Pernell Rogers – Writer

Author Archive

Hello all! This post is about the importance of getting an editor to look over your stories. I just received my collection back from my editor, and she opened eyes to ideas I’ve never considered before, and it will change the way I write.

One story from the collection deals with a couple driving through a terrible rainstorm and has a tragic ending. My editor stated that this was an ‘event’ and not a true ‘story’. Although I had added seeds for a real story inside the ‘event’, I never used them. With that knowledge, I did more research and discovered my stories are usually based on events or situations, and the characters react. I rarely write stories based on characters and throw them into situations, but with some stories from this collection, I’m going to try.

I’ve also discovered I’ve been mixing tenses again. Not sure why I keep doing it. It’s such a basic thing. I may have to add another step to my editing process.

Finally, since I must re-edit the collection’s stories, it will be a while before I publish it. I told her I wanted to write better stories, and she’s always been there to help. If you’re going to write, get an editor! Take care and stay safe.

Hi all! I’m at the end of my latest story, with only a few paragraphs to go, and suddenly my motivation to finish is zapped. I know I’ll finish it, but I’ve seen this happen to me in the past, and I always wonder why. Sometimes I start wondering about the endings. Are they appropriate? Satisfactory? Do they tie up all the loose ends? Or is it just hard to say goodbye to my stories? I don’t know.

The next story is already swirling in my head, and that could be a reason why I stall toward the end. Anyway, I’ve developed odd habits when I write like walking around my house while I visualize the story. I’ll talk to myself as I explain the timelines, moving my hands to show where I am at the moment. One strange one I caught myself doing was fidgeting. I’ll sit up, then sit back. Look at the ceiling then down to the floor. My real eyes never really focus because my mind’s eye takes over, and I can see the story. It’s a weird sensation, almost out-of-body in a way, and that’s the reason I take frequent breaks. Staying in that realm gets scary, especially with the stories I like to tell.

Hi all! For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been performing upgrades on my laptop. Replaced the current SSD drive with another one, and upgraded to Windows 11. I ran into some issues installing the SSD drive which I never encountered before, but I practice what I preach: perform backups before any maintenance, and TEST them. I said it for 21 years while working in IT, and I do it at home.

I had 3 different backups, one for just about every situation. I ended up using two of them, and my laptop was back with no data loss. I truly can’t stress the importance of backups if you use a computer, or your cell. Data loss is no joke. In IT, it’s like a religion. But performing backups, and not testing them once in a while, can prove to be disasterous if the backup fails to do a full restore. Just a word of caution from someone who knows. Take care and stay safe!

Hello all. Just a report on my progress. I’m finishing the first draft of my fifth novella (+20,000 words). I’ve never had five first drafts waiting. I still have two or three more stories to go, and I’m not sure how long they will take. I’m finding I’m able to write much more when I have classical music playing in the background at a low level.

As for my latest collection, it’s in the hands of my editor. I told her about the specific concerns I had, and that I want to write better stories. She’s been very helpful in the past, and I can’t wait to see what she discovers among all those stories. Well, that’s all for now. Take care and stay safe!

Hi all! Well, I broke through that scene. HURRAY! But it led me to another emotional scene, but this time as I wrote it, I kept my emotions in check, concentrating on only the words and not the emotions attached to them. It was hard and tears welled, but none fell. I’m dreading editing this story, when the time comes.

This story is flowing from my head at an unprecedented rate. A few days ago I wrote over 5000 words! The next day was 3000, and yesterday, I wrote 1000 in about 90 minutes. I’ve never had a story flow so well. Act 1 of the first draft is complete. Now the meat of the story lies ahead. Take care and stay safe!

Hi all! I finished the first draft of my last story and started working on a new one. I started this story in late 2018, but set it aside. I’ve resurrected it, I’m finishing it now. But I had to stop – TWICE!

Why?

There’s a scene on the street, I wrote back in 2019, between three people, and it’s so moving, I start crying as I read it, and that SUCKS! I have to get past that scene to continue the story. I tried yesterday and failed. I tried today and failed. I have to find a way to take out the emotion out. This by far is my grittiest story where the supernatural element plays a small role. It is also the closest to my heart since it takes place in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

I’ll find some way to get through this. Take care and stay safe!

Hello all! If you’ve peruses my sight before, and read my interview and the short blurbs for each of my stories, you know that many of them are based on my love of horror comics. Well, if you’d want a glimpse of those horror comics, I direct you to watch the movie Creepshow (1982) by George Romero. It’s an anthology of horror stories with the original screenplay written by Stephen King.

There are three Creepshow movies, with individual stories told within, and Shudder (part of Amazon Prime Video) has created the third season of Creepshow the Televsion Series. But, the visuals that capture me every time I watch either form of media, are the illustrations and advertisements in the comics. I can still remember receiving my X-Ray glasses from the first time I ordered something in the mail.

So much of my childhood was wrapped within those comics, and they introduced me to the horror genre. I must admit, whenever I watch Creepshow, I pause the program so I can scan the ads, and the dialogue when the stories begin.

Hello all! I’m continuing with my journey of writing all my first draft, and I just finished another one. Just over 15,000 words. When I came up with the story concept, I thought is would be novel length, but it looks like it might end up as a novella, and that’s fine.

As for my latest collection of stories, I spoke with my editor, who’s been very busy. She’ll be getting to my stories soon. I’m slightly behind schedule for the collection, but as I stated in and earlier post, I forgot one extremely import step in my editing process. Look out for it soon. Take care and stay safe!

Hello all! All of my stories are free from now until January 1, 2002 at Smashwords.com. Create a free account and download your copies so you can enjoy a haunted Christmas!

Hi all! Just an update. Thankx to my beta readers, I discovered I’d forgotten an important editing step…I hadn’t listened to any of them. That’s where I catch the most grammar and plot mistakes. Re-writing stilted sentences and dialogue always take time.

Currently, I’m working on the sequel to ‘An Unexpected Evil’. I’ve already written the first 1000 words of the first draft. I still have other stories I’ve started but never finished, so I’m going to change how I attack them.

I want to get my first drafts down on paper first. Once a few stories are out of my head, I can focus on editing them in the same order. Rotating them in such a fashion will give me a chance to forget what I wrote in the previous draft. Finally, once they’ve all been self-edited, I can send them to my editor in a quick fashion and publish them relatively close to one another. I’ll see how it works out.

As always, Take Care!!!