Update from Author Michael Berrier
Now that Cole’s Passage is released into the world and I’ve completed another project I’ll tell you about below, I’m back at my next novel, tentatively called The Franciscan.
The way I write novels is to let the first draft rip, giving the story and its characters freedom to take things where they want—and they surprise me sometimes! But after the first draft is hammered out, it’s time to do the hard work. Rewriting takes the raw block of the first draft and chisels and cuts and polishes until I feel like the sculpture of the story emerges that’s meant to be. Then I workshop it with trusted beta readers and incorporate their advice. I’m nearly done with the first draft of The Franciscan, so there’s plenty of work left to do!
Giving Novels the Treatment
The project that took me away from novels for a while was writing treatments for two separate three-season television series. (A treatment is a summary that gives an agent or film producer a vision for the story and its characters.) With the help of an old friend, I’m pitching the treatments for representation to see if we can get them into production.
The first treatment covers the Book and Key stories for kids, written under the pen name of Curtis Walker. The second treatment covers the Garza novels. You can read about Book and Key stories here and the Garza series here.
What I’ve been Reading
North Woods by Daniel Mason is one of the most inventive and enjoyable books I’ve read in a while. Mason tells the story of the occupants of a piece of land in the northeast from the points-of-view of its inhabitants over the centuries, tying the characters together with some surprising threads.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride is another story where setting is an important element. It’s set in a run-down neighborhood in 1972 and the story is filled with unique characters that will draw you into the dramatic plot.
The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday by David Corbett is not exactly historical fiction, but it has that element, as Corbett integrates into a present-day story letters between the iconic Western gambler/gunman/dentist and his first cousin, with whom Holliday was reputed to have shared unrequited love. The letters are of questionable provenance, but their discovery sets in motion fights over their ownership and value between their discoverer and those eager for revenge against him.
The Pictures
My trips to the Sierras over the summer included outings to both the east and west sides of the range, in the Inyo National Forest and then Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Park. Here’s some evidence.
Be a Rater!
Giving a favorable review to authors is not only good for writers’ mental health, but it helps their business too. If you’ve read any books you enjoyed, do the writer the honor of going to Amazon or wherever you buy online and clicking some stars.
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