Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Nearing 13,000 words on A65

Nice trip on the train. Nine hours, but I had an open seat beside me till Albany and there were only two real delays, so we got in just half an hour late. That's practically on time for Amtrak.

I dug into The Alice 65 en route and Adam and Casey are talking to me, now. I love it when that finally happens. Most of what I did was Adam's bit leading up to when he arrives at Casey's home, off Sunset Boulevard. That's when Casey takes over and begins wreaking havoc on him, all without really meaning to. It's not very well-written, yet, but it's adjusting itself and pulling in moments that will add to Adam's world and his reality. Like bringing in Henry the 14th, the ginger cat in the library's basement who keeps the mice and rats at bay.

Same for Casey. She's been a recluse for a couple weeks, since the breakup with Lando (her ex who is also her co-star in a couple of big-ticket movies). Now she's out for revenge, and Adam plays an unwitting part in it. She also keeps sneaky tabs on a couple of paparazzi who've attached themselves to her, seeing her as their meal ticket. She's set up secret little cameras to record them as they hover around outside her estate...and she feels a bit proprietary about them...like they're her personal papa-bastards.

So far it's still just humorous, not exactly laugh-out-loud funny...though I admit that's not something I'm really going for. I want the humor to mix with the drama and the romance. Not a light-weight story but not a heavy one, either. I got pretty dark with The Vanishing of Owen Taylor; time to mix it up a little...and practice working that for Place of Safety.

Now I need to start thinking up a cover for the book. I'm damned proud of the covers for OT, PM and RIHC6. I could have done better on BC and HTRASG...but all the latter one really needed was removal of some of the text and darkening the shadows around the face. With BC, I dunno...the cover works but it just doesn't impress me. Maybe the image of the face behind the baseball mask was too large...or I could have done away with the batter's silhouette. I think a friend suggested that and I said no. Now...I can see his point.

Well...I want the cover of A65 to kick ass, so suggestions will be carefully considered.

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