Category: Thoughts on Writing

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early morning in the office

I’m the first one in the office a lot of days.  Today is no different.  I’m the only one here, at least for a little bit longer.  Outside the window, the sun is bright and blinding when the scattered clouds aren’t hiding it.  The alarm system on the door was tripped before I got here, and I can hear it beeping, which is highly annoying, so I’m hoping someone gets here soon who can reset it.

The coffee is hot and fresh, so that bodes well for the day.   It’s a busy one, with lots of meetings and training a few folks to take over some of my job duties while I’m out on vacation.  I doubt I’ll manage to write much this trip, but I’ll be collecting ideas!

I’m going to be working on a post that I’ll set to post on the 13th of September, when I turn 50 years old.  I’ve been pondering it for a while, and my notes are extensive!  Expect it to ramble a little bit.

In other news, I started re-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation last night while I was busy organizing stuff for my trip.  I don’t think I remembered how clunky those first few episodes were.  I know, it takes any show some time to find its footing, and with such a diverse cast, it isn’t surprising.  However, it is still a favorite, and I love the story telling of Trek.

Makes me wonder how something I’ve written would fare on the screen.  Could it hold its own while the cast found their footing?  Ah well, a dream I suppose.  Not a bad thing to have on a Wednesday morning.  It goes will with my coffee.

Ah, and there’s Ted to turn off the alarm.  Thanks, Ted.  I guess that’s my cue to return you to your regularly scheduled Wednesday, and get back to that cup of coffee, and meeting prep.

Happy Wednesday, Readers!

Remember, if you want to follow along on my upcoming shenanigans in Paris and Italy, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook Photography Page or my travel/photography blog.

 

 

 

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saturday means writing

My weekends, when not completely eaten up with familial or other obligations, usually begin with writing.  I drink coffee and throw words at the page on whatever project I’m working on until either (or both) the coffee or the words run out, then I get on with the day’s chores.

This morning I woke up with a headache, so I’m hoping the coffee will help chase it away.  I need to go out eventually today, to pick up some prescriptions and a few groceries, but hopefully the headache will be gone by then.

I haven’t decided yet which project to work on, but I haven’t quite finished that first cup of coffee either.  I’m leaning toward the fun of the epic fantasy story, because my two primary characters are my happy place right now and the plot that was previously a bit vague has come more strongly into focus this week.

What about you, dear Readers?  What are your plans for the weekend?  I hope they include a good book or two!

Have all of mine yet?

Forever– For the vampire lovers

Through Shade and Shadow and In Gathering Shade – For those who like their contemporary fantasy with a taste of reality.

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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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the first harvest

It’s hard to fathom that we are here at the first of August.  For those who follow various Pagan religions, today is the First Harvest, known by various names in various traditions, with different ways of marking the holiday.

Despite their differences, most of them are ways of celebrating the first fruits of the planting done in the spring, and largely we are talking about grains; wheat, corn, etc.

In times past I might have baked bread on the first of August to share with friends, but this year it’s just plain too hot in my little kitchen!  Although, I have to admit, it’s been hotter where I live than it is right now.  I anticipate there are still some warm days ahead too.

There may be a little harvesting though, at least in the area of writing.  I have a weekend in which I don’t have to run out to Stockton to help my mother, so I am anticipating that some words will happen!

I am also starting to gear up for my trip in September!  This weekend I am doing a thorough cleaning and inventory of my camera equipment so I can decide what all I am taking with me.  When I travel, I try to post to my travel blog (when I can get internet anyway), which you can find here.

I will also be posting pics to my instagram account, and either of my Facebook Pages: My Author Page or my Photography Page.

On that note, I should get to the day job, and the cup of Death Wish Coffee sitting there seducing me.  May your harvest be plentiful, 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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a little pampering

I am not now, nor have I ever been what I would consider a “girly girl.” The one feature I’ve always allowed myself to be girly over is my hair, and even then, most of the time I just wear it up or braided and out of my way.

Every now and again though, I get this craving for getting my nails done and having someone other than me color my hair, and maybe doing more with my hair than just coloring it.

I’m in the middle of one of those times.

Last night I painted my nails, mostly as a way to satisfy the need without spending the time and money on going to a nail salon and getting tips and all that, which I always end up regretting.

On Thursday, I have an appointment with a new to me hair salon and a new to me hair person.  I need to have a couple inches hacked off and I need someone else to manage my color for a while.  We’ll see how long it lasts.

I haven’t decided what to do with the color yet, and I’m hoping this new to me hair person will help me decide.  Part of me wants to keep the green, part of me wants to go back to red.  Part of me wants to try something completely new!

Now all I need is to find a massage therapist and my pampering will be complete.

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when the wall comes down

Have you ever sat yourself down to write something, but the words just don’t come?  I think most writers have done battle with the brick wall that is writer’s block, and we all have our own ways of trying to break through.

I’ve been pretty fortunate in my life to almost always have several diverse projects going that I can switch gears and write something different to allow the blockage to clear.  I also have other artistic endeavors that help me get the fires going again.

When I was younger, I didn’t realize that not everyone has endless voices in their head telling them stories, not everyone could spin a tale out of a handful of facts, not everyone could never be lonely because of the cast of thousands in their head.  The very notion of writer’s block made no sense to me.  The words never stopped.  They sometimes were telling stories that I wasn’t actually trying to write, but then those were usually the best ones in the end.

Where I hit the wall though is when I have a specific topic that I need to write for, and a deadline, particularly if I’m dragging myself out of an engaging fiction to do it.  I found writer’s block when it came to essays and school papers and the like.

Sometimes you just have to soldier through it, squeeze out the words, even if they’re crap.  I usually find when I do that, that the edit and clean up is actually easier than the writing.  Then I usually reward myself with writing something fun.

Sometimes I wonder about those people who don’t have a bunch of voices in their head telling them stories…it must be a lonely existence, all alone in that head.

I think I’d go mad.

 

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imposter syndrome

Do you know what imposter syndrome is?  I don’t know a single creative who isn’t plagued by it at some point in their career, if not through their whole career. I am no different.

It usually hits about now, when I have submitted a book to an editor and I’m waiting for the return.  There’s this voice in the back of my head that starts whispering that this is it, this is the moment when everyone finds out that I’m a hack, that I can’t write my way out of a paper bag, my plots recycled, my characters flat.

This is it.  This is where it all ends.

Of course, it doesn’t actually end here.  In a week or so I’ll get my edits back with things I need to fix and notes on character or plot, along with notes of cheerleading from my editor and lots of exclamation marks around how much she loved it.

That will placate the voices for a while, until I’m ready to turn it in for publishing.  Then it all comes flooding back and it can be crippling.  This is when that voice accusing me of being an imposter is joined by all of those voices that show me the lack of external validation…”You can’t even get reviews on the first two, what makes you think anyone wants to read your drivel?”

Is it any wonder that creatives are such fragile creatures sometimes?

Lest you think that it’s just in my creative writing I suffer this madness, know that just this month I received a raise in my day job that puts me at a level I’ve never expected to reach, and still, at least twice a week I’m struck with absolute terror that they’re going to realize I’m just posing, that I don’t know what I’m doing (despite the evidence to the contrary) and put me out on the street.

The only cure I know is to just keep going, which is why I’m eight pages into the seventh chapter of my next book.  It feels good to be writing a new story in a new world and a different style.

Take that, voices.

 

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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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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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