Inspiration and the "muse"

First, I would like to say that I very rarely use the word muse when referring to where I get my inspiration for stories. I am driven by a need to create storylines, and ideas for stories seem to pop into my mind at odd times of the day and night. I have awakened from a sound sleep with an idea and I try to 'bookmark' the idea in my mind but I think I need to keep a notebook next to the bed. The ideas refuse to stay bookmarked.

Then there are the songs that I grew up with as a teen and young man. They awaken emotions within me that won't let me forget them and I take those emotions and create storylines from them. I don't mean that I take a song and dissect it; creating occurrences in my stories from the lines of a song. I mean that if a song makes me feel sad, angry, bitter, lonely or lost, you get the picture; I write from those emotions.

Sometimes I think about what my life would have been like if I had done something pivotal in my life differently, and I write about a character who has done what I think I should have done and project the lines of his or her life from there. It's no more complicated than that. I try to write with realism and the simplest, most effective way I know of doing that is to put myself in the place of the character and imagine what I would do, or what I should do, taking a different tack in each situation than I did in life. Perhaps that makes each of my stories somewhat autobiographical, but that's the way I do it. I think a lot of people do the same thing. Besides, many writers write about the unthinkable and suddenly, it isn't so unthinkable.

That's enough for today. Gotta go write about apocalyptic stuff.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, The Empty Heart: A Collection and others
Available on Kindle

Better late than never

Yes, it is better late than never. I have found returning to the crushed land of my novel, Gulf of the Plains a little difficult. The sequel has been pretty tough sledding because of that difficulty. Nevertheless, the story continues to move along, though slowly, and I believe the sequel will be ready to publish in a month or so. For those who are familiar with my post-apocalyptic Gulf of the Plains, Paget continues to take centerstage and this time she has a new romantic interest. Readers will find that she has distanced herself even further from her former pop-star persona and is becoming a true post-apocalyptic warrior.

On another note, my book of short stories, The Empty Heart: A Collection, has been published and enjoyed a short run of sales that have been heartening. It has been featured on the bookslovecompany.com website and I hope that exposure will drive more sales. I enjoyed writing the shorts even more than I did writing the novels I have published. The cast of characters for the stories has been challenging and I believe they could almost live lives of their own.

That's enough for today. I have a ruined world to get back to and Paget is in a tough spot.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies and others
Available on Kindle

Yes, it's been a long time.

Very sorry, Everybody. It's been a long time since I posted on this blog and I apologize. Or, maybe I'm just apologizing to myself because I really don't know if anybody is reading any of this. In any event, I have published a new book on Amazon's Kindle and I think it is good. It is a book of short stories and I found while writing them that I seem to enjoy writing shorts more than I do writing novels. I'm not sure why that is, but the shorts seemed to have an energy to them that I missed in writing novels. maybe it was that I was able to address and utilize ideas that I had more quickly. Perhaps I'm not a patient writer. I really don't know. What I do know is that these shorts gave me more enjoyment while writing them than I experienced while writing novels. I like for the action to move fast and leave me feeling as though the story I just read was gone too soon. Whatever it is, I think the readers will like them.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of The Empty Heart: A Collection
Available on Kindle

Everybody wants a piece of the action

Hello! It's been quite some time since I posted on this blog and I have to say that I'm ashamed of myself for letting it slide.

Back to the title of this post: Yes, everybody wants a piece of the action because everybody is scraping along, trying to find ways of generating an income. Agents want a bite, Publishers want their not inconsequential piece of the pie and if you go the self-publishing route, everywhere you turn, someone has their hand out. If you aren't careful, you can wind up owing more than you realize from your work, and that is no way to get ahead. It is very important to approach your writing career as though it is a business. Especially when it comes to cash outlays. And, many of the companies you will have to do business with do not lay out your projected expenditures until you have committed to doing business with them. It is all too easy to sign on the dotted line, (figuratively), and learn at a later date that you owe much more than you can realize from your work in a short enough time to pay your new creditor. So far, I have avoided those pitfalls and must say that when I consider the manner in which I have conducted my business of writing/publishing, I am satisfied that I have not bitten off more than I can chew.

The rate at which I am working toward becoming a well-known author makes a snail look positively speedy, but at least I know that my writing will not put me in the poorhouse. The economy, after all, is doing that very handily.

To those prospective authors who may read this, I say, "Keep working and keep an eye on the finances."

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies and others.

How do I come up with the names of characters?

Few people have asked me about this, but I have found it to be moderately difficult to do. Sure, you can write a piece and 'plug-in' names at a later date after you've waited for inspiration to help you out, but if you do that, you'll have a piece completed and still have blank spaces where the names of characters should be.

I read somewhere that baby name books were a good place to find names for characters and I've found that to be true. What I do is find a name that conjures up the way I feel about a character. If the meaning of the name also describes the personality of the character, then that's a good thing. People who read my stuff might get a kick out of looking up the names I give my characters in a baby name book. The meanings of the names have an indirect bearing on the story.

For villains, I sometimes use given names of public figures whom I don't like; never having met them, I am simply going on their appearance and demeanor when on camera in the news. Sometimes, a visceral reaction, or gut-feeling, is the best indicator of what a person may be like. I'm not saying that my characters parallel or copy any public figures. I just look at them and think, "I don't like that guy." Then I might use his or her middle name, or last name if it lends itself to use as a given name. NONE of my characters are based on REAL, ACTUAL people. As I said in an earlier post, I use stereotypes to build my characters.

Then there is the family connection. I sometimes use the surnames of my extended family for given names of minor, but pivotal characters. Sometimes, I use given names for surnames. Given my family's numerous connections with the founding of one small town or another, which are named for members of my family, those names are frequently the names of towns and counties.

I want to state that I NEVER, EVER, use real people in my works. The characters within my stories are cut from whole cloth, the inspiration of which comes from my mind.

That being said, I will close this post and make a promise, (probably empty) that I will try not to go so long between posts.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of It Happens Every Day
Available on Kindle

Long time, no hear from

Good afternoon!

Yes, it has been a long time since I entered a post on this blog. I've been incredibly busy and not disposed to spend much time actually writing anything to speak of.

I have entered one of my novels in a competition and while I don't expect to win anything, like anybody else, I have high hopes or I wouldn't have entered the contest.

It's odd, but I have encountered more support from people that I have barely known than I have from people that are supposed to be my closest friends. Members of my family have been supportive, but it's the people who have claimed to be my best friends that have disappointed me the most. If you can imagine, people that I knew but who rarely noticed me in school, and haven't seen for forty years have displayed more support for my writing career than 'friends' that I see on a regular basis. It makes me wonder if jealousy has reared its head. I have noticed that they evince more support form people that they barely know than they have for me, and I believe that it's the old familiarity thing. You know, "familiarity breeds contempt". All I can say to any of that is that if they are jealous, they had their chance to attempt to make a name for themselves. If it's contempt they feel, then if I am successful, they will have missed their chance to be a part of my life that has been rewarding for me.

It just goes to show that it takes all kinds to make a world.

Coincidences within a plot

Good afternoon!

So, you pick up a book and find coincidences in it that are unbelievable? Examine your own life and you'll find that coincidences are much more common than you thought. I have traveled, not widely, but enough that I was in places where the last thing I expected was to encounter someone from my hometown; but that is exactly what happened. Not just once, but several times. And, I have met people who at first glance seemed to have nothing in common with me, but on getting to know them, found that they were well-acquainted with people that I had known my entire life. Then there are the people I have met who turned out to be related to me in ways that I could never have imagined. How did these people manage to find me among all the millions of people they had a chance to encounter. Coincidence. Bit in the butt by fate.

By putting coincidences in a plot, you make a nod to the unexplainable in life. Coincidence is a part of "real life", and I try to write in a realistic manner. There is no reason to make apologies for such things, or, really, to try to explain them. The reader either gets it or he/she doesn't. Life is full of coincidences and those of us who ignore them are doomed to live in a world that is dimmed by the absence of the wonder that they can produce.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies and others.
Available on Kindle