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?

Reading: January Summary

Part of my resolution this year was to make more time for me to do what I enjoy. One of those things is reading. Another is critiquing for my writing buddies. When I can put these together, relaxing things happen and relaxing is very good.



 

I had the privilege to critique a novel for one of those aforementioned writing buddies. Making it through a whole novel with chapter by chapter crits usually takes much longer than a few weeks, but I'm fresh off a new resolution here so I made record time through Niko and the Shadows. It turned out to be an enjoyable YA Fantasy read with enough darkness to keep my interest. I hope to see it in print someday.

The angel angle was good, something different from what I've read before as far as angel romance goes. However, there are only so many times the MCs can blindly misunderstand each other for the sake of the plot that I can handle.

A collection of short strories that spans touching, quirky, and funny. My favorite was a story about a the death of a mother which was very easy to sympathize with and touching, yet laced with humor.

Getting Crafty: Writer's Blocks

We all fall victim to the dreaded writer's block now and then.

I've seen many different ways to solve this problem, but why buy one of those cute little block or sets of dice when you can make one? As a bonus, you get to pick the words. And yeah, I like to throw in some fun words to get the wheels turning again. As another bonus, you can choose words that best fit your genre or let the blocks fall where they may.

All you need is a bag of wooden blocks from the craft store.

I used 3/4 inch.

A bottle of craft paint. I like black.

Words. I used an old dictionary that I'd be saving for crafty purposes.

A small bottle of Mod Podge

A brush for paint and one for the Mod Podge

It's all downhill from here. The gathering of supplies always seems to take the longest for me. That could have something to do with the amount of supplies I have to sort through... I'm overcoming my craft supply hoarding problem. I swear.

1. Paint your blocks

2. While the paint dries, find your words. You might have to choose words that fit on your blocks or adjust your font size so they do.

3. Use the Mod Podge to affix your words onto the blocks. Working one face at a time across however many blocks you're doing allows for some dry time. Be sure to keep a dry side down as you work or your pretty word will stick to your work surface and the block. It's not a good thing. Trust me.

4. If you like an aged look...you know to show that you combat writer's block a lot...or maybe just like to challenge yourself frequently. Yeah, that sounds better. Rub the corners and/or edges across a sheet of sandpaper.

5. Let everything dry.

6. Sort into sets. Six is a nice number. I used one bulk bag of blocks and made four sets of six. Yes, for those of your doing NaNoWriMo locally next year, you'll be seeing these.

7. Get writing!

 

Wondering how to use these things?

1. Consider writing a story or your next chapter.

2. Look at blinking cursor until your eyes dry out.

3. Remember you have help and toss the blocks on the table.

4. Use the words to construct your scene/chapter/plot.

 

Apparently my story is about a husband who is a lush hanging out too long in a restaurant in another town. This causes some sort of commotion (probably because he drunkenly tumbled into someone from this other town...the wrong someone), and now he's launched a year long battle. Way to go mystery guy. Way to go.

In the case of a scene or chapter, there's a distinct possibility that using all the words isn't going to happen, but the idea is to get your creative juices flowing again. Take inspiration where you can and get those fingers moving!

 

 



Considering going Indie?

Indie Publishing: I've been told to take the leap. I know several sucessful authors who've done it and love it. For various reasons, I'm just not ready to join them quite yet. But that doesn't mean I don't want to learn the ins and outs for future reference.

That's where this link to the upcoming IndieReCon comes in. Sign up now for this free, three day extravagaza of Indie Publishing information. What to see what's on the agenda? Here's the link. While the online conference happens Febuary 19-21, you can sign up now for reminders and giveaways.

I'm all signed up. How about you?

Slowly catching up with the world

In my quest for a me focused year, I've managed to find time to watch a few tv shows I've been meaning to watch, scarily, for a decade in one case. Since December Netflix has indulged my desire to watch:

Capricia, which I never got to watch on tv because I was mourning the end of BSG. Why do they force these related series on us faithful viewers so soon after the end of our favorite show? Give us a little time to want it again, people. I didn't need more of this (am not joining the angry throng still upset about it only lasting one season), but I did enjoy seeing how the cylons began and getting hints, that I'm more than happy to fill in myself thank you very much, as to how these events played into the series that we knew and loved.

I finally manged to wrap up my spotty year of attempting to get to the entire series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I also totally snubbed at the time of it's original airing, though for no particular reason other than it just wasn't my thing at the time. Not that it was my thing now either, but carrying a show over that many seasons and keeping the main characters still interesting and evolving is certainly something to appreciate.

Firefly is also on my watch list. Never watched that at the time either, despite the rabid fans telling me that I should. So far the most amusing thing is seeing actors that have been in so many other shows since now in this role. Haven't become a rabid fan as of yet.

I also tried to give Lost Girl a chance because it sounded interesting, but after a couple episodes I don't have much good to say so I'll leave it at that.

Thanks to the doctor informing me that I have bronchitis, I haven't been overly active, I've spent a good deal of my evenings wiped out and in bed coughing long before actual bedtime. Since my laptop has some loose wiring in the monitor that makes it go blank every time I cough when it's on my lap, I've started watching Eureka - yet another show I meant to watch but didn't make time for. So far, this is my favorite of my tv show quest.

And with this updated, I'm off to edit some short stories, juggle a submission, and get some work done before my my medicine puts me into a nice cough-free sleep.

Bookstore full of stupid

A couple months ago (I'm a little behind on posting) I found myself in a bookstore killing time before my son's school band marched in a local parade. This was the little local bookstore where I spent the majority of  my childhood Saturdays, pouring over the shelves, picking out my book (or two) for the week. (Toys? Screw that, buy me books!) I don't get there much these days, due other stores located closer or buying books online, so it's always a nostalgic visit.

I was standing there, perusing the magazine's (one for writers, if you must know), when I found myself next two a pair of women. Mother and daughter, (at least they seemed to be) were looking over the long shelf of magazines, complaining about the price and quality of the available offerings. Apparently the realization that we're not pricing things in the 1970's hadn't hit dear old mom. And then I was hit by this snippet of conversation:

mom: I was going to get one of those Kindles, but they're so expensive.

daughter: They're not that bad, and they're so handy. Way easier to carry around than books.

mom: But you have to buy books to put on them!

daughter: Well yes, that's true.

mom: If I'm spending almost a hundred dollars on a Kindle, I damn well better get the books for free.

me: *mouth falls open*

daughter: Well, you can get a lot of books for .99 or some for free.

mom: I don't even know those people. The books I want all cost money. If they want to sell those things, they need to have all the books for free. I can buy a lot of books for a hundred dollars.

me: *wonders if she's seen the price of printed books lately*

mom: It's ridiculous. If I want to buy a book, I'll get the book. Why would I buy a Kindle and have to pay for the book too?

me: *walks away before causing a scene*

I wonder if she thinks her postage should all be free because she bought a mailbox?  Because she bought a car, should the gas be free? Maybe that Xbox she bought for her grandkids should have all the games for free too?

*headdesk*

I'm sure she wouldn't consider working for free, but the rest of us should. Yeah right.

Now available: Found

I am happy to announce that the winter edition of Allegory is up and it includes my short story, Found.

For more about this story, check out my recent Next Big Thing post.

Beyond that exciting news, I'm enjoying NyQuil filled days and nights as I recover from this evil cough/cold thing that has been haunting my chest and lungs since New Year's Day. Thank you to the person who decided to come out to celebrate New Year's Eve despite the fact they weren't feeling quite right. I am now feeling quite wrong. Blech.

Beyond that, I'm making time to continue my reading spree, and I managed to edit a short and get it back out in submissions. I have two more short stories to put back into my juggling routine and then I'm set to dive into novel submissions. And revisions on several more.

One thing at a time. And right now...I think that thing is a nap.

Beginnings Blogfest

We're back on me again with making time...for blogging. Can't say as I've had much of that lately either. So as I was flitting around, catching up on blog reading, I came across the Beginnings Blogfest and thought, why not?

Almost exactly three years ago, I began this blog in hopes of pushing myself to finally get something published. Four published short stories and a host of other writing projects in the works since then, I'm happy to say that the public shove worked.

Now, if I could just get on getting one of those novels out in the big world. It's always good to have goals, right?

January 18, 2010
So, I wrote a novel.


Eventually. It didn't start out that way.

Twenty some years ago it was six pages of scrawled pen marks. Then I took a creative writing course in school and the story grew to a hundred pages on an ancient clickty clack typewriter. Barrel of liquid white out anyone?

I wrote sequels!

At this point I realized the first story needed work. I don't remember why I realized this exactly. Sanity slipped in for a second, most likely. I rewrote the whole thing and expanded it. It was the most awesomest novel ever.

I let someone read it.

They informed me that it wasn't the most awesomest novel ever.

I rewrote it again and decided to go crazy and switch the entire novel from the pov of the female main character to the male main character. This was a great move, as it turned out, but whole loads of work. I lost track of how many times I rewrote it to get the male pov firmly inserted and the female to take the back seat. She did not like that! Not one bit. She's never forgiven me for it, in fact. Oh, but I had fun exploring the new pov. He grew and flourished and made the story everything I wanted it to be. Ah, bliss.

Then I let some one read it.

They informed me that it most certainly wasn't bliss.

What? How could they not love my 385,000 word novel? How, I ask?

At this point I joined a critique group and saw the light. And the editing knife. It was shiny. And sharp.

Three more rewrites, minus 267,000 words, and a host of cut characters and their corresponding subplots later...

I wrote a novel.

Reading: It does the body good

...and the overworked mind. Rather than attempt the "Calgon take me away" experience, I've taken a more reasonable approach, knowing I'm constantly interrupted by husband, kids and work. I decided to book myself on a month-long vacation from reality (in every available moment) by getting some reading done. Authors, take me away!

In the past few weeks, I've devoured:

 

Some of sentence structure tickled my critting urges but other than that, an enjoyable and lighthearted read. Lighthearted, by my standards that is--people died, creatures died, people had sex but nothing overly graphic. My only big complaint is the cover is deceiving. I went in expecting an adult male, but ended up with two lusty teenagers. Definitely aimed at a younger audience rather than forty-something me.

Much higher on my enjoyable scale. A good balance of violence, sex and sci-fi. Adult characters, were a definite plus. I'd somehow missed this series altogether, and now I will have to hunt the other two books down as time allows.

John Moore is one of my favorite comedic authors. If you still haven't read Heroics for Beginners, get thee to a bookstore and rectify that oversight immediately.

This book brought some much needed laughter to my high stress days. A humorous romp though fantasyland intrigue.

I'd been meaning to read something by Dave Barry for a couple years now so when this book ended up in my used book drive collection box, I decided to give it a go before sending it on it's way. The pacing was excellent and it was an entertaining twist on Peter Pan. I won't be reading the rest of the series, just for the fact that there's only so much light-hearted YA I can handle.



Next up, something darker or at least back in the adult arena.