Hey, guys
Yay, my second printed book is out in the world; and wow. Depending on where you are in the world it's now available to pick up and enjoy. It's been a long journey to get all the shorts completed and ready for print, but now that it is done, I feel some relief. I'm quite proud of myself for this new colossal achievement. Please join me at the end of the month, and we can talk all about the stories, current situations, and sandwich toppings if you wish on Discord. That's right, I'm back doing my monthly chat where you can drop-in on the last Friday of every month. The next session is planned for the 29th of May at 10 PM UTC+00:00 time. Anyway apart from our future date, let's get onto the last bit of awesome news.
Q. What's the most challenging thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
A.Oh, eh, the specifics… E.G., menstrual cramps, periods all those things. I only know about them in theory, but to understand what they indeed are, or feel like I am at the mercy of hearsay and research. I try to ask the women in my life for help in describing certain situations as appropriately and accurately as possible. I can only come at writing the characters of the opposite sex as an abstract construct. I don't think about all the proportions of the human body, but more on the psychological aspects. Humans are all the same in that regard. Sure, we have different viewpoints, interests, and whatnot. When it comes to emotions, they are a universal language regardless of gender. I do my analysis depending on a more critical theme E.G., depression, abuse, PTSD, and so on. Though the baseline responses of the psyche are roughly all the same to me. All people feel shameful, joyful, lustful, petrified at some point in their life. This is the ammunition I go after more so than the construct of a boy or girl.
Q. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? A. Yikes… too much to think about lol. Okay, I'll be honest, and if I was to take a guess, I have about 60/70 short stories plotted to some degree or scribbles of an idea just lingering. Concerning novels, I have about 15, including stories I have yet to complete like EIWT. I have limited myself from opening new tales until I end the ones I have begun. I will eventually get around to all the stories on my list, but that takes time. Apart from what I have knowledge of, or written down in some form, I have a couple of hundred ideas I wish to write, but sadly I have to put them on hold as things take time. I had this fantastic idea about a year ago, on having every character I wrote in the same book, all at the same time doing a lot of different things. One thing I became aware of was how confusing it might have been to the reader. Another concept that thrilled me was about a boy who got stuck in a groundhog fashion, left to repeat the same day over and over until he got something right. The best part of it was that I wanted to make it interactive to the reader, meaning you chose the story's progression. You'd always come across a new part you haven't read. The idea fell through because I felt structuring it would be too tricky in the formating phases. Though with the technology now available, it is possible in the future. Not to mention the time it would take to write a branching narrative. I did a trial run of this idea with Ghouls, Goblins, & Ghastly Boys to see if it would work on my limited knowledge back then, and it did. GG&GB is erotica, though, and it wasn't fully released as I write YA. I find it inappropriate to release it under D.K. Daniels as I may have a younger audience.
You Choose:
I have a little something different for you today. I am asking for your hand in... not marriage, but thanks for the offer... No, I'm asking for some feedback on what you would like to see from me next. I have a three-question poll, it takes thirty seconds, and it would be a great help. All insight will remain in strict confidential care. I'd like to give my readers a voice and choose my very next short story. I am open to all insights no matter how odd, crazy, and normal it may sound. Click here to partake in the poll to help me out.