I am very proud and happy with the direction of my second book, as I am nearing the end of my revisions. I am ready to start on my third book. I am super excited about the close of this Death of Ink series. There will be a lot of plot twists, and a villian that no one suspected.
Check out my page on Goodreads for more information. My author name is M.M. John.
Things I am tired of seeing in fiction
The whole naive innocent girl meets bad/dangerous/mystery boy and subsequently starts to experience life, etc. And all of its derivatives:
Why I hate it: Stupid. Like boys come and go, while families are forever. I hate how the parents are always painted as just some evil bitches out to ruin fun. These parents most of the time aren’t painted as abusive but overprotective or just normal parent shit. So I am not talking about abusive parents here. In real life, even with difficult parents, things are still more textured and nuanced than that. A child may still love and defend a parent in front of others and privately in their mind as a show of loyalty. Even difficult parents have their good and soft moments, moments when the parent and child actually get along. Not every child with a difficult parent wants to rebel or ‘stick it to their parents’ in some way. In short to reduce it to this trope is to dehumanize your characters.
Why I hate it: Just sets people up for failure. This trope is one I am going to intentionally break in the next chapters of my story. A messed up guy doesn’t suddenly become okay just because you’re dating him.
Why I hate it: Well, I guess the girl can’t be the Madonna in the Madonna/Whore complex if she goes full-on whore :rolls eyes: I just think the girl becoming completely ‘corrupted’ would be more realistic and more interesting. I feel it is just like the girl turns from naïve virgin to a respectable type of sexuality. Like the bad boy is always going to be her soulmate, the first and only person she sleeps with, like where does that happen in real life?
Why I hate it: Sexist. Girls only exist in a story to serve as competition for the male gaze. Next.
Why I hate it: Girls, I promise you can experience self-actualization, ‘find yourself’ and experience the world without a male guide. I mean, in these stories the girl never rebels against abusive or difficult parents, never goes out to experience things on her own , until hot, mysterious guy shows up. Like, does this say girls cannot think or act on their own? And I hate how it is like girls (naïve/innocent) only become women (more experienced/worldly) when they get with a guy.
Why I hate it: I feel this classifies girls into groups that are harmful to them and dehumanizing. If virgins are innocent does that mean non-virgins are guilty? If virgins are pure does that make non-virgins dirty? Men are not shamed for their sexuality in this way at all. I do not like classifying women as good or bad based on what they do and don’t do with what’s between their legs.
Why I hate it: If that is the way someone chooses to live their life, it’s their life. I hate how in these books the characters seem coerced into giving these things up and shamed for them as being to stuck-in-the-mud etc. If the person chooses to get more experience or experience more of the world on their own and by their own choice that’s different, but being repeatedly teased for your own choices? It seems in these stories either they are being groomed to agree with the boy in his behavior or being coerced. Nah. Next.
Finished with the second book as far as compiling it and revising it the first time around.
Now, I am looking for some beta readers to get feedback and see what changes I can incorporate.
Very excited for this new novel.
So I decided that I am going to change my storyline a bit by rewriting (slightly) a scene and dropping an entire storyline.
Now, this storyline made up most of books three and four.
After I crossed all of that out, I am thinking how much will I have left? Should I fit it all into this one book I am revising now?
The major storyline change is I am going to open and close the Devon/Paige/Cristina romantic angle in one book instead of dragging it out.
I am also not going to include the whole Devon/Paige/Betrayal angle I had in the 3rd and 4th book. I think this is the right choice because it was too cumbersome, too difficult to close well and too unbelievable (the part Paige plays in Devon’s downfall).
So, what we’re left with now is Paige and Devon as a couple (sort of) by the end of this book with Cristina still hoovering in the background but she’s basically a non-factor (lol).
Going into the next book (or this book, depending on how much I have left) Paige trying to juggle all the new information she is learning about Devon and her budding relationship with him.
This next chapter is the most romantic chapter I’ve ever written. Originally, I was going to end it with a kind of break up, but I thought, what the hell, these two characters want to be together why not give it to them? Tired of stretching this out and it seems like the right time.
So I am closing the love triangle by making it a pair and opening the new story angle of Paige struggling to trust Devon with the new revelations about him.
In Paper Cuts, book two, the serialized tale continues…
From the outside, Paige Langley’s life seems pretty normal…whatever that means. But it’s not. Her new boyfriend Matthew—a chain-smoking, musician—is acting strange, her friends at school even stranger, and Devon Connors, the boy that Paige is crushing on nearly dies in drug experiment gone wrong.
Then one of the local football players mysteriously turns up dead and it launches a full-scale investigation by police on the illegal drug use at Bass Towers High School. And with all the weirdness going on, Paige is starting to suspect that Devon knows more than he’s letting on.
As the horrible truth about the wild after school party scene—filled with sex, narcotics, and even murder—circulates around campus, Paige’s perfect life takes an unexpected turn, and a dark suspicion is suddenly cast on those she trusts most….
So I was in the hospital for some abdominal pain for a while. Things seem to have calmed down and my health feels better.
That said, I should have been done with this second book.
I just finished typing the chapter that I agonized over. I think it’s okay. I think I may be moving Devon’s relationship with Paige along too fast. But I kinda want that. I want it to seem ‘flingy’ and fleeting.
The next chapter will be different as it will be in Cristina’s point of view, which should be great fun.
The rest of the chapters are pretty much written, with only about two or three things I need to add/write from scratch, so I think I am pretty much done.
So I am still writing the ninth chapter (mainly because I was busy with midterms and other things). And I realize that this chapter much more than others and much more than anything I have ever written is decidedly romantic which is okay, I guess.
I just don’t particularly feel that I am any good at writing romantic-type things.
It is hard to capture the nuance of a relationship on paper, which is why I get frustrated and annoyed at romance novels. If you’ve ever been in love, you know that it is so much more than seeing the other person as perfect. You don’t really see them as perfect or even necessarily the most handsome or good-looking person, or the most well-behaved person. You see them as they are and you love them anyway. You don’t always have a great time with them either. Sometimes they suck.
I want to capture the joy and innocence and newness and disappointment of young love. It is a lot of emotions rolled into one thing, it isn’t just happy feelings.
***SPOILERS***
Anyway, I finished the romantic scene in one sitting, which is new for me. I usually take forever on a scene. It is much harder for me to write the confrontation scene between Paige, Devon, Cristina, et. al. I guess that is where the ‘disappointment’ comes in. It has to be raw for it to be real. I don’t want an over-the-top Jerry Springer type of showdown, lol. But then, I don’t want it to be a couple arguing in the church parking-lot type of whisper fight. I need some balance here. It is harder to write than I thought.
Tension and disappointment in general are difficult for me to convey on paper. I may need to do some writing exercises/look up examples.
My book cover designer is working on the cover for my second book! I can’t wait to see the mockups.
*MAJOR Spoliers Ahead*
I keeping both mental and physical notes of where I am in my story.
I have to make it a habit (as I did with the first book) to read and reread what I wrote so far, to keep track (in addition to notes) so I can know what ground I have covered already.
So far as to Devon’s past life (I’m on Chapter 9)
We know:
He cannot write at all without the influence of his muse.
He misses school, at times, because of this.
He meets Olivia (the muse/dead girl) after his parents split up and he moves with his mom and his sister to the woods.
He, we assume, most definitely shot Olivia or had some type of influence on how her life ended.
Other important notes:
His sister is scared of the woods (IMPORTANT)
So obviously this ghost/muse/girl is haunting him (we assume) because he killed her and she may want to extract some sort of revenge. But why is she making him write?
Well, I know this, but it is for the reader to find out!
Important to note: This is not the story. This is not the story. This is not the fucking story. This is back-story, sheesh people!
Two main goals to focus on in this book:
1. Devon’s relationship with Paige
2. Devon’s relationship with his sister, Lyn
The goal shifts in this story. The last book had a focus on Paige and her story goal. This book focuses on Devon and his own story goal.
Things we are NOT talking about in this book:
Devon’s binder. We already know what’s in it. Stories about his past life and a story about his sister being a druggie, no need to cover old ground.
Devon keeping his past life a secret from Paige or Paige distrusting Devon>>>I’m done with this. They are friends now and more romantically inclined . They are not suspicious of each other anymore. I’m not going over this again. They are more concerned with getting in each other pants than anything else, tbh.
Paige or her writing contest. We know she is entering one. We know it ends in June. It’s not June yet. Next.
A slight change of perspective:
I’m introducing a new angle on some old story arches.
First, Devon’s relationship with Paige, which I guess is completely new since he didn’t have one with her last book. I am attempting to write a love square, as opposed to a triangle, since both Paige and Devon are currently attached. I don’t know how I am going to justify their behavior, lol. But, I will try to least help the reader see their motives and where they are coming from in deciding to hook-up while still attached. Devon’s goal here is to balance his relationship between the two ladies, although he is ultimately asked to choose.
Next, Devon’s relationship with Lyn. Basically, this was alluded to in the first book, but Lyn’s on drugs, as is most of the football team. The thing with Lyn is that she has a semi-violent, love relationship with Rob (who is coincidentally also Cristina’s brother) who is the drug dealer behind most of the school’s supply. Devon isn’t too thrilled about this or Rob being abusive to Lyn. He is also convinced Lyn would be doing much better academically if it wasn’t for Rob. Devon’s goal is thus to ‘rescue’ Lyn, so to speak from Rob’s influence.
I kinda hinted at both of these main objectives in the first book, but where they were in the background then, they are now in the foreground here.
So what is Paige doing in all of this?
Basically, coming to term with her feelings about Devon and confronting her own inadequacies and fears. The writing contest takes the background here and is mostly used as a device in developing her relationship with Devon. Ultimately, Paige’s goal is to be in a relationship with Devon (aw!). But let’s see if that shit pans out (evil laugh).
Now writing: Chapter 9 (completely new material, and you know how much I like writing…hint, I hate it 
) and it’s decision-time for Devon. Who or what will he choose. I’ve been envisioning this scene for a while, getting it on paper the way I want it is going to be difficult. I’m giving myself until Sunday….I think, but don’t quote me. That is the first half chapter. The second half of the chapter will be about Lyn and a special revelation about her relationship with Rob (hint: it’s not a ‘real’ relationship).
More at five!
So I finished my synopsis for #2 of The Death of Ink which I decided that I will call Paper Cuts, because, well, why not?
I started to write a romance and then I said nah, lol. I am going more of the unrequited love type of thing which makes sense considering what the third book will be about betrayal. I can’t exactly make someone betray someone they idolize until something serious happens to make that person not idolize person #2.
If that makes sense…
What can you expect from the second book?
Teen lust and secret rendezvous.
Spoilers???
Devon, you dog, lol! You may not like him at the end of this.
Challenges???
I have to write a couple of new scenes. I need to tackle them correctly to make certain relationships 3D and multifaceted, and not another book about teens being in love for the sake of being in love.
I need to write this relatively fast and I am notoriously slow when I write. It is not abnormal for me to take a few weeks on a single scene. It has to be the way I want it. I’m learning to let go of that obsessiveness, since I know 9/10 of what I write is going to be edited out between my editors and beta-readers.
Overall, really happy with this book and the way it is shaping out.
I love it when a plan comes together. My plan? Teaching people how to get and stay healthy without fad diets, weight loss shakes, expensive supplements or any other such non-sense. The strategy? Teach them to eat real, whole food.
Yesterday I received this email from a friend who had loaned out my book to a co-worker. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge and the willingness to take baby steps in the journey to achieving life long health and wellness. I think this lady is well on her way, plus I can’t help but like anyone that calls me sassy 
Here’s what she said:
I went back through and re-read Rachel’s book. Since we are doing the biggest loser at work, I thought it would it would be extra helpful. First, I had forgotten how sassy she is, I love that. 2nd, when she talked about the average lunch of someone of who watching their weight, it was almost item for item exactly what I had been eating for a week. A turkey wrap.
I thought I was doing good, but realized where I could make better choices. It was very helpful. Please let her know that I have been reading more labels this week and I’m gonna share the book with my sister.
Thanks again
Interested in picking up your own copy? Just click on the link www.amazon.com/dp/B0084HME7I
The Death of Ink 