Monthly Archives: August 2016

Getting the Word Out

Chapter 9: Lame Duck, of Barghest Part II has posted. Although I realize not all of my readers like the chapters that aren’t action packed, I enjoy writing them just as much. They can be harder to block out and rough edit – it is difficult to know sometimes (especially for me) when I have said too much, over-explained, or dragged out a description. I do love a good description. However, these chapters are where I lay the foundations for future reveals. Writing a chapter like Lame Duck, or previous chapters like Unexpected Results or Smoke Filled Room, are challenging because they are based on dialogue rather than action. But when I get them right I can’t help but rub my hands together like a Bond villain and laugh manically. I can hardly contain myself as I wait for readers to realize that they knew, all along, what was going to happen. They had the clues. The antagonist told them – right there – what was going to happen.  I love that moment when I am reading books by other authors, and to create that for someone else is an amazing rush.

As I continue to work on Barghest, I am always trying to find new ways to let potential readers know about it. I like this story, I love some of the characters, and I want to share it with as many people as I can. I want their feedback, and yours, so that this story, this universe, can be the best possible version of itself. To that end, I ask that if you enjoy Barghest, share it with your friends. Follow me on Twitter @susanamund , subscribe to my blog and leave comments. And if you have a moment, visit Top Web Fiction and vote for Barghest. Every time someone has the opportunity to see my work is fantastic.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy Lame Duck!

That Nagging Feeling

Last week’s post was late. Really late. Like Sunday-which-is-actually-the-start-of-a-new-week late. Sorry.

The problem was that I wasn’t happy with Chapter 7, which made me hold onto Chapter 8.  I was thinking that I needed to change something, and worried that it would impact future chapters going forward. I sat on the latest installment all day Tuesday, hoping that what was actually wrong with the previous chapter would come to me. It didn’t. The week went on by and I still wasn’t satisfied with what I had posted, but I could not figure out why.  I had a couple of readers let me know what they liked about Chapter 7, which gave me the incentive to go ahead with Chapter 8: Shoot and Scoot.

I like Chapter 8; I’m glad I am back on schedule, but I still have that nagging feeling that something is wrong. If you felt there was a missing component, or there was something that just didn’t sound right in the last chapter, please let me know. I want to correct it. I want to give you the best possible version of Barghest. And for the love of Pete, I want to stop worrying about what I did wrong. I’m probably asking for trouble putting this out there, but please: tell me what I screwed up.