The current word count for the book is 36,254.  Take a few seconds to applaud.  Thank you.

I’m getting into the juicy part of the book.  Actually, it’s all been pretty juicy, but the part I am at is even juicier.  Like my computer machines are spilling fluid all over the place.  Juicy.

I am currently jamming to Michael Andrews’ score for Donnie Darko.  Go to the previous post and check out the song, “Mad World.”  Do it.  I guarantee it will stir your emotions up like crazy.

Anyhoo…

I didn’t make much progress on the book last week, mostly because I was busy writing about hot sauce and having friends over to my place.

I jumped right back in on Monday though.

I do want to give a shout out to my homegirl, Jess Glass for being so straight-forward on how she thinks the book is going.  Most of the time she thinks it is absolutely awesome.  I think those were her exact words - “ABSOLUTELY AWESOME.”  She said it in all caps as well.  However, she has been pretty cool about bringing certain criticisms to my attention.  Hey, we’re not always going to agree right?  I mean, Jess and I are a couple of mavericks.

And with that, here is another snippet.  It’s actually one of the parts Jess and I discussed at length.  In an e-mail.  For a few seconds.

All I will say is that it is relative to one of the more pivotal characters in the book:

     I got up and went outside to smoke a cigarette.  I sat and stared at a small tree that had become a little project.  It was not showing any signs of death.  It had become a recent hobby of mine to be sadistic to the shit world around me.  The parts of the world that defied me.  When I was out, I would treat strangers like idiots and women like trash.  When I was in, I masturbated, drank and contemplated destroying things. 

     And I had been at it for a while.  Weeks, actually.  That fucking plant was resilient.  No matter how much I attempted to poison it, it would not die.  The week prior, I had poured a can of unused paint into the aeration hole.  Nothing.  The plant didn’t wither a bit.  It just stood there, strong as ever, pissing me off.  I went inside and got a container of bleach and a sponge.  I grabbed a beer and chugged it down.  When I burped, foam came up.
 
     I poured bleach all over the sponge and scrubbed the tree’s trunk, making sure to use the scouring side.  I wondered what the passengers of the cars that drove by thought when they saw me washing the tree.  When I finished bleaching the trunk, I poured the remaining contents of the bottle into the aerating hole.
 
     I went back inside.  I sat back down and jerked off.  I imagined the tree outside dying.

I just finished up a new chapter of THE BOOK.  I was jamming to the Donnie Darko soundtrack, totally setting the mood for where I am in the story.

“Mad World” is an absolute tear-jerker of a song.  Beautiful, and very apt for the part of the book I am writing.  I implore you to push play on this video and listen to the song.

And my next post will have another snippet from the book.  Maybe.  If I feel like it.  You have to beg.  Listen to that song first.

I feel like a little kid.

I just started SECTION THREE of THE BOOK.

Current word count: 32,626.

I knew what I wanted to do, generally speaking, with section three, but I was not sure how to go about it.  I sat around thinking about it all day yesterday.  I’d like to say that is why I was in a shitty mood, but that would be lying.  It had to do with some idiot I dealt with at work.

Anyways, I started the third section this evening.  I am so satisfied with it.  I offered up an awesome transitional section to a part of the book I was dreading.  There is one more section in the book where I have a feeling this is going to happen, but I will deal with that when it happens.

I originally said I would not do this, but I have changed my mind and decided to include a small section from my book.  It does not give anything away.  I am certain a lot of you who actually know me (personally or just kind off) have an idea what my book is about.  You are probably wrong.  Whatever, here you go:

When [he] woke up, she was gone.  [His] door had been closed all night, and she had been nice enough to re-close it when she left.  [He] could tell fresh air hadn’t been let in for hours because it was muggy with the stench of cheap, satisfied desire in [his] non-air-conditioned room.  The sun had risen hours ago, and the heat was pouring into the curtain-less room.  It smelled sweet from the alcohol [they] had secreted.  Or the alcohol [he] had secreted.  [He] was not sure if she had been drinking.  [He] barely saw her the night before.
 
It was Saturday.  It was the dead of Summer.  [He] had just been used.  [He] was a sex toy with a heartbeat.
 
And that was the most satisfying part.

I may provide more snippets in future updates, depending on whether I think it will compromise anything.  We’ll see.

The book is coming along amazingly.  I’m completely into it, and I’m not just saying that because I am the one writing it.  I really feel like this book has something to it.  I can’t wait for my test audience to read it.  More on that in a bit, though.

I have wanted to write this particular story for some time, and on 9/22, I announced that I would be doing this.  I set a 1,000 words a day (at least) goal for myself, and I have stuck with it.  As of 10/16, I have amassed 30,986 words.

It’s looking like the book is definitely going to be somewhere in the 100,000 word range.  It will probably exceed that upon completion of the first draft.  In doing revisions, I will probably end up cutting that number down a bit.  There are already some parts of the book that I realize need to be fixed/changed/eliminated for the sake of the overall flow.  However, I don’t want to do any of that until the full first draft is done.

I am finding myself being emotionally affected by certain elements of this book.  I wrote something last night - a 2,500-word conclusion to a certain section of the book - and it really got to me.  I was a bit grumpy after I finished it, and that grumpiness carried with me when I came to work this morning.  Or maybe it was the fact that I had to wake up earlier than normal so Rowdy could take a dump.  Who knows?

I am making sure to really pay attention to the protagonist and other important characters in this book.  I want the protagonist to be someone who is hated - but not hated all the time.  He has to be vitriol and endearing at the same time.  I want you to read the book and absolutely abhor and at the same time sympathize with him.

I am not sure if any of you jackals have paid attention, but when I first decided to take action and jump into writing this, I set up a page link at the top of this site called BOOK PROGRESS.  It outlines my ever-mounting word count and what I am listening to.  Take a look at it, my precious.

Music has definitely been important.  I need to listen to something when I am writing.  If I don’t, there is a buzzing in my head.  I mentioned this in previous posts: The music I listen to is very indicative of what the tone of the story is.  I started by listening to the Red Dragon score and then moved into the American Beauty score.  The current music keeping the buzzing at bay while I write is the Dust Brothers’ soundtrack to Fight Club.

Now onto more important things.  Most of you won’t get any info on the content of my book until the final draft.  However, I am going to want to give the book to some trusted readers after I have gone through and have a second draft.  Right now, Jess is really the only person who has read it.  I also let my friend Amy read it.  If I keep up at the current pace, the first draft of my book will be done sometime in late November.  That’s a bit earlier than I originally planned, so good for me.  I am on point.  So, sometime between December and January I will probably conclude the first revisions.  That’s when I am going to need some critical readers.  I am not going to hand it everyone – juts a select few who I trust.  We’ll see what happens with that.

That’s it for now.

First of all, I would like to apologize to all you jive turkeys who were unable to stomach the most recent essay at TSAT.  Sheesh.

Whatever.

I just finished up the first section of THE BOOK two days ago.  There are 10 chapters in SECTION ONE.  There are going to be five or six sections to this book.  That, of course, may change.  Last night I started SECTION TWO of the book, and I have already finished two chapters.  As of right now, I am at 18,700 words.  That means I have left the realm of the novelette and now entered novella territory (17,500 - 50,000 words).

If you are interested in following the daily updates, check it out here.  It’s a record of my word count day by day.

And now for some totally obscure clues:

If my book were being rated by the MPAA, it would be slapped with an immediate NC-17 rating.  So, I hope that it gets taught in high school literature classes.

Here’s another clue to my book:

And, that’s it for right now.  Peace out, bitches.

- David C. Garcia

I am so pumped-up right now.  Pumped like I’ve been chugging Powerthirst.

The book is awesome.  I want so badly to discuss my book with people or post parts of it, but that just ain’t going to happen.

Sorry.  Are you excited?  ARE YOU AS PUMPED AS I AM, YOU PITBULL WITH LIPSTICK?!

Anyways, I finished a self-contained section of my book two nights ago, and last night I started section two.

I will say this.  It is looking like my book is going to be somewhere in the 100,000 words range.  At the time of this post, my current word count is 13,981.  I started doing some research on word-counts earlier this week.  The best thing I could find was on the always-accurate Wikipedia: word counts and such.

So, according to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, I am within the Novelette range (7,500 - 17,500).  Like I said, the first section is very self-contained, so if I really wanted to, I could try and get a Novelette published and be a novelette… um.. ist.

If you are really dying to know what the book is about, well… I still won’t tell.  But I will say this, if you want to think of it as if it were a movie, it would best be described as Requiem For A Dream meets Dumb and Dumber.

Right now, the tone has changed.  The next section is a bit more upbeat and silly than the first.  When I was writing section 1, I was jamming to Danny Elfman’s score for Red Dragon.  In starting the second section, I switched it up to Thomas Newman’s score to American Beauty - still a very eerie and ethereal sound, but a bit more quirky than Red Dragon.  Newman is a better fit for where I’m at right now.

And Jess, I took your advice on the Gladiator soundtrack.  I like it a lot, but it put me in the mood to chop people up.  Not a good fit for the book.  Better for work.

That’s it for now, vatos.  More obscure hints about the book later.

- David C. Garcia

I was a bit upset with myself because I did not make any progress on THE BOOK this weekend.  My goal is to get approximately 1,000 words a day.

I’m back in the groove now, player.  Last night I finished Chapter 5 of Section 1 of THE BOOK.  Currently, I am at 7,500 words.  I really like what is spilling out of my head.
 
As previously noted, I have been submitting my work to Jess piecemeal.  So far, she has given me some really good feedback.

Now, I need some suggestions.  Typically when I am writing for TSAT, I end up jamming to something with a beat like “AWESOME VOLUME 1″ my mega-super-silly-fly-dope iPod playlist of old school and new school rap.  Granted, said playlist rules faces, but it just doesn’t work for THE BOOK.  I need something instrumental for this endeavor, preferably with a bit of darkness. 

I’ve been listening to Danny Elfman’s score for Red Dragon.  It is perfect blend of subtle eeriness and good tempo.

I need recommendations for something in the same vein.  Hook a brother up.

- David C. Garcia

I am loving writing THE BOOK.  It’s delicious and flowing like beefy gravy.  Brandon and I have both shared our respective initial works with each other.  Our writing styles are substantially different.  His writing is far more structured and controlled than mine.  We were actually discussing this last night, and our own tones are perfectly illustrated in this example:

When I was describing my own writing tone I said, “I just write shit the way I speak” as Brandon simultaneously suggested, “You write colloquially.”  Bull’s-eye.

Anyways, Shortbus, writing is going well.  Jess Glass is being loaded up with my work as soon as I finish it.  Initially, I was going to send her my writing in periodic chunks, maybe every couple of weeks.  Because of the nature of the content, I am actually letting her chiggity-check it as soon as I hammer it out.  So far, she seems to dig it.

I have set up a word-count ticker on the side bar of this site and a “Book Progress” page.  Right now, the “Book Progress” page just has the current word count and a visual representation of my determination.  I may include more information on this page as events warrant.

War is cool.

- David C. Garcia

I’ve sort of mentioned plans for it in previous posts during the past year, but let’s make it official:

I AM WRITING A BOOK

This was also noted in Brandon’s blog this weekend when he announced his own plans for a literary adventure.  I’ve seen what he plans to write, and I am sure it will be great.  Actually, if he sticks to his guns, I am CERTAIN, it will be great.   That’s all I am saying about that.

With respect to my own book, this is something I’ve wanted to for a while.  I am absolutely excited.  Unlike Brandon who vaguely mentioned what his book will be about, I am not going to elaborate on my book at all.  At least not yet.  A handful of you all may have some idea what I will be writing.  Even smaller handfuls (like a midget’s handful) know exactly what I am writing.

Here’s what I will tell you:

• I will get published.  I say this because I am confident in my capability, creativity and drive to make something great.  But of equal importance I also need to make what I want to happen actually happen.  Self-assurance is relevant in this matter.

• Brandon has taken a look at my outline and has given his approval.  Whether or not he knows it, this actually means a lot to me.  I respect his insight, honesty and eye for creativity.

• Jess Glass has volunteered to serve as the editor for my book.  I am 100% confident in her crazy, mad English skills and also know she will not bullshit me.  This means a lot.  And, when I get published, she will get the credit she deserves.

• As of right now, I have a brief introductory introduction and an outline.  Tonight is when the book starts.  I am shooting for 1,000 to 2,000 words per day and hope to have a first rough draft in January 2009.  It may be later.  It may be sooner.  Who knows?

• Like Brandon, I plan to keep a word count tracker posted on this site.  If anything, I am doing this to keep both Brandon and myself fully motivated.  Check back, if you care to because I may also slip updates on my site.

You know you are excited.

- David C. Garcia