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Hello!

This blog will be dedicated to chronicling my saga of writing my next book, from the initial conception of the idea and outlining, through the writing and many, many revisions, until the book is released. My target goal is to release the next book by January 2023.

I’m excited to be working on a book again. My process to get started is lengthy, and sometimes feels like the longest leg of my writing journey. It might be because I’m always resistant to start a new project. This isn’t out of laziness (although there’s always the temptation to play video games rather than be productive). It’s because of that initial doubt that the story is any good.

With this in mind, when an idea pops into my head, I don’t write it down for a couple days. This might seem counterintuitive. How could I expect to remember this amazing new story idea if I don’t record it somewhere? But that’s the point. I’m screening out weak ideas from the outset. If a new story really is that amazing, I should still be thinking about it days/weeks/months/years later. If I can’t even remember what it was two days later, it wasn’t that great to begin with, and because it isn’t written down for me to look over again, I don’t have to waste anymore time thinking about it.

Even if a new idea survives that initial cut, I still don’t fully commit to writing it. I’ll jot down notes about where I think the story could go, the characters that would be involved in the plot, things like that. But if its still a strong concept, ideas are going to fester in my brain, I’ll constantly think up new details, backstories, side characters, running side plots, you name it, until I’ve got way more than I’d ever need to write a book. If this phase starts to fizzle out after a handful of pages of notes and outlines, I kick the idea to the curb and start again.

This is what I’ve been up to for most of the first half of the year. Looking at my notebook of story ideas, I count 8 since November of last year that made it to the jotting down phase that I ultimately rejected. 

Most were rejected because the ideas didn’t have enough legs on them for a book. Maybe they’ll become short stories one day. One was a strong candidate, but the more I thought about it, the more I’d be interested in turning it into a trilogy, but I’m just not willing to commit to writing a trilogy (yet).

It’s definitely easy to get discouraged during this phase. It can be tedious, having ideas pop into your head, only to turn them aside just as quickly. I don’t see the use in getting frustrated. I think that leads to the catastrophic decision to try to rush the process, and rush things out. That always runs the risk of a bad story.

I never try to force an idea though. I always believe they’ll come, and while I wait, I work on other things. I wrote a script for my debut novel Dig Down (twice actually, because my laptop crashed and I didn’t have it backed up). I wrote some short stories related to my second book Lock the Doors. I’ve read or listened to 40 books this year, because I think the more stories you experience, the more ideas you have. Not everything was writing, I’ve also been learning how to code. I think a relaxed mind is more open to ideas.

And about a month ago, one finally stuck. It survived not being written down for a few days, and more ideas kept growing out of every idea I wrote down. I’m still a long ways from the finish line (I can’t even see one from where I’m standing right now). I only have a semblance of how it would end, and I don’t even have a title. But I have the most important thing right now. An idea that sticks, and that I want to see where it goes.

Hello,

I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe during this quarantine. As a thank you to everyone who not only took a chance on a first time indie author and purchased either of my books, I wanted to show my appreciation by offering a collection of short stories related to the characters and events found in my debut novel, Dig Down.

The name of this collection is called Dig Down Accessories. To claim your free copy, simply return to the homepage of this website, damianmyronwrites.com and click on the ‘Yes, Sign me Up!” button to enroll in my book club. You will receive an e-mail shortly after doing so. Please open the e-mail and follow any steps to verify your enrollment, as this is the only way that the system will accept your e-mail address and be able to send you a copy.

The file for the free book will be sent out in 5 days, on April 29th, 2020.

Take care,

Damian

Malcolmson’s haggard face appeared to brighten up when he laid his eyes on Suzy. “Ms. Randolph!” he exclaimed. “So good to see you.”

“You as well, Harold,” Suzy said.

And it was.

“I instructed my office to give you a call,” he said. “Were,” and he stretched out the word the way he was wont to do when posing a question, “they able to reach you yet.”

Harold Malcolmson was a nice man who’d spent over thirty years getting along with everyone in Congress. He could always be counted on whenever the Democrats were bringing a bill to the floor for a vote, but the Republicans often sung his praises about how reasonable he was when they reached across the aisle looking for support.

“You know, they haven’t, but my phone was ringing as I was heading over here to take this meeting,” Suzy replied.

With a record as immaculate as his when it came to playing well with others, and holding one of the longest active tenures, Malcolmson should have been a superstar on the Hill.

The operate phrase being ‘should have.’

“Ah, well, that’s understandable,” he said with a shrug.

The truth was, although he was always reliable to help the home team on a hotly contested bill, and even put aside differences for the good of the country, he rarely, if ever, proposed anything himself. He seemed content, just to spectate from the seats while other, more ambitious legislators, took central stage (and credit) for laws that might not have been passed without his help.

“But I do hope we’ll be able to sit down in the coming days. I had them call because there’s something I’m trying to pursue and I’d like all the help I can get.”

Oh, Harold, she thought as she smiled politely.

There was only one thing urgent enough that he’d want to discuss before the end of the week, and it was the same thing she was after. A coup for power.

You’ve relegated yourself to the sidelines for far too long old man. It’s the reason why you’d never be able to run for President. Your chummy history is your greatest flaw. All your opponents will harp about the little you’ve done in your time here. The Republicans will paint you as a leech on the American taxpayer.

“MALCOLMSON!” an enraged voice called from the belly of the office he’d just emerged from.

Malcolmson jumped, and nearly yelped. Suzy crunched her face to maintain her polite smile.

 “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE? GET OUT, AND DON’T COME BACK UNTIL YOU’VE GOT IT DONE!”

This was all the proof she needed not to join whatever crusade Malcolmson wanted to embark on. All these decades in Congress, and he was everyone’s pal, but only after he delivered what they wanted. Until then, he was the legislative branch’s whipping boy.

He’d been re-elected forever, and in all likelihood, his friends in Congress would continue to campaign for him for every re-election until he finally chose to retire. But his legacy would be irrelevant, and all that time he spent in office would turn out to be an absolute waste. The last thing Suzy wanted to become was another Harold Malcolmson.

As 2019 is coming to a close, I thought I’d give an update on some of the things I’m working on:

For starters, I’m putting the finishing touches on my compilation of Dig Down serials and short stories, which I’m going to be offering as a FREE BOOK coming soon.

I’m finalizing the cover design and giving one last read through for my latest book, Lock the Doors, which I’m planning to release in January 2020.

I’m also starting to draft some initial short stories related to the world of Lock the Doors, which I expect to start releasing in late January/early February 2020.

Lastly, I’ve finished the first draft of my new manuscript, and will be starting the first round of edits/revisions around the holidays.

I miss having free time for myself.

Everyone in the office was scrambling when Suzy arrived. No matter how many times the secretary answered a line just to put the caller on hold, the phone lines continued to ring. Suzy was nearly bowled over twice by sprinting interns shouting “Outta my way!” as they bolted to fulfill some pressing job.

If it was chaos here, Suzy could only imagine what was going on with the Republicans.

“Can I help you?” the secretary asked, pausing her robotic delivery as she asked each caller to patiently hold for “Just a moment,” when she noticed Suzy. Suzy supposed she stood out being the only one not running circles around the room.

Suzy had met the secretary (she was pretty sure her name was Felicia) multiple times, but given the vacant look in Felicia’s eyes, Suzy got the impression the poor girl wouldn’t even be able to pick a picture of herself out of a lineup.

Everyone’s probably had to work overtime these past three weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hasn’t seen the sun in days.

“Suzy Randolph,” she introduced herself as though they’d never met, even extending her hand to her. “I’m his eleven o’clock.”

“Oh, Ms. Randolph, right,” Felicia said, before her eyes dropped down, catching the flickering lights on her phones circuit board. The way Felicia’s face dropped, Suzy got the impression that most of the lines had been free just a moment ago. “They’re like weeds that won’t stop cropping up.”

“It must be tough,” she said, trying to empathize, so that the girl would be more willing to help.

“I…don’t want to bore you with the details,” she said, not looking up from blinking lights.

Suzy seized on the girl’s desire to want to return to putting callers on hold. “Well, I can see you’ve all got your hands full,” she began, and almost on the heels of the words coming out of her mouth, did a third intern nearly trample over her. “I can just head inside,” she said, pointing to the door and beginning her march inside.

“I’m sorry,” Felicia said, insistently, stopping her in her tracks. “But as you can imagine, he’s really busy, dealing with the latest…‘developments.’”

Suzy had prepared for this. “I understand completely,” she said confidently. “That’s why it’s imperative that I speak with him.” She adjusted her power suit for added effect. “I have the solution that’s going to get you all out of this hell,” she said, waving her arm around the manic room.

That should get me through the door.

“I hope you do,” Felicia said, earnestly. “It’s just…he’s currently in there, with another colleague…”

Suzy tried to keep her face from flushing. Had her purposeful tardiness backfired? Had she delayed her arrival long enough for one of her colleagues to snake some precious time?

A moment later, the door to his office opened, and she allowed herself a sigh of relief. No one had swooped in and stolen her timeslot with him. His prior meeting had just gone long. Her ease disintegrated when she saw who emerged from his office.

Malcolmson!

NaNoWriMo came to an end this past Saturday. I finished approximately just shy of 40,000 words. While this might be seen as a disappointment, I’m thrilled to say that I finished the first draft of my next book two days later.

Despite falling short, my first ever NaNoWriMo was a really fun experience. I started it with the hope that I’d be able to win, but also with an understanding that that most likely wasn’t going to be the case. Dig Down was approximately 36,000 words, and Lock the Doors is in the 38,000 range. In all honesty, I expected this one to be shortest yet, but I just found I had so much to say.

I plan on participating every year. I think next year, I may try to supplement my word count with other short stories to fill out the 50k requirement. I was also surprised how busy I was at the beginning and end of the month, and I’ll have to account for that for next time.

Either way, it was a blast participating and interacting with other writers. Until next year!