Good Girls Go To Heaven…
crossposted from Lee Edward McIlmoyle's blog
…but bad girls go everywhere else, especially in THE UNINVITED GUEST, the series I’m finally back to work on, featuring my sort-of intrepid sleuth, Sterling Carcieri, whom I’ve been writing about for almost a decade I recently realized that next summer will make it ten years since I first started writing and posting the first rough draft of the original novel, which has since been split up into four parts, to keep it from turning into another Terminal Monday tome. I go back and forth on the logic of that decision, but I’ve got a format, so I’m trying to stick to it, come hell or high water.
One of the eventualities of writing a quadriptych novel is that I have to add and subtract text meant for the other books, and in this case, an entire chapter sprang up that needs writing, right near the beginning of the first book, so I’m speeding through that, and getting Sterling in trouble he doesn’t need in the process. As usual with Sterling, it’s trouble with a girl.
I often worry that I’ve over-sexualized Sterling, but the thing I find is, you can’t flinch from the sexy stuff with this kind of fiction, or you miss out on the tenor of the times. It’s not true that every crime novel had oodles of sex, but the tropes are there for a reason, and if you don’t use them, people won’t recognize what you’re writing. And besides, if you do your job right, you can turn it all on its ear and throw readers for a loop if things start getting too predictable.
In the end, I just try to trust my instincts on this stuff. I’ve read a fair bit of the fiction this stuff is based on (though not nearly as much as some folks I know), and the rest is just shapes in the back of my head telling me it’s time for a little tension. Problem is, I’ve been tinkering with this script for a very long time, and I’m almost afraid I’m front-loading this story with too much sex, because I’m remembering all of the sexy talk and sexy scenes I’ve written for this series over the years.
It’s a wonder I haven’t published most of it already, given how much time I’ve been working on it. The thing is, I start and stop with this one a lot, not because I don’t think it’s any good (quite the opposite, actually), but because it requires a lot of research and futzing to get the scenes just right. As I’ve said, I write this stuff by instinct, but then I go back and tweak the heck out of it, based on some street or building I just read about or some such. It’s all local history I’m adapting, so there are plenty of books available, but I can’t exactly afford to go out and buy every book on the subject. There are at least three books I want that I simply can’t afford right now, including one that has been out of print for at least a decade, and retails for about fifty bucks when you can find a copy.
I should be writing fiction right now. I’m about 1750 words into the new chapter (chapter three, actually, but the next chapter I work on should be chapter twelve), but I also added two or three hundred words to chapters one and two combined, this afternoon, so I’ve easily cracked 2K today. Still feeling the urge, though, so I’m going to keep at it for a bit longer. I’d at least like to finish this chapter, if I can.The end keeps scurrying out of view on me.
Thanks for reading. If you’re still curious about the book, here’s the page I posted for it.
Lee.
…but bad girls go everywhere else, especially in THE UNINVITED GUEST, the series I’m finally back to work on, featuring my sort-of intrepid sleuth, Sterling Carcieri, whom I’ve been writing about for almost a decade I recently realized that next summer will make it ten years since I first started writing and posting the first rough draft of the original novel, which has since been split up into four parts, to keep it from turning into another Terminal Monday tome. I go back and forth on the logic of that decision, but I’ve got a format, so I’m trying to stick to it, come hell or high water.
One of the eventualities of writing a quadriptych novel is that I have to add and subtract text meant for the other books, and in this case, an entire chapter sprang up that needs writing, right near the beginning of the first book, so I’m speeding through that, and getting Sterling in trouble he doesn’t need in the process. As usual with Sterling, it’s trouble with a girl.
I often worry that I’ve over-sexualized Sterling, but the thing I find is, you can’t flinch from the sexy stuff with this kind of fiction, or you miss out on the tenor of the times. It’s not true that every crime novel had oodles of sex, but the tropes are there for a reason, and if you don’t use them, people won’t recognize what you’re writing. And besides, if you do your job right, you can turn it all on its ear and throw readers for a loop if things start getting too predictable.
In the end, I just try to trust my instincts on this stuff. I’ve read a fair bit of the fiction this stuff is based on (though not nearly as much as some folks I know), and the rest is just shapes in the back of my head telling me it’s time for a little tension. Problem is, I’ve been tinkering with this script for a very long time, and I’m almost afraid I’m front-loading this story with too much sex, because I’m remembering all of the sexy talk and sexy scenes I’ve written for this series over the years.
It’s a wonder I haven’t published most of it already, given how much time I’ve been working on it. The thing is, I start and stop with this one a lot, not because I don’t think it’s any good (quite the opposite, actually), but because it requires a lot of research and futzing to get the scenes just right. As I’ve said, I write this stuff by instinct, but then I go back and tweak the heck out of it, based on some street or building I just read about or some such. It’s all local history I’m adapting, so there are plenty of books available, but I can’t exactly afford to go out and buy every book on the subject. There are at least three books I want that I simply can’t afford right now, including one that has been out of print for at least a decade, and retails for about fifty bucks when you can find a copy.
I should be writing fiction right now. I’m about 1750 words into the new chapter (chapter three, actually, but the next chapter I work on should be chapter twelve), but I also added two or three hundred words to chapters one and two combined, this afternoon, so I’ve easily cracked 2K today. Still feeling the urge, though, so I’m going to keep at it for a bit longer. I’d at least like to finish this chapter, if I can.The end keeps scurrying out of view on me.
Thanks for reading. If you’re still curious about the book, here’s the page I posted for it.
Lee.