Join me as I work on my next bestseller, The Calling. Listen to the podcast:

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Hey, all. I’ve got an exciting project in the works – and you are going to be part of it. Here’s the deal – I’m going to write a bestseller. And you get to watch while I do it.

How do I know it’s going to be a bestseller? Well, you be the judge. I’d had a couple before and I have a better idea now of what it takes. No guarantees, but I think this book will do it.

There’s a sort of universal fascination with the whole process of writing a book. I get a lot of questions about it. Some of you know I’ve written the BAM books, some of you have taken my classes or maybe you’ve listen to these podcasts an you know a little bit about how I work. For those who don’t, let me give you a little overview.

I come up with an idea.

I structure it.

Then I write it in about a month. Start to finish. Yep. A month.

Of course it’s hard work! Not the actual writing – the structuring and outlining part of it is. That’s why I can do six books a year or so, because I’ve go a system.

I think my way of working is a holdover from my Navy days. When I first started writing, nobody told me it should take a year or so to finish a book. So I sort of reverse engineered the process.
Anyway, if you want to know more about that, check out the Booklocker books.

So – this time I’m going to take you along with me. I’m going to post almost every day to tell you what I’ve done on the book that day. Sound interesting?

Now – here’s where I am. I have sort of a general idea about what this book is. This is what I call the spine of the story and it’s almost always the second thing I get to. It’s sort of what Doug Clegg – and if you like horror check him out! – calls, “It’s about a guy who.”

The first thing is some sort of weird little quirky bit – like with The Last Casualty, I had the idea of a priest hearing the dying confession of a spy, then the line “No priest should know what I know.” Now THAT book took a Long time to finally write – but not a long time to get a first draft done, to get the basics of the story on the paper. With Greyhound Singing, the idea was that the Moon was angry with Tweeter. With Greyhound Laughing, it was just a snaggle-toothed Greyhound Id’ seen laughing – might have been one of Robin and Lazes? And the idea of a Wild card.

So THIS book starts out with an idea. It’s about a woman who’s a martial artist, has been since she was a child, and how a female warrior lives in the world today – particularly when it looks like she’s got a destiny, a calling, that she can’t turn down. Or if she does, it’s at great cost to herself – perhaps not even being the same person. It’s a little a little Thelma and Louise did the Raiders of the Lost Ark, maybe. So maybe she’s an older woman. She’s been preparing all her life for this, though she didn’t know it. So I’m starting to see her now in my mind.

So is she me? Well, maybe a little. But this is fiction remember. I’m making this up as I go along. And yes a bit of Walter Mitty plays into it. Heck, that just makes it more fun to write. But no, it’s not me.

Actually, I’m thinking about a book I did a few years back for the Golden Retriever folks. It was called A Golden Opportunity and part of it was about the One Song. Now, that was far more fantasy than usual and is further off than this one will be. But still, there was something I liked about that whole premise, so I’m going to keep it in mind. Big stakes, ticking clock. Going to tie that into her other life somehow.

So – I have sort of a feel for the high concept of this book. The next step is to think about the conflicts that take place in the story. It’s not outlining exactly – it’s about structuring it. If you’ve read the BAM book, you’ll know what I mean.

I’ll be working on that tonight as well as piddling around with a few opening scenes. I know I’m going to start with action but I don’t want to start with trite action, you know? I want something fresh but still very hooky. I’ll let you know what I come up with.

If you want to read more about how I write, check out the BAM books at http://booklocker.com and do a search on Mobley, or just click on these links:  BAM: Structure and BAM: First Pages.