Ending things...in a thriller

Well I’m coming to the ending of draft one. While that sounds like I’m almost done writing I’m not. Captive, and the sequel, are thrillers so my ending should follow a (very loose) formula. I need a big ending. At page 291 I’m just starting to wind it down (and will likely end up with 400 pages after edits are complete).

So I’m building the grand finale. Someone will die; a bomb may go off; there will be numerous unexpected twists and turns. Mostly at this point I’m following the traps I’ve laid for my characters to their inevitable ends.

I love writing this part of a book. The ending will ultimately take about 100 pages. Draft one will be a little lean…the chronology is more important that the details; or, what happens in the room is more important than what the room looks like. And that’s why the clean up is also fun: I get to clarify and embellish.

Fiction allows for creation, and I play around with my story lines, throwing away outline after outline. Believable, thrilling, compelling and original? Writing thrillers is getting harder and harder as the real world ups the ante on us writers (look at the news from Libya over the last month; or Syria: no one would have believed me had I written it last year!).

Or, as I’m writing about the protests in Egypt, I touched on global unrest not expecting that since the book will end in New York I’d have to add in the protests there!

How fun it all is. So now, inevitably, I’ll follow the story line I’ve sketched out only roughly. Earlier in the week I threw out my already written last chapter because I decided another outcome had more impact.

So truly, when writing fiction, no one really knows how it will end (including me!). Is that so different from the real world in which we live?

Democratizing media: update on the Captive/BitTorrent promotion

Democratizing because Captive reached a large, global audience, and so quickly. As of a few minutes ago the completed download total is over 350,000 in under two weeks. I can't comment on BitTorrent's traffic but I can comment on the percentage that clicks through to my sites. Thus far my traffic comes from all parts of the world: Africa, Asia, the USA, Europe, Latin America and Australia/New Zealand. Countries include Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt, Iran, Tunisia and Algeria where I doubt Captive would have a chance of getting published.

One simple thriller and all of those people! I'll be writing more about my experiences with the audience and BitTorrent over the next few weeks.

The picture is UCLA early this morning.

Captive and Bittorrent: Democratizing media?

We’re early into our two week joint promotion but I’m amazed thus far with the international buy in. I’ll write a short posting now as I’m spending the night with my kids (and supposed to be making dinner). But the response has been global.

On my www.meganlisajones.com site (which gets about 1% traffic wise as does Bittorrent (www.bittorrent.com) with the download, I’ve seen amazing traffic. The hits have come from every continent except Antarctica. And, I’ve gotten real, meaningful traffic from countries not known for free media: China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt and others.

Media is global now. It’s also democratized. This one posting (rare) will go on both my blogs. Please continue supporting out efforts to create a real community. Much appreciated.

The message really does belong to the street and not the elite.

Photo from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.

Charlie Sheen Fired: More Important than Hosni Mubarak Resigning?

No, I’m not kidding. And, what’s more, I’m not going to take a cheap shot at the media/news industry (or bloggers) and say that they cover Sheen’s escapades more thoroughly than they do Mubarak’s.

I’m serious about the question. What impact did each change have on your daily life?

If you watch Two And A Half Men regularly you might be disappointed. If you were planning a near term trip to Egypt then you’ve probably cancelled. So many of us don’t see the butterfly effect from an event that we read about on or offline.

The butterfly effect is that Chaos theory principle which states something along the lines of a butterfly batting its wings causes a hurricane on the other side of the world. In simple terms, small events may have unintended and large consequences that are hard to trace back to their seemingly unrelated cause.

Mubarak’s resignation and the related protests throughout Africa and the Middle Eastern region, and attempting (seemingly) to extend to China, is showing us how control of news, democracy and other communications has been lost. A government can shut down the Internet, phone lines/connections and social networking sites but the damage has already been done. People have seen that other realities exist and they’ve learned how to seize control of their own communications (even risking their lives).

People don’t like to be controlled. Give them the tools and they will break those repressive yokes.

Iran and China are doing quite a job quelling dissent for now (by murdering and terrorizing ruthlessly). Libya is less effective.

Sheen? How does he tie into all of this? Sheen doesn’t like to be controlled either and he has rebelled against his boss (then there is that bad behavior issue). He lives in a democracy so has been able to find his voice and express it. Warner Brothers exercised their legal rights and fired him. Democracies do work better than repressive dictatorships…in my opinion.

In our country Sheen is on the networks ranting. In Egypt they speak out on Facebook. In each case, the people have found a way to be heard. And we don’t yet know the ultimate consequences. I’m staying hopeful.