Your Little Sister is a fun, whimsical story, with a side of grim and a smattering of hot smut—befitting a story about a woman with four husbands investigating a double homicide.

The outline I am using, however, fostered a dark story. Your Little Sister needs to be fun and entertaining. I think the madness of the recession bled through my plotting.

I have tossed the old outline today, which was not hard, as it exists solely in my head. I actually did some plotting a world-building on real paper. Imagine that!

Yes, I am making Your Little Sister more—perky.

This has been a public service by Anthony Pacheco, Hack Writer.

Sylvia Louise Engdahl’s books really dug into my little developing brain back then, and I am re-reading her wonderful books. The current one at the top of the book pile is The Far Side of Evil.

This book is so good it hurts. Literally. It is a book a writer reads and thinks, “My prose will never be that good.”

In my younger days, this would have sunk me into a depression. I would have quit writing. How could I ever hope to master The Craft to the point where every single word on every single page sings with a compelling story the way Engdahl’s prose pierces one’s heart?

Now I am older, and sometimes wiser, or at least occasionally coherent, or, perhaps, slyly contemplative. I can wallow in the world of limitations because I can see beyond those very self-imposed limitations. The blankness of the screen before me begs for letters. The letters are composed of words, then sentences, and suddenly a story is there, almost like magic, but it is not magic, it is me, raw me. I cannot stop this wondrous ability anymore than I could stop breathing.

My prose will never be that good. The standard, however, is set. Like Engdahl’s visionary fiction, I can see beyond the line I used to draw for myself. Sometimes I close my eyes and see stars made of words, and the words swirl around like fire-motes in a sunspot, singing music in a timeless dance of fire and passion.

I do not get writer’s block, but sometimes, for some unknown reason, a particular chapter will just feel like I am running uphill.

When that happens, I borrow a page out of Ken’s philosophy: at a bare minimum, three-hundred words are not insignificant. Therefore, if I can write 300 words in a particular day, I’ve contributed to my novel instead of bemoaning my lack of energy. One day soon, 300 turns to 600. Then 1200, and all is right in the world.

Left to my own devices, I am a prolific writer. Sometimes, in that quiet week of reflection that washes over me, slow and steady wins the race.

I call this the Zen of Ken.

The talented and lovely Lauren talks about sympathetic characters in her blog, Book in the Oven.

This is a post worthy of study to the writer.

Courtney Summers’ book, Cracked Up to Be also is a good study. Her main character, complete with appalling behavior, was sympathetic almost immediately. She did this is a sneaky fashion. Courtney, let it be known, is sneaky.

But I digress. Creating sympathetic characters is, I am convinced in a “hack writer” kind of way, a non-trivial literary accomplishment.

The Experts tell us the books people like to read need to be show and not tell. In doing so, it is easy to form a character in our minds that is almost as real as an actual person. So we place these literary people in our book, yet, in the guise of rushing to and fro for momentum and plot, it is easy to leave off the parts we know, as the writer, that the reader does not know.

Such as, why one should care about the character in the first place.

This is why having a beta reader or two is so important. It is not an easy thing to realize a character is unsympathetic, not because she actually is, but because of an unintentional error storytelling.

Check out Lauren’s post!

Say it with me folks, BLARG! And lo, there were 42,000 words!

The Blog Harem(TM) will be happy to know I am halfway done with Your Little Sister.

I’ve been up quite a bit with Your Little Sister. Demands, demands, I feed the demands.

Your Little Sister is, without a doubt, a good romp. I tire easily, though, and well, that is just the way it is. It is not like Your Little Sister has a choice in the matter. YLS, is mine.

I cannot believe I am three hundred words away from finishing a short story. I never write shorts, but I was prompted by a nice piece of email the other day, so I said what the heck. I even have a deadline and everything. WOO WOO, nothing like a non-self-imposed deadline to get the blood flowing.

I really dig this story, it’s a bit smoldering. Okay, maybe a lot.

To my YA Critique Partner: I know, I know—I SUCK. I will be done with Chapter 9 soon, I promise.

Right after I go visit my new niece.

Why am I writing a science fiction murder mystery?

I do not know.

Why is the main character less than human, but more than human at the same time?

I do not know.

Why am I writing this novel in first person present tense?

I do not know.

Why is the is best writing I have ever done?

I do not know.

Why is my blog harem so fascinated with the main character and the story?

I do not know.

So, what do I know?

I like cheese.

I’ve added a new page to provide updates of my novels for the curious and curiouser. This seems a little weird doing this, but, at the end of the day, I am here to please my readers. And my readers are demanding!

Check it out.

If you think the page sounds strangely like query letters, you’re right. Shoot me some email if you have any feedback.

3300 words Saturday on Your Little Sister.

I wanted to do other things, but Your Little Sister has me in an icy grip. I worked on Your Little Sister while drinking a great glass of wine, so I cannot complain—no, I cannot. Indeed. Wine and Your Little Sister go hand-in-hand.

Let us start 2009 with a writing update!

Bunny Trouble—a near-future science fiction story with cops, guns, and blood sucking sex craving aliens, along with a girl named Bunny—is in editing for Draft 3. I have decided to suck it up and finish editing Bunny Trouble this week, and finish up my query letter.

The Baby Dancers—A Young Adult Fantasy novel, is plunking along at 300 words a day. This novel has a lot of action and I am limiting myself to 80K words, so slow and steady here is going to win the race.

YOUR LITTLE SISTER—I had a dialog with Courtney Summers over a code name for her next work in progress. Her prior one was YOUR MOM, and I thought that was just so darn clever (Courtney Summers is a smart one, she is). However, Courtney, being a official little sister, emphatically declined my suggested working title.

Thus, I will unapologetically steal it and use it for my very own. Cannot copyright titles, don’t ya know!

Anyway, Your Little Sister is a murder mystery set in the future, featuring the smart, somewhat crazy ex-starship pilot—and not one but four active husbands, Lexus Toulouse.

Your Little Sister is consuming me. Your Little Sister is demanding, I stayed up too late last night working on Your Little Sister.

I have to say one thing, though. Your Little Sister is sassy and sexy. I thought I was the last person on Earth who should write a mystery novel, but I am enjoying working on Your Little Sister immensely, and hope to share some day.

Your Little Sister needs to be shared, and whom am I to deny?