It’s Wednesday, so that means it’s time for the next installment of “Tales from a Roving Mind”. This week I’ve got something new brewing. Click the link to see just what that is.


Before I get into what’s new I want to do the writing tally. I didn’t write Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. Saturday was my birthday so I took it off, and I was dead tired on both Sunday and Monday. No real excuses, I was just tapped. Still I’m now up to 88,745 words which is 160 pages. That means I haven’t hit my goal, which was 90,000 words. I’m not that disappointed though. There’s always next week.

With that out of the way, let’s get to my new project.

I know what you’re thinking “New Project? But what about this book?”. This new project and the book are related. I’m starting a new blog, this blog will be nothing but short stories, or excerpts from longer ones having to do with the Hazard Jones character. That’s right an entire blog, written as the diary of a fictional character.

This is going to be a great way to get even further into the head of the character and to get some of my work out there. Hopefully I can drum up some interest in the book as well.

The only questions are when will it be up and how will it work?

I’ll answer the second question first. I’m planning on having the blog go live early next month. As for how it’s going to work. I’m looking towards doing two updates a week, Tuesday and either Thursday or Saturday. On those days a post will be made that will be about 5 pages long and be written in the first person by Hazard himself.

There will be nothing on the blog that states the stories are fictional, this will be done completely straight. Since I’m writing the book in a very vague era, no modern tech but also nothing that would date it, these excerpts will be presented as if they come from a journal that has just been found.  That will be explained before each post.

I’m still not sure at what point in time I want the book to take place, so I’m leaving everything as vague as possible. Thanks to that choice I can’t have the blog being run by Hazard himself. Instead it will presented as if it was written by a different character of mine, Will Tell.

Will Tell is a blogger/reporter that I’ve yet to finish a story for. Eventually I want to fold him into one of the Hazard Jones stories, until then he’s going to be the one to present these excerpts

This may seem overly complicated, but I think it will work. It’s the only way I can think of to get some of this stuff out to the world while I chisel away at the book as a whole.

There is only one possible issue. I am worried about splitting my attention too much. Sure I’m writing about the same character, but there will be a lot of ancillary characters and storylines to keep track of. There is the possibility that splitting my focus could result in my losing it, the focus that is.

I’m not blind to this, it’s something that is at the forefront of my mind. I am also aware the mystique of the new blog will be destroyed by this post. The first issue is far more pressing but there’s nothing I can do about it. I just have to keep writing and hope for the best.

The second issue isn’t really an issue. These posts are read by a single digit audience. If the new blog takes off, and I think it might, the only people who will see this post will be the ones that are already hooked. If that’s the case then the chances are good they won’t quit because of it.

That’s the hope anyway.

The other issue is burn out. That is also a possibility. I really don’t want to burn out on this character but I don’t think I’m going to. I really love Hazard Jones, and speaking in his voice is natural for me. Still, living in one character as much as I will, can very easily end up badly. I’d hate to overdose on him and his world. It’s a risk I’m going to have to take and am willing to take. I’m kind of on an upswing and can’t see myself letting up.

The more I write the easier it’s getting. I think I’m finally starting to grow those literary muscles. And to help them grow I have to exercise them. This seems like a good way to do that.

Those issues aside the most important thing to figure out is how am I going to get some light shed on this new blog. I can talk about it all I want on this blog but that’s not worth the energy I’d burn typing. In other words it’s not worth jack and the accompanying shit.

This is the biggest hurdle to overcome, and I have no idea how I’ll be doing that.  Don’t even have a vague clue as to how to start. Since the blog itself won’t be up for at least a month I can let that slide for now. In fact I probably shouldn’t even attempt to get it seen until I have a few posts up. As such this problem can stay on the back burner for now.

Those are the only foreseeable problems. Even with those I’m very excited.

So, you may be wondering what this will mean for this blog. Nothing. I’ll try to keep my posts coming. Considering how slack my schedule is anyway I don’t really see things getting worse. So don’t worry, if you’re actually worried send me an email because I’d be shocked if you existed.

That’s it for this week. I’m looking towards hitting 100,000 words next week. Since I won’t be online, most likely, by next Wednesday the next time one of these posts goes up I might be at 110,000 or even 125,000 words. I can’t wait to find out. See you then.