What? Lost an Entire Chapter!

So, I've been trying to simplify my writing by using Google Documents. When I started to have problems switching back and forth between chapters (different files in Google Docs), I decided to put everything in the FREE OpenOffice Writer. When I went to get chapter two from Google Docs to put it into one big Writer file, the whole chapter was gone. Gone. Lost. Deleted. Must of been me, but I sure didn't do it on purpose. Anyway, I remember what I wrote, so I'll just re-write it. Hopefully the new chapter two will be even better than the old chapter two. Oh, well!

Google Docs is free and it works, but so is OpenOffice Writer. 

New Book Trailer for "Gold Wings are Murder"

This commercial book trailer is a hoot! Turn your speakers on and check it out.

"Gold Wings are Murder--The Crying Stone" Now on Kindle

Well, it's been a wild ride, and the new mystery novel is now available for Amazon Kindle readers and anyone with an iPhone, iPad or Android with the Kinde Reader App.  It comes to 163 "Kindle Pages." That's several hours of spooky reading adventure.

Click here to download the free sample from Amazon.

"Gold Wings are Murder" First Draft Complete

I'm thinking Mark Twain would be a GL1800 trike kind of guy.

Mark Twain would be so proud--I just finished the first draft of "Gold Wings are Murder: The Crying Stone." Parts are funny. Parts of scary. Other parts are emotionally intense. It features a middle aged couple touring our great land on a GL1800 with a Tailwind trailer. What could be better than that?

So, now the edits begin. For those of you who like writing trivia, I'm using the editing system proposed by Rachel Aaron in "2K to 10K: Writing Faster, Writing Better and Writing More of What You Love." She suggested going through the book and doing your grammar corrections, but also outlining it, doing a time line to look for story problems, and using a ToDo list so you don't miss anything and can get your edits done with little fuss or extra effort.

Aaron also writes fantasy so, if you like murder mysteries AND fantasy (like me), check her out. As for my story, look for it some time in June, July at the latest.

Curves and Corners Part 1

Are curves and corners different? Should they be approached differently, from the rider's point of view? Is one better of worse than the other? Here's what I think.

Are these folks riding around a corner or a curve? 

Big, sweeping curves are lots of fun. You find them everywhere. The road bends away, and you cruise on without a care in the world. Curves are great too. You set up, zoom in, maybe use an exciting amount of lean angle, then zip on outa there. Also lots of fun. So, first off, let me say that in my humble opinion, neither one is better or worse than the other. But I do approach them differently, as a rider, because I believe they are different. I also believe that if you don't think of them differently, you will likely carry more stress than you need to while riding, and what I wish for you is FEARLESS RIDING so check this out.

Let me tell you what I mean by a curve.

To me, and for the purposes of this discussion, a curve is a bend in the road that does NOT require brakes or more than a minor roll off of the throttle. If you can safely negotiate a bend without any speed change, while remaining relaxed, seeing well, and in control of your riding, that's a curve. I'll even take it a step further and say that for a bend to be called a curve, you should be able to maintain your straight-line speed, AND take any line you want through the bend.

If you can make it through the bend comfortably, but only by entering wide, cutting in, and sweeping to the outside, that's not a curve, that's a corner. If you can maintain your speed and comfortably run the bike around the outside of your lane, or just as easily switch over halfway through and run around on an  inside line instead, to me, that's a CURVE.

Why does it matter?

Because if you are running around a curve at a safe and comfortable speed, it doesn't matter where you setup. Inside? No problem. Outside? Not an issue. Change your line halfway through? No worries. Line doesn't matter. It doesn't make any difference. If you are riding at a safe and comfortable speed that allows you to effortlessly and FEARLESSLY zoom around that curve and continue on with your ride, that's a curve.

Example

I was riding home from work the other day, and came to this wonderful curve near my house. My straight away speed was about 45 mph. The road curves around a little hill that makes it somewhat of a blind curve, but most any experienced biker could take that corner at 40-45 mph with basically no effort. I've done it literally a hundred times. I approached the curve at 45, rolled off just a little to maybe 43 and entered the curve. Halfway through, right in the middle of my outside line, was the flattened remains of a space alien! Or maybe it was just a dead racoon. Anyway, I didn't fret, or worry, or run into the opposite lane, or slam on my brakes. All I did was move the bike from an outside line, to an inside line, and keep on Wingin'!

Granted, if a car is stopped dead, smack dab in the middle of your lane--it's happened to me--you would need to use your brakes and stop, but on what I call a curve, sand, gravel or dead skunks can be handled almost effortlessly by simply changing your line. Just move over. No fuss. Change your lane position. Sacrifice your preferred line, and ride on. When riding around curves, many potential problems become non-issues.

By looking well ahead and assessing if the bend coming up is a corner or a curve, I have no worries. If it's a curve, I just look for the vanishing point, relax, keep my eyes up and ride on. As far as I can tell, most of the turns I ride around are curves, not corners. That means most of my riding is almost automatically FEARLESS. Why should I worry when I approach a curve if I know I can take that curve at my present speed and on any line I choose? If I need to roll off a little without so much as shifting gears, or just ease on around a problem spot, why should I worry?

But if I keep my eyes up, see a bend and decide it is really more of a CORNER, then what? Don't miss Part 2. Bookmark this pages as one of your favorites, or look for the Follow By Email box, fill in your contact information, and Part 2 will automatically show up in your email.

Until then, get out there and enjoy this great weather!

Moxie Nixx, author of "Gold Wings are Murder."

Creating Memorable Characters

I'm reading a paranormal mystery about a family of Witches in Maine. I like the story, but there are four sisters, plus a town full of local characters, and honestly, I find it a bit hard to follow who is who. That's why in my books, I take a tip I learned in a children's literature course 20 years ago--each character has a unique physical trait or quirk.

So, in "Gold Wings are Murder--The Crying Stone," the innkeeper has huge hands. Whenever I describe him, or he appears on the scene, I mention his freakishly large digits. The innkeepers wife, on the other hand, is petrified her guests will find out the Blue Stone Inn is haunted. I barely mention her looks, but everything she does, everything she says, is about keeping the ghost a secret.

To me, this is just good story telling.

You know, I don't mind if you share these tips on Google+ or Twitter. I'm not worried that someone else is going to write a Gold Wing themed mystery series. Just use the buttons below.

Slow Speed Gold Wing Secret

Slow speed control is often a problem, especially with giant touring bikes like Gold Wings and Electra Glides. While I strongly recommend the Ride Like a Pro class, there is one super simple, super easy technique that will make almost anyone a steadier rider at a walking pace.

Here it is: When you get down to single digit speeds (or anytime you feel uncomfortable on the bike), grip the tank with your knees.

Gripping the tank with your knees keeps your legs from flapping around in the breeze an unbalancing the bike. At very low speeds, a look, an elbow wiggle, or a knee flap will shift your center of balance and make the bike want to tip and lean. Gripping the tank with your knees puts an end to half that problem--the lower half.

Gripping the tank also locks your body onto the bike making you almost one unit. This allows your arms to work independently, and gives them better leverage for swinging those bars left and ride. It's funny that at high speeds, you almost can't see the bars move, even though the bike goes from perpendicular to the road, down to a 40-degree lean angle (on a Gold Wing). But at slow speeds, getting around a pot hole and over to the gas pump can mean steering so far that you bump the left steering lock, then instantly swinging the bars so far that you bump the right steering lock. To do that comfortably, without unbalancing everything else, well, it's a lot easier when your lower body is locked onto the bike from gripping the tank with your knees.

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Gold Wings are Murder OPENING

Just to keep things interesting, here is a bit from the opening of "Gold Wings are Murder: The Crying Stone."

.....-----.....-----.....

Tiny Sorcha Rhyne sat bolt upright in the darkness. "Who's there?" 
No one, whispered the darkness.

"I see you there. Come out."

No one stood by the door, back in the corner, behind the dresser. No one stared. No one cried softly.

Sorcha glanced down at her husband, Django. He was beautiful, but he was sound asleep. Sorcha swung her gaze to the darkness in the corner. The darkness stared back, but didn't move. "Django, wake up!" Without looking, she shoved his shoulder, hard! She put her hand in his wavy hair and tugged. A fierce whisper, "Honey, there's someone in our room!" Django didn't move. 

The someone coalesce into a lighter shade of darkness. It came toward her. One step. Two steps out of the corner.

Sorcha drew back against the headboard, pulling the sheets up over her breasts. She reached toward the nightstand--hoping to find a weapon. Something!

When the hallway door opened, Sorcha jumped a foot.

The shape slipped out of an impossibly thin opening and disappeared into the hallway. 

"Don't you go out there," she said to herself. "Don't you dare." She looked at Django. Still asleep. What was wrong with him? Why wouldn't he wake up for her? She couldn't wait to figure it out. Whoever had been in their room was slipping away. What if he, she or it went into some other guest's room?

Before she could stop herself, she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and slipped down onto the floor. Her slippers were waiting, pointed out to keep little demon's from finding their way into her bed. She grabbed a nightgown off the bottom post of the four poster bed and crept to the door.

.....-----.....-----.....

 
You know, this stuff is even more fun sitting around a campfire while someone reads this story to you aloud. (Insert evil laughter.)

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