A look at one of my favourite world and character builders.
Category: Behind the Scenes
Pickles and Piper Reboot
Hey everyone!
I’ve been MIA while attempting to rewrite book one of the Pickles and Piper series. Absolutely nothing was working, so I decided to do the next best thing – a complete reboot! Everything is changing! I’m rewriting backgrounds, characters, and simplifying the whole thing.
Where I went wrong with book one was too many characters for a short book. That killed me. I also had too many subplots. The reboot only has 4 characters, and the traveling shovel of death. At this point, Piper and her mom are merely mentioned and are no longer key players.
It’s making life so much easier, as is changing the location. Springhollow is out the window. I’m focusing on Titchfield, where Pickles lives. Book 1 now takes place in her own neighbourhood. There’s lots of other changes, as well. If you read clips from the original story on this blog, the differences will make your eyes cross. 🙂
I’m also using Trello to plot and loving it. I have everything I need on one screen: All three acts, characters images, location images, ideas, writing tips, and a To-Do list.
Anyway! Tomorrow is Camp Nano 2020! And I have a lot more planning to do before it begins.
Hope everyone is making the most of lockdown! 🙂
Yo
Where the heck is the book?
“Revenge of the Turd” is still in editing mode. Sometimes life smacks you in the face and takes over. That’s how it’s been for me since summer.
I wrote “Revenge” during Campnano over the summer, and almost immediately after it was written my mom started having health issues. For some reason, she stopped being able to swallow properly. The clinic wasn’t much help. They basically saw her as 85 and that’s life.
It took taking her to ER before anyone took her seriously. Meanwhile, I was going over to her house every half hour to check on her.
Writing and editing demands focus. This new, and unexpected schedule didn’t allow for it. So, book 2 took a back seat for the better part of a couple months.
Then came the need, and opportunity, to find a new home. The campervan wasn’t working out anymore and I really needed to stand up. Because of sitting constantly, my own health was being affected. I put on weight and feeling stressed.
The van breaking down on a regular basis cleared my savings. So, Mom gave me an advance on my inheritance, to find something else to live in. That became my sole obsession, and once more writing and editing went to the side.
So, now I’ve got my new home, a 1995 Jayco Eagle, and it’s awesome! I have a big table to lay my notebooks out on and write! I never knew having a full-size table again could be so exciting.
Anyway! Writing and editing are now back to being my number 1 priority! I’d love to publish the book by the end of December, but I’m guessing it will most likely be in January.
I’ll keep you posted! 🙂
A little secret about my cover artist
Today’s post is completely off-topic, but it’s 9/11 Remembrance Day, and believe it or not – 9/11 and the cover of my first kids’ book are connected in a miraculous way. You can read about it in my post on my Ko-fi page. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it! 🙂 Click here.
Avatars and Ko-fi
A couple things happened when I was making avatars using Blue Robot. One, I accidentally made Sara and Hitchhiker look alike. And Stanley Dunkelberger (above avatar) isn’t geeky like he should be.
So, this afternoon it’s back to the drawing board and get the details worked out.
If you want to see Piper’s dad’s avatar and learn a little about him, check out my Ko-fi page. For a buck donation to my “pay the illustrator” fund, you can get 30 days of access to cool behind-the-scenes stuff. You can either donate monthly or just once. Once still gets you 30 days access. 🙂
Off to work on avatar updates! Make it a great afternoon! 🙂
Pickles and Piper Mysteries 