I'm using a new program to help with the final editing process. It runs the story through and points out all the grammar flaws, spellings, word usage and then updates some words to a creative level that I missed in the writing process.

After using the software I'll send the book on for review to a few agents to see if any are interested in representing my work. Keeping my fingers crossed. Wish me well and keep me in your thoughts as I slog through this demanding writing and publishing process.

Get Out of the House and Write

One of the best things about writing is you can do it anywhere at anytime. Every now and then I'll move my office to Java Joey's (Our local expensive coffee house :) in the summer they have a great outdoor patio with tables, umbrellas and a nice fountain right in the middle of the patio. On occasion I'll even set up in Mickey D's and have coffee and their oatmeal. I can get some really good ideas for my cast-of-Character's.

No matter where you write your main tool is always with you. Your imagination. When you get out of your routine and set up at a remote site it can turn out to be a really good stimulant to move your story. In some cases of course it can be a distraction so just keep on working :)

Cast of Characters

Writing a fiction story and turning it into a cohesive novel is hard work. It's something you create from nothing. Writing isn't just placing word after word on a blank page its looking at a blank page and developing scenes and dialogue. When you place a character's name on a page it's as though you created a new life. Believe it or not a character has a past, present and future place on the stage you create to tell your story. In the context of a story you may never meet a character's family, friends or acquaintances but they have them. An author always has them in mind if not on the pages of his story.

My new novel has a large cast of character's. It's complicated to track who is who sometimes. When I create a character I always complete a character profile. I know their religion or lack thereof. I know their politics and if they smoke or not. If they are in great shape or have a life threatening disease...and so on. As soon as I have a name for the character I write it on a yellow legal pad so I can track where they fall within the total cast of characters. The only other info I note on the legal pad list by their name is their age and what chapter number they first appear. The legal pad helps me keep on track with who is who within the emerging story.

EXCERPT FROM MY NEW BOOK... "FLESH, BONE, CLONE"
Copyright © 2014 by Edward Murphy... Available... 2014.

Senator Regal asked, “Do you believe in God Mr. Marshall?” He continued to stare at Marshall without changing his serious expression, “Now then do you Mr. Marshall? A straightforward question honestly. I’m not judging you, I’m curious.” The senator leaned forward, folded his arms, and propped them on his cane.

            “I’m a spiritual man, Senator,” Marshall replied. He held his briefcase on his lap.

            “Do you believe the stuff contained in the notebook?”

            “I do. The information provided is sufficient enough for me to develop a serious investigation,” Marshall admitted.

            The Senator sat back further in the large leather chair. The 797’s Rolls-Royce pulse engines purred in the background reminding them they were on a plane. Above thirty thousand feet, the pulse engines took over from the fan jet  The pulse engine provided maximum speed combined with greater fuel efficiency than the fan jet  With a lightweight fiber body and clear view lounge in front the 797 is the most popular passenger jet ever built.

            “Have you ever seen a human who didn’t have an umbilical cord scar, a navel?” The senator asked. He didn’t give Marshall the time to answer, he added, “I have, it’s something you don’t consider until someone points it out to you, but as soon as they do you can think of little else.”

            “Are you referring to the clones, Senator?” Marshall asked.

“Yes, I've seen them,” Regal said. He used his right hand to push his full head of gray hair back, “oh, not the ones Ben Langston and his wealthy friends manufactured for their own amusement. I’m talking of the ones they clone from clones. The abomination created from cloning from an existing clone are the ones lacking a navel scar. A clear biblical accounting to me. Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone from the book of Origins and clone of my clone from the project book being written at Site-14.”

            “What do you mean, Senator?” Marshall asked.

            The Senator swallowed hard, his mouth dry, “The clones created by the Aeron Initiative at Site-14 aren’t descendants from Adam. They lack umbilical cord scars. Some biblical scholars argue since God created Adam and Eve they didn’t have umbilical cord scars. Perhaps Michelangelo got it wrong on the ceiling over the Sistine Chapel.

            “An example of extreme tinkering with the human body is the fact male Aeron Initiative clones don’t need circumcised. The post-circumcision characteristic is programmed into their genetics, as though they’re recruited to be soldiers in Joshua’s army or perhaps accounting to the covenant of Abraham, regardless…” he paused, “it’s frightening what they can do.