This issue features a book I consider a flop and takes you inside my work in progress.

I consider my 2011 novel Doria a flop. No sales. No reviews. This is fortunate because it could have benefitted from substantial editing. As for the cover, well, it clearly wasn't done with AI. I'd been meaning to go back and revise it, but I turned my attention to new stories.

Doria convinced me to look for publishers for my future fiction instead of publishing it myself. I concluded it was better to send my fiction through the gauntlet of submission, rejection, and refinement to make sure my best work went out to readers.

I hadn't thought of Doria for years, until I got this comment on the book at AuthorsDen.com. 

"It's interesting that you choose this time period and culture/politics to write your stories about. What is the purpose of your writing these types of novels?"

Here's my answer.

Doria began as stories my brother and I made up when we were kids in the early 1970s. It was our way of processing the Vietnam War, Watergate, and other things happening in the news. I also wanted to learn more about Latin America. As native Southern Californians, we were steeped in Hispanic culture, but we knew little about the countries we shared our hemisphere with. (Contrast that everything we know about Europe, which is on the other side of the Atlantic.)

So, I learned enough Spanish to read literature (but not enough to hold a conversation). I took a course on Latin American film at UCLA. And I also learned about what the US has done in the region. Árbenz and Allende. Pinochet, Somoza, and Operation Condor.

Doria was my attempt to combine the adventures we made up as kids with the realities of what happened to that part of the world. With the things I've learned since then and are happening now, there are a lot of changes I would make to that novel. At the same time, Doria has taken on new relevance with its themes of totalitarianism, compassionate leadership, the true effects of revolution, and how history is actually shaped by ordinary people.

However, I realize I can do a better job exploring those themes in new stories, such as the one I'm writing now.

If you're curious, you can learn more on my Doria page. You can also buy the eBook for $2.99, which is now less than a price of a small soft drink at a fast-food place. Who knows? Maybe you'll like it.

I reached a major milestone in my work in progress by finishing the basic story structure. There's still plenty of work to do, but topping out this manuscript is an accomplishment. 

Here are my next steps towards completing a first draft of the novel I'm titling Escape from Arzack's Castle.

Get feedback

I presented the first section of the novel earlier this month at the Mission Viejo Writer's Group. Readers have to be hooked in the first few paragraphs, or they won't read on to see if it gets better. That's why I didn't say what the story was about when I started my reading. I wanted to see if the other writers would be interested in the story by just that opening section.

While I got some positive feedback, they gave me a lot of things to work on. Here are a few of them:

• Is Julie introduced clearly enough? Even though this story is first-person, we should know her name and basic characteristics of her early on.
• Is she a likable enough character? Will we care what happens to her in the story?
• What are the reactions of the other characters in the room? Do they respond the same way to what happens to her in the opening scene?
• What hints do we have about what will happen in the story? Even though the inciting incident will happen in a later chapter, there should be some foreshadowing.

Research

One of my characters is an insulin-dependent diabetic. Another has dyslexia. They need to be depicted accurately and sensitively. I also need to refresh my knowledge of the Amiga and video game development.

I will be reaching out to various groups and people to do research. If you are from those communities or have experience, and you're willing to answer a lot of questions, please let me know.

Develop character arcs and relationships

As I mentioned last month, Escape from Arzack's Castle will have a lot of action and suspense, but relationships are the key. This is especially important because Julie and the other four main characters are trapped together in this real-life recreation of a video game for most of the story. They must interact with each other in every scene. 

To help me develop these relationships, I created a Word document with tables listing the main characters and how they change as a result of the dangers they faced. I put together this checklist for those scenes:

• This story forces their transformation from isolated corporate drones to being fully realized people who work together to survive.
• Each level of the game forces the characters to drop their corporate masks and roles. While they start the game as impersonal and professional, each danger forces them to be more real and show their true emotions.
• They go from being cordoned off in cubicles to being forced together. Being personal or seeing each other out of a work context is uncomfortable for office workers. They must get past the discomfort and show their true selves to others.
• There are no private conversations. All characters participate or react, even if two characters are talking with each other. 
• All characters participate in every scene. Even if they are off page, they perform actions that appear in later chapters.
• As they go through these adventures, they let go of their initial mistrust and false assumptions to build the bonds that make them willing to sacrifice their lives for each other in the climax.

The image above shows who these characters are at the start of the story.

What's next?

My goal is to finish my first draft and send beta review copies by the end of the calendar year. As newsletter subscribers, you'll have an opportunity to be a beta reader.

In the meantime, check out my posts about the villain and heroes of the story. Look for more posts about Escape from Arzack's Castle as I write it.

My next event will be the Local Author Fair at the Fullerton Library on August 23. Get caught up with your summer reading at this event featuring authors from throughout Orange County. We will be at the Fullerton Library from 12–4 pm. In the meantime, you can watch my reading at the 2023 event on YouTube.

If you are an author or someone associated with the book community who wants to be interviewed, send me an email to admin@matthewarnoldstern.com with the following information:

• Your name.
• A brief bio (100 words or less).
• Your books.
• What you would like to talk about in your interview.

By supporting each other, we can all grow!

I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. If you have any comments and suggestions, feel free to email me at admin@matthewarnoldstern.com. 

If there is someone who you think would enjoy this newsletter, pass it along and encourage them to subscribe. A simple subscription form is on my website.

I'll be in touch again next month with more news and content.