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Posts Tagged ‘Learning’

Last Year’s Writing Goals

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I don’t make resolutions anymore, but I do set goals. And now it’s the time of year to look back and see how well I did. So here are my writing goals for last year and the results

  1. Prepare to query THE BARD’S GIFT. I did. I got it polished up and ready. I queried widely. And the only positive thing I got out of that was four personalized rejections variously praising my writing and the story. Rejections like that are not supposed to exist. Agents just don’t have time. I got four. If four agents took the time to do that, I can only conclude that they saw something good, but just didn’t think the story was commercial enough. THE BARD’S GIFT is now up next to be e-published, early next year.TheBardsGiftCoverSmall
  2. I also set a goal of getting my rewrite of MAGE STORM ready to query again. I met this goal, too. MAGE STORM is currently a first alternate in Pitch Wars. Wish me luck.
  3. Last year, FIRE AND EARTH was a first alternate (with a different mentor) in Pitch Wars. Ultimately, I decided to e-publish it.Fire And Earth Cover (Provisional)
  4. I set a goal to e-publish BLOOD IS THICKER and met that one.Blood Is Thicker Cover
  5. I intended to enter Writers of the Future at least once, but I didn’t. I just don’t write that much short fiction. The one I attempted this year turned into a novel.
  6. Write two first drafts. I guess I met that one, too. MAGIC AND POWER was a completely new first draft and I did a complete rewrite of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE, too.
  7. Learn and improve. Well, that’s an ongoing goal and a little too vague, really. I met it, but for next year it might be nice to specify some target areas.

Next post, I’ll start looking ahead to next year’s goals.

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More Thoughts on Orphan Heroes

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on December 1, 2013| 2 Comments »

Another reason for using orphan heroes, especially in middle grade or young adult fiction, occurred to me. Sometimes it means the hero has nothing to lose. This is certainly true for Harry Potter. Did anyone seriously doubt that Harry would go with Hagrid to Hogwarts rather than stay with the Dursleys? What did he have to stay for?

But isn’t it more interesting when the hero, like Frodo, has a real choice to make? When they are giving something up to follow the call to adventure?

Of course, there’s still another reason for using an orphan, abused, or misunderstood character–when it’s central to the plot. For example, I mentioned Menolly from Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Song series in my last post. If Menolly hadn’t been misunderstood and neglected, she would never have been in that cave to find and impress the fire lizards and the story wouldn’t have been even vaguely the same.

Harry Potter, too. If Voldemort hadn’t killed Harry’s parents and failed to kill Harry, then Harry would not have been the chosen one who could ultimately kill Voldemort.

That, of course, is a horse of a different color. So, I guess the lesson is, if you’re going to use an orphan hero, don’t just use it as a starting point. Make it important to the story.

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743

For another month or so, the omnibus edition containing both BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER is the same price as either one alone.

Also, another chapter of BLOOD IS THICKER is now available free on wattpad.

 

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Blog Tour Starts Tomorrow

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2013| 1 Comment »

Well, my blog tour arranged by Bewitching Book Tours, starts tomorrow.

Blood Will Tell & Blood is Thicker Button 300 x 225

Here’s the schedule:

November 18 Spotlight and review

Penny For Them…

http://pennyforthemuk.com/search/label/tour

 

November 18 Spotlight

Book Reviews by Xunaira J.

http://thesaucyreviewer.wordpress.com/

 

November 18 Spotlight

AC James

www.acjames.com

 

November 19 Spotlight and review

Diaries of 2 Thick Chicks

http://diariesof2thickchicks.blogspot.com/

 

November 19 Guest blog 

Mythical Books

http://mythicalbooks.blogspot.ro/

Guest Post: The Journey or the ending

 

November 19 review

Romance with Flavor

www.romancewithflavor.com

 

November 20 Interview

The Simple Things in life

Https://pwrspot.blogspot.com/

 

November 20 Interview

Musings and Ramblings   

http://judy-ree.blogspot.com

 

November 21 Spotlight and review

Fang Freakin’ Tastic Reviews

http://fangfreakintasticreviews.com

 

November 21 review

trips down imagination road 

http://a-reader-lives-a-thousand-lives.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

November 21 review

Corey’s Book Reviews     

coreywisniewski.blogspot.com

 

November 22 Guest blog: Character Profiles

Books, Books The Magical Fruit

http://booksbooksthemagicalfruit.blogspot.com

 

November 22 review

Crazy Four Books

http://www.crazyfourbooks.blogspot.com

 

November 25 Spotlight

My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews

http://mytangledskeinsbookreviews.blogspot.com

 

November 25 Spotlight and review

Ramblings of a Book Lunatic

http://booklunaticramblings.blogspot.com

 

November 25 review

happy tails and tales 

http://magluvsya03.wordpress.com

This is my first blog tour. It looks like it’s going to be a busy week.

Also, there will shortly be another new chapter of BLOOD IS THICKER available on wattpad. (Forgot to do it last night. Sorry.)

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Blog Tour

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Well, I’ve done it. My blog tour for BLOOD WILL TELL, BLOOD IS THICKER, and the Omnibus edition is set for November 18 through November 25.

Blood Will Tell Cover

 

Here’s the schedule:

November 18 Spotlight and review

Penny For Them…

http://pennyforthemuk.com/search/label/tour

 

November 18 Spotlight

Book Reviews by Xunaira J.

http://thesaucyreviewer.wordpress.com/

 

November 18 Spotlight

AC James

www.acjames.com

 

November 19 Spotlight and review

Diaries of 2 Thick Chicks

http://diariesof2thickchicks.blogspot.com/

 

November 19 Guest blog 

Mythical Books

http://mythicalbooks.blogspot.ro/

Guest Post: The Journey or the ending ( I have in view that in a Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance the happy ending is somehow expected, but that is not everything for a good book)

 

November 19 review

Romance with Flavor

www.romancewithflavor.com

 

November 20 Interview

The Simple Things in life

Https://pwrspot.blogspot.com/

 

November 20 Interview

Musings and Ramblings   

http://judy-ree.blogspot.com

 

November 21 Spotlight and review

Fang Freakin’ Tastic Reviews

http://fangfreakintasticreviews.com

 

November 21 review

trips down imagination road 

http://a-reader-lives-a-thousand-lives.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

November 21 review

Corey’s Book Reviews     

coreywisniewski.blogspot.com

 

November 22 Guest blog

Books, Books The Magical Fruit

http://booksbooksthemagicalfruit.blogspot.com

 

November 22 review

Crazy Four Books

http://www.crazyfourbooks.blogspot.com

 

November 25 Spotlight

My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews

http://mytangledskeinsbookreviews.blogspot.com

 

November 25 Spotlight and review

Ramblings of a Book Lunatic

http://booklunaticramblings.blogspot.com

 

November 25 review

happy tails and tales 

http://magluvsya03.wordpress.com

 

This’ll be a new experience for me–and a little outside my comfort zone. Yikes. I’ll have my work cut out for me for the next couple of weeks to prepare the interviews and guest posts.

By the way, as with every week, another chapter of BLOOD IS THICKER is up for free on wattpad.

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Re-imagining a Story

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Time to confront the truth. I’m stuck on my Weird Oz Story. I can–and probably will–finish Chapter 10. After that, I just can’t see my way ahead. I know where the story needs to end, but I don’t see how I get there.

I’ve only been in this place with a story once before. That was SEVEN STARS, the original version of FIRE AND EARTH. The reason then was that I had just gotten the story wrong. (In retrospect, it was a real stinker, too.) I wasn’t able to move ahead and produce a story I liked until I took a step back and reimagined it. A lot of things about that story changed when I did that, but it ended up so much better. That, after all, is the goal–a great story, well-told.

Fire And Earth Cover (Provisional)

So, I’m going to have to take a step back and try to reimagine my Weird Oz Story. Let my subconscious play with it and see what ideas float up out of the depths. I suspect part of the problem was with the initial idea–throwing my Dorothy into Oz alone.  One character by herself can only stay interesting for so long. Chapters 9 and 10 were about getting her some company, but I think it’s just too late. The point was to force her to take charge, but I just don’t thnk it’s working.

Meanwhile, for now, I’ll be doing some revisions to DESERT ROSE (formerly MAGIC AND POWER) and probably working on revisions to the rewrite of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. That’s the great thing about multiple projects: you never have to be idle.

In other news, I’m getting antsy, so I’ll likely move the publication of the combined edition of BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER up to next weekend (about ten days earlier than planned.)

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743

Meanwhile, another chapter of BLOOD IS THICKER is available free on wattpad. Or, you could just buy it and get the whole story all at once.

Blood Is Thicker Cover

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Critique Partners

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m taking a brief break from my Weird Oz Story to work through some of the critiques I’ve received on DESERT ROSE (formerly known as MAGIC AND POWER).

I’ve said before, but it bears repeating, that nothing will improve writing faster than giving and receiving critiques. Getting feedback on what works and what doesn’t, what’s missing or too thin (like description) or where you’ve taken something maybe a touch too far is invaluable. Doing critiques is at least as valuable. Sometimes, it’s just easier to see issues in someone else’s writing than in your own.

Now, I have a usual group of critique partners–the Pied Pipers (see sidebar)–but recently quite a few of our members have had to take time away because of real life. Others have drifted away for other reasons. (By the way, if you write young adult fantasy or science fiction, do check out the Pied Pipers on David Farland’s Writers’ Groups. We’re open to new members.) So, for DESERT ROSE I branched out and looked for a couple of new critique partners.

That’s made me realize something. See, the Pied Pipers have been exchanging critiques for a couple of years now. We know each others’ writing styles and the kinds of stories we tend to tell. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, in some ways it’s an advantage. But there’s something else to be learned from people who are reading one of my stories for the first time. My new critique partners are looking at and seeing different things.

It’s exciting and I think it’s already made my writing better on DESERT ROSE (and I’m only on Chapter 3 of the critiques.) So, if you’re reading this (and you know who you are), thank you.

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Outlining

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on September 22, 2013| 3 Comments »

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a discovery writer. Actually, I consider myself a modified discovery writer. Modified because I did once manage to write 100,000 words that didn’t come out to be a story. (I’m embarrassed to admit how many tries it took me to figure out why it wasn’t a story and fix it.) So, now I like to have at least a few stops along the way to my destination.

I’ve heard the idea floated that even those of us who claim to write by the seat of our pants are actually outlining; we’re just doing it in our heads instead of on paper. I think there’s something to that. Of course, if we’re holding the outline in our heads, it’s not as detailed or extensive as some of those written out. And it’s also more subject to change. That’s just the nature of the two methods.

I tried outlining a couple of times early on. Once, I spent way too much time revising the outline–time I could have been spending on writing the story. The other time, I wrote the outline and then never looked at it again. I think the story diverged from the outline in the first five chapters and never came back again. I haven’t made a serious attempt at outlining since.

However, every story is different. And even I–confirmed discovery writer that I am–am starting to think about outlining. I’m still only on chapter 7 of my “Weird Oz Story” and that’s partly because the story is just developing that slowly in my head.

So, maybe it’s time to drop back and punt. Open that copy of David Farland’s MILLION DOLLAR OUTLINES on my kindle, and try a different method. Maybe this is a story I need to outline. Learning a different way is always good, even if I never use it again.

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Progress

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

First, I said I’d post a link to my author interview on Clean Romance Reviews.

Fire And Earth Cover (Provisional)

So, I’ve been devoting a fair amount of my time over the last couple of days to pulling together everything for a blog tour I’m hoping to schedule for BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER.

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743

I may have to move up the release of the combined edition (above) to make it available earlier. That’s easy.

I’ve also got to go ahead and create a book or author page on Google+. My computer and Facebook just aren’t getting along. I have no idea whether it’s my internet connection, my old operating system (Windows XP), my layers of virus protection, or some combination of the above. Or, for that matter, none of the above and something else altogether. Either way, the best way to keep my blood pressure from skyrocketing as I try to get my computer to respond to me again after a brief glimpse at Facebook seems to be to just stay away. Right now, I just post from a distance, like by using the share button at the bottom of this post.

Meanwhile, I begin to feel like I’m making progress on getting my Weird Oz Story started. So that’s good.

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Starting Is The Hardest Part

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 8, 2013| 2 Comments »

Sometimes I feel like I have a split personality. I’m working on so many different things at the same time (well, not at the some minute, but you know what I mean). And that doesn’t even count, you know, my ordinary life.

Querying MAGE STORM, trying to promote both FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD IS THICKER, getting feedback on DESERT ROSE (MAGIC AND POWER), and trying to write the first draft of my Weird Oz Story (no title, yet).

I wonder if that’s why I’m having a hard time getting started on Weird Oz. I’m only on Chapter 3. (Here’s a teaser, Chapter 3 is titled “Pixie Spiders”.)

Could be that, or it could be that this is a bit of a departure for me. It’s the first novel I’m attempteing in first-person point of view. I’ve written a couple of shorter pieces (“Heart of Oak” and “Becoming Lioness”) in first person, but never a novel. It’s also a very different story to what I’ve been writing recently.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t completely built this world in my own mind yet. I’m a discovery writer (somewhat modified), so I’m generally okay with that. I can fix anything in revision (except the empty page I’m staring at right now). And sometimes the only way the ideas will start to come is when I start to write.

It’s also occurred to me that this may turn out to be a middle grade story instead of young adult, as I’ve currently envisioned. Well, I can fix that, too. But only if I get the story down first.

Well, once I get it well and truly started, hopefully it will start flowing better. Forward, ho!

In other news: Check out Clean Romance Reviews on Tuesday, September 10th for my first ever author interview. I’ll try to post a direct link on Wednesday. She did a very nice review of FIRE AND EARTH.Fire And Earth Cover (Provisional)

Also, a new chapter of BLOOD IS THICKER is up on wattpad. Or, you could just buy the book.

Blood Is Thicker Cover

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Blog Tour

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 1, 2013| 4 Comments »

I’ve just about made up my mind to do a blog tour in November for BLOOD IS THICKER. There are a couple of reasons for this:

Blood Is Thicker Cover

  1. I need to learn and get comfortable with more forms of promotion for my book launch. As my father would have said, “I’m not going to do it any younger.”
  2. It seems to fit this book. I’m actually trying to promote both books, BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER. A blog tour will give me a better platform for this.
  3. Frankly, trying to find potential reviewers for the second book in a series is hard and it’s making me crazy and affecting my ability to write the next story–which is always the most important thing. I really want to be able to concentrate on my weird Oz story, now.
  4. It’ll also give me a great venue for a giveaway of the combined ebook.
  5. It’ll also give me a chance to switch some of my effort back to promoting FIRE AND EARTH, which deserves more than I’ve given it so far.

Fire And Earth Cover (Provisional)

I’ll also do a Goodreads giveaway of both books. (I just ordered the copies this morning.) And I’m considering doing a special Goodreads forum.

Meanwhile, another chapter of BLOOD IS THICKER is available on wattpad. This one threatens my dragon characters (who cannot lie under oath) with the possibility of having to testify in a criminal trial. More fun. Which is what these stories are all about, really.

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