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Successes

17
Apr 2012

I am so excited about a thing, but I need to be sure all the bits and bobs are dealt with before I share so… yeah.

I wish, still, that the success feeling wasn’t so tied to getting published. Because I’ve had a lot of writing successes lately.

I submitted yet ANOTHER story to an anthology, news on that to be delayed until after summer. Rocking the new material.

I started a new one, this one not an erotic piece but a work of spec fic about the afterlife. My first spec fic since I finished the first draft of Worse Things.

On Worse Things, I’ve got at least one big problem with the manuscript solved, and can jump into a new draft far more confident.

Today I spent the morning redesigning the site. I finally added pages for the books, go figure. You can see their covers now, which in the case of The Bell Curve is a great thing. I love that cover, all boobs and penile space ships and stuff. Pulpy sci fi perfection.

Lastly, I’ve been reading a LOT. I know this is the advice and the wisdom from all writers–if you want to write, you must write and you must read. I’ve been reading faster than I can review lately, and I’ve got a backlog of great stuff to talk about. As I read I find story ideas percolating, so it must be working. I’ve been focusing on scifi, spec fic and urban fantasy and paranormal romance lighter on the romance heavier on the paranormal (er… some of these can interchange). If anyone has any recommendations for me, I’ll take them!*

I’ve also been knitting the biggest lace shawl in the universe for a wedding. Because of that, I caved on my never ending quest for good audio books at the library and joined Audible instead. That way, I can read and knit at the same time. The shawl is coming along beautifully, and the book is hella entertaining (The Magicians, Lev Grossman).

All of this feels like being a Real Writer ™. Every day is a step forward, if only a baby one.

*Are we friends on Goodreads? If not, hit me up! I love to see everyone’s reviews and recommendations.

 

Category: Inspiration, Process, Publishing  Tags: , ,  2 Comments

Submissions in Progress (send pie)

23
Mar 2012

Every time I type that I giggle. Curse of the dirty minded.

So, I got a rejection on Waking Kiara and you know, that sucked. But that’s okay. Right along side the “aw bummer” feeling was a more positive one. I feel like getting rejections puts me on the road to being a writer. I wrote, I revised, I submitted, I got rejected. I’m really doing this, doing it the way it is supposed to be done. Can’t learn if you don’t fail, you know? Wasn’t my first rejection, won’t be my last either. Each one gets me closer to being where I want to be and makes me a better writer. Honest to goodness, the worst part was that I got the rejection while at the dentist’s office. Smart phones are sometimes the devil.

(still sucked. There was pie.)

In the interest of being back on the horse, I submitted her again. Courage, imaginary blog reader, that’s what it takes. Courage and pie.

I also managed to submit a short story* to a different publisher. I didn’t talk about this story much here, but it was super fun to write. It’s called The Ruby, a m/m erotic romance tale of pirate treasure and vacations gone awry. I was calling it “Indiana Bones” before it got a title, which aptly describes the silliness level I was aiming for. The best part of this one was that I reused a location I’ve written before, in A Pirate’s Legacy. It was like going home, if home were an imaginary tropical island.

Another call caught my interest so I’m working on a sub for that too. It’s super short, 3K is the upper limit, and due soon. I kind of like the process of writing in a relatively clipped timeline. It forces me to work frequently and efficiently.

In short, I think the writing thing is going well. I’m not *quite* looking forward to rejections in my inbox, but I’m glad to be working. Every story gets me closer to that million word mark, right?

*if a story is 18K, is it a novella, a novellaette, or a short story?

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Reviews

06
Jan 2012

I spent some time *cough procrastinating on an outline cough* collecting reviews of past works to put on the sidebar. Since my site disappeared and had to be redone, I lost all that information and had to re-google everything.

I feel very blessed to have people read and enjoy my writing. They definitely motivate me to keep on working!

Also, I totally queried Waking Kiara last night! Just one query, I plan more but for now, this was a big step. Everything was polished and ready to go. I’d spell checked 100 times and re-read new passages until I can recite them from memory. Phew. I’m looking forward to the feedback, be it a rejection or whatnot. No really, I am. The direction will be good.

Now back to work! Gotta get some treasure hunting done.

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Skyward

27
Dec 2011

I hope you all had a happy holiday season! I know I did. In some ways I’m just a big kid, because I’m super excited about my presents! I got a variable temperature kettle so I can make green and white teas without bitterness. Squee! I also got a skein of the most expensive yarn I’ve ever touched. I’m terrified to knit with it, to be totally honest. What I love most though is scouring the neighborhood for cool light displays and drinking tea (squee) to warm up. It is always so hot here, I absolutely love the cold.

Otherwise, I spent a lot of time hanging out with the kids and the husband and playing Zelda Skyward Sword. We had a marvelous, lazy week last week (not counting the day we had a ton of people over for solstice. That was not lazy, but it was full of really good food and neat people).

The best part was that I could afford the time off because Waking Kiara is in the hands of several awesome beta readers. I have gotten feedback from two and I’m scared/excited/flattered because both of them liked the story. I plan to start queries at the end of January at the very latest. Maybe this time next year I’ll be squeeing about a book deal? Or, you know, writing about the power of rejections. Or maybe both. *bites nails*

Onward and upward!

 

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Synopsizing

15
Dec 2011

I make up all kinds of words. I’m a real writer ™.

I have reached the end of another round of edits on Waking Kiara*. It still needs a pass through for grammar, and I’m hoping to get some feedback from a couple awesome beta readers. Once those fixes are in place, the novel is ready for submission.

Thank goodness for the find/replace function. I’ve edited out so many useless words, I can’t even BEGIN TO count them. Ugh. (Began has been almost entirely banninated. As has seemed.)

I’ve moved on to the synopsis, for now, letting the words themselves sit for a while. A synopsis doesn’t seem like a difficult task, but it is kind of a big deal. You’re selling the project in three pages or less (preferably two, but right now it is looking like three.) So I can’t just hit the important points, but I also have to show character growth, relationship struggles and resolutions, and exciting bits that make the story fun to read.

Also how do you write down that the characters had the lovins? I mean, I can’t exactly say “they had the lovins here.” Or as my oldest kid would put it, “they did IT.”

A synopsis is more than a summary, but less than a story. It’s an extended movie trailer with the ending included.

I’m motivated, though. I think this is a decent, fun story. The potential for a series is there. Shoot half a draft of the second novel is written already. I’m gonna synopsize until I can synopsize no more. Wish me luck.

*HOORAYYYY! Two huge projects completed in the last six months. Feels good.

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New Links

15
Aug 2011

Extasy Books has revamped their website!

I like the new look, things run faster and it is far easier to use the site than it used to be. I have updated all my story links on the sidebar to reflect the changes, so if you were looking for my stories at Extasy you should be able to go there now.

In my own world, I’m finding I have vanishing time in which to spend in front of ye olde laptope, but that doesn’t mean I’m not writing! I am truly dedicated to the idea that practice makes perfect, and I must practice writing as close to daily as I can in order to reach my writing and publishing goals.

Also–you guys, I got somehow roped into being on the PTA. Me. Tattooed erotica writer. Dangerous ally of Captians Jack Sparrow AND Harkness. I am not PTA material. But here I am. How did this happen?! They must have meant to call on the wholesome mommy type behind me, right?

Yikes.

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