Category: Thoughts on Writing

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once upon a broken dream

I woke up this morning to an email from my publisher with a sneak peek at the cover for the anthology I’ve been working on.  I’m excited to get to share this with all of you!  Twelve stories from eleven different Creativia authors.

All twelve stories stem from a single prompt, and that is the only thing that ties them together.  They cover a number of genres, everything from inspirational tales to horror, from sword & sorcery style fantasy to paranormal fantasy, from steampunk to science fiction.

I’d like to thank my fellow authors for taking this journey with me.  You can find out more about them at the links below.

Richard Ankers
Susan-Alia Terry
Leo Kane
J.W. Goodwin
Mari Collier
Chris Tetreault-Blay
Amber Gulley
Eve Gaal
Melanie Mole
Michelle Lynn

I hope to have an ARC soon, if you are a review who would like to get an early peek, let me know and I’ll get it to you as soon as I can.

If you’re an author looking for an editor, I have decided to offer editing services beyond just the small group of friends that I have edited for in the past. You can find it all about it on my page: Editing Services.

On that note, I should get this day started.  I wish you all a wonderful Friday and a glorious weekend!

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not all inspiration is inspirational

Image by PETEWILL VIA GETTY IMAGES

Today, as  I was walking to work I was noticing that there were a larger number of homeless than I am accustomed to seeing.  All of the “regulars” were around, and I checked in with those I’ve been friendly with, at least by eye contact, as I generally do.

When I heard yelling across the street, I looked up, slowed my steps.  I wasn’t alone in wanting to know what was causing the ruckus, several other pedestrians slowed their steps or stopped, necks craning to try to see around the large truck blocking the view.

The truck had a sign on the side that said something like “The Clean Team” and there were about ten men (I couldn’t tell their ages from my vantage point) who seemed to be trying to roust a homeless couple who had been sleeping in a store doorway.  The woman was very upset and yelling.  The men made fun of her, and she got angrier (obviously).

I watched for a long few minutes, phone in hand, prepared to call for help if things got physical, which seemed likely when the male half of the couple stood up and tried to intervene.  I couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed as if he calmed her enough and convinced her that they should just gather their belongings and move on.

A few blocks up the road, one of the regular street cleaner guys was using a far gentler approach with one of the regulars that I’ve offered coffee and breakfast to on occasion.  Down every side street and alley, in doorways and on the curbs, homeless people were being forced to get up and move, as if there was anywhere else for them to go.

It made me wonder when we turned our street cleaning people away from picking up trash and cleaning graffiti and started tasking them with homeless duty…when did we decide that our homeless were little more than garbage, with no more value than a cigarette butt or empty food container?

I felt a little hopeless as I climbed the hill toward my office, a little stifled under the privilege of who I am.

As with all things, the whole scene is already percolating in the back of my brain, trying to decide where it fits in current writing projects, or how it might inspire a new one to come.

Until then, remember that Forever is only 99 cents on Kindle, through July 16th.

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a taste of Forever

(image via http://streamline.filmstruck.com/)

I will admit that I have had a lifelong fascination/obsession with vampires.  It started young.  I remember watching Salem’s Lot  when I was just a wee eleven years old.    I’m not cognizant of any significant vampire related moments prior to that, but I have very vivid memories of watching it on TV in the apartment where we lived in Hilton, NY.  Of course, some of that is to do with my age, and some with the fact that my younger brother had snuck down the stairs to watch for at least parts of it and was haunted for MONTHS after by the scene in the image above.

So, it would be safe to say the Stephen King introduced me to vampires.  He was by no means the last to walk me into the dark, of course.  I read the book the movie was based on that same year, and after that I dug into other books and movies and TV shows, too many to count and name, for certain.

By the time I was 20 I had read Dracula enough times to know entire passages by heart.  I wasn’t content to stop there either, I dug into vampire lore, exploring the different ways they were presented in different cultures…the similarities, the differences.  I was fascinated by the concept of immortality,  drawn in by not only the idea of being witness to history, but the mundanity of living a daily existence where every night bleeds into the next.

I was, as a pubescent teenager is like to, pulled to the erotic notion of the biting, of taking life from the very essence that keeps us all alive, the intimate nature of that exchange, while also at the same time, being a practical child, by the idea that not every meal could be an erotic buffet of hot neck biting and licking that led to what my teenage hormones could only imagine.  I found myself thinking about other ways a vampire might get what she needed, without the entanglement of the humanity that comes with drinking from a human chalice.

By the time I was sixteen, I had a pretty good idea what my vampires would be like, if I were to write about vampires…and from that idea, Amara was born.

It is safe to say that Amara comes from those first vampires I experienced, and is influenced by those that came after.

And you can experience Amara and all her nuance right now for 99 cents!  Forever is available right now for Kindle at the low price of 99 cents. Grab your copy today…and leave a review if you would!  Reviews make writers happy!

My coffee cup seems to be empty, I best go fill it up.  Happy Wednesday, Readers!

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it was a day

So, this weekend was the Bay Area Book Fair, and I had one of the individual author’s tables.  My agoraphobia was racing, my nerves were dancing.  I gave serious thought to not going.  But in the end, my determination beat my agoraphobia again and I set off with a big bag of books, got on BART and headed to Berkeley.

I got there fairly early, and found my spot, got set up, and then  watched as the various vendors and authors came in and did the same.  Couldn’t have asked for nicer weather, except maybe a little less wind.

I wish the same could be said of sales. I sold a few books, but didn’t even break even to cover the cost of the table and umbrella rental.  I did, however, meet some very interesting people, from fellow authors to publicists, parents of students wanting to write, book lovers, etc.

Part of the issue felt a little like isolation.  The bulk of the festival is held in the park, while we were off on a side street with a good amount of distance between us and the first booth in the park.  None of the authors in my immediate vicinity sold much, though the author to my right with his epic fantasy novel sold at least twice as many books as I did.

I’ll admit, I’m thinking about contacting the publicist I met and see what their services run price wise.  It’s that part of this business that I suck so badly at.

But, now that is over and it’s back to the day job.  I hope all of you have a great week!

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and just like that, it’s June

I’m not really sure where January, February, March, April and May have all gotten themselves off to, but I hope they’re having fun.  It seems like just a day or two ago I was struggling to remember to write 2017 on things instead of 2016 (or the inexplicable occasions where I wrote 1996….what?), and here we are on the first of June.

We sent May out with a bang though.  My niece graduated high school on Tuesday.  She is the youngest of my brother’s kids, and I couldn’t be more proud of the woman she is becoming.  The school she graduated from is one of the top 1% of schools in the country and her classmates are all amazing students, most of whom will be attending four year universities and colleges in the fall.

I got back from all of that frivolity last night, and when I woke up this morning it was June.  Already, my calendar is jam packed for the month.

babf_logoStarting this weekend when I will be at the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, California signing (and selling) books.  I will have copies of my two novels, Forever and Through Shade and Shadow as well as my small collection of poetry.  Sale pricing is $12 each for the novels and $2.50 for the poetry collection.

I can take cash, credit cards and paypal.  It should be a fun day for the whole family.  With all of the vendors and authors, there should be something for everyone!

San Francisco Pride is at the end of the month, for a completely different festival to bookend the month.  Pride likewise has something for just about everyone.  If you come out to one or both days of Pride remember to wear sunscreen, dress in layers, wear comfortable shoes, and please consider dropping a dollar (or more) into one of those pink buckets.  Every penny goes to support the organization that creates the festival and/or the organizations that take care of our community.

Somewhere between those bookends, I will be taking a couple of days to head out to Yosemite with my mother, to enjoy some nature and some truly breathtaking views, like this one, which I took on my last trip to Yosemite in 2010.

4795598576_4edc53f518_o

But for now, I should go pour my second cup of coffee and get to working the day job.  Hope you all have a pleasant day!

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be the future

I love my weekend mornings.  They start with coffee and words.  It’s my time to write, or in some cases, edit.  The first few hours of the day are peaceful and quiet and I get to step out of the world I live in to inhabit some place filled with magic…well, mayhem as well.  What good is a story that doesn’t shake things up a bit?

Anyway, I’m enjoying that part of my Sunday morning, working on the closing chapters of In Shades of Sage, the second book in the Shades and Shadows series.  It feels good to be writing again.  I’ve been stuck on the same chapter for weeks. Yesterday I worked out where it was going wrong and re-worked it, so I get to write fresh material today.

But, my time is short today because in a few hours I need to leave to head out to Stockton, CA to spend time with family.  Not only is it Memorial Day weekend, but my niece is graduating from High School on Tuesday.

On the one hand, it doesn’t seem possible that she’s even old enough (forget that she turned 18 in January), on the other it’s kind of amazing to see the person she turned out to be.  I vaguely remember my own high school graduation. For the most part, I was just glad to be done with it.

I was a very different person then, and I really didn’t see much future for myself, if I’m honest.  I was surviving.  For Vae, I’m hoping she sees a brighter future for herself.  I hope she has dreams and ambitions beyond just surviving high school.  I hope to see her shine as she moves into the life she creates for herself.

No matter what that future is, no matter what roadblocks get in the way.  Don’t let anyone else tell you what your future is meant to be.  Make it your own way.  Be the future you want to see.

I’ll be over here with my pompoms cheering you on.

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the day job

Like many independent authors, I can not give up my day job because it is the only thing keeping a roof over my head and the internet paid for.  Which isn’t to say that sales have been bad.  But if I was relying on book sales to keep me ensconced in comfy pajama pants and cat videos on demand, I’d be sleeping in a cardboard box.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.  Fifteen years ago I wouldn’t even have gotten a book published (believe me, I tried), so every sale is something special.   And I LOVE the shifting dynamics of the publishing world.  There are so many outlets for books that might never have come to be, and so many new ways of reading content.  It’s truly delightful.

However, that does mean a market saturation, which makes each book sale something you have to work for.  And marketing a book is more work than anyone can guess, unless you’ve done it.

So, it’s a good thing I like what I do for a living.  Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t rather spend my days writing, but I make do with the knowledge that I get to hone my editing skills every day.  I’m also grateful that I work in tech, where I can wear Star Wars and Supernatural t-shirts every day and dye my hair green and sport a variety of tattoos…and no one even looks at me sideways.

Speaking of the day job, the office is waking up around me so I guess I should go pour that second cup of coffee and get to it.  Happy Monday, Readers!

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one of the girls

One of my favorite things in the world right now is the growing awareness of female writers in genres that have been dominated by men for as far back as books have been getting published.  In fact, it’s one of the reasons that I embraced alternative publishing right from the beginning.

In the “traditional publishing” world, what gets published is decided by a small group of people, traditionally older white men, so it’s no surprise that they gravitate toward male writers who write male characters in worlds populated mostly by men and women who are there mostly to serve as a love interest or sex object.

But today, with all kinds of self-publishing and hybrid publishing options opening up, plus the appearance of more and more small and niche publishing companies, women are finding ways to get their voices heard.  So far this year I’ve read something like 10 books (I’m woefully behind due to writing obligations), and a full 7 of those have been written by women.

Most exciting for me is the growing abundance of women authors writing female characters in worlds of sci-fi and fantasy, bringing characters to life that are all the varied things women can be, and building diversity into the worlds they create.  I’ve long turned to science fiction for normalizing the unusual, and now it is stepping beyond the science fiction that I first learned about things like homosexuality, group marriage, alternative religions and other things I hadn’t been exposed to, and showing some real inclusivity.

Women of color are emerging as authors as well as characters.  Old, tired stories are getting pushed aside for some exciting and new tales that are refreshing, challenging, that press our sense of self to the side to experience a sense of someone else, and it’s these books that I find myself wanting to set aside the daily grind for.  My commute is far more than a train ride from the East Bay into San Francisco when I dig for my bookmark and immerse myself in an alternative time line or a space empire or a fantasy land where magic flows.

I’m currently reading The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin.  It’s challenging, and it took me a bit to connect to her changing narrative, but on page 69, I’m hooked in and find myself wishing the train ride took a little longer.

I found this book on a reading list of women writing women in sci-fi and fantasy, as part of a conference I’m going to in October.  I’m looking forward to finding myself in a group of women who write, who read.

Got a suggestion for a good book from a female author?  Drop a note in the comments so I can add it to my reading list.

 

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not your mama’s fairy tales

One of the projects I’m working on right now is the assembly and edit of an (as yet unnamed) anthology of short stories from fellow Creativia authors that all stem from the same prompt. It amazes me how so many authors can begin in the same place and take such divergent paths to weave together stories that end up very, very different.

Now that I’ve finally finished my own submission (dragons!) for the anthology, I’m getting started on the work of editing and compiling.

Considering the prompt, I’m expecting anything from anti-fairy-tales to twists on fairy-tales and much more.  I’m excited to get started and I can’t wait to share the finished product with you.

I’m still expecting a few more submissions, with the deadline still two weeks away.  I’m hoping that this will be a fun way for our group to introduce our fellow authors to our own fans.  We’re a diverse group, writing in many genres.

But for now, I need to get back to the day job!

 

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out from under

This has not been a good week.  I get migraines, and this week I had one doozy of a migraine. It came on during the day at work Tuesday, and I left work early.  Stayed home on Wednesday, tried to work on Thursday, but only got to about 1pm before I called it quits and came home.

Yesterday was the first day I had some relief.  I worked from home because I was afraid the sunlight would set it off again.  Today I am finally out from under it.

That means that all my grand plans for getting stuff done during the week didn’t happen and that leaves me with a fair amount of things to do this weekend, from Pride prep to writing and housework.

I suppose I should get busy doing some of that.  But before I go, let me remind you that I will be holding down a table at the Bay Area Book Festival on Sunday, June 4!  If you’re in the SF Bay area, you should come down and say hello!

Hope all of you have a fantastic weekend.  I’ll pop in with something for Mother’s day tomorrow.