Category: books

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it feels so good

Today has been the first real writing day since my step-father passed away in May.  It feels so good to be making words happen again.  I have a lot of other things to do this weekend, but the first was writing.

I have a lot to chose from when I sit down to write, and today I chose to work on a fantasy project that I’ve started a few times, but hadn’t quite found my way into.

This is a project that involves an ostensibly medieval society, with certain elements in that society a fair bit more advanced.  It involves female warriors and scholars who help to maintain the peace between two civilizations who have not yet discovered the world outside their island. It is the first in a series that will follow a young lady named Fred as she discovers not only herself, but the wider world and all that has been done to protect the world she knows as she becomes one of those who protect it.

Today feels good, it feels like this is the way I needed this story to go.  I’m at just over a thousand words right now.

I plan to write until I’ve at least hit 2000.  Then I’ll turn my attention to other things that need me…like laundry and housework.  The other things I’ve barely done since May.

Right then, back to making words.  Happy Saturday, Readers!

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#amediting

I am knee deep into editing an anthology of awesome stories told by amazing female writers.  It’s a wonderful assortment that spans sci-fi, fantasy and horror and in some cases mixes them together.

It’s always interesting to me how individual writers interpret a prompt or theme.  The theme here is all about rebellion and ghosts, about fighting for what you believe in, winning, losing, the things we sacrifice, willingly or not, along the way.

These ten or so stories tell tales of women in crisis, women in triumph, women in defeat and so much more.

I really can’t wait until I can share these with you!  Keep your eyes on this space!

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the path to perfection

I’m a writer.  Left to my own devices, I would probably never stop fiddling with a story.  I still find places in things I wrote twenty years ago that I’d change, fix, re-write, update, flesh out….you get the idea.

So there comes a point in every manuscript where I have to make myself take my hands off it and send it to my editor.  I’ve reached that point with Where Shadows Fall.

Later today I will be sending it off to my hard working editor who will correct all of my typos, point out the places where I don’t tie things together, ask me what was I thinking here, give me comments on characters and characterization and give me feedback on what’s missing, what needs more fleshing out and how to fill up that plot hole I didn’t even see.

When I get it back from her, I’ll be a step closer to ready to submit to my publisher.  Before submission, however, it’s my turn to use what she gives me to make the story shine.

Finishing this book is a milestone.  It ends the story begun in Through Shade and Shadow,  and closes off a chapter in my writing life.  There are so many stories bursting inside my head and I can’t wait to see where they take me next!

Now, to a cup of coffee and the day job.  Happy Wednesday, Readers!!

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how about a sale?

Today and tomorrow only, my first book, Forever is on sale for your Kindle pleasure.  Just 99 cents gets you a gothic tale of a girl born into a family of vampires, and her life as she grew to understand her differences, sought her freedom, loved, lost and more.

“I am comfortable in the dark, when the moon slumbers and clouds dim the stars and the smell of the earth rises in the still air.  Perhaps that still moment is the only place I am comfortable.   My years have been long and have seen me travel nearly all of this world, often alone.  I have given life and dealt death, but I offer no regret.  Regret is a waste of effort when justice brings the guilty no peace.  I will see justice in the end, I am certain of that, for all that I have done, and all I have not.”

If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, now is a grand time to do so.

Reviews say:

“Beautifully Written, Drenched in Blood…”

“Epic and engrossing”

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

So what are you waiting for?

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the early morning quiet

I’m in the office over an hour earlier than normal this morning because I need to leave early to shoot some senior portraits for a lovely young lady. So early in fact, none of the restaurants down stairs were open when I got here.

The office is dark and quiet and I’m the only one here.  It’s times like these I enjoy, which is also why I love working from home and living alone.  The silence is pristine. and the quiet is very settling…which is good when you have a day as full as this one is going to be.

Over the weekend I spent a lot of time working on Where Shadows Fall, because the ending just wasn’t working for me.  It’s a lot better now, which brings us closer to the place where I get it off to the editor who will make it even better.

I also spent some time reconsidering an old story idea that has been hanging around the back corners of my brain since I was in my twenties.  May see if I can breathe some life into it.  Not sure it has the plot for a full novel though.  Possibly a novella.  We’ll see.

Sounds like the coffee is ready, and I should take advantage of this quiet while I can, so I’ll leave you here, my lovely readers.  I hope your Monday is filled with hope and wonder.

 

 

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where shadows fall

The final book in the Shades and Shadows trilogy has been a slow go for me, not because I was bored of the story or anything like that.  In fact, I still love this story a great deal.  However, in the process of re-writing the first two books several times there were a number of significant changes in the plot that needed to be carried over into the final book.

Making sure I got all of that right took some time, and then I had three possible endings in mind, so I had to make some decisions. This weekend, I wrote the ending, and the “zero draft” as it were, is finished.

That’s not to say that Where Shadows Fall is ready for the editor.  I have a lot of work to do on it before that time. I have at least two pages that contain notes such as “Insert description here” and “needs better dialog” and other such creative bits, and the word count is far below what it needs to be as a result.

Still, it’s a big thing to finish a trilogy.  With any luck I’ll be able to tell you how to get Where Shadows Fall this summer!

But for now, I’m off to the day job and a second cup of coffee.  Happy Monday, Readers!

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dystopia

When I was a teenager I loved dystopian fiction.  I was obsessed with the idea of the end of the world as we know it and how the people left after catastrophe would survive. I wanted to visit all kinds of different worlds with different types of societies and different means of living.

Part of that, for certain, was caught up in my religious outlook and my internal self doubt that I would slip up somehow and miss the rapture so as to be stuck behind on an earth that was living in the tribulation period, but aside from that, I was drawn to the plucky upriser, the person who stood up to the dystopia they found themselves in and rather than submitting to their fate, they fought back, they carved out their own place or stood up to an unjust system, rebelled against a corrupt government.

I guess I still am.  I just never suspected that dystopia would be so easy to establish.  No global calamity was needed, just a government run by people more concerned with money than the well being of its citizens.

Heh, when I first wrote the first draft of Through Shade and Shadow almost six years ago now, I considered it’s political plot to be too far fetched.  No one would believe America could be torn apart that fast, even with an outside influence at work behind the scenes.

Now, here we are in a land where the president and congress are more concerned with corporate welfare and the well being of millionaires and billionaires than they are for the rest of the citizens, where safety regulations are swiftly becoming a thing of the past, where cities can poison their own people with lead with no consequences, where children can be mowed down with guns no other civilized country allows in the hands of its citizens and over the grieving of their mothers we as a nation shout about our rights to own these death machines.

But, just liked in all of those dystopian stories I read as a teenager, someone is rising up. Heroes are emerging. Resistance is beginning.

And just like in those stories, those heroes are teenagers.  I know this plot.

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working writer at work

Some days it’s hard to be a writer who has a day job.  Inevitably, my muse gets chatty while I’m trying to write some technical instructions or what have you.  Today is one of those days.  The main character in my blood witch story has been really chatty the last few days and if I could be home writing, I would be.

Instead, I’m in the office. You know, the daily struggle to pay the bills.

Speaking of paying the bills, do you know about www.patreon.com? It’s a nifty little place for people who love art (music, words, visual arts, more) to help the artists they like.  You pledge to pay a certain amount per month and in return, you get various goodies that can stem from behind the scenes looks at work in progress, blog posts for patrons only, and up to actual physical books.

As I build audience, I’ll add in some fun video clips (maybe me reading snippets or short stories), and other fun things.  If you’re interested in supporting me, my patreon can be found here: www.patreon.com/natalie.  Special access begins at only $3/month, though once a month I will also give the $1/month folks a sneak peek.

And, with that plea for your support, I must go back to my cup of coffee and the day job.  Those bills need paying!

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coming back strong

I’ve spent most of the first month of 2018 sick.  I caught a cold at New Years that became a sinus infection that did not respond to the first two antibiotics we tried.  I just finished my course of clarithromycin yesterday.  I’m still super congested, but feeling so much better!

Which means I can begin to focus on writing again.  This has me excited.  I’m nearly done with the zero draft of Where Shadows Fall, the finale of the Shades and Shadows series, and I’m five chapters in on a new novel, and I have two short stories in the works!  It’s a busy time to be me, I guess.

I will be focusing on building my Patreon in the coming months as well, hoping I can use it to source enough money to work on getting audio books recorded.   I’m still working out what exactly to offer over there, but it will include some behind the scenes looks at work I’m doing, possibly so vlogs of me talking about writing, and other fun things, including patron-only giveaways.

That said, I should get on over there to post something for my patrons, and then get back to work.  The words won’t write themselves!

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a bridge of shadow

Recently we finished up our second Creativia anthology.  Like the first one, all of the writers started with the same prompt, and had about four months to write.  This time around, their prompt was “The letter/email/missive/message was ominous, if a little vague in the details. “Midnight, on the bridge. Come alone.””

The finished product is an unusual mix of genres and subjects.  Each writer really set off on their own path from the prompt.  As usual, they are give a fair bit of leeway in interpreting the prompt as long as they kept the heart of it the same.

As a result, you’ll find colonial America, Victorian London and fantasy worlds alike.  There are love stories, cautionary tales, and fantasy.  You will find paranormal creatures like wendigos, vampires, Shades, sentient shadows or talking animals.

The six authors represented here took our prompt and each of them headed off in a different direction, and that right there is half the reason I do it!  I love the way creative minds work, and it is a thrill getting to edit (and contribute) to this collection.

Now available on Amazon in kindle and paperback formats, get your copy of A Bridge of Shadow today!

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