Blow By Blow

Previously I mentioned that my husband has The Tale of the Drakanox for its first reading. This is important not only to reward his support for my writing, but to pick up plot issues, just like with any critique. He’s one of those readers who likes to guess what the ending will be as he goes. It’s both entertaining — as I get to smirk and say “no spoilers” — and useful to hear his predictions.

Some of the things he’s mentioned:

A character is trying to redeem himself. My husband isn’t buying it. Okay.

A character I meant to be kind of sketchy, he thinks is fun and enthusiastic. Um?

A character you’re supposed to sorry about, he is worried. Success!

A major plot event he’s just getting too, he said “this isn’t what I expected.” That’s absolutely something to follow up on with him. What did he think would happen, how did the story move away from that, and was it a good plot twist after all? Reader expectations are important. My goal is both to surprise the reader and to satisfy their expectations. Not to say I’ll change things to fit just one reader, but it’s always good to address major stumbling blocks.

These blow-by-blow reactions are always fun, anyhow.

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Woman At Work, February/2023

What’s Happening? The first of my re-issued titles is now available. Masters of Air & Fire is a juvenile fantasy. Every family has drama, even when they are dragons! Check out the links in the sidebar, if you’re interested.

What I’m Working On. A sequel to my fantasy short story, “Mistress Henbane,” is currently under way. It’s been a bit slow, but I’m still writing a page a day, 500 words, more or less. I’ll get there in time. As for The Tale of the Drakanox, my husband has the sole printed copy. He always supports my art, so he gets the privilege of the first read. Revisions don’t begin until he’s had his input.

What’s Next? Later this month, I’ll be at RadCon science fiction convention. I’m waiting anxiously for copies of Masters of Air & Fire to arrive, so I can sell a few there. In addition, I think it’s time for new covers to go on Aunt Ursula’s Atlas. Before that, I’d like to sell out the current copies. Watch this space for more on my RadCon schedule.

Fun and Games. I’m playing Subnautica Below Zero, where my character is marooned in the polar region of a water planet. I have to survive and explore a mystery. I’m also playing Animal Crossing and Ruya when I just need to chill out.

Speaking of chill, it’s been pretty cold outside. Perfect weather for reading a book!

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Laying It All Out

The reprint of Masters of Air & Fire (in ebook and paperback) has been complete for a while… Or so I thought! Almost a week after I approved the layout, I started getting notes from Amazon’s AI that the font is too large on one exact part of the book. I’ve been patiently reducing the font size by 1 point and re-submitting. Eventually I’m sure I’ll get it right.

Meantime, I had ordered author copies as soon as I thought I was done with it. They aren’t scheduled to arrive until early February. I’m honestly curious whether my author copies will arrive with the font still in the size the AI doesn’t like, or if the shipment will be pushed back. I do hope it gets settled soon. There’s an appearance coming up in late February that I want to have these books ready for.

Work also continues on the follow-up to “Mistress Henbane,” my as-yet-unsold fantasy short story. Maybe it’s just as well the story hasn’t sold yet, because I keep discovering new bits of background info that have to be reconciled. And now, I’ll get back to that!

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Results Are In

Last time I dropped in a poll about why we write (or do our other art). So let’s get to those results!

Top response: “I enjoy telling stories.”

Followed closely by: “It’s my identity.”

Trailing responses: “It’s self-care” and “I have something to say.”

People can get focused on different measures of success, like sales figures and review ratings. It’s important to remember that writing (and other arts) are pleasurable and relaxing. Life is full of stress, so relaxation is something we all need, assuming we can cut through the stress and have fun with it.

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Why Do You Write?

Recently, my attention was snagged by one of those online polls. “What does writing mean to you?” it asked. A good question, but the poll gave only two possible answers: 1) My job or 2) My hobby.

What caught me was the false choice that poll presented. To me, it implied that one’s writing (or any other art) should be judged solely on the basis of whether it makes money or not. Obviously a money-making job would be deemed worthy, and a mere hobby would be something inferior, a mere waste of time.

Frankly, this is an issue that a lot of indy writers already have to deal with. Well-meaning (or less well-meaning) family members may ask if we’re spending too much money on our little hobby. With the clear insinuation that we ought to be spending our money on something else the family member would approve of.

Rather than fret about this any more than I already have, I’m going to put forth that same poll with some options that I consider more thoughtful. I’m interested in what you think!

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Out of Order

The paperback layout and cover for Masters of Air & Fire are complete. Only now do I realize that Amazon wants you to do the e-book before a printed book! Ah, well. I’ll start on the e-book layout when I get done with this post.

Although Air & Fire is taking up a lot of my attention, I am still working on the rough draft of my newest short story. I felt like it was stalling out, and backed up to figure out where I got off track. The issue in this case is with the setting. I thought it would be cool to have a secret shrine hidden underneath another building. A rival religion wasn’t able to raze the shrine because of magical protection, so they built their own temple over it and tried to literally bury the old shrine. As I got into it, though, that setting wasn’t working. If you’re going to have a mystery, it helps when lots of suspects have access to the site. Today I sketched out several alternatives for where the shrine might be. One of them sprang to life for me, and I have that to push me in a new direction. Since one of my resolutions is to write more short stories, I’m glad to be working actively toward that.

The other complication is in my extended family. Our father is 94 and has been declining rapidly. Since early September, he seems to be moving from one medical facility to another. My younger sister is carrying the load on this, and then there was a huge fight over Christmas (no doubt due to stress and worry about Dad). Both sides say they aren’t speaking to each other, but they are all talking to me.

I don’t have enough oil to pour on these waters. But I do have an e-book to lay out, so I’d better get to it!

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Reprints Ahoy

My first solid project of the year is to re-issue Masters of Air & Fire. To that end, I have selected cover art that can be cropped for an e-book cover and also work as a paperback cover, although with some fiddling. There’s been a lot of buzz about using AI programs to create cover art, but I’m choosing to go through Shutterstock, where I’m pretty sure an actual human is being paid for their work.

My next step will be to create a splashy title to go on the cover. Then I’ll use Canva to lay it out. Once I have something to show around, I’ll begin reformatting the text for the e-book. Another step I have to do is assigning a new ISBN. However, the Bowker system is undergoing maintenance, so that that will have to wait a day or three.

These will be the easy parts. I’m hoping to handle most of it this weekend, because the trade paper process takes longer. Someone (or another AI, who knows) has to approve it and then I wait for printed copies. Hm… Maybe I should do that first?

Anyhow! It’s time to get started on that title. Cheers, all!

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Woman At Work, January/2023

What’s Happening? I finished it! The first draft of Tale of the Drakanox is complete! Also, I’ve just had a two-week winter break that encompassed two major holidays. Getting back to work will almost be a relief. In addition, I’m starting the new year off right with a new short story. “Where Gold Grows on Trees” is in the January issue of Lorelei Signal.

What I’m Working On. The plan was to rest my brain from Drakanox for a couple of weeks, but the very next day a new short story sprang into my mind. I jotted down the first couple of pages, but then started to realize how many blanks I was leaving to fill in for later. I’m still jotting, but mostly my focus has been those background details, like the names of cities and who is in charge of what.

What’s Next? Those books I got back from the defunct small press are waiting their turn to be refreshed and re-released. I just went over the options in my resolutions, last Saturday, so I’ll avoid rehashing that. My immediate plan is for Masters of Air and Fire to be ready by February, when I have my first convention of the year.

Fun and Games. I finished my play through of Skyrim in early December. Once again I saved the Empire! I found out there was an update to Subnautica, and managed to finish a play through of it without the serious crashes I was having. Currently I’m playing yet another run of Dragon Age Origins and also keeping up with Animal Crossing. I also received several jigsaw puzzles for Christmas and those will keep me occupied nicely as well.

The new year is going to be whatever we make of it. So make it wonderful!

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Resolutions 2023

Now we get into resolutions for the coming year. Again, these are related to my writing and keeping my career in motion. All resolutions have to be something that I, myself, can do without depending on editorial decisions, etc.

Resolution 1: Write 3 short stories and market each one to three or more magazines. This will keep me focused on new work while also revising The Tale of the Drakanox. It will also prod me to keep submitting my stories and not give up after the first rejection.

Resolution 2: Host Queen Titania’s Court in June of 2023. Not only is it fun to do, but it’s a way to build community and lift up independent fantasy authors.

Resolution 3: Make three personal appearances to support my writing. COVID restrictions are pretty much a thing of the past, and I’m comfortable wearing a mask among the unmasked, so I need to keep my name out there.

Resolution 4: Reissue Masters of Air and Fire, the middle grade book I got back from my former publisher, as e-book and trade paperback. I’d like this to appear in May and be featured in Queen Titania’s Court. Stretch goal: Also reissue my self-published short story collection, Aunt Ursula’s Atlas in the two formats.

Resolution 5: Publish two new e-books, one in May and one in November. Ideally, I’ll finish revisions on The Tale of the Drakanox in time for a November release. If I don’t manage that, I might do another combined “Minstrels of Skaythe” volume encompassing The Renegade of Opshar and Prisoners of the Wailing Tower. It’s also possible to do another short story collection. I’m leaving myself wiggle room here.

Let’s see if I can do as well in 2023 as I did in 2022.

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »

Resolutions 2022

As I promised (or maybe threatened) it’s time to take a look at my 2022 resolutions. Let me preface by saying that I only make resolutions around my writing. These are goals that will help me focus where I want my career to go. Resolutions have to be things I myself can control. I could not, for instance, resolve to sell stories. That is the editor’s decision. But I can and do resolve to submit work.

So what were my resolutions for the year?

Resolution 1: Write the first draft of the sixth Minstrels of Skaythe book. Did I do it? Yes! I expect to finish the first draft later today. (I’m writing this on December 27th, so I’ll make it by four whole days!) Confession: I had a secondary resolution to publish The Tale of the Drakanox, but since I hadn’t finished the first draft, let alone done revisions, that became moot.

Resolution 2: Host Queen Titania’s Court in June of 2022. Did I do it? Yes!

Resolution 3: Make two personal appearances to support my writing. Did I do it? Yes! I was at RadCon SF convention, SpoCon SF convention, and Fall Folk Festival.

Resolution 4: Get back the rights to my books from the publisher who has ceased operation. Did I do it? Yes! I have a publishing contract for one book with Wolfsinger Publications, and verbal agreements on two more. The others are mine to do with as I please.

Resolution 5: Submit short stories to at least 3 markets before giving up (assuming there are appropriate markets for them). Did I do it? Um… Yes. I’m currently marketing “Hag” from 2021, and “Mistress Henbane” from 2022. In fact, each of them has received encouraging rejections from some important markets.

Looks like I chose my resolutions wisely. Let’s see if I can do as well for 2023.

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Read Full Post »