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I finally made it out of camp Monday for the first time in 16 days. No, I wasn’t trapped here. I just didn’t want to go anywhere. But then… groceries. So, I grabbed my trusty camera and, while trapped in a long line of traffic waiting for road crews, snapped some pictures of the stacks of baled hay now piled up in the fields.

Haying season puts a delightful sneeze in the air for me and I’ve indulged often. It’s not so terribly bad, though, when I think of the things the scent of new-mown hay reminds me of. Baling is continuing. There are hundreds and hundreds of bales to be brought in after this first mowing.

I stopped on my way to Coeur d’Alene at one of my favorite scenes to look across the fields. There is still hay to be baled in the far fields while the wheat in the near fields is approaching fullness. It won’t be long before harvesting begins.

I’m working out where I’ll be spending the winter this year and am contemplating trekking across the Midwest in late October to see all the leaves and perhaps arrange some readings of City Limits as I go. Then I’d turn south and possibly winter near Pensacola. What do you think? Anyone in the states between Washington and Ohio want to host a reading/book party?

* * *

And that’s where things get really strange. I’m collecting higher royalties for June than I have in a long time due, I am sure, to the release of City Limits. But on examination, I discovered that most of my backlist of books sold in June with 23 of my 29 titles (including those published as Devon Layne) sold in June. I think that is the broadest distribution of sales ever.

But July is continuing the trend. In fact, both For Money or Mayhem and For Blood or Money are outselling City Limits two-to-one! I never expected that from five and ten-year-old books! It might have something to do with my having started serialization of For Money or Mayhem on StoriesOnline. Or it could have something to do with the surprising review I got on Monday this week.

What can I say? This story really grabbed me. The first two chapters were good enough to encourage me to search out where I could buy the whole thing. So this review, while early here, is based on the entire novel.

The story has overtones of William Gibson as the activities of Dag Hamar, private detective and cyber-security specialist unfold. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers, but won't guarantee none.

He's had a few bad moments in his recent life, but he's starting to get over them. There are relationships that develop that the reader is drawn into hoping will continue, and complex problems with the targets and clients of his investigative work.

Without spoiling, I can comment that there are several twists and tangles. Things are seldom what they appear at face value.

But the plot twists are sufficiently logical in the context of the story to be believable. The Gibsonesque notes are unrealistic to a retired lecturer in Computer Science and Security, though the basic computer background has a believable "feel" to it.

Technically this is one of the best constructed stories on the site. It is easily in the top 1%. While some can be comfortable with numerous Grammar and usage errors, I personally find that more than one or two in a chapter start to interfere with my flow of consciousness as I read a story. I can honestly say that I didn't notice any in my reading of this novel. What this means is that the errors were either not ones of which I was conscious, or that the narrative had grabbed my attention so strongly that I went into "auto-correct" mode and glossed over any errors. Either possibility is a real recommendation for this novel. It grabs the reader's consciousness and doesn't let go until the conclusion.

Well worth "bookmarking" if you have that option in your SoL account.

Wow! He compared me to William Gibson, the father of cyberpunk? Thank you. Just, thank you! I’d better get back to work on the sequel, For Mayhem or Madness, I started a couple of months ago. Time to get this baby rolling!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the sequel to City Limits. I wrote about a chapter and a half, but before I continue (actually before I start rewriting and then continue) I need to make a lot of notes regarding the story, characters, and progression I have planned. It took me two months of making 3x5 index cards and notes about Rosebud Falls and the characters in it before I started writing City Limits. It’s always harder to write the sequel, in my opinion. So, I’d better start getting my act together.

Part of the issue in this one is letting the characters express who they are and what they believe without getting preachy. I’ve been editing one of my adult entertainment books this past week and realize the main character really becomes preachy at times. Most people overlook that part, the scores for the story reaching a new high of 8.96/10 on StoriesOnline this week with 2,033 votes. In fact, I received a message just this morning from a reader who said, “Just reread the entire saga for the second time. It's that good - worth a reread.” When he says ‘entire saga’, he’s talking about 230 chapters and 1.5 million words. There are people who have read it in a weekend.

Yes, I’m working on a sequel to that as well.

But human nature being what it is, I wonder sometimes if anyone is capable of expressing what they believe without becoming preachy about it or encapsulating it in a sardonic meme. I’m quite tired of seeing people talk in one post about how there is too much hate being fostered in the world and we need to see how we can come together, then posting a meme that stokes the flames of hate. And this is not one person, nor even one side of the aisle. I’m convinced it is human nature and we are all humans at their worst.

I’m committed to trying to leave the world better than I found it. If only by a few words. I ask three things:

“Does this action make the world a better place?”

“Would the world be worse if I don’t take this action?”

“Does this action make me a better person?”

I still fail the test more often than I pass it. Ingrained habits, a sharp tongue, my own perception of what is funny… I guess, my base humanity. But I’m trying. And so are my characters.

Another week, another signing, another interview

It was a good signing/meet and greet at Sun Meadow yesterday. Not that I sold a lot of books, but I talked to a lot of people and met several new friends. And, yes, Skin to the Wind means exactly what it sounds like.

It was a good week and I’ve gotten a lot of writing done. I’m participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month for the seventh time since it was founded. I’m closing in on completion of the project I planned for this month and am writing a second project at the same time. This week, I wrote 16,000 words.

That’s pretty average these days. Over the course of this year, I’ve averaged 2,050 words a day. Yes, that is more than the equivalent of a NaNo every month.

My writing cabin is very active this year with eighteen of us making progress on our goals. One, a new friend from Bulgaria, asked the age-old NaNoWriMo question, “Are you a pantser or a plotter?” That inspired me to post the second part of my FirstExit Interview.

FirstExit: There is a long-standing division among participants in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, regarding whether people spend time plotting out their novel before they start writing or simply write by the seat of their pants. It’s known as ‘plotter vs. pantser’. Nathan, are you a plotter or a pantser?

Nathan: Yes.

FirstExit: That was supposed to be an open-ended question to engage you in a discussion about the differences.

Nathan: Well, the truth is that at different times I’m both with a lot of shades of gray between. My first NaNoWriMo was completely by the seat of my pants. In fact, I blogged it daily as I developed it. I’d been working on developing websites and created a little town I called Willow Mills, Indiana just so I could put some content on my sample site. When I found out about NaNoWriMo, I just started writing stories set in this mythical town on the Eel River and hung them all together with a loose storyline about what really happened to Albert Bailey’s Prize Bull? Each time the subject came up, I’d say, “But that’s another story.” Finally, there was the day that I had to deal with whatever happened to this bull and it pulled in all the characters and storylines I’d developed in the snippets about the city. It really wasn’t a traditional novel and when I went to validate my words about two hours before midnight, I discovered I was about a thousand words short. I had the newspaper editor interview all the characters for a few words about what they expected in the new millennium. I just barely made 50k. The next year wasn’t much better, but I had a general idea of who the characters were going to be and how the story would go. Accidental Witness wasn’t bad, but I kept discovering how much I had to make up in order to fill the word count for the day.

FirstExit: And that brings us to For Blood or Money.

Nathan: Yes, though the original title I envisioned was Security and Exchange. When I first made that public, though, people thought it was about Microsoft email servers.

FirstExit: But you plotted For Blood or Money pretty carefully.

Nathan: Yes. I spent about two months before NaNoWriMo developing characters and storylines. The story was to take place during the literal thirty days of November 2006 and I intended to blog it daily. I guess by this time, I was really into the serialization of my novels—something that I still do.

FirstExit: I remember some software you showed during one of our write-ins that year that looked like a corkboard with sticky notes on it.

Nathan: Like many things, I’ve lost track of that software and don’t even remember its name any longer. But what you saw was exactly the kind of tool that I still use. I created a calendar or timeline at the top of the board. I had a line beneath it that indicated what the major plot points would be on each day of the story. And another line that had action scenes. Those were two different colors. The story had half a dozen principal characters, so I had a line of cards for each of them indicating what they would do that day. Since the other characters came in and out of the story, I created timelines for each of them with where they were and anything that would affect why they entered the story at a particular point or disappeared at a point. It was pretty complex, but what a breeze it was to write that story!

FirstExit: It sounds like you had it all written before you started.

Nathan: No actual words that would go in the story were on my electronic notecards. But following them really made it easy to know the characters better than I’d ever managed before. I’d even decided where the sequel would go and that it would be narrated by a young woman. For a month before I started writing, I posted a blog on one of the popular sites from the perspective of the young woman who was my detectives assistant.

FirstExit: You impersonated a young woman. How do you look in drag?

Nathan: Not great. What was amazing, though, was that she became ‘friends’ with a few dozen young women who followed her every day and gave her advice regarding what was happening in her life. Before you ask, I didn’t try to deceive anyone. I put a pinned post at the top of the blog disclosing that I was a middle-age man exploring the character and voice for a young woman who would narrate a story. But the fans really got into it.

FirstExit: Did you write the sequel?

Nathan: Yes. As soon as the last post of November went up on Security and Exchange, Deb Riley began her narration of Municipal Blondes on December 1. And even though I’ve not formally published that story, Riley’s fans really got into her. Around the holiday, I missed a few days posting to her blog. Then I got a message from one of her fans that said, “Deb, I’m so worried about you! I don’t trust that guy who just saved you. Please write and let us know you are okay.” It was like she was a best friend that had lost touch. I had to get right back to work.

FirstExit: Do you continue to plot out all your books now?

Nathan: No. Certainly not to the same degree. When I wrote Steven George & The Dragon, I had only the idea that an inept dragonslayer would be sent out to slay the dragon, not know where the dragon lived, what it looked like, or how to kill it. But he would encounter people and they would exchange Once-upon-a-time stories that would each lead him a step closer to the dragon. But I had no idea who the people were that he’d meet nor what the stories would be. On the other hand, I treat mysteries and literary fiction with a great deal of forethought. In one way or another, I’d researched The Gutenberg Rubric for twenty years and had compiled a large notebook of background notes before I started writing.

FirstExit: Was that a NaNoWriMo book?

Nathan: Not originally. I’d spent so much time researching and planning that book that I started on January 1 and determined that I would carefully craft the story and each sentence. By the end of July or early August, I had 40,000 words and hated every one of them. I sent them off to my editor, Jason Black, and pled with him to tell me what was wrong. I think he wrote back almost as many words as I had in the story, telling me in great detail what was wrong. I put the story in a drawer and did some more research, then pulled it out on November 1 and started over. I wrote the 80,000-word story in the month of November and started revisions that eventually won it an award.

FirstExit: And then there was City Limits. You planned.

Nathan: An incredible amount. I spent most of September and October making color coded index cards—about 500 of them. They contained what I thought would be the major action or title of each chapter, a card for each character that would be introduced and many of their family, cards for actions, places, businesses, conflicts… you name it.

FirstExit: And a bulletin board.

Nathan: I started writing on November 1, 2017 by going through all the cards and arranging them on my cork board to indicate what I thought the major plot points would be, where they would be executed, and who would be involved. Then I put up cards to remind myself of the descriptions of people, places, things, sights, smells, sounds, and anything else I’d thought of. When I had the board in front of me, I started writing. The words flowed easily for about the first fifty thousand. Then I discovered that my characters had driven things in a different direction. The person who was supposed to die, didn’t. The hero was constantly in jail or the hospital. I found fewer and fewer of my 500 planning cards on the bulletin board with each chapter I started.

FirstExit: You finished the story, though. All ready for publication?

Nathan: City Limits was the longest single story I completed during NaNoWriMo at a little over 128,000 words. When I started, I estimated that I would need to do an 80% rewrite afterward. I had four superb editors who commented on every chapter as they were being written. As a result, I upped my estimate to 90%!

FirstExit: We’ll be back with another fascinating interview with the author at another time. Surely, this is as much as anyone can bear at once! See more about Nathan Everett and the books mentioned above at http://www.nathaneverett.com.

Just Desserts

I’m digging up some older photos today. You see, I haven’t been out of camp for a week and we don’t use cameras in-camp. And you really don’t want to see anyway.

I saw this old warehouse by the railroad in Oakdale, WA. I was immediately (don’t ask me why) reminded of the collapse of a warehouse in Bardstown, KY that cost 5,000 barrels of bourbon. Like I said, Don’t ask me why.

I have been productive, however. Just not with things you will ever see. I have a lot of fans at StoriesOnline that I’ve been neglecting. So I have a new story that I’m working on that will start posting there on June 17 called Drawing on the Dark Side of the Brain. It is a Devon Layne story, which means it contains graphic sex scenes. You aren’t interested.

On the other hand, the readers at SOL are quite interested in the books of Nathan Everett and as a result, I serialized City Limits there. Unlike my paltry sales on Amazon, over 3,000 people read City Limits on SOL at the rate of a chapter each week for thirteen weeks. Over a thousand of them took the time to rate the book on a ten-point scale and resulted in an 8.17 score. Many have also commented on the book and sent me email about it. So, I’ve decided to share a few of their comments.

54woodsmith ‎7‎/‎8‎/‎2018‎ ‎3‎:‎51‎:‎14‎ ‎PM

If I could vote higher than 10, I would have.

How can you not feel for Gee...love him...as he works through the trials and tribulations set before him? How can you not feel for The Forest...love it...as it struggles to survive and gather to it those who wish to love and protect it? Was it not bittersweet to learn the Grandfather Tree must fall? Did you shout-out "Boo!" at the villains?

...tis a sad reflection on us as a race that heroes need wear their tights on the outside, and villains are revered. Oh...for the simple days...those such as the ones we have just visited. Two thumbs up to the brilliant talent that gave us this wonderfully brief pause from our harsh existence!

Palomino ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2018‎ ‎2‎:‎39‎:‎42‎ ‎AM

Whoever voted less than a nine needs to have his head reevaluated. Those who don't like the genre or style of story telling should have the backbone to abstain from voting.

Yes, it has not a lot of sex in it. But that shouldn't be the main factor for voting anyway because there are just so many ways to describe the tab A, slot B thing. And we have plenty of that on this web site.

Yes, there are some - wide and far! - spelling issues. But that shouldn't distract from the talent, effort and energy put into the story by the author and the editors.

What I wanted to say with those many words was I was blown away by this story.

De11al

Sadly, this excellent story ended. But they all have to, someday. ... What is there to look forward to on SOL from now on?

This ending is like in so many modern TV series / movies. Offers some kind of closing as well as lots of loose ends to support another book / season / movie sequel - if producers choose to make another one. Speaking for myself, I would love to read one. Even as this ending seems a bit long on pathos and short on satisfaction. Compared to many outstanding earlier parts it pales a bit. Still, the whole story was fun and insightful to read.

Thank You for sharing this masterpiece with us. Do enjoy a happy summer 2018 - and hopefully gift us again here on SOL. All the best.

Robin‎ 7‎/‎5‎/‎2018‎ ‎12‎:‎00‎:‎21‎ ‎PM

How refreshing to find a story worthy of hardback publication. Bravo on a wonderfully intriguing plot.

It gets my vote as one of the best efforts on this site.

Regards,

Robin

So, despite lackluster sales, I am satisfied. I know who my real audience is and that they cannot or will not make a purchase, doesn’t make me unhappy. They are still willing to read. As a result, I’m starting serialization of For Money or Mayhem on SOL on June 13. I don’t write for a living, I write to live.

I’ll be signing books and talking to folks about City Limits and other writing at the Patio Party at Sun Meadow Resort on Saturday 7/14 during the Skin to the Wind Festival. Stop by and enjoy the air!

That brings me to another subject I’ve been struggling with. Who deserves what? I could become rather pissy about people reading my great literary achievements without paying for the privilege. Who do they think they are?

That was brought home in a very real way this week as some good friends were discussing a ‘freeloader’ in the park. We have a patio party each Saturday afternoon and a potluck dinner each Sunday evening. In fact, I’ll be signing books at the patio party next Saturday and will have a drawing for a give-away. At these two events, people bring appetizers or dishes to share and we gather to talk, meet new people, and socialize.

Well, one guy takes advantage of the situation. He never brings anything to either event, but he is always first in line to fill a plate that will suffice as his dinner. My friends have become increasingly upset about this. He never contributes, so he doesn’t deserve to share.

My philosophy is somewhat different. I don’t know this guy’s circumstances. For all I know these might be the only real meals he gets each week. I’m in no position to judge whether or not he deserves a share—certainly not based on whether he contributes.

I bring what I’m able to share with others. That’s my action. Most weeks, it is less than the value of what I consume. So, I suppose I am also unworthy to partake. My friends argue that I contribute, therefore it’s different. I don’t think so.

Once I make my contribution, my responsibility is over. I cannot say that because a person does not contribute or contributes less that he doesn’t deserve to partake. What then? Do I determine that the person with different political values than mine doesn’t deserve to share my food? Do I say that because of your skin color or your religion you don’t deserve to share my food? Because you are fat, smell, have an irritating voice, don’t play pickleball? MY place is to contribute what I can. It is not to determine who should benefit from my contributions. I am not the judge.

And neither are you.

Still, I find that to be the prevailing sentiment in the country. If a working employee has to be drug-tested in order to have a job and get his paycheck, then a person on welfare doesn’t deserve to receive benefits unless he’s been drug-tested, too. Immigrants don’t deserve housing and care before veterans get them. Refugees don’t deserve our shelter and protection.

I don’t care whether they deserve or don’t. My responsibility is to provide what I can.

If you are Christian, as I once was, perhaps you will recall this Bible verse.

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:44-45.

If God does not discriminate regarding who receives His blessings, why would those who profess to follow Him?

Me? I’m just responsible for my actions and doing what I can do. I try to make the world a better place. I’m not here to judge someone else.

Reviewing the Weather and Weathering Reviews

Traveling back from Seattle to Idaho last Monday included rain that slowed things down and bright sun that burned through the windshield. Driving through Central Washington is like driving through multiple climate zones. There are places where the sky looks almost as big as Montana. Yesterday’s drive to Walla Walla was bright and sunny with incredible light playing off the grain and hay fields. On the way back, it was gray and drear with the colors muted. Same road. Same day. Go figure.

Our hay in Idaho is about a month behind Central Washington where the first cutting is already baled and stacked but look at how rich and lush these rows cut this week are!

I had a lovely drive on the Palouse Scenic Byway headed toward Walla Walla. Just another beautiful day in the Palouse.

In case you are not familiar with it, when you pray “Give us this day our daily bread,” this is where the answer comes from.

Spring wheat is green and growing. Winter wheat is already golden and almost ready to harvest.

The trip was not at all drear, though. I had a lovely time at The Book and Game Company on Main Street in Walla Walla. Met and talked with a lot of people and watched the ICE protest march out the window. Yes, there were chants, signs, drums, and a lot of people. But they were also orderly in a way that only people raised in a small town to be respectful of others can be. They even had their own people stationed at intersections to make sure the marchers obeyed the crossing signals and didn’t obstruct traffic. There was no missing the intent of the march, though. People are angry about the dehumanization of refugees by our government. It will take me a while to compose my thoughts on that so they make sense.

It might look sparse compared to Washington DC or Portland or SeaTac, but this march went past the bookstore for about 20 minutes. People are passionate and I was happy to see all ages involved.

Inside the store, it was quiet and I had a nice display of all my books right inside the door and could say hi to everyone who came in. I signed some books and after three hours had a fantastic ginger braised brisket sandwich at Olive on Main Street.

Nice display right inside the front doors of the bookstore. I think it is somehow appropriate that I’m located right next to “Where’s Waldo?”

I was packed in the truck and getting ready to leave town when I realized I didn’t have my driving glasses and couldn’t find them. That resulted in a half-hour search, retracing my steps through the restaurant, bookstore, and Starbucks. Nothing. I finally adjusted the tilt on my reading glasses and left town. An hour later, I stopped at a rest area and got to thinking about every article I’d packed. I pulled out the long box I keep my banners in and emptied it. Sure enough, in the bottom of the box was my glasses case. I’d apparently knocked it into the box before I put the banners away. Felt better driving after that.

Sitting by the fire, exhausted, I started to go over the reviews of the past week. Some good things have come about. This new 5-star review of City Limits on Amazon from Colleen, for example:

“What a pleasure it was to seemingly travel to Rosebud Falls, the town in this book, and feel as though I was a member of the community. Because the characters are so well developed, the reader truly can be part of the story. Vivid images fill the mind as one can quickly read; it's hard to put down once started. The characters were so realistic; I started hearing my friends' voices and my own in the dialogue. No matter whom you relate to in the book, you'll find a connection. Anyone who has spent time in the woods and out in nature can identify with the importance of The Forest. I could see this book turned into a successful TV mini series that could get positive ratings during prime time hours. I'm looking forward to my next visit to Rosebud Falls in 2019. This book is worth the read!!!” — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DGMG4SQ#customerReviews

I had a somewhat mediocre review from Stacy at Two Gals and a Book on Tuesday as she took exception to my casting a “man of God” as the villain.

“With all the focus so much all the time on this twisted view, I think it gives a negative perception of Christianity and Christians in general as greedy, intolerant, violent and mentally ill, which I do take offense at. This caused me to view this book in a more negative light, and the strangeness with the forest would have been better explained I might have liked it better.” — https://twogalsandabook.com/city-limits-blog-tour-and-interview-with-nathan-everett/

I’ve ranted about this elsewhere so I won’t belabor it here. I’ll simply say that it is too bad that people worry more about how a religion is viewed when a negative character is introduced than about the fact the religion has charlatans masquerading as men of God in the first place. Rather be mad at the person who points them out and defend the charlatan so they won’t look bad. Enough said for today. I’m likely to have a lengthy dissertation on this in the future. In fact, last night I conceived an entire scene in the sequel that would be an editorial written by one of the other ministers in town. I am not, however, going to turn the book into a religious war. It isn’t about religion.

The review from Globeflower Agency cast the issue in a different light. Anna-Lisa loved the book and her review was enthusiastic.

“Nathan’s characters were interesting and I felt like Karen especially would make a great friend. Gee was fantastic and the situations that he found himself in, demonstrates how people can wrongly jump to conclusions and accuse an innocent person. Gee was definitely a champion and was heroic. … Nathan tackled some big issues in the novel including corruption. He definitely did not shy away from any controversy and I appreciated this rather than the story being sugar-coated.” — https://globeflower.co.uk/blog/2018/06/29/nathan-everett/

So, I’ve had peaks and valleys this week as I try to get the book out to as wide an audience as possible. Your review would help as well!

A hickory forest in the northeast.

The development of Wild Woods, the sequel to City Limits, is progressing. Nearly everyone who has read or commented on the book has mentioned that they are looking forward to the sequel. I started writing immediately because I needed to keep the flow from one book to the other. But that easy chapter is just a beginning. Now I’m sitting with my stack of 3x5 index cards writing out scenes, plot points, questions, and settings. The next three months will be filled with 3x5 cards, I think. I’m getting terrific help from my story editor already who finds time to chat with me from wherever in the world she happens to be at the moment. Today, Brazil. Having a sounding board for ideas at this stage of the game is immeasurably helpful.

Of course, I’m writing on five other projects as well. When you have multiple author personalities like I do, there is always a project demanding attention. I don’t let that prevent me from sitting with a glass of wine in front of the fire or joining my neighbors for a game of cards in the afternoon. Life here at Sun Meadow continues to be idyllic. And my next engagement will be right here. I’ll be at a meet and greet signing on July 14. Hope to have a good attendance at the Skin to the Wind Festival of Fun! http://www.nathaneverett.com/events.html

Enjoy!