I did the unthinkable recently. Really, I don't know how I survived. It's a miracle.
I went away on a week-long family reunion...and had no internet access. Gasp. Shock. Horror.
(Okay, to be honest, I had my phone, but I -- unlike some other people there -- didn't want to spend hours a day on it.)
I wish I could say I used this time to get some quality writing done, that thousands of words of beautiful prose flowed forth from my fingertips, but I chose to do some knitting and reading during the downtime. It was a relaxing week, which was a good thing, since as always, I hit the ground running at work as soon as I got back.
So now that I'm back to civilization, I'm trying to get back into good writing routines. Easier said than done, but at least I have my beloved online resources at my disposal!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
It's a Quiet Thing
I've mentioned a couple times here and there that I used to be a teacher. My husband is still a teacher. His mother is a teacher. His cousin and his wife are teachers. My mother is a retired teacher, as well as her best friend/my godmother, and one of my aunts. And since I used to be a teacher in a number of different schools and went through education programs in college and grad school, my facebook feed is filled with teachers. Are we noticing a trend here?
Back in the day when my husband and I were both teaching, we kept similar schedules. We both went to bed early on weeknights. We both had summers off (minus music camps and continuing education and whatnot). Now, not so much. I work year-round, and since I rarely have to be at work before 10:00 a.m., I can stay up later at night, as that's what works with my natural body rhythms.
There's a commercial that my mom and the other retired teachers in that first paragraph love. I forget exactly what retailer it's for, but it comes out at the end of every summer, it's set to the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", and has parents frolicking through the aisles, picking out school supplies, while their sullen children look on with a decided lack of enthusiasm. From what I've heard from my friends with school-aged kids, it is 100% accurate.
And now that I'm on a non-public school schedule, I have to admit - I LOVE this time of year as well. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and everything, but now every summer is an adjustment of having him home and here and I have to feed him and, well, he is all up in my business. By mid-August, I'm usually all GET OUT OF MY HOUSE. (Said with love, of course.) It's just that the rest of the year I'm settled into my own routine, and all of a sudden, there's another person in it. Nobody likes change, right?
But now we're about a month into the school year. My husband usually goes to bed around 11:00 on school nights, and since I can sleep later than him, I usually go to bed between midnight and 12:30. And let me tell you, that hour to 90 minutes late at night is blissful. The house is quiet, I know there won't be anyone or anything bothering me, and I can wind down all on my own. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I usually get some of my best writing done in that block. It's amazing. I love it. And it's a looooooong way to June! :D
Back in the day when my husband and I were both teaching, we kept similar schedules. We both went to bed early on weeknights. We both had summers off (minus music camps and continuing education and whatnot). Now, not so much. I work year-round, and since I rarely have to be at work before 10:00 a.m., I can stay up later at night, as that's what works with my natural body rhythms.
There's a commercial that my mom and the other retired teachers in that first paragraph love. I forget exactly what retailer it's for, but it comes out at the end of every summer, it's set to the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", and has parents frolicking through the aisles, picking out school supplies, while their sullen children look on with a decided lack of enthusiasm. From what I've heard from my friends with school-aged kids, it is 100% accurate.
And now that I'm on a non-public school schedule, I have to admit - I LOVE this time of year as well. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and everything, but now every summer is an adjustment of having him home and here and I have to feed him and, well, he is all up in my business. By mid-August, I'm usually all GET OUT OF MY HOUSE. (Said with love, of course.) It's just that the rest of the year I'm settled into my own routine, and all of a sudden, there's another person in it. Nobody likes change, right?
But now we're about a month into the school year. My husband usually goes to bed around 11:00 on school nights, and since I can sleep later than him, I usually go to bed between midnight and 12:30. And let me tell you, that hour to 90 minutes late at night is blissful. The house is quiet, I know there won't be anyone or anything bothering me, and I can wind down all on my own. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I usually get some of my best writing done in that block. It's amazing. I love it. And it's a looooooong way to June! :D
Friday, September 12, 2014
Elysium (or, My Sudden Bout of Shyness)
So I signed another contract this week. It's for another novella for the 1Night Stand series, titled Elysium. I started work on it right after I finished The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions and blazed through all 20K words of it in about a month.
Truthfully, I'm not quite sure why I didn't blog about it here. I knew I was taking a little bit of a chance with the premise, as it's definitely not the most conventional of love stories, and the framework and plot devices do require a little bit of a leap of the imagination. I'd gone over the plot with my good buddy Boobulon and had him beta the first two chapters (one of which eventually underwent some major revisions) and he gave it his stamp of approval. It's not that I didn't believe in the story. In fact, it might be the exact opposite.
This might be the best story I've ever written.
You'd think that with those feelings, I'd be singing my great ideas from the rooftops. And again, I don't really know why I didn't do that. Maybe it's because I felt so attached to the story, such an intimate personal connection to it, I was afraid to release any details about it into the world until I was sure it was actually going to be published. (Whether or not that defeats the purpose of a writing blog, who knows.)
But enough speculating and navel-gazing. It's been accepted for the 1NS series, and I am beyond thrilled and excited! Here, have a blurb!
Two years have passed since April Patterson’s husband was shot and killed in the line of duty, trapping her in a haze of grief and uncertainty. Her cousin, having grown frustrated by all other efforts to engage her in activities where she could meet new people, arranges for her to go on a date of her choosing via 1Night Stand. April isn’t thrilled with the idea, and when she contacts Madame Eve, she requests the impossible: she wants a date with her deceased husband.
Brilliant software engineer Drew Monroe created his company, Elysium, to help give closure to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one through the use of virtual reality. Though passionate about his work, being constantly surrounded by heartache and death has taken a toll on his mental health. When he accepts the case of a young widow referred to him by Madame Eve, her tragic tale depresses him further, but he commits himself to programming April the romantic date she desires.
April arrives at Elysium and prepares to enter Drew’s virtual realm. Will she find the solace she seeks within?
Truthfully, I'm not quite sure why I didn't blog about it here. I knew I was taking a little bit of a chance with the premise, as it's definitely not the most conventional of love stories, and the framework and plot devices do require a little bit of a leap of the imagination. I'd gone over the plot with my good buddy Boobulon and had him beta the first two chapters (one of which eventually underwent some major revisions) and he gave it his stamp of approval. It's not that I didn't believe in the story. In fact, it might be the exact opposite.
This might be the best story I've ever written.
You'd think that with those feelings, I'd be singing my great ideas from the rooftops. And again, I don't really know why I didn't do that. Maybe it's because I felt so attached to the story, such an intimate personal connection to it, I was afraid to release any details about it into the world until I was sure it was actually going to be published. (Whether or not that defeats the purpose of a writing blog, who knows.)
But enough speculating and navel-gazing. It's been accepted for the 1NS series, and I am beyond thrilled and excited! Here, have a blurb!
Two years have passed since April Patterson’s husband was shot and killed in the line of duty, trapping her in a haze of grief and uncertainty. Her cousin, having grown frustrated by all other efforts to engage her in activities where she could meet new people, arranges for her to go on a date of her choosing via 1Night Stand. April isn’t thrilled with the idea, and when she contacts Madame Eve, she requests the impossible: she wants a date with her deceased husband.
Brilliant software engineer Drew Monroe created his company, Elysium, to help give closure to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one through the use of virtual reality. Though passionate about his work, being constantly surrounded by heartache and death has taken a toll on his mental health. When he accepts the case of a young widow referred to him by Madame Eve, her tragic tale depresses him further, but he commits himself to programming April the romantic date she desires.
April arrives at Elysium and prepares to enter Drew’s virtual realm. Will she find the solace she seeks within?
Monday, September 8, 2014
Copycats
It's been said for a while that there are no truly original ideas anymore. Which, well, maybe. I haven't decided whether I agree or disagree with that, but I subscribe to the concept that it's all about how you spin an idea and make it your own, and not whether the core ideas are similar to That Other Work.
I also believe that it is absolutely possible for two different people to come up with strikingly similar ideas at the same time. Without getting into the dirty little details, I've engaged in the Hunger Games vs. Battle Royale debate with a former writing buddy before. Now, I'm sure I'm biased as I did enjoy the Hunger Games series, and I'm also sure I wasn't as well-informed going into the debate as I could have been, as my knowledge of Battle Royale comes from friends who have read it and wikipedia. From what I've learned from those two sources, though, while the general concept might be similar (coincidentally or not, we'll never know), there are more than enough differences in execution and overall setting to make me roll my eyes at the people who are still harping on about how Suzanne Collins plagiarized another work and shouldn't be as successful as she is.
Most writers want to be regarded as having a unique voice to convey whatever scenarios their imaginations conjure, I would think. We all want to have those fresh ideas that make readers marvel, to be ahead of the trends so we can stand out. Yet, if we really are working from a limited pool, that's easier said than done.
Without sifting back through the archives, I'm fairly sure that I blogged about my "oh shit" moment when I was halfway through writing the first Disintegration and learned that it had a lot of similarities to the movie Robocop (the remake of which was in the works while I was writing). I panicked, but was talked off the ledge by a friend who had both seen the movie and knew my plans, so he could assure me there were enough differences to set me apart. No one's come after me with a lawsuit yet (or even whined at me about it), so I guess it's all good on that front.
So why this blog post now? Because it happened again. *headdesk* Since I got the contract, I went to scan through The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions just to reacquaint myself with what I actually wrote, since it had been a while. And what did I find? There's a scene in there that is quite similar to a scene in Dragon Age: Origins.
Well, damn.
It's even documented on this blog that I wrote TFotMS well before playing DAO, but that doesn't mean I didn't start second-guessing myself. I tried to remain as spoiler-free as possible, but in my perusing of DA2-related stuff, did I come across something related to that scene and it got stuck in my head? Are the circumstances not as accidental as I thought? I mean, the common thread is admittedly not the most novel of concepts, but that they happened so close together in my life had me scratching my head a bit.
I'm not going to change it, of course. It's not exactly the same, and the characters, setting, etc. are certainly different enough. Will someone come across that scene and think, "Hmm, this seems a lot like that game I played"? Maybe. But for now, I'll just stick it in the "coincidences" file and not worry too much. Suzanne Collins got past it, and I can, too. ;)
I also believe that it is absolutely possible for two different people to come up with strikingly similar ideas at the same time. Without getting into the dirty little details, I've engaged in the Hunger Games vs. Battle Royale debate with a former writing buddy before. Now, I'm sure I'm biased as I did enjoy the Hunger Games series, and I'm also sure I wasn't as well-informed going into the debate as I could have been, as my knowledge of Battle Royale comes from friends who have read it and wikipedia. From what I've learned from those two sources, though, while the general concept might be similar (coincidentally or not, we'll never know), there are more than enough differences in execution and overall setting to make me roll my eyes at the people who are still harping on about how Suzanne Collins plagiarized another work and shouldn't be as successful as she is.
Most writers want to be regarded as having a unique voice to convey whatever scenarios their imaginations conjure, I would think. We all want to have those fresh ideas that make readers marvel, to be ahead of the trends so we can stand out. Yet, if we really are working from a limited pool, that's easier said than done.
Without sifting back through the archives, I'm fairly sure that I blogged about my "oh shit" moment when I was halfway through writing the first Disintegration and learned that it had a lot of similarities to the movie Robocop (the remake of which was in the works while I was writing). I panicked, but was talked off the ledge by a friend who had both seen the movie and knew my plans, so he could assure me there were enough differences to set me apart. No one's come after me with a lawsuit yet (or even whined at me about it), so I guess it's all good on that front.
So why this blog post now? Because it happened again. *headdesk* Since I got the contract, I went to scan through The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions just to reacquaint myself with what I actually wrote, since it had been a while. And what did I find? There's a scene in there that is quite similar to a scene in Dragon Age: Origins.
Well, damn.
It's even documented on this blog that I wrote TFotMS well before playing DAO, but that doesn't mean I didn't start second-guessing myself. I tried to remain as spoiler-free as possible, but in my perusing of DA2-related stuff, did I come across something related to that scene and it got stuck in my head? Are the circumstances not as accidental as I thought? I mean, the common thread is admittedly not the most novel of concepts, but that they happened so close together in my life had me scratching my head a bit.
I'm not going to change it, of course. It's not exactly the same, and the characters, setting, etc. are certainly different enough. Will someone come across that scene and think, "Hmm, this seems a lot like that game I played"? Maybe. But for now, I'll just stick it in the "coincidences" file and not worry too much. Suzanne Collins got past it, and I can, too. ;)
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Cross Post: The Name of the Person Sharing Your Bed
I'm over at the 1Night Stand blog today talking about the inspiration for Second Skin. Well, truthfully, I'm talking more about my love for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but I promise the two are related! Go check it out, and I'll be back here in a few days with a new, fresh, shiny post!
The Name of the Person Sharing Your Bed
The Name of the Person Sharing Your Bed
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
It's Only Words
It took some time, but I seem to have finally gotten some writing mojo back. I finished up the first draft for a short story I plan on submitting to an anthology, and I'm starting to get super excited about the projects I intend to work on next.
Writing for anthologies is always an interesting exercise. This time around, my biggest challenge was the word count. This call specified a range of 2500 to 5000 words, which I consider a pretty good length: long enough to develop a plot and characters, but short enough that it doesn't become a massive undertaking.
Here's a confession: I was never all that good at estimating word count for myself. For many of my longer words, I just sat down and started writing, and wherever I wound up, I wound up. I mean, when I'm sifting through the ideas in my brain, I can usually differentiate between, say, "short story idea" and "novel idea", but I was never one for saying, "Okay, I am going to write X and it will come out to be approximately 60,000 words." To give an example, I figured The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions would end up being around the same length as its predecessor...and then it went about 10K longer. Oops. But since I didn't have any strict guidelines for it, no big deal.
So this anthology submission. I liked the theme, I mulled over some ideas, and came up with something that made me say, "Oh, I can definitely tell that story in 2500 to 5000 words!" I started off and everything went according to plan...until I started encroaching upon the 3000th word and realized I still had a lot of story to tell. Eeek.
I soldiered on, and when I didn't feel like writing new words, I went back to cut some of the previous ones to give myself some wiggle room. The 4000th word came and went and I started sweating again. When I only had the final scene to go, I did the only thing that could save my sanity and let the prose just flow out of my fingers: I turned off the word count display.
I merrily wrote the conclusion of this fun little story without concentrating on the bottom corner of the screen. (All right, I confess that I cheated and peeked twice just to see where I was.) I wrote the last word, capped it off with a period, and right-clicked for the results.
5015. DAMN IT, SO CLOSE.
It was getting late at night, but no way was I going to bed without finding 15 unnecessary words to chop. I did a quick skim, got rid of them, and now the story's waiting at 5000 words on the nose for revisions and edits. (And, uh, a spell check, because I haven't done that yet.) My editing usually involves more cutting than adding, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll keep it under 5000.
And if it doesn't get picked up after all that? Maybe I'll add the 15+ words back in and release it as a freebie. ;)
Writing for anthologies is always an interesting exercise. This time around, my biggest challenge was the word count. This call specified a range of 2500 to 5000 words, which I consider a pretty good length: long enough to develop a plot and characters, but short enough that it doesn't become a massive undertaking.
Here's a confession: I was never all that good at estimating word count for myself. For many of my longer words, I just sat down and started writing, and wherever I wound up, I wound up. I mean, when I'm sifting through the ideas in my brain, I can usually differentiate between, say, "short story idea" and "novel idea", but I was never one for saying, "Okay, I am going to write X and it will come out to be approximately 60,000 words." To give an example, I figured The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions would end up being around the same length as its predecessor...and then it went about 10K longer. Oops. But since I didn't have any strict guidelines for it, no big deal.
So this anthology submission. I liked the theme, I mulled over some ideas, and came up with something that made me say, "Oh, I can definitely tell that story in 2500 to 5000 words!" I started off and everything went according to plan...until I started encroaching upon the 3000th word and realized I still had a lot of story to tell. Eeek.
I soldiered on, and when I didn't feel like writing new words, I went back to cut some of the previous ones to give myself some wiggle room. The 4000th word came and went and I started sweating again. When I only had the final scene to go, I did the only thing that could save my sanity and let the prose just flow out of my fingers: I turned off the word count display.
I merrily wrote the conclusion of this fun little story without concentrating on the bottom corner of the screen. (All right, I confess that I cheated and peeked twice just to see where I was.) I wrote the last word, capped it off with a period, and right-clicked for the results.
5015. DAMN IT, SO CLOSE.
It was getting late at night, but no way was I going to bed without finding 15 unnecessary words to chop. I did a quick skim, got rid of them, and now the story's waiting at 5000 words on the nose for revisions and edits. (And, uh, a spell check, because I haven't done that yet.) My editing usually involves more cutting than adding, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll keep it under 5000.
And if it doesn't get picked up after all that? Maybe I'll add the 15+ words back in and release it as a freebie. ;)
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Promo - Intergalactic Heat, by Jessica E. Subject
My fellow Decadent Publishing author and sci-fi romance enthusiast Jessica E. Subject is celebrating the release of a compilation of some of her 1Night Stand stories! I'm thrilled to be able to share an exciting excerpt over here (not to mention excited about the release itself) - be sure to check it out!
INTERGALACTIC HEAT
a
collection of 1Night Stand stories
by Jessica E. Subject
A date on a space
station? Alien lovers? Madame Evangeline, owner of the exclusive 1Night Stand
dating service is known to be magical in fulfilling the ideal dates of her
clients, but she’s outdone herself this time, bring together beings from Earth
and beyond. As long as applicants are willing to let go of their pasts and open
their hearts and minds, she will find their perfect match, whether they be a
former sci-fi television star, a nurse, an employee of the Space Service, a
former Marine, or even an extraterrestrial. Because everyone in the universe
deserves a happily ever after…
169 pages
Contains: Beneath the
Starry Sky, Celestial Seduction, Unknown Futures, Satin Sheets in Space, and
Sudden Breakaway
Genres: Science Fiction
Romance, Contemporary Romance, Lesbian Romance, Menage Romance, Military
Romance, Interracial Romance, Erotic Romance
Available FREE in for your
Kindle!
July 31, 2014 to August 4, 2014
Also available in PRINT
from:
Amazon (Canada/US/UK) | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | more
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/8pY8tDTBhbk
Excerpt
from Unknown Futures – F/F Science Fiction Erotic Romance
“Let’s hit the dance floor.” The drinks could wait. She wouldn’t let her
guest out of her sight again.
The music thrummed, filling her to the core, preventing her from
standing still. She found a spot with just enough room for the two of them. No
one else mattered. With each hit of the bass, she moved her feet, her hips, her
hands. She let the beat control her body and her heart.
Although others might be watching, her attention remained on Jewel. Each
movement, a planned seduction. She couldn’t let her go without trying. When the
next song began, Jewel finally relaxed. She moved to the music.
And V moved closer. She slid her hand from Jewel’s waist, down, then
back up, swaying in front of her. Only an inch between them. She couldn’t get
enough. Her Earth scent became intoxicating.
Beat after beat, song after song, she kept her hands on the sexy woman.
She claimed her, telling everyone else to stay away. She wanted to savor her
precious body. Maybe she could make her forget about her date.
She pulled Jewel even closer, her sensitive nipples pressed against the
woman she desired. Holding her with both hands, grinding against her to the
music. Her heart raced with hunger. I want to take her on the floor. Right
here. Right now.
But the song changed. The beat slowed, indicating last call. The club
would close soon.
Most of the patrons had left. Only those hoping to hook up remained. She
stepped back. Jewel would have to make the first move. V could never force
herself on anyone.
When Jewel took her hands and placed them back on her body, she couldn’t
help but smile. Perhaps the evening would end the way she wanted.
Jewel pressed against her, her head resting on her shoulder, swaying to
the decelerated beat. “I don’t want this night to end.”
Their dancing became deliberate, a sensuous and intimate rhythm. “It
doesn’t have to.”
Jewel stopped and looked up at her. “You…you’re interested?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? You’re the most beautiful creature in the space
station.”
Somehow, she had to make her see. She brushed her thumb across her lips,
wanting to touch more, her entire luscious body. Taking a deep breath, V
steadied herself. If this were to go any further, Jewel needed to show her own
intentions. As warm moisture pooled between her thighs, V schooled herself to
patience.
“Are you sure you’re not my date?”
Shit! That damn date, the only
wedge between them. “No, but I wish I was.”
“I wish you were, too.” Jewel stood on the tips of her toes and claimed
her mouth.
V pulled her closer until the bit of space between them had been filled.
Excited by the warm, curvaceous body pressed against her taut nipples, she fed
from the sweetness of Jewel’s mouth, drawing out each delicious sweep. But she
wanted more. She wanted all of her.
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