Category: blood witch

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words and witchery

This week I finished the zero draft of The Blood Witch!  It is currently in the hands of my first beta reader. No matter how many times I finish writing a book, it always comes with a thrill of accomplishment.

This book was born two years ago while at Sirens.  The main character, Thána Alizon, came to me fully whole.  I knew who she was, what her backstory was, and where the story would take her.  I wasn’t sure how we were going to get there, but that’s what the writing process is all about, getting from here to there.

Thána took a back seat for a while as I worked on another project, which got shelved last November when I decided to make The Blood Witch my nanowrimo project, just to see if I could get it up on its feet.

NANO was a success, pushing The Blood Witch to within spitting distance of the final climax and resolution.  December, however, when I wanted to be writing, there were a bazillion obligations and stresses that kept me from writing.  The same for January.  I guess the blessing in not working right now was that it afforded me the time to finish.  I wrote the last ten thousand words over the course of about two days.

Of course, writing a book is only the beginning.  The hard work comes after the last word is on the page.  There’s beta readers/critique partners who are the first to see the raw manuscript, a first edit pass, a second edit pass, then comes submission time, and this time around I plan on querying agents to try a more traditional publishing path, which I’ve never done, so I have no idea how long that will take.

Once the agent sells the book to a publisher, there’s another round or two of edits, cover design, etc.  It can take a year to go from purchased manuscript to a book out in the wilds.  The road is long, and the pay isn’t great, if you get paid at all, unless you manage to hit it big.

But, the satisfaction in finishing that zero draft is still there, even if it never sells.

Happy Thursday, Readers.  I’m out of coffee, so I guess that means it’s time to get some stuff done on the job hunting front.

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taking the next step

I’m sitting here in the dark, quiet morning, sipping on coffee and getting words down on the page.  In a little bit I will go dig at the job boards and such for new, exciting places to submit my resume to, but for now it’s just me and my story.

Yesterday was a good writing day with close to five thousand words by the time I was done, and that was largely the climax of the book.  I love when words come so easily.  I’m not far from done with my zero draft now.

My love for these characters is large.  My MC is more like me than any other character I have ever written, or maybe she’s more like the me I wanted to be.  Either way, she is maybe my favorite character since Amara in Forever.

Once I’m done, I’ll compile the project (I’m working in Scrivener as an experiment) and export it to a word or pdf document and have a couple beta readers give it a good read to identify anything too out there, too unbelievable and plot holes.

Then it will be time for my first edit pass.  After that, I’ll pay a professional editor to give it a good working over.  And another edit pass.  At that point, I’ll be ready to start querying agents, which I’ve never done and is rather terrifying. But it’s time to take the next step in my writing career.

Happy Monday, Readers!  I need more coffee.

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not set in stone

My weekends are often filled with words and characters, along with cleaning and laundry and errands.  I tend to do my best writing first thing in the morning, when I’m fresh from dreams and have a big cup of coffee steaming in front of me.  I try to give writing a good four hours on both Saturday and Sunday, before I get up and get started on other things.

Today is no exception.  I managed to sleep in a little bit, not crawling out of bed until eight this morning, but I’ve been at the computer since, pounding on the keys.  I’ve spent a little time also pounding the digital pavement, since I’m still looking for work, but since I’ve done that every day this week, there weren’t many jobs I hadn’t already seen, so it’s back to making words.

Today’s words are in something of a transitional chapter, which I always struggle with.  There are things that need to happen to get us to where the next chapter begins, but it’s not specifically plot driven, just a bunch of moments that need to be hit to set up the climax.  This makes this chapter a bit of a struggle, because I want to just jump ahead to get on with the plot.

But, it’s one of those things, I can write it now and have it inform the next chapter, or I can jump ahead and come back to this later, likely having to force things to fit and then re-write the next chapter anyway.  Might as well stick it out and try to get it done.  Maybe if I finish this chapter today, I can start tomorrow’s writing where I wish I were today.

Maybe.

Of course, knowing the character telling this story, we might end up taking a side turn that I didn’t plan.  One of the joys of being someone who lets the story tell itself, rather than setting the plot in stone before you begin.

I can’t wait to introduce you all to her, Readers.  I think you’re going to like her.

On that note, back to the words.  Have a wonderful Saturday!

 

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writing life

You know you’re a writer when…so many things could follow that opening phrase, but for me lately the big one is, “You know you’re a writer when you wake up in the middle of the night with bits of plot chasing bits of dialog begging to be put down on the page.”

Every night this week, somewhere around 2am, I wake up with my Brain putting together words to flesh out some bit of dialog or battling through some plot hole or point that I’ve been fighting with.  While that’s nice and all, it would be nicer if it would come at a reasonable time…like when I’m already at the computer.

I have always been one to spin tales almost as easily as I breathe, and any time I can not write for at least fifteen minutes a day I get very cranky and not a fun person to spend time with.  It doesn’t matter what it is I’m writing, just that I’m exercising that part of myself regularly.

Currently I am focused on finishing my zero draft of The Blood Witch and recruiting two or three beta readers to give it a once over to make sure I’ve closed up all of the plot holes and chased all of the inconsistencies out of the final product.  That is especially an important aspect when the story started out as a short story idea, mostly just an exploration of a character, and grew, changed, grew again and then the whole thing morphed into what it is becoming right now.  There is at least one early chapter that I know will need a lot of work to catch the inconsistencies born of the way I got to this point.

I am, however, very happy with the story as it stands, rough patches and all.  I hope to wrap it all up in the next few weeks, so if you have the time and inclination to offer services as a beta reader, and are willing to share your honest assessment of the plot and characters with me to help guide me through the next draft, reach out and let me know.

With that, I’m off to refill my coffee cup and get on to the day job.  Have a lovely Tuesday, Readers, and remember that kindness matters!

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with my head in the clouds…

Why is it that the week before any vacation or big plans is longer than any other week of the year?  It’s not even all that big a deal, really.  As a Christmas gift to myself, I got myself a Disneyland season pass, so with Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr day, I’m taking my oldest niece down to LA to go play on Batuu.  But oh, my this week is taking forever.

My very first thought after the alarm went off this morning was “Oh, F**k, it’s only Wednesday.

And it isn’t like I don’t have stuff to do.  Work is…if not busy, at least there is work I can actually do something with.  Writing is proceeding, if a bit slowly.  I have a to do list a mile long for around the house.

But, my head is already on approach to Batuu.  LOL

In other news, the first book in the Shades and Shadows series was made into an audio book, but the narration is terrible and I was never consulted by the narrator, so I’m not advocating that anyone actually purchase it.  I am working with my publisher to get this fixed and hopefully we will come to an agreement that pleases us both.

In the meantime, if you have read any of my books, I would be ever so grateful for a review on Amazon / Goodreads, etc.  I have been very lax at self promotion of late, and every review helps, even if you just rate the book or leave a tiny note like “I enjoyed this book”.  Believe it or not, it really helps.

On that note, I should get back to my coffee and my day job.

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by the seat of my pants

I don’t think anyone who knows me would be surprised by the fact that I kind of fly by the seat of my pants when I write.  Oh, I usually have a few established plot points in mind when I start, some targets to hit along the way, but sometimes all I have is a character or an ending, and the rest comes along as I write.

Unsurprisingly, this usually means that I end up having to do some heavy editing once the first draft is done, and I already have a pretty lengthy list of things I need to go back and fix as I sit here around sixty thousand words on The Blood Witch.  Some things I fix on the fly, but most I just make note of and keep moving, so I don’t get trapped in an endless edit loop and never finish the zero draft.

For me, getting the story down is more important than getting it *right* the first time through.  I can edit and finesse and dress up later.  First I need to get the bare bones down.  Sure, I have some phrases and entire scenes that come out perfect the first time through, but more often than not, those will end up cut out as the story evolves and get tucked away in a file in the dark recesses of the computer to be played with from time to time.

Over time, as the plot develops, I become more and more sure of the ending, and how to get there.  I’m at that place right now where I can see the ending, and I know a bunch of the plot points I need to get there, and really, I just need to sit my ass down and write.  If only I could squeeze out a few more hours in my day!

I’m hoping to write for as many as six hours per day on the weekends, and a half hour to an hour, minimum, per day through the week…I just need to figure out how to manage that with the day job, the freelance job, the gym, the commute, the housework, etc.

Speaking of, I should get back to it before the day gets away from me or I get buried under the mountain of laundry. Happy Sunday, Readers!

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Photo by Uwe Jelting on Unsplash

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nano, holidays and other manic things

So, November was an interesting month.  I chose to focus on The Blood Witch for NaNoWrMo, dedicated my morning makeup routine time to writing, and spent at least four hours every Saturday and Sunday writing.

On November 29th, I hit 50K and breathed a sigh of relief.  I’m really fond of a lot of what I wrote in November, and yeah, some of it sucks and will end up heavily edited or cut, but that’s not what matters.  With a deadline, even self imposed, I set myself to powering through even the plot spots that were stymying me and making me back off the story.

It isn’t all fixed, and I still have a lot of ground to cover, but I know how the story works from here to the end, and I even know how we transition to the next book and a vague idea of what happens in it.

If you can’t tell, I am not a big outline and plotter kind of person.  I kind of pants it mostly.  I find that if I sit down and plan it all out, my brain decides we’ve already told that story, time to move on.

I got to spend a good day with family on Thanksgiving, even if the oven at their place decided to decorate my hand TWICE.  Ouchie!  And, with that the run up to the holiday season is upon us.

Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday.  On Sunday I’ll be heading up to help my mother decorate for Christmas (and recruiting help from the younger generation).  My presents are all bought and I’m just awaiting delivery for some of them.  I have some baking and such to do, and I’m crocheting in the evenings, handing out scarves and hats to the homeless as I walk to/from work.

And yes, still writing.  My goal is to finish this zero draft before the end of the year and find a critique partner/beta reader who can help me with plot holes and inconsistencies and such.  December is such a crazy month!

I hope that you find some time in it to do something you love and spread a little kindness.  Happy Tuesday, Readers!

 

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the road ahead

Yesterday was a momentous day in the land of The Blood Witch as I got across the 40K words mark.  I had hoped to be further along, but well…life.

Being a writer who has to hold down a day job and who lives alone, thus is responsible for all of the housework and grocery shopping and laundry, etc…sometimes mean that writing goes very slowly.

However, I can see my way to the end of this book.  I’m probably just over half way there, so the 50k for nano isn’t going to be the end of the book, not by a long shot.  But, I’m further along than I was and know how to get from here to there, where there is the end of the first quest.

And it leaves plenty of story line for the second quest.

I’m hoping to knock out a few thousand words today before I need to get out to get a few things at the store, do some food prep for the week and other fun things, like making some pumpkin pie bread to take to work this week.

I’ve also decided to take some time off between Christmas and New Years this year to go visit my father in Tucson.  I haven’t been down that way in a while.  I’m thinking that it would be a good time of year to do so.

Now then, I need more coffee and should probably eat before I sit down to make the words.  I hope your Sunday is wonderful, Readers, and filled with kindness.

 

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time to make the words

I’m sitting here on Sunday morning, in my nice flannel PJs, sipping on some coffee and working on waking up enough to write.  Today’s writing agenda is to start/finish chapter thirteen, get the plot moving and step up to the next thing on the vague sort of journey in my head.

Of course, being a working woman with no one to help with other important things, today’s agenda also includes laundry doing, kitchen and bathroom cleaning and tons of other fun house chores.  There is the added bonus of having Monday off, so I get extra writing time this weekend.

Yesterday I worked in sprints of twenty five minutes, twenty five cleaning, twenty five writing.  I may up that to forty-five minutes each today, see if it gets me out of the weeds.  I’m also going to be making some beef stew, once I get the kitchen clean up that is.

Meanwhile, this is what is keeping me company through this whole weekend.  The album just dropped this week, from my friend Steve Carlson and his friend Jensen Ackles (yes, that Jensen Ackles).  I’ve known this was in the works for a while, and have been looking forward to it anxiously.  It was totally worth the wait.  If you like a little gothic southern rock mixed with a heavy does of blues and jazz notes and some AMAZING vocals, check this out.  You can get it on Spotify and iTunes and probably a bunch of other places.

If you dig it, you can check out the band’s website for cool merch and to get the album on vinyl.  Someone find me a record player!  My favorite is probably Drowning, but I love Cannonball and Sounds of Someday too.  Hell, I love it all, so I’ll be over here with the volume cranked up to 11 while I clean.

Happy Sunday, Readers.  Time to make the words.

 

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there will be blood

National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWrMo.  I’m pretty sure every writer I know has done it at least once.  I’ve played a few times, but never found it super productive, and so I haven’t done it in a few years.

However, a number of my Sirens sisters are doing Nano this year, and I’m hot on working on the Blood Witch novel, so I figured it would be a good way to enhance my focus to finish my zero draft by the end of the month.

If you are interested in being buddies on NaNo, I’m NatalieJCase over there.

I’m usually better writing under deadline, rather than being left to my own pace.  I tend to dawdle and procrastinate!

I’m also giving Scrivener another trial.  So far I’m meh on it, but as I build up some of the notes and such I may like it better.  I just started chapter eleven this morning!

I had forgotten how much I loved these characters.  I hope you will love them too!

With that note, I am off for more coffee and to get this work day started.  Be safe and be kind, Readers!