The Cerebral  Writer
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Links

Writing Milestone: Twenty Completed Novels

6/21/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
I completed the first draft of my latest novel, tentatively titled Riders on the Storm, a couple days ago. I'm guessing it took a while to process the fact that it was really done, which is strange given how many novels I've already written. I didn't share anything about it on Facebook until last night, and it hadn't even dawned on me until now that perhaps I might share this wonderful milestone here.

Counting collaborations, Riders on the Storm is my twentieth completed novel.

Just for fun, here is a list of them all:

Published
1. Myths of Gods
2. The Private Sector (World-Mart)
3. World-Mart
4. Aftermath (World-Mart)

5. Finding Poe 
6. Cast in Blood (Revelations) -- cowrote with Jaime Johnesee and Christine Sutton
7. Cast in Fire (Revelations) -- cowrote with Jaime Johnesee and Christine Sutton
8. Cast in Shadow (Revelations) -- cowrote with Jaime Johnesee and Christine Sutton


Backlisted
9. Blood and Coffee (The Darkness and the Night)
10. Cosmic O (The Darkness and the Night)
11. Twins of Darkness (The Darkness and the Night)
12. Lust in Space (Pandora's Hope)
13. Pandora's Hope
14. Love in Space (limited printing sold on the Home Shopping Network)
15. The Hidden Valley

Never Published

16. The Nightcrawlers -- co-wrote with Erin Barker (manuscript long lost)
17. Cinderella Eyes
18. Digital Paige (good idea; just couldn't execute it right)
19. Agoraphobia -- currently querying
20. Riders on the Storm


All together, this adds up to roughly one and a quarter million words I've written in novels alone, which I think is pretty damn cool. Writing has always been the one activity that has followed me throughout my life, the one thing that has defined not Lisa the Twin or Lisa the Wife, but Lisa the Individual. No matter what has gone wrong or right in my life, the good or bad choices I've made, through the successes and failures, writing has been where I can turn to ground myself. It's also the best way I can think of to communicate the ideas constantly building in my mind. I'm an introvert, a thinker. I express myself best through the written word. Writing is a big part of who I am.

Some things I've learned so far:
  1. Not every novel you write will be good. (You might even write a couple of stinkers.) If you write a flop, dust yourself off and get started on something new.
  2. Write the kind of fiction your gut tells you to write. If your heart's not in it, why even bother?
  3. The more critique you can get, the better. No one enjoys getting a list of what isn't right with his or her book, but if you take critique seriously and put forth the necessary effort to address it well, your writing will improve just as much as the story will.
  4. Celebrate every milestone. I usually give myself a pat on the back for every 10-25k words I write. I'll often treat myself to ice cream or a nice dinner to celebrate a finished novel.
  5. If you're an introvert like me, you might not get out much. If you can go to a writers convention, do it; you'll find that a whole new you comes out when you are among your tribe. Make connections, even if they remain strictly online. Share what you know and learn what you can from those who have more experience than you.
I mentioned in a recent blog post that this most recent novel (which still lacked a title at the time) was notably different than the bulk of my other books. The subgenres I'd chosen to work with had put me way outside my comfort zone, and I wasn't really sure at first if I was even going to be able to complete a draft. By the time the story and characters began coming into their own, however, I could see series potential. I love the world, and as difficult as it has been to write, it's been every bit as enjoyable. We'll see where it goes....

Thank you for letting me share this milestone with you! Hopefully, I'll have more news to share about Agoraphobia and Riders on the Storm
 very soon.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Privacy Policy:

    No names or e-mail addresses listed in blog post replies will result in mailing list additions or sharing/sales to other sites via the Cerebral Writer.

    All email addresses, unless added intentionally to the body text of a post or response, will remain hidden from public view.

    Archives

    April 2021
    November 2018
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008


    Categories

    All
    Aftermath
    Animals
    Anthologies
    Awards
    Bestseller List
    Bizarro
    Blogging
    Classics
    Contests
    Critical Analysis
    Dystopia
    Edgar Allan Poe
    Editors
    Excerpts
    Film
    Finding Poe
    Flash Fiction
    God
    Grammar
    Guest Blogs
    Horror
    Humanitarians
    Interviews
    Jane The Hippie Vampire
    Language
    Leigh M. Lane
    Literary Fiction
    Lupus
    Marketing
    Movies
    Muses
    Musicians
    My Books
    Myths Of Gods
    My Writing
    My Writing
    Nook
    Novellas
    On Writing
    On Writing
    Opinion
    Other Great Authors
    Paying It Forward
    Pirates
    Poetry
    Racism
    Redrafting
    Revelations
    Reviews
    Rod Serling
    Screenplays
    Self Publishing
    Short Stories
    Speculative Fiction
    Television
    The Hidden Valley
    The Private Sector
    The Twilight Zone
    This Site
    Trailers
    Urban Fantasy
    Vampires
    Weird Western
    Words
    World Mart
    Zombies

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.