For those about to WIP (work in progress)

So, what are you working on Karina? Oh if it was so simple to answer.

I have a four-book series called OUTLAW. Each book is a stand-alone read. Each book is about outcasts, outlaws, whether it’s an MC (motorcycle club) or a street gang. Each book is connected to this theme. The first book is called, In Times of Violence. If you read my 2nd-day blog post, you would know that In Times of Violence started as an 18-page short story. As I was young back then, I wrote it specifically to target my age group YA (young adult)
https://explosivewriter.com/2022/03/03/marchofthewriters/

The problem now is that it was many years later when I wrote Huntress the second book in the series, but not the second book to have been written, So now a mature writer, the mature themes come into play. By the time I got to Road Rage, there were no rules anymore. Can you see my dilemma?
Yep, that’s correct you can have one book a YA and the rest 18+ this was the first mistake I made. I kept them together, but marketed the YA differently and I could never do a box set with all four. The solution is easy, right? Yep, write another ITOV but an adult version. Unfortunately, life happened and shit happened and the book got lost in the shuffle. It would be 13 books and nearly 20 years later, I’m finally working on ITOV adult edition.

So, the second mistake. Over the years, my writing has matured along with me, and so my writing style and topics have been pretty graphic and intense. So that’s okay, you need to write a mature version of the first book ITOV. Yes, it could only be that easy. What I should have done was kept the original MS (manuscript) throw in some explicit sex and some graphic violence and bingo! – Nah.

I started writing out the first scenes and the only resemblance it had to the opening scene of the YA version, is the names of the characters. I had started a brand new book. A couple of chapters in, and I realise that Huntress which is a sequel to ITOV YA edition and will continue as book two to the YA and that if I carry on the way I’ve chosen to go, Huntress will need a re-write. I knew I had a decision to make, and I agonised over it, and there was no way I could bin the two new chapters I wrote, as they are GOLD. So to cut a long story short, my WIP is ITOV adult edition.

I’ve gone into new territories I’ve yet to delve into. I’m doing something I’ve never done before. I’m doing a year’s time jump just so I can stay on track to the genre and theme and not stray off the path. then I’m going to write a novella about that year. What happened to her and how much she suffered. The reader will have the choice to read it or not (I think most will.)

Would you like a sneek peek?

(Remember this is a first draft and not edited.)

The money lasted five days, even though I stayed in a cheap hotel in a rough part of the city.  I had no money, no food and no place to sleep. This wasn’t how my life was supposed to go. I wasn’t looking for fame, I never wanted fortune, so why couldn’t I get a break.

I hugged my rucksack as I fell asleep either on an empty bench or a shop doorway. It shocked me at the amount of homeless people on the streets. And they weren’t friendly to newcomers. Telling me to piss off and find somewhere else to sleep, that I was in their patch. I walked until my eyes couldn’t stay open and then took the first vacant sheltered sleeping space I could find.

As for looking for a job. I would change my clothes, tidy myself up and ask at every store, shop and kiosk, but as soon as I was asked my address, they became uninterested and used the excuse of being overqualified, or unqualified for the job.

***

I was sleeping on a green bench that I luckily found vacant in an open park. I soon understood why the bench was vacant when I woke to someone trying to pull the rucksack from me.
 I stood up and tried to keep my grip of the only possessions I had. I screamed at them to let go, but there was more than one person, and I soon found a fist in my face but I wasn’t going to give up that easily so I kicked one of the in the nuts, while he fell to the ground groaning, another two laid into me with punches and kicks. I dropped the rucksack. There was nothing in there to lose my life over, I thought, as I covered my head from being punched. But a kick to my stomach made me fall down to the ground. I heard a roaring of motorbikes and then shouting before a boot hit my head. My vision blurred as I saw a shade of black racing towards me. The shouting started to fade as did my consciousness. The last thing I remembered about that night was the smell of aftershave mixed with soap.

And here’s another exclusive.