Tuesday, July 26, 2011

First Book Signing Event, Momentum and Music.

I have my first book signing event this weekend at a cafe near Hagerman Idaho.  It helps that I know who the owners are so I get 2 three hour blocks to sign my book on Saturday and Sunday.  I have done a little bit of free advertising with the local news paper and their community events, Craigslist, a Facebook event and Twitter.  From the responses for more information, I expect it to be fairly successful with 10-15 books sold and if I'm lucky I will sell out!

Look at that line!

Cutting back on the blogging and making the rounds on forums has helped with my writing.  Book two of my trilogy is coming along again.  I broke 5,500 words and I am on chapter four.  It feels good to get it moving again.  I wanted to have the rough draft finished in August but July just slipped away with getting the paperback produced and all the extra time it took to promote and market Requiem.

Something that I have been considering the last ten days with Guardian is to continue on and write Sentinel without stopping to edit Book two and make it ready for sale.  When I was writing Requiem the last 3 weeks I was on a huge roll and everything just poured out till it was finished.  Then the 5 weeks of editing happened and extra weeks of getting a book cover and dealing with the paperback and and and and.....  In other words if the momentum is there, I am not going to stop it.  I will carry that momentum into Sentinel.

Music plays a big part while writing.  I remember listening to the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song for an entire day of writing.  The chapters were all action fight sequences between airships.  Right now I have found a few songs that help me get into the mood of writing.  Taking ten minutes to listen to a few songs while I read the last few paragraphs from the previous writing session really sets the mood.  For me it makes getting back into that groove a lot easier than dinking around for an hour or more before settling in for a good session.  Right now the intro theme song from the original World of Warcraft sets the mood for Guardian.

What do you do to get in the mood to write?

6 comments:

  1. Good luck for your signing at the weekend, don't forget to let us know how it goes.

    If I want to get in the mood to write I, and I'm not making this up, think of a chore that really really needs doing. It's amazing how strong the pull to write becomes. Who knew that being such a lousy housewife would have its advantages?

    By the way, I may not play WoW any more but I still think that some of the music from the game is the best I've ever heard.

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  2. Let us know how it goes and hope it's a great success for you.

    On my last major work binge I immersed myself in Bruckner symphonies night after night. I think the influence came across strongly in what I've written on that novel so far.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  3. Good luck with your signing.

    There is an award for you on my blog.

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  4. So how did the signing go?
    I don't listen to much music when I write. If I do, it's music without words or words in languages I don't understand. Otherwise I get distracted.

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  5. I love hearing about the kinds of music writers listen to as they're working on a story. Pirates of the Carribean is definetly a fun one to go with. I remember walking out of the theater for the 1st one back in 2003 and thinking, dang, there's some good music in that movie! Personally, I find music to be distracting when I write, but when I'm brainstorming or plotting I'll go with Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and a whole bunch of other soundtracks (usually something by John Williams).

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  6. Movie soundtracks are excellent to write to. Some great ones are Goonies and Krull. Fun quick and adventurous.

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