Writing Archives - Page 43 of 44 - Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels

First Look at Tales from Portents

September 12, 2016 By Lou

You’ve been waiting patiently for this, I know. You’ve finished Signs of Portents and have been sitting silently in the corner for word one on the next book, hoping, begging, pleading for some direction on your next favorite book.

Who says I don’t deliver the goods?

Welcome to the next chapter and the first (in some ways). A collection of six short stories taking the threads left dangling throughout Signs of Portents. From characters mentioned to events relating to our main cast, such as Loren’s first “tour of duty” with the Portents PD.

Welcome to Tales from Portents.

I know we’re a few months from delivery on this project but I’m chomping at the bit to share some details as to why I chose to write this book instead of the actual sequel to Signs of Portents. Wait. What? This isn’t the sequel? What gives?

Relax. I’m getting there. Promise.

This book wasn’t supposed to exist.

I have a pretty clear roadmap for what I call the first “Cycle” of Greystone. Three full length novels, each building up to something huge for the characters. All of them. While I was putting together the overall story bible I thought about Portents on a smaller scale, on a more monster of the week level than the grand scope of things. These stories were meant to fill in the gap between books two and three.

Four books. Total.

So where did this entire project come from?

I wanted to promote Signs of Portents, as well as draw in other readers and thank the ones I already have by providing them with a free story in the Greystone universe. People love free. I know I do. So I set to work on coming up with something perfect to give away.

I came back with a notebook full of ideas. Each with their own merit, stemming from some line of text within the confines of Signs of Portents that needed fleshing out. That demanded more.

Giving birth to Tales from Portents.

What will you will find inside?

Ruiz’s first encounter with Mentor – including some slight nods to what is coming up for the character in next summer’s release.
Soriya’s first meeting with Vlad. There was always more about the kid (besides playing a great corpse in Signs) and this gave me the perfect opportunity to explore that.
Loren’s time in Chicago. Did Loren even try to find a life there? Or did Portents refuse to let him?
An early case with Soriya and Loren. How do you build trust between these two people? That was the question I asked when putting together this story.
A hint at a larger threat to come. For Soriya. And for Portents.
And finally, because it was too glaring to ignore: the history between Loren and Standish – the dirty cop that sent Loren over the edge and packing for Chicago in the first place. This is the one that had to be in the collection and really is the crux of the overall story being told throughout all six tales.

But I hate prequels. Why should I bother?

Don’t be a hater. Tales from Portents has a huge payoff to the overall story in the first cycle of the Greystone series and beyond.

There are threads weaving through each tale that connect to next full length novel. There are threats introduced that play a part in the next short story collection. And everything comes together in the third full length novel in a big way. Every story told is important, be it through character development, the ever growing threats to our heroes and their city, and everything in between.

Plus, I had a blast writing it.

Tales from Portents comes out in February 2017. Mark your calendars.

You’ll be hearing much more about Tales over the next few months including when the freebie that kicked off the project will be available. It is an incredibly important story that I am very excited to share with you and really bridges Signs of Portents with the next novel. It is called Resurrectionists.

More details coming soon.

Thanks for reading.

Writing Update – September 1, 2016

September 1, 2016 By Lou

Currently Writing:

This week is the end of the self-editing phase for Tales from Portents. (Hooray!) It’s been a blast trying to add some layers to Signs of Portents while also acting as a bridge to the next full length novel. The plan was to take some of the threads and tie them up or explain them more. However, when creating this project I ended up with even more questions, characters, and plot lines which you will encounter in future novels. I can’t wait to see where all these threads lead.

Speaking of new novels, I finished writing the plot breakdown for my next project. (Double Hooray!) Typically when I start plotting I try to keep a list of connecting scenes in a notebook then pull them together at the end. For shorter projects this works great. It has been awhile since I plotted a novel this large so I thought visualizing the arc might work a little better for me.

whiteboard writing

Unfortunately, my whiteboard had been taken over by every color marker in the place. So I thought… INDEX CARDS.

index card writing

Yes. We only had hot pink and purple index cards. (The ladies own this house.)

BUT, the cards worked out and the plot for next summer’s release is rocking and rolling. September is all about scripting the scenes laid out in colorful style. I will be talking about both pieces of my process throughout the month.

On the Signs of Portents front, things are doing well after launch week. Thank you to everyone for spreading the word which is definitely getting around on the book. Now that more distribution channels are open, I am looking into a few new marketing avenues to promote it further.

What I’ve Been Reading

Ian Rankin’s A Good Hanging – I am only a hundred pages into this short story collection from the early days in the Inspector Rebus series. I love how Rankin writes the titular character and how Edinburgh plays a crucial role in every tale. Being Frank and Concrete Evidence are two of the stronger pieces so far in the collection. It is interesting how he finds a creative way to look at the solving of a crime in each story. Especially Concrete Evidence, where the killer is pretty obvious from the beginning and the struggle becomes how Rebus goes about tracking down an air tight piece of evidence for the conviction. Great stuff. Can’t wait to finish the rest.

Mark Waid’s Daredevil – I was an avid Daredevil fan up until this run. Andy Diggle’s run, while crucial to hitting the reset button on a character that had become so dark and depressed that a demon actually took over his body, pretty much gave me a place to jump off. BIG MISTAKE. (As usual.) Mark Waid’s Daredevil is FUN. There is drama. There is darkness. Waid pushes Daredevil’s buttons as well as the great Frank Miller ever did but he keeps Matt Murdock in the light. And some of it is truly brutal. Waid always nails the super-heroics of his funny-books, but what he is able to hit on (repeatedly and with great effect) is the humanity of the Daredevil cast. Foggy Nelson, in particular, with his battle with cancer was such a touchstone of his run. Absolutely a must read. Great stuff.

Have a great book recommendation? Want to tell me why Ben Affleck’s Daredevil is the greatest super-hero film of all time? Shoot me a message.

The Web

Joanna Penn talks about Ad-Stacking to get on the USA Today Bestseller List – A great lesson for beginners and veterans alike. How to pull all your resources into the mix for a huge promotion with a very targeted goal. Getting on the USA Bestseller list as a single author. Joanna Penn breaks down the costs involved, the pieces in play and the results. A perfect case study in how losing money in the short term to achieve a goal can end up paying dividends in the long run.

Thanks for reading.

Self-Editing – Treating Your Writing Like a Professional

August 25, 2016 By Lou

Everyone writes. Don’t deny it. Even the weekly grocery list counts in this regard. Seriously. You make your grocery list and what do you do with it before you go to the store? You look it over. Double checking every item. (Or triple checking it if you’re like me. Then leave it at home like an idiot.) You remember something you need. You realize three tubs of ice cream probably aren’t necessary and make it a more advisable two. That is self-editing at its core and it is the most crucial part of the writing process.

I’ve shared my feelings on self-editing previously. It’s no secret I find it extremely painful as a process. But a completely necessary one. Self-editing is the true first step to turning your favorite Buffy fan-fiction into a dynamite draft ready to be seen by others. Not publication (HECK NO) but a step closer. And it’s because self-editing forces you to look at your work like a professional.

Those that can see the flaws and find solutions to them are the ones ready for primetime. Defending your first draft, riddled with typos and logic problems will not help you succeed. It will hold you back. It did for me for a long time.

How did I learn to cope with self-editing?

I developed a system. The same way every writer should. For EVERYTHING. Plotting. Drafting. And especially Editing.

With a first draft I do a cursory spell check, cursing at Word for wasting my time. Then I print the bugger off and tuck it in a three-ring binder. I used to just paper clip sections of the behemoth – not a smart way to go – so I have to thank Joanna Penn for the binder idea. From there I start my first readthrough.

First readthroughs are scary. You’ve spent months putting your draft together and aren’t quite ready to pull it apart yet. You gloss over grating details and choppy sentences because you KNOW they work. Except they don’t and you hover over them for a full minute (more like ten) trying to figure out what the hell you were talking about.

Highlight it. Underline it. Question it.

self-editing — My favorite is when a minor character’s name changes halfway through the story…

Question Everything.

That’s the key. Question everything. Setting. Staging. Movement. Motivation. Dialogue. Dialogue tags even. If questions come up for you, even small ones, they will definitely come up for your readers.

Note funky sentences, poor transitions, generic descriptions of locations and characters you probably haven’t thought enough about yet. Most importantly take your time with it.

Once the first readthrough is done I go through everything and make my changes. Easy ones first. Changes that require a major overhaul or solving a logic problem I typically highlight for a second pass. It gives me time to think about the best approach depending on the situation and doesn’t hold me up from other corrections.

Circle back to your highlights when the answers are clear. You may have broken more than you fixed but solving the fundamentals of your draft, the logic of your story is critical to moving forward with the next pass (or three).

Save constantly and under a new filename. For every draft. And keep the physical copy of that first draft. You will not regret this.

A second set of eyes

For a second full pass through the manuscript I use AutoCrit, a handy tool I will be talking about in detail on Monday. I upload the revised draft into their system and run every report imaginable to clean up my prose. I would be lost without this tool and it really helps me catch overused words and other silly things I should be able to realize on my own. (I’m getting better at it, dammit.) It also keeps me from passing it off to my wife to clean up. I’m sure she appreciates the reprieve.

Three is a magic number.

The third readthrough occurs on the computer. Sometimes I print it out and work it the same as the first. It depends on how confident I am about the draft. Sometimes it takes four or five or twelve passes but by this time I’ve typically hacked the crap out of myself and am working on the nitpicky (yet still incredibly important) parts of the narrative.

Was Soriya injured on her right side or left? Did Loren shave today? Who is holding a gun and who has the ice cream cone? (Two ice cream references? I should probably eat before I write these posts…)

Once again, it all comes down to questions. Never be afraid to ask them and never back away from every potential answer. If something is holding you back from passing the draft off to your beta readers there is a reason behind it. You may destroy that “perfect” first draft, that heavenly vision you held in your mind for your book but it will make it stronger in the end.

That’s how you take your writing to the next level.

Thanks for reading.

Writing Update – August 18, 2016

August 18, 2016 By Lou

I like to take stock on where I am with my work and I feel it’s important to share that with you here. Every two weeks you can find out what I’m currently writing, what I’ve been reading and other interesting factoids I have found on the interwebs instead of doing my work. (I actually stole the concept from my wonderfully talented sister, Sara Frandina. You can read her delightful coffee + content blog at sarafrandina.com.)