Tag: books

Posted on by — 1 Comment

of confidence and validation

I don’t know that I can pinpoint an exact catalyst for becoming a writer. It seems that I’ve been creating and telling stories my whole life. I do know that the idea that I could write actual books with my name on the covers came in my teens.

It didn’t start with books, obviously. First came poetry. Oh my, was it some terrible poetry! It was trite and sappy or it was trite and dark. I guess it was the primary outlet of my teenage angst.

From there, I dipped my toe into the ocean of short story writing. I was at least marginally better at that, as it was essentially what I’d already been doing without actually writing stuff down.

It was inevitable, however, that I would turn to full length novels. I wrote my first one longhand on notebook pages. It was awful. It was derivative of every movie I had ever seen and every book I had ever read and I tried to cram so very much plot into it that there were inevitably huge holes and forgotten lines. My characters were either stereotypes or wooden.

Still, this is the book that bit me. I let friends read it, and, friends being friends, they all loved it and clamored for more. It was my freshman year of high school, and my notebooks and pages got handed around school.

I got my first typewriter for Christmas that year. I banged away at that thing every single day for hours at a time. First, I typed up that first book. Then I got started on a sequel. During my sophomore year of high school, I would type up around ten pages or so each night. Those pages got clipped together and numbered, because in the morning I was passing the “chapters” around to those who were reading it, and I gathered them back together again at the end of the day.

It was my first real taste of what it was like to write for an audience. I still have some of those stories around here somewhere. That second was still awful, but it was awful in completely different ways than the first, so that was progress I suppose.

Today I’m still fairly sure some of my writing is awful and I struggle with imposter syndrome a great deal (as I’m sure all writers do at some point), but I try to hold onto the confidence of that teenager, handing out pages to her peers in search of any scrap of validation and the confirmation that this is what I was meant to be.

Happy Friday, Readers! I hope you have a grand weekend.

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

the state of Thána

I finished a first edit pass on the second Blood Witch book not too long ago and have set it aside to start the third book. The idea for the third book came to me a few months ago, and has been building for a while.

I continue to love these characters with every fiber of my being!

Thána is like me in ways Amara never could have been. Writing in the first person allows me to immerse myself into the character. When I’m writing, I can lose myself in the narrative and shape the worlds she moves through.

Each book moves Thána into a new realm with new challenges and new characters to meet. Usually, when I start a new book, I have the basics of the world and an overarching view of the plot, though the details don’t ever come until I’m actually writing. My characters can surprise me, and often do.

I prefer to write straight through, making notes on things I will need to go back to add in or change, rather than stopping where a new plot point arrives and immediately build it in. So I usually have a file open with the story, one with notes and in the case of these books, one with spells and foreign words I use in the stories.

Then, when the zero draft is done, I take those notes, go back to the beginning and work all of those things into the bones. That’s what I consider my first edit pass. Then I usually put it away and work on something else…the next book or something new.

I give it at least a few weeks before I go back to edit again, focusing on smoothing out dialog, fleshing out descriptions, filling in scenes, etc. My third edit pass, I actually read the whole thing out loud to myself. This serves to point out missing words, clunky dialog and repetitive words.

But, for now, it’s time for the day job where I get to write other fun things! Have a great day, Readers!

Cover Photo by Dan Counsell on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

build me a world and let me play

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.

Happy Memorial Day, Readers. Please be safe!

Cover Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

does it matter that it’s Friday?

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.

Cover Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

a plan for the day

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.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

and the edit will go on…and on…

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.

Cover Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

the earth awakens

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!

Cover Photo by Sebastian Staines on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

this is not the dystopian future I imagined

Hello, Readers!  I hope you are all taking good care of yourself as we isolate ourselves and hope this virus situation doesn’t get any worse.  I’m trying to stay optimistic, but I’ll admit it can be hard.

It’s so weird to see the traffic map completely green!  I’ve been in the SF Bay Area for twenty years, and I’ve never seen it before!  My town, which is normally filled with people out walking is a ghost town.

As someone who has read a LOT of dystopian stories, I’ll admit, when I considered what our future might look like, how our society would fall apart, I did not have my money on virus-caused-economy-crash.

So, how are you occupying your time, Readers?  I hope you have coffee and good books to read.  I’m still job hunting, and in a time like this there are still a lot of job postings, but not so much with the hiring.  It’s going to get worse before it gets better, so remember to wash your hands, stop touching your face, and take care of one another.

This crisis can make us better people, if we let it.  It is already helping out Mother Earth.  Check in on the elderly and vulnerable in your neighborhoods, and remember to keep your distance.

Meanwhile, I have a short story to write and a novel to start editing.  Hopefully some more editing work will be coming my way soon.  Happy Friday, my friends.

Photo by Jeffrey Blum on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The thing about being a woman of a certain age is that, while much of life is certainly so much better than it was in your 20s (more money & stability, no need to please everyone around you, etc), there comes with age this one particularly unpleasant symptom.  And for someone who has always run a little hotter than everyone around me, when I say that I’m having a hot flash, please understand that isn’t just me being dramatic.

Heaven knows I can be dramatic, but this kind of hot is no joke.

Having returned from my days at Disney with some sort of sinus infection/cold, I’m sitting here at my computer trying to determine if this is a hot flash, or a fever.  Of course, I can’t find my thermometer to check, and I have no desire to leave the house to get a new one, so I will continue to wonder.

Still, the trip to Disneyland with my 24 year old niece was worth a few days of being less than fully healthy.  It was the thing I needed to release some stress and included some amazing character interactions in Galaxy’s Edge (complete with massive Chewbacca hugs that just made life worth living) and getting to ride the new Rise of the Resistance ride twice.

I got to ride roller coasters and other rides, which is something I haven’t done in 20 something years due to my size.  We flew the Millenium Falcon, had drinks at Oga’s Cantina, and ran around Batuu hacking our way through the Play Disney App’s games.

Since I was there last in September, I’ve read the book Black Spire, and that gave me a whole new appreciation of the park, and really informed some of our interactions with the “locals” including one guy at Oga’s that just really got into his role.

Of course, all good things must end, and we eventually left LA for the long drive north, a drive made all the longer by traffic problems that included a big rig fire on the Grapevine that burned the hillside and left nothing of the truck but some bits of metal.

That got me home too late to even consider going in to the office on Thursday, and I woke up with the cold/sinus infection on Friday morning, so I worked from home both days.  For today, I’m going to take it easy, going light on the chores, and probably not even getting much writing done since my brain is having trouble getting words to push through the sludge of congestion.

I think it might be a good day to settle in with my giant TV and surround sound to watch movies and get caught up on TV.  Happy Sunday, Readers!  I leave you with one of my favorite shots from Disney, on board the Millenium Falcon in my Han Solo Disneybound.

 

Han Solo on the Falcon

Header Photo by Hans Reniers on Unsplash

Posted on by — Leave a comment

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.