From an action scene to a philosophical one

I just completed a mid-book action scene and the next one facing me is a sensitive, philosophical one. Guess that means I'll work on it tomorrow and do other things the rest of the afternoon.

I've checked out a biography of a powerful woman in the eleventh century and am having trouble getting into it. It has to be just me. The book is highly rated, but so far I'm bored. I will give it a chance, though, and read a chapter every day. I think the work would have been much better fictionalized, though.

The dangers of psychotropic drugs

A scary 134-minute-long video clip on our corrupt pharmaceutical system. This video examines the dangers of psychotropic drugs.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25231.htm

One of the lead characters in my second book is a psychiatrist and the book deals with psychotropics, so the information in this video will be useful in my rewrite.

Alexander Theroux's Darconville's Cat

I'm reading Darconville's Cat out of a pure enjoyment of Theroux's prose, rather than an overwhelming interest in the story. So, of course, that means I'm reading other books concurrently (as I tend to do much of the time, anyway, but usually alternating between fiction and nonfiction).

As to writing, I've finally gotten past an intense action scene. I must go back and rewrite it after I complete the rest of the book. In fact, I should take a quick online class on writing action scenes, first. Action scenes do not come naturally to me. Actually, the entire book is slow, not like the first two (which are still waiting in the wings for rewrites). I think it is because I don't totally have my energy back, after ten years of stress. But I can see progress, albeit slow. Best of all, I still love the concept of this book and now have confidence in my ability to plot ... well, at least more confidence than I did previously ...

Rick's career change is now accomplished and I'm looking forward to him having a saner life--meaning weekends off! He's enjoying the process of finding clients, as well. Some day the business will pay off, I'm convinced.

Not my normal genre, but ...

... The Seance by John Harwood is really good.

Next, I'll try Darconville's Cat by Alexander Theroux -- unless I get sidetracked by a Steve Berry novel, the kind of suspense I love to indulge in.

Still waiting for 13 Bankers, the new one by Simon Johnson and James Kwak that is a must read and a current report on today's financial situation. The authors blog at Baseline Scenario (http://baselinescenario.com), a site that is now one of my favorites, except I get their updates by email to save time. (I am working very hard at cutting down my Internet browsing time!)

Attributes of main male character in novel

I feel really good about discovering and working out several plot problems, but I'm stymied on how to endow my male hero with an attribute that will get transformed throughout the novel. This is my struggle for today, and hopefully I can end the day with a resolution.

Page count is nearing 100. Beginning setup is now complete, so next comes the harder point of weaving the story threads together into a pattern that is tight yet complex. Once again, I am so glad I outlined the whole thing in advance, else I'd be in trouble right now (as I was with my first book).

Onward.

Observations on books

Some of the most disappointing works I've read are by authors who have once produced good work. I think the reason is that publishers sign them up for multi-book deals and the authors are forced to take time to promote their own work and have little time left over to do a quality job for their upcoming deadlines.

Whenever I find an author whose work I like, I generally read everything else they've written. Fortunately, since I'm now getting the majority of my books from the library, I don't have to buy material that no longer makes the grade.

I resolve that if I'm ever lucky enough to get my work out there, I will absolutely refuse to let a book be printed unless it is truly up to standards. That makes a good case for having a backlog of novels before I even solicit publication.