As happens every March, the students leave for a two week break, and the school allows for a one week vacation. Amen.

Right now, knee deep in outlining the next book. Hard lesson learned  from The Last Track ( and another manuscript that preceded it that will likely never see the light of day ), before diving headlong into a big writing project, I like to be able to do two things:

First, summarize the entire story to three sentences. They can be long compound sentences, the sort generally absent in my writing, or very simple. But the mini synopsis must be concise, coherent and complete. And I’ll bounce that “blurb” off a dozen people. If I sense I’m losing them, that they “aren’t getting it”, then the concept needs more fine-tuning.

Second and more importantly, character sketches. In the hieararchy of development, character motivations matter first and appearance last. Description is a detail and can be added as needed, for flourish. Motivation is what impels a character to act as they do. Characters are not their khakis, Calvin Klein jeans or their Prada shoes. Nor are they black, white or trans-gender. That is incidental. No, characters are what they do, and that rests upon their motivations.

What makes someone tick determines their role in the story, and shapes their interactions with other characters. Most importantly understanding and accepting their motivations forces me to be efficient. Generally that efficacy means letting characters do what they must, consistent with their internal script, and getting out of the way.

And staying out of the way.

So I’m not quite there, but in another week I’ll be close.

GoodReads giveaway wrapped on February 28, 2010. In all, 892 readers entered for a chance at one of five free copies. Winners were selected automatically by GoodReads. The publisher can not disclose or contact the winners ( except to send them the book ), but I can announce that all five copies with personalized signatures shipped this afternoon.

Huge thanks to everyone for taking the time to enter. Please note, there will be further giveaways of The Last Track on GoodReads.com in the near future.

On a personal note, I’m very happy there is a place where readers can share their opinions about books that publishers, be they large large or small, cannot sway with the threat of offering or withholding advertising dollars. It’s really all about the readers. Related lesson to self: bring the A-game, and do so every time.

‘Cause sooner or later, the Internets will have their day in the court of opinion.

So far 678 readers entered the publisher sponsored contest on GoodReads.com for a chance at one of five free copies of The Last Track. Still four days left in the giveaway. Quite a bit better turnout than I expected.

Much thanks to Cyndy for the suggestion.

I believe the writer has two jobs. First, get out of the way of the story and let the characters do theirs. Second, and more importantly, listen to what readers have to say about the story, because well, they tend to have a lot of great ideas.

More importantly, readers actually pay for books.

Cazy week at work, as everyone temporarily transitions from the standard curriculum to the project-based experiential learning program for the next three weeks. Being my fifth time around the block, by Monday afternoon nearly everything will be humming and very little of the day will be spent putting out fires–freeing me up for the bigger picture strategy planning this summer.

Speaking of the day job, last week a colleague heard about the upcoming book release and let a number of people know about it. Definitely a nice surprise and show of support. Not that I hid writing explicitly, just followed the charter that my only priority during the day was addressing the community’s technical needs. Very few people even knew I wrote. Others in my life did know, but that only partially accounts for the outpouring of good tidings as of late.

Been very surprised at how many longstanding but infrequently seen acquaintances sent texts or email of congratulations in the past week; these missives arrived out of virtual air. Guess a lot more lurkers are out there checking the site than anticipated.

Anyway, The Last Track was nominated for the Best Read of 2010 on GoodReads. To vote, all it takes a is a quick and free registration on GoodReads.com–a really great site for a whole lot of reasons.

So please vote for The Last Track on GoodReads.com. Currently ( as of 11:19 PM EST ), it’s tied for fifth place. My thanks in advance.