Short vs. Long

Short stories or novels? Both, please.

Novels give me the opportunity to sink into a whole new world (even if it's this one), to live life through someone else's eyes and to know everything about them. I get to let the character lose in a world, through obstacles at them, give them subplots and secondary characters, to watch them grow and learn and adapt. Apparently, I get to like them so much that I'm mostly inclined to grant them a happy ending.

Shorts give me the chance to walk a bit more twisted path. I get to focus on one big scene, one character, one big obstacle. I can tell the story in ways I'd not typically use for a novel, experiment, and try new genres or methods without a big time investment. The challenge is to pack a lot of bang into far fewer words, without the sinking into the world, without the getting comfortable with the character, without meandering through the plot idea to wait for it to really get rolling. Shorts really help me focus on the story itself, and that in turn gives me better focus when I'm working on novels.

Writing shorts helped ease me into the idea of writing shorter novels. I'd always been a long involved novel kinda girl until the short story bug bit me. They gave me the freedom to admit that I only had to write the story that needed to be written without having to complicate things with additional subplots and characters. I like to write complicated. I still do if the story needs it. But I don't need to every time. Sometimes a beautiful story is a simple one.

One of these days I'd like to venture into the novella zone. That's one length I've not tried yet. Who knows what I'll learn there?

What about you? Short or long?

In This Corner: The Juggler

My juggling act is in high gear after May's short stories joined in. At least I feel like I'm accomplishing something writing related while the rest of my life spirals into long days of work and a new major time sucker: we may finally be building our dream house.

After six long feeling-like-we're-throwing-money-into-a-black-sucking-pit-of-disappointment, (aka: our land payments and extra property taxes) the stars aligned and we found a buyer for our current house that will let us live in it while we build our new house so we can maintain our home business until the new location is finished. Now the "fun" of meshing our dreams with the available funds is in full swing. While that's all going on behind the scenes--or in front, depending on where you're standing--I'm busy submitting stories.

Two novels are in submission along with eight shorts. At least with multiple balls in the air, when one falls, there's still optimism for the rest. It makes it easier to pick that one up and get it back in the air. It's definitely less painful than hinging all hope on one project at a time.

The Grinder has been great fun, as much as researching markets and sending your babies into the fray can be such a thing. I particularly love the feature that appears immediately after entering a rejection update: Find a new home for this story. It grabs your hand, hands you a tissue, and points you back toward the action. Get back in there!

One of these days I need to update my writing page with the new additions. Until then, here's the list:
The Boy
Justice
A Little Thing Like Death
Devolution
Healer
Late
Sunset Cruise
Taking A Breather

Speaking of which, I have a ball to pick up.

This is the end

After my last post, I got curious about how I really do end my short stories. Killing people comes to mind, but is that true? How do I actually end my stories? Let me count the ways:

May story 1: sad
May story 2: happy
May story 3: killed MC
May story 4: happy
May story 5: killed MC
May story 6: killed MC
May story 7: killed MC

Hmmm, *wipes fictional blood from hands* let's try my published short stories. (in no particular order)

Story 1: killed MC
Story 2: killed MC
Story 3: killed MC
Story 4: happy

Darn. Umm. Let's not go into the attic okay? And those fresh dirt piles in the yard? Gardening. I swear. So, how does this compare to novels? (in no particular order)

Novel 1: happy
Novel 2: happy
Novel 3: killed MC
Novel 4: happy
Novel 5: happy
Novel 6: happy

Whew. That's not so bad.

And, my dear characters, what did we learn here?
1. You want to be in a novel rather than a short.
2. If I don't kill you, the odds of living happily ever after are pretty damn good.

Putting on my writing shorts

After this focus on short story month, I thought I share my process on the difference between pounding out 2K of promising story and 200 words of suck.

There are couple factors at play with each story:

The Idea - The spark, the thought, the lightbulb that illuminates it all. This is the thing that breathes life into the story. Sometimes this is just an idea that pops into my head, a simple line or two of dialogue, an interstesting situation, a quick character sketch. Othertimes a prompt will light my creative fires. I have the most productive ideas from prompts, especially during May, when I attempt to get out my short story urges for the year. Thankfully for A Story A Day In May, prompts are supplied each day by email. Sometimes those caught my interest, some days they didn't. Short story markets will sometimes have a themes or first line prompts. Then there's the file of ideas I jot down when the mood strikes but time doesn't allow for writing.

The Conflict - The thing that makes this all interesting. While a novel can have lots of main characters and conflicts and resolutions, a short usually only has one of each of these. This requires a bit more planning so words aren't wasted and the story stays on track. Yes, novels need that too, but a short can't afford to wander off on subplots and characters can't take their time to find out who they really are. There's no big plot breakthrough in chapter twelve that pulls everything together. Identifying the thing that makes the story tick from the get go is important. If all you've got is an interesting character there's not much to write about.

The Ending - Be it happy, twisted, or killing everyone, we need resolution. I've noticed I'm more inclined to kill people than have things end happily. I'm sure that says something about me, but we'll save that analysis for another time. It's great to have an idea and a conflict, but if you write yourself into a corner or a plot so twisted that the resolution can't be found, the story goes splat.

These are the big three that I have to have a grasp of before I can embark on a short story. At the beginning of last month I seemed to have my thoughts in order. However, as the month progressed, life intruded, thoughts scattered, and I'd get one or two of these things down, but the rest just didn't fall into place. Over the years I've come to know when something is going to (probably) work, be it a novel or a short. Sometimes I have to push through some rough patches but it works out, other times I'm just spinning my wheels and I need to walk away. I wish I could put my finger on that deciding factor, but it's just a gut feeling learned by writing lots of different stories of lots of different lengths.

It's Q & A time

Thanks to the lovely Sidonie Helena for nominating me for the Liebster Award. We connected a couple months ago during the April A to Z challenge. Whew, that was a busy month! So was May, but now that short story month over, I finally have a chance to graciously accept my shiny award and join the fun.

What fun you say? Well, it seems that this reward entails me stating 11 facts about myself. Let's start there.

1. I haven't had a chance to color my hair in months. It's currently a rainbow of brown, blond and faded magenta.
2. Notice how I didn't call it pink? No sir, I'm not a fan of pink.
3. Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons. I love how they smell.
4. I used to be really good at sleeping. I miss that.
5. I write exclusively in MS word.
6. I've reached a place in life where I realize more stuff is just more stuff I have to clean, display, store, and move around. Less stuff is good.
7. I have two new dime-sized angel fish. (Two large palm-sized ones recently died and I missed them.)
8. A Jack Russel mix named Toby keeps me company during the day.
9. When not talking to my discarded characters, I resort to talking to myself. Working at home alone has its privileges.
10. My favorite flower is the Iris.
11. My wardrobe is mostly gray. It used to be mostly black. I'm fashionably fading.

Now I must answer 11 questions posed by Sidonie.

1.What is one thing that you can not live without?
Gum. Specifically Trident bubblegum, though I also like cinnamon and mint.

2.What was your least favorite subject in school?
Math. We have calculators for a reason.

3.Do you prefer talking over the phone or face to face?
Phone. Though, even better, email. Unless we're really chatty, then the phone is easier.

4.What is the last dream that you remember?
I'd have to have a good night of sleep to actually answer that one. Most of the time I'm dreaming about working.

5.Who is the most famous person you have met?
The only person I've actively sought out was Jacqueline Carey at a local book signing. She was very tolerant of our small gang of giddy fans asking writerly questions.

6.Where did you grow up?
Same place I live now, except about four minutes away. I'm comfortable here.

7.If you could live anywhere on earth, where would you live?
About five minutes from here on the property I've been paying on for six years. Did I mention I'm comfortable here?

8.What was the last thing you bought?
Oranges for the red-bellied woodpeckers and orioles

9.Your favorite film is...?
The Princess Bride.

10.Apple or PC?
PC.

11.Do you even like questionnaires? 
Sure. They are much easier to answer than to come up with my own questions and answers.

At this point, I'm supposed to nominate 11 other bloggers. But you know I don't play by the rules. Mwahahaa! I mass nominate all of you! If you're interested, here are your questions:

1. What is your favorite color of socks?
2. What is your current creative project?
3. Dogs or Cats?
4. Beer or Wine?
5. Where is your favorite place to relax?
6. What is the last book you read?
7. What was the last show you watched on TV?
8. Where is your favorite place to walk barefoot?
9. What is your favorite flower?
10. What is the last movie you saw in a theatre?
11. Are you a fan of organization or chaos?

Now go forth and answer.

What to do with all these new short stories?

AKA: How easily distracted I am (in a productive way this one time)

Not even quite halfway through short story month (May) I received a rejection on a short currently featured in my juggling routine. This led to some brief mourning the loss of Duotrope as a free site, and a resigned sigh as I referred to my own market spreadsheet hurriedly gathered in my final days on Duotrope.

This then led clicking on a link for a market to which I'd never submitted. There, a listing of tracking sites on which they were featured on caught my attention. So I clicked through to find a new site very similar to Duotrope. And there was great rejoicing.  The Submission Grinder has all the features I've been missing since January. I'm excited about submitting shorts again!

There's a joke about shipping my shorts in here somewhere but my brain is too fried to formulate it.

If you're a short story writer and are also reluctant to spend the few bucks you happen to make on a short story sale on a couple months of Duotrope membership, I highly recommend The Submission Grinder. They also have listings for novels and everything in between. Go on, check it out. It's free.

Writing Hard(ly) in May pt 5

Day 23: Using the idea I got over the weeked, I was off to a good start first thing in the morning. Then, 450 words in, I realized that my awesome idea wouldn't work in the pov of the person undergoing the physical change I'd implimented. It's hard to be the pov character when you're unconscious for a couple weeks while the interesting stuff is happening. So I had the idea to switch the pov to a new character observing the change. Just over 660 words in I was staring at a page of "meh". The light had gone out. Story fail.

Day 24: I still like the seed I had started with yesterday but it needs a new pot to grow in. Using a secondary prompt, I'm giving it a second go. Blarg 200 words in and this isn't working either.

Day 25: Gave up on the not-so-awesome idea. Tried something completely different. That didn't work either.

I think I've reached the point in the month were my brain is too focused everything else I have going on. When I sit down to write, I play out the story in my head enough to find out that: a) there's not enough conflict b) there's no spark of life in it, or c) nothing really interesting is happening. At any of those points, my fingers freeze on the keys and I realize I'm wasting my time that I don't really have to write as it is and I should just stop for the day so I can get done what I really need to get done.

Not that I'm giving up entirely, but unless something really grabs me, I'm going to focus on getting done what needs to be done so I don't have to be up working until 10pm.

I've ended up with what I think are a handful of fairly good stories and two full revisions that will allow me to get a couple more submissions into my juggling act soon. Yay for that!

Writing Hard(ly) in May pt 4

May is short story month for me for those of you just tuning in. In an effort to keep myself motivated, I'm reporting my daily progress.

Day 17: Was out on installation work most of the day so I wasn't even near a computer to get words in at lunch. In fact, I didn't even get lunch. Then it was a frenzy of packing and getting on the road with the kids for a Boy Scout family camping trip across the state. Though, I did brainstorm on the ending for yesterday's story.

Day 18: Figured I owed the kids some one on one time and I really needed a break from work so I didn't bring my laptop. There's no urge to check email that way. Of course, that also meant there was no writing. I don't to writing by hand. It's just a mess even I have to struggle to decipher.

Day 19: While watching an imax movie about butterflies with my daughter at the Henry Ford mueseum, I got an idea for my next short story. Spent the three and half our drive home outlining it in my head. Now I just have to find time to actually get it written.

Day 20: Playing a major round of catch up at work. I take a couple days off and work piles up. Boo! No writing. No breathing either. My allergies are awful right now.

Day 21: Okay, this is getting really frustrating. Allergies are better, however work is completely overwhelming and stressful.

Day 22: FINALLY. Thanks to some rain, an afternoon installation got cancelled, allowing me to catch up on some other work...which allowed me to sit down and finish the story from Day 16. It took me nearly until midnight to do it, but coming in at 3k, my character prompt story is done! Hooray!

Current monthly effort summary:
5 new shorts
2 shorts revised

Writing Hard(ly) in May pt 3

May is short story month for me for those of you just tuning in. In an effort to keep myself motivated, I'm reporting my daily progress.

Day 11: Um. No.

Day 12: Received two rejections on a couple shorts in my juggling routine. Spent some time researching new markets. While on one publication website I found a link to a new submission tracking site. Huge yay! Then I found some new places to send work to and submitted four stories. Oh yeah...writing. Not so much, but least this was the productive kind of distraction.

Day 13: Devolution wraps up at 6,000 words. Just in time, because here are some fun prompts this week that I want to try.

Day 14: A migraine morning. Monitor brightness turned down low. Using the write for a market spec prompt. One new 1,800 word short completed.  Hooray!

Day 15: Migraine still here. Blarg. Character prompt effort today. Got 1,000 words in before work took over.

Current monthly effort summary:
4 new shorts
2 shorts revised
1 new short in progress

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.