The Words of September

Another month has passed, fall is here, and the colors are terrific.

Fall Color in Wyoming

Writing totals for the Month

I had hoped September would see an uptick in my writing, but instead, I wrote a bit less than last month. This month writing numbers include 17 blog posts and 11,291 words on all of my projects. This brings my word total for the year to just under 167,000. I need to pick it up to reach my goal of a quarter of a million words, right now it looks like I will come in around 200,000. My original goal was 350,000 then lowered to 250,000. I am not sure if I set my goals too high, or if I have become lazy. This year is the first that I have kept exact totals so maybe next year will tell the tale of how many words I write each day, month or year.

Standing in the Oregon Trail Ruts a half mile south of our home

Sales are up

Although my word total was lacking, my book sales were and still are up. I have three new books nearly ready to go and hope to update my Christmas book to a second edition and get it out before Thanksgiving.  If I do all of that, I should have a good writing month in October.

Two Fawns in Fall

What a September

Not much writing in September but it was a great month for everything else. We went back to southeast Nebraska for our 50-year high school class reunion – Class of 1966. I also spend some time in the Laramie Range, visited the old Iron mining town of Sunrise, spent a day at the world famous Spanish Diggings and half a day at one of my favorite places, Fort Laramie. My wife and I also, with the cooler temperatures, started our fall hiking at Guernsey State Park.

Here I am taking a break sitting on a pile of broken stone at the Spanish Diggings
Unbelievable that this stone was worked thousands of years ago - what a great trip

Garden Book 

Oh, and the garden is looking good. Which reminds me, I have not mentioned that one of my works in progress is a gardening book. Tips for beginning gardeners at altitude, and a collection of short murder mysteries that take place in – you guessed it - the garden. It will be a short book, coming in at around 100 pages, but so far I like it. The others will be my second Blade Holms western mystery and the third in my series of children’s books.

Nothing beats a backyard garden

My two latest published projects, a book and short story, along with my other four books can be found here.

Thanks for keeping, Ghost of the Fawn, and Interview with a Gunfighter, consistently in the top 200 the past month, it is appreciated more than I can ever say.

Keep on reading and keep on writing!

Top of the world view from the area of the Spanish Diggings

Writing the Blogs

Have you ever noticed how bloggers come and go?

I started blogging toward the end of the year in 2006, eleven years ago – how time flies.

Over the years I have followed many bloggers, and I often see some very good ones go away. Sometimes bloggers give up because they run out of material. Others give it up because it becomes too tough to keep up a schedule. I had two very good blogs I followed, where sadly, the writers passed away.  One other I loved reading, I fear the writer just became too old and gave up on it. Often blogs disappear with no explanation, all of the sudden they are just gone. I appreciate and look forward to the blogs that I have been following for many years. One thing I have found is that those who last do not try to post too often. I have followed a few who were able to keep to a three or four posts each week schedule for a while, sometimes even for a couple of years. Seems that, after a while, it gets too hard for most everyone to post that often.

My Office - A Great Place to Sit and Write

In my nearly eleven years I have posted, over 1,000 times, matter of fact, this one is 1,090.  To do that I post on seven, yep 7, sites. I keep all of them active, but my posts numbers are vastly different, depending on the site. Some, like this one, I post, on average six times a month. My cooking site I post once or twice a year. Other sites, as often as every five days or as seldom a few times each year.

Nothing is worse than telling myself, “Hey you gotta write something today.” I try not to do that, and most of the time I look forward to posting and always look forward to seeing what others post each week.

Today I thought I might give readers a look at all the other interests I have where I post, at least occasionally. So here they are

Wyoming Fact and Fiction  - By far my most popular site with nearly 3,000 openings last month is my Wyoming Fact and Fiction site.

 http://wyoming-fact-and-fiction.blogspot.com/

I taught history of the American West and Wyoming history for more than four decades at the Jr. High, High School and Community College level. I am a professional historian and love to read about, study, contemplate nearly everything dealing with the Oregon Trail, Indian Wars, Gold Rush, the building of the Railroad and anything else about the old west of America.

Inside the Sleeping Area at Fort Laramie - I am at work on two books about
Fort Laramie, one a historical fiction,the other a nonfiction 

Confessions of a Writer of Westerns – This site, gets a bit over a thousand hits a month and maybe more comments than any of my sites.

http://confessionsofawriterofwesterns.blogspot.com/

Like No Place on Earth – We are blessed to live three minutes away from a fantastic, 8,000 plus acre state park, Guernsey State Park. I even wrote a book about it a couple of years ago. This site gets about 600 views each month

http://visitguernseystatepark.blogspot.com/

The Incredible, Civilian Conservation Corps built, North Bluff Castle at Guernsey State Park

My Wyoming Garden and Other Lies

As a certified Master Gardener, not sure how I made it through, it may have been a slip-up by the garden people, but somehow I did. I just have to write about growing stuff, at least once in a while.  I also use this sometimes for other things I have on my mind and is the reason it has a rather unusual web address.

http://stuff-i-made-up-yesterday.blogspot.com/

Old Guy Who Went to Play Golf – Mostly stuff for senior golfers. I still play a lot of golf and on occasion feel the need to write something about it, not often, but I do put up a few each year.  http://oldguygottothinking.blogspot.com/

Crazy Cooking In Wyoming

Believe it or not, this one is also in its eleventh year. I don’t post but once or twice each year on this one. Seems like I ran out of things I knew how or liked to cook. Still, has quite a few readers.

http://crazy-cooking.blogspot.com/

Old Trails Publishing

The one you have been waiting for, my last one. It is also my newest, and I use it to keep followers aware of my books and upcoming new releases.

http://oldtrailspublishing.blogspot.com/

There you have it, that’s what keeps me busy, out of trouble, and my wife from having to chase me out of the house. I do also, post on additional sites on Google Plus, but that is a story for another day.

 

I snapped this one Friday - a two and a half hour drive from here. Great day in
the hills with family. 

The Last Page

While working on an idea for a short story and thinking about endings, I decided there are only three endings in most all fiction. Happy, Sad or Book #2 coming soon, that’s about it. Within the three an author can do a limited number of things. I have never been a fan of sad or unhappy endings, but overly happy can be a bit much also. As I contemplated, while weeding the garden, I came up with this.  No matter if a book ends happy, or sad, there needs to be something to the last few pages. Writers talk so much about a great first page or great start, not so much the last few pages. This is what I have found.

Not Too Many Weeds In This Part Of The Garden

Book Endings

A fiction writer can end a book after the big event the book pointed at throughout and leave it at that. (Most books fall into this category).

An Author can finish the story and then tell the reader what became of the people afterward. (Romance and some historical fiction like this type of ending, with much of my reading I like this one also).

The book can end mysteriously, with readers screaming - WHAT Kind OF AN ENDING WAS THAT!!! (I see a few of these, drives me crazy).

One type of ending I do not care for is one I call the, I am out of words, ending. This one has the reader reading on and on and then in one or two pages the author tries to bring it all together, and it just ends.

What do you think? What kind of ending do you like or see most often?

A Book, Like A Day, Deserves A Great Ending

My Next Book

Maybe I will write a book on how to write a great last page. Probably not, but one thing I have found is that writing the end, for me, is easier than writing the start of a book. 

Keep reading and keep writing.

Too Hot to Fish and Too Hot To Write :-)

Remember the country song of a few years ago with the catch line, “too hot to fish?” The idea being it’s never really that hot. But it can be too hot to write, especially when waiting for new central air and furnace to be installed. It was well over 100 today. Right now it is seven o’clock in the evening, and the temperature outside is 100, inside with our lack of air it is a chilly 89.

Maybe This Will Help Everyone Cool Off

Oh well, must not be too hot anymore, as I am getting ready to go to work on my newest novel. I am 36,000 words in, so far, and looking for fifty to fifty-five thousand. Not as long as some of my previous works but lately I have been following some who are, in the know, that say shorter is in. Originally I planned on 70,000 words, a size I like, but will see what readers think of a slightly shorter novel.  The good news, it will also cost readers a bit less. At present, I’m thinking of a buck 99 for the eBook and a cent under ten bucks for the softcover.

Ahh - That's Better

These are the prices that I sold my Christmas book for when I published it in November. Speaking of that Christmas collection of short stories, I am thinking about a new cover for it before pushing it again next Christmas season. I am hoping for a new collection of Christmas stories, but it may not be this next Christmas. This first collection sold well, and I had some nice compliments on it. This year I will also have it in some area bookstores before Thanksgiving. When it is hot outside sure is nice to talk about happenings in November and December.

Terrific Way to Pass the Time on a Hot Summer Day

Fun times at the writing desk.

Keep Writing & Keep Reading!

Edit, At Last, Is Finished - For Now

Edit, edit, edit. It seems like I will never get time to write again, well maybe. I am done with my initial part of the edit – at last. After a read through, making simple corrections and making sure the flow of the story made sense, I ran a grammar checker. After I am satisfied with that part, I take my list of 12 words I tend to use too much, this part takes a few hours, or sometimes days.

Sometimes When I Am Not Editing, I Give Historical Talks at Really Neat Places
  With Some Really Great People

12 Overused Words

Here is my list, the list I make sure that I am not using too much.

- Just, stuff, things, got, went, every, feel, almost, each, there, you, and because- 

There they are, the 12 words I check each time, and I have used several in this post. Some writers overuse the word very, not me. In this novel I used it twice, I can live with that, especially if it is in conversation, which it was.

My Rules

1.  Be careful taking any words out of conversations, you know the, he said, she said parts, the ones in, “quotes.”

2.  I don’t worry if a word is used only once on a page, I will look at it but not with my, “this has to change, red pen.”

3.  If the same word, one of the 12 above is used more than once in a sentence, make sure to change one – always.

4.  Try to reduce by at least 10 percent, I shot for 20% and changed 23% this time.

5.  Don’t change words integral to the story, even if it seems overused. If the tale is about a horse race – don’t try to change the word horse or race, it will sound stiff and like the writer is trying too hard.

How to Make the Changes

It’s easy and fast, use the find and replace buttons on the home section of MS/Word. It will highlight the chosen word each time it was used. Take it from there, change, erase, or leave it be.

Ghost of the Fawn

Ghost of the Fawn is the novel I have been editing. It is a novel of present and Wyoming's historic past. It is pointed toward young adults, although I think it will be enjoyed by adults as well. It is complete at a  bit over 53, 500 words and with the font size, and book size I use will be 227 pages give or take a few.

Here is a Short Excerpt 

Chapter 1

June 2015, Hell’s Half Acre Wyoming

  Jimmy Bison-Man and Robert Lincoln sat shivering near the back of a small, crumbling sandstone cave tucked away on the west side of the canyons of Hell’s Half-Acre Wyoming. Shivering from both the early morning summer cold, and what they did not want to admit, fear.  Fear of what, of things they did not know?    Oowoo, oowoo, oowoo, “that’s spooky?”  Oowoo, oowoo, “What is that, sure sounds like more than just the wind?” Robert said, before turning to look for something warmer than the t-shirt he wore.

    He pulled out a bright red hoodie, emblazoned with the word Hoosiers, pulled it over his head then crossed his arms and patted himself in an attempt to either warm-up or rid himself of the many self-doubts occupying his mind.

   Neither Robert nor Jimmy was afraid in the sense that most would see fear.  The cave didn’t scare them, nor did, the darkness, bats, or the eerie, howling winds, nothing to do with their current living accommodations was scary. It was about who they were, where they were going, and where they were from, for these two big city Indian teenagers. They didn’t know it, not yet, but maybe, just maybe, this cave, this canyon, and their lives were supposed to be together here, tied by fate through their Arapaho elder's generations ago.

       A hawk cried far overhead Jimmy looked up, “I think we may be getting a sign,” he said. Then added, “Wish I knew what it meant.

Robert, who was more often the talkative one, didn’t answer. He looked up at the hawk, shrugged and tried to get comfortable on the rock outcropping where he perched.

   Today the two sat, mostly in silence, looking at each other across a tiny smokeless sage wood fire. Both seemed to be lost in thought, perhaps thinking the same thing, some form of, “What are we doing here?” 

Surprised Look I had When I Realized I Was Finished With My Part of the Book

Marketing and Writing

Selling Books

Lately, it seems like I have been reading quite a few blogs on book marketing, Not sure why, as I don’t do any of the suggested things anyway.  But, there are some good ideas. I think I will continue to wait for one of my books to be picked up by a movie maker. Then the money will start rolling in and I will purchase a winter home in Arizona and drive there in my new RV. While I wait for the big money from the movie makers to come in, think I will keep writing. That seems to be a problem with other writers also, not just me. We like to write and don’t care enough about marketing our stuff. Too bad, I have read some great tales that only sold a few copies. Marketing is something I know I should work on ------maybe someday.

See all five of my books here on Amazon

How Much Did Writers Earn Last Year?

Good question and I have seen it addressed several times in the past few days. One very nice graph published by, digitalbookworld.com, shows nearly 80% of self-published authors made less than $1,000 from their books last year. The graph also shows more than 50% of traditionally published authors fall into that same group of making.  What did I learn, well, only some feel good stuff? I fall, according to the graph, into the top third of all author earnings. Great news, but not enough to give up my other income. Averaging a couple of hundred dollars a month from my books doesn’t quite make me a full timer yet, but it is nice.
 -See the Author Earnings graph here

It is snowing hard here today, so I decided to post an anti-snow photo from last summer

How Long Does It Take To Write a Book?

I had that question asked of me a few days ago. The answer depends on the writer and the book. I average, and I kept track in January, a bit less than a thousand words a day, and that counts posts like this one. That means I am only writing around four thousand words, on my works in progress, per day at the present. Not great but if I keep it up I will finish a rough draft in about four months, another month of self-edit and I am ready to publish or send off for additional editing, depending on the book, my cash flow, and mood at the time. 

Good luck, and keep writing, oh, and reading too.

Meanwhile in my backyard - looks like a good writing day

What I Do Not Like to Read

Meaningless dialog- nothing closes up my book faster. I am not a big writer, or reader, of dialogue, and when it does not work, I find a new book.

I have tried to review, and/or edit three different projects for people in the past week and they all fell victim to bad or meaningless dialog. The first tried to be so regional that it was nearly impossible to read. I spend time in Louisiana every fall and people do not talk like her Louisianan’s. The two other projects, both from the same gentlemen were rife with meaningless dialogue.

The, “hey what’s going on,”

“Not much.”

“How ‘bout you.”

“Nothin’”

Where I Go for Inspiration

Maybe that is why I skip most of the dialogue, hard to write, hard to read.