Writing this week has been terribly slow. Work has been a bit more stressful than usual, sapping my mental energy by the time I get home, not to mention the (inevitably) last-minute preparations I have had to make for the holiday this weekend. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: A Not-so-Short Novel”
Manuscript: Beta for The Warden of Everfeld: Memento has started off well, albeit not as smoothly as I had hoped. Only 8,000 words into my second draft, my writer’s feels this week have run the gamut from soaring over-confidence to sinking self-loathing.
I believe this is the quintessential curse of the writer. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: What are the Stakes?”
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Good news, everyone! All of my alpha readers are officially (finally) finished! I just met with a friend of mine last night to discuss the major themes and ideas that stuck out to him during his read of The Warden of Everfeld: Memento. It. Was. Fantastic.
It’s been entertaining, in a way, to hear these four friends/family members apologize profusely for how they’re about to eviscerate my novel before my eyes. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: The Revision Plan”
I published an earlier version of this article, “The Little People Matter Too!”, way back in 2014, but since it only has 15 total views, I’ve decided to revisit it and update it a bit. This was among my first “Creativity Sessions” pieces, and I think its themes still ring true as I begin exploring a new story this November. I wil post more of these re-hashes through NaNo 2016 (and likely beyond) with some new insights and thoughts to share.
As I discussed last Friday, I have entered NaNoWriMo 2016 with a much more solid foundation to begin a new novel. While WoE: Memento was largely experimental, with ideas and narrative points coming to me as I wrote, I have been much more structured in my approach to the follow-up novel, The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy. Continue reading “NaNo Re-Hash: The Little People Still Matter!”
The Book: Revenant: Advent
Author: Valerie Dugie
Published: 2010
Genre: Science fiction
Indie books are fun. I came upon Revenant: Advent because I happen to know the author personally. When I found out recently that Valerie Dugie had published her first book in 2010, I promised I would read it.
And I really enjoyed it. Continue reading “Book Review: REVENANT: ADVENT, Valerie Dugie – A Sci-Fi Thrill-Ride”
I forget sometimes that others can help pull you out of creative ruts. I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to finish Manuscript: Alpha of “Jaed and Aston” this week, mostly by telling my alpha readers that I was almost done.
Then, I hit a narrative point that felt messy and too drawn out. I fussed over wording, I tried to find a shortcut (which I do not like admitting), I brainstormed a whole bunch. And then I happened upon an interview that gave me the jolt I needed. Continue reading “Creativity Sessions: Let Your Characters Write the Story”
Netflix’s original series Bloodline finally crossed my radar a few weeks ago when my sister was in town. I ended up watching about 4 episodes of the first season with her as she prepared for the release of season 2.
I re-watched season 1 in its entirety after she left, because I can’t just leave a story unfinished – that’s ludicrous! I’ve now started season 2, and I’m not sure if I’m going to finish it. Spoiler Alert – I’m going to discuss season 1’s events freely, but I’ll leave out season 2 since I’m only on episode 3 or 4.
I enjoy cliffhangers in novels. As someone in the marketing profession, I also understand why they are often used at the ends of novels. I’ll be just finishing up the story when the author throws a curveball, making me go Oh shit, how can you leave me hanging like that?! And then Book 2 comes out and I buy it immediately, because obviously I have to see what happens. It’s good business.
But as a narrative device? I’m becoming more and more skeptical of the end-of-book cliffhanger. Continue reading “Creativity Sessions: Cliffhangers as a Narrative Device”
Ugh. The tying down of plots and characters continues.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, part of the delay on finishing Manuscript 1 of “Jaed and Aston” has been in trying to parse out the finishing plot points for each of my characters. The biggest difficulty I’ve found in this process has been in fitting the final pieces for each character together concisely, without jamming too much info/action into one section. Continue reading “Actually Nearing the Finish Line”
Do audiobooks count for my Goodreads reading goal? I feel like they should.
Future Father-in-law gave me a few audiobooks on CD for Christmas this year, and it took me a while to pop one into my car’s stereo. I was hesitant about this for a couple of reasons: Continue reading “Audiobooks and Critical Listening: Shockwave by John Sandford”
Evening Satellite Publishing 