It's hard to believe we're back to December already. Maybe if I wasn't always on the go, time wouldn't fly by? Nah, it probably still would.
If you're not familiar with and find links to all the other participating writers. |
If you're not familiar with and find links to all the other participating writers. |
The Narvan continues with book five:
Rumors of Tyrant Ta’set’s killing sprees have spread throughout the known universe. Or are they truths?
Vayen’s hold on his deadly Arpex abilities is slipping. If he loses control, he’ll be executed and his mission of unification and peace will die with him. Desperate to help Vayen maintain his precarious balance, Anastassia is willing to offer him a week with another woman as a diversion from his dark urges. Can she live with her decision if he wants more?
In the public spotlight by association, Daniel unwittingly ignites a political uprising when, in the spirit of love and unity, he adopts the Jalvian practice of taking a second wife. While he works with Neko to guide the debate within the Narvan, he must also work alongside his volatile, tyrannical father as they race the rumors to seek out amiable worlds for their advisory union. Daniel struggles to take on the brunt of his parent’s mission while facing his own darkness.
Spending a guilt-free week with Vayen is a dream come true for Buria. She’s had her eye on him for years. Securing a place within his inner circle could mean a serious job upgrade and notoriety. Managing Vayen’s addictions and temper will require every skill beaten into her as a slave if she is to stand a chance at coming out on top.
Is the Ta’set family, the Narvan, and the newly-formed advisory union prepared for a future where Vayen takes the one life that will send him over the edge?
Would you like to check out the first chapter for free? Download from BookFunnel.
Available in e-book and paperback today! Amazon / B&N / Kobo
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For year 18 of my NaNoWriMo adventures, I'll be sinking my writerly teeth into four projects as muses and time allow. I've managed to meet or exceed my goal of 50,000 words in 30 days 15 out of the 17 previous years so I'm feeling pretty good about keeping my words hopping.
This year I'll be working on:
A new chicken picture book - Laya's Vacation
A Narvan novella - Anastassia and Chesser's Story (title TBA)
A YA fairytale along the same vein as Spindelkin - Godmother
A sci-fi standalone - I9
We'll see how much of any or all of these I can accomplish. I know I have 3 days that nearly nothing will get done due to Grand Rapids Comic Con. I also have a 3 day work trip to St. Louis to contend with but I'm hoping to be able to write in the car (not while I'm driving, of course) and at night. Fingers cross that there are no other unexpected major interruptions.
My NaNo secrets for success
1. The point is to write 50,000 new words in 30 days. That can be done a lot of different ways. Do what speaks to you. The pure experience would be to work on a totally new novel. You could also veer into the rebel camp and write a collection of short stories, an epic poem, multiple projects, non fiction articles, etc.
2. Don't sleep. Ok, maybe this one is just me. But I don't sleep well in general so I get up several times a night, and during November, that means I might write a couple hundred or thousand words at 2am before heading back to bed and then doing it again at 7am. Maybe grabbing another writing session after work and again just before bed. Write when you can.
3. This is writing month. That means my brain is in writing mode. I typically don't read books or watch Netflix or play on my phone during November. If I'm not working, eating, or sleeping, I'm writing. And when I'm doing those other three things, I'm thinking about what I will be writing the next time I sit down at the laptop.
4. Have fun with it. Join your local NaNo group. Attend write-ins online or in person for group support and motivation. Find a writing buddy and get competitive. Urge each other on and duel with word counts. Do word wars. You don't have to write alone. Unless you prefer to, then hey, write alone.
5. Get the words on the page and don't be afraid to suck. Rough drafts are not meant to be perfect. That could mean experimenting with a scene or chapter or a bunch of chapters that might not make it into the final novel. Sometimes you need to tinker around to see what POV works best or explore a subplot. Those words all count for NaNo purposes. If you get stuck, skip to the next scene, throw words at the page and see what sticks to get you going again. Get all stream of consciousness if you have to. Just keep moving forward. Or jump around if that's your thing. Keep writing.
My NaNo history
2006 - Sahmara was my first NaNoWriMo novel. It took 10 years between it's word birth and actual publication. Noveling isn't a race. Sometimes books need time to come together.
2007 - A YA Fantasy that has yet to come together though I've toyed around with it a couple of times. I'm not giving up on it yet.
2008 - Not Another Bard's Tale - This was my favorite NaNo book to write as far as it being fun.
2009 - A Broken Race - My first book to be published in 2015
2010 - Destiny Pills & Space Wizards - My first rebel year when I wrote short stories instead of a novel.
2011 - Chain Of Grey - Narvan books are an easy (comparatively) because those characters just flow onto the page.
2012 - A failed attempt at a Broken Race prequel that ended up providing additional content in the second edition of ABR. While I did make it to 50K, the story didn't work.
2013 - A sci-fi novel that I'd like to revisit at some point to see if I can pull it out of it's tailspin because I really like this one.
2014 - 20K of a sci-fi novel that I don't even remember writing because it was while we were building our house. Someday I'll have to read it and see if it's worth pursuing.
2015 - Interface, oh you poor YA sci-fi novel. I've said I would finish you so many times. Yet, you're not finished. One of these days, I'll follow through.
2016 - The Last God - After several years of novels not going anywhere, I got back in the groove. Yay.
2017 - Bound In Blue
2018 - Seeker
2019 - Spindelkin
2020 - The Minor Years
2021 - Frayed - While I didn't get to 50k on this project for NaNo because: life, I did recently finish writing it and it will be released in 2024
2022 - Everyone Dies, part of Tears of the Tyrant and Kay-Kay - a very productive year
For those keeping track, that means all my novels but Trust and Dreams of Stars and Lies started as NaNo novels. NaNo isn't for everyone, but it works for me. If you're participating, feel free to shoot me a buddy request on the NaNo site. Hello, I'm Gypsywitch and I'm a nano addict.
September was a relaxing month as far as previous months go. I found time to sleep, edit, and format Tears of the Tyrant. I finished Frayed. Yes, really. Finally. And also started edits on Frayed. Woohoo!
I did a craft show with an author friend last weekend. It didn't go near as well as it did the year before for us. The organizer is doing too many similar shows at the same venue, which appears to tapping out the buying audience. That one is crossed off my list for next year, but we had a good time and met readers.
October is for cramming in as much as possible before writing month takes over. I have one event this weekend, a new to me outdoor Halloween show. We'll see how it goes. Crossing my fingers for nice weather.
What's on the to-do list for October?
• Getting Tears of the Tyrant ready for release on Nov. 1
• Getting as much wrapped up on edits of Frayed as possible
• Finalizing my plan of attack for NaNoWriMo year 17
• Applying for events for 2024 as applications go live
• Seeing if I can sneak in time to work on Interface (YA sci-fi)
• Getting panels written/finalized for Grand Rapids Comic Con
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This month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question is about generative AI uses in writing. Will it assist or replace writers?
I'm not a fan of AI for writing or artwork. Is it useful? I'm sure it is. Will I be jumping onboard at this time? No. Paranoid me has seen this movie. I've read variations of this book. I will not be assisting in training our AI overlords. No thank you. #TeamHuman.
Seriously though, yes, it's a tool. I'm sure it has it's uses. At the moment, my muses are chatting it up so I don't feel the need to ask AI for ideas or sketch out scenes or plots. I've got this.
Have I toyed with AI for cover concepts, sure. But in the end, I went an entirely different direction. I've avoided purchasing AI generated art elements for my covers from my stock art source.
Will I change my mind later? Possibly. But today is not that day. Oh, and in case they're watching, all hail our supreme and benevolent overlords.
Let's see what was on my list for the crazy times:
Yard work: Pond goldfish moved indoors, stuff put away, and chicken coop winterized. DONEDay job: Still going crazy, but hey, bills are getting paid. SURVIVED
Comic Con: It was a loooong three days, but I met so many new readers and had good turn outs at both of my panels. And people asked questions. We love when you ask questions! Can't wait to do it all again in 2023. SURVIVED
NaNoWriMo: I wrote several short stories for my collection, mostly wrapped up the personal project, wrote the rough draft for my children's chicken book, and made progress on Frayed. WON
In other winning news... Spindelkin is a Fantasy novel finalist in the 2022 American Writing Awards.
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What's on the agenda for December? Funny you should ask, since that's this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question:
I think the trick there is setting workable goals fit your holiday schedule, but to answer the question...
Mid-December things start to slow down (typically, knocking on wood) at my day job so I have more time and energy to devote to editing or completing NaNo projects. I also only have one book event in December so that will leave some weekends free to enjoy my comfy writing chair. I suppose that means I will be "catching up". Which is good, because I need to work on getting books ready to publish for 2023.
Happy Holidays!
1. November is the busiest time of the year for all aspects of my day job so, yay...overtime.
2. It's NaNoWriMo - 50,000 words in 30 days
3. It's Comic Con month - meaning there are 4-5 days I will likely not have any time or energy to write and also work will be piling up at the day job while I'm off signing books at cons.
4. It's prep for Winter month. In addition to everything above, I'll have to find time to winterize the pond, hopefully pull out the goldfish that have survived the ducks and set up a tank inside for them, get the plastic up on the chicken run, and put all the yard stuff away before snow starts to stick around.
Can she do it all? Tune in next month to find out.
You can find me this month at:
Nov 11-13 Grand Rapids Comic Con where I'll be doing two panels
Nov 19 - Fantasticon
Nov 26 - The Bluestocking Bookshop
Which leads neatly to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group Question:
Have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo?
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I've won 15 times so far. The only year I didn't (2014), I was in the middle of building our current house, as in doing the general contracting, installing cabinets, helping with wiring, and doing a lot of tilework. I was kinda busy, but I did manage to get 25K in on a project I haven't touched since. Someday, I'll get back to it.
10 of those NaNo projects have gone on to be published.
Knowing this is crazy times, do I intend to win again this year? Yes, unless something major gets in the way.
What will I be working on? I'm spreading my 50,000 new words over several ongoing projects and one new one. Last year's half finished Urban Fantasy, a horror themed short story collection, the mysterious personal Narvan project, and a children's book centered around my tiny handicapped chicken.
This is Kaykay. She fits in one hand. |
Tips for NaNo success:
Write something everyday. On days you have more time, write 2K instead of 1,667.
Build a buffer in the first week while your ambition is high so when life gets in the way, you can squeak by with a few 500 word days and still be on track.
Know that you can pound out 10K (or more) a day if you really put your mind to it so if you fall behind, all is not lost.
Realize that the middle of the novel is often a slog for first drafts. Allow yourself to make notes in slow sections and jump ahead to where you're motivated to make words happen.
Don't have two or three consecutive hours a day to write? Write in 15 minute bursts scattered throughout the day. I often find this my most productive way of writing.
Do most of your writing NOT AT THE KEYBOARD. When you're washing dishes, taking a shower, are doing something mindless at work, in the bathroom, driving, or eating lunch, think about your next scene. Then, when you have a chance, sit down and write it. Get back up and go for walk, give the kids a bath, ride a bike, fold the laundry, and think of the next scene. Repeat = novel.
Get involved with your local region or, if you don't have one, connect with others doing NaNo and support/encourage each other. This is one of those times when peer pressure is a good thing.
Good luck to those participating this year! Go make words happen!
Things are finally slowing down this month. More of a catch my breath before November hits sort of quiet than anything, really. Only two single-day book signings this month and an actual vacation! It's been a few years since I've had a real vacation and here's the big one, my husband and I haven't had a vacation with just the two of us since before we were married. That was twenty-five years ago as of this Halloween. We figured we were due for an anniversary trip. Okay, overdue. Looong overdue. We'll be heading off to the Smoky Mountains later this month.
On another fun note, since I'm semi-prepping for NaNo, I'm considering an idea for a book that might require the need to dust off my long neglected painting skills. I've been spending the occasional evening doing watercolor lessons for a refresher.
If you are looking for books, I'll be at the Geeky Experience Comic Con in Holland this weekend but then I'll be off until November. Hooray!
I got to hang out with author Vera West in Kalamazoo last weekend. |
1. Actually, for really really sure this time, working on Frayed
2. A horror short story collection
3. A children's book
4. Being entirely unproductive publishing-wise but working on my personal project if all else fails.
Nov 11-13 Grand Rapids Comic Con
Nov 19 Fantasticon
Nov 26 Bluestocking Bookshop Indie Author Day
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Answering for Speculative Fiction because I'm kind of an umbrella term author, the best part is the freedom of imagination. Followed closely by being able to write whoever and whatever best serves the story without being tied to real world rules or expectations. Spec fic allows us to shine lights on all kinds of real world issues, but through a more distant lens that often makes those topics more palatable and easier to digest. Getting out of our world and into an entirely new one is also a great escape from daily life, a vacation in book pages.
I spent July traveling across Michigan meeting readers. From Lansing, to Lake Orion, and then back to Grand Haven in West Michigan. Whew! It was a fun filled month of books, dragons, presenting writing panels, and even superhero wedding!
Kogan Con - Grand Haven, MI |
Michigan Medieval Faire - Lake Orion, MI |
Capital City Comic Con - Lansing, MI |
July was also Camp Nano, in which I plugged away at a book I'm writing for me at this point, wherein *spoiler alert* I'm killing people, crying about it, and processing the fact that they are dead. In theory, this may free me up to delve into other non-Narvan stand-alone books...like the pile of them on my hard drive glaring at me to be finished. As of the end of the month, I added 40,000 new words to the novel. Since my original goal was to add 20K, I'm calling that a definite win. Yes, Seeker is still the last book of the core series. If this tragic tale eventually gets to your eyes, it will be a companion novel like Minor Years.
Oh, and dammit, I already have ideas where I could go after this. But no! No! Must, concentrate on stand-alone books for a while!
I'm also still percolating on the last 2/3 of Frayed, which is slowly making its way through my local writing group chapter by chapter and finishing it is currently slated to be my project for NaNo 2022 unless I can make this Narvan book shut up and work on it before then.
After such a busy July, I'll be spending August resting. Right? Ha. You're funny.
You can find me:
August 6 - Holland Art in the Park
August 13&14 - South Haven Blueberry Festival
August 27 & 28 Michiana Renaissance Faire
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The first draft of everything I write is for me. Sorry, readers. But hey, I'm a reader too and I have to wait for the words to leech out of my fingers onto the page to enjoy them. Trust me, you're getting the far better end of the deal here. Once the story gets to you, it's a smooth ride (hopefully) and far more coherent (definitely).
Readers get much more consideration once a draft enters editing. I often move things around or cut bits entirely to make the story flow better, faster, or be more engaging for everyone who is not in my twisted head.
As far as being original, I would think that's something we all strive for. Originality comes with adding your own voice to any story. All the plots may have been done before, but its what you do with them that makes them unique.
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Bruce Gawain has been between knightly quests for longer than he’d like to admit. In the town of Holden, he meets a seer who tells him where he can finally find his destiny. All he has to do is travel to the distant Wall of Nok in Gambreland. With only three coins to his name, Bruce isn’t getting much further than a barstool at the town’s inn.
As luck would have it, the innkeeper’s beautiful daughter Svetlana and her flock of troublesome god-gifted sheep need an escort to Gambreland. With a paying job, everything seems to fall into place for Bruce’s quest… except for Svetlana’s killjoy bodyguard sister, an evil overlord with looming prophecy issues, and a dragon threatening to eat the townspeople until its stolen treasure is returned.
Bruce sets out with his pan-wielding companion Mydeara and the negligibly talented bard, Harold to seek out the Wall of Nok. Will they find Bruce’s destiny, return Svetlana safely home, and save the people of Holden from the vengeful dragon?
It's April, the weather is awesome. It's finally warm! And there is sunshine! Why am I inside??? Oh yes, must work to pay the bills.
Spring is busy doing it's springy thing around here. there are flowers, I've got the itch to finish out my flock with a few new chicks and my ducks are now a year old and are busy being happy ducks. I've also been writing. Well, editing, mostly, but that still counts.
April also marks the upcoming arrival of my next book, Not Another Bard's Tale. NABT was first drafted in 2008 as my third NaNoWriMo novel. It's gone through some significant revisions over the years and sat in the cold dark of my hard drive for long spans until finally Covid shut everything down for a year (and then some) and hey, I had far more 'free' time than usual. So I was productive and did a lot of writing as well as editing to get several books ready to release this year.
Not Another Bard's Tale is a comedic fantasy novel following Bruce, the not-so-esteemed knight, his plucky side kick Mydeara, and the negligibly talented bard Harold as they journey to a far off land to find Bruce's destiny. Along the way they face an evil overlord with looming prophecy issues, a hungry dragon, and a love-sick troll. This adventure through fantasy tropes will be out at the end of the month!If you're not familiar with |
Because yes, I do like to experiment with different things with my novels. That's the nice thing about doing stand alone novels and short stories, they're far easier to try out new POVs and styles than delving into an entire series.
Not Another Bard's Tale is different than many books as it's told through a progression of POVs. Each of the characters get to carry the adventure for a chapter. Some of the core characters repeat in the second half of the book, other do not. The chapter lengths also vary greatly, but are geared toward giving everyone the part that best conveys their character's part of the story.
2020 the year of CANCELED
Let's hope 2021 is more eventful. In good ways.
Bound in Blue: Book 3 of the Narvan is being held over to 2021 for publishing since I was not able to get out and promote Book 2. Book 4 is still slated for Fall of 2021.
Everyone in my house has remained generally healthy.
Cover art for Spindelkin is 3/4 done.
I miss talking to readers but the majority of the few shows I was able to do went really well. So overall, I'm going to call sales successful on that front.
I co-wrote a book, which was an interesting and new experience. That should be out in 2021 as well.
Which also brings us to this month's IWSG question: Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why?
Definitely! I write all year, but November is my dedicated pound out a lot of words month, thanks to NaNoWriMo.
This year I participated in my 15th year of National Novel Writing Month and had my earliest win ever on day 17. Why? Because I retired as ML last year so I could just sit back and write instead of wrangling writers and hosting events all month. I also didn't have any book-selling events all month. = lots more time to write.
This November, I wrapped up the first draft of The Minor Years: A Narvan novel and the first draft of Spindelkin, a YA fairy tale. Both books were about halfway done at the beginning of the month, so it feels good to have fully finished drafts to dive into editing in the new year.
I also broke my 60K in a month word record with 75K.
How was your 2020?
Let's see, since the last post:
I was able to get into a good craft show in Kalamazoo and met a bunch of readers there. If you're one of them, it was nice meeting you even though we were at a distance!
Due to all these canceled events, I've added a tab at the top of this page where you can buy signed copies directly from me. This is an ideal option for those of you avoiding Amazon. Please keep in mind that I only ship within the USA. Sorry, international readers.
NaNoWriMo preparations were in full swing all month. Heading into year fifteen for me and with all my events canceled, I decided to go all in. My baseline goal is to add 50K of new words across four projects. In truth, I'm hoping to add a lot more than that, but we'll start with the traditional goal of 50K. This year's project line up includes:
The Minor Years: A Narvan novel - this is currently at 70K
Spindelkin: YA Fantasy - currently at 27K
An Urban Fantasy standalone novel - 0K
A Paranormal Romance standalone novel - 0K
I do have one last book-signing this year on November 28 at The Bluestocking Bookshop. Beyond that, nothing is on the calendar until April 2020. Here's hoping we're back on semi-normal terms with the world by then.
And this month's IWSG question is: Why do you write what you write?
Because the voices tell me to? Ok, not really. I write the books I like to read.
As a teen, I read a lot of mystery, horror, fantasy, science-fiction (both hard and soft). It was normal for me to buy several books every week. For some reason, my mother, also an avid reader, was not a fan of using the public library. However, we did make weekly trips to the small local bookstore. I supplemented my purchased books with library books from school. For the most part, it's safe to say I spent a good deal of my teen years between the pages of a book.
So when I started writing seriously, with the intent to go for publication, I stuck with what I knew and enjoyed.