Ten Reasons To Follow Me On Twitter (All Serious Too!)

I'm on Twitter. So is your brother and neighbor and mailman and President. 

Here are ten honest and serious reasons for following me on Twitter. And trust me--one day it could save your life. 

#10. The life of a full-time writer is full of excitement. Thirty seconds ago I was just typing on my computer. An hour from now I'll probably be typing on my computer. These are things you need to know. 

#9. My music collection consists of 80's groups that still rock (Depeche Mode, U2, Pet Shop Boys) and soundtracks. You never know if I'm jamming to Morrissey or crying to James Horner. 

#8. Look, cubicle boy. I know what you're doing. Nothing. You're pretending to work. 

#7. I'm not one of those authors who have 4,000 followers and don't follow a single soul. Come on. I'll follow you. I might even show up at your front door! 

#6. I need the social outlet. Please for the love of all that's holy help a man out!

#5. Are you cool? Good. Because I'm cool. And we can be cool together. 

#4. My Twitter membership is absolutely free! (after a lifetime agreement to purchase every book I ever publish)

#3. Here's an example of a Tweet I posted the other day: "Sometimes the color yellow makes me laugh. Out loud. haha!"

#2. What would it be like if the Jack Nicholson character from The Shining was on Twitter? How awesome would that be to hear his thoughts? Well now, by following Travis Thrasher on Twitter, you'll be able to see firsthand how a novelist goes absolutely BATTY. 

#1. Stephen King isn't on Twitter. So follow me instead. 

Why Write?

I tell people all the time that I was in third grade when I decided I wanted to be a writer. My teacher encouraged me and that combined with reading The Narnia Chronicles made me decide that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. 

One thing I don't share that came to mind just the other day is why I started writing during my youth. 

I was a painfully shy kid who seemed to change schools every year or two. Kindergarten, then a new school for first-second grades, then moving to Germany from second to fourth grades. Another new school half a year in fourth. Another one for fifth. Yet another from sixth to ninth grades. New one for tenth grade. Another new one middle of tenth grade to eleventh. And then the school I graduated from eleventh to twelfth. 

Moving was hard enough, and moving in the middle of my school year was even tougher. 

Some people meet me now and they see an extroverted, humorous guy who seems to enjoy the spotlight. Oh, the things we learn as we grow up. Humor is a great way to mask things, right? Always has and it always will be. 

When I was young, I would imagine how my life would be if I was more extroverted, more funny, more clever, more (insert whatever it was that I wanted to be). I sometimes acted those scenes out myself. But what I really enjoyed doing was writing them down. Telling stories about characters like myself who were heroic and courageous and romantic. Yeah, I was doing this even in grade school. And I realized that the ME in my stories was different--I could control who he was and what he did. 

I could also allow him never to say goodbye. 

Maybe that's corny, but that's one reason I started to write. I imagined the person I wished I could be--whether it was someone my age or the age I longed to be at that moment. I would play out scenarios. This wasn't writing to be published--it was just writing out of a desire to change a life I sometimes loathed. 

We all have things in our life we wish we could change. Writing turned out to be cathartic, a place I could go to let out emotions and feelings and situations I couldn't understand or control. 

That painfully shy kid is gone for the most part. But the part of me that wishes I could be someone or something else hasn't. I wish I could be more loving, more giving, more fearless. I wish I could understand and accept. I wish for many things, and many of those wishes go into my writing and my characters.

So much of who we are comes from that wonderful and awful period we call youth. Grade school, junior high (oh dear), high school--I had so many different personas and settings that I really, truly felt like an author writing a myriad of genres. 

Funny how I grew up to be just that. 

THE BEST ONE YET!!!!

How many times have you heard that phrase related to an author's new work? "This is the best one yet!" Over the years, I've heard it quite a bit. It's been used in several reviews and I've probably said it myself tons of times. And with the upcoming release of my eleventh novel just a month away, I'm hearing it again. 

So I'll have a conversation with myself. 

Is this really your best work, Travis? 

Hard to say, really. I still hear from people that say The Promise Remains is their favorite (and therefore saying it's my best). I always find that fascinating. I want to say "really??" But it proves what I say time and time again--reading is subjective. 

But don't you feel that you're growing as an author?

I'd like to say I'm growing, but that doesn't mean that you continue to get it right with each project. I try different things out. It's not like I've taken my first book and tried to make it better and better with each new release. They all have different personalities, different reasons for being written, different challenges. I can't say which one is truly "the best." 

Does having more time to devote to your writing allow you to write a better book? 

Well, first off, let me say . . . you're quite a handsome interviewer, sir. I don't necessarily think that's the case, either. I struggled to get Ghostwriter right. My editor made me work hard. Perhaps the credit should go to her. Someone told me that the story is a lot bigger and more ambitious than a story like Isolation. Does it mean it's truly better? I don't know. 

You want to grow as an artist. I hate-and I mean I hate--doing the same thing. If I wrote a bestselling novel that sold 5 million copies, and suddenly had all the power in the publishing world to write whatever I wanted to, I know that the next work would be very different from that bestseller. Sure, the publisher would fight me on it, and I'm sure it would be in the same universe. But you want to try things out. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. 

Your agent, your mother, and several early reviews feel Ghostwriter is your strongest work to date. What does that tell you? 

It tells me that I have all these voices in my head (including you, Mr. Interviewer) that allow me to tell these stories. I don't know what to think of it. What will they think of Broken, the novel I just handed in? Or the story ideas I have for down the road? Hopefully I'll continue to grow, and hopefully readers will keep coming along for the ride. If I do write a book that they really, really love, then I've done my job.  

The Myths & Realities of Writing Fulltime

With my author's workshop coming up this Saturday morning, I thought I'd post some things that are interesting and fun related to writing. This one falls in the fun category. It deals with the myths and realities of writing fulltime. 

So, I've been writing now fulltime for 20 months. Let me break down the myths and share the realities!! 

Myth: Authors sleep in until noon

Reality: Do you have a two-year-old? If so, enough said. If not, well, think of a real, live, active alarm clock, one that says "WAKE UP!" at the hint of sleeping.

Myth: Authors work in their pajamas all day

Reality: This is one myth I've seriously done everything to avoid. Not like I'm wearing dress pants or anything fancy, but come on. I don't want to look like Mr. Mom, or Hugh Hefner. 

Myth: Authors only have to put in a few hours of work each day.

Reality: Maybe if you're John Grisham (and judging on the reviews of his last book on Amazon, well . . . ) But think of owning your own business in these crazy, scary tough times. Think that you might work on a novel that may or may not get sold. Think that your home is your office and your imagination is your toolbox. The hours are roughly 8 a.m. to midnight with a few chunks of time off (and if you think I'm joking, well, this time I'm not)

Myth: Writing 8 hours a day will result in tons more words written

Reality: I believe every author can only write a certain amount before the writing gets overdone. Imagine the time it takes to cook a nice, juicy steak. Eventually you'll need to take that sucker off or else it'll be charred. Writing is the same way. Or, I should say, your brain is the same way. 

Myth: Happy hour starts at four.

Reality: I usually start at two. haha (joking)

Myth: Writers play on Facebook and Twitter all day long

Reality: I think some do. I dip into it all day long but try not to get immersed.

Myth: "You're living the dream!!"

Reality: "Living the dream involves having no debt"

Myth: Authors have more time to spend with family. 

Reality: Yes. And more time to take out the dog or change a diaper or take out the garbage or . . . 

Myth: Being creative means watching movies whenever you want. 

Reality: Being creative means sitting in a chair staring out the window watching the world go by and wondering/debating/pondering/thinking

Myth: Authors take "trips" for "research"

Reality: Yeah, this is true

Myth: "Okay, sure, writing fulltime is work just like anything else. But still--isn't it awesome??"

Reality: "The awesome part lasted 2.4 hours the first day. It's a job, one that I love, one that seems natural and exhausting just like any other. One that I wouldn't change for anything else in the world!"

What Box Are You In?

No, this isn't one of those dreadful quizzes like "Which Depeche Mode member are you?" In celebrating DM this week, I came across an old interview that was done around 1989. Former keyboard player Alan Wilder said this about the group that was just starting to explode (and have now sold over 100 million albums):

"I think it's very difficult for our record company to take what we do and really know exactly where to place it . . . They don't quite know what bag to put us in and how to market us. I think it's difficult for them."

Publishers of any sort--music, book--need to put artists into boxes. That's just part of the business. You can fight it (as I've tried) but it's difficult to do. It makes it even more difficult to make a name for yourself when people can't easily say who you are and where you fit. 

But sometimes, as DM and other artists have shown, you can just be YOURSELF and find success. I wouldn't advise it, but then again, I hate boxes and always will. 

The next year . . .

I want to know more.

I want to engage, to open up, to dissect, to discover.

I want others to know. I want to know others.

I want to see new perspectives and shares stories of old.

I want to sing major songs in minor keys.

I want the heart and the optimism of a child

I don’t want the voices to go away. I just want to sort them out and put them in their place.

I want to love more and be loved.

I want to find strangers and join them in their journey for a short moment. To be inspired and moved and hopefully to help encourage them in some way.

I want to take those familiar fears and finally exorcise them

For Fun . . .

This morning I didn't really do anything productive besides spend time online while listening to the new Depeche Mode album (which is awesome by the way). But I did do something. Since it's my birthday, I could do anything I want, right? 

So I did. 

I plotted out a novel. 

Man I wish I could get cash for ideas. 

Well, let's take that back. I wouldn't want to sell my ideas. I want to write them.

I came up with an idea for a book with something kinda cool. Something I haven't done. 

The unreliable narrator. 

I did this a little in Sky Blue but this idea would really be messing with the reader's mind. 

I wrote out the storyline--just a page--dividing it up into thirds. 

First part--first person from the unreliable POV. Of course, the reader doesn't know this, right? Not until 30,000 words in. 

Then the story kicks in, and hopefully the reader will rethink everything they've read. 

Then the final section is where the big question will be: what happens to the narrator and the victim? 

Who knows. 

This to me is fun. The story might never come to fruition, but chances are good that it might. 

Writing is hard work. I've shared that. But it's also fun. And when you get a good idea, well, that's even more fun. 

Was this work or play? I don't know. Both perhaps. 

But it's something I love and will probably always love. Crafting a cool story. 

My 37th Year

On the eve of another birthday, here are some random thoughts on my 37th year of living . . .

I finished writing Ghostwriter, then rewrote it and rewrote it again.

Hit Rock Bottom for four months and enjoyed the ride.

Waited and learned that most things in life take longer than we’d like them to take.

Continue to wait. Continue to learn.

Saw how much Kylie takes after both mommy and daddy and how much she loves both of us. Our love for her grows daily.

Cancer showed up in the form of Mike Tyson, but thankfully instead of knocking me down and out he only took a little chunk off my ear.

I discovered how beautiful sunrises and sunsets can be on Lake Pontchartrain.

Wrote and finished Broken. Handing it in this week.

Signed another contract that I’ll be talking about soon.

Thankful for the patience and gentleness of Sharon. And how steadfast of a mother she continues to be.

Learned that every day is a gift from God. And keep trying to remember (and keep relearning) to make every day matter, and to love others and let everything else fall away.

Quote from Broken: “Some ghosts don’t haunt you. Some set you free.”

Still feeling like I’m just on the edge of something exciting and profound and life-changing. Just waiting to take the next step, waiting to get out of my own way.

Then again, I’ve been feeling that way since fourth-grade and probably always will . . .

Violator

As an artist, when do you know you've created your defining work? 

When you're actually in the midst of working on it, do you know deep down? Does a voice somewhere inside of you whisper I've nailed this. They'll love this. 

Does a defining work come from sales? Or from reviews and accolades? Or does it come in time when the work is compared to the artist's complete body of work? 

It's hard to know, but this one thing I do know: Violator is Depeche Mode's defining work. It's when everything came together. The right songs paired with the right producer made with the right sounds promoted with the right marketing. Everything fell into place and they created a landmark album that follow-ups will forever be compared to. 

As an artist who is still searching and longing for a breakout work, I find solace in the fact that the best is still in front of me. When authors have a massive critical and commercial success, they will forever live in that work's shadow. 

Violator was Depeche Mode's seventh album. Most people still think of DM in terms of this release. Here are nuggets of the brilliance:

"Personal Jesus"--one of the catchiest songs Gore has ever written with the memorable line "Reach out and touch faith." Always a favorite live. 

"Enjoy The Silence"--probably their best song ever. The video is maybe one of the best ever made. Strange video that doesn't really fit or make sense? Sure. But memorable. 

Opening with the seductive "World In My Eyes" and closing with the haunting "Clean." 

The song "Waiting For The Night To Fall" is beautiful and hypnotic. 

Even the album cover seems perfect to me. 

A part of me thought they could never top this, but . . . 

Music For The Masses

When Depeche Mode released their sixth studio album, they called it Music For The Masses as a joke. Little did they know that it would truly become music for the masses, as their tour documented in the movie 101. 

This album is probably their most "Goth" sounding album, as it builds on all their previous works but adds a cold strength to the sounds. Standouts include three of their all-time classic songs: "Never Let Me Down Again", "Strangelove" and "Behind The Wheel." 

This was when they really broke through in America, performing at a sold out Rose Bowl in Pasadena where they performed to over 80,000 fans. 

Side note--I moved to Illinois during my junior year (finally ending my trek of the world during my youth) and I remember buying this album shortly after arriving in Wheaton. I attended my first official concert by going to see Depeche Mode even though I was grounded at the time. Long story short, my parents found out and I got ground another month. 

Best disobedient decision ever made. 

Black Celebration

When Depeche Mode released the first single off their upcoming next album for 1986, the American market decided to go with the B-side of the record instead. A song that Depeche Mode had basically written off as fluff. This song, "But Not Tonight", was featured on a cheesy 80's movie and made into a video. It was the first video I ever saw of them.

They looked bizarre and gothic and cool playing their synths (yeah, mock me now).

I loved that song and still do. Yet the first single, "Stripped", is a classic in the DM canon.

The album that followed was Black Celebration.

It was dark, anxious, mysterious, and different. And when I first listened to it, I thought it was fabulous.

"Lets have a black celebration, black celebration, tonight. To celebrate the fact, that we've seen the back, of another black day."

Not quite lyrics like "Just Can't Get Enough", huh?

Martin Gore, the songwriter, sang four songs on the album, more than usual. More songs were subdued. And they focused more on relationships than ever before. 

This was the album that really propelled DM into a new direction. Some fans still rank this as their favorite album.

It was also the first time famed photographer/director worked with them. Anton Corbijn, a Dutch photographer, made a video for DM. He was a big reason the band went from looking poppy and gay to looking artsy and cool.

Everything I initially liked on Some Great Reward was confirmed. And I wasn't the only teen in America that felt like this (though I felt like the only kid in NC who did).

A Broken Frame

So continuing my thoughts on Depeche Mode albums leading up to Tuesday's release of Sounds of the Universe . . . 

A Broken Frame is in my mind the first true DM album. It's a rather subdued affair after the bouncy pop of Speak & Spell. They open the album with "Leave In Silence", and while it's still synth-pop, it's got a melancholy and quiet feel to it. This is Martin Gore, and this is true DM. 

The album has the feel of a band looking for a new direction. They tried creating a few pop songs ala their first album but the best songs are the minor-key moments. A song like "Monument" epitomizes DM then and now--an odd, almost creepy melody combined with quirky synth pop and Dave's voice singing strange lyrics. 

My favorite songs are "See You", a sweet little ballad that's quite catchy, "Shouldn't Have Done That", and the closing song "The Sun & The Rainfall."

One reason this album means a lot to me is because my grandfather took me to the mall to buy it. I remember listening to it with him in the car. God bless Papa, who passed away when I was still a teenager. Here's a man who was a World War 2 veteran, a man who served in Patton's Army in the Battle of the Bulge. A man who ran his own construction company and was dearly loved by everyone. 

It's still hard to picture this mall bringing me to the mall so I could buy A Broken Frame. What could he have been thinking listening to that album? I smile when I think about it. 

It's Really Work (Tip #25)

Writing tip #25 to remember: 

Writing really is hard work. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. 

It can be emotionally draining. It can be mentally exhausting. It can be frustrating, confusing, bewildering, all-consuming, overpowering . . . Need I go on? 

What--sitting at a desk typing away can be all that? 

Those of you who write know the truth. Yet those who don't can't understand it. 

Today I had a particularly exhausting day of writing. This morning I wrote a raw scene in a first draft. Then in the afternoon I rewrote the climax for the novel that's due at the end of the month. 

At the end of the day, I felt like I had nothing left. My mind was mush. I needed time to veg out, but sometimes I'm not the best at being able to let myself do that. 

The strange thing with writing is that it's not just mentally draining, but emotionally draining. And I felt (and still feel) spent. 

So remember--don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Writing is hard work. Whether what you've written is brilliant or amateurish or somewhere in between, it still can be extremely difficult and depleting. Just like any job and profession and love. 

Speak & Spell/Construction Time Again

Continuing my quick reviews of all the Depeche Mode albums leading up to next week's Sounds of the Universe release. 

Anybody remember the Columbia Record Club? It was called that or something close. Where you enrolled and got 12 tapes for a buck, then needed to buy four tapes over four years. Something like that? 

I enrolled and among my first tapes (cassette tapes--if you've never seen one, google it) were Depeche Mode's Speak & Spell and Construction Time Again. I'm posting my thoughts in one blog since these are my two least favorite DM albums. 

Speak & Spell isn't really a Depeche Mode album. Yes, it has "Just Can't Get Enough" on it, one of their classics. But this is a Vince Clarke album. He helped start the band, and he wrote most everything on this album. It sounds a lot like Yaz and Erasure because Vince Clarke continued in both of those bands. I'm a fan of both of them. But the Vince Clarke-Depeche Mode sound is quite different from the first album I got (Some Great Reward). Everything on Speak & Spell sounds chirpy and catchy and pure Atari-land. 

The other album was Construction Time Again. I see this as Depeche Mode's true sophomore album, with Martin Gore writing all of the songs. He was still trying to find his "voice" in my opinion. Many of these songs are political and don't seem to work. U2 could do politics, but not these guys. The songs began to take on gothic tones, such as the clanging sounds of "Pipeline." It literally sounds like someone's building a pipeline in the other room as some guy droans throughout the song. Interesting, but not quite one to play in a concert! 

Still, Construction Time Again gave us one of DM's most classic songs: "Everything Counts." It's still among my favorites. It's a crowd-pleaser at concerts--when you go, everybody sings the words. It was the closing song on their 101 tour. Just watch the video for that, with an entire stadium singing back to Dave and Martin and gang. Classic. 

I remember when I got these two albums, I was a little disappointed. I had gone in reverse in terms of purchasing their albums. I still had another to go to own all their albums so far. 

I think I already started getting abuse for liking them, especially for their totally feminine-looking cover for their Catching Up With Depeche Mode album. I still wondered what was up with the blonde-haired guy named Martin who wrote all the songs. But like I said in my last post on them, they had mystique. I was fascinated to continue to discover their music. 

"Broken" Playlist

The following soundtracks are the ones I've been listening to as I write and rewrite Broken, my novel I'm handing in on May 1 and that comes out in April/May 2010. (The one soundtrack has two shown--the one I've been listening to is "Blood Simple").

Random Thought

Dreams are a lot like stories. The best ones leave you moved even when the daylight creeps in and real life starts again. You find yourself sad that they're over. 

Some Great Reward

To celebrate Depeche Mode's twelfth album that releases a week from tomorrow (April 21--great day to be born!), I'm going to review each of their albums by the date I purchased them. I'm not a music reviewer and everything that needs to be said about each album has been said, but I'm simply sharing some random thoughts on my love of each of these albums and how they impacted my life. 

And look . . . The group has sold over a 100 million albums. I don't have to apologize for liking them. I won't. Even if my dad calls them Depeche Commode. Whatever. How many groups have been around this long and been this influential? 

People don't mind admitting their love of U2. I love U2 as well. But not like Depeche. 

If I could have a beer with anyone in the world, it would be Martin Gore. But, since he's sober now (probably a good thing, too), I settle for having guess a cup of coffee with him. 

So my first album I ever got of Depeche's happened to be Some Great Reward. I love that title, by the way. One day I want to title a book with that name. 

I had already heard Depeche Mode's breakthrough hit when it came on the radio: "People Are People." I liked the song, too (though now it's among my least favorite songs). But on a ninth grade class trip in 1985, I heard the rest of the album. 

Everything changed for me. 

This was a time when there was still such a thing as MYSTIQUE. Nowadays there's no mystique. We see videos of Bono in his hotel room and we see what Britney Spears is thinking about on Twitter and we see reports of every other celebrity in the world on one of ten thousand programs on television. 

Yet, when I heard Depeche Mode, I was living in North Carolina. I knew nothing on them and I had to search hard to find anything about them. 

They represented what I always thought and believed: There's a big, bold, and exciting world happening out there. 

These strange guys from England represented something different, something rebellious, something strange and magical. They definitely had mystique. 

It wasn't just that, though. I loved their sound. 

From the strange, gurgling noise that opens up the album to the pounding, haunting drums of the final song, I knew that this was something different. Something "adult", something foreign, something cool. 

I loved them instantly. 

Depeche Mode has always been a strange pop band. They admit it even now. They came out with all those other awful 80's bands but they were different. Still, they looked strange and sounded all synthed up and for a while got no respect. 

But listening to Some Great Reward, I can see why I starting liking them. 

Their songs usually touch on three things--love (blossoming and falling apart), relationships (desire, romance, sex) and faith. Strange, I know. But as an impressionable teenager, those three things drew me in.  

Listening to their album felt--it felt like I was in on some secret. I knew that others were listening to this music, just nobody I knew. I didn't quite understand the lyrics--they were pessimistic and promiscuous and yet unabashedly romantic at the same time. 

One reason I started to love them was because after five dark, brooding synth songs, here's this piano ballad sung by "the other guy" with lyrics like "I want somebody who cares for me passionately with every thought and with every breath." A heartfelt song that I loved so much that it happened to be the song I danced to with Sharon on our wedding day. 

Yet that song is followed by the S&M-sounding "Master and Servant." This song was about the complexity of relationships, but they played it off in an seductive way. It sounded (and still does sound) cool, dark, hypnotic. Dave Gahan's voice is perfect. Not too poppy but not too grainy. 

But the song that really, truly did it for me was the last song on the album. I'd never heard something sound so mesmerizing and haunting. It's the song "Blasphemous Rumors", a song my parents forbid me to play, a song that made me worry when I listened to it. 

It had the strangest sounds I'd ever heard, along with the darkest beat and creepiest vibe. But the lyrics are the thing that made me wonder. What's Martin Gore talking about? What's he trying to say? 

The song is about someone who is questioning God, who thinks it's all a joke because of the darkness in this world, who's almost taunting God. 

Do I agree with these lyrics? No. But I can still see how someone could utter them. I can see how someone could sing them after sitting in a church and witnessing the horrors all around them. My character in Isolation, Jim, could sing this song because it's very much what he was going through. 

For a musical group from some small town in England to tackle topics of love (what's that all about?) sex (forbidden!!), and faith (in a way that was very, very different from my parents and my school), it all seemed so . . . so FASCINATING. 

I was a teenager. And I'd found an outlet. 

So many years later, I'm still a fan. And I still find it amazing to hear songs about love and sex and faith all integrated in a strange and mystical way. 

I know more than I did when I was ninth grade, of course (well, most of the time). But that doesn't mean there still isn't some mystique. There is. There probably always will be with Depeche. And call me silly. Whatever. I'll still always like them. 

And I'll still always be able to relate. 

Why Write (Tip #24)

Why Write? (writing tip #24)

To capture an emotion

To go on a journey

To explore something you don’t know or understand
To put yourself in someone else’s shoes
To put yourself back in shoes from your past
To imagine another life
To examine a particular type of relationship
To make people laugh
To make people cry
To create another universe
To shed light on a particular part of our universe
To scare people
To get readers to think
To surprise readers and to surprise yourself
To entertain
To move readers and to move yourself
To worship
To remember
To show good and evil in this world
“To provide an uncommon reading experience which offers an entertaining and thought-provoking glimpse of hope”

To write

Title & Synopsis of #12

I'm pleased to give you some information about my twelfth novel that is scheduled to come out spring of 2010. I've finished it but am tweaking it before handing it in to the publisher.

My third novel with Faithwords/Hachette will be titled Broken. The following is an overview of the story:

Laila grew up in a world most people dream about. She had a loving family, wealth, and faith in God. But disillusionment with her faith along with the promise of fame and fortune send her from the heartland of Texas to New York City. When her dreams crumble, Laila finds herself living an empty, dangerous life as a call girl in Chicago.

One night on the job, Laila finds herself in a precarious position and shoots a client in the chest in self-defense, killing him and sending Laila into a spiral of guilt and emptiness. Six months later, Laila is trying to move on--repairing her life and going to church--but she's haunted by the past. She hasn't told anyone about the man she killed, and she's still estranged from her family.

When she is approached by a stranger who says he knows what she did, Laila has no choice but to run. But the stranger stays close behind, and Laila begins having visions of the man she killed.

Little does she know that she's being hounded by something else, something not of this world, something that knows her deepest and darkest secret.

Scared and wandering, will Laila regain her trust in God to protect her from these demons? Or will her plea for salvation come too late?

It Never Sounds As Good As It Is Or Can Be (Tip #23)

Today I found myself in a situation I've found myself in all my life. 

When I was young and had an amazing story to relay to my parents or my friends, I'd stumble and fumble with the words. The story I told never--and I mean never--turned out to be as good as it was when I saw it happening. 

I realized early on that I wasn't the best verbal storyteller. Perhaps that's why I sought to try and tell them in the confines of the written word. 

As I've grown older, I've seen the same thing happen as I'm trying to detail a story idea I have. The story never sounds as amazing as it is in my head. Even if I articulate my ideas perfectly (which never happens), I never get the desired result. Of course, I'm not sure what my desired result is. Tears in the eyes? Fear and trembling? Laughter and shouts of "your brilliant!" I don't know. 

But how many times have you shared a story idea with someone and seen that look in their eyes? The distant, don't-give-a-rip look. The look that seems to ask Is That All??

Over the years I've learned to temper my verbal storytelling. I've learned to try and curb the answer to the inevitable question "What are you working on?". Because my answer is usually too long and too boring and doesn't justify the story I want to tell. I've learned to say less. One day, I tell myself, they might be able to read the story instead of listening to me yammer on about it. 

But excitement can still get the best of me. And today I found myself talking a little too much about a story I'm working on to my agent. Somewhere in the span of the ten minutes I was talking, I knew I'd lost her. I couldn't see that look because we were talking on the phone, but I just knew. I felt it. She was polite and even when I apologized for going on and on (like all of us writers find ourselves doing), she said that it sounded good. 

But I knew it sounded rather silly. Most stories sound silly if told in a certain way. Sure, if told with conviction and clarity by certain individuals, they might sound incredible. If President Obama had shared the same idea, the masses would be moved. But coming out of my mouth, it all sounded rather . . . well, rather lame. 

Yet I know the idea isn't lame. It's a great idea. But sometimes it's best to write that idea and do what they tell us authors to do--show and not tell. 

So tip number 23 is this: be careful about talking about an idea or a work-in-progress. Because even those you love might not be enthralled or impressed. And that can discourage you. It's discouraged me in the past. Right now I'm simply used to it. And everybody who knows me is used to hearing about one of ten thousand ideas. I'm not the boy who cried wolf. I've turned into the wolf. 

Rather than crying wolf, I want to eventually produce the wolf in front of them. Then they can decide if the story is any good or not. But I'll have done my work and the story can speak for itself. 

Love Stories

I just got another question about when I'm going to write another love story. I just love questions like this. What I told this person was the truth: my next novel, Ghostwriter, has a deep love story in it. It's not going to remind a reader of The Notebook but there is still a compelling love story told in its pages. 

The thing I didn't say is what I want to say--I've written other love stories since The Promise Remains that haven't seen light of day. I counted and found four that I've written. Two of them will remain in my closet until the end of time. They're not dreadful but they're not that special. Another is a majorly ambitious novel that will get overhauled one day down the road. That one is a very special story and as the years pass I make notes on how to make it better. 

The final one is a story I spent all last year working on. 

Will that story see light of day? Yes. Absolutely. The question of when and all those other nice details remain a mystery, but it will be part of my collection of stories that sit on a shelf. 

This writing thing can be confusing. Because as I continue to get accolades on my ability to write supernatural suspense, I'll continue to hear people say their absolute favorite book of mine is my first. I always want to tell people not to say that. Because in my mind there's never going to be a Promise Remains 2. It would be impossible to recapture the spirit of that book (or really any book I've written for that matter). 

Do I have more love stories I want to write? Yes, absolutely. And if given the time and the opportunity, some of those stories might see light of day, too. I think I have some great ideas. But I also have to deal with the slow-moving, ever-exasperating machinery of publishing. 

And, oh yeah, the story I just started to write--it's the scariest idea I've ever come up with. But that's for another time . . .  

"Paint A Vulgar Picture" by The Smiths

At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed

At the record company party
On their hands - a dead star
The sycophantic slags all say :
"I knew him first, and I knew him well"

Re-issue ! Re-package ! Re-package !
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra Track (and a tacky badge)

A-list, playlist
"Please them , please them !"
"Please them !"
(sadly, THIS was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have said no
If you'd wanted to

BPI, MTV, BBC
"Please them ! Please them !"
(sadly this was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have walked away
...Couldn't you ?

I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged "Take me with you ...
I don't care where you're going..."

But to you I was faceless
I was fawning, I was boring
Just a child from those ugly new houses
Who could never begin to know

Who could never really know
Oh ...

Best of ! Most of !
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves !
Buy both, and feel deceived

Climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour ! ("media whore")
"Please the Press in Belgium !"
(THIS was your life...)

And when it fails to recoup ?
Well, maybe :
You just haven't earned it yet, baby

I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
You're just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm

So, in my bedroom in those 'ugly new houses'
I danced my legs down to the knees
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again ...

At the record company meeting
On their hands - at last ! - a dead star !
But they can never taint you in my eyes
No, they can never touch you now

No, they cannot hurt you, my darling
They cannot touch you now
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again

Not The Norm

Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode said this about their group (which has sold over 75 million records worldwide):

"We've never been the norm . . . we've never been the band to latch on to."

Writing Tip #22

Writing gives you the ability to document who you are at the exact moment you write it. Doesn't matter if you're writing a tell-all memoir or a business book. It still allows you as the author to share a story in your voice and worldview. 

So embrace that and put it into the pages. 

For a minute forget about publishing and selling books and all that (don't tell my publisher I said that). Just think about the book you're writing. Or the book you want to write.

Every story I've told has been a snapshot in time. Even if the story has been as fictional as I could possibly make it, it's impossible not to put myself in the pages. Some authors don't like to admit this, but every author does this. I'm not just talking about putting themselves in the book. I'm talking about putting their struggles and their interests and their passions and their faults into the pages. Why even bother to write if you don't? 

A story told by a sixteen-year old is far different than the same story told by a twenty-six year old. Or a thirty-six year old. You can keep going. 

Every book is a chance to document who you are at that moment. 

Are you sixty-three and thinking about retirement and wanting to share some of the stories you've seen? Are you twenty-one in college wondering what you're going to do once you graduate? Are you approaching forty and still feeling too young and also feeling far too old? 

Whatever you write will reflect this. There will be echoes of it in the prose. Hints, doses, droplets. It doesn't have to be exactly about you. 

I'm learning this. I don't have to write about a (put my age here)-year old guy dealing with (whatever I'm dealing with). My current novel has a female protagonist who is ten years younger than me. She's from Texas (which I'm not). She's been involved in things I've never been involved with. 

Yet, I have a feeling that if I'm given the ability to look at this novel I'm working on ten or twenty or thirty years from now, I'll remember why I wrote it. And those reasons will be more than simply to write a really great story. It will be a snapshot of the man I am, living in 2009 dealing with the life around me. Putting in things I appreciate and understand. Putting in fears I carry around with me. Putting in a part of myself, yet not too much of myself (which I sometimes can do). 

My tip is to celebrate who you are. Doesn't mean that some publisher will celebrate with you (as I am painfully aware). But they might. And someday, you might look back at a little love story told in such a sweet and naive fashion and wonder if that really was you who wrote it. I do this all the time. And not just with the published stuff, either, but will all my writing. I look back and I remember. 

Hopefully you do the same.