Writing Hard(ly) in May pt 2

May is short story month for me for those of you just tuning in. While I'm not doing so well with the whole: write a new short story every day, I have been making some progress. I like progress.

Day 6: Got everyone out the door at 8am. Checked email, saw there was a prompt for the day...and never even got a chance to see what it was. Work took over, allowed me fifteen minutes for lunch, run required errands and finally was done with me at 9:50pm. Loooong day. No writing. :(

Day 7: I didn't sleep well, and after a long day yesterday, decided I deserved a little downtime in the morning. Work would be there in a couple hours. I wrote. My brain, being a bit fried from all the long days lately, suggested today would be a good time to rip into finishing up one of those rewrites I'd been meaning to get to. Mission accomplished. Coming in at 5,400 words, Healer is back in working order.

Day 8: Please refer to the previous long busy days where no writing happened. Though, I did do some thinking about another short that needs some plot redirection, so hey, that's something.

Day 9: Editing and revising of Devolution got underway to the point of deciding where I want to take the story. The original ending got a big "meh" from crit partners so I need to find a new spin on this thing. 2,300 words in and I finally was able to outline where I intend the story to go. This one might take a day or two to reach the end.

Day 10: Added 1000 words to Devolution. It's still needs a lot of words, but I'm still liking it and I can see the ending in my head.

Current monthly effort summary:
3 new shorts
1 short revised
1 short revision in progress

Writing Hard(ly) in May

So yes, May is short story month for me in case you haven't been following along. I'm attempting to follow some the supplied prompts this time, mostly because I only had time to gather a few ideas in my folder before May hit. With this challenge, prompts arrive in my inbox each morning. Gotta love that.

While I won't be sharing the fruits of my labor (they're not ripe yet, trust me), I will share my progress throughout the month.

Here's how week one is shaping up so far:

Day 1: 100 word story. Done during breakfast. Feeling accomplished today.

Day 2: Use a Flicker Photo for a story prompt. I found a picture of a cute little boy. Wheels are turning. 200 words in, work starts to pile up for the day. Then there's picking up kids after school, and a track meet that goes until 7:30pm. Out to dinner. Finish up some work. Oh crap, it's time for bed.

Day 3: Set aside today's prompt in the hopes of finishing up yesterday's. Can't decide on creepy, happy, sweet, horror, fantasy? Where the hell is this thing going? Screw it, get work done. Pick up kid 1, remember I have to create new parade props before next week wednesday. Take prop inventory at school. Go home and deal with customers for three more hours. Pick up kid 2 at 7:30pm. Make dinner. Go to store to by prop materials. Do some Google research for prints I need to make for props tomorrow. GAH! It's 10pm already! By midnight, a 1,500 word story is done. I went for happy and sweet. They can't all be dark or creepy.

Day 4: The weekend strikes. This means my normal morning quiet writing time does not exist. Ponder today's supplied prompt. It doesn't strike me to so I consult my own prompt list. Inspiration hits! Oh, but husband wants to work on the new garden fence right after breakfast. Damn. Okay, work on fence. Kids want to go play laser tag with their cousins. Arg. Spend three hours chatting with my sister while kids play and spend too much money on stupid arcade prize candy. When I return home, the fence project is still waiting, as is the parade prop project. Both those and dinner wrapped up and its almost 10pm. Again. I just start writing and the local festival fireworks begin. My writing room (on the second floor) is invaded so we can all watch the fireworks from the comfort of home (through the trees...almost a mile away, but without bugs, jostling for a good spot and annoying people). 1,100 words in and my eyes were closing.

Day 5: I spent an hour and a half in bed finishing up the short I feel asleep on the night before. It came in just over 2,500 words. I'm happy with this one, though it needs some smoothing out in places, as my mind informed me throughout the day as I was working. I did glance at the day's prompt, but then it was off to work for a couple hours, then the rest of the day went to completing the garden fence project and planting flower seeds. The day ended with yet another late dinner and some well deserved tv time with the husband. At least I got yesterday's story done.

Closing thoughts on the April A to Z Challenge

I've already launched into A Story A Day In May, but thought I'd pause my short story frenzy (aka: extreme headdesking as I try to pull something together in a day with very little time to write), for a little retrospective.

Taking a tour through a smattering of my characters served to light the fires of want. I want to work on these stories and play with these characters again. Some were from published works and some from works in submission right now, but others have been languishing on my hard drive for years. How unfair of me. Of course, they're going to be put off for another month while I bring some new characters into the world, but I do want to get back to them sometime soon before those fires turn back into embers.

In visiting some of my A to Z neighbors, I found some fun new blogs to follow. Yes, they're all writers. Surprise! As much as I tried to expand my horizons...well, I didn't.

A big thank you to those of you who came back day after day with comments. I love comments. They make me get excited to check my email. It's not so exciting to check it when you're generally just waiting for rejections to come in. Not that this prevents me from obsessively checking it. It's just nice to get some positive things in there too. So thank you for that.

What surprised me most was how many people dropped out throughout the month. I moved almost a hundred places on the list. A big cheer to all my blog neighbors who snuck up through the ranks with me. None of the blogs I'd been visiting dropped out. Virtual high fives all around!

The feature I enjoyed most was the category listings on blogs. It made it much easier in my limited time to hunt down blogs that had a possibility of being something I'd find interesting. While I did regularly visit several of my blog neighbors who were not writing oriented, those who reciprocated visits (both neighbors and otherwise) were mostly in the same category. In that regard, I wonder if it would be even more effective for those, like me, who are in specific category to have category lists rather than one giant one with everyone together. I admit that after the first week, (other than returning comments) I skimmed the big list and sought out only those with my category tag. I probably would have visited more of my category if they were all in one easy to access place.

I would like to do the challenge again next year. Obviously I will need a new theme. I can't very well share another twenty-six characters who just happen to have names starting with every letter of the alphabet. It would be intentional this time and that just sucks the fun out of it. Good thing I have a year to come up with something. The ideas are already forming.

May is short story month

It's May, and that means it's time for my second attempt at A Story A Day in May. This is where I set out with the intention to write a short story every day in May. Which means I should end up with 31 short stories. In theory.

This didn't work out quite so well last year, but I did end up with a handful of stories that I was happy with and have sold, or still have out in submissions. Because of my somewhat sucess, I'm giving it another go.

Will I write 31 short stories? Most likely, no. I will try each day to make something happen. That's the best I can do. If I end up with another handful of stories that work, I'll be happy.

As a back up plan for days when the ideas just aren't coming, I have a couple shorts that need revising. I'll pull those out and make some progress, or at least attempt to. I prefer to call it: Focus on Short Stories Month.

Well that's the plan. Wish me luck. In fact, even better, join me. Go on. Do it.

April A to Z Characters: Z

Z is for Zephros.

Zephros is a seed wizard from Solitude, a short story published in Tales of the Talisman. He must work the magic that the twenty-five wizards before him were unable to work. He is, as you will know if you read the story, is totally fitting character to end this month of alphabet fun with.

The lives of thousands depend on him doing what others before him were unable to do. Being a savior is a lonely endeavor and he must use all his wits to solve the problem his predecessors have had with the spell or the remnants of humanity will sleep forever.

No one wants a nap that long.

Likes: Fresh air, success, conversations with the food replicator.

Dislikes: Failure, being alone, endless meals of fortified oatmeal.

Thank you to everyone who shared this challenging month with me. It's been a fun ride through characters past and present.

Spending a little time with all of them has got my percolator working hard on fixing stories I haven't giving much thought to since setting them aside. Now if only my cloning machine worked I'd have time work on them all at once.

April A to Z Characters: Y

Y is for Yanis.

Yanis is an army captain from Sahmara's Sunset. In the rough draft he was simply Captain, but he quickly grew on me and earned a name for himself.

Yanis is a noble and honorable man though disheartened and angry at the world. He lost most of his men to an attack on an Altherian held town that went wrong thanks to a traitor. He has been trying to gather enough Revocheki stragglers to make it home ever since. The men ate his beloved horse in order survive, and while he knows he made the necessary choice in that matter, he's never forgiven them or himself. Yanis takes the MC under his protection and does his best to keep her safe from the others help her make it home.

Likes: His father's sword, his horse, and dead Altherians.

Dislikes: Traitors, being stranded in a country swarming with enemies, and live Altherians.


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: X

X is for Xander.

Xander was once one of the Victims of the Knife, but was recently recycled back into Trust.

He once had a big role as a young man that the MC mentors, but it turned out that angle wasn't necessary for the character's growth so Xander, the conflicted and struggling kid, got whacked.

The Xander that returned has a tiny part, but at least he lives on. He is one of the men that works for Gemmen in the guild that takes from the tech wealthy, repurposes and sells to the highest bidder. Some might quaintly call them space pirates. It certainly cuts down on the long description.

Xander works closely with Gemmen as a trusted guard. In his one scene he pulls a gun on the MC due to his questionable loyalties at the time--the MC's not Xander's. He then stands there, being all threatening until being called off and sent along on his duties.

I meant to get Xander into Chain of Gray as well, but the right situation where he would be required never came up. Alas, Ms. Wildstar lost her fawning boyfriend for the benefit of one little scene. Does Xander regret getting pulled from Victims of the Knife for his bit part?

He says, "Hell no."

Likes: Getting back into a novel, getting to pull a gun on the MC, working for the Pirate Guild again without having to go through all the awkward proving himself that he had to endure in his original role.

Dislikes: His tiny part in the story (Not that he's really complaining. Honest.), not getting to do more than escort the MC into a room and then get ordered out of it. (No really, not complaining.) and not actually getting to fire his gun. (Not that he'd want to kill the MC, that's going a bit far, but would getting to actually kill someone be too much to ask? I mean he never really gets to have any fun. Women don't take him seriously in this role. Did that sound like whining? It wasn't. He's fine with everything. Wouldn't change a word. Nope. It's great.)


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: W

W is for William.

William is from A Broken Race. William is one of many, the leaders of the fortress that holds the best of the survivors of humanity. "Best" being a relative term.

Williams may be impotent, but they compensate by screwing everyone over when it comes to sharing the workload. They give the orders and sit back to watch them carried out. They control the breeding and who eats when. They hold they keys to the fortress and all it's punishments and rewards.

They even hold the say in who lives and who dies, right down to the hour old infants who don't meet their standards. As long as the wildmen don't get inside, the Williams are confident they have everything under control. But even infants can tell a secret. All it takes is someone to find the wrong one.

Likes: A big meal, a comfortable chair, loose clothing

Dislikes: Simples who don't listen, Jacks who learn too much and women who think for themselves.


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: V

V is for Vayen.

Vayen is the MC in both Trust and Chain of Gray. If you won't tell my other characters, I'll admit that he's my all time favorite. We've been together for a very long time, have grown up together and gone through a lot of life changes (and name changes on both our parts).

He shares my humor and my love of a good drink after a long hard day. That's where I have to set myself apart though, because I haven't killed anyone, nor am I attracted to my boss even though I know it's a bad idea. (Nor have I ever been. Euw. I need better looking bosses or at least one I respect.) He might not be a nice guy, but he likes to think he does bad things with good results for the population at large. After all, someone has to get their hands dirty to make a difference.

In Trust, he starts off as a naive young man with an overwhelming job. He manages to grow into it and by the end of the story, make a name for himself. In fact, he might have done that job a little too well.

In Chain of Gray, his actions come back to haunt him. All the things he thought he'd tidied up so neatly have unraveled, dragging him and his family into chaos. Chaos comes in the form of Arpex amongst others. He really, really hates Arpex and the feeling is mutual.

Likes: A strong woman, good sex, having an important position of his own

Dislikes: Being manipulated, being a lab rat, and his family in danger

April A to Z Characters: U

U is for Ulrich.

Ulrich one of the Captain's men from Swan Queen. Brother to Timo and friend of Thin Henry, the three men follow the Captain of the Guard into an exile he didn't realize he was sentenced to until after he'd left. Eager to help the Captain clear his name and remove Kenric from the throne, Ulrich and his friends use their skills with swords to protect the Captain as he tries to secure a force to return the princess to her rightful place.

Ulrich and his two friends were originally very minor characters that grew entertaining personalities of their own. They became well-rounded secondary characters over the course of the first half of the plot and will now require me to go back and alter their introductions to make them a more complete part of the storyline. Darn them. Though really, I love when that happens so I'm not complaining too much. At least not this time.

Likes: The Princess back on the throne, the Captain welcome in his homeland and a warm and willing woman in his own bed.

Dislikes: Eating even one more meal of fish anything, the whore tax Kenric implemented, being far from home.


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: T

T is for Timininious.

He insists you call him Tim while visiting Not Another Bard's Tale so you don't keep stumbling over his name. Tim is a wizard who accidentally cursed himself to sneeze golden glitter and things have never gone quite right since.

Tim is between jobs when he sees the Evil Overlord is hiring. Though Tim isn't evil, he does need to eat. In the slow economy caused by the oppressive overlord, he can't be too picky. When he wins a round of 'Do you think your evil' by causing, instead of deadly lightning, a heavy rain of blackberries, (thereby forcing the evil overlords minions to set aside their usual fare of boiled kittens for a healthy meal of fruit. Woo. Evil. ), Tim finds himself favored in the eyes of the Evil Overlord. However that might not be the promotion he'd dreamed of.

Likes: Spells that work the first time, women without mustaches, free black hair dye

Dislikes: Going gray, sneezing glitter, and the thought of eating kittens no matter how long they were boiled in baby's tears.


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: S

S is for Sahmara.

Sahmara is from her own story, Sahmara's Sunset. How nice of me to name the story after her, isn't it? This is the first novel I've ever written that I had the title before the story. That's usually one of the last things that comes to me. In fact, I had both the title and the last line. That's also something that is on my last thing list, though more appropriately so.

Sahmara also has the distinction of being the most misspelled character name that I've plagued myself with to date. I've lost count of the different ways I've spelled it. Usually one spelling sticks with me for several chapters before I take a break for a few days and go back to work on the story, thinking, hmm, does this look right? Was I spelling it with the h here or at the end? Some headdesking occurs. Thank goodness for find/replace.

When invaders from Altheria invade Sahmara's country, they rip her away from her sheltered life and take her to their home as one of their many slaves. Lost and alone in a foreign country, she turns to her mother's goddess for help. Her prayers are answered. Sort of. Help comes in the form of a bow, men's clothing and a rag-tag band of soldiers from her own country also trying to get home. There's also the small matter of payment to a blood-thirsty goddess for services rendered.

Likes: Warm furs, sweet confections, being safe and home.

Dislikes: Altherian slavers, blood on her hands, and moldy biscuits.


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April: Behind the scenes

So while my character parade is happily plodding onward, I thought I'd share what's going on behind the scenes.

1. During the flooding last week, despite $200 pump I ran to three stores to finally find one in stock in the pouring rain, getting covered in mud several times and becoming one with the worms in my dirt crawl space, my furnace went underwater just far enough to die.

2. After the days of  rain finally ended, we did not go directly to our long delayed spring. Instead, we reverted back to winter. It's been snowing intermittantly and not above 40 degrees. And I have no heat other than a space heater in the living room.

3. Work is busy as hell. Being self-employed means if it's busy, I'm working. There have been 10 - 14 hour work days (and there have been for the past couple weeks and that includes weekends). Okay, so working like mad has sort of kept me warmish. There is that. Sort of.

4. While all this is going on, it was time for my LAST school carnival yesterday. This means, that while working crazy long hours, I was also at school (where there is at least heat) for 11 hours last week setting up and running the darn carnival. It went very smoothly thanks to some wonderful volunteers from a local church, but I'm soooooo glad it's over. Another last for this can't wait to be done with PTO duties mom. Now there's just a parade, a big field trip and graduation to plan. Deep breaths. It's almost over.

5. Progress on my Camp NaNo novella has screeched to a couple hundred words here and there. I am at 13k of my 25k goal. Will I get there by the end of the month?

6. I'm way behind on crits. Chapters are piling up of some great stories I'd love to be reading.

7. All this culminated in a lovely migraine yesterday that is still with me today and I have a ton of work to do.

Monday will be better, right?  At least the furnace guy is coming in the morning now that the water has drained out of the crawlspace so he can tell me how much fixing my furnance is going to cost. Yay?

April A to Z Characters: R

R is for Roy.

A priest of Hasi, Roy hails from Samarah's Sunset. Roy is a devout man and he's got little patience for Samarah while she struggles to find her place in his group of soldiers. And really, there is no place for her. A woman amongst lonely men makes for more trouble than either of the them want to deal with. Religion only holds not-so-devout men in line so long.

Second in command to Yanis, Roy leads the band of men toward home though enemy territory. He's more adept at wielding sermons and the words of Hasi than a sword, but he gets by enemies attack. He holds control over the food supply, usually meaning moldy biscuits, and the spiritual wellbeing of his charges. At least until they get really hungry.

Likes: His god, order, clean robes and a good meal.

Dislikes: The temptations of a woman, ungrateful men, wondering if his brother is still alive.


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: Q

Q is for Queen.

I know it probably seems convenient for this whole A to Z challenge, but seriously, she doesn't have a name of her own. Maybe she never will. She's simply known as The Queen in Swan Queen. And no, she's not the Swan Queen.

Mother of Princess Maribella and sister to Kenric, the Queen is ailing. She chastises her procrastinating daughter for delaying in her choosing of a husband. The longer Maribella delays, the more chance Kenric will have time to work his way onto the throne. The wedding must take place. The problem is that Maribella's choices are slim. She can't picture herself with any of the menagerie of men her mother has chosen for her.

When the Queen inconveniently dies shortly after their conversation, Mari finds herself without a kingdom and her people under Kenric's heavy hand. Now she has to live long enough to find a suitable husband and convince Kernic to step down without tossing her country into war.

Thanks for dying, Queen.

Likes: The thought of her her daughter on the throne, servants, being queen,

Dislikes: Her brother, her daughter being so damn indecisive, dying.

See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: P

P is for Paul.

Paul is the husband of Marion from Devolution, a short story currently in need of some extensive revision and possible expansion into novella territory. He's a good guy for the most part. He makes sure his wife has a nice home in their Plex. They even have a window. Thanks to all his work, they want for very little. The one thing he can't give his wife is a child. Not that he's unable. She's the one who can't clear the approval process. Mental unstability runs in her family and the last thing their orderly world needs is a drain on resources by caring for those who had no right to be born in the first place.

Paul does his best to get Marion counseling and find something more useful for her baby-craving mind to do. If she doesn't quit with her silly dreams and take her medication, he could loose his job and with it, the apartment with a view. He's not a bad man and she's not a bad woman but if you ask either of them, they'll probably tell you different.

Likes: Variation in his evening meals, a wife who comes to bed with him, and his job

Dislikes: Headstrong women, the uncivilized people who live out in the wilds, the thought of moving from his apartment.

April A to Z Characters: O

O is for Olga.

Olga travels through the land of Not Another Bard's Tale. She wants nothing more than to protect her sister, the chosen of the Sheep God, and to find a man who loves her for who she is.

Her sister got the good looks, but Olga got the brains of her Elven mother and brawn of her Dwarvish father. She also has a big sword and she knows how to use it. Unfortunately, the men in town see her as a more of a friend than a lover. In fact, most of them are scared to death of her. When her father sends her out of the country on a business trip, Olga learns that when the quaking men of her town said it wasn't her, it was them, they just might have been right.

Likes: Men who aren't afraid of a strong woman, supportive yet flattering swordswoman wear, and sharpening her sword.

Dislikes: The knight who deflowered her sister, cowards, and men who don't take her swordsmanship seriously.

April A to Z Characters: N

N is for Nickoli.

Nickoli is the station commander in Trust. He is a long-time friend of one of the MCs and both MCs work to stay on his good side by not bringing the trouble that follows them near everywhere to his station. They both use him for information on the star system where he resides as well as using the location itself for sanctuary when they need to get away from their otherwise hectic lives.

He is the father of teenage twins, which he juggles between managing the station and keeping trade routes open within the star system by making sure his station remains neutural territory. Nickoli offers some tidbits to the MC when he is searching out information on his bosses past that allow him to understand her a little bit better.

Likes: Peace, friends that visit regularly, and a good Verian meal

Dislikes: Anything that endangers his station, dangerous people who hang out with no apparent reason, and information that causes him to worry about his long absent friend.

April A to Z Characters: M

M is for Merkeif.

I seem to have a lot of characters with M names. It was hard to choose which one to feature. Seniority had to be taken into account and, Merkeif, long time character from both Trust and Chain of Gray won.

Merkeif's orginal name, way back in the early versions, was Matt. As the story twisted and grew, that didn't work anymore and he needed something with more flavor. Merkeif is the MC's best friend and co-worker as well as a welcome face from home, Artor.

In Trust, Merkeif offers a sympathetic ear to the MC, watches his back, and mediates for him with their Jalvian co-worker who isn't fond of the MC on any level. Their boss may be the force that keeps the three men from killing one another when things get ugly, but Merkeif is the glue that keeps them together on a day to day basis. He's the guy that everyone trusts.

Then comes Chain of Gray. Merkeif gets to explore his dark side. It was fun getting into his head and seeing just what made this dependable guy crack and how far he would go once he had. It really is the quiet ones that you have to worry about.

Likes: A night out with the guys, finding a woman of his own, everyone to get along.

Dislikes: His family getting killed, his best friend deserting him, and not knowing what the hell is going on.

April A to Z Characters: L

L is for Leoric.

Otherwise known as the Mouse, Leoric hails from Swan Queen. Son of Kenric and fellow victim of Kenric's overbearing ways, Leoric is a dimwitted teenager who has sorely disappointed his father by not capturing the affections of the princess and securing his place as her husband.

Fed up with his father's verbal abuse, Leoric convinces the princess to avoid marrying his father by seeking out the banished captain of her army in the hopes of ridding the country from his father forever.

Leoric was never meant to be more than the Mouse, but he became one of the more emotionally powerful characters I've written. It turns out the dimwitted thing is just his way of coping with his father. He's really a good kid.

Though taking a break for my Camp NaNo project this month, I'm in the midst of a total rewrite of this story and happy to be back in this fantasy world with these interesting characters again.

Likes: Playing with his puppy, getting the Princess to smile at him, hiding from his father

Dislikes: His father, having to try to get the Princess to marry him, and feeling inadequate at every turn.

April A to Z Characters: K

K is for Kenric.

Uncle to the princess in Swan Queen, Kenric wants only what is best for his country. He'd also prefer if the princess made things simple and married his son, but she seems strongly opposed to his preferences. That includes not marrying him instead.

When the princess fails to marry before her mother's death, Kenric elects himself as regent to give the princess time to grieve. In fact, he'd be thrilled if she never got her act together so he could actually expand the country that had been just riding the waves of mediocrity during his sister's rule. He's got his eye on a neighboring country that produces fresh fruit year round and wine of great renown. Now, if only he can get rid of that princess, Togarth might go somewhere great.

Likes: Young beautiful girls, good wine, people who do what he tells them to.

Dislikes: His son, the princess, and anyone who stands in the way of his vision of Togarth coming to fruition.

April A to Z Characters: J

J is for Jonquil.

Thank you to all the A to Z visitors who have joined me for this alphabetical parade of my characters. I hope you enjoy it.

Half rock troll, half fairy, Jonquil is looking for love in Not Another Bard's Tale. Her mother said Jonquil was big boned but that didn't make her arms long enough to rip the stupid little fairy wings from between her mammoth shoulder blades. Being a half-breed makes finding love difficult, but that all changes when she spies the most handsome little troll man with a glorious mane of thick, curly hair. He even been brought tasty sheep. (This is Bruce, the not-so-valiant-knight "enjoying" the hairy blessing/curse of the Sheep God for those of you who visited on B day.)

Despite the wreath of roses on her head and her dress of furs tugged low for maximum cleavage, the troll man didn't seem to find her beautiful. His sword hurts and so did his words, but she'll find a way to make him see that they are meant to be together. She just needs a little time. And maybe a new dress.

Likes: Handsome male trolls, flattering dresses for big boned figures, true love

Dislikes: Course hair that no amount of conditioner will help, hearing how she was conceived, pointy swords

April A to Z Characters: I

I is for Ikeri.

Ikeri is from Chain of Gray. Daughter of the MC and his soon to be official wife, Ikeri is two years old at the beginning of the story. She embodies the telepathic gifts of both her parents in a unique package, one they will all exploit out of necessity. Her older brother gets the benefit of her sweet side, and though he maybe stronger physically, she wins on the mental strength.

Telling the story through the eyes of a father, allowed the MC to showcase his softer side as well as flesh out the difficult relationship he and his bonded partner must work through. Throwing kids into the mix coming out of Trust, opened up a whole new assortment of terror and stress for two people used to seeing death, guns and blood everyday.

Likes: Building towers, playing with her Daddy, using her ablities to make her brother and mother happy.

Dislikes: Anything that keeps her Daddy away, when her brother destroys anything she builds, sleeping alone.

April A to Z Characters: H

H is for Hemina.

Hemina is a tree dweller from Children of the Trees, published in Liquid Imagination Magazine. Her people are peaceful and live as one with the trees their goddess has given them. They trade with the ground dwellers from time to time to get things like cloth and grains they can not get from the trees and sky.

When the ground dwellers are insprired by their god to find the female who will give birth to his physical body among the tree people, they invade. Hemina prays for help. If she is to save the world she knows from the god the ground dwellers seek to bring to life, she'll have to rely on her wits and the trees around her because her goddess isn't answering.

Likes: A soft rain, the gentle whisper of the trees, spending time with her father

Dislikes: Axes, fire, and Gods who call her Sweetling.

April A to Z Characters: G

G is for Gemmen.

Gemmen is from both Trust and Chain of Gray. He is the fatherly figure at the helm of the pirate guild (which is a quaint title for the people who take from those who have advanced tech and modify for those that don't). He gives the MC good advice to better his standing at his partner's side.

Not the typical young, volatile, glory-seeking Jalvian that the MC is used to dealing with, Gemmen's maturity offers the hope that the MC's people and the Jalvians can find a beneficial middleground in their efforts to keep the star system at peace.

In Chain of Gray, Gemmen becomes more of a father than a mentor and the emotional depth surrounding the relationship between he and the MC is much deeper. Throughout the storyline that spans both novels, Gemmen helps to shape the MC into the man he becomes.

Likes: A good glass of liquor, seeing the MC squirm a little, knowing that his people are taken care of

Dislikes: His nagging wives, that crazy look the MC gets when he's about to do something reckless, and not hearing from the people he cares about.

The story is coming alive.

In the midst of all this A to Z blogging, I'm happy to say that my Camp NaNo story is coming along nicely. Work kept the words at bay for a few days, but after a word splurge of 3K this afternoon, I'm back on track.

Ideas are flowing. I love when that happens. Let's hope it continues to happen.

6k words into it my 25k goal and I haven't killed anyone yet. Don't worry (or sigh with relief), I plan to. Soon.

Wendy (thanks to Wendy from the A to Z challenge for putting her name out there) has become a main character.

If anyone else has a name they'd like to toss into the mix, shout them out. I have a lot of nameless faces running around in this story at the moment.

April A to Z Characters: F

F is for Fa'yet.

Fa'yet is actually Isnar's last name, but it's how he's known for the majority of Trust and the name by which the MC calls him on into Chain of Gray.

Isnar Fa'yet works for the High Council along with the MC. He's a good friend, confidant and ally. In a rough spot, he's the guy the MC turns to. However, that might not always be the best move.

Fa'yet is a surgically modified Artorian, set apart fom the genetic ideal of the majority of his race by blue eyes and light brown hair. He is a good ten to fifteen years older than the MC and has been a close friend to his boss for the entire length of her employment with the High Council. He is a fount of information on her past and ready with a nerve-balming glass of liquour when she rubs the MC the wrong way.

In Chain of Gray, he grows even closer to the MC, becoming the one he can trust in a world full of confusing changes in loyalites. It's not often you can still be friends with a man you nearly killed, but the MC and Fa'yet make it work despite all the crap the known universe throws at them.

Likes: A good glass of liquor, a neat house and his own space

Dislikes: Long-term house guests, people who try to kill him, being ordered in to compromising positions by the High Council.

April A to Z Characters: E

E is for Emily.

Welcome A to Z visitors. I hope you enjoy this alphabetical parade through some of my characters.

Emily is a two year old kidnapped girl from my short story, Healer, which is currently in the virtual 'to revise' pile.

Emily was shot at a streetside playground by teen gang members doing a drive by. Her new mommy is afraid to take her to the hospital because they might figure out Emily has been kidnapped. When her new mommy hears about a healer named Jillian from the wife of a patient who has just been miraculously cured, the solution becomes clear.

But Jillian has just performed a major healing and she can't repair all the damage the two bullets have wrought on Emily's little body. Her new mommy is going to have her baby back and she won't take no for answer.

Likes: Her real mommy, learning to use the potty by herself, sugary treats.

Dislikes: Her new mommy, getting shot, driving long distances in the car.

April A to Z Characters: D

D is for Darkious Maximus, Evil Overlord Extraordinare, Master of the Nine Darknesses.

The Evil Overlord himself, straight from the dark depths of Not Another Bard's Tale. Well, not straight exactly. He's probably crooked, really, really crooked, but you get the idea.

You can call him DM. It's embroidered on all of his clothing and the uniforms of his minions in case your memory gets foggy while basking his gloriously evil presence.

From the pointed tip of his neatly-trimmed black goatee to the bottom of his black souled boots, he's evil through and through. Don't let him hear that you doubt his evil rating or question the actual existance of nine levels of darkness. He'll have his wizard, Tim, turn you into a corpse frog. You don't want to spend the rest of your days hopping about and croaking "Riiiibrains" do you?

Likes: News that the people of countryside fear him, interior decorating with skulls, finding his long lost son and heir.

Dislikes: Interfering knights, incompetant minions, Sheep Gods.

April A to Z Characters: C

C is for Caroline.

Thank you to all the A to Z visitors who have joined me for this alphabetical parade of my characters.

This creepy little girl is from, Found, a short story published in Allegory Magazine. A five year old girl caught in an alternate plane of grey, Caroline seeks out a friend to keep her company. She wants to play, and in the grey, they can play all they want without anyone finding them or yelling at them to be quiet. Caroline could be the perfect playmate and the grey could be just the thing her new friend needs to escape his abusive father.

Likes: Not having to pick up after herself, reading books, having a friend to hang out with.

Dislikes: The times when her friend goes away, people who aren't nice to her friend and ruining the story by listing the other thing.

April A to Z Characters: B

B is for Bruce.

Bruce comes from the fantasy land of Not Another Bard's Tale. He is a not-so-stellar knight between jobs until he talks a dragon into leaving a tormented town alone. At least, for a little while, while it gets a drink from the lake he directed it to so it wash it's last meal down. He's going to enjoy his glory for every second he can.

This awe-inspiring deed lands him a job as bodyguard for pair of a rich merchant's daughters while they go on a business trip to expand their sheep-themed hotel empire in foreign lands. Things work out wonderfully for Bruce until he discovers that he is the new chosen one of the Sheep God and is now hindered by a flock of holy sheep while on his obligatory mission to overthrow the local evil overlord.

Likes: Mydeara (the previous chosen one of the Sheep God whom he slept with), large breasts, and following the knight code only when it is convenient.

Dislikes: Sheep he can't eat, evil overlords, and female troll-fairy stalkers who can't take a hint.

April A to Z Characters: A

A is for Arpex.

Arpex visits us from the novels Trust and Chain of Gray. For a long time, Arpex was simply known as "the blue creature". After he was upgraded from the creepy creature that threatens the MC in a single scene to a full out Council Member hidden under robes that threatens to eat the MC and does eat his ex-girlfriend and then goes on to play a big role in the sequel, the creature got his own name. Or name for his alien self, really. All Arpex share the same name.

Arpex is described as a tall, blue-shelled biped with small frontal appendages ending in claws. It's feet are sharp, being covered with the same (unfortunately...depending on which side your on) bullet-proof covering as the rest of it. It has no visiable head and speaks the common language only through a speaker box attached to its upper body. It prefers its own language of clicks and hisses, but few seem to understand his threats this way. It has large wings, or jaws depending on if it's eating or flying, that spring from its back which are used to engulf its prey. These wings are edged in sharp talons and secrete a disgusting ooze of digestive acids. Or hey, maybe they're really appealing acids if you happen to also be Arpex.

Likes: Eating soft-skinned things, unflattering bright yellow light, the idea of turning the MC's homeworld into nesting grounds.

Dislikes: A messy plate, slaves that forget their place, brain-dead food.

April A to Z Characters

April is nearly here and that means it's almost time for the A to Z parade through my characters. I'm pleased to announce that I managed to pull 26 characters with names from A to Z from works both published and languishing on my hard drive without having to resort to a single discarded character.

Okay, that's not exaclty true, one was previously a Victim of the Knife, but he was placed back into a story long before this challenge was issued.

The entries will be short, but will hopefully give you insight to some of the stories that I've been working on and/or have published. They come from short stories and novels. Some are main characters, others are supporting characters or have small roles but I did try to stick with the bigger players when I could.

Things I discovered when pulling these posts together:

• I like characters with M and J names. There was a lot of competition on those two days.

• I was surprised to learn that I'd used every letter as the starting point for name over the course of the years. I guess only having two that I keep repeating isn't so bad given the amount of variation.

• I really hate not reading things not in manuscript format. Some of my earlier novels haven't yet made into the correct format. My eyes, they blur and burn.

• After skimming through Swan Queen, the novel I'm currently rewriting my way through, I'm reminded of how much I've missed those characters, and yet, how much time and effort that novel is going to need to make it work.

If you haven't signed up for the April A to Z Challenge yet, there's still time.

Victims of the Knife: Blue goes to camp

Blue arranges his tentacles on the DVD player that shares my writing space. Turns out that while it takes up a lot of space, it also makes a nice seat for my resident alien. He stares at me expectantly.

"What?"

"I've been waiting for you to call me up here."

"For? Look, it's early. Not only do I not do mornings, I don't do people...or aliens...until around noon. And by "do" I mean-"

He holds up a tentacle to which is strapped a wide, silver bracelet. "I believe translator conveyed the correct meaning."

"Good. I'm not much for humor this early either. So?"

"Your April Camp NaNo project. I hear I'm going in?"

"You are?"

He looks around and leans closer. "No need for secrets. It's just you and me. Everyone else is still sound asleep."

"Lucky them."

"Into the Blue. That's your title. That would be me. I'm Blue."

"If I told you it was just a phrase regarding space travel, would you believe me?"

He consults his translator and lowers what would be his eyebrows if he were more humanoid. "I'm Blue. You're writing about me. I'm going in."

"I admit, I wasn't aware of this. That you were going in, I mean." I hold up a hand to halt his reiteration. "I know that you're Blue."

"Seems only logical."

"Who are you, Spock?"

"No, I'm Blue."

"Right." I sigh. "Well, you did eat my Barthromains so I suppose it would be best if I got you out of here before you dine on anyone else."

"I would greatly appreciate it."

"If you'll leave your adverbs with Nekar when you pack your things, I'll see what I can do."

Getting Crafty: Book Page People

While in the midst of my book page fun, I had some rolled bits left over. This led to pondering what to do with them, because as crafty people know, you don't just throw extra stuff away. You might use it for something (rather like my discarded characters), so you either find something to do with it right away or you set it aside for later in what can become a huge pile of stuff if you aren't speedy enough with ideas.

Out of this need a speedy idea, so my craft mountain doesn't grow any further out of control, came the idea for book page people. Yes, as with most things, these little guys and gals will end up in my NaNo give away pile. But that's a whole different pile and it goes entirely away once a year...at least for a few weeks until it starts building again.

What you'll need to make your own people:
• Heavy book pages
• Light book pages
• Tacky glue
• A thick dowel (or pencil)
• A thin dowel


Using the thin dowel  roll a page of the thin paper. As in my previous book page craft posts , I tore into my dictionary. I'm well into the Cs now. If you're making several people, you may as well roll several pages at once.

Simply set out one page and brush or spread a little glue along the outside edge.  I like to also put a row of glue about half way along the page to help hold the roll tight. Then put your dowel on the unglued edge, wrap the paper over the dowel and roll. Once the whole thing is on the dowel, smooth the edge and pull it off. If it is hard to get off the dowel, just twist it a little until it loosens enough to pull off.


Let the rolls dry an hour if your patient as they will cut easier when not moist with tacky glue. If you're not patient, you will need to straighten the ends of your cut rolls as they will flatten. Not a big deal really, and I'm not patient. However, I did wait to cut them until I'd rolled the body so that does give you a minute or two of drying time.




This is backwards of what I'd intended
to do with my body page as you see
from the two people already done.

Now you'll use your thick (3/8 or so) dowel or pencil and a heavy book page. I cut* my heavy page in half long-wise and doubled it up, lightly gluing the two halves together to make a very strong piece. This will be your body. No, not your body, that would be weird and you'd have to avoid fires forever. This will be the body of your paper person. Roll the page up and this one you'll probably have to hold for a minute or two until the glue sets a little.

 *As I discovered by mistake in the process of making several of these at once, decide what you'd like the body of the person to look like before folding, gluing and rolling that thick page. I really liked the upper bit as blank page (the face) and the lower part covered with words. It seems I reversed my fold part way though and made some of them differently. Oops. They still worked, it just wasn't what I'd intended at the beginning.

Once you have your body and you've decided which part you're calling the face, you can decide how long you'd like the legs and arms to be. Then comes to the cutting of the rolls you first made. Generally, you'll need two arms and two legs per person unless you're making mutants or zombies or people missing parts for whatever other reason. Hey, I don't want to judge your creative whims.

I used little extra bits for feet, but you'll put those on last.

Cover the tops of your legs with glue and shove them into the body until they feel secure. They may have to be flattened a little at the top and that's fine, just don't bend them as you want them sturdy so your person will stand.

No one wants a lazy lay-about paper person. Adjust the leg placement and level the legs until the person has a good chance of standing. You can further adjust the odds of standing when you add the feet.

Then attach the arms. You will have to hold the arms in place for a few seconds to keep them in position. Go ahead and have fun with posing the arms if you'd like. The arms can bend because they're not holding up the body.

Once the body is mostly dry (or two minutes later if your impatient like me), glue on the feet. Adjust the stance as necessary to make your person stand.

Now comes the fun part of adding facial features and hair. I used some long strips of thin pages for the hair. You could cut it short, long, curl it around a pencil tip, etc. Whatever you decide, keep the pieces joined in the middle so you can put glue on one easy to insert piece. Put that piece down inside the top of the head and there you go. You have a little person to inspire you with its wordy body or make funny faces at you while you're writing.

Progress Report

Progress on Swan Queen is slow, but moving forward. Not because the story is bogging me down, but finding time to work on it between shuttling kids and working is interfering with my writing time. However, I have managed to carve out enough hours to get myself into chapter six.

It's funny how writing characters that came to me years ago feel when writing them anew. Swan Queen is told in multiple point of views, which was the experiment when first writing this story as I'd only written single POVs up until that point.

Some of the characters need more work to flesh them out, others feel like slipping into my favorite jeans and going for a walk. Leoric (a young suitor) continues to be a favorite as does Kenric (the antagonist). (Jarvis (captain of the guard) needs personality help. Maribella (AKA The Princess) is getting a major character do-over. She was far too cookie-cutter the first time around. Now she's got moxie!

The biggest goof, or change, depending on how you look at it, is the fact that I began rewriting without realizing that I'd swapped the name of Maribella's country with that of one of her suitors. It didn't even occur to me until chapter three that I'd made the switch. That's the beauty of rewriting from scratch. My subconscious often knows best. I like this much better.

You'll get to meet all these characters and many more in my upcoming April A to Z Blog Challenge, which, holy bovines, has grown to 1085 participants and counting! My characters stand ready to meet you because I'll be (hopefully) deep into writing a sci-fi novella for April Camp NaNo. I love that the word goals are now adjustable for camp so I can legitimately aim for 25k.

Now then, back to working on chapter six and juggling the five submissions I currently have out.

Getting Crafty: Book Page Roses

You gave me a dozen roses and I'd be happy. But they die. Pretty quickly. And, well, while I appreciate the sentiment, sometimes thinking outside the box is even more appreciated.

So when I saw these, I wasn't about to wait around for someone to make me some. Hell no. I'll give myself some roses thank you very much.

More specifically, I made myself some roses out of book pages. Double win. If you guessed this was yet another excuse to tear into my already torn and worn dictionary, you'd be right. I also used Henry the Eighth because that dictionary isn't the only one sitting on my craft pile.

So how does one go about making book page roses? Well you get yourself an old tattered book or two (the kind you'd otherwise throw out, not the valuable vintage sort) - one with lightweight pages and one with a little heavier pages. Any pages that have colored or worn edges are best. Yes, you could paint the edges, but I like the natural look.

Official supply list:
Tacky glue
Brush
1/8 wooden dowel that is longer than your pages
Book pages you never plan to read again

1. To make the stems: Take full book pages and apply glue to the outside edge. Roll using the dowel and smooth the glued edge. Pull out the dowel, and hey, you've got a stem. Lightweight pages work best for this as they are easier to roll this tight.




2. Cut a 1.5 x length of book page strip and fold over one corner. Glue this onto the stem and then wrap, pleating the paper a couple times to create interest. This makes the center of your rose.




To fill this giant gap between pictures, I'll tell you that once I had the process down, each rose took about five minutes to make.










3. Cut a selection of petals. For the heavier book pages, I made the petals roughly two inches long by about 1.5 inches tall. For the thinner pages, I made the strips 5 inches long because I could pleat them a I wound them around the center section.

4. Start with a heavier page petal. Varying the paper weight adds some substance and interest to the petals. My pages were also slightly different colors, with the heavier one being a darker page with a red edge, though not all of the petals came from the edges of the page. Manually pleat the heavy page petals. These can be done all at once or as you go.

5. You will need to hold the heavier page petals in place for a few seconds until the glue sets a little. Then follow that petal with a lighter weight one. Sprinkle the heavy pages throughout. I used three to four per rose. The heavier pages are bulkier so keep that in mind when working around the underside of your rose or it will end up with a huge base.


6. Keep adding petals all around, making sure to vary the length of the petals to keep the rose round and somewhat natural looking. You know, as natural as a rose made of book pages can be. Overlapping the petals an inch or so also helps keep them looking like petals.



7. Once you have the desired amount of petals pinch down the bottom against the stem. Cut a 1 inch by 5 inch strip of lightweight paper and wrap it around the underside of your rose to make the base. This serves to clean up the underside a little and transition the clump of petals into the stem.



8.  Cut a couple leaf shaped bits. I used one or two per stem and placed them roughly two inches below the rose. Glue the leaf onto the stem.

There you go. Now go wash all that glue off your hands and enjoy your roses.





My bouquet is sitting in a vase on my writing desk. The best part...they'll never wilt. Also, if I ever need a word beginning with B or C (as that's where I am in my dictionary), I can simply consult my roses for inspiration.

Reading and Echoes

Ever have the feeling your email must not be working because there's nothing in the inbox? So you check it. Frequently. Because darn it, something should be in the inbox.

That's my inbox the past month and half. I'm usually a pretty patient person when it comes to the submission waiting game. I really am. But I've got four projects floating out there at the moment and they've all been out from one to six months. Usually there's at least one project that bounces back with a quick form rejection to prove that my inbox is indeed operational. Not that I'm begging for a quick form rejection, that just how the submission game usually works.

Now that I've broken down and complained about it, the rejections will come flying in. That's also how it usually works.

Deep cleansing breath.

While I'm waiting, I've been busy writing. Swan Queen, which I've been searching for a new title for now that I've adjusted what I'd originally set out to do with the theme, is creeping along. Chapter three is now done.

I've also been busy reading. However, not much from my TBR pile. That pile has been there long while as have two books I'm in the middle of that I just can't seem to finish reading. Nothing is lighting my fire at the moment. Meh. Even a trip to the bookstore didn't reveal a book that I knew I could dive into and love. Tis a sad state of anxious emotional affairs I've worked myself into.

Instead of reading from my pile, I did critique a full novel last month. My month of reading accomplishments isn't totally lacking. I also had the driving urge to read Trust and Chain of Gray. Not for editing, but for enjoyment, though I did fix a few lurking ninja typos. Sneaky bastards.

Now it's time to get back to chapter four and, yes, waiting.

Getting Crafty: Recycled Dictionary Page Coasters

In another fit of craftiness, I cut into my old dictionary for writing related words. There are an awful lot of them in you get specific about it.

By the time I had gotten sick of finding words and their definitions, I had quite a pile. In fact, I ended up making four sets of coasters and still had a pile left over. I suppose that means there is another project in the wings.

All the stuff you need.

To make a set of coasters, here's what you'd need:

Ceramic tiles
Mod Podge
A brush
Words
Tissue Paper

1. Cut a square of tissue paper to fit the top of your tile and apply a layer of Mod Podge.



Mod Podge Tissue Paper to the tile

2. Once the paper is affixed to the tile, find the words you want to use. I went several different ways with this. On one set, I burned the edges of words that had long definitions. On others, I used stripes of words and made more of a collage.

3. Mod Podge the words on top of the tissue paper.

4. Let the tile dry.

5. Apply a top layer of Mod Podge.



Mod Podge your words onto the tile.

6. Cut a square of felt or cork. I used felt because it seems some mice got into my shed. (Where I'd last used the cork to make a new washer for my rustic water pump. Some ants had eaten the old one. Stupid ants.) The mice ate my cork. Stupid mice. Shredded cork doesn't work very good for this so, yes, I opted for felt. Felt is also much cheaper by the way.

7. Using Tacky Glue, affix the felt t o the bottom of your coaster.

8. Sit back, have a tall, sweaty drink and enjoy your craftiness.

Some of my finished tile coasters.

Rewriting: To write again

So I've launched into a major rewrite of an old project. I'm not talking a little revising here either. Now that I've seriously been at this writing thing for a while, it's interesting to see how far my stories have come. For instance, the novel I wrote back in 2007 that I thought I loved.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea and the fact that it was my first attempt at writing a novel through multiple POVs. I rather like all my characters. But the level of telling and the whimpery female MC... Gah. It makes me cringe.

And so, the rewriting process, or mine anyway, goes a little something like this:

Open document.
Consider reading entire story from 2007.
Decide re-reading story will taint new ideas because I remember what the main issues where that made me shelf the thing in the first place.
Paste entire story into a new document.
Close the original and back it up for safe keeping.
Adjust new document to novel format to make eyes and brain happy.
Shuffle original words to halfway down the page.
Read the half page of words.
Scroll back up and start writing from scratch.
Once the gist of the original text is rewritten, delete old text and queue up the next half page
Write more.
Delete more.
Delete entire crappy paragraphs without rewriting them.
Enjoy ah ha moments where I can pull the story threads tighter.
Enjoy making characters much deeper.
Delete more old words.
Rub hands together evily.
Write more.

Yes, my method introduces new typos. Oh well. The retyping of all old words allows me to make better word choices, sentence structure changes and maintain the current voice of each POV character as I round them out much better than before. Allowing myself to keep old sections makes the voice and telling inconsistant with all the progress I'm trying to make.

I hope all this effort will be worth it. I'm already loving how the story is coming together and can see fixes to some of the plot problems that bogged it down before. The percolator has been mulling this one over for a long time.

Chapter three is halfway finished and I'm gleefully writing the twisted mind of Kenric. Not that he's totally twisted, he just sees the situation a little differently than the other characters.

Now, please excuse me as I go milk the giant cow and get back to writing...err...rewriting.

The percolator strikes again

There are times when we need to step back from our novels to give them time to lose their shiny luster of newly written awesome so we then see them more objectively and fix them. Sometimes that means weeks or months or years.

After completing a novel critique last week and pondering my overall plot comments, something clicked in my percolator and *poof* I knew how to fix one of my old novels. I love when this happens. I wish it would happen more often. I'd have a lot more done writing-wise. But it would seem my percolator can only do so much, so often.

I brushed the virtual dust off my 2007 NaNo novel yesterday. New notes were created as I reacquainted myself with the characters and their plotlines. A new chapter one is in progress.

While the novel went over well with crit buddies, I'd worked myself into a pantser corner around chapter 22. The princess needed to marry someone. Her aunt was roaming the countryside building up support for the princess. Her uncle (from the other side of the family) was gleefully sitting on her throne and putting the final touches on the wedding of his faux son to the faux princess. The man the real princess needed to lead her army was stuck in a distant country. Any of the men she could marry to gain hold of additional forces sucked.

The pieces were all there. And there they sat. Staring at me. Glaring. Waiting impatiently for me to make the story work.

Funny how writing notes on how to better pull the plot together for someone else, triggered an epiphany for my old novel, but hey, I'm not going to ponder this miracle too deeply. I need that thought power to fix this story.

There's the obvious character modification, then some plot holes to patch up and about 15,000 words to add to bring the story to it's conclusion. Let's just hope I can get this done before April, when I hope to launch myself into a new project that hit me the other day.

Guess that means I better get writing.

Bucket List Progress

Greetings from the frozen northlands of Michigan.

I'm happy to be able to cross off a little of my writing Bucket List already. Funny how actually typing and posting a to do list can light a fire under your behind.

Short #1 has been revised, sent through a round of critiques, edited, and sent off into submissions as of this morning. That feels good!

A synopsis for A Broken Race as been created and is now resting for a few days to see if it still works once the relief of getting through that task has passed.

Not on my list, but something I'd always been going to do: I finally hung my novel wordles in my tiny writing area. If you have not played with wordles before, beware, they are procrastination friendly.

Every time I finish (that's a relative term) the rough draft of a novel, I create a word cloud from it. In some ways this is a visual reward by seeing my words artfully displayed. More useful, though not as much fun, is the visual of which words I'm overusing.

Creating a wordle for the two novels I consider really finished, and comparing them to the old ones was also gratifying. Words like looked, smiled, glared, etc are all much smaller or not used enough to even be on the cloud anymore. Gotta love progress.

Reclaiming My Space

Since the arrival of my laptop three years ago, I haven't had much use for my old computer desk. My big old desktop computer left the house, which meant I had some storage space under my desk. NaNoWriMo moved in, specifically stuff I gather throughout the year for regional events. Then that began to over flow onto my desktop, because really, I wasn't using that for anything either. My desk is too small for a crafting station so it became a NaNo catchall, piled high and stuffed underneath by the time each November rolled around.

Even my good computer chair with the awesome back support had become a storage zone, though sometimes more for clothes than anything else. It certainly didn't fit under my desk anymore so it begged to have stuff piled on it.

My long gone little writing zone was starting its December to October metamorphosis from desk to NaNo pile again until I had the bright idea to reclaim my space.

This idea was born of two things: back pain and me.

Me because this is the year of me. One of my excuses for not writing more is that I use my computer on the couch downstairs...surrounded my other family members. I can get some writing done in the morning, but work quickly absorbs my day. The moment the kids come home from school, all hope of quiet thought is abolished by xbox games, you tube videos and my son game chatting online with his friends out loud. I needed my own space back.

After a few weeks of wracking bronchitis coughing, my back wasn't feeling so hot. In fact, I couldn't get out of bed without help. This also meant lounging on the couch with my laptop meant a lot of pain and getting up from the couch also required help. Using the comfy recliner was no better.

This sad state of physical being prompted me to get myself back to the chiropractor. After looking at  xrays of my spine, he informed me that, "Wow, I don't normally like to say things like this is a train wreck, but yeah, this really isn't good." I should probably note that I'd been seeing this guy for years (years ago) so his dark humor was appreciated.

That meant I needed to sit up straight until things were back in line or suffer the very painful consequences. Remember that chair serving as a clothing rack? Yeah, so did my back. Time to clean!

Three bags of garbage removed later (when did I accumulate that much outdated computer and writing related stuff?) and my NaNo regional pile relocated to new storage areas out of sight, I'm happy to report that I've reclaimed my writing space.

I guess that means I should get to writing, huh?

April is looking blogtacular

In an effort to be more on top of blog posts this year, I had a crazy moment (if you believe that was really just a moment, you don't know me very well) and signed up for the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

I hope to be busy revising a novel during April as my Camp NaNo effort so this means I'm going to be extra busy writing. But what the hell, I like writing and I'm all about me this year.

To get back to my long neglected host of discarded darlings, my theme will be Characters. Specifically, my characters and not just the discarded ones. I'm pretty sure I have enough to cover the entire alphabet. I'm also pretty sure at least one of them will be force feeding me those words at some point in April.

Until then, I have some brain wracking to do. On further thought, I'm should also probably brush up on some self defense tactics.

2013 Bucket List Challenge Blog Hop

What will you cross off your Bucket List in 2013? 

First off, thank you to Dana Sitar for hosting this blog hop. Check out her book, A Writer's Bucket List, available starting today.

This Blog Hop Challenge is to make a list of my goals for the year. Now they'll be out here for all see. Bring on the guilt monkeys. 

Part of my focus on me resolution involves making more time for writing and not frying my creative brain at work so I have nothing left when I sit down to write. I don't need writing disaster like NaNo Novel 2012. No sir, I really don't. That was depressing.

So how about something more uplifting? Like some things I'd like to accomplish this year?

1. Keep Trust bouncing around in queryland. No more downtime for that one. It's had it's years of rewrites and edits. It needs to move out now. It is currently out and I have a whole list of places to send it so no excuses for this one. Unless it finds a home. I suppose I should somewhat rephrase this goal rather than be utterly pessimistic....keep it bouncing around until it finds a home or I decide to make a home for it.

2. Get A Broken Race out in queryland. I've put off getting submission materials put together for that one for a good six months now for lack of time and motivation. Apparently this finished novel and the list of presses I'd like to send it to aren't going to magically connect on their own.

3. Get at least two more short stories published. I've got two out in submissions right now. If they both find a home, I can cross that off my list and focus on #4 and #5.

4. Revise at least two short stories that have been languishing on my hard drive so they can join the others in submissions. I've already started on one, but that start consists of opening the file, staring at the cursor and getting frozen on the thought that I might screw it up worse if I start messing with it. Time take deep breaths and get on with it. There's always the back up file if I manage to suck all the magic out of the words.

5. And last on my list: Revise and FINISH one of the darn novels that's just sitting there doing nothing but glare at me for years. I've got Camp NaNo in April or November NaNo to conquer this if I don't manage to find the time elsewhere.

These are all attainable goals. I can do this. Deep breaths.

What's on your bucket list for 2013?