Dealing With Demons

What Motivates my Writing

2011-05-08T11:15:00.002-06:00

First off, it's been a while since I've blogged. I've been collecting ideas to write about, and eventually I'd like to do a monthly blog. I certainly have a lot of things to talk about. It's just one of those habit things I need to get back into.

I'll work on it. I promise.

Today, though, I wanted to answer a question. On twitter, @cazanne34 asked me: how do you keep motivated with your writing?

I had to sit there and think about it for a moment, because I'd never really thought about it before. I mean, I know why I write, but not what keeps me at it. Though thinking back on it, perhaps the two are linked.

The answer I gave, limited to 140 characters, was: I love what writing, is what it boils down to. Whether I eventually get published or not, I'll always write for my own enjoyment.

This is the complete truth, and it really does tie in with why I write. I write because I love stories, and I love reading. I enjoy taking that niggling of an idea and fleshing out into a novel length plot with action and romance. I really love watching characters grow and change in my own head as they mature through the story.

It's no secret that my Ultimate Goal is to see a book published. Working towards that goal keeps me pushing myself to become a better writer, learn what I can about the industry, and reach out to other writers to share their pool of knowledge. But it doesn't keep me writing. I was writing avidly for several years before I really started trying to find out what it'd take to get published.

What it all boils down to is my love of the written word. I love it the way some people love skiing, or sky diving, or sailing. If I make it as a professional, that's all well and good, but I'd do it anyway. Keeping that in mind makes it easier to focus on the writing itself, rather than worrying about what I'll do if this book doesn't land me an agent, or a publishing deal. I already know. I'll write.

As for making my daily word count goals, I bribe myself. "If I get 2,000 words written today, I can have a ." Silly, but on days when I don't want to write, it helps me keep my ass in the chair and put words on the page.

So what keeps you motivated with your writing?

What the New Year will Bring

2010-12-29T14:20:00.002-07:00

This happens every year. I blog a lot during the spring and summer months, then taper off come fall, and winter holiday is a dead zone. This year has been especially busy for me. And emotional. But changes are coming in 2011.

Come January, I'm going to be diving into the last (I've said it before so don't believe me) revisions of AD. The query letter is going to get written and critiqued, and come hell or high water, I'm querying this book. Hopefully sometime before the crazy winter season.

Having decided school is really not my slice of pie, I need to find a job. Doing what, I don't know. I have until roughly May-June to figure it out and start making money that I can use to pay bills. Student loans don't pay themselves off, after all.

I would promise blogs on a semi-regular basis, but I don't like making promises I can't, or don't intend, to keep. So, I'll just say I'll drop in from time to time. Probably rant and rave about the revising and querying process. Nothing new there. I probably won't be keeping up a to-read list. It's gotten pretty ridiculous and the upkeep of the list is annoying and time consuming. Instead, I'll probably just make a list of books I have read.

That's pretty much it. There's personal goals I'll be making for the new year, of course. Things like "live a healthier lifestyle," "get in better shape," "be more social," etc.

Don't know about you guys, but I'm looking forward to a new year, and all the wonderful craziness that it will undoubtably bring.

To-Read List 2010 November Update

2010-11-20T10:40:00.002-07:00

*creeps in* Hi everyone. It's November. Been writing a Nation Novel Writing Month novel. Making a list of interesting blog topics that I'll start on in the new year. Probably.

In the mean time, enjoy the growing list and the fact that I haven't done all that much reading this month. =)

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of the Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris

~~From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Voyager - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Magic in the Blood - Devon Monk~~

Magic in the Shadows - Devon Monk

~~Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Small Gods - Terry Pratchett~~

Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

Frostebite - Richelle Mead

Blood Promise - Richelle Mead

Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Glass - Cassandra Clare~~

~~Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare~~

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

~~The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine~~

~~Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine~~

~~Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine~~

~~Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine~~

~~Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine~~

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong

The Awakening - Kelley Armstrong

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

~~Thorne of Jade - Naomi Novik~~

~~Black Powder War - Naomi Novik~~

Empire of Ivory - Naomi Novik

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle - L.J. Smith

~~The Night of the Solstice - L.J. Smith~~

~~Heart of Valor~~

~~The Hunter - L.J. Smith~~

~~The Chase - L.J. Smith~~

The Kill - L.J. Smith

~~Changes - Jim Butcher~~

~~Beauty - Robin McKinley~~

~~Spindle's End - Robin McKinley~~

~~Tithe - Holly Black~~

~~Valiant - Holly Black~~

~~Ironside - Holly Black~~

~~White Cat - Holly Black~~

~~Vamped - Lucienne Diver~~

~~Speak of the Devil - Jenna Black~~

~~The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King~~

~~Bullet - Laurell K. Hamilton~~

~~Graceling - Kristin Cashore~~

~~Black Magic Sanction - Kim Harrison~~

Something from the Nightside - Simon R. Green

~~A Devil in the Details - K.A. Stewart~~

Red Hot Fury - Kasey MacKenzie

~~The Switch - Lynsay Sands~~

~~Silver Phoenix - Cindy Pon~~

~~Lament - Maggie Stiefvater~~

Ballad - Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater

~~Dark Angels - Karleen Koen~~

~~Through a Glass Darkly - Karleen Koen~~

Now Face to Face - Karleen Koen

Leviathan - Scott Westerfield

~~Soulless - Gail Carriger~~

~~Changeless - Gail Carriger~~

~~Blameless - Gail Carriger~~

~~Personal Demons - Stacia Kane~~

~~The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins~~

~~Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins~~

~~Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins~~

Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

~~Golden Compass - Philip Pullman~~

~~Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman~~

~~Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman~~

Midnight Daughter - Karen Chance

Mob Rules - Cameron Haley

~~Devil in a Red Kilt - Elizabeth Williams~~

~~City of Glass - Cassandra Clare~~

~~Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare~~

~~Rose Daughter - Robin McKinley~~

~~Side Jobs - Jim Butcher~~

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

Masques - Patricia Briggs

Fade Out - Rachel Caine

Kiss of Death - Rachel Caine

The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie

Before They Are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie

The Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie

Don't Skimp the Revisions

2010-10-23T15:49:00.002-06:00

Maybe eventually I'll have an idea for a blog post that doesn't deal with revising, but that's where I'm at. Still. Been there for a long time. It's the trick of making that first book really stand out, really shine. It's taken three versions to get there, but I'm nearly done.

That's not what I wanted to talk about though. I mean, it is. Sort of.

I remember very clearly the first time I finished writing a novel. I only vaguely remember the first time I tried to revise a novel. I don't think I got very far into the process before I tossed it to the side in lieu of a new, more interesting project. That's not to say I've never finished revising a book before. I have. Several times, actually.

I've learned a lot from all the revising I've done. Especially in this last year. I've seen some things recently that have made me appreciate all the work I've done.

Mostly, it's that revising isn't easy, and there are no short cuts. Not if you want your book to be the best it can. Between draft one and draft two, I cut 47,000 words. That's not including the 20k something I cut when I first started the first draft, and it doesn't include the 23k cut from the third draft, which I'm barely passed the half-way mark on working on.

I'm not saying you have to cut an entire novel's length of work out to make your book good. I have, because despite the massive amounts of writing I've done in the last four years, there's still a lot I have to learn about writing a good novel.

What I'm trying to prove is that I haven't taken any short cuts. I haven't said "Oh, well, this is good enough, I'll just leave it in." Nope. If it doesn't work pretty damn close to perfectly, out it goes. Of course, a little change made in the beginning can effect huge changes later in the manuscript.

So far, it's been my experience that there are not "little changes." They might start out as little, but revising has this domino effect. One change starts off a whole chain of other changes to be made, which can branch off into other changes. Part of the key to successful revising is reigning in that domino effect and working the changes without disrupting the whole damn story.

Which I've had a hard time learning, but I'm getting there.

Revising can be daunting (heaven knows how long I've put off working on this chapter because of the changes I have to make, and the changes the changes will make, and remember the dominos!), but it's worth it to take your time. Your book will be better for it.

To-Read List 2010 October Update

2010-10-17T11:47:00.004-06:00

Been awhile since my last blog post. School is an evil brain draining, time consuming monster of absolute evil.

Surprisingly, I have found time to read.

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of the Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris

~~From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Voyager - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Magic in the Blood - Devon Monk~~

Magic in the Shadows - Devon Monk

~~Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Small Gods - Terry Pratchett~~

Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

Frostebite - Richelle Mead

Blood Promise - Richelle Mead

Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Glass - Cassandra Clare~~

~~Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare~~

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

~~The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine~~

~~Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine~~

~~Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine~~

~~Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine~~

~~Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine~~

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong

The Awakening - Kelley Armstrong

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

~~Thorne of Jade - Naomi Novik~~

~~Black Powder War - Naomi Novik~~

Empire of Ivory - Naomi Novik

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle - L.J. Smith

~~The Night of the Solstice - L.J. Smith~~

~~Heart of Valor~~

~~The Hunter - L.J. Smith~~

~~The Chase - L.J. Smith~~

The Kill - L.J. Smith

~~Changes - Jim Butcher~~

~~Beauty - Robin McKinley~~

~~Spindle's End - Robin McKinley~~

~~Tithe - Holly Black~~

~~Valiant - Holly Black~~

~~Ironside - Holly Black~~

~~White Cat - Holly Black~~

~~Vamped - Lucienne Diver~~

~~Speak of the Devil - Jenna Black~~

~~The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King~~

~~Bullet - Laurell K. Hamilton~~

~~Graceling - Kristin Cashore~~

~~Black Magic Sanction - Kim Harrison~~

Something from the Nightside - Simon R. Green

~~A Devil in the Details - K.A. Stewart~~

Red Hot Fury - Kasey MacKenzie

~~The Switch - Lynsay Sands~~

~~Silver Phoenix - Cindy Pon~~

~~Lament - Maggie Stiefvater~~

Ballad - Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater

~~Dark Angels - Karleen Koen~~

Leviathan - Scott Westerfield

~~Soulless - Gail Carriger~~

~~Changeless - Gail Carriger~~

~~Blameless - Gail Carriger~~

~~Personal Demons - Stacia Kane~~

~~The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins~~

~~Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins~~

~~Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins~~

Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

~~Golden Compass - Philip Pullman~~

~~Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman~~

~~Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman~~

Midnight Daughter - Karen Chance

Mob Rules - Cameron Haley

~~Devil in a Red Kilt - Elizabeth Williams~~

~~City of Glass - Cassandra Clare~~

~~Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare~~

Rose Daughter - Robin McKinley

~~Side Jobs - Jim Butcher~~

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

Masques - Patricia Briggs

Fade Out - Rachel Caine

Kiss of Death - Rachel Caine

Editing: Paper vs. Computer

2010-09-18T14:27:00.000-06:00

Editing is an important part of the writing process. A huge, time consuming part. I might spend two or three months writing, but I've spent four months revising and editing so far, and I've still got at least a month left to go. Part of it is that you only write the story once. You edit it a lot more than once.

Or least I do.

The question of whether to edit on the computer or on paper is one I think about a lot. I'm an old hand at writing, but when it comes time to figure out how to go about things after the book is written, that I'm still working on learning. I've done two revisions of this book now, one on paper, one on computer. Here's what I noticed about each.

Computer: It's easier to cut and rearrange things. If there's restructuring that needs to be done, doing it on the computer is much faster (for me) than slogging through paper, flipping through makes making notes all over the place about what should go where when it comes time to put everything back in the computer.

Paper: Grammar and punctuation errors are easier to spot. I've no idea why, but this is the case for me. I might catch some things on the computer, but I always see more on paper.

Computer: Outlining. Not something I do pre-writing, but after I have a first draft, it's good to have a road map to scribble notes and plans on. Scrivener makes outlining really super easy, and it takes 10 seconds to write a short little synopsis for each chapter after I finish writing it. There's currently no easy way to print out the short synopsis, but that's all right. Cut and paste into a word document works well enough.

Paper: Reading like a reader. There's just something about having a paper copy that puts my mind in a different state from when I'm working on the computer. Sentence structure, flow. A lot of little things that make a big difference are just easier to spot with a hard copy. It comes from years and years of reading hundreds of books. Reading is different than writing, and that hard copy flicks a switch in the brain so that I see the words on the page differently.

(Weird, I know. I'm just telling it like I see it. It might not be true for everyone.)

In the end, I end up doing revisions and editing on both the computer and on paper.

What do you prefer to use when you're editing and/or revising? Paper, computer, or a combination of both?

Troubles with a Change of Cast

2010-08-21T10:50:00.004-06:00

I've been working with Jacky, trying to get her first book the best it possibly can be, for six years. That's a long time, if you think about it. In that time, I've written seven other books. (All complete trash. I'm a slow learner.) Only three of those books were not Jacky related.

It's not that I intentionally made Jacky the only character making a major play for publication. Every time I try to work on something new, I'd get another idea to make AD better. Or for the next book, or a short story.

After finishing the second draft of AD (version 3), I made a very firm decision to take a break from Jacky. I need something new to clear my head. Hopefully when I return for round three of edits, I'll be going over it with a clear mind. It needs some work, I already have ideas on the things that need a bit of tweaking, but it's solid. No more rewrites, damnit.

To keep my mind off Jacky, I picked up a WIP I started a year or so ago, but never took anywhere because all I had was a title, some characters, and a bit of world building to go off of. I've been having struggles with it. The plot is coming together (more or less), but the character voices aren't the strong things that the cast of AD have. Add mystery (something I've never written before) and the weak character voices makes writing this book a damn challenge.

But challenge is good. Doing something so different is good. For one, I'm learning how to write a different kind of story. (Though, honestly, it freaks me out that FBL doesn't have much action in it. It's more character/mystery driven than AD.) For another, writing new things broadens the horizons, makes you look at things in a different light. Learning to come at a story from a different angle will be great for when I edit AD, because I'll probably (hopefully) see things in a different light, and be able to work a little more suspense and thrill into it all.

That being said, I need to get cracking on FBL, because I want to have the first draft finished before I start round three editing on AD.

A Writer's Guide to Abbreviations

2010-08-16T12:03:00.007-06:00

As I've submerged myself deeper into the massive world of writers, I've come across a surprising number of abbreviations. A lot of these I hadn't heard of until I asked the wonderful peeps at the Absolute Write forums for some of their favorite abbreviations. (Thanks for the help everyone!)

The list is (attempting to be) in alphabetical order, and will be an ongoing project. If you have writerly abbreviations you'd like to see on the list, drop a comment!

EF - Epic Fantasy

FMC - Female Main Character

HEA - Happily Ever After

HFN - Happily For Now

LI - Love Interest

MC - Main Character

MMC - Male Main Character

MG - Middle Grade

POV - Point of View

RST - Resolved Sexual Tension

SNI - Shiny New Idea

UF - Urban Fantasy

UST - Unresolved Sexual Tension

WIP - Work in Progress

YA - Young Adult

Falling Out of Love with a WIP

2010-08-15T11:14:00.003-06:00

AD (also known as THE Project) has been on hold while I wait for beta readers to go over it and give me back their wonderful comments. To keep myself to diving straight into the next round of revisions before I get feedback, I've been working on FAERIE BAD LUCK.

I've been having issues. A lot of them. But I think they all are linked back to one central problem.

I'm really not in love with this story, or the characters, or anything.

A large part of the problem is that I'm probably too in love with Jacky and co. They've been with me the longest. We've worked together the hardest. We've grown up together, in a writer-character relationship that I don't have with any other characters. This is proving to be problematic because none of the other possible characters and SNIs floating around in my head are as appealing as Jacky and co.

Maybe the problem here isn't that I fell out of love with FBL, but that I was never in love with it to begin with.

And it shows.

My question for you (not that any of you ever seem inclined to answer them, tsk tsk): What makes you fall in love with a new WIP?

To-Read List 2010 August Update

2010-08-14T14:42:00.008-06:00

Man. Half way through August before it occurs to me to do an update of this thing. It's been a slow month for reading.

The impending doom of school has sapped me of all will. Need to shake it off and get on with life. Sitting around moping cannot be good for a girl's health.

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of the Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris

~~From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Voyager - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Magic in the Blood - Devon Monk~~

Magic in the Shadows - Devon Monk

~~Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Small Gods - Terry Pratchett~~

Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

Frostebite - Richelle Mead

Blood Promise - Richelle Mead

Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~

City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

~~The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine~~

~~Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine~~

~~Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine~~

~~Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine~~

~~Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine~~

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong

The Awakening - Kelley Armstrong

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

Thorne of Jade - Naomi Novik

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle - L.J. Smith

The Night of the Solstice - L.J. Smith

~~The Hunter - L.J. Smith~~

~~The Chase - L.J. Smith~~

The Kill - L.J. Smith

~~Changes - Jim Butcher~~

~~Beauty - Robin McKinley~~

~~Spindle's End - Robin McKinley~~

~~Tithe - Holly Black~~

~~Valiant - Holly Black~~

~~Ironside - Holly Black~~

White Cat - Holly Black

~~Vamped - Lucienne Diver~~

~~Speak of the Devil - Jenna Black~~

~~The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King~~

Helpless - MJ Pearson

~~Bullet - Laurell K. Hamilton~~

~~Graceling - Kristin Cashore~~

~~Black Magic Sanction - Kim Harrison~~

Something from the Nightside - Simon R. Green

~~A Devil in the Details - K.A. Stewart~~

Red Hot Fury - Kasey MacKenzie

~~The Switch - Lynsay Sands~~

~~Silver Phoenix - Cindy Pon~~

~~Lament - Maggie Stiefvater~~

Ballad - Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater

~~Dark Angels - Karleen Koen~~

Leviathan - Scott Westerfield

Soulless - Gail Carriger

Personal Demons - Stacia Kane

~~The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins~~

~~Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins~~

~~Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins~~

Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

~~Golden Compass - Philip Pullman~~

~~Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman~~

~~Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman~~

Midnight Daughter - Karen Chance

Mob Rules - Cameron Haley

~~Devil in a Red Kilt - Elizabeth Williams~~

Rose Daughter - Robin McKinley

Dealing With Doubt

2010-08-07T18:28:00.003-06:00

I've probably blogged about this before. But it's something that writers have to deal with. All the time. No matter what.

Doubt.

There's so many different kings of doubt, too. While writing, after, writing, before writing. Same for revising and publication. That's right, you heard me. I said publication. I'm not there yet, but I know some awesome folks who are, and the doubt doesn't stop just because they've gotten a book out there. If anything else, publication ADDS to the pool that doubt pulls from to bring us down.

I wish there were some magical doubt-be-gone. If there is, someone send me the link cause I'd like to get me some.

In the mean time, here's some of the ways I cope when doubt is niggling at me.

1) Look at how far you've come. Writing is a long, often tedious road. But it's one that had landmarks along the way. I keep everything. Every. Thing. Notes jotted down on movie stubs, napkins, files with bits and scraps I wrote that one time when I couldn't see the screen I was crying so hard and I've no idea what I was trying to say but I wrote something.

Sometimes it helps to pull the old pieces out and laugh at them. Laugh at the horrible prose, the poor characterization, and lack of a coherent plot. And maybe be surprised by a tiny gem hiding in all the shit. Then go and look at something written last week, or this week, and there's such a marked difference. My God, the prose isn't all that bad, that character has quirks, and wonder of wonders, the plot actually works. Okay, so maybe it's not perfect, but I've come such a long way.

2) Commiserate with people that understand. There are dozens of social networks for writers out on the interwebs. Find a community that works for you, make friends, and share with them. Writers are spread everywhere, over every genre, and chances are there will be someone that's been in the same boat you're sinking in. Most of the writers I've met are more than glad to share their hard learned wisdom, and pull another writer out of the pits of doubt. We all want to succeed, and we want to see each other succeed too.

Just be sure to share in all the ups as well as the downs. No body like a constant Debby-Downer.

3) Take a step back. Get a hobby. Go outside (gasp! Yes! The horrible outside with the sunlight and bugs and PEOPLE.) Find something you enjoy doing that gets you out of the office, or away from the computer. Something other than reading. Writing and reading are intertwined, and while one can often feed the other, sometimes reading can cause the doubt bogging down the creative mind.

Spend a day shopping, or go to the movies. Take your best friend out for drinks, or go get your hair done. Get your mind off writing, and come back to it in a day or two when you're feeling refreshed. Chances are you'll see things in a new light (hopefully a better one) and the doubt won't be so loud.

I'm sure there are a lot of other ways to deal with doubt. What do you do when doubt starts prodding you in the back of the head?

Book Review: Silver Phoenix

2010-07-30T08:34:00.003-06:00

Let me start by saying Silver Phoenix is a charming story. It's filled with exotic creatures and people. And demons. Set in a land similar to China, it's a unique YA novel. It could be that I've been reading too much YA urban fantasy, but I can honestly say I've never read a YA that's struck me as so fantastical.

Ai Ling is a young unmarried woman who sets off to find her father, gone missing during his trip to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams. (I love that name. It fills my head with flowering trees and ponds and streams with those delicate Asian bridges. Just from the name!) On the road, she meets Chen Yong, a young man in search of his birth parents, as well as demons, goddesses, monsters, dragons, laughter and tragedy. The imagery is vivid and compelling, creating places I've never even dreamed out here in the working world.

I'm very used to reading books with strong women protagonists, and Ai Ling certainly doesn't start that way. Even while her fears annoyed me, I admired her determination to push on anywayt. I'll admit that it was an interesting journey for me as a reader, watching Ai Ling go from timid mouse to bold phoenix. (Har har. Couldn't resist.)

This is a wonderful tale of finding strength and courage, and breaking out of social norms. I highly recommend Silver Phoenix to everyone, no matter their age. There's something in this one for everyone.

Sadly, I don't think you'll find this one in most book stores. So go online and order it.

Hi Cindy! *waves*

Why Endings Suck. Literally

2010-07-29T18:54:00.006-06:00

The end of a book is nearly as important as the beginning. The start of a good novel pulls the read in, entices them to read more. It's the hook line and sinker.

Ends are the dessert. The stuff that fills you up but leaves you hungry for more.

Ending are hard to write. Really hard. I've rewritten the last quarter of this draft three, maybe four times, trying to get everything right. Because it's the black moment, the finally battle, the resolution and that tasty bit that makes a reader want the next book.

They suck the life out of you! Mentally, emotionally, and creatively. They're like the writing version of vampires. Only less sparkly. Though granted, there are a lot of sparkly endings out there, and if that works for your book, then go for it. I mean the actual writing.

When your ending sucks everything you have in you and demands more, and you feel like ripping your hair out, banging your head against the wall, or taking up hard liquor, take a deep breath and give it more. I love telling people that nothing in life worth having is ever easy. A great ending is defiantly worth having, and it's not easy.

Don't give up, though. Dessert is the best part. For you and the reader.

Disclaimer: This post was written after a long day of working on the ending of a novel. The writer cannot be blamed for any or all confusion this post might cause.

Unnecessary Violence

2010-07-16T12:38:00.004-06:00

I'm working on the second draft of ANGELIC DEMON. I'm in the last 20,000 words. The home stretch. It's where all the villain motivations are revealed, Jacky saves the day, and I (hopefully) give enough closure for the book to stand alone, while leaving enough tasty tidbits that I could continue the series.

I've been there for over a week. Here's why:

What I had originally planned involved a lot of violence. A lot. To be perfectly honest, I'm not great with the writing blood and gore and doing horrible things to my characters. I've rewritten this chapter three times now, and it still doesn't feel right.

Then I realized why.

1) My villain didn't have any motivation for being a villain. Um, oops. This is a big no, no. Villains have to have a reason. The best villain advice I've ever been given is "Villains are the heroes of their own stories."

I put the writing on hold until I got the motivation figured out. It took me a while, and there are still a lot of wrinkles that need to be ironed out, but I got the over-all big picture. Just by doing that one thing, a whole new aspect of my villain's personality came out. Zomg, he actually started to feel like a person in my head.

2) Unnecessary violence isn't a good thing. When my villain was just a villain because I needed one, without drive or direction, the violence worked. It was some of the hardest stuff I'd ever written, but it was good. It also didn't work. At. All. There wasn't any reason behind it, except to make my bad good look really bad, and that's not good enough.

3) The end doesn't justify the means. Now that my villain had fresh motivation, violence--enough a little dose of it--just didn't fit right. Why on earth would the villain start with violence when persuasion could get him what he wants just as easily, and without the mess. There will be plenty of coercing violence later, but it should be later, not right up front.

All this taught me that I need to pay more attention to all my villains. You can't stick them in the book just because you need the additional conflict. If you do that, I can almost guarantee headaches and heartaches will abound.

Remember: Villains are people too, and like all people, they have thoughts, feelings, and something that drives them. If they don't, then they're just a crutch for your plot to lean on, and not a very sturdy one at that.

So Many Types of Tension

2010-07-13T10:36:00.003-06:00

Back in May, at the Backspace Writer's Conference, someone (I'd have to do some digging to figure out who, exactly) said "Every chapter should ratchet the tension up a notch." Which got me to think, as it was meant to do, about the different types of tension I use in each chapter.

The list (I'm really fond of lists, have you noticed?) started off fairly simply. Action, Romance, Character. Also pretty self-explanatory.

Then I added one for Romance/Action, because there was a chapter that had both, and it felt important to point out. Later, there came a chapter that didn't have action, or romance. I suppose I could have labeled it as character, but that didn't feel quite right. It was a big reveal moment. Okay then. Reveal got added to the list, and after talking with some Purgies over on Absolute Write, Complication, and Black Moment were also added to the list.

And today, I came across another chapter that didn't really fit into any other tension type. It got labeled Buildup. Buildup of what? Well, in this case, it's the build of tension and suspense to lead into the horrible thing that happened to one of the supporting characters.

I'm amazed by how many different types of "tension" is used in a novel. And I'm sure different people have different tension types.

Here's my question for you. If you went through and labeled each of your chapters according to the type of tension it uses to build up the over all tension of the story, what would your list look like?

July's To-Read List

2010-07-04T13:11:00.006-06:00

I find it strange that I tend to read more when I'm writing than any other time. There's something relaxing about reading a great book at the end of a long writing day. I guess it servers as a reminder for what I'm working for, and is tangible proof that it is possible to get published.

Slowly, but very surely, the stack--and box--of books I have that need to read is being whittled away. Eventually, I'm going to have to start boxing the books I have read, because the shelf where they're stacked is getting pretty stuffed, and the pile has started to spread to my sister's book case. (Whoops.)

So the list grows, but more books are crosses off the list than added to it (for the most part.) It's been fun, watching it change.

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris

~~From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Voyager - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Magic in the Blood - Devon Monk~~

Magic in the Shadows - Devon Monk

~~Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Small Gods - Terry Pratchett~~

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~ (borrowed)

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Feast of Souls - C.S. Friedman

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

~~The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine~~

~~Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine~~

~~Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine~~

~~Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine~~

~~Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine~~

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle - L.J. Smith

The Night of the Solstice - L.J. Smith

~~The Hunter - L.J. Smith~~

~~The Chase - L.J. Smith~~

The Kill - L.J. Smith

~~Changes - Jim Butcher~~

~~Beauty - Robin McKinley~~

~~Spindle's End - Robin McKinley~~

~~Tithe - Holly Black~~

~~Valiant - Holly Black~~

~~Ironside - Holly Black~~

~~Vamped - Lucienne Diver~~

~~Speak of the Devil - Jenna Black~~

~~The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King~~

Helpless - MJ Pearson

~~Bullet - Laurell K. Hamilton~~

~~Graceline - Kristin Cashore~~

~~Black Magic Sanction - Kim Harrison~~

Something from the Nightside - Simon R. Green

~~A Devil in the Details - K.A. Stewart~~

Red Hot Fury - Kasey MacKenzie

~~The Switch - Lynsay Sands~~

~~Silver Phoenix - Cindy Pon~~

Book Review: A Devil in the Details

2010-07-03T15:37:00.004-06:00

Jesse James Dawson fights the good fight for lost souls. Literally. He's a champion that fights demons to win back souls of those who lost them in a bargain.

Jesse is such a smart ass. I love his quips, and snarky personality. Mostly, I love the fact that he has a family. Mom, brother, wife and daughter. A lot of main characters in urban fantasy seem to have a big lack of familial relations. (Usually. There's more than just this one exception.)

She does such a wonder job painting pictures of her characters. Axel, especially, holds a place in my heart. (Erm... just not one big enough for him to get to my soul.) Despite being a little slower paced, with more attention to character relations, the story moved really well.

I want more backstory. There's so many tantalizing glimpses of it. Hopefully we'll get more as more books unravel.

It was a quick read, and fully entertaining. There were some great twists and turns, and I'm gnashing my teeth. Ms Stewart, I daresay your ending is enough to drive a reader nuts. If I stalk you until the release of the next book, you've no one to blame but yourself. (And I get to say this because I (kinda sorta) know her. No real creepy stalking involved, I promise.)

Ms Stewart is one awesome lady, by the way. I'm glad I got to know her before her feet were set firmly on the road to fame. Good luck and happy writing, fellow purgie!

Um, No.

2010-07-01T22:38:00.002-06:00

"Epic fiction fantasy."

Much redundant redundancy?

*headdesk*

Book Review: Graceling

2010-06-27T10:52:00.003-06:00

Man, so much love for this book, I don't even know where to begin. The characters, the writing, the world? Of course, every rose has it's ugly thorns, and Graceling had some of those, too.

Lets get the ugly out of the way first. There wasn't much of it, I promise.

I had two problems with this book. One a big one, the other little enough that it only irked me. The little one was her love for starting sentences with conjunctions. Now, I'll all for the occasional sentence starting with "but" or "and" but she used them far too frequently for my tastes. This is a personal thing, of course. I felt like there some places where it was used that would have been stronger if she'd left off the "and" and started with the "he/she" that usually followed.

The big problem was her villain. He was evil enough, I guess, but he was evil for the sake of being evil. The catalyst happened not for any sinister plot, but because the villain wanted to torture someone to make people do what he wanted them to do. Even his Grace (kind of a heightened natural ability, like charming people to believe your lies, swimming really well, all sorts of things) server no other purpose than to make people do what he wanted the to do. And he had no reason. There was no motivation. No personality or sympathetic characteristic. He's a villain to hate, but not because he's evil. It's because he's flat, uninteresting. Evil for the sake of evil does not a villain make.

Now the good things, which far outweigh the bad.

The characters. Oh, how I love the characters. Katsa, the hero of the piece, struggles to break free of the uncle, her king, that uses her deadly Grace for striking fear into the people that cross him. Usually by ordering her maim them, or kill them. She gets tired of it all, though. Of being a savage creature, little more than a trained dog. Po, a prince also Graced, helps her free herself by helping her come to the simple realization that her uncle is a bully and really had no power over her.

Along with Po and Katsa, there's a whole slew of supporting cast. Kristin Cashore does a marvelous job of making the supporting characters rich and interesting, despite the fact that some of them have very limited screen time.

All these wonderful characters (excepting the villain, who's still flat and boring, remember) are set in a wonderful world, where people can have two different eye colors. Those that do are Graced. There's such a wide range of graces. No two are exactly the same. In Lienid, the home of Prince Po, Graced are respected, and free to do as they please, while in Middluns (and I think other kingdoms) where Katsa's born, Graced are giving to the kings, and the kings are then free do with them as they please. It's not that the Graces are magic. Magic has become so common in fantasy that it's not really magical anymore. The Graces, by their simplicity and uniqueness, seem magical.

Last, but not at all least, the writing. Except for the plethora of sentences started with conjunctions, the writing is beautiful. The story it's self is character driven, and Kristin Cashore does a wonderful job of describing this unique world without bogging the reader down in details.

I highly recommend Graceling. It's certainly going to be one of those books I read again and again, because I love the characters to no end. I felt almost cheated when the book ended, because I wasn't ready to give up traveling with Katsa and Po. If you haven't added it to your to-read list, go do it now. Right now. Why are you still reading this? Go! Go! Graceling by Kristin Cashore must be added to your reading lists. the demons compel you!

Little Thief

2010-06-25T09:25:00.007-06:00

Last night, in the middle of an Ice Crown raid (I play World of Warcraft. I think this fact is established somewhere) my mom came into the office and told me in a very excited whisper that there was a raccoon in our garden.

Now, I'm sure there some folks that live in the mountains or out in the country that are snorting and rolling your eyes, and saying "a raccoon? Big whoop-di-doo. The only good 'coon is a dead 'coon." Well, guess what. It's the first raccoon I've ever seen that's not roadkill. And it was a little one, too. Not a baby, but still really small. He was about the size of a 8 weeks old lab puppy.

So, without further ado, our little visiting thief!

He's a cute little bugger ain't he? I took this photos from about four feet away, and he was totally unperturbed by my mom and I stand right there chattering away. She walked within two feet of his little hiding spot beneath the rose bush to get to the car (she'd been leaving to run errands when she spotted him.) The slamming of the car door didn't bother him, and the roar of the Skylark's engine was barely cause to lift his head.

He was down right cozy in that flowerbed. It's our smallest, with a giant rock by the corner of the porch (just a cement strip really, not much of a porch at all) with a rock boarder. The rose bush is to the left (in the photo) and the things growing up on the right are snapdragons. It made the perfect little raccoon nest.

He was munching on something. I suspect he enjoyed some of our escargot.

It's All in the Details

2010-06-24T13:53:00.003-06:00

Every once in a while, I'll pick up a book that has a really interesting blurb on the back, take it home and start reading it, only to discover that within 10 pages, I want to hurl the thing across the room and rant at whoever will listen (and those who aren't) about the horrors of bad writing.

Fortunately, I know a great used book store where I can take the offending novel and get credit for later purchases.

The offender in this case is a YA novel. I like reading YA. It's fast, easy, and usually character driven with a nice splash of romance and a healthy dose of action. Because it's so fast (in this case this also means short. YA books tend to be in the 60,000 word range) the author has to compact things. Like writing a short story, every sentence needs to do something. Impart emotion, scenery, motion, plot, dialogue, convey underlying tension, and a dozen other things.

It's true what they say. It's all in the details.

In the course of my writing carrier, I've seen a lot of "show, don't tell." You read enough, you begin to see the difference.

Showing: The man stopped, the bulk of his shoulders filling the doorway. His eyes were deep set, hidden in the shadow of his overhanging brow, and when he spoke, the small hairs rose on the back of my neck.

Telling: The man in the doorway was threatening.

Okay, maybe not the best example, but you see where I'm going with this, right? A reader doesn't need to be told the man is threatening. It's all conveyed through the details. He's a big guy, right? Big people tend to be more threatening than small people (which makes showing small people as threatening without telling a fun challenge). Eyes are the windows to a person's soul, and throwing them into shadow hides a great deal from the protagonist. You know the protagonist feels something about the big guy in the doorway, especially when he speaks. And it's certainly not a warm fuzzy feeling.

I've read a lot of masterful YA. I've also ready my fair share where the author beats the readers over the head with details. They'll set up the emotions and tensions in a seen, and then ruin with a line like in the example.

Please, don't do this. Kids are not stupid. Teenagers don't want to be treated like dumb kids by people older than them. You don't need to dumb YA down because the target audience is younger. The first novel I read was Terry Brooks's The Sword of Shanara. It's an 800+ page monstrosity of a book, it took me three months to read it (the first time), and except for some words I had to look up, I understood it. Maybe there were some subtle details I didn't see, or fully understand, but I followed the main story, and I didn't need to have things pointed out to me with yard stick.

Think of Garfield. Or go watch Disney movies. They have a masterful blend of subtle adult humor mixed in with the story. Kids are innocent enough not to catch those subtle hints, and if they do catch them, it's because they're old enough to enjoy them.

Details are so important, and it's hard to find balance between too little, too much, and just enough. Don't make it harder on yourself (and your readers) by clubbing us over the head with things we've already picked up on by the wonderful subtleties in the writing.

Book Review: DragonFly in Amber

2010-06-18T10:53:00.004-06:00

I loved the first Outlander book (by that name). I enjoyed this one, too, but I must admit, I set it aside when I was around half-way through. Nothing to do with the writing, really. You know it's going to be a sad one when you start the book, and I was in school trying to cope with depression. Sad book had not been a good thing to read.

DRAGONFLY IN AMBER was brilliant, though. It continues the story of Claire, a woman from the 1940's who travels through a stone circle in Scotland back to the 1700's, and the man she's forced to marry, Jamie Fraser.

Historical fiction isn't one of my favorite genres, I gotta admit. I respect anyone with the patience to do the research it'd take to create a cast and story like what Gabaldon has assembled for her books, and Gabaldon is a master of the craft. You love the characters, even the ones you really hate, and her recreation of the the time period transports you back with Claire.

If you haven't yet, go pick up OUTLANDER, the start of Claire and Jamie's story together. It's a fabulous read, even for those like me, that aren't really big history buffs.

The History of Jacky's First Book As OS Version Upgrades

2010-06-16T11:47:00.004-06:00

Jacky Version 1.0 (dubbed CHOSEN) was started in the fall of 2004, just as I was starting college. Through that first year away from home, I wrote 26 chapters, and then it was set aside because life developments demanded my full attention.

CHOSEN did no see the light of day again until 2007, when Version 1.0 was taken out, judged worthless drivel, and tossed to the side. A near complete rewrite saw Version 1.2 completed that year, along with several other Jacky Books that have since been sent to the junk pile to await possible recycling. Version 1.3 never saw completion, as Version 1.2 and Book 2 were decided to be better as a single unit. Thus Version 2.0, called DEALING WITH DEMONS, came into being in 2009.

Version 2.2 came quick on Version 2.0's heels, and Version 2.3 was in progress when the work being done on Book 2 (Version 2.0) brought to light a strange realization. Jacky's story didn't actually start until Book 2 (previously Book 3 Version 1.0). So, why not cut out DEALING WITH DEMONS which merely served as a prelude. An entire book's length of prelude.

DwD and Book 2 Version 2.0 were sent to the recycling heap, where they were pulled apart, and key components were withdrawn and set aside for later use. Book 1 has seen the names HUNTED, and DEMON MAY LIE, and finally settled on ANGELIC DEMON, a name previously associated with Book 2 Version 2.0. Now AD Version 3.2 is well under way. The developmental version went well, and 3.2 is going to be sporting some big changes that will help maintain plot consistency, and delve more deeply into characterization.

That was fun. Now to make more progress on AD Version 3.2.

Writing is like Assembling Furniture

2010-06-12T23:20:00.007-06:00

This idea struck me near midnight, after I'd spent the entire day ~~beating my head against a wall~~ working on the second draft of ANGELIC DEMON.

Writing is just like assembling furniture.

The first bookcase I ever assembled was one of those massive five shelves things. I'd been pretty sure putting a bookcase together couldn't be hard. There's the top. bottom, sides, and the back is a thin veneer that you nail on. Not hard, right?

Oh no, of course not.

There were nuts, and nails, and little metal things that mystified me, and round plastic things that were more mystifying than the metal things. I followed the instructions, but it still took me two tries to get every pieced together. I think I gouged a chunk of wood out with my screw driver at one point, trying to twist one of those damn little plastic twisty-things. But I got it figure out. The thing even stands pretty level.

Revising this book has been something of the same way. I have a rough instruction guide (read outline) that I follow, but last night, I hit a point where I was left turning the instructions upside down and scratching my head. Things hadn't fit together the way they were supposed to, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where I'd gone wrong. In other words, that bookcase I'd assembled had an obvious lean to it, and the shelves wouldn't stay where they were supposed to.

I stepped back, stared at it, tipped my head this way and that. I squinted at it and titled my head this way, to see if maybe it could be overlooked, but no. I had to tear the whole thing down and start again. Not the whole book, thank goodness. Just the three chapters I'd been agonizing over all week.

But it was worth it. I found out that Slot A wasn't a good fit for Writing D, and Writing F should actually come after Writing E, and Writing E needed to be moved into Slot A and bound to Writing D, leaving me to fill the hole in Slot C left by the removal of Writing F, and Writing E just needs to be twisted more so that it fits better.

See! Building instructions! Some assembly required.

Warning: Writer's Block Lane is a Dead End

2010-06-09T10:43:00.003-06:00

Once again, I find myself digging my heels in. I've had a blank document page open all day yesterday, and it was waiting for me today. Normally having a blank page on my computer irks me enough to get my ass into gear and start writing. Yesterday (and today seems to be following the same trend) I just stared at it. There's nothing I've done that could get me to write.

Oh, I've hit the wall hard. The problem is I don't even know why.

It could be the characters. But I switched the casting around a bit and was really excited to bring back a character I haven't written with for four years. His personality works better for what I'm planning, anyway. I still didn't write anything. I decided not to do some renaming, which made me feel better because I like the names my characters have. Nope. Nothing. Na-da.

What the hell is my problem?

Maybe it's not this chapter that's the problem at all. Maybe I did such a good job with the last chapter that I have no clue how to keep things going, how to match it and surpass it. Maybe what I have planned isn't what needs to happen here. Maybe my characters are resisting because they see something I haven't, but can't speak loudly enough for me to hear them through the block that's gotten built between us. I don't know, and that's the biggest problem.

So let me ask you this: What's the worst writer's block you've ever encountered, and how to get you get around it? I feel like I'm shooting fish in the barrel... and missing every mark.

Book Review: Dragon Bones

2010-06-08T10:19:00.005-06:00

First, it makes me sad that this is not actually the cover of the book I own, but it's the same book. Gotta love re-prints, right?

Patricia Briggs is a master. Just a fucking brilliant master of the craft. When you think epic fantasy, you don't typically think of a 300 page book that's capable of standing on it's own. (Fortunately Dragon Bones doesn't. I'm going to start diving into Dragon Blood tonight, and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.) Briggs pulls it off, though.

For being so short, for fantasy that is, Briggs does an excellent job of creating a rich vivid world with characters that make you truly care what happens to them. Even the villain of the piece is sympathetic and almost likable, except for the whole being a greedy, crazy son-of-a-bitch. Ward is one of the great heroes I've read, and has such a wonderful personality. It's his ability to play lumbering oaf that makes him so lovable, though. Not many heroes will pretend to be stupid to save themselves.

Dragon Bones is two thumbs up, five stars, and a book I'm going to be rereading.

I also highly recommend Patricia Briggs's Moon Called and all the other Mercy Thompson books. If you're looking for a flexible, fabulous story teller, Briggs is it.

Revisions with an 80% Chance of Rewrites

2010-06-05T09:49:00.002-06:00

June seems to be the month of blogging for me. Which is fine. Except for when I'm using it to procrastinate. Like I am right at this minute...

But, here's the thing. I'm mostly likely to blog when I'm talking myself through my hesitation to do something. Today, that something is reading over stuff I (re)wrote yesterday. Just to check for spelling and word use errors, cause I'm prone to mixing words and letters around. Or my head will be thinking one thing while my fingers type something else.

Yesterday, this wasn't a problem, because the stuff I'd written was pretty new. I added nearly a whole new scene to the end of chapter two, and going over that was fun. So far, I've rewritten chapter four completely, and I'm not finished with it yet. Partly because I didn't finish rewriting it yesterday. My problem is this: I should probably go over what I wrote yesterday to make sure it works, but I don't want to. Not because I'm not finished with the chapter yet, but because this was the chapter that wouldn't die. I wrote and rewrote this chapter three times the first go around. If I have to rewrite it another three, I'm going to start screaming and pulling hair out.

Therein lies the fear. That it's not going to be going the way I want it to, and I'm going to have to scratch it and start over. Again.

I'm trying to decide which will be worse. Going over it and hating it and scrapping it and starting over, or keep on writing, only to go back and discover I hate it and rewrite more of it.

Stupid. The latter is worse. So very much worse.

See. Now I'm ready to tackle this sucker, and you got a chance to see how I talk myself around the barrier of procrastination. How neat is that?

Book Review: Bullet

2010-06-04T09:36:00.002-06:00

Laurell K. Hamilton is one of those prolific authors who has a bazillion books under her belt, not including anthologies. Bullet is the nineteenth book in the Anita Vampire, Vampire Hunter novels.

The beginning was slow for me, but maybe that's because I've just come back for a conference where "action in the first chapter!" "plot catalyst in the first two pages!" was pounded into my head, and Bullet didn't start with action or a plot catalyst. But, it's LKH, this is her nineteenth book in the series, and I think it works well for her.

She works so well, with such a huge cast of characters. The cast keeps growing, though, and it's getting to the point where it's hard for me to remember names for supporting cast unless I go back and re-read a large chunk of the series. Which I don't mind doing, really. I love the first eight books (they're the best in the whole series, if you ask me), but eighteen is a bit much to chew through when a new book has been released, and I want to read it, and read it right now.

The other downside of Bullet, for me at least, was the time she took to describe all the character's wardrobe right before some big bit of metaphysics was about to happen, or there was going to be action, political kow-towing, or any other bit of action that drives any book forward. When you have one or two characters to dress, it's not a problem. When you have eight or so in the same room, being dressed in detail, it gets to be a bit much and really slows down the pacing. There were parts I was tempted to skim through, just because I wanted to get to the action. I'm of the mind that unless the characters are buck naked, I'm going to assumed their dressed in something, and I'd rather see that description come through as it's relevant, rather than have it dumped all on my head at once. Because frankly? I'm going to forget what they're wearing as soon as that first fist is thrown.

The thing that really worked for me was that LKH brought back her super evil villain. I'd been horribly disappointed by the previous book (Skin Trade) when this evil villain was taken care of quickly, with no battle of epic proportions, which what I think the villain deserves. But! Lo and behold, Anita's not out of the woods yet. That's a big "Woot!" from me.

Bullet. Really liked it, and I'm certainly going to pick up the next book when it's released. After nineteen books, there's a certain obligation to keep reading to find out how things will end. For me, for right now, it's not an obligation. I want to keep reading, because I love the characters, and care what happens to them.

Book Review: Magic in the Blood

2010-06-03T09:05:00.004-06:00

Devon Monk's Magic in the Blood is the second in her Allie Beckstrom series, the first being Magic to the Bone.

It's been a while since I've written a review about anything, so bear with me while I ramble.

I love Allie. She's strong willed, independent, and she has to deal with a huge load of emotional and physical shit. Pain and often a loss of memories, because you can't use magic without paying a price.

Magic in the Blood held a slower pace than her first book. Less action, but more character driven. It didn't disappoint, though. The whole thing was riveting, spelling binding, and kept me hungry for more. (If there is a more cliched review line, I'll eat my foot, but it's still true.) There was mystery and mayhem, and a great supporting cast with old characters, and new.

I can hardly wait to run out and buy the next book in the series.

Hrrgh. I think I'm going to have to practice writing reviews or something. Guess I'll just have to write more, eh?

A Contest over at Ink in all Forms

2010-06-01T10:27:00.003-06:00

Wow. Three posts in one day. Could be I'm procrastinating. Actually, that's probably exactly what I'm doing.

But this procrastination is worth it!

Laura Fitzgerald, the author of Ink in all Forms, is hosting a contest. A really awesome super cool contest. Where you can win a dozen (that's twelve, 12!) YA books in the form of hard cover and ARCs. Twelve free books? You bet I'm entering.

So, pop over to her blog, check out the contest rules, and good luck to all!

Here's the link, just in case: http://inkinallforms.blogspot.com/2010/05/kick-off-contest-ya-giveaway.html

Book Reviews: Yes, No?

2010-06-01T10:06:00.005-06:00

A question for readers, or just random people dropping by because they thought this was a sight about summoning demons and how to control them (Sorry to disappoint!) I have this huge list of books I own that I want to read, right? I keep striking titles off the list, but I haven't really said much about the books I've read. Whether I liked them, hated them, couldn't finish them. No, kidding. I've finished reading everything crossed off, I promise.

So my question to you: Should I start trying to type up quick book reviews for all the books I read? Would that be something you find interesting, or would you rather read the reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble?

Fell free to put your vote in the comments section. I couldn't figure out how to embed a poll into the body of this particular blog, but it's there over on the sidebar. So, feel free to put in a word, or add a vote. Or do both. That'd be awesome too.

June's To-Read List Update

2010-06-01T09:56:00.007-06:00

Back from the conference. Have a lot of work ahead of me, and a lot of great new books to read by authors I met at said conference. In the next week or so, I'm going to blog about my New York experience, things I learned at the conference about writing, and thing I learned about the city in general.

But today, my book list!

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris

~~From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Voyager - Diana Gabaldon~~

~~Magic in the Blood - Devon Monk~~

~~Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Small Gods - Terry Pratchett~~

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~ (borrowed)

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Feast of Souls - C.S. Friedman

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

~~The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine~~

~~Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine~~

~~Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine~~

~~Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine~~

~~Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine~~

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Love Bites - Lynsay Sands

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

Inda - Sherwood Smith

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle - L.J. Smith

~~The Hunter - L.J. Smith~~

~~The Chase - L.J. Smith~~

The Kill - L.J. Smith

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Changes - Jim Butcher~~

~~Beauty - Robin McKinley~~

~~Spindle's End - Robin McKinley~~

~~Tithe - Holly Black~~

~~Valiant - Holly Black~~

~~Ironside - Holly Black~~

~~Vamped - Lucienne Diver~~

~~Speak of the Devil - Jenna Black~~

~~The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King~~

Helpless - MJ Pearson

Survival Games - J.E. Taylor

~~Bullet - Laurell K. Hamilton~~

The big problem with book lists is they always seem to get longer. I suppose I could simply stop buying more books, but that'd be like trying to stop breathing. It's second nature and crucial for survival.

Query Letters: It's like beating your head against the wall, only more painful

2010-05-17T18:25:00.004-06:00

I finished the first draft of Jacky's first book (which still doesn't have a title I'm happy with). Next week I'm going to be attending the Backspace Writer's Conference, and I need to have a query letter that I won't be ashamed to show off to other writers and--gasp!--agents.

There are lots of blogs out there about how to write query letters. Agents are so helpful, and they really want us writers to succeeded, despite the massive amount of rejection letters that speak to the contrary. Most of them have written up something or other about how to write a good query letter. Some of the ones I've found the most helpful are Janet Reid's Query Letter Checklist, and her list of things that will make her Instant Reject a query.

Well, those two aren't really on how to write a query, so much as good reminders for things to do (or not do) in a query.

The very most helpful blog I've ever read is Nathan Bransford's The One Sentence, One Paragraph, and Two Paragraph Pitch. Of course, all of Mr. Bransford's blogs are extremely helpful, but that's the one that's helped me through the last week of working on my pitches and getting my query ready for Backspace.

If you're like me, even with help writing a query is a long painful process. Did you know I gave up music because I absolutely loathed practicing scales and arpeggios, and couldn't practice the same line of music over and over and over again. Forget practicing those scales, arpeggios, and troublesome lines for hours on end. I got bored. Repeating stuff is mind numbing in the extreme.

Ready for the irony?

Writing a query letter is a lot of writing the same sentence over and over again, tweaking this, changing that, trying a word on for size, then discarding it because it fit wrong. I wrote ten--read it, ten--one sentence pitches. Most of them are variations of a theme, with lists of words and phrases to switch out. I wrote six one paragraph pitches before I got one I wasn't afraid to share with other people. That's no counting the dozen failed query letters I have stashed away on my external hard drive, never to see the light of day again.

I still haven't gotten my two paragraph pitch. The most important one, because that's the one I'll be using in my query. Beating my head against this hasn't really been fun, but I've learned a lot from it. I've learned just how stubborn I can be once I set my mind to a task, I've learned not to quit just because writing a pitch is hard, and I've learned that practice makes things better.

Yeah. The hated practice. Who would have thought I'd be applying it to writing?

Ideas for Future Projects

2010-05-02T21:59:00.002-06:00

I hit over 70k today. The end of this book is in sight. I'm so giddy I could dance all night (not really, I'm actually pretty tired), and even filled up with epic final battle plans, my brain has a tiny corner turning over different ideas for what our next big project should be. Everyone--my brain, me, Jacky et al.--has decided that a break from Jacky will be in order. I mean. I'm going to revise Book 1 until my eyes bleed. I'm going polish it until it's thin in the center and nearly see-through. Then I'm going to query it.

Revising is not writing, however. So, the big question is: Which should my next big project be?

I've got several ideas floating around in there somewhere. One I've already written a bit of, done a bit of plotting for. FAERIE BAD LUCK will probably be my next brain child, while Jacky takes a much needed vacation. The other idea... well, it wouldn't be very profitable.

When I was a teenager, I was in love with the chose your own adventure style novels. You know, you read a couple pages, then there are a couple choices at the bottom of the page, and you get to decide what the character does. Kind of.

I've been toying around with the idea of an online choose your own adventure, thing. It'd be short and simple, probably. The only problem I can see with this is that I have no website of my own, and I don't know of any free hosting sites that would do what I want it to do. I'll look around me. Maybe I'll find something good. Maybe I'll write up a choose your own adventure thing anyway, and keep it all to myself to amuse myself when the power goes out.

Another possibility is to hop on the YA bandwagon. Problem is I don't really have any good ideas for a YA. Nothing that wouldn't be stupid and cheesy, and I'd be ashamed for it to ever see the light of day. Maybe.

Maybe there's a good YA idea floating around there somewhere, and I just can see it 'cause Jacky's being such an attention hog. Which is well within her right, considering how close we are to finishing this book.

If none of those pan out real well, I have a fantasy trilogy that's been stewing on the back burner since 2004. That's right, 2004. I started it round about the same time I started Jacky. I have exactly a book and a half written. The writing sucks, of course. The main plot line isn't too horrible though. I even have colored index cards stuck up on one wall to start a massive plot web. It'd take a lot of work (which after all the work I've been into Jacky isn't a horribly appealing idea) but I might rewrite the first book and a half, and maybe even write another half to get the second book done.

Right now, I'm leaning heavily toward FAERIE BAD LUCK. Cause it has a title and a main character, and some pseudo world building. It even has--gasp--a protagonist and possible plot.

Ah well. Nothing I have to worry about quite yet, right? I'll figure it out after the Backspace Writers' Conference.

To-Read List 2010 May Update

2010-05-01T21:14:00.006-06:00

Amazing, how much time I have to spend writing and reading now that school's out. For example, I may very well have the first draft of Book 1 finished before next week. That'll be awesome, considering I'm flying to New York in 24 days.

Excuse me while I go freak out.

...

Whew! Now that that's out of the way, I feel much better.

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris

~~From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris~~

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

Magic Blood - Devon Monk

Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs

Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs

~~Small Gods - Terry Pratchett~~

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~ (borrowed)

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Feast of Souls - C.S. Friedman

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

~~The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine~~

~~Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine~~

~~Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine~~

~~Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine~~

~~Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine~~

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Love Bites - Lynsay Sands

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

Inda - Sherwood Smith

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle - L.J. Smith

~~The Hunter - L.J. Smith~~

~~The Chase - L.J. Smith~~

The Kill - L.J. Smith

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Changes - Jim Butcher~~

~~Beauty - Robin McKinley~~

~~Spindle's End - Robin McKinley~~

~~Tithe - Holly Black~~

~~Valiant - Holly Black~~

~~Ironside - Holly Black~~

~~Vamped - Lucienne Diver~~

Unexpected Plot Lines, and Items of Conflict

2010-04-30T13:42:00.003-06:00

I really do love it when an unexpected plot line pops up. I'll be chugging along, then begin to worry that things aren't exciting enough, that's there's not enough tension or conflict to carry the book all the way through, and then something wonderful pops up. More to the point, this is something my MC Jacky can barrel into full tilt, and either come out on top or get her ass kicked. Either way, she'll be doing something, and learning things, and that's important in urban fantasy.

Another item of love is... well, items that have the potential to create conflicts for later story lines. (Or this one, if things get boring enough. It might be a great way to end the book and set up the possibility of a sequel, which I'll be writing whether Book 1 gets published or not.) In this case, a couple books that Jacky, as a human, shouldn't have been able to get her hands on. How did she come by these books? What exactly is in them that make them bad for a human to have? Well, I've got some ideas I can play around with.

I like having things to play with. They make me happy.

For the first time in a long time, I'm not suffering from a mid-book crisis. I know where I'm going. I know what needs to happen. I even have a general idea of how to tie everything together. Book 1 is coming along nicely, and I have high hopes of getting it done before the Backspace Writer's Conference in May.

Now I just have to decide on a title for the damn thing, and start working on a query letter, and I'll be good to go!

Women in Urban Fantasy

2010-04-26T10:52:00.002-06:00

Women protagonists are a huge trend in urban fantasy literature. Most all of them are bad ass, wise ass, kick ass women who don't wait for the men to come riding in on their white horses. More often than not, it's the woman riding in to rescue the man.

My critique and writing buddy has told, whenever I'm bouncing ideas off her, that Jacky is too passive. That things happen to her, but she doesn't really do anything for herself. Last night, I finished a book by an author I truly enjoy, who writers female protagonists, but now, I'm sure she writes strong women.

For example, the main character was ambushed by the evil villains and taken far from anyplace where people could get to her, rescue her. The evil villains tortured her, and finally, the men come riding in to the rescue. The thing that bothered me is that in her purse, which the evil villains had conveniently taken with them, were the means for her to save herself. But she didn't even try. She just laid there and let them do horrible things to her, waiting for someone to come save her.

In so many books written by this author, the main character has changed, as characters will. However, I think in that one crucial point, she missed a big chance for a huge change. This character has always relied on others to help her fight her battles, has always waited for others to come save her. Except for one memorable book where she did the saving all by herself. By not trying to save herself, with her purse there in the same room with her and her torturers, by letting them do really awful things to her, the author placed this character in a position for personal conflict. How is she going to deal with recovering? How is she going to cope surviving something so horrible?

Yeah, okay, that's all well and good, but honestly? I find it disappointing. Because that's what happens to her all the time. For once, I want to see her crawl over to the life saving purse and kick some ass. I want her conflict to be something other than coping. It'd be nice to see this character realize she's stronger than she thinks she is, that she doesn't have to wait for her knight in shining armor to come save her every time she's in trouble.

Jacky, you and me girl. We've got some growing to do, and some bad spots to get into. But most of all, we've got some learning to do. We're going to learn how to be stronger.

Writer's Conference To-Do List

2010-04-19T15:08:00.002-06:00

I'll be attending the Backspace Writer's Conference this May. I'm so excited it makes me sick to my stomach to think about it. Especially when I think of all the things I still need to do, and time is quickly running out.

So, here's what all I need to get done.

Finish first Draft of Insertbooknamehere (I still haven't decided what to call this thing.) Roughly 40,000 words

Prepare a pitch

Write an excellent query letter

Polish the first two pages (double spaced, 12pt font, Times New Roman) of Insertbooknamehere until they shine like a super polished diamond

Print copies of query letter

Print copies of polished 1st two pages

Remain sane

That last one is really important, but I think it's going to be the hardest to pull off. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot to get done in over a month. Unless you're one of those insane types that's tried writing anything of length, or even more insane types that's actively worked on writing a good query letter.

One month. I can do it. Sure I can. *whimper*

Chapters from Hell

2010-04-11T10:42:00.002-06:00

It seems like in every book--every draft--there's a chapter from a Hell. A chapter that starts off as a brilliant idea, and you dive in with enthusiasm. Then you release just how hard pulling off this master piece is going to be. Work slows down. Things don't feel quite right. Should you stop and go back? Finish it and revise? Yes. Finish it. Then you can go back and hack at it.

But, no matter how many times you go over it, it's never quite right.

The last time I ran into one of these chapters, I finished it, pushed on, and wound up scrapping 14,000 words. There's no way in Hell I'm going to let that happen.

The problem now is that this chapter is very surreal, and I don't do surreal very well. I could, once upon a time, when I didn't know much about the rules of writing. Now, it's harder for. What's worse is this is supposed to be the mid-point big climax of the book. This is where the shit really starts hitting the fan for Jacky. I've got to face up to it, though. I suck ass when it comes to writing big climax scenes of any kind.

Well, time to stop complaining and start writing. That's the only way I know of to get better at something.

Jennifer vs. Chapter from Hell: Round one! *ding*

Reading and Writing: How One Feeds the Other

2010-04-08T09:08:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I pick up a book, read it, and think "My god, this writing is horrible. I'm pretty sure I write better than this." It gives me hope for the future of my book. The one that I'd really like to get published.

Then I read a book, like Jim Butcher's Changes, and think "This is a master of the craft. God, I want to be able to write like him."

So then I dive into writing with fresh vigor, trying to create a work of writing that brings me closer to being a master.

It takes time, it takes a lot of effort. And it takes years of practice, of writing, revising, rewriting, editing, and more writing. At least for me. Wish I were one of those brilliant writers that could pull a best selling novel out my ass on my first try, but I'm not. Still, I love the process of writing, I love tearing things down and building them back up, making them better.

Though this is the last time I'm rewriting this damn book. I swear to God, if I have to rewrite the whole damn thing one more time, I will disown Jacky and move on to a different book.

Anyway, reading, for me, is a great inspiration, and gives me hope. It can also make me feel like a lousy writer, if I let it. I try not too. Cling to the excitement, the determination to get better, but most importantly, cling to the love the writing.

Eventually, maybe, hopefully, I'll to where I'm going, and I'll be able to count myself a good writer like any of the dozen or more authors I absolutely adore.

Dunning-Kruger Effect?

2010-03-23T10:42:00.003-06:00

So... this means that I'm a good writer, right? Because half the time I'm pretty sure I'm not, and the other half, I like what I write until I finish writing it, and then I'm pretty sure it's crap.

Maybe not, but it gives me a little tiny ray of hope.

To-Read List 2010 March-April Update

2010-03-22T18:10:00.014-06:00

I read a lot more than I'd intended to during spring break. I meant to get a lot of writing done, and I did get some done, but I was in a reading mood. So I read.

Then today, I bought six books and got three in the mail from my mail for a belated birthday present.

ZOMG! BOOKS!

In one day, I've managed to acquire nearly as many books as I've read this year. That's pretty awesome.

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris

~~From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris~~

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

Magic Blood - Devon Monk

Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs

Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs

~~Small Gods - Terry Pratchett~~

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~ (borrowed)

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Feast of Souls - C.S. Friedman

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

~~The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine~~

~~Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine~~

~~Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine~~

~~Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine~~

~~Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine~~

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Love Bites - Lynsay Sands

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

Inda - Sherwood Smith

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle - L.J. Smith

~~The Hunter - L.J. Smith~~

~~The Chase - L.J. Smith~~

The Kill - L.J. Smith

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

~~Changes - Jim Butcher~~

~~Beauty - Robin McKinley~~

~~Spindle's End - Robin McKinley~~

Tithe - Holly Black

Valiant - Holly Black

The Three "R"s

2010-03-18T22:33:00.003-06:00

There are three things I must do to remain happy. Being happy is one of those important keys to writing. I can chew out some really incredible stuff when I'm angry at someone, but to keep up the effort of writing every day, I have to be in a happy place. It's hard to write when I'm depressed, mostly because I don't want to do anything.

My three "R"s are pretty simple.

Reading. Writing. Raiding.

Ignore the fact that writing doesn't actually start with an "R." It's pronounced as one, and that worked in elementary school, so it works now.

The first two are pretty obvious. I enjoy reading. I like seeing all the wonderful things other authors create, and it motivates me as little else can. I want my stuff to be that good, to be that enjoyed by so many people. Got to write it first.

Writing is a little trickier. When I'm not in school, it's no problem chewing out two-thousand words a day, because it's not like I've got anything better to do anyway. Unfortunately classes, homework, and just being burned out take up a lot of my free time.

The third one? Raiding? Well. I am a gamer. I warned you in my little profile blip at the top of the page. There, over to the right.

See, I play World of Warcraft. I'm in a raiding guild on a little server, and I enjoy it very much. Mostly I enjoy the people I play with. My guildies are all kinds of interesting. Many of them read the same kind of books I do. Some of them don't, but read other stuff, and we get into very involved discussions (read arguments). WoW is, sadly enough, my main source of socializing. It helps that I can get together with a large group of friends on a near nightly basis without having to leave home. And I can multi-task.

The trick is balancing everything out. I tend to either read a lot, or write a lot. Strangely, the one thing that's a constant is the raiding. But, I have either 9 or 24 other people relying on me to show up and have fun doing something I love to do. It's a good incentive.

Now if I could find an incentive that'd get me to chew out 2,000 words a day, come hell or high water.

Writing is Work

2010-03-11T09:22:00.004-07:00

There's a lot involved with writing a novel. There's planning, writing, revising, editing, world building, character creating, revising, writing, writing, writing, and writing. Not necessarily in that order.

It's a lot of work. A lot of work.

Think about it. I started writing with Jacky back in 2004. It started as an epic urban fantasy. I didn't know a spit about writing, like characterization, description, plot continuity, or anything else. I knew how to put words on paper--or screen, as the case may be--and that was about it. But I did a lot of it. No idea what the word count was, but I wrote 25 chapters of the very first original never revised/edited version of Jacky.

It sat for a while, and when I picked it up and read over it to see exactly what I'd done, I nearly gagged. It was horrible! There's a section where I used "water" at least three times in the same sentence.

But, there was something there. The characters, at least, worked. So I started over again. This time, I finished the first book. And wrote four and half other books. Full length, all of them, ranging from 80-150k. Then I went back again, compressed the first two books into one, and came out with DEALING WITH DEMONS. I was working on the second (originally the third) book of the series, when I had that horrible feeling something wasn't working right. DEALING WITH DEMONS worked. It was good. I wrote query letters, started to re-read it for the upteenth zillion time so I could put together an outline for synopsis writing, and realized it wasn't going to work.

Another book and a half of work, tossed out the window.

So I started yet again. I wrote 18k, tossed out 14k of it. Now I'm still not sure what to call this current incarnation of the first book in what I hope will be the Jacky series, and working away.

What did I learn in all of this?

It's really important to go back over what you've written. It's also important to let it sit for a little while before going back over it.

This doesn't have to apply to everyone, but for me, I need to revise as I go along. As soon as writing slows down, starts getting hard, and I have that niggling feeling something's not quite right, I hit the revisions. Usually I can find the problem, clear it up, clean it out, and get back to the writing. Other times...

Well, other times I end up throwing out over 3/4 of what I've written.

All's fair in the game of writing.

To Outline or Not to Outline

2010-03-04T10:53:00.004-07:00

My friend called last night, and I told her what I'd been working on. Rewriting the end of a chapter so that it worked better, and set up for something I desperately wanted to do at a later date in the book because it would amuse me. Then I admitted I wasn't sure where to take things after I was finished with this chapter.

She immediately told me "Outline! Outlines are your friend."

I had to disagree. Probably a mite stronger than I should have.

Outlines work great for her. Which is awesome. Go her. But I've tried using outlines before. They just don't do it for me. I either don't follow them at all, or I try to and then get frustrated when I don't follow them. I've tried several different forms of outlines: chapter by chapter, plot webs, they just don't work at all well.

Why? Honestly, I've no idea. I just know they don't work for me. I know this, and I have ways of keeping track of things I want to have happen, but I don't set them in the concrete of an outline.

There's one thing you have to keep in mind while writing a book. Not everything out there is going to work for you. Something, like outlines, that works really well for some might not work at all for you. The key is to find what does work, and stick with it. No matter what others might tell you, or try to convince you of otherwise.

For me, I have a list of major events I want to have happen. The list is flexible. I can add things to it, or take things away if I later decide they just don't work well, and I don't have to worry about rearranging everything around them. This list is kept on a white board in my office by my computer, so I can consulted it frequently. Also on this board is another list, this one per chapter.

Once I finish a chapter, the chapter list is erased, the number at the top is changed, and the list beneath is changed. This list isn't a series of things that must happen in this chapter, but rather a list of ideas. It's a brainstorming thing.

Here's an example of what my lists look like. A general plot list looks like this:

Things to Happen

Meet Boy

Big event

Meet people

Hook-up with boy

Bad person does bad thing to get MC to do something

~~Something happens that doesn't fit this book~~

Big Revelation

Minor character's relationship (which plays an important part in tensions*)

Tragic event that must be overcome

*Stuff in ( ) isn't actually part of a list

As things on the list happen, I check them off. If they don't work, they get crossed out, and later erased to make room for other ideas or events I want to keep track of.

A chapter list looks like this:

Chapter #

Possibilites:

Run into Char

-discover something previously unknown about Char

-takes MC to place

-Person joins them, goes w/MC

Char 2 takes MC to place

First time MC does something related to tragic event

Needs to Happen:

Explanation

-short background story

Char "drops" in

-fight?

-MC makes Char 3 replace broken thing

Again, a very flexible list of things that need to happen, and could happen. If I'm struggling with a chapter, this list can change several times in the course of a day. Unlike the "Things to Happen" list, which is done before I ever start writing the first chapter, the "Chapter #" list is done before or shortly after the beginning of each chapter. Like I said, it's my brain storming list.

I suppose you could this an outline, of a sort. It's certainly not my writing buddy's idea of an outline. But that's all right. What works for her doesn't have to work for me. Often times, it doesn't work for me at all. That's all right, too.

The important thing is not to argue about it, or insist that what works for you will work for everyone else too. It's important to try new things, to find the best fit. But don't do something if it doesn't help. It will only wind up hurting you in the long run.

Happy writing!

To-Read List 2010 Updated

2010-02-28T10:22:00.012-07:00

I'm looking forward to summer time. I might actually be able to read a book in less than a month's time. Which would be good, considering this list is going to keep getting longer if I don't manage to get anything read.

School, thou art the bane of of free-time.

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson

~~Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak~~

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

~~Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris~~

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

Magic Blood - Devon Monk

Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs

Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs

Small Gods - Terry Pratchett

~~Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead~~

~~City of Bones - Cassandra Clare~~

~~City of Ashses - Cassandra Clare~~ (borrowed)

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

~~American Gods - Neil Gaiman~~

Feast of Souls - C.S. Friedman

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

~~Glass Houses - Rachel Caine~~

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Love Bites - Lynsay Sands

Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

Inda - Sherwood Smith

~~His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik~~

Night World Vol. 3 - L.J. Smith

~~Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs~~

Staying in the Habit

2010-02-05T12:27:00.002-07:00

Writing is like any other art form. It takes constant practice. For me, at least. It's not something I can do once or twice every other week or so. It's constant. The more I write, the more constant my writing sessions, the better I get. Take a week off, for whatever reason, and it's really hard to get back into the swing of things.

In French class yesterday, our teacher was talking about the Chinese calligraphy class she'd been taking. We have a foreign exchange student from Taiwan in that class, and the teacher said, "This is an art, isn't it?"

The girl said yes, it is. Her sister is a master calligrapher, to the point where she can sell her work. The teacher then said, "You play the piano. How many hours do you spend practicing?"

"Six hours every day," she said.

"It takes 60,000 hours of practice to become a master," the teacher said.

60,000 hours. That's a lot of time, when you think about it. Especially for students who have to jam in homework, a social life, other hobbies and interests, and their practice into a single day. Some students even have jobs.

My point is that it takes a long time, a lot of hard work, to become good at something. My classmate didn't say "usually six hours, but sometimes I only practice for three." It was "Six hours everyday." Everyday. I certainly can't do anything non-stop for six hours. Except reading a really good book. Maybe. Still, it's good to have a set time to write. Or at least make sure you're writing something everyday. I failed at that this week. I got hung up on the end of a scene because it could have gone several different ways. The way I wanted to take it wasn't necessarily the best way to go for the book. So I've spent the week agonizing over it.

I should have been writing. Write the different endings, the different ways it could go, then go from there, but I didn't. Now, I've spent two days trying to get back into writing, and I've barely put together 500 words.

My goal for the next week is to get back into the writing habit. No more slacking. I need to write at least 500 words. For the book. Essays and literature journals don't count!

Stop. Rewind. Rewrite.

2010-01-22T17:33:00.002-07:00

After spending days struggling with the chapter that would not die, I finally beat it into a shape I was pretty happy with. Then, talking to Dystophil today, it's decided that all that struggle, all that time, effort, and work were all for nothing. Because things need to be tightened up. Because things aren't moving. Things aren't working. Something, other than the chapter that would not die, went wrong.

I can see Dystophil's point. I even agree with it. But what I've written is good. Good enough to sell? I don't know. But if I were more worried about getting published than I was with enjoying what I do, then I wouldn't be writing Urban Fantasy.

Still. I do want to write to the best of my ability. And if that means scrapping eight chapters and revising a large chunk of story, than that's what I'll do.

Turns out it wasn't quite a full eight chapter. I kept most of three, where she first meets Revenant. The end, though, I've rewritten, and have started chapter four. Again. So far, I like where it's going, like the possibilities it presents. I'm almost certain that it's better than what I had originally. It's still hard, though. It's throwing away 14,000 words. Out of 18,000. That's a lot of progress, gone. Thrown away. Not to be used.

So, even though I like where the new material is taking me, I'm angry about having to give up so much progress. I want to have this finished before the Backspace Writers' Conference. That's roughly five months out. Five months to write, revise, and polish a manuscript, query letter, and synopsis. It'd be easy, if I weren't also a full time student.

Ah well. Life is full of choices. I've made mine. Now to make the best of them.

Taking Things in Stride

2010-01-20T12:01:00.003-07:00

Today, someone told me that my manuscript will be rejected out of hand because it deals with demons, angels, and vampires, "because there is such a glut of them in urban fantasy." This is true. There has been an increasing amount of books involving angels and demons. On the other hand, it's what people are reading. So long as people are reading urban fantasy, there's going to be a demand for it. And as long as there's a demand for it, I don't think manuscripts like mine will be rejected out of hand.

To be honest, I'm struggling right now. That one statement, that one promise that my work is going to be rejected out of hand by someone who hasn't read the whole of my work, has made me doubt myself. I've tried not to let it get to me, but it is. Those statements which contain a grain of truth, or a seed of our fears, always hurt most.

So, if all you can say about my work is that it's unoriginal, flat, and going to be rejected out of hand because of the content, keep your mouth shut and your opinions to yourself. As I see it, the only way to fail to get published is to not keep going. Not query agents that represent your genre. Not work to write the best possible book you can write, and then be willing to go back and make it better.

If you've ever had someone tell you you're going to fail, you know what it's like. Join me in flipping them the bird and then marching on. Because I'm a writer, and the low opinion of one person out of a dozen will not stop me from doing what I love to do.

Picking the Right Title

2010-01-14T16:02:00.006-07:00

I've always had issues finding names for my books that fit. Only on rare occasions do I hit on something that fits perfectly and works well. "Angelic Demon," "The High Courts of Hell," "Dealing with Demons." With the big changes I've been making, I'm not sure I can keep any of them.

"Dealing with Demons" certainly doesn't fit the first book anymore. I've been using the working title of HUNTED, but I hate one name titles. I have a big long list of possible titles, and it's growing all the time.

Some of these titles include:

Demon Blood

Blood of Demons (or) Blood of Angels

Demons Never Lie (or) Demon May Lie

Angelic Demon

Demon in the Rough

Angel Management

(and) Demon's Den

Blargh on all of them. None of them seem to encompass the feel the story being told.

So here's my question to you. How do you come up with the titles for you book/stories/poems, and how do you know when it's the right title?

Never Look Back!

2010-01-11T18:46:00.001-07:00

When I first started writing, I had no idea what I was doing. Most days I still feel that way. There's one big thing I'm doing differently now than I did even during the last draft.

Making changes.

Before, I'd finish everything before going back and making changes. I'd finish a chapter, I'd finish the book. I've come to realize that it takes more time to go back and change a lot of writing, than it is to go back and change a little. This time around, when I want to make a change, I'm not going to back. I'm just adding that change in right now.

Because, really, it won't be long before I go over it and fix things. That's the beauty of revising as you go. Of course, my revising is slower than my writing, and I only revise on weekends. You'd think that'd give me more time to work on my book. ERNGH! Wrong.

For example, Ch. 3 ended with a deal being made. One of my readers groaned as she read it and said "That's so predictable. I was hoping for THIS." And she went on to discuss her "this" and then I got thinking about it, because I hadn't liked my "that" and we worked it out.* Of course, I didn't go back and change it right away. I made notes on how to change it, then dived right into Ch. 4 as if the changes had already been made.

Another example: in Ch. 7 we're introduced to a minor character. Before, he'd been a name, but he'd never had a face attached to him. Then, further along in the chapter, I realized my cast was starting to feel too testosterone laden, and made this note; "CHANGE AVERY TO GIRL.** TOO GUY HEAVY ALREADY." Just like that. Only without the quotes (or the asterisks). Then I continued on my way, writing as if I'd already implemented the change to the beginning of the chapter.

Now, instead of having to re-write the end of one chapter and nearly the entirety of another, I just have to rework the end. Instead of having to re-write another, entire chapter, I just have to make a couple changes to the beginning. See how much time, effort, and ~~pain~~ work I've saved myself?

The trick is going to be staying on top of those revisions. I can only make oh-so many notes on my whiteboard before I run out room.

*This and That added where plot spoilers would otherwise be. =)

**Really cool thing was I figured out that the name of the girl Avery will be Lyvia. I suck with naming my characters (I had a villain that went through two drafts as NAME before we found a one that fit him well), so thinking this one up and being happy with it pleases me to no end.

Seeking Perfection

2010-01-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

I've read some really good books. Great writing, vivid characters, well thought out and surprising plot twists. On the other hand, I've read some not so good books.

As I learn more about writing, about my own and others, the harder it becomes for me to get into a book. Hence the enormous list of doom. It's not that I don't like reading anymore, I do. But for the first hundred pages or so, I just can't get my inner editor to shut up. Some books it shuts up sooner than others. Some books it's quiet until the middle of the book. It really depends on writing style, and how quickly the book draws me in, and how deep. If it can draw me in deep enough to completely immerse myself in the story, than the editor never has a chance to make snippy comments and generally complaining about little details that didn't bother me even a year ago.

Which gets me thinking. What if my book is one of those books I'm going to pick up and snip at while I read it? Okay, I do that anyway, because it's mine and I can still do something about it. But what if other people pick it up and snip at it, or can't get into it because of their inner critic?

I know what I like to read, and I know what I don't like to read. When I read something, I know if they've used too many adverbs or if it feels a bit too verbose. Sometimes I can find errors like "'Blah blah,' Sammy he said." It should have read as either "Sammy said," or "he said." Oops! But mistakes happen, and they're forgivable.

Because, lets face it, there's no such thing as perfection. There are always going to be mistakes. There are always going to be things I'll cringe at when I read my own writing, and think "I could have done that better." That's the point! To live and learn and grow and change and become better, even if you never reach perfection.

A wise friend once told me, "If you ever stop learning, you stop living." If I ever write the perfect book, I don't think I'd write anymore. There wouldn't be much point, would there?

To-Read List 2010

2010-01-10T08:58:00.001-07:00

Also known as the list of books I own but have not yet read. It's appalling, how long this list is. My goal is to chew through it, and not buy any more books until I've ready at least five off the list. (Yeah right. Like that's ever going to happen.)

The List (in no particular order)

~~Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson~~

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson

Well of Eternity - Richard A. Knaak

~~Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris~~

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

Magic Blood - Devon Monk

Dragon Bones - Patricia Briggs

Dragon Blood - Patricia Briggs

Small Gods - Terry Pratchett

Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card (borrowed from brother, don't actually own)

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Feast of Souls - C.S. Friedman

Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey (Don't actually own this one. Don't know how that happened.)

Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

Glass Houses - Rachel Caine

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

Firestorm - Rachel Caine

The Gunslinger - Stephen King

Prince of Dogs - Kate Elliott

The Burning Stone - Kate Elliott

Banewrecker - Jacqueline Carey

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Children of Chaos - Dave Duncan

In the Realm of the Wolf - David Gemmell

Hero in the Shadows - David Gemmel

The Becoming - Jeanne C. Stein

The Scent of Shadows - Vicki Pettersson

Dragonfly - Frederic S. Durbin

Love Bites - Lynsay Sands

Thin Air - Rachel Caine

Person Demon - Kelley Armstrong

No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

Broken - Kelley Armstrong

Inda - Sherwood Smith

His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik

That's a long list. That's a daunting list. I'll get through it eventually. It just might take me a while. Especially since I'm OCD, and will want to read whole series if the writing is engaging and the story compelling.

Sad thing is, this doesn't even include the books I have for my kindle. That'd be a really incredibly long list.

Exciting News

2010-01-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

It's paid for. It's confirmed. It's official and there's no going back. This May, I'll be attending the Backspace Writers Conference in New York City. Every time I think about it, I get really excited, and slightly sick to my stomach. I've never been to NYC, and there's a chance that I might end up going alone. I don't deal well with new experiences when I don't have someone to lean against and share it with.

Social anxieties for the fail.

Anyway! My goal is to get my current version of Jacky finished and polished before the conference. With school, it'll be tight, but doable. I'd also like to chew through this box of unread books I have lurking in my office closet.

A list of titles will come in another blog in the near future.

Excited. This is going to be such an adventure and (hopefully) a good opportunity. Here's hoping Dystophil will be able to join me. Because, lets face it, adventures are best when shared.

To Procrastinate Sleep

2010-01-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

School starts tomorrow morning. I don't have any classes as early as I did last semester, but still early enough that I'm not sure I'm going to have much "me" time in the morning. More that than, classes start at the same time every day. Good in some ways. Bad in others.

Mostly, I'm worried about finding a good balance between school, play, and working on my novel. Not to mention I need to throw "take care of myself" into the mix as well. It will be challenging, but doable. I hope. Still. There's a good chance that my tolerance level for school is going to plummet, my mood will dive into a chasm of abysmal despair, and I won't want to do anything but zone out playing video games. Heaven knows that's what usually happens to me spring semester.

This year, I have a plan. Kind of. Get up, go to school. Come home and have some me time. You know. Get my thoughts and emotions under control by having some quiet time in front of the alter (yes, alter. You did read that right.). Taking care of me after that. Lifting weights three days a week, Tai Chi on the other days, and running at least once a week. Assuming I ever get around to buying running shoes. After I've taken care of me is when I'll put time into school work, and because I almost always multi-task, I can switch between school work and novel work. Maybe. Hopefully.

It's going to be interesting. I'm just glad I'm not like poor Dystophil, who isn't only going to school full time, but is also working full time. Pretty sure trying something like that would be the end of me.

Finish What You've Started

2010-01-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

I need to stop starting chapters, then letting them sit before I finish them. Once, leaving a chapter unfinished for a day or two while life jerks me around by the chain hasn't been a problem. Recently, I've discovered a disturbing trend.

A chapter is going great. It's flowing well, the dialogue works, the characters are coming to life on the page. Something pulls me away from the chapter, and I don't get back to it that day. When I do come back to it, usually the following day, everything still works pretty well, but I can't get back into it. I can't find the voice I'd been writing in. I can't make things flow as well.

The only solution I have to this is to finish a chapter the day I start it, but lets be realistic. School starts against on Monday, and I'm a full time university student. There are going to be days where I barely manage to chew out 100 words, let alone a full chapter.

Does anyone have a good fix for this? How do you get back into the swing of things when it's already moving and you have to jump back on mid-swing?

Or is this something I just have to suck up and deal with myself? I betting it's that one. There aren't many easy way out of things when it comes to writing.

Sigh.

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

My mom was trying to figure out why New Year's was such a big deal for people. I agree with her, that ringing in another year can have it's downsides (like neighbors screaming, banging on pots and pans, and shooting off noise rockets). But there's something special about it, too.

It's a new year. It's time for starting fresh, for changing things you haven't been able to change. Habits are hard to form, and old habits are hard to break. The New Year gives people a nice date to mark, a day to say "I can start doing this NOW" and have a chance of being able to do it. Because it's the new year. What better time to start new things in life then at the beginning of a new year?

My resolutions list could easily stretch a mile long. Eat better, exercise, lose weight, spend more time studying my religion, read more, game less, write every day, do all my homework the day it's assigned, etc.

But I'm not going to. Once you start laying things out in a long To Do list, they start to build up, grow, expand, until the reasonable suddenly seems impossible, you lose heart, and all those resolutions go out the window. So, no long list for me this year. Just a couple.

Take better care of myself

Finish (completely, polishing and everything) WT: Hunted

Happy New Years, everyone. I hope you have a manageable resolutions list, and find the strength of will and courage to do it, and keep doing it all year round.

Greetings Blogspot

2009-12-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

I hope Blogspot is a kind friend than Wordpress. Wordpress hurt my feelings by making navigation tricky, stealing links and refusing to give them back, and generally not being fun to work with.

Quick intro to Writing Demons and me:

I'm a writer, working on a novel that I started in 2004. It's now (almost) 2010, and version 5.0 of the first book in a series featuring Jacky Kendricks. The book has gone through titles, as it's evolved and changed and been rewritten. What started as "Chosen" became "Dealing with Demons" and now has a working title of "Hunted" until I can either think of something better, or decide that "Dealing with Demons" really does work.

What is it about? It's about a young woman who's life is thrown off kilter when angels demand her death. As she tries to find the reason for the angels' sudden interest in her, and why they want her dead, she discovers that the world isn't painted as simply as she thought. Black and white have blended into so many shades of gray that she no longer knows who, or what, is good or evil.

Writing Demons will be a place for sharing my thoughts about writing, and the processes I go through as I pull this book from the ashes of its predecessors, and try to turn it into something new for me, and interesting for everyone.

So hello to all who stumble here. Welcome to the insanity.