Pernell Rogers – Writer

Author Archive

Hello, all! It’s taken over three years, but I have finally completely finished my collection STARTING OVER. Right now, reviewers are reading, and I have my fingers crossed that they’ll like it. Now, the waiting game is on. I plan on publishing it sometime in November, but that may change. The cover I’ve chosen is below.

I used the latest version of Calibre to create my own epub and mobi files, and I must admit, it was quite a learning curve. Modifying the MS Word document to work with Calibre took multiple attempts and a lot of hours. However, now that I was successful, it doesn’t seem so hard now. Maybe when I start to create my series of files, I’ll forget again. Creating a printed PDF document was just as challenging, but I gained practical experience.

Marketing will be the next task after the reviews.

I’ve been performing final edits on my 4-book series ‘An Unexpected Evil’. Last night, I began cursory searches for different covers for the series, and came up with a delightful idea of what I want on each cover. I’m jumping ahead because the stories haven’t been edited professionally yet.

Something surprised me today. I logged into writing.com and saw that someone left a review of one of my flash fiction stories from 2018 I forgot I wrote. When I read it, I know it can become something much, much bigger, and it also places me back inside the horror genre. I still need to finish the second mystery I’m working on before I start any new endeavors, but it’s nice to have a story in the chamber. Take care!

Hello all! Everything’s coming to a head now. I’m on the final editing step of my collection: listening to it. I’ve already found a cover and done some preliminary formatting. If you run the short movie on my main page, you’ll see that the last image is the cover I’ve chosen for the collection!

I’ve also modified my website. The current changes are only temporary. Once I publish my collection, I’ll design a new main page. All of this is taking up a lot of time. Before publishing, I’m going to send out ARCs to see if I can get a few reviews to help with marketing. I’ve never done it before, so it will me a fresh experience.

I’m still in the throes of my second mystery. It’s moving along at a much slower pace because I keep discovering ways to twist the story, but I like where it’s heading. I’m finding writing mysteries is as much fun as watching them. Take Care!

Hello, all! I use ProwritingAid whenever I self-edit, and I really find it extremely helpful. Recently, they’ve added a rephrasing function that’s being beta tested. Many times, when I write a sentence, the words I’d like to use never come to mind in the right order. I’ve used the rephrasing function a few times, including in my last post.

The beginning of the second paragraph was originally:

Inventing the crime, developing the cast of characters, and finding a protagonist are the hardest parts for me, but it forced me to use a point of view I’ve never used in the past: Omniscient POV.

After using the rephrasing function, I selected the following change:

Creating the crime, constructing the characters, and selecting a protagonist are the most challenging for me. It also pushed me to use an unfamiliar point of view: Omniscient POV.

I do prefer the rephrasing. If you use ProwritingAid, give it a try. Take care!!!

Hello, all. My collection is still with my editor. In the meantime, I came up with an idea for a second mystery. I’m not supposed to be writing any more, but I enjoy it too much. Again, writing a mystery is so different from a supernatural story.

Creating the crime, constructing the characters, and selecting a protagonist are the most challenging for me. It also pushed me to use an unfamiliar point of view: Omniscient POV. As I developed the crime, I knew each character’s motivation and attitudes. It’s as if I was watching a television show or a movie. I knew everything that was going to happen. Then, once I found my protagonist and gave them some flaws, I could start writing the actual story.

The beginning of the actual story came together nicely, but lately, it takes time to develop more scenes. I’m basically writing a scene a day. But, as I contemplated my character’s actions, I realized I could change my original antagonist to someone else. It would be a nice twist. So, I wrote out an alternate ending, something like the movie version of ‘Clue’. I’m leaning toward the second ending, but I may have a third ending. Not sure yet. With me having troubles with my ending, mysteries offer me a chance to pick and choose.

Take Care!!!

Hello all! Finally, my collection of six stories is with my editor for copy-editing, YAY! I’ve been adding and subtracting stories from the collection for almost 2 years, and I think it’s ready for publishing.

When I started writing back in 2011, I had no idea what I was doing, but over time, I learned. I had to find my voice, delve deeper inside my character’s heads to discover their strengths and faults, do massive research for each setting I chose, then come up with some type of plot where everything comes together. I was able to succeed, then I hit a wall.

I’ve mentioned this in past posts. My endings suck! That’s my oen opinion with many of my stories, and because I realized this, I had to pause writing. I’ve gone back over my unpublished stories, and added appropriate endings which I feel better about. All of this was due to a single speech.

While watching a rerun of a South Park episode, (Imaginationland Part 3), Kyle give a small speech on how imaginary characters changed his life (Luke Skywalker, Frodo, Harry Potter, Michael Corleone, etc.). I feel Kyle’s short speech opened up the real reason I should be writing.

In my stories, I try to practice escapism. I want my readers to leave their problems behind and enter the realm I created for them. However, I’ve never considered lessoned learned from reading my stories, and that’s become my focus now. I’m examining my themes and premises more. Why am I writing this story? What lesson should the reader’s take away?

In supernatural horror, the easiest lessons are to either get away from the supernatural occurrence or confront it. Whatever the decision, there’s a reason behind it.

Why did the character decide to skidadle? To save his/her life, and that of their significant others.

Why did they decide to stay? The had the courage to confront their fear and protect any significant others.

What can the character learn from either decision? That’s the key question I’ll continue to ask myself as I continue writing.

I’m so glad I started this journey. Take care!

It took less than 30 days for me to complete my first mystery! The hardest part was coming up with the crime. In my last post, I mentioned the setting, and it’s both perfect and relevant. I always walk around the house while I’m developing a story, or get stuck on a specific passage. During the week I developed JUST the crime for my first mystery story, I logged over 35 miles! The funny part was when I finished, I just needed the detectives to solve the crime. It was so much fun. The words and dialogue came so freely.

So that makes 15 stories. I’m going to stop writing fresh stories for a while.

I will spend most of my time editing these stories. I plan on sending my collection of six stories back to my editor for copy-editing in May. so that project continues to move forward. Take care!

Hi all. Don’t let the title fool you. I’m still writing, but once again, I discovered another symptom of my “show the monster and stop” syndrome I seem to suffer from. In my last post, I stated that I’d begin editing my 15 stories. I’ve done extensive edits on the 6 stories for my collection, but the others have had less than 3 revisions.

I pulled out a story that sat on Revision 2. I read through my story, adding and deleting, as necessary. The story held my attention until I got to the end. I’d set up a situation the family had to suffer through. Then the words ‘THE END’ popped up. I re-read the last chapter again, and the story simply ended. Over 23,000 words and the story just stops. I don’t know why I ended it, but I’d omitted the entire section about the family’s predicament.

I needed a satisfying ending, so I started walking while speaking into my recording app on my phone. After 15,000 steps, I had a real ending. So, I added another 12,000 words to tie up every loose end I’d left dangling. Now, in a couple of months, I’ll re-read it again, and see if it really is satisfying.

I’ve been focusing on the endings of all my stories because they’re so important. Take Care!

Hello all! I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I posted anything. My editor will be receiving my novella for developmental editing. I have a lot of novellas to send to her. Finally, I feel my collection is ready for line editing. That’s one step closer to publishing. I’m still stuck on a title, but it will come to me.

I’ve been on a British crime story kick lately spawned by my love of Death in Paradise. Midsomer Murders has had my attention lately. What they both have in common are very perceptive detectives that search for connections to solve a crime. Sometimes the clues are so small they’re missed, but the detectives find them.

I’m contemplating writing a mystery. I’ve actually taken some very preliminary notes about characters. But I feel the most challenging part will be the crime when someone gets killed. The killer will need motivation and opportunity. That’s the kicker for me right now. How do I give multiple characters the motivations and opportunity but single out one or more that actually commits the crime? Whenever I figure that out, I’ll see if I can add a supernatural element. If it works, good. If it doesn’t, oh well.

I’m only considering writing a mystery because I’m in a storytelling desert. I’d love to stay in my supernatural lane, but defining a premise within a specific setting is out of reach. Wow! While writing this post, I just came up with a setting. One I’ve never used before. The story is already forming.

I’m sooo glad I wrote this post!!!

Take care!!!

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Not sure why I can’t go back to sleep, but now is a good time to write another post. My new editor just finished a developmental edit on my short story collection. I’ve been going back and forth with this collection because I always felt something was missing. My last editor mentioned it many times; the difference between a ‘story’ and an ‘event,’ and I thought I had grasped the concept.

My new editor asked a question about one of my short stories, and it was a simple one: What is the moral of the story? I was at a loss. When I write, I get caught up in the plot, making sure it moves forward. I also want to develop my characters, to make the readers care about them. I’ve never thought in terms of what is the moral of the story. In other words, can my characters learn anything from the horrific experiences I put them through? Such a question had never entered my mind before, but it made perfect sense.

Coming from the world of Information Technology, my job was to make sure the systems ran as smoothly as possible, and when they hiccuped, do everything possible to fix it. Every time, the outcome was the same; the problem was resolved (sometimes with unexpected results, but solved nonetheless). The overall moral of my job? Be prepared to fix different hiccups at any time.

But what happens in my stories when I reveal the monster? And that’s the question I’ve been missing. I love the monster reveal, and many times, after it is revealed, I’m ready to end the story, sometimes abruptly. However, the monster upset my character’s lives. How do they deal with it? Fight or flight response. Many times, flight would be the correct answer in horror stories, but it kills the ending. A fight response may not be impossible if your monster is invisible (delusions and imaginary creatures of the mind). That, in itself, causes conflict.

How will my character react after the reveal? What’s making them stay and fight: love, family, power, wealth? For me, that’s what I need to explore as I prepare my story’s endings. Even if my characters die in the end, they could still discover something about themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, shame and sorrow, or in some cases, elation and enjoyment.

With this knowledge, I’ve gotten a better understanding of what ‘storytelling’ truly is. I’ve been writing stories, but I need to start storytelling. Take care!

Hello, all! It’s been a while since I posted anything. During this time, I’ve been searching for a new editor, and I found one. I was forced to take a step back from my novel ‘Being Terrance Cooper’ based on suggestions from my last editor. She really gave me something to think about when it came to themes.

My current editor has my collection at the moment, and I’m curious to see how I can improve it. Critiques and reviews give me so much information to act on because I get other viewpoints. It’s one reason writers beg for reviews. Unfortunately, I don’t have many reviews, but the ones I read have shifted my writing style. I value editor critiques even more.

BTW, I just finished the first draft of another novel. It’s 45,000 at the moment, but I still have a ton of editing to do after I let it sit for two or three months. Since I’m in a lull right now, I think I’ll review another novel ready for editing. The conclusion for a married couple, just rescued from danger, isn’t satisfactory enough. Take care!