Somehow, it’s Friday again. I’m hoping that I get some writing time this weekend and that my muse is willing to play. Recently, when I have the time, I have the time, I have no input from my muse. It’s problematic.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that my muse isn’t working on the book, there’s a whole lot of world building and character creation going on in my head for the second Blood Witch book.
Because this book takes our heroine to a whole new world we get to create it from the ground up, which is something I love doing. The plot is still developing, but will include Thána emerging into an ongoing war and find her attempting to find her sister amidst the political machinations and physical devastation of this new world.
I also get to play with new races and fun new characters, which is also exciting.
But, for now it’s time for the day job…well, one of them anyway. Happy Friday, Readers!
The Blood Witch is off with my first agent query, as of last week. I’m nervous and terrified and very excited. I am so very pleased with this book and these characters and I can only hope that someone out there likes the story enough to represent me and get me a good book deal.
I had intended to take some time to work on other projects, but Thána doesn’t appear inclined to stop talking, so I have already begun the second book. No, I don’t know how to not be writing/editing.
The second book will shift the focus a little bit, give us a new world to play in and may even give Thána a love interest, probably female. Of course, this means giving Brain (my muse) the kind of work she loves best, world-building.
To be honest, she’s been playing at what this world will look like since about the beginning of March. I’m still teasing out the full plot, but I have the usual five or six plot points that the story will be built around. So far, what I know is that the world we will visit has undergone recent, radical, apocalyptic changes. It is a place filled with many races, some of which are familiar, some of which will be wholly new creatures.
Not going to say more, and I do not have a working title yet, but I have the first 1000 words or so and I look forward to seeing where the story takes me.
As we start a new week, I find myself very worried about money, but still optimistic overall. I have a little bit of work, with a vague promise of more on the horizon. I haven’t been paid yet for my first week, just submitted my hours for the second week, and we embark on the third.
The other job I was supposed to start is on hold, due to the fact that they can not complete the background check, because the courts in San Francisco are not open. So that means I have space for more editing or writing work, if you happen to know of any work that needs doing.
I’m on Upwork, but will work with folks outside of that as well.
So other than that bit of the work I’m doing for one client, I’ve been working on The Blood Witch. I hope to have this final edit done by the weekend. Which is when the work to sell the book begins. Which starts, as most things do, with research. Then query letters, which will hopefully lead to an agent, who can help with that whole selling part.
As I do, I’m also watching a lot of documentaries, particularly true crime documentaries. I found a motherlode of new-to-me tv shows and movies on Hulu.
I hope you and your families are staying safe and not going a little stir crazy. Be smart, as we start opening things back up. This virus has not yet done its worst, and I fear that loosening restrictions too quickly will send a wrong message to too many people, opening us up for a strong resurgence of victims. Mask up. Wash your hands. Stay home if you can, and don’t let people closer than 6 feet. You never know whose life you might be saving. It could be your own.
Happy Friday, Readers! I meant to post earlier in the week, but I have actual, paying work at the moment, so my attention has been on that.
How are you coping? I’ve had a few bad days, but between work on The Blood Witch and working in my container garden, I’ve found ways to keep my head up. I hope you can say the same.
I’ve also been indulging in two of my favorite things, Star Wars and Supernatural. I find it soothing to re-watch something I am so familiar with.
Today though I feel beat up and sore all over, probably from trying to do too much with very heavy stuff last night (ordered a bunch of soup and it all came in one box…like we’re talking 16 cans of soup. I’d have been better off taking a few cans out at a time, but no…like an idiot I tried to move the whole box). I’m hoping a hot shower can help me feel a little better.
Aside from that, I’m going to try to finish up these edits I’m getting paid to do, if the website ever comes back up. Right now I’m just getting a blank page. I assume no one in the support team is currently online.
And, maybe some work on the book. Depends on how long my beat up body can tolerate the office chair.
I hope your Friday is filled with good things! Remember, kindness matters. Please be kind to yourself too.
There comes a point in every book where I want to chuck it all in and never write another word. I start to question my plot. I start to think my characters are crap. I become fairly certain that the whole thing is a steaming pile of garbage left to rot in the sun.
Thankfully, a few days away from the book is usually enough to cure me of it, and then I fall in love with my characters again. I plug up plot holes. I draw maps to make sure I’m using consistent language and direction when I’m writing about travels. I fortify character descriptions, using sensual language to really let the reader see the character. I read through the book, making notes on things I need to thread deeper into the story, and then I go back to the beginning and I edit.
I hit the first point the other day, as I was finishing my first edit pass on The Blood Witch. I was pretty sure I was just going to toss it, and the year or so I’ve spent writing it, in the bin and stop calling myself a writer.
This morning, as I sit here sipping my coffee and contemplating my day, I’m reaching the second point. I know where my holes are and I have good ideas on fixing them. I have a list of little things I want to carry forward because I wrote them in with good intentions, and then forgot about them completely. I have a deep abiding love for my two main characters, and character notes on how to improve the secondary and tertiary characters.
My one remaining quandary is that my narrator main character is witty and fun in the first half of the book, but some of that bleeds off in the second half. Part of it is due to the circumstances, and that will remain. But, I know that when I am under stress I get more sarcastic, not less, so I want to work on building some of that back in.
So that is the mission I will embark on today. After the coffee is gone, the garden watered, breakfast eaten, for at least two hours today, and every day this week, I work on filling in the gaps and making this book something to be proud of.
Of course, then the real work happens because it is time to start querying. Which is vaguely terrifying.
So, off to do those precursor things so that I can get to the words. Have a pleasant Monday, Readers. Stay safe.
I’ve been working all week on my first edit of The Blood Witch. I’m up to chapter 25, which is where I will be starting this morning. I have so much love for this character. Well, all of them, honestly.
I need to work on establishing some of them a little more, make them stronger side characters with stories all of their own…you know, make them real. This is particularly true for some of the main character’s family.
As I work through this and build up the weak spots, plug up plot holes and all of that, my muse is already spinning up the world building for the second book, because, yes, this is at least a two book series.
I’ve added over 5,000 words so far, and there are probably another 2,000 to 3,000 to come, which should drop me close to 90K by the time I’m done tinkering. Then, provided I have the cash, I will be hiring my favorite editor to give it a good going over before I start the terrifying part: querying agents.
Having never done it, and having perpetual impostor syndrome, the thought is terrifying. I think these characters deserve my best, however, and I aim to give it to them…and the best is not just giving it to the publisher you know will take it, but won’t do much to support it once it’s out in the wild.
So, that’s how I’m muddling through the week, Readers. That and coffee. Lots of coffee. Maybe that’s why I’m vibrating? How about all of you? How are you hanging in there?
Fancy a bit of “virtual hang out” time with me…and whoever of my friends happens to show up? I’ll be hosting a Zoom meeting this evening. No pressure, just a chance to see faces and chat. I’ll put the details in the Events section over there on the right, or you can check my FB Author’s page for the link. We did it last week, and there may have only been a few of us, but we had fun! So come join us!
Okay, coffee’s getting cold so I’m off to slurp it down and get on with that editing business. Y’all stay safe out there!
Oh, and if you’ve missed any of the Read Along for Through Shade and Shadow, you can find the recordings on my You Tube Playlist.
Hey there, Readers! I hope this Easter Sunday finds you well and in good spirits. I haven’t celebrated Easter in over 20 years, but I have many friends and family who still do. I have a complicated relationship with Easter, to be honest.
Living alone, as I do, and not having kids around has done a lot to reinforce the “out of sight, out of mind” aspect of what Easter was for me as a kid, then a deeply religious Christian, then an aunt with small nieces. Once the kids were old enough to not really care about the Easter bunny and all the attendant hoopla, the holiday just sort of faded from prominence for me.
However, this time of year is so full of rebirth and the absolutely amazing way that nature wakes, making food grow out of dirt, decorating our environment with flowers and greenery, and that is certainly something I can celebrate.
This evening, I plan on celebrating in my own way, with a tasty adult beverage, and reading the second chapter of Through Shade and Shadow over on my Facebook author’s page. If you missed the first chapter, it’s loaded up on my You Tube Channel, and I’ve put it here for your happy viewing.
I will link them all in a playlist to make it easier for y’all to watch in a continuous stream. If the weather stays nice this evening, I may even move this chapter outdoors.
I’m knee deep in consolidating feedback from my beta readers on The Blood Witch, and once I have it all noted down in my printed out copy, I plan to do a slow read through it to mark up with my own notes/additions, etc, before I bring it back to the computer.
I really love these characters, and I can’t wait until I can share them with all of you, though that might be a while, as I plan to do the “query” fun to maybe find an actual agent to represent me, because as much as I appreciate my current publisher, I am ready to move beyond what they can provide.
In the meantime, I’m sure we can find other stuff to keep you entertained.
Did you know I have an Instagram? To help relieve my own boredom, I’ve started an impromptu photo project with a Porg named Joe and his good friend, the Child from the Mandalorian. The hashtag #theadventuresofbabyyodaandporgjoe will take you to their shenanigans, though I missed tagging the first few. (Yes, I really am that dork).
Okay, on that note, I should get my day going. My edits are staring at me and my coffee’s gone cold. I should probably think about eating something too.
I hope you have the best day. Stay safe, stay home and wash your hands! Love you all!
Are you as bored as I am, Readers? You are probably tired of blog posts about the virus and how we’re coping. I get that. So, here’s a video I did yesterday with me all dressed up and reading some Edgar Allan Poe to start us off.
In other news, I’m trying to get my juices flowing to start working on The Blood Witch again. Yesterday I tried printing it out to make notes and what-not the old fashioned way, but I ran out of paper, and since it isn’t strictly necessary, I guess I’m back to doing this on the computer.
I got some great feedback from my beta readers, and hope that their notes will help me take this thing to the next level. I really love this story and these characters. I can’t wait until I can share them with all of you.
I’m going to plug my YouTube Channel and my Author’s Page on Facebook here. All of my live readings will be done on the Facebook page, so give it a like to stay up to date and to get notified when I go live. The YouTube channel will host the recordings of those readings after the live reading is done.
All of this reading of poetry has also kickstarted my poetic muse, and I’ve been scribbling away. Maybe I’ll come out the other side of this with a whole new book of poetry for you!
Stay safe, Readers! And Happy April. Let’s hope it isn’t as long as March was.
For most of my adult life I have had bouts of insomnia. There are just times when my body isn’t tired or my brain won’t turn off. They used to be nights of no sleep. Lately, they have been nights of sleeping super hard and deep for two to three hours, then waking up and off goes my brain into hyper space.
Some nights I lay there plotting, or fixing plot holes, or world building. Some nights I lay in bed and stare at YouTube until my eyes close again…or more often, until I’ve come to the conclusion that we are done sleeping (we being me and my brain), and I get up, start some coffee and go sit at the computer hoping to get some of whatever I was plotting or building down on paper.
Last night I was awake around 1:30am, for no apparent reason that I could see, and my brain took off plotting the second book in the Blood Witch story. There’s a whole new world, you see, that needs proper world building attention! I watched Bob Ross paint for a while and started to doze, but as soon as I turned him off again, I was awake.
Took a while to finally sleep again, but sleep I did. For at least an hour and a half. Having no clue what time I went to bed last night, I’m not sure how much sleep I actually ended up getting, but I guess that’s what coffee is for.
And that coffee is tasting mighty good right now. I’m taking the day off of the job hunt for an outing with my sister-in-law and niece, which I suppose means I have to wear real clothes, and I probably should finish cleaning out the car. Part of my Disneybound costume from January is still in the back seat.
So, I’m going back to my coffee before it gets cold. I hope Wednesday is wonderful and filled with blessings for you, Readers.
My beta readers have started to come back with their feedback on the zero draft of The Blood Witch, a thing that always makes me both nervous and excited at the same time. A lot of people think that writing the book is the hard part, but for me it is always that first flush of feedback.
This is the time when impostor syndrome ratchets up my anxiety into the stratosphere. What if I’m wrong and the story sucks? What if people are lying to me about my ability to write? What if none of them like it?
Then when the actual feedback starts coming in, I have to work overtime to keep my brain from saying “See, I told you. You suck. Even they think so,” when in fact the feedback is largely positive, with the bits each reader thought needed more information, or didn’t quite work, which is, after all, the reason for beta readers. Eyes other than mine, able to pick out the places where the story needs work.
Some of what I’ve heard so far are things I knew, things already on my list of “needs fixing” and/or “needs work”. Some of it comes from folks who are not US natives, which helps a lot, because I don’t think about things like “non-US folk won’t know how our foster care system works” while I’m writing.
I’m still waiting for a few folks, so I’m not going to start edits just yet, just update my lists and maybe start a read through of my own to add to those lists as well.
The day job continues to be elusive for the moment, but I’m hoping something is coming my way soon. Had a pretty decent interview on Friday, and I submitted a bunch of applications in the last few days, including one to Lucasfilm for an editing position (fingers crossed).
Did you remember to spring forward this morning? It’s later than you think it is! Time for coffee and a peruse of Facebook and Linked In before I go start some laundry and other fun chores.
Happy Sunday, Readers! May it rain kindness upon you.
