Getting It Written

If you read my blog, you probably believe the life of this writer is pretty glamorous. I travel around the country and around the world, collecting experience and background for the stories I write. I run around naked in the desert (or the Palouse), dancing and howling at the moon. And every few months or so, I magically release another book.

Oh, my friends, how I wish it were true!

In the three weeks of February past, I’ve spent 23 hours editing and formatting a client project. I’ve spent 53 hours rewriting my next big release, Wild Woods. And I’ve spent 42 hours in the guise of my alter ego, Devon Layne, writing his next erotic novel, Double Take Book 2. All of those numbers are keyboard time on the project. They don't include the hours I spend proofreading, editing, and formatting my books. They don’t include hours of research that I go through to make the stories authentic or so I can understand another author’s work.

“What is the 5k running time for competitive female high school runners in Indiana?”

“What music would a classical guitarist and a flautist play in a recital?” (hint: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54JVjPqRWsEWgQEsx5pi2k3dRqCM00At)

“What thorny bushes are native to Northeastern Pennsylvania and which invasive species would survive in a hickory forest if introduced.”

“What is a glass cockpit and how does it affect how pilots fly their planes?”

Just a few of the things I’ve had to learn this week.

Most of my day is spent sitting in my writing chair (substitute desk) working on one of these projects and trying to have a modicum of a life outside. The past week, it has been easy to stay inside as temperatures have routinely been in the 30s at night and rain has been falling at an uncommon rate in the desert. So, I’m afraid there isn’t much in the way of pictures this week. It’s all been writing and editing.

Here’s a little insight into the process I’m going through rewriting Wild Woods. First, I say ‘rewrite’ instead of edit. So far, in 300 pages of rewritten material (70,000 words), I haven’t used copy and paste from my first draft at all. I’ve typed every one of those 379,000 characters. Why? Because in retyping, I rewrite. I find simpler ways to say things. I find better word choices. And I quickly pass over the amount of diddly garbage I wrote in the first draft.

This is not editing. When my story editors, Michele, Michelle, and Lyndsy, got hold of the first draft in November and December, they scribbled all over it. “What? Who is this? This is lazy writing. Is this person important later? I have a hard time keeping track of all your red herrings. Ha-ha!” After reading their comments and frequent line-outs, I put a Band-Aid on my ego and started making my own notes.

“This subplot isn’t going anywhere. Delete.” “Can’t have kids this age in chapter two based on what happens in the ninth chapter.” “Stop preaching and tell the story.” There are days when I read two or three chapters (They are long at 8-9,000 words each.) just so I have a better feeling for the flow and can identify holes that need to be plugged to facilitate later action.

And then I type.

When this draft is completed, sometime in the next two weeks, I’ll reread the entire story and continue to edit and tighten before I send it to my proofreaders. And when it comes back, voilà! I’ll have churned out another lovely story on which I have bled for the past six months.

You can help! After eight months on sale, City Limits has only four reviews on Amazon, all 5-star, and none on Barnes & Noble. It has three reviews and two ratings on Goodreads, averaging a 4.33-star rating. It’s a good book. It needs more reviews, especially as I start moving toward the release of Wild Woods in June.

Please read and review this book!

If you can’t purchase the book for any reason, you can read it online for free at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/citylimits/. I don’t often flat-out beg for help, but I need your reviews! I don’t think you’ll regret taking the time to read City Limits!

And then, you’ll be all set to start Wild Woods soon.

Doing a Thing

I love how cultural clichés work into every day language. I read online about various friends who are ‘doing a thing’ and I often think how silly that phrasing is. But this past week, I found myself using the phrase in a Facebook post to refer to plans I’ve made that I’m not quite ready to announce but I’m too excited about to keep quiet. And so, ‘doing a thing’ became the shortcut to share my tiny bit of excitement without saying what it was. Now I'll say what the thing is.

Three years ago, I turned my back on the Hawaiian sunrise and set off West. Around the world. It was one of the greatest adventures of my life. I saw places and met people I will always cherish. So, my announcement on Facebook last week that “I’ve started the process of preparing to do the thing. Target: October 19” is to say that I’m going to do it again. This time I have a list of places I’ve never been before and a few places I simply need to return to.

The trigger for starting the process of preparing was reaching a milestone in my savings. I wanted to make this trip last year but unexpected expenses wiped out my savings and I couldn’t imagine ever getting to that level again. But I devoted myself to living an extremely frugal life since then. I chose my winter campground, for example, because I could stay here for six months for $1300. Food and fuel are cheap and I seldom venture outside my trailer.

The biggest expense of an around-the-world trip is airfare and transportation. I give both of those because, like last time, I plan to spend my time in Europe traveling by train. And possibly the time in India, too. I contacted my travel agent who set me up on such great flights the last time and his word was that I should keep planning but it was too early to buy tickets. In fact, he won’t be able to book most of the trip until mid-summer. But here is my proposed routing.

Seattle to Shanghai and/or Hong Kong. Investigation so far indicates that it is cheaper to fly to both these locations than to fly through Tokyo. Too bad. I seriously considered spending some time in Japan but when it comes down to that or the two great cities of China, it’s not contest. Traveling as a single ‘older’ man to these locations is frightening to say the least. No language, no guide, no contacts. What a way to get my feet wet for this part of the adventure.

I’ve often pondered how my Northern Hemisphere mindset affected my pagan beliefs. So, I think a great way to challenge them is to spend my high holiday of the year, winter solstice, down under where it is summer solstice instead. Australia and New Zealand are at the top of my list to spend December. And besides, I promised my daughter that when I go south of the equator, I’ll get that tattoo I’ve talked about for years. She might even join me there for the holiday.

From Australia, it is a return to two places I’ve enjoyed in the past—Singapore and Chiang Mai, Thailand. I wasn’t and am not particularly enthused about Bangkok, especially if I’m spending some time wandering around Singapore before I get there. (Pepper crabs!) But I can’t wait to spend a month in Thailand at the fabulous Enchanted Garden Bungalows. I feel like I made friends with Steve, Wanchai, and Janie on my last trip and found it to be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth. January seems like a perfect time to spend there.

I’ve worked for several years with another author and adventurer, Mark Sawyer, who has given me so many good insights on India that I can’t pass up the opportunity to go there this time.

I expect to make the journey from Chennai to Mumbai overland, seeking out the holy mountain, Arunachula, and some of the people and fabulous sights Mark has described over the years. From Mumbai, I’m head back to Greece.

This is where Eurail will kick in again for my longest overland journey… I’m guessing about two months. On my last journey, I went north from Greece and toured Central Europe. This time, I want to go through Southern Europe along the Mediterranean Sea. This will include a return to some places dear to me.

I need to return to Metéora in Thessaly. Back to Rome. To see Monaco (James Bond fan). To return to the Camargue in France and then Barcelona. And I want to get to Gibraltar. I’ve never been on the continent of Africa, so it seems that a hop down to Tangier in Morocco would suit my tastes, even if I don’t make it all the way to Casablanca. Then up to Portugal where several friends who have visited recently have told me fabulous tales of the wine… and architecture and art, of course.

Assuming they still allow Americans into the country, I want to spend a fair amount of time (a month?) in the UK. First, to visit my friends, Jo, Sassy, and Michelle. That will take me from London to Cambridge to Scotland. But in between is a place that settled so deeply in my heart on my first visit in 1970 that I’ve written about it in four books and I simply must return: Keswick and the Lake District. I will return to Carles Castlerigg stone circle.

Photo by Rob Bendall, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15746841

Six or seven months after I start this great adventure, I’ll return to my camp in Idaho by way of Seattle and spend the rest of the summer spinning tales of my adventures and writing my next great novel.

All a pipe-dream? I’m certainly not saying that the itinerary is set in stone. My agent will have ideas for routing. I've allowed too much time in Australia and New Zealand to allow the kind of time I want in Thailand and Southern Europe. My friends along the way will have ideas for who and when I should visit. And my limited funds will certainly dictate how long I stay in certain places. I can stay in Thailand for little more than I stay at Quartzsite. I can probably afford only a day or two in Singapore.

Do you have a couch I can surf for a few days along the way? Want to travel alongside for part of the journey? I want to meet more people, see more things, do more stuff. I’ll be 70 years old and I think that’s just young enough to enjoy this trip!

Where Did the Time Go?

This morning, I’m thinking that caption should go on the California DMV website. I went online to buy new tabs for my trailer on December 31, only to discover that if there was a change of address, I had to mail my renewal. And, California has no grace period, so mailing the renewal on January 2 meant it would cost $20 extra. The price went up every week.

So, I filled out the form, found the special envelope that said “Expedite: California DMV”, went to Blythe, and mailed the renewal along with my check, including the late fee. It’s now February 10, over a month since I sent it in, and the check still hasn’t been cashed. I’m pretty sure the fee for getting my tabs is now well over $300. Not amused.

I suppose the same could be said of me since it has been nearly a month since I updated this blog. Wow! Where did the time go?

Here in Quartzsite AZ, there is a winter phenomenon. In mid-January, the population goes from 2,000 to 250,000 as the Quartzsite PowWow, The Quartzsite RV show, and the Quartzsite Gem and Mineral show draw even more crowds than the Quartzsite 70 degrees and sunny show. One unfortunate side-effect is that Verizon has no concept that traffic increases in January and data speeds slow to a crawl. Seriously, half the time I can’t check Facebook or email. That slow. So much for unlimited high speed internet.

So, I didn’t do much internetting until I headed out for Las Vegas on the 20th. I was in disguise and changing appearance every day as I adopted the persona of author Devon Layne, writer of adult romance and adventure.

That’s my South American dictator disguise.

Of course, I was there for professional reasons. That was the week of the Adult Entertainment Expo and Devon is on the fringe of that industry with several acquaintances. He’s been trying to interest producers in scripts that actually have a storyline and dialog. Not much chance of that, but getting together with some of my favorite professionals in the industry is always worth the trip.

That was my Western Sheriff disguise.

A high point of the week, though, was meeting up with some of my friends from up north and enjoying the gaming, nightlife, and food of Las Vegas.

I was in my hip old man disguise there.

Well, it was a good week even though Doug and Colleen tried to get me to eat crawdads. Mike and I enjoyed a few good cigars. And we all got dolled up to go out and party one night.

So, after a week of leaving everything behind in Las Vegas, I headed back south for Quartzsite. I was surprised to find the desert had turned green in my absence. Water does such funny things.

I thought I was on top of everything. I got my Washington Business taxes filed. I even did my annual report (not due till end of February). I paid Mark his royalties for the past year of $14. I formatted and uploaded a new book, got my websites updated, and have gained 26 new patrons on Patreon since the last time I posted here. Life’s been good to me so far!

I’m still in disguise and several times was mistaken for “That guy on Jurassic Park”, Richard Attenborough. Apparently, they didn’t realize he died four years ago. So, several people got photos with the dead-at-90 actor.

Writing is progressing apace. January saw me already 30,000 words ahead of my writing pace goal, even with a few days of enforced wordlessness.

The major project on my desk as of February 1 is Wild Woods, the sequel to my popular novel of last year, City Limits. With the notes of my excellent editors in hand, I’m estimating Wild Woods will only require about a 50% rewrite rather than the 90% that City Limits needed. Whoopee! At the moment, I’m declaring myself to still be on-target for a June 2019 release.

Well, that’s my news of the day. No telling what will come next!