Thursday, August 1, 2013

THE HARDEST PART ABOUT WRITING IS….

The hardest part about writing is chasing realism. I find that to be one of the most difficult things to do. Realism is so challenging because it is so easy to fall into a pattern of what we’ve seen on television and movies, or read in books. Even how we feel about a subject can cause us to fall into a pattern that follows a boring theme than reality. Everybody doesn’t fall in love no matter the obstacle, everybody doesn’t find the missing item, good does not always triumph over evil, bad people are not always punished, family members are not always united and the list goes on.

What inspires me in my search for reality is a bible quote taken from Ecclesiastes 9:11, “I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor, because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.”



The meaning is the same. You can fall in love with a character, and love them dearly because you developed them and brought out all of their secrets and fears, but can you then kill them off? You can have the FBI hunt down the kidnapped young girl, but can you have them find her in a shallow grave at the end? You can have the innocent man go to trial for the crime, but can you have him lose and get the chair? Can you do what is NOT part of a pattern and give your reader a strong dose of realism? Or do you follow the escapism that is currently given to people who want a digestible ending. The ending that makes them feel good at the end. Not even good, like a satisfying ending, but a very good, sweet, sickly candy type of ending. Sometimes steak satisfies. It might be closer to reality than donuts, but reality sometimes is an eye opener, sometimes it sobers the reader, sometimes it makes the reader think. Sometimes a dose of reality is more desired than the common ending.

I’m not saying reality is always an undesirable ending, or less digestible. I’m saying that reality almost always comes as a surprise, sometimes shocking, sometimes expected, but seldom copied.

COVER OF DARKNESS
By
Gregory Delaurentis
BLURB:

A high profile murder of a Wall Street executive in Westchester pits three people against the criminal underbelly of Manhattan nightlife. The key players are two ex-cops turned private investigators—Kevin Whitehouse, whose sharpest tool is his keen analytical mind, and David Allerton, a former Special Forces operative—and Margaret Alexander, Kevin’s lover. In their search for a killer, they are forced to travel to the edge of sanity and morality, while stumbling onto their own confusing secrets as well. The Cover of Darkness is a gritty noir saga that untangles a web of deceit in the course of tracking down a brutal murderer.

EXCERPT:

David stopped pacing, and then started working on a rock embedded in the dirt with the toe of his shoe. “I wonder why MacDonald didn’t say anything in the interview about the cops being present. He should have told us that there were cops in the Midnight for protection—making sure the dealers were selling and not using.”

“Maybe,” Kevin ventured, “he didn’t want to drop a dime on his cop friends. Maybe he was frightened.”

“Maybe. That would have helped us a lot,” David said, his eye caught by a shapely girl on a bike riding nearby.

Margaret sat up. “That would also explain how the killer got past the gate and simply walked into the house. He could have been flashing a badge.”

“That makes some sense,” Kevin said. “And certainly cops can kill.”

“They make the best assassins, don’t they?” David quipped.

“So now this is a cop hunt?” Kevin asked.

“I would rather it end here, guys,” Margaret said.

David approached the two and stood over them. “The question is now how to hunt the most dangerous thing in New York. Crossing the thin blue line is not going to be fun or easy.”

“Fun?” Margaret said. “It’s downright dangerous.”

“We can’t go to Ferryman and Reynolds,” Kevin said, nervously running his fingers through his hair, and retrieving his arm from around Margaret as he sat up. “They’ll only go on the defensive. And if the case starts turning in that direction, they’ll only deflect it.”

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Gregory Delaurentis spent his adult life roaming from job to job, working for Lockheed in California, various law firms in New York, and financial firms on Wall Street. Throughout this period of time, he was writing—unceasingly—finally producing a large body of work, albeit unrecognized and unpublished . . . until now. Cover of Darkness is the first in a series of upcoming books that include Edge of Darkness, Pale of Darkness and Cries of Darkness. These novels follow the lives of three individuals who do battle bringing criminals to justice, while they struggle to understand the complex relationships that exist among themselves. This intriguing trio has absorbed the attention of Mr. Delaurentis for the past year and a half, so much so he decided to self-publish their stories to bring them to a wider audience.

[AUTHOR’S DISCLAIMER: These are works of fiction. Name, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.]

LINKS
Vendor links
1) AMAZON http://www.amazon.com/Cover-Darkness-1-Gregory-Delaurentis/dp/0989185702/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365639244&sr=1-1&keywords=cover+of+darkness+gregory+delaurentis
2) KOBO http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Cover-of-Darkness/book-SydhWnuMdEGT2jO97s6rDA/page1.html?s=znZMkhZzw0yjFAMp-WIkpQ&r=1
3) BARNES & NOBLE http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cover-of-darkness-gregory-delaurentis/1115107265?ean=9780989185707
4) SONY READER STORE https://ebookstore.sony.com/search?keyword=Gregory+Delaurentis
5) SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/304457
General links
1) http://www.darknessnovels.com/
2) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cover-of-Darkness/435819953132527
3) https://twitter.com/cupgrease
4) http://gregorydelaurentis.blogspot.com/


One randomly chosen commenter will win a $50 Amazon/BN gift card. a Rafflecopter giveaway

14 comments:

Gregory Delaurentis said...

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chris Redding for hosting my book, and to also thank all those who participate. For those inclined I would like to ask, what is the hardest part about writing for you?

Bobbye Hope said...

That was a great article and excerpt! An amazon card would be great!

Gregory Delaurentis said...

Thank you Bobbye Hope, and thanks for dropping by.

Rita Wray said...

The book sounds very intriguing. I can't wait to read it.

Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

Gregory Delaurentis said...

Thank you Ingeborg, I hope you enjoy reading it.

Harpreet Singh said...

I would love an Amazon giftcard! Thank you for this generous giveaway! (:

Gregory Delaurentis said...

You're welcome, and thank you for stopping by.

Anonymous said...

You make good points--I think people like a plausible path to an HEA, but they want the HEA for sure!

vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com

Gregory Delaurentis said...

Thank you vitajex and thank you for stopping by.

Stormy Vixen said...

Thanks for sharing the excerpt and the giveaway. Sounds like a great book and I am looking forward to reading it. evamillien at gmail dot com

Gregory Delaurentis said...

Thank you Ms. Millien, I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for stopping by.

Mary Preston said...

COVER OF DARKNESS sounds like such a gritty and exciting read.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Gregory Delaurentis said...

Thank you Ms. Preston, I actually call it a 'gritty noir saga' in my promotional material. Thanks for stopping by and posting a comment.

Gregory Delaurentis said...

It's so nice to have you on the blog tour, Karen. Thanks for commenting. Have a great day.