Writing musing, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, so writing fast is probably the best method for me.  If I really think I've got something I need to invest more time in, I can still do that. 

But having a framework to write on helps.  I used my memory of the Hobbit as a framework, but diverged pretty wildly.  I never referred to the actual book.  If I hadn't talked about a home under a hill and Freedy's big hairy feet, I bet most people wouldn't have caught it at all.  (Oh, and the mcguffin of the "ONE KEY" to rule them all -- that might have been a little obvious.)

No magic other than some probably cyber stuff that is impossible and might as well be magic.

The love story is what caught me off guard and really made the book for me.  Sheila and Freedy was unexpected and felt natural and I really liked it.

I didn't really stall at any point in the book, always seemed to know where the next chapter and the next was going.

I drank a little beer along the way -- strictly as a tool.  It allows me to keep my butt in the writing chair for an extra hour or two along the way.  I can't seem to handle more than 2 of these new 5.2 beers at a time -- but I'm finding that it isn't so much that beer is harder on me than it used to be, but that I was completely unused to it.  Being a tee-totaler for 99% of the time makes the impact harder.  I kind of got used to it after the first 3 or 4 times.

Still, I think I'm better off on a day to day basis without it.

I've been away from the store a lot, admittedly.  It seems to be doing fine. 

Anyway, other than copy-editing and getting this book uploaded to some sites -- Amazon and Barnes and Noble -- I think I'm done writing for the year; the next two weeks.  I need to get my website filled in, get all the connectors in  -- blogger, twitter, facebook,-- decide what content I want.  Need to figure out how many books to put on -- or how much to use as a teaser.

I'm going to leave Freedy up on the blog for a month or so, then take it down, probably -- except the first three chapters or something.  The "publishable" version (on Word) is already slightly different.  That's where I'm making my changes.  Any major changes I'll transfer over to the blog, but the small corrections and additions and such, I'm just doing on the Word version.

I've written three books in two years -- most of it spent on one book.  FREEDY FILKINS and THE RELUCTANT WIZARD were much faster and also much more satisfying.  I'll probably be going that route of writing from now on.

I just can't judge NEARLY HUMAN anymore.  I'll give it yet another rewrite -- trying to put myself and my heart into it a bit more; then put it up and let others judge it.

Meanwhile, for THE RELUCTANT WIZARD, I want to develop that whole world -- get two or three stories finished in it before trying the traditional publishing route.  I'm thinking two tracks -- the SOMETIMES A DRAGON trilogy, which is set far in the future of this world -- and the RELUCTANT WIZARD trilogy, which is set nearer to our time.

I think, too. that I should have another "fun" project, maybe even put it on my blog again, if something occurs to me.