Change of Blog

My new Blog can be visited at:
http://www.cchumphreys.com/Site_3/Craft_and_Graft.html

See you there!

New Blog

Hello! Anyone reading this... and wanting to read more about Chris or C.C. Humphreys - then please visit my new blog at my website: www.cchumphreys.com

See you there!

Vendetta

I really am falling behind. Between the debauchery of visiting English people and the need to write a treatment for a new Teen Novel, I am failing to note things of, well, note. Such as the publication of my seventh novel this week.

'Vendetta' is now out there. It is Book Two in The Runestone Saga. Sequel to 'The Fetch'. Sky goes to Corsica and encounters the Mazzeri - the Dream Hunters of Death. It is an even darker ride than its predecessor. I also think its one of my tightest novels to date, action and structure marrying well.

But that's for you to decide.

Vlad waits. I put him on hold for afore-mentioned partying and treatment writing. But I think I have about a week left before I complete a very very rough first draft. Novel Nine. How'd that happen?

Impaled

Yes, still here. Been busy impaling people, hence the lack of blog. It really is a messy business and seeing as this is the first draft I am probably putting in an excess of detail. Further drafts shall probably see it reduced. I mean, how many impalings does one wish to hear about? (Quiet in the back there!)

I have been writing like one possessed. All long hand, the first time I’ve done that. I am usually up at 6.30 a.m. and writing by 7.15. Then its straight through till 1, with a swift lunch and some more writing till 3 ish. For those who have written, you’ll know that, when you are making it all up, that’s quite the go. For those who haven’t… try it sometime. I also don’t labour, Hemingway like, over a sentence, declare my day’s work done after a few mots juste and a bottle of Pouilly Fume. I bang it out. This draft, more than any before, has taught me perseverance. I bite my lip, ignore my ineptitude, and keep going.

In three weeks or so I am going to have a very rough first draft. I feel the rewrite will be more complex than ever before. But I broke this week to copy edit the final version of ‘Possession’ - Book Three of the Runestone Saga. I have completed a saga.

What’s a little impalement after that?

"His Name is Death and Hell follows with him."

That title, a quote from Revelations, is on my writing board and meant to be for Dracula.
But really, it’s for me.
Writing is Hell! There are various circles. Second draft decision making. Editor’s notes to be implemented. Then there is the one I am stuck in now... First draft hell.
There’s one canto in Dante’s Inferno where the travellers walk across a frozen pond with heads poking up through the ice. Dante gives one a good kick.
I am the kicker and the kicked. Frozen and free, alternating.
I look back at journals and notice that I am often in pain. I tend to forget that in the joy of a finished draft, the further delight of an actual edition. But this of Dracula… a real pain in the neck! (You see! Even my jokes are poor!)
I am forging ahead, regardless. I am writing this first draft longhand to try to get the flow. But I am also letting a lot of stuff pass I would otherwise be tempted to fix and correct.
I have to trust the process, keep reminding myself that my only goal here is to find out what the story is. Writing is re-writing, I truly believe. But, eight novels under my belt or no, I still get the jitters, the critics’ carping voice sounds. “You’re writing rubbish!”
The subject is hard hard hard. I still haven’t quite worked out where Vlad Tepes falls in the scale of great slaughterers. I don’t believe he was a psychopath. But where does that leave him?
So sorry, all – and thanks Rachel for the prompt. Won’t promise to blog more but I will try. If that damn Impaler will let me!

The Return

Look, I know, I've been back two weeks and have failed to blog. Truth is, I had a scramble on to get the third book of the trilogy done and dusted and back to my wonderful editor in New York, Nancy Siscoe. (It's called 'Possession' now, as Knopf felt 'Ragnarok' was just a bit too Norse Saga-like). Then, with barely a day to say hallo to wife and bairn, I plunged into the actual writing of The Last Confession aka The True History of Dracula.
Romania truly inspired me. I will find time to tell more of my trip - and, of course, you can still catch up with the PODCASTS below.
I'll share this as well. I have decided to write the first draft in longhand. I always do quite a bit of writing with my pen. Fill notebooks in fact. But I have always written the drafts straight into the computer. This one just feels different. I want to blast it out, feel that old brain/hand transfer. There's a time element too - I want to deliver by Christmas. Mainly, though, I think this tale will be shaped by how its written as much as by what the story is. So I have my notebooks, my Waterman fountain pen. So far, knock wood, all is going well.

London Revisited

So, I am back in London. What a trip! I hope you are able to follow the podcasts - just click to the right there on 'Podcasts', wait till the dial moves across and click the arrow. My friend Gerald has done amazing stuff, finding photos and sounds. I'll try to do some more literary notes at some stage for those who prefer to read. But Romania followed by that jewel Istanbul... I am going to need some time to digest it all.