This week I shall continue with the revision of Old Wounds. I read through it already, and now I plan to read through it again, making notes as I go, and incorporating my sublplot. I also want to extract character names and descriptions so that I can make character sketches, as characterization is something I am always weak in.

The problem is one of length. I have 33000 words, which is nowhere near enough for a novel. I need 50000 - 55000, which is still short for a novel, but I think the PI genre can get away with it, as some of the classic books of the genre are not doorstoppers.

Adding the subplot should give me 5000 - 7000 words, but I will still need to expand the novel to the proper length without padding it out. If I have to, I will go chapter by chapter, adding description, characterization, and the necessary depth a  novel demands.

And as if that's not enough, I also have at least four short stories in the works. I can't seem to commit to any one. I bounce back and forth from one to the other without pulling the trigger on any of them. I want to put out quality work, and am making an effort to do better, which means taking the time to do things right.

However, I also want to get things done and published, and the slow deliberate approach makes this difficult.

I may have to work on one project at a time until it is finished, from first draft to publishing, then move on to the next. That way, I could get things finished and published and continue building my audience and you, dear reader, would have the pleasure of buying and reading my latest story or novel in a much more timely fashion.

But, as I have said before many times, at least I have plenty to work on. I'd rather have too many ideas than not enough.

As I promised, I have uploaded my short story Dad's Legacy to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords for release to all the ebook formats.

Now, I think I might take a little time to figure out what my next project is going to be. I have several stories and novels I want to work on, but I want to do them in some kind of logial order, so I can actually get things done and released.

As always, I will keep you posted on this site.

In my previous entry, I mentioned having an old story that I might try to release this month.

I have deided to put it out on Thursday, January 5th. The title is Dad's Legacy. This is a story I wrote just more than 10 years ago, while I was in Iraq. When I got home, I sent it to Gary Lovisi, publisher and editor of Hardboiled magazine, and he accepted it.

Dad's Legacy hadn't seen the light of day by the time Hardboiled ceased publication, which meant the rights reverted to me, so now I am going to release it as an eBook. I have the cover ready to go, and my cover artist did a bang-up job. I will be preparing a blurb today or tomorrow, and things should be well in hand for publication as planned on Thursday.

This is the first time in too long that I have released two stories so close together, and I hope it marks the start of a more productive period for me.

As for other projects, I am still working on my next Charlie Rowe novel, Old Wounds, as well as several other stories and novels, some of which have been on my hard drive or in the back of my mind for quite a while.

I have to do some work to expand Old Wounds, but I have an idea for a subplot that should add some words, as well as harkening back to the previous novel, False Witness (I have always been interested in the consequences of what happens in a story. Are things over when the author writes 'The End,' or is there some sort of fall-out for the surviving characters to deal with? This subplot will address that issue to some degree.) Apart from the subplot, I will have to do some expansion of my first draft of Old Wounds to get it to where it is ready to go.