Progress Is Being Made!

Posted on May 9, 2019 by walterh

I’ve got a few projects on my plate, even though my plate is going to be full with more work than usual, if my part-time gig goes through. But I’m going to keep writing and just keep things going! I’m about halfway through the sequel to Migration: Beginnings, and am in the planning status for just about everything else that I’m going to write. Keeping busy, as I’ve always said, is definitely a wonderful thing!

To go along with the second book, I’m in the process of turning Migration: Beginnings into an audiobook. I’ve selected the narrator, and he’s already given me a sample of what the book sounds like. I’m really digging it! If you’re interested, you can listen to the sample here!

Oh, Deadlines

Posted on April 30, 2019 by walterh

There is nothing quite so motivating as a deadline. I’m down to under 2,000 words to meet my Camp NaNoWriMo for April, 2019, which – bonus – I probably wouldn’t be this far into my next book had I not joined up to do a camp NaNo. But sometimes you write and write and write, and can only get so far.

There’s a fine line when it comes to writing; are you telling a story, or are you just putting words on a page. Sometimes it’s okay to put words on a page, as long as you can edit it to a coherent story later on. And sometimes working with deadlines does make you feel like you’re just putting words on a page. I didn’t feel that when I’d first gotten into this Camp NaNo event, but I indeed have the last couple of days.

The good thing is, I’m following my plotlines as I’ve laid them out, so at least it seems to be working for me. And I’ll more than likely get those last 2,000 words in before midnight tonight and beat that deadline. But even if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world. It’s making progress on something I love.

My original deadlines for writing were a lot more arbitrary than the ones I have now. Before, I said I wanted to finish one book in the first quarter of 2019, and then finish this book that I’m currently writing in the second quarter. Good, noble goals. But the fact that there was no external element to the first set of goals, but there was for the second (e.g. Camp NaNo) made all the difference for me.

So here’s to goals and deadlines. They get us to where we want to go – sometimes.

I think the best representation of how I sometimes feel about deadlines was said eloquently by the late, great Douglas Adams:

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. -Douglas Adams

Oh my

Posted on April 28, 2019 by walterh

So I am on Twitter talking to other authors about websites, and – ding ding ding! I realize that I haven’t posted anything on here in nine months. That’s long enough to conceive a baby, bring it to term, have it, and contemplate the next eighteen years as a caregiver to a child I didn’t know I had until the start of this blog post. Yeesh.

Not that Boo and I are capable of having children, what both being dudes and all. But I digress.

Things have been going slow on the writing front for the last few months, as evidenced by the fact that I haven’t published anything since Migration: Beginnings was re-published in the Summer of 2018. Thing is, I have so many ideas, that I told someone who is helping me with getting my professional head on straight, that it’s almost like overload paralysis.

But I’m making progress.

I was supposed to be writing the prequel and first book of the romance series that I’m writing with my coauthor Lisa (who wrote ‘A Million Miles Amok’ with me). But the bug to work on a new Migration book has really captured me. So that, plus the fact that I’m taking part in CampNanoWrimo with my friend Nazri, means I’m working on that series. I hope to get the sequel finished by the end of June, and I should be able to make it. I’m nearly 20,000 words in, and have everything plotted. It’s just that I throw my own roadblocks up from time to time with how I think the story should go. Oh well, more time to work out the details with Shavonne (seriously, she’s a great sounding board and instigator of wonderful ideas. Here’s her website if you’re interested!).

Still have a couple of hours to go on today’s Migration chapter, so back to it. Catch you all on Twitter!

Book Re-Release!

Posted on July 10, 2018 by walterh

Migration: Beginnings has been re-released! The long overdue task of completely rewriting from scratch, as well as including updates that brings it into alignment with the principals of the awesome book, ‘Take Off Your Pants’ is complete. So the newly edited book, along with the gorgeous new book cover, is live at the online bookstore of your choosing. Links are below, or you can click on the new book cover below to head over to Amazon if that’s your store of choice.

Buy it on:

A Migration Moment – Blustered

Posted on June 21, 2018 by walterh

Here’s a little Migration Moment, a look into Rhys and Jason’s lives together. Takes place before book one.

⁂

“Jason Tambor,” Rhys said as he pulled the car into the gas station. “Have I told you how much I love you lately?”

“You’d better,” Jason replied. “Otherwise this is going to be a pretty awkward road trip for the next ten days.” Jason bobbed his eyebrows at Rhys, which never failed to garner a smile. He pointed towards the bustling store beyond the pumps. “Want anything?” he asked as he reached for the door.

“No thanks,” Rhys said as he relaxed in the seat.

Jason walked behind the car, Rhys catching his eye in the side mirror. A moment later, Jason was standing next to his window. “Oh, Boo?” Jason said as he tapped on the glass.

Rhys rolled down the window. “Yeah?”

“We’re in California,” Jason said as he glanced around.

“Yeah, so?”

“So this isn’t Oregon. You have to pump your own gas.”Rhys blushed. “I knew that,” he said, then stepped out of the car. Together five years and Jason could still get him flustered.

Rhys started the pump as he basked in the warm coastal weather. Theirs was the only car at the pumps until a convertible pulled in behind them. A woman with oversized sunglasses got out, her long auburn hair, the color of sand that gets stuck to your flip-flops, waving in a sudden breeze. She was wearing a bikini made out of the same amount of material that went into a roll of stamps, and even though Rhys was gay, the sheer amount of flesh on display made him gawp. The click-click-click sound as she walked caused Rhys to look down, and he realized her outfit was finished off with a pair of impossibly high heels. His mind flashed the word, ‘impractical.’

“Hi there,” she drawled as she pulled off her sunglasses. She put an arm under her ample bosom as if making an offering.

“Umm, hi.” Out of the corner of his eye, Rhys saw Jason stopped dead in his tracks. And even though he wanted to turn to his boyfriend for help, for some reason, all he could focus on was the sheer amount of flesh suddenly in his personal space.

The woman’s face broke into a broad smile, whitened teeth glistening in the sun as fingers twirled at her hair. “Can you help me? I’m ever so bad at this kind of thing,” and gestured for the gas pump.

“Uhh,” Rhys said as he blindly reached for the gas pump.

“Wrong tree, sister,” Jason called as he confidently strode to Rhys’ side. He put a possessive arm around Rhys as he gave the woman his best smile, then nodded to the woman’s breasts. “Those things don’t work on us.”

And just like that, the stupor that had wrapped up Rhys dissipated. A blush overtook his face as he made quick work of his own gas pump, then got in the car as the sound of retreating high heels looked for help elsewhere.

Jason handed him a bottle of water as Rhys pulled the car back out into traffic. He welcomed the coolness, first taking a sip and then rolling the bottle across his forehead. When Jason snickered, he turned. “What?”

“You’re cute when you’re flustered,” Jason said, then dropped a kiss against his shoulder.

Beta the new version of Migration: Beginnings

Posted on June 12, 2018 by walterh

Okay, so when I first got to publishing, I had no idea what I was doing. Then I got a few pointers from people, read some books, etc. And now I still have no idea what I’m doing, but at least I think my writing has gotten better!

As such, Migration: Beginnings was rewritten from scratch for two reasons. First, many people like me who tend to read in present tense can read either present tense or past tense without issue. But people who prefer past tense typically (at least from the feedback others have given me) detest present tense written books.

I know, right? Who knew?

But beyond the entire rewrite, I also went through the principals of ‘Take Off Your Pants‘ by Libbie Hawker and realized that hey – Migration wasn’t ready. So after the rewrite, I then went back and added in stuff that Hawker extolls in her book. And I think it’s made all the difference.

So now that that’s done, I have one last read-through before I’m done. But I’d also like to get other’s feedback as well. So if you’re interested in a pre-release copy of the Migration: Beginnings rewrite, drop me a note and I’ll be happy to get you one as long as you promise to send me feedback.

So much to do!

Posted on April 30, 2018 by walterh

Occasionally I get into conversations with other writes – those in professional writing, as well as in fandom (because yes, I am still involved not just in professional writing, but in fandom writing as well), and the conversation usually involves things like, “So what are you writing?”

Boy, that’s a loaded question. It’s like asking a hypochondriac how they are feeling.

I’m still hip-deep in the middle of my Migration: Beginnings rewrite, though I’m chugging along quite well after a quite productive weekend. I’m almost at 75% complete in the initial rewrite, which is just taking the book from present tense to past tense. But after that is complete, I’ll be doing a little more tweaking – making Rhys a little more angsty, as well as applying certain things from “Take Off Your Pants” like end of chapter tweaks.

And I’ve got to finish it sometime soon because once that’s done and off my plate, it will still be full! This is just a sample:

Prequel book to Migration: Beginnings, to offer free for folks new to the series
The second and third books in the Migration: Beginnings series
Four short stories, each 5,000 to 25,000 words, for a book I’m co-writing with my “Million Miles Amok” co-writer Lisa Witte.
Prequel and the first book in a male/male erotica series

Hundreds of thousands of words are planned in dozens of stories, just waiting to be written!

Why I chose to unpublish Migration Beginnings

Posted on April 23, 2018 by walterh

One of the most difficult things you have to do as a writer is the editing process. I have a wonderful little magnet that says:

Write Drunk – Edit Sober

And that’s a good philosophy, even if you don’t take it literally. Write as uninhibited as you can, but when you go through the editing process, a careful, analytical hand is called for.

Migration: Beginnings has been published for just over a year now to minor success – and that’s okay. It’s my baby, and I’m happy with it, for the most part. But what I wasn’t happy with stemmed from feedback received after the book was published, as well as information I found out just about the same time. First, the overall feedback from a couple of readers was that the book would flow better if it were in past tense instead of present tense. Now for me, tense doesn’t make that huge a difference. I can read either. But I consider that personally, I don’t like to read things written in first-person. Very few writers can get me to read first-person written works. So thinking about it from their perspective, it just made sense that I should rewrite it as a past-tense written book.

Beyond that, I read Libbie Hawker’s “Take Off Your Pants” – and realized all of the stuff that I left out of the book. The good thing is, not only can I see the holes that I need to fill, but I can also see how to fill them.

But the problem isn’t the rewrite – it’s the time it’s taking me. Real life gets in the way a lot, leaving me precious little time to work on my writing. I’m carving out time to get it done, but sometimes it gets missed because life happens.

So I unpublished Migration: Beginnings from Amazon. It’s still published in a couple other spots, but because the volume of sales is so low, I’m not worried about it. I’m giving myself until May 31st to finish the rewrite, and then I’ll get it published again. And if you’ve purchased a copy, it will get updated to the new version.

Here’s to meeting deadlines and productivity! Once Migration is completed, I can start on what the Muse strikes me with on any of the half a dozen other books that are running through my head.

Yea gods, I hate queerbaiting

Posted on August 23, 2017 by walterh

When you come from the LGBT side of the spectrum, there’s always the desire to see something like you on the television, in movies, or in the books that you read. I mean that’s one of the reasons that I wanted to become a writer in the first place. The ability to not only experience in your own life but to view from others, that the life that you are living is a wonderful thing. When you’re isolated because of something like your sexuality, that isolation can lead you down two paths – either down the lighted path where you see others like you and you realize that you’re not so different after all, or the darker path that some take that closes them off from society even further.

There’s a wonderful, compact snippet that explains the appeal of queerbaiting by the media, and how it’s used. And while the original source has been removed from the Internet, thanks to wonderful sites that archive off entire websites, it’s been preserved. Originally from an article called “Please Do Not Bait The Queers“, it goes:

Queerbaiting works on its audience because it offers the suggestion that queer people do have a vital place in these stories, that they might even be the defining figures, the heroes. The suggestion—but not the reality.

There are many examples of queerbaiting out there, from the never-ending examples on Supernatural to Sherlock to the new series Riverdale. Even small series aren’t immune from it. TBS has a half hour comedy show based on ABC’s “Lost” called “Wrecked” that had a genuinely large, funny cast, and lots of diversity. They punched through stereotypes, like having a female character be the one who was the hunter, supplying everyone with food. They had a good mixture of characters and were never too afraid to let a character lead a scene, even if they were a minor character from another episode. And yes, they seemed to even allude to a queer romance between Danny and Owen; from Danny saying, “Thanks, hon,” in one episode, to being recalled as a queer couple in a dream sequence, to picking out a spot to (platonically) spend their nights together, to being referred to by other characters like, “Do it. Do it for your lover,” when one of the two was endangered.

But season two of Wrecked took a decidedly different turn, even though the queerbaiting continued, albeit one-sided. Danny and Owen, who were pretty much in each scene together during season one, were more separated in season two (which was quite reminiscent of the Hawaii Five-0 fandom between season one and season two in which they walked back from queerbaiting, and lost a good percentage of their audience). Danny still acted out his side of the “romance”, but Owen had a new love interest in Florence. But it wasn’t just Owen’s new romance that changed; it was Owen’s attitude towards Danny. His attitude went from one of mutual teasing and affection to something closer to disdain, like the gif in this tweet shows. And it only got worse as the season continued.

Last night was the second season finale for Wrecked, and indeed, they went full “No-Homo” on the show. There was no doubt, either from Owen or Danny’s character, that everything between them up to that point was all just a joke, and that whatever happened during season one wasn’t how they’d meant it at all. Even Danny’s one-sidedness devolved into, “I mean it’s not like I want to touch your butt or anything.”

It’s all so tiring.

Wrecked itself is a cute show and a cute 22-minute diversion from reality. But if I would have known I was being baited into watching it at the very beginning, I probably would have passed.

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