025…

Reading List

The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin

I loved this installment of the Rebus series. Everything about it was spot on, from the humor to the plot connections that always come together seamlessly somehow. It was also quite enjoyable to follow a completely sober Rebus through a case. If only it lasted…

Dead Souls by Ian Rankin

Can you tell I’m working my way through the Rebus series? Well, I was at any rate. This one threw me right off track. There isn’t anything wrong with the book itself. It’s the same quality Rankin writing and everything works together flawlessly, but it wasn’t for me. Probably the subject matter and nothing more. Hoping the next one wins me back over.

Amazing Spider-Man by Len Wein

This was my third time through Mr. Wein’s run on Amazing Spider-Man which ran from issues 151 through 180. My first visit went poorly. I was a huge Gerry Conway fan and I didn’t think Wein continued the stellar work Conway brought to the title. The second time went a little better. I was reading with my oldest at the time and her enthusiasm for the title (especially when Spidey messed with J. Jonah Jameson) brought a better appreciation to the run.

This time was the most fun yet. I don’t know why that was the case. I adored all the subplots throughout the run. Wein’s takes on the various villains during the run was also stronger than I remember them being. All-in-all, this was a blast to revisit and if you haven’t had the pleasure you should give this run a read.

That’s it for me this month!

Next month: GREYSTONE!

Mental Games We Play

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In line with my previous blog, there are many ways writers can trick themselves into failure. These mental games are easily the worst thing about the business and tend to encroach on every step of the process. When you’re dealing with selling a product in a marketplace that is completely dependent on consumer reviews and opinions, terrifying and debilitating worries are part of the game.

The goal is to trick yourself out of the slow spiral to failure and straight into success.

It’s not easy. Not at all.

If it was, everyone would do it, right?

My wife thinks I hate my job. She worries I’m super depressed all the time and should be on the highest dose of some mind-altering fuel to get me back to my huggable, loveable self. None of what I’m feeling has to do with my writing. Mental games don’t play into matters until the book is done. Until you start what comes next.

I suffer through this quite a bit. The extreme highs of finishing a book, coupled with the idea that no one will ever read it. Or worse, that no one will like the damn thing.

When I send stuff out for people to read, I am usually shaking. Anxiety is no surprise for the introvert, but outright fear of the opinions of others is taking it to a whole new level.

So how do you overcome this fear? How do you beat the mental games?

Part of the solution comes from ignoring the noise. I used to check my reviews religiously. It drove a large pit into my stomach, but I felt it was a necessary component of the business. I don’t do that anymore. What happens with my books happens, and if someone doesn’t like them I can only hope others will.

Ignoring the noise frees up space for the joy of creating. That’s the bottom line, and the key to any success in this business and in life, in general.

Setting realistic expectations. I went through this recently with some alpha readers on DSA. I love feedback and want to hear about the books and what works and what doesn’t. But some tact doesn’t hurt. Understanding how an author has spent months of their lives crafting their tale and doesn’t want the first thing they hear to be a complaint, or an outright shredding of their entire project, goes a long way toward soothing their fragile ego.

In a recent email to friends and family, I mentioned how a compliment would be nice before the review process began. Whether or not they listen is up to them…

Change your outlook. No, not your actual email address, though wouldn’t that be nice? Instead, view yourself as a role you are playing rather than someone with connections and a life. I think one of my problems of the last few years has been myself. I write these blogs, emails, and books knowing family might (I stress that, might) read them and so I tweak things for their benefit. Their reaction started to matter more than the actual work.

That’s not why I do this. It shouldn’t be why any of us write what we love and share what we feel. So, I had to change. I had to face where I stumbled because of these outside influences, and figure out why they impact me the way they do.

On one hand, I considered putting everything under a pen name. Really treating my life as a character in a story. That seemed more avoidance than anything.

Beating my own mental games

To beat my own mental game, I decided simply to focus on my readers and not those closest to me. They will always be there, and they will always carry their own opinion over the value of my writing. Some will read the books and love them. Others will promise to read them in the future and never will. Still others won’t even pretend to care. And that’s fine.

They are not who I am writing for, and that is how I beat the mental games that weigh me down. Or try to, at any rate. I’ve thought about deleting this blog completely rather than let people read it. That’s the old fear coming back. So I’m just going to let it ride and see how things go…

Start a New Project

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The End. It’s the single greatest phrase to type when finishing a book. The elation that courses through your veins having just completed this massive tome of literature is like a drug. The hours, weeks, months of sleepless nights as you toiled away in your basement have all paid off and now you have this cohesive behemoth of a project finished. Completed. Done. Okay, now…start a new project.

Wait, what?

Are you insane? I have to do it AGAIN?

Starting a new project

I had this absolute blinding moment of terror a few weeks back. I was finishing the edits on DSA Season Two, something I had been toiling with for months. Saving the last document, formatting the final draft, put an end to my time on the project. I was riding a high like no other after months of self-abuse at the hands of the editing machine. Thinking I could do no wrong I decided to take that momentum of living in this world exclusively for so long to map out the next six chapters of the story.

And I couldn’t remember how to start.

I was brain-locked. For the life of me, there was not a single idea I could write down that meant anything to me. I had no idea how to carry a narrative let alone start one. It was terrifying. I’ve never had a problem outlining. It just seemed to be one of those things that came naturally for me, but here I was stymied by own inability to figure out where to start. Or how to start. Or anything involving the world and characters I had come to know so well over the last few years.

Identifying the problem

Sometimes it can be a simple thing. With DSA, the issue became scope. The world exceeded my grasp and until I found a way to lock down the situation I had no control over my thoughts and could not make any headway into solving my issues.

I’ve run into this blockage in a different way before. At times we tend to know our story too well. From main plot to sub plot, everything is so firmly established in our brain that when it comes time to write them out there is too much input. Everything becomes muddled and nothing connects seamlessly.

Finding solutions

DSA was a tricky beast. It usually is. When it came time to get thoughts on the page, I found myself starting with the simple premise. What is this book about?

Not what is this series about or who are these characters, but what was I thinking about first when it came to this installment, this book itself on its own. No connections with other plots or long-running themes.

Bare bones. Simple.

Starting from that fresh perspective gave me time to realize where I was in the narrative.

Here are some other tips to start a new project:

Write what you know.

Silly, but it works. If you have a single scene locked in your brain start there and build out from that moment.

Work on a subplot first.

It might be counterintuitive depending on the series you’re building, but if there is a clear piece of the puzzle already set in your mind, start there and let your brain continue to work through the issues you’re having on the main plot.

Build what you can, while you can.

Start a new project

Determine the act breaks.

I find this works best in a lot of ways. Figure out the turns of the story, where the action beats are and the big reveals are positioned, and suddenly the connections start to come into focus. Having these key events at fixed points in the narrative also makes for a stronger book, in my opinion.

Take a damn break.

The obvious one, right? I probably should have done this for DSA to let my mind wander on the problems I was having. Give your brain a chance to figure things out in its own time. You’ll be surprised how quick you’ll be back at the keyboard.

Reaching the end is the dream, but to start a new project can be just as exciting. Don’t let a few false starts keep you from finding your way into your next outline.

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