As I cannot give you a percentage for this book, I figured I would at least say I'm about 21k words into writing this piece. That's with no editing and having no idea where I'll end this one. I'm not saying that I have no plan of action, I actually have quite a bit worked out in the form of: notes, story layout, etc. The problem is that the content of this book actually extends over several books and I haven't decided where a comfortable spot is to let this one end at.

I'm currently working on fight #3 of this book and it's in the same format as the Egypt fight in book #2 (Ammit). For those of you who don't know the reference, it's a single fight, shown from three points of view (2 first person, 1 3rd). In film, this would be called a "cross-cutting" technique. There are countless examples of this in movieland, so I won't bother to name one. In literature, I don't know of any that wasn't merely a separation of content by chapter. I don't think I'm breaking new ground here, I just don't know of anything quite like this.

Personally, I like the way a fight comes out. It separates out the points of view during the fight without disturbing the flow of action. It also takes care of that pesky "well, didn't s/he show back up just in time for no reason" problem. The difficult part is establishing each of the character's voices well enough that there isn't a question of whose perspective is on display. Since I write all the chapters from different points of view anyways, this really isn't a big deal for me.

As usual, M's perspective has changed. Being the ever-evolving character of the story, I see no reason why his way of seeing the world wouldn't change, given the amount of crap he lives through. He's still crass and unpredictable, so don't worry, the humor is still there! Eventually, he'll settle into a certain manner of speaking and thinking, but he's still young....sort of.

On a side note, because of an upcoming character, I am probably adding yet another book to this series. It'll be a sidestory like "Hitori" is, but it will again tie back into the main storyline. I won't even begin the writing of this idea until this current chunk of story is complete, which will end up being 3 or 4 books, maybe more.

I'm starting to wonder where this series will end. What was 1 book, became 3, and now its at least 10. I suppose as long as the ideas keep coming and they aren't completely stupid, I'll keep going. It's a huge world I'm creating, might as well play in it as long as I can.

The lovely Stephanie Dagg has gotten the book back to me with corrections/changes to accept, or reject. Once I get through this (I'm about 15% in currently) I'll send it back to her for a bit of proofreading. As usual, I'm grateful for all the help she gives me.

No one should attempt this on their own. I'm not the worst writer out there and I still have a mound of commas to be added in, words changed out for the correct tense. I could look this book over a dozen times and never catch everything. 

Either way, we are at the end stretch of the run for this book. My cover should be completed by this weekend....so hopefully before the end of the month the book will be released. We shall see :D

Remember: This book is a standalone. If you are new to the series this book would be a fine place to start. Please understand, the tone of this book is pretty different from the main series and a lot more straight forward. The main series is far more layered and crazy that this one is. Hitori does end on a note of continuation...but no more so than someone riding off into the sunset. After all, this book takes place in 8th century Japan, the main series is modern day (for now).

The last few times I've posted about my odd ideas, I've been pretty specific about the idea and gave a rundown of how it came to be. Uhler and the 5 stages of zombiness are a good example of this. This post, however, is more on the side of the beginning of the beginning...if that makes sense.

I like to build off of mythology and existing ideas. Not for the sake of stealing them, but because in a strange way, they feel more real than something I could come up with myself. For example, vampires. Vampires are something that the majority of the world has an idea about. It's part of our culture, it's something that takes no explination and is easily digestable to whoever is reading it. It's the same idea as "sampling" in music. Take something everyone's heard, that conveys a feeling and reuse it to bring about that feeling again, but with a new layer added in...hopefully.

I like taking mythology and digging through it. Let's take the vampire example. There are dozens of origins for the vampire they all have simillar characteristics, but still vary greatly from one region to the next. Just off wikipedia, the Greek origin: "The Greeks traditionally believed that a person could become a vrykolakas after death due to a sacrilegious way of life, anexcommunication, a burial in unconsecrated ground, or eating the meat of a sheep which had been wounded by a wolf or a werewolf. Some believed that a werewolf itself could become a powerful vampire after being killed, and would retain the wolf-like fangs, hairy palms, and glowing eyes it formerly possessed." - not the usual origin we hear in the USA!

It's not so much that I pick the most interesting origin and go with it. I prefer to take a oddly logical approach to it. Assuming a vampire is real, why would there be so many different stories of their origins? Are they different subspecies? Is it a series of different curses that result in the same monster? Is it the same origin, but at different stages (as I did with Uhler)...who knows...that's the fun part. I like to take what's available and come up with the most realistic idea I can with what I have. 

The most recent one, and something I'm currently writing, is the legend of the Chupacabra. Don't worry, its not a spoiler. If you follow me on Pinterest, you already know this is coming. It's not so much the origin that I'm concerned with, but how the heck it manages to be seen and yet not been seen. In this world of science, magic, mythology and craziness I've built, how can I make sense of this creature so that it works in the stories, is compelling and somehow believable enough that the reader might go "You know...that is a possibility." Something bizarre that can be made believable is what true thrills and horror is all about. I'm not looking to scare anyone, but if I can get someone to 2nd guess their belief in an obscure idea like the Chupacabra and the rest of you to keep reading, then I've done my job. It's all about you suckers....I mean readers  :P

By the way, the octopus tree in book 3....that was all me and it'll be a much more awesome idea when I build into it. For now, it's just something M has seen and...well...read Hitori when it's published and you'll have a glimpse of what's to come.

As I sit here, writing away, I realize I may have mental problems. I'm working on one of the usual meetings that the team (Thomas, M, Uhler, etc) has. At the moment they are waiting for someone to show up that's joining the group (don't ask, I'm not telling). Without a thought, or a premade plan, I went into a very silly, character bashing conversation between the characters that would only happen amongst old friends. The sort of thing that wouldn't be terribly funny unless you knew all the people for a while. That's not to say it'll be over the reader's head and it's an oddly self-appreciating, inside joke that I alone get. I'm betting anyone who reads it will appreciate it on some level, more so if you've followed the previous books in the series. This is not why I'm crazy.

I'm crazy because, after having written out this dialogue and giving it no thought whatsoever, I realized that these characters have become MY imaginary friends. I know these characters like I know my best friends. I know what one of them would say and how the next would reply. It's an odd thing to realize and accept. I have to wonder if it's because I'm the author and that's simply the way it works, or is it because the characters breath so much life within the pages that they have become real on some level? I've read countless books where the main character(s) became more than words on a page, I think we've all been there before, so there's no point in saying more. My only question is whether I have tapped into something like that, or is this just an author thing that I'm only now acknowledging fully? Perhaps an MRI scan is in order.   :P

As "Hitori" is shelved, while I wait for a book cover to be completed and my editor to have a free moment to do her thing, I've decided to jump straight into Book 4 of the main series. Normally, I would give a percentage of completion, but I won't. Not this time. This time I'm playing it by ear. Not because I'm ill prepared, but because I keep finding things I want to explore in more depth than I had previously prepared for. 

What starts off as a minor idea to nudge the plot in a specific direction, ends up compelling enough to expand into more. I don't want to get into details, it'll ruin the fun of the book. What I am getting at is that this book may end up longer than I had originally planned. It may also turn into another book. As this set/trilogy was supposed to be about the battle against the Lords and foreshadowing the next set of books, I can see ths easily being much longer than three books. The question that keeps poking me in the side is: How far do I go?

How many books are too much for one major point? Is it determined by if the subplots remain interesting and on point, or is there simply a time where no matter what you do, no matter how good the subplots are, there is just too much time spent on a major piece of the puzzle? So far, I don't have an answer to that.