Author: garthswright

Two weeks have already gone by in January. So, what have I done?! Let me tell you!!!!

First the ‘Meh…” My goal is to hit 10k words of writing a day. I am not there. Right now I’m averaging 3,227 words a day for the year. Which isn’t bad… my worst day this week was only 461 words, and my best was 4,403 words.

What’s holding me back? Editing, cover design, and publishing. That’s not really a big deal, then, because if anything’s killing my word count, it should be releasing books.

Which brings me to this week’s positives. I released three books this week. One was my new horror novel, The Devils of Dedlan Peak. Working on this book gave me the low word counts as I spent some time revising and designing. I also released one book under another pen name and a 3-book bundle for that same author.

So, not a bad week. Not the words I was looking for, but I’m not disappointed over all.

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There’s something haunting the wilderness of Dedlan Peak. It preys upon anyone entering its territory, leaving a trail of torn-up bodies in its wake.

It’s supposed to be a camping trip for four friends. It’s also supposed to be a reunion between two estranged brothers.

Rob Silva hasn’t seen his brother in five years. He expects Kenny to have changed. He didn’t expect him to be a stranger. Though it looks like Kenny has done well for himself, he won’t talk about where he’s been. And he’s furious Rob’s brought friends.

A camping trip becomes a fight for survival. Can the five discover the truth about their stalker in time?

Last week I set a goal of writing an average of 10k words a day. I haven’t achieved that… yet. But I did all right. Here’s what I accomplished:

• I completed two different books. One was under a pen name, and finished around 20k words (and already published). The other is a new horror novel as myself (i.e. G.S. Wright). Final revisions are happening this weekend, along with my proofreaders doing their thing, and it should be out on Amazon first thing next week, coming in around 30k words. You’ll see the update here when it goes live.
• Even though I didn’t publish a G.S. Wright book this week, I’m at least off to a good start with the plan of completing one a week.
• I averaged writing 4,195 words a day, which is incredible for me. My worst day was January 1st, with 1,813, and my best was the 6th, with 7,480 words. I would have hit 10k that day, but I checked the news and got swept up in watching the coverage of the riots in D.C. Overall, a very good week for writing, and well in line with the quantity of many of the past pulp fiction writers, to which I seek to aspire. 🙂
• Total words for week 1: 29,367.
• Oh yeah! I almost forgot… I FINALLY got around to releasing the paperback of my last novel, Crawl, which I wrote TWO YEARS AGO! That is how far I’ve set my writing back…2 freakin’ years. Anyway, I’ll post a photo of it when I get my copies.

Goals for week 2:

• Write and publish 2 pen name books.
• Write and publish 1 G.S. Wright book (other than the one already written from last week)
• Steadily increase my average word count above the 4k from the previous week, with days of hitting 10k.

I’m not ready to set any real challenges for myself yet, other than the goals listed above. Right now I’m seeing where my writing takes me, and I am going to change what I wish to write each week until I get a feel more for where I want my writing career to go.

Here we are again, me making resolutions for a new year off writing. But first…

Last year was one of the worst years for my writing. In November, I decided to make a change, and starting as of last week, I’m all in.

In the past, I’ve always set word count goals of 1 million words for the year. I’ve hit a quarter of a million I think maybe twice? Maybe…

Anyway, I’m going big this year… 3 million.

Part two of this resolution is to write every day. I need to hit an average of 10k words a day to reach 3 million.

The third part of this goal is weekly books. That might be the craziest part.

Also I’m dividing my time between two pen names. Of course the only part this blog will focus on is the G.S. Wright books.

Anyway, follow me on Instagram or my Facebook page (and maybe Twitter) to watch how my year goes. Or here. It’s all good. I’ll try to keep this site updated frequently.

Maybe in the next day or two I’ll set down some more concrete challenges, particularly on a monthly scale.

Until then, I wish you a Happy New Year. 😁

Last night was one of the highlights of my writing career – I had the honor of being chosen to give the commencement speech for Wakapa Academy’s graduating class of 2019.

If you would have asked me, when I had graduated clear back in ’91, if I would ever be able to stand in front of a full auditorium of students, faculty, and their friends and family… the truth is… I wouldn’t have been able to picture it.

It was their special night, not mine. Yet to be chosen as the guest speaker will be one of the top milestones of this #writerslife.

Originally, the English department chose 3 of my books, Broken Things, Soul Sister, and Sharkbait – one for each grade level – to read for their third quarter. This was followed up with a meeting with the school board sharing the student’s work, an end of quarter parent-student meeting to show off their work, and a morning for me to spend with the students.

Being the local author, I was able to go in and spend a few hours with the class, answering their questions, discussing the books, and discussing life in general.

There is a wonderful intimacy to these events, one in which the students can share common themes from their own lives. There is a level of unexpected sharing, of connecting with the students and their own life events that as a writer you cannot fully expect, and it creates a candid moment when an author can see his writing through someone else’s eyes.

I also got to see the creativity and artistic talents of these students based around the books. There are some gifted artists, poets, and storytellers coming out of Buhl, Idaho. Watch out, world.

So there is a certain honesty and vulnerability that pays for a writer to put into his writing. Maybe not all the time, but we as human beings should seek to connnect with our audience, at least from time to time, to say, “Hey, I feel the same as you, I’ve been there. We’re not alone.” And to do this without preaching. Because at the heart of our art, it is our honesty and vulnerability that resonates with the audience. Not judging. Not preaching. Just sharing.

My first experience with a school was several years ago, at the Magic Valley High School. They had chosen Broken Things for a One Book, One School program, which means that every student and faculty member read the same book in the school over a period of a few weeks. It was a similar event, where I got to go in and spend the day with the students. To this day, going into stores, or just walking in one of the small towns of Southern Idaho, I still occassionally have those past students come up to me to talk.

It is humbling.

When I was asked to be the guest speaker for Wakapa Academy, the English teacher said that the graduating class voted who for who they wanted, and that my name was on every slip of paper.

It is terrifying to get up in front of a full auditorium for the first time. It is just as frightening to live up to the trust and expectation of those who put you there.

I’m not what you would expect at an event like this. I look like a middle-aged dreadhead hippie. I’m sure I raised a few eyebrows. And yet that moment of taking the stage, fear gives way to taking action, to the prepared words that are for the graduating students. To hopefully live up to their expectations on their day. To live up to expectations from a very flattering introduction.

This graduating class is right up there as a highlight of my life as though one of my own children had been a part of it – certainly better than my own graduation. And it is difficult to share this experience, as the last thing I want to come off as is prideful and/or narcissitic. Yet it deserves to be shared, because the experience means a lot to me. I would expect most writers do not expect to have their books necessarily well-received, especially when you think of the challenge of connecting with High School students. Of students being told they have to read your books.

So to the Wakapa Academy graduating class of 2019, congratulations, and thank you for letting me share (and steal) some of your time.

(And a special thank you to the amazing teacher and principal who made this opportunity possible! ❤ )