According to Todd A. Stone, author of Novelist's Boot Camp, The "Alpha Male" character "...notices physical attractiveness, feels powerful sexual urges, and responses -- if only internally -- to sexual stimulus, intended or not." However, since I write crime mysteries, I can't dwell on my character's sexual desires yet they are a part of who he is. So, how much is enough? Too much? A fellow author friend of mine said it well in one of his posts: "Anyone can write sex good. After all, it's a topic close to our hearts and one with which we're presumably well versed."

I find that it is far more exciting to read a suggestive line and "watch" the character's body language, than it is to have every detailed spelled out for me. In that respect, my imagination (and the reader's imagination) works fine. ;>)

The Black Pearl First Draft -- Day 85:

I've been up since four this morning. Typing since six. It's a cold and rainy, two-pots-of-coffee morning on the first day of a three-day weekend. I checked my e-mails and blogs then started to work on my MS again. The final edits are going well, I'm nearly half way through it. But when I'm done, I'll have to read it ... again.

I was recently asked if I let others read my works in progress. Only a trusted few, but yes, absolutely! I thrive on feedback. Getting another's perspective is as critical to me as research. It's especially important in the early stages when I'm focused on developing the plot and the characters. While I'm zooming in on those things, it's very easy to overlook important details.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be as concerned about getting it "perfect" in a first draft. But I'm counting down. This manuscript is due on my editor's desk next week. Wish me luck. 62,517 words and counting!

Time is ticking away, so why am I here blogging instead of writing? Let's just say I'm journaling a novel in the making.

It's day 82 and The Black Pearl is at 61,756, words in length. Can I get this first draft up to 80,000 within the next five days? Hmmm. The book has 46 six chapters with 4 subplots. I promised it would be done and submitted by January 15. I'll make it--maybe won't get to the 80,000 word mark, but it's coming, it's coming, it's coming!

The Black Pearl is the second book in the Sam Harper Crime Mystery Series. It is a story with the usual ingredients found in hard-boiled detective mysteries with a splash of the supernatural, a power-hungry drug dealer, a religious fanatics, and a sprinkling of romance to spice things up. To be honest, I wasn't sure if the sub plots would come together. In fact, after I wrote the last chapter, I had to go back and edit a few of the previous chapters and add the evidence that would make the ending work. LOL Fortunately, this is only the first draft. I have several more months in which to polish it.

Well, Sam just called to remind me I need to edit a few more chapters tonight!

Prose & Musings My, but it's been a while since I've posted in here. But I have a very good excuse. Really! So much has happened since last July.

When I wrote the last blog, Silenced Cry had just been through a vigorous critique and I was working on the edits when my publisher e-mailed me to request the manuscript. I hadn't heard from them in a year since I submitted my synopsis for the three Sam Harper Crime Mysteries novellas. I thought it had been denied. When I explained that I had spent my time expanding it into a novel, they agreed to look at it instead. I submitted Silenced Cry on September 12 and received my contract on September 14. Silenced Cry will be out at online (Amazon) and traditional bookstores worldwide on April 23, 2007. ISBN 978-1-905202-72-0. Somebody pinch me! It will also be available directly from my publisher at www.bewrite.net.

But wait! There's more. On October 17, my publisher e-mailed me again to ask if I could submit book two in the series, The Black Pearl, by January 2007. That novella was at 40,000 words so I assumed it would take a few extra chapters and maybe a new sub plot or two to get the job done. I agreed. However, it had been nearly two years since I had last read it. In that time I learned a thing or two and my writing had thankfully changed. It didn't take long to realize The Black Pearl needed a complete rewrite. I finished the first draft on New Years Eve, 61,600 words in 72 days! I'm pleased with how it has developed. And just in case any of my proofreading friends pop in, thank you! I couldn't have done it without you!

If accepted, The Black Pearl will be promoted along with Silenced Cry as a "coming soon." It took me ten months to expand and polish Silenced Cry. I intend to take at least that much time with The Black Pearl.

So ... You see, I've been absent, not idle. :)

Happy writing and a very New Year to all!