On Writing

I took a hiatus from using the computer for writing over the last week. The reason is two fold. First and foremost, we had a visit from Lynda’s dad and his new wife. We haven’t seen them in quite a while and I felt it important to get reacquainted with her father and to get to know his new wife. We sat around visited, we traveled throughout Sioux Falls and surrounding communities. I cooked for them and smoked some salmon. I’m glad that I took that time. I came away with some new ideas, some new characters and a modicum of a refreshed sense of humor.

The second reason, I feel might be just as important. When writing, I get more creative and bold when I am writing in my journal. Every writer is different. For me, the act of letting my thoughts flow down through my arm and then through the pen to paper stimulates my creative juices. It seems to feed on its own energy. When I am writing the first draft, I don’t worry about spelling. I don’t worry about proper punctuation. I don’t worry about syntax. I don’t worry about anything other than getting my ideas down before they fly out the through the windows of my mind. My problem is the computer, typewriter, keyboard, etc. I worry about all those things I don’t worry about when using my journal. When I transcribe my first draft using my computer’s keyboard, I tweak, modify, improve, correct spelling, correct syntax, correct punctuation and general smooth out the dialogue. I use it as my first editing. So, this last week, I spent using my journal and completing my new book up through chapter 9. A week ago, I was on chapter 3. What is even better one of my on-going characters in my Johnson/Ingram Detective novels, “Fast Eddie” was fleshed out. I did this to show how his characteristics lend a sense of humor to a tragic situation and in order to keep the main characters from going insane or succumbing to their demons. I remember when my mom died, we had the memorial for my dad after he passed and the memorial for Lynda’s mom. We all took turns telling funny stories or about how their lives affected us. I would rather remember them that way than their last few days or months. I feel the sharp, ragged edges of life’s tragedies are better viewed when they are smoothed with a small amount of well placed humor.

Family

Family is not just those whose biology matches on a DNA chart. Family is all who have important influences on your life. This was brought to life last night when we had my daughter’s, Renee family over for dinner. My wife’s father, Del Sellnow is here for a short visit from his home in Arizona. He recently got remarried after the death of his first wife. Nancy, his new bride, has brought a spark to his life. His sense of humor has blossomed and he seems so much more relaxed. This did not go unnoticed by my seven year old granddaughter, Madison (Maddie or more appropriate to me “Miss Magoo”). As any highly intelligent seven year old, she cuts right to the chase. In a very normal, uncontrived moment, that almost was missed by all, she called Nancy Great-Grandma. Once it sunk in the otherwise noisy room became extremely quiet. I looked around and in the corner of all adult eyes was a tear of happiness.

And, people ask me why do you write. Need I say more?

Coupon E-Book Sale “The Hunter” $0.00

I have a book sale going on for The Hunter at Smashwords.com. Below is the coupon and code you must use to get the promotional price. I apologize for the the web address below but the link option was not working at time of publishing. Please stop by and get an E-Book for free:

Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: UB42E
Expires: August 20, 2011

http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=scott+hendricks

Just click on “The Hunter”

E-Book Publishing

The process of publishing an E-Book for the first time got very interesting. My first attempt, I have to admit was disastrous! Then I got to reading and reading and reading some more. I finally got the correct fonts down. Then I became very familiar with formatting the page. Because of all my attempts and need for massive reading, I started a page on Facebook . The idea is for E-Authors of my same genre mystery/crime/thriller/crime adventure, etc can communicate with each other. I am sure there is plenty to learn and to share with each other. More importantly, where those who want to E-Publish can go to learn. Stop by and join me.

Taking a day off

Yesterday, Sunday, July 10, 2011, I took the day off from both writing and photography. I am an avid cyclist and the Tour de France is must watching and a writer could not have dreamed up a better scenario than came about on the tour yesterday. There was crash after crash and the winner from last year spent almost as much time on the pavement as he did on the saddle. It was the best stage in over twenty years, if you like real drama in your sports — the writing was tight, the characters believable, there was conflicts, there was mystery, there was heroism. Who could think that a rider hurled fifteen feet in the air. only to land on a barbed wire fence would get back on his bicycle and finish the race, with blood streaming down his leg.

My sister, Ann keeps asking me how do I come up with the ideas for my murder mysteries. All a writer has to do is watch sports, and read about how cruel man is to his fellow man.

We had our granddaughter, Madison over on Saturday night so our daughter and her mom along with her boy friend and other friends could volunteer for Make-A-Wish foundation by selling beer and wine at the tent for Hot Harley Nights in Downtown Sioux Falls on Saturday night. Late morning on Sunday Lynda and I took Madison to see Mr Poppers Penguins with Jim Carey. The story line was tight. The protagonist fought his personal demons and won. The comedy was well controlled and carried off well. It was an entertaining story, suitable for family viewing. It was a predictable story line told with some new twists; but done so in a very entertaining fashion; I recommend this movie for families with children. Lynda and I also watched “Unstoppable” with Denzel Washington. What could they do with one more train wreck. The characters is what they could do. Excellent interaction between characters and carried off perfectly. I highly recommend.

This morning, I am determined to finish chapter 04 of “It’s Time to Go”.

Writing Prompt

Finish the following:

It was hot, it was muggy…

Writing prompts and a productive day

Yesterday, Thursday, July 7, 2011 was rather productive in the field of writing. I finished chapter 2 and began chapter 3 of It’s Time to Go. Last night, I went to writer’s group at Scooters Coffee House in Sioux Falls. We met, we visited about what was working for each of us, and we did a timed writing. I like timed writings. They force me to write and let a prompt direct the works and not to over think. It is a good exercise for a writer. My prompt was “Candles flickered when he entered…” I turned that into be a part of chapter 3 and it helped to make the villain more creepy than he already was.

Another book published as an E-Book

Yesterday, July 5, 2011, I spent the day repairing the end of The Hunter. The third book in the Johnson-Ingram series. Somehow I lost the last chapter when uploading it. It is now fixed and is published at Smashwords.com and at Amazon.com (for Kindles). I still got time to work on writing chapter 2 of It’s Time to Go.

Taking the day off

Yesterday, July 4, 2011, I took the day off from writing and photography. It was a family day, as we celebrated the birth of the United States of America. Another area that I like to be creative is in the kitchen. I love to create fantastic dishes for my family. Yesterday was a BBQ. Lynda and I bought two rack of ribs on Saturday and then I soaked them in a bucket of saltwater with 8 smashed cloves of garlic, two small yellow onions coarsely chopped, two sprigs of fresh rosemary, 3 sprigs fresh thyme and 10 leaves of fresh basil quartered. I soaked them until noon Monday, then dried them. I prepared a rub of garlic powder, parsley, paprika, crushed dried rosemary, black pepper, white pepper and sea salt. Once the rub was on, I let it sit until I had a bed of white hot charcoal, I put on 3 small logs of plum wood that had soaked in water for five hours, dampered the heat on the Weber Kettle and slow smoked the ribs for 5 hours. Over the last hour, I kept turning the ribs and slathering with my recipe BBQ sauce, while the corn on the cob steam roasted in soaked husks and wrapped in foil. There was plenty of beer to go along with the meal that also included Lynda’s famous potato salad.

My E-Books are starting to sell

I published River of Tears and Theft of Innocence at both Smashwords and at Kindle E-Books at Amazon dot com the auto-link feature won’t work for the following url: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3AScott+Hendricks&keywords=Scott+Hendricks&ie=UTF8&qid=1309795450&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B0058HRQGQ . I am going to be publishing the third of the Johnson-Ingram detective novels soon. When I uploaded the book, I encountered a computer problems and lost the last chapter and epilogue. Luckily I have aback up. Had to clean up the mess first. So, look for The Hunter to be published soon. In the mean time my other two books are selling. They are not flying off the shelves by any means but it is a start.