Kris T. Bethke–Author of M/M Romance

Let me preface this by saying that I love series.  I mean, really love series.  When there are multiple books with the same MCs and we get to see them repeatedly on their adventures and watch them grow and change.  What I might love even more is when we meet secondary characters along the way who then in turn get their own stories.  That way, we get to see the couples we’ve met previously as secondary characters and get to see that they are still going strong, but we also get to get new and different stories that take place in the same “world” and get to see characters that we’ve already met find their own happy ever afters.

I have a tendency to think in series.  I don’t know why I even pretend that anything is going to be a one-off.  Because even when I write something with the intent of it being a single title, it always changes.  Probably because I love to read them so much.  It inevitably happens.  Always.  The side characters start clamoring for their own stories to be told.

Monday night, before I dragged my ass to bed for the night, I made it to 25K words.  I left it hanging at that point because sleep was imperative.  As I was drifting off to sleep, my mind was writing the scene that I would write last night.  A new character was introduced and I started figuring out where he fit in.  How he was connected to my MCs and what his role would be.  By the time I fell asleep, I was happy with where it was going and I knew by the time I got home from work yesterday I’d be ready to write it.  But when I woke up yesterday morning, a curious thing happened.  I knew the new character.  I knew how he fit in with my MCs and what his role would be.  But he started talking…letting me know that he’d be open to his own tale.  Once I got this one finished, of course.

Honestly, I have no idea why I was surprised.  But I was.  For a few minutes there, I was completely shocked.  And then I very politely but firmly told New Guy to can it.  Because as much as I would love to hear his story, I am currently focused on something else.  My brain is firmly entrenched with Nick and Owen.  So he needed to take a back seat…as least as far as his own romance was concerned.  But I was happy to hear anything he had to say about Owen.  He obliged and is currently sitting in the back corner of my brain, ready to jump in whenever I need him.

I’m not going to say anything definitive right at this moment.  But thus far, things to be going smoothly.  And I might just jump right into another story as soon as I finish this one.  We’ll see.  But Joe?  He’s got a big mouth.  And he’s loud.  And kindhearted and helpful.  And he just wants to find someone who will love him with no agenda.

What do you think?  Are you a fan of series?  Or would you rather read something completely separate every time?

I’ve taken up the NaNoWriMo challenge and the muse has been with me.  In three days, I’ve written 16,500 words.  This might not seem like a big deal to you but to me?  Huge.  I’ve never written so many words in such a short time.  I feel very accomplished.

I’m doing things a little bit differently from my norm this time around.  Normally, when I write, I spend a lot of time going back reading over what I’ve written.  I’m constantly editing as I go along; changing sentences, moving scenes, contemplating word choices.  But this time?  I’m not worrying about what I’ve written…at least not like that.  Of course I care about it for continuity sake but I’m just writing the story as it is in my head.  I’ll go back and edit and worry about all those things after I’m done.  I’ll do the polishing after I’ve gotten the whole story on the page, not during the process like I usually do.

I think it’s helping.  Because I’ve gotten more written in the last three days than I ever have at one time before.  See the little progress bar on the left?  It estimates I’m 33% done with the story, if the end result is actually going to end up being 50,000 words.  That’s the goal.  But right now?  There still so much story left to tell that it might even be longer.   But I’m not even worrying about that so much.  Yes, the goal is 50, 000 and I intend to make that.  But I’m telling the story as it’s meant to be told and if that means I get 30,000 words or 80,000 words, then that’s what it is.

Nick and Owen’s story will be what it is meant to be.  I’m giving it shape, but really, I’m just along for the ride.

But can I just say this?  It feels incredibly good to be writing, to be making progress.  I’ve been…in a slump in regards to that lately.  I haven’t managed to get much on the page since I finished Hero Worship, the bulk of the writing for which I did during the summer, and Just polished in August.  Submitted in September.  Accepted in October.  It’s been a bit of a whirl wind, with Worth It and Hero Worship.  And everything that I’ve thought of and written down since and seemed like crap.  So those stories weren’t meant to be told.  At least, that’s what I tel myself.  But this one?  Yeah, it wants to be written.  Who knows what will happen when I’m finally done.  But it wants to be told and that has me feeling pretty good.  I’m going to ride that high for as long and as far as I can.

I’m a very vivid dreamer.  It’s like watching a movie in my head that stems from my own imagination.  This actually works incredibly well in my favor.  Because not only do I have good sleep because of the dreams, I also see scenes from what I’m writing.

It’s in that time while I’m falling asleep that I do some of my best thinking and plotting.  And if it’s a particularly good “session,” then I dream of my characters and see what they are up to.  When I wake up, I can usually recall exactly what I dreamed and can write it down.  Maybe it makes it into my story and maybe it doesn’t, but the characters are never far from my brain.  I’m never far from the story.

Yesterday, I did not feel well at all.  Stomach bug.  Which I hate.  But I spent most of the day sleeping and the dreams I had?  They were kind of amazing. I attribute that to the sickness.  And they really helped with the sticking plot point I’ve been having with the story I’ll start writing on Friday for NaNoWriMo.  It’s shaping up to be a sweet, very low angst story.  Two boys meeting and falling in love, working through the process toward their happily ever after.

That is, of course, if I’m able to translate my dreams and put them on the page just like I saw them.

Shortly after I learned that Worth It was accepted and would be a part of Dreamspinner Press’s 2013 Advent Calendar Anthology Heartwarming, I submitted a second short story for consideration for inclusion in another anthology.  I had written it during the summer and my awesome beta readers gave me their feed back.  I tweaked and polished it.  And even though I knew that DSP had accepted Worth It, I was still all sorts of nervous about submitting the second one.  When I started panicking and freaking out while I was waiting to hear, my dear friends talked me down.  I’ll tell you this, it wasn’t any easier the second time around.  I’m thinking it will always be like that.  I’m actually okay with that.

But the good news is that it was accepted as well!  It will be one of the stories in the Dr. Feelgood Anthology released in February by Dreamspinner Press.  I’ll give more details as to what and when and how when I have them.  But for now, I’m just excited that Matt and Alex’s story will be out there.  I love these guys.  And I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks of their tale.

November is National Novel Writing Month.  50,000 words in 30 days.  I’m an official participant.  I’ve never written anything that large that fast, but I’m up for the challenge.  Yes, I’m having trouble with my WIP.  But it’s still in the plotting stages and I have three more days to figure out the sticky points and starting writing.  Or maybe I will write any one of the other dozen ideas in my head.  At any rate, by November I intend to have a novel completed and ready for my betas.  I know there will be tweaking and polishing and editing after they tell me what works and what doesn’t.  I’m going to put a progress bar on the side so you, if you want, you can see how far I’ve gotten.  Hopefully, it will be the first of many.

I spend most of my time lost in thought.  I think that that’s a safe assumption about most authors.  There’s always a story going on in my head.  The littlest thing can trigger a scene.  A conversation, or just a phrase, can spark a plot bunny.  For me this happens all the time.  But then the tricky part, the hard part, is figuring out what can be used and what is complete and utter shit.

Admittedly, I have a hard time with this.  When something strikes in my brain, I’m off and running and I’ve often built a whole world/story/plot around one little thing.  But then, the problem surfaces when I try to get it on the page.  Nothing works out like I wanted it to and I have to scrap it.  Fortunately, for me, this usually happens early on.  When I’m in the plotting stage, mostly.

I like to hand write notes.  I have atrocious handwriting, to be sure.  And honestly, about a quarter of the time, I have no idea what I’ve actually written down.  Then it becomes a bit of a game to try and figure out what I meant to say.  Most of the time, I do figure it out.  But not always.  And sometimes, it becomes better when I can’t read my notes and have to figure it out all over again.

I’m having trouble with my current work in progress.  No matter how many times I look at it, it all comes out the wrong way.  And I’m not sure if I just haven’t found the solution yet or if I need to scrap it and start again with a different premise.  I’m over thinking, second guessing, wondering if the fact that it’s a contemporary is the problem.  Should I write it third person instead of first?  Should I jump into the paranormal?  How about Sci Fi or Fantasy?  Should I build a new world?  Or should I just stop fretting so hard and go with the flow?  What’s the problem and what’s the fix?

It’s not normally such a challenge for me.  I can usually just write, and maybe it’s crap and it’ll never see the light of day, but I don’t usually hang on to something so tight when it’s not working.

At any rate, the little progress bar over there on the left is taunting me.  It’s been where it is for quite a long time.  I’ve cut things and reworded and changed things around, and its still only 7% done.  No matter what I do.  And I still can’t decide if that means this story was no meant to be told, or if I just haven’t found the right angle.

I write because I must.  But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

All right, ladies and gents!

The 2013 Advent Calendar Anthology–Heartwarming is up for pre-sale on the Dreamspinner Press website.  You can order it here.  If you click expand, you can read all of the blurbs for the included stories.  It looks to be quite an awesome collection.  My contribution is Worth It.  You can also purchase any of the titles as individual titles starting December 1st.  Worth It is the story of Jack and Ryan–and how they went their separate ways but came back together again.

Also?  I’ve just learned that I will be included in the Dr. Feelgood anthology, to be released by Dreamspinner Press in February!  I nearly burst at the seams when I received word that the story would be accepted.  To say I was excited is probably an understatement.  This one was inspired solely by reading the open call for submission.  And then out of the blue, bam! the first scene in the story came into my brain and I just had to explore what happened next.  I’m so thrilled that these two boys, Alex and Matt, are going to be out there for public consumption.  They have a really special place in my heart and I just adore them.  I hope you all do too.

Now, if only I can get my work in progress to fall in line.  I’m still looking for that one elusive plot point.

Being a new author, I had no idea what to expect from the whole getting published process.

There was an August first deadline for the Advent Calendar Anthology.  When I submitted my story for consideration, it was April.  I had four months to worry and wonder, to be anxious and nervous.  It definitely took it’s toll.  I was still writing, still creating during that time, but there was a part of my mind that was always thinking about Worth It and wondering if it would be accepted or not.  The deadline came and went and I knew contracts would be offered by August 20th.  It was the weekend before, on the 17th at about 11 o’clock at night when I got the email.  I had literally just shut down my computer and was settling into bed.  I reached over to shut off the light and there it was; the ding from my phone indicating that I had received and email.  Now, at this point, I didn’t expect it at all.  So when I clicked the icon and the email popped up, I screamed. The excitement just bubbled up and spilled over.  My first submission, and it was accepted.

After that, it was more waiting.  Waiting until I finally got the contract.  Signing it and returning it was one of the most thrilling experiences I’ve had to date.  Because it was physical proof that my dream of being a published author was coming true.  Waiting again until I got the first round of edits.  I was actually a bit scared to open that, because I was nervous about exactly what kind of edits my story would receive.  (It turned out I wasn’t as good at commas and conjunctions as i thought I was)  But it was a fairly painless process, mostly because it’s a short story and there wasn’t much to change content wise.  Waiting again for the second round of edits.  In the middle of that there were forms to fill out regarding the blurb for my story, and the author bio, All of it overwhelming in it’s own right.

On top of that, I had written a second story and submitted it for consideration.  So I was waiting to hear about that as well.

This is what I’ve learned: it’s a process.  Every little thing has a purpose.  I’ve tried to learn from each stage.  So that next time i’ll know what to expect.  or at least, have a better idea of what is going to happen.

But the other thing I learned is this: waiting for the answer , getting that acceptance email, it’s not any less nerve wracking nor any less exciting the second time around.  And I sure as hell hope that it never loses it’s power.    I never want to become complacent, to be less effected by the whole process.  I always want to be a bundle of nerves when I’m waiting to hear…and I always want to feel that thrill of excitement if my story gets accepted.