Pernell Rogers – Writer

Author Archive

Hello all! I’ve finished my final revisions for the eight stories of my upcoming collection. I’ll be sending them off to my editor very soon. In the meantime, I have a beta reader examining each story so I can get an assessment of their quality.

Now it’s time to find a cover. The working title at the moment is ‘Beyond the Abyss’. It may change as I try to find a common element among all the stories. Right now, I don’t there there is, so the title is very general.

I’m still reading ‘An Unexpected Evil’ so I can develop a sequel to it. Still don’t have a plot devised, but I know where I want to go. I just don’t know where it should end. There may be a third sequel, but I won’t know until I finish the second one. Take care!!!

Hello all. I’m finishing my last edits for my next collection of stories. Six stories are completed, and only two more to go. Next, I’ll send them to my beta readers, and then off to the editors. It still looks like I may publish it by the end of the year.

Stay tuned!

Hello all! I took nearly three years, but I finally finished my first real novel (at least the first draft) on August 12 @ 9:12pm. It was one of the hardest and most pleasurable tasks I’ve ever pursued. It won’t be my last.

I must admit, pulling that last chapter from my head caused me a lot of grief. I had a brief outline of what I wanted to happen, but my characters did not agree and went in their own direction. I truly became a little frightened because the end of the story took a life of its own. It seemed after I finished each paragraph, the story evaporated from my head, and I’d have to step away until it reappeared.

My next project will be a sequel to ‘An Unexpected Evil’. I’ve already started reading it, and I can see how much my writing has matured since I wrote that story. It could have been much more in-depth, but since I haven’t read it for so long, I’m surprised how it keeps my attention. The sequel will focus on the strange doctor that performed the procedure on Billy. Detective Winters, Constance, and Rebecca will make an appearance once again. I still don’t have an outline, but it will be coming as soon as I finished reading the story.

Everyone take care!

Hello all! I’m was so happy to jump back to finishing my novel, however, it was short-lived. I added a closing scene, something I thought was the climax of the story, only to find out I had many, many unanswered questions still dangling. The ending I had planned on wasn’t sufficient (actually it was anti-climactic), and I haven’t written a word since.

This is the first time this has happened to me, and it’s heartbreaking. I stare at the story, not knowing where to go for days on end. I created a notepad file, which explains what I have at the moment, all those dangling unanswered questions. It is another small document I stare at daily. But then something happened.

The Conjouring Part 3 is out on HBOMax right now, and I decided to watch the entire Conjouring Universe, in order. I’ve only seen The Nun and Annabelle in the past. I have to admit they are creepy movies, but they made me examine why I ended my story at that certain point. There is more that can be discussed and explained which may help tie up those loose ends. With that, I finally started composing a synopsis for the next beat in the scene (I’ve paused Annabelle so I could compose the beat and write this post). Once it’s complete, another chapter needs to be written (maybe two) to bring a real end to the story. After 10 days of staring at two documents, I can finally begin writing again!

Hello all! Finally, finally, finally! I’ve finally finished with this round of revisions for my new collection of stories. This last story was a bear since I had to create so much more material. From +12000 words to +17500 words, a big increase. Developing the many new scenes did not come easy. I’ll see how they read in 2-3 months when I start my next round of revisions for the collection.

Six months ago, I abandoned work on my novel to create this new collection. Now, I’ll be going back to my novel once more to finish it. One of the best parts is that I’ll have to reread the last portion so I can find out where I left off. Not only does it replant the story in my mind, but it will also act as a revision of sorts. Once the novel is finished, I have a new story waiting.

This new story will be part of my first series, and is based on the story ‘An Unexpected Evil’. I’ve been told that there could be much more to the story since I left so many open plotlines. It will be a challenge, but I’m up to it.

Hello all. My revisions have slowed for one of my longer stories. After reading through the third draft, I found I rushed the ending. There was plenty more for my protagonist to explore.

Now, this revision has become similar to writing a first draft. Although it’s not a plot hole, it requires me to jump back inside his head and let me experience what he encounters during his journey. Each new encounter requires me to come up with fresh, new paragraphs which always slow me down.

However, on the good side, this story started out being +12000 words. Now it’s +15000 words, so I’m making progress. I’m ready to revise my next story, but I must finish this one first.

Hello all. Check out the Vault of My Mind tab. I’ve added and except from one of my stories. Give it a read and please leave comments, if you like. The story is currently named ‘The Vengeance of Burg Lichtenberg (Oberstenfeld)’.

Revisions, or re-reading what I’ve already written, is absolutely necessary. I find so many plot holes, grammatical errors, and just plain sentences/paragraphs I don’t like. For short stories, it’s not too bad, but for the longer ones, they can be a chore.

I think one reason I haven’t finished my novel is because of the revisions I’ll have to do. I’m nearing the end of the first draft, and I’ll celebrate once it’s done. Then I’ll have to let it sit for six months or so before starting the first revision. I would’ve forgotten the many details I placed in the first draft, so it will read like a new story to me. That’s when I’ll find out how good or bad the story is.

Performing revisions on this collection keeps me in practice and helps me become a better wordsmith. I’ve discovered the area of revision that slows me down the most is finding the right verb to use. I keep a tab on my browser set to thesaurus.com. I search for better words other than ‘walk’, or ‘see’, or ‘say’, etc. The appropriate word may pack a bigger punch than the ones they taught us when we first started reading.

Remember this?

“See spot run.“

How about this?

“Spot’s ears laid back against his neck right before he sprung into a full gallop.“

It’s the mind’s eye that should give you a better visual with the second sentence, and that, in a nutshell, is what I try to do when I revise. I already have the scene in my mind, and I want to transfer it to the reader. That’s why revisions are so hard. Pulling story images from my own head can be difficult, but placing them in the reader’s head is something that frightens the hell out of me. Did I do it right, or did I blow it? Did I grab the reader’s attention, or did I let them slip away?

Nevertheless, this is the journey I set out to do. Like Frodo Baggins, I’m on a quest to write the One Story.

You know, getting to really know yourself is hard enough, but really getting to know someone that doesn’t even exist…well that’s just crazy! That’s what I do when I get in my character’s heads.

In my last post, I mentioned writing about a person of the opposite gender. I’m still working on the same story with the female protagonist. I must admit, the story has grown from +1700 words to +3400 words, which is what I was shooting for, but my progress has been slow.

I find myself re-reading the same sections of the story repeatedly, then dropping my head back and thinking what does she want, what does she expect, how can she get through this with the least damage. That’s what it’s like to be in my character’s head.

Yesterday, I watched the 1971 movie “Duel” starring Dennis Weaver and directed by Steven Spielberg. I didn’t plan on it. It just happened to come on. If you’ve never seen it, YOU SHOULD! I remember seeing it for the first time back in the late 70s. There’s not of dialogue throughout the entire film, but everything that happens comes from the single point of view of the protagonist, Dennis Weaver. It’s the best of every genre: drama, thriller, horror, and mystery. And the tension that’s built as the movie progresses? Spielberg had it down!

Being stuck in my female character’s head made the movie more relevant to me. External wants versus internal wants were prevalent throughout the movie. I just have to find those same wants with my character.

Hi all. The short story I’m expanding now has a female protagonist. I remember someone asked me how a male can write for a female protagonist. First, it ain’t easy! Usually, before I start writing, I list my character’s traits and characteristics. If I give them a biography, it helps.

How and were they raised? What was their relationship with their parents, siblings, and friends? How did they do in school and how much education did they attain? How do they deal with their spouse? Do they like their job?

After that comes mental images of what I think they look like and depending on the subject, how they may change during the course of the story. Questions and mental images are the simple part.

The hardest part is determining their personality. No one can be totally happy or totally sad all the time. Events affect their attitudes. For me, I try to recall all the girls and women I’ve ever dealt with (those I can remember). I’ve experienced many attitudes, and once again, depending on the story, I’ll smash together several attitudes and extract the personality I think the character needs.

I must admit television and movies also play a role in determining personalities, attitudes, and motivations for some of my characters. And sometimes, I’ll use my own attitudes. Take shopping. I hate it, but it must be done. By myself, I’m fine with it because I get in and out. No lingering. Shopping with someone else is absolutely exhausting for me if they decide to explore every aisle. I usually use this exhausted attitude for children who must accompany their parents to the store. How could the child’s attitude change? Tell them they’re going to McDonald’s after leaving the store. It always worked with me!

Events, locations, and expectations help me to write about people of the opposite gender. However, without their personal experiences, I feel I’m missing something, but I don’t sweat it. With supernatural horror, the events are not real, so I can afford to skip the deep details. For any character in my story, making it out alive should be their chief concern!

Take care!