Right now I'm hard at work on MASTER OF WOLVES, which has been giving me a throbbing pain in the butt. I have found that sometimes you can start off down the wrong path on a book and not figure it out until you've wasted WAY too much time.
In this case, I got this cute idea - Hero is a werewolf who goes undercover as a police K-9 to investigate a small town police department. Sounds fun, right? Only thing is, I just spent the past month writing the first four chapters and ripping them out when I realized they weren't working. I only now figured out what was wrong:
I wasn't writing a romance. Don't you hate when that happens?
I was actually trying to write a cute story about a girl and her dog, who happend to be a guy. Only AK does not do cute. She does sarcastic, but not cute. So, having come to that realization, I had to throw out all four completed chapters and start all over again for the third time. This time, it's definitely a romance, and I'm feeling good about it. The tone is completely different than my previous shaggy dog attempts -- brooding and mysterious instead of mildly goofy.
What WAS I thinking?
There's a moral there. I swear to God, I wasn't trying to pants the book. I plotted it out completely -- TWICE. Both times, the plot just wasn't right.
In between that, I'm also working on a new design for my website. And I'm running a contest through Writer's Space for a signed copy of my latest book, MASTER OF THE MOON. You'll find the contest here: http://angelasknights.com/contest.htm
Speaking of MOM, it did very well. It spent three weeks at Number 1 on the Waldens Romance List, and another three weeks on the USA Today list. Then, of course, Nora Robert's lastest came out, and that was the end of THAT.
I love Nora. Really, she's wonderful. She's the head goddess in my pantheon.
Anyway, I'm going to start doing this blog on a weekly basis instead of whenver the mood takes me. Stop by next week and find out what I'm up to. Thanks!
Best,
Angela Knight
I loved MOM, I thought it is was a terrific book. Sorry MOW is giving you so much trouble. I can't wait to read it. Jim looks like an interesting hero.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the #1, Angela! Sigh, it's tough to best Nora, but that's okay. :-) Glad to hear you'll blog more often, because I love to read your entries!
ReplyDeleteShannon
The wolf in Jane's Warlord was cute! In a sarcastic kind of way.
ReplyDeleteBut I know that you mean. Cute is not us.
I hate throwing out material. I think since I've been doing this longer than you have, I can usually avoid throwing out more than a scene. Or moving it around.
Often, I'm eager for my characters to make love. So I write them a love scene. Then I realize it's too early in the book for THAT. So I store the scene and use it when it's time for them to do it.
When I do have to throw out a scene, I put it in my Xfiles. X--name of file.
Ruth
I loved what I rad on your loop. Did you throw that out? Or am I behind...again?
ReplyDelete