Blog

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You ever realize just how little you know about, well, many things?

This realization hit me again recently when I wrote the first draft of the first book in a new horror-mystery series. I wanted to set the novels in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a city where I used to live (and which I still live near). But I didn’t know what it was like to be a Portsmouth police officer, or a city councilor, or pretty much anything besides a writer and editor. And if I got anything wrong about the city, there’d be plenty of locals happy to call me out on the mistakes.

So I figured, why lone-wolf it? Why not ask some of those local folks for help with my research?

That’s how I ended up interviewing a couple of Portsmouth police personnel last week. One a current detective, and the other a retired police chief. The chief has also connected me with a former FBI agent based in Portsmouth. So far I’ve learned a lot of great info that I can use in my new book — and that can help me fix my dumbest mistakes, too. (Not every cop works with a partner, you know!) And there’s lots more people who have offered to talk to me about various other jobs in Portsmouth, too.

Turns out people are happy to talk about their jobs if you just ask them. (Buying them a coffee or beer can help, too.) Next time you get stuck in your creative endeavor, whatever it may be, try seeking out some advice from the local community. Not only can you hear some great stories, but it also invests others in your project.

Quick note: Part 4, the final part of my serialized horror novel, The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley, is now available on Amazon. That means you can now read Mark’s saga from beginning to end. Just in time for Christmas! If, you know, reading about the end of civilization puts you in a Yuletide mood.

I’ve got plans in 2016 to spread the wider word about both Player Choice and The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley. I’m going to better connect with the speculative fiction community. And I’m thinking a print version of these books may just help them, like Pinocchio, become more like a “real boy” . . .

Talk to you next year!

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Here’s a quick heads up. The first three parts of my serialized four-part horror novel, The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley, are free this week on Amazon.

Find them here:

Part 1: http://amzn.to/1L6iliN

Part 2: http://amzn.to/1Sc0n3A

Part 3: http://amzn.to/1iNM1dR

It’s the story, in blog format, of an underachieving fact-checker in Washington, D.C., in 2004, who uncovers an evil, otherworldly conspiracy — and rediscovers a long-forgotten power within himself. Readers are calling Mark Huntley “thrilling,” “humorous,” and “awesome.” Grab it before this Friday night.

OK, talk to you later this month during our regularly scheduled broadcast.

Are you able to seek out help on a project when you need it?

This has historically been . . . a problem area for me. And I suspect for many other writers as well.

I first gravitated toward writing because it was something I could accomplish myself. Unlike a movie director, I wouldn’t have to rustle up a massive team to build the world in my head. I would play not just the scriptwriter, but also the set designer, the cameraman, the costume designer, etc. My “actors” would never flub their lines or show up high.

Basically I could do it all without having to worry about managing others, or about potential compromise. Then I could put my own name in big letters on the cover of the finished product.

But you know what, any creative enterprise ends up being, to some extent, a team effort. And writing is no exception. Once I finished those novel drafts, I needed an editor to identify my weak spots and offer improvements. I needed beta readers to catch more little stuff and provide valuable gut reactions. I needed a cover designer to make something to catch people’s eyes in the first place.

I couldn’t go it alone. Because I couldn’t get everything right on my own. None of us can.

I still have trouble with the lesson sinking in. I couldn’t just let cover designers do their thing with Player Choice and The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley; I had to provide the exact images I wanted, and in the case of the latter, I felt I had to actually lay out the cover myself, and only ceded control on the question of what fonts to use.

And lately, I’m spending far too much time creating entire fucking posters for the upcoming flagship events of New Hampshire Writers’ Week—after conceptualizing, creating, and booking the events myself, creating, collecting, and assessing entries for the contest to determine the events’ speakers myself, and I could go on but it wears me out just writing about it.

Doing all this extra stuff myself scratches the control-freak itch, but it also drives me just a little bit insane. And my wife a lot bit insane. Less insanity would be a laudable goal. So, too, would superior results. Since I’m not actually a real designer, or marketer, or whatever, I ought to be turning to the people who are good and real in those essential fields.

I’m hoping to get better at letting go. Knowing when to entrust pieces of a project in other people’s hands. It’s going to take a little more faith in others, and a little more practice at “project management,” the fine art of making sure other people get their shit done. But these are valuable life skills anyway, no?

How about you—have you had trouble relinquishing control over absolutely every detail on something like this?

Been busy proofreading The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley: Part 3. I expect to have it for sale on Amazon on November 3. In the meantime, don’t forget to catch up on Mark Huntley with Parts 1 and 2. Readers are calling this serialized horror novel “awesome,” “thrilling,” and “compelling.” Not bad, right?