P X Duke - Part 6

May 4, 2012February 24, 2019

Odds and ends

Dead Reckoning is up to its third draft. I have a completely new cover to add whenever I manage to get it completed and uploaded to Smashwords.

Dreams Die Hard is at 20,000 words. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it’s riding season. So leave an admonishing comment. I’m doing this for fun, not fame and fortune.

Dreams Never Die is still on the radar. I’m fleshing out the beat sheet. The beginning, mid-point and end is done. I’m working on filling the rest of it in, but it’s summer out here in hill-billy heaven. I won’t be making a serious attempt at writing it until sometime in the fall when riding season is over.

I may have to ride down to the Keys to do some research for this one. My fading memory is even worse when I try to take it back to the ’80s. I’ve not been down that way since then, so that should be a treat. By now, traffic on that two-lane causeway is probably a real bear.

On one of my forays through Miami I recall hitting the south end around midnight. I was too tired to go any farther, so I checked into the first motel I saw. It seemed like the thing to do at the time, but I was kept up most of the night by the girls parading up and down the street under my ground-floor window, clickity-clack, clickity-clack, back and forth until the wee hours. And those Cuban girls were LOUD in those shoes. I think they used that walking sound as a form of advertisement. Not for me, though.

Come light of morning, it was obvious what the motel was used for, but at midnight after a day-long ride from dawn, I never noticed.

I wonder if the old, good-time chickee bars are still there – like anything ever stays the same, right? The girls I used to know are probably grandmothers by now. It’s long past time for a whole new adventure in the Keys.

March 1, 2012December 8, 2024

Dead Reckoning has a first draft

I now have a workable first draft of Dead Reckoning at 28,000 words. YaY! Let the cutting begin.

I haven’t been taking time off though. I’ve been working on a sequel to Dreams Die Fast. So far, Dreams Die Hard is at the 15,000 word mark, which, given my intent to keep most of the stories I write at the 20 to 30 thousand word mark, is about half of the way completed to pre-draft form.

Dreams Die Hard picks up where its predecessor leaves off. Frank and Tammi have hit the road and are on their way north into El Lay in an attempt to disappear into the bright lights and big city. On the way, someone offers them a Molotov cocktail – and Frank doesn’t even drink. Person or persons unknown are making a desperate attempt to put fear into someone, unbeknownst to Frank, who was up to their eyeballs in the dealings that went on back in Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea. Somehow, I don’t think Frank is going to find what he’s looking for in El Lay.

Thus, part three of the trilogy, Dreams Never Die is in beat sheet form. Frank just might have to move on yet again. Will he ever find that special someone who wants to become a part of his life? Will he ever get off the never-ending road? Only time will tell.

February 1, 2012February 24, 2019

P X Duke interview at Liibook

Some time ago, I put up three short shorts over at Liibook.com. Last month, Jane at the Liibook blog sent me an email requesting an interview. The results are up now. If you have time, go on over and leave a comment. It would be much appreciated.

I’ll be putting more of my short-shorts up at Liibook when I can.

November 5, 2011May 21, 2012

Dead Reckoning loglines

Beach blanket bingo with guns

During Harry’s R&R on mainland Mexico, he picks up something that doesn’t belong to him that forces him to cross the Sea of Cortez. While hiding out on an isolated Baja beach, two gringas show up unexpectedly, leading him on a wild chase to rescue his friend from people who want to recover stolen goods.

September 28, 2011May 22, 2012

A slacker’s lament

I had a misspent couple of years (off and on) reconnecting with some bad boys I used to know way back in another life down Mexico way. This allowed me to refresh my memories of time spent on the shadier side of all the borders that I know and used to enjoy crossing when I was young, dumb and full of–something or other. I’ve been home for a while now, relishing in the memories.

I’ve had over 48,000 downloads for my very short stories since I started publishing them online in December of 2010. Of that total, to date B&N, Kobo and Sony has sent my way over 5,000 readers. Others have paid to read some of the cheap trash that I write. Don’t misunderstand me. I am very grateful for all of the downloads.

Yes, I know. I don’t quite understand it either. Go figure.

Consequently, with an eager fan base like that, I’ve begun drafting a much longer work loosely based on some of my adventures long ago on the Baja and mainland Mexico. So far, I have a very rough first draft of 16 chapters–with much emphasis on the “rough draft”.

Recently I’ve become tired of getting up at oh dark thirty to start my writing day. I’m now on a break for a week or two, taking time to enjoy the warm fall days that we’re having up here in the mountain hinterland.

When will the current project be ready for prime e-reader time? I have no idea. Perhaps in the new year. Given the amount of work it’s taken to date, it could be late in the new year.

And, I’m a slacker, so it could take even longer than that.

August 31, 2011December 8, 2024

Dead Reckoning – A new story line

I’ve been plugging away on Dead Reckoning, an adventure thriller about a couple of hapless drifters who take the bait and subsequently wind up being chased up the Baja by banditos in search of their missing goods. Not content to keep to themselves, they wind up spending time on a beach with two gringas who aren’t as innocent as they might appear.

When trouble lands in the form of a panga loaded with bad guys intent on recovering the goods, the chase is on to get north to the border before any more dangerous encounters puts lives at risk.

So far, fourteen very rough chapters are in the pipe, but a lot of editing and re-writing will be required before anything gets published.

Both the blurb and prologue are here if you’d like to read more.

March 7, 2011February 29, 2012

Welcome to writing on the road

I pulled off onto the side of the road for a few and created this place. Okay, truth be told, I fell asleep and crossed the center line twice, so I needed to stop and take a break or die trying. I’m still here to talk about it, so it all worked out for the better. It wasn’t easy.

I started writing bits and pieces when I was holed up in the high desert. It was back in ’92 and I was trying to temporarily escape the drudgery of a full-time job and co-workers. At the time, they were all sucking the life out of me. In fact, for another eight years they continued to do so–with my cooperation and full participation, of course.

It wasn’t until 2000 that I actually got it. I finally caught on.

I was sitting in a meeting, listening to the boss tell us all how good he was for us and the company. Others were nodding their heads vigorously and vocalizing their consensus. That’s when I tuned out entirely. When I came to, I thought I had had a stroke. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

Nor did I care.

In that instant I left it all behind.

That was on a Friday. The following Monday I gave my notice. In six weeks I was gone, never to return. I sold my house, donated a lot of the contents to charity, put the remainder in storage, and hit the road on my motorcycle. By June I was in southern California. Why there? It was warm in the winter; it was close to the Baja; I had been frequenting the place on my motorcycle since ’92. I was familiar with it. And, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

I did it without regret.