S.L. Gray's Blog
June 13, 2012
The State of Gray
Howdy, folks! Just me checking in with an update on all the things that are going on.
Or rather, the lack of visible things going on. Life is still crazy but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm fairly certain it's not an oncoming train. Pretty certain. Mostly certain. :)
Faire is over for the time being. I am headed back east in less than a week to help out with family issues there. I am madly working in my fiber business to have things in stock and plenty ready to go to a show with me in July.
But you, who ostensibly come here to read about, well, writing, may be feeling a little left out. I want to promise you, therefore, that Words on Wednesday will continue when I have a little more breathing room. Immortal Lies will come out in ebook form at least. I had hoped to have that done by July 1st, but realistically, that's just not going to happen. August 1st is more like it, so I'm currently aiming for that.
Legion, dear followers, friends and fans, will also happen. If you've been following the twists and turns in Catie's life, you know that her times, too, are currently interesting. So, rather than a month long blast-through-the-book, we're writing when we can. Stay tuned. It's still going to be awesome.
Oh! Here's a little something. If you've been reading And The Skies Fell at the webpage, I've updated it with a couple more chapters. I will do my best to get the rest up there by the end of the week. Apologies for the delay. Think of it like an old-timey cliffhanger serial, or a midseason television break. Only this one didn't last three months.
So, for now, that's all the talk that's fit to type. More to come when it does.
Thanks for hanging in here with me. It's more appreciated than I can say.
Or rather, the lack of visible things going on. Life is still crazy but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm fairly certain it's not an oncoming train. Pretty certain. Mostly certain. :)
Faire is over for the time being. I am headed back east in less than a week to help out with family issues there. I am madly working in my fiber business to have things in stock and plenty ready to go to a show with me in July.
But you, who ostensibly come here to read about, well, writing, may be feeling a little left out. I want to promise you, therefore, that Words on Wednesday will continue when I have a little more breathing room. Immortal Lies will come out in ebook form at least. I had hoped to have that done by July 1st, but realistically, that's just not going to happen. August 1st is more like it, so I'm currently aiming for that.
Legion, dear followers, friends and fans, will also happen. If you've been following the twists and turns in Catie's life, you know that her times, too, are currently interesting. So, rather than a month long blast-through-the-book, we're writing when we can. Stay tuned. It's still going to be awesome.
Oh! Here's a little something. If you've been reading And The Skies Fell at the webpage, I've updated it with a couple more chapters. I will do my best to get the rest up there by the end of the week. Apologies for the delay. Think of it like an old-timey cliffhanger serial, or a midseason television break. Only this one didn't last three months.
So, for now, that's all the talk that's fit to type. More to come when it does.
Thanks for hanging in here with me. It's more appreciated than I can say.
June 8, 2012
Life may not always be kind...
But true friends will always be close.
As close as they can be, at least, when so many of us maintain long distance friendships through the power of the interwebz.
I know that there are several people in my circle going through rough patches, either themselves or with family and loved ones. It does seem that the universe sometimes decides to test us all at once, doesn't it? If you're having a hard or stressful time right now, I hope things settle for you, soon. Don't be afraid to ask for a shoulder to lean on or an ear from a friend. That's what friends are for, after all, right? And no one can do everything alone.
Which is a hard lesson to learn for some of us, when we think we ought to be able to handle everything. We're human, people. Sometimes humans need other humans to give them a hand. Or a hug. Or both.
This weekend is the second faire weekend for me. I am also sending the Engineer away for a bit (for work) and preparing for my own trip, as well as attempting to do fiber things and writing things and keeping the house clean and the cats fed. I keep telling myself that if I can just get through the month, things will calm down.
Which is really not true because there's more travel and more event stuff going on for me in July, but you know, every once in a while I fool myself, take a deep breath and relax. One small step for me...
If you have plans this weekend, I hope they're fun and that you enjoy yourself. If you don't have plans, I hope you have a chance to sleep in and laze around the house or whatever makes you happy.
And then come tell me about it on Monday! Gotta get my thrills somehow, right? :)
As close as they can be, at least, when so many of us maintain long distance friendships through the power of the interwebz.
I know that there are several people in my circle going through rough patches, either themselves or with family and loved ones. It does seem that the universe sometimes decides to test us all at once, doesn't it? If you're having a hard or stressful time right now, I hope things settle for you, soon. Don't be afraid to ask for a shoulder to lean on or an ear from a friend. That's what friends are for, after all, right? And no one can do everything alone.
Which is a hard lesson to learn for some of us, when we think we ought to be able to handle everything. We're human, people. Sometimes humans need other humans to give them a hand. Or a hug. Or both.
This weekend is the second faire weekend for me. I am also sending the Engineer away for a bit (for work) and preparing for my own trip, as well as attempting to do fiber things and writing things and keeping the house clean and the cats fed. I keep telling myself that if I can just get through the month, things will calm down.
Which is really not true because there's more travel and more event stuff going on for me in July, but you know, every once in a while I fool myself, take a deep breath and relax. One small step for me...
If you have plans this weekend, I hope they're fun and that you enjoy yourself. If you don't have plans, I hope you have a chance to sleep in and laze around the house or whatever makes you happy.
And then come tell me about it on Monday! Gotta get my thrills somehow, right? :)
June 4, 2012
An eventful weekend
As I have previously posted, I will be working at various renaissance faires this summer. The weekend just past was one such event. (Look at that line. Look at the post title. See what I did there?) It was, as I hoped, a lot of fun. My feet are protesting this fact a little, but they can just hush right up.
It was a beautiful drive up to South Lake Tahoe. Though the internet access up there in them mountains is less than ideal, sometimes you have to take a step away from the computer and just appreciate. Then you spend time around other people who enjoy dressing in historical costume and entertaining patrons as much as you do yourself and, well. I had a blast. I'll be doing it again this coming weekend and then no more playing in garb for a while. Ah well. There will be more of that later.
This weekend also begins lots of travel for the household. Not so thrilled about that. June promises to be quite a lot of alone time. Good for writing and other projects that require no interaction. Not so great for ye olde social skills. By the end of the month, though, hopefully that will have calmed down and we'll be back on something like a normal schedule.
Unless we move. It is to dream.
At any rate, hello again! I hope that your Monday was less than horrible and that the rest of your week goes smoothly. If you are at either BEA or E3, know that I'm terribly jealous. And enjoy!
It was a beautiful drive up to South Lake Tahoe. Though the internet access up there in them mountains is less than ideal, sometimes you have to take a step away from the computer and just appreciate. Then you spend time around other people who enjoy dressing in historical costume and entertaining patrons as much as you do yourself and, well. I had a blast. I'll be doing it again this coming weekend and then no more playing in garb for a while. Ah well. There will be more of that later.
This weekend also begins lots of travel for the household. Not so thrilled about that. June promises to be quite a lot of alone time. Good for writing and other projects that require no interaction. Not so great for ye olde social skills. By the end of the month, though, hopefully that will have calmed down and we'll be back on something like a normal schedule.
Unless we move. It is to dream.
At any rate, hello again! I hope that your Monday was less than horrible and that the rest of your week goes smoothly. If you are at either BEA or E3, know that I'm terribly jealous. And enjoy!
June 1, 2012
Words on ... Friday?
Hey all!
So, somewhat full disclosure. The cryptic comments I've made about being off my game boil down to this: there are serious health issues impacting my mother and her partner. Finding out about them made my already wobbly attempts to stay on track here even more unstable. Hence things like, oh, missing my Words on Wednesday post.
This should all be settled, for me at least, toward the end of this month. I will be doing my best to keep on top of posting and tweeting and things of that nature, but I'm going to ask for your patience ahead of time so I don't have to spend a lot of time apologizing if I miss days and postings. There may even be a week in there where I don't post at all. We'll see.
But you all rock, so this won't be a problem. And if you've got good thoughts to spare, send them toward Virginia, will you? :)
On to happier things:
Words on Friday! That's right. The first chapter that I promised you on Wednesday is live today. This is the first chapter of Immortal Lies, the urban fantasy with the jaw-droppingly gorgeous cover I showed you. I am working on formatting this book so I can get it into epub format and into the hands of the hungry and curious. I am so excited, I can't even truly express it. I really think you're going to like it. I hope you do, at least.
And. AND! It's June. That means that C.E. Murphy and I will do at least a little work on Legion, the awesometastic YA that will Rock! Your! Socks! Off! No really, it will, just wait. It may not be a complete novel in a month as we originally planned, but there will be work. And it will be amazing! There may be a work log. There may be goofy quotes on Twitter. (There probably will.) Follow along! Cheer for us! Other things that require exclamation points!
This weekend, I will be Ren Fairing it up. If you are in the Tahoe area or will be up that way, come check out the Valhalla Renaissance Faire. I'll be with the Needle's Eye tailor's guild. Good fun.
But now? Fiction!
So, somewhat full disclosure. The cryptic comments I've made about being off my game boil down to this: there are serious health issues impacting my mother and her partner. Finding out about them made my already wobbly attempts to stay on track here even more unstable. Hence things like, oh, missing my Words on Wednesday post.
This should all be settled, for me at least, toward the end of this month. I will be doing my best to keep on top of posting and tweeting and things of that nature, but I'm going to ask for your patience ahead of time so I don't have to spend a lot of time apologizing if I miss days and postings. There may even be a week in there where I don't post at all. We'll see.
But you all rock, so this won't be a problem. And if you've got good thoughts to spare, send them toward Virginia, will you? :)
On to happier things:
Words on Friday! That's right. The first chapter that I promised you on Wednesday is live today. This is the first chapter of Immortal Lies, the urban fantasy with the jaw-droppingly gorgeous cover I showed you. I am working on formatting this book so I can get it into epub format and into the hands of the hungry and curious. I am so excited, I can't even truly express it. I really think you're going to like it. I hope you do, at least.
And. AND! It's June. That means that C.E. Murphy and I will do at least a little work on Legion, the awesometastic YA that will Rock! Your! Socks! Off! No really, it will, just wait. It may not be a complete novel in a month as we originally planned, but there will be work. And it will be amazing! There may be a work log. There may be goofy quotes on Twitter. (There probably will.) Follow along! Cheer for us! Other things that require exclamation points!
This weekend, I will be Ren Fairing it up. If you are in the Tahoe area or will be up that way, come check out the Valhalla Renaissance Faire. I'll be with the Needle's Eye tailor's guild. Good fun.
But now? Fiction!
May 25, 2012
Just Flat.
Today was a day of bad news for the household. Not for me personally, but for family across the states. I therefore confess to having done, oh, nothing that I planned to do today. The long weekend will help sort things, I'm sure.
The Creativity Flow will return on Monday. Yep, I'm going to post Monday, holiday or not.
Have a good weekend! :)
The Creativity Flow will return on Monday. Yep, I'm going to post Monday, holiday or not.
Have a good weekend! :)
May 23, 2012
Words on Wednesday: They're different!
So as I mentioned on Monday, I have something a little different for my usual Wednesday post. I hope you'll indulge me. I hope you can stand taking a break from Tolya and the epic fantasy world for a little while. We'll come back to them, I promise.
But I am so excited about another project that I have to interrupt myself and share with you.
A little backstory: A lot of times, a story will come to me not with a story, but with a character speaking a line that, to me, pretty much sums up the character. It's usually loud, it's almost always undeniable, and it stops me in my tracks and makes me want to write that one right now.
For example (and one day you will know about this project too), I once heard: My name is Triumph. I wear a badge.
I still love that line. *self-indulgent swoon*
But for the project in question, I heard: Being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be. Anyone who tells you otherwise is prowling for a snack.
And lo, Tybalt Jones, the hero? Protagonist. Of my next book was born.
Sadly, I was a little behind the times when it came to vampire fiction. By the time I'd finished the book and started it out on the rounds, most agents and editors were saying dear God, send me no more vampires or I will stake you, the author, instead! So Tybalt and Violet (his faerie girlfriend) and Granny (the witch) and the werewolves and and and came home to me.
But there's life in this story, and I am not ready to give up on it. So New York may be tired of vampires. Readers are not. And when we, as writers hear 'Give me the same thing but different!', well...
Meet Tybalt Jones, the reluctant vampire.
This is a cover that I commissioned from the wonderfully talented Anne Cain. I am thrilled beyond all words with this cover, and more, with having a book that has a gorgeous cover with a multi-racial man front and not-exactly-center-but-close-enough. Thrilled. So thrilled. Can you hear me squeeing from there?
I am currently working on getting this formatted so I can release it in a number of electronic formats. Tybalt is going to lead my charge into the world of independent publishing.
And next week, I will have the first chapter available for you to read. I've got a lot of work to do to get everything ready, but that much I can promise.
New words! How exciting is that?
But I am so excited about another project that I have to interrupt myself and share with you.
A little backstory: A lot of times, a story will come to me not with a story, but with a character speaking a line that, to me, pretty much sums up the character. It's usually loud, it's almost always undeniable, and it stops me in my tracks and makes me want to write that one right now.
For example (and one day you will know about this project too), I once heard: My name is Triumph. I wear a badge.
I still love that line. *self-indulgent swoon*
But for the project in question, I heard: Being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be. Anyone who tells you otherwise is prowling for a snack.
And lo, Tybalt Jones, the hero? Protagonist. Of my next book was born.
Sadly, I was a little behind the times when it came to vampire fiction. By the time I'd finished the book and started it out on the rounds, most agents and editors were saying dear God, send me no more vampires or I will stake you, the author, instead! So Tybalt and Violet (his faerie girlfriend) and Granny (the witch) and the werewolves and and and came home to me.
But there's life in this story, and I am not ready to give up on it. So New York may be tired of vampires. Readers are not. And when we, as writers hear 'Give me the same thing but different!', well...
Meet Tybalt Jones, the reluctant vampire.
This is a cover that I commissioned from the wonderfully talented Anne Cain. I am thrilled beyond all words with this cover, and more, with having a book that has a gorgeous cover with a multi-racial man front and not-exactly-center-but-close-enough. Thrilled. So thrilled. Can you hear me squeeing from there?
I am currently working on getting this formatted so I can release it in a number of electronic formats. Tybalt is going to lead my charge into the world of independent publishing.
And next week, I will have the first chapter available for you to read. I've got a lot of work to do to get everything ready, but that much I can promise.
New words! How exciting is that?
May 21, 2012
It's Monday! I made it!
Looky here! It's still Monday and there's a blogpost. How cool is that?
Hello, folks. Apologies again for a quiet weekend. How were things on your end? Do anything exciting that you want to share? Or not exciting but that you feel like sharing anyway? It's all good.
This weekend, I did some more renaissance faire prep. I drove up to Grass Valley, about 90 minutes away from where I live, and spent the night with a couple of other ladies from my new guild. Saturday we got up bright and early and continued on to Fallon, NV where we met some other new guild members, did some fitting, did some sewing, and generally had a grand old time.
I've got the Ren Faire bug pretty seriously again. I realized that it's been eleven years since I worked a faire and I've -missed- it, people. I am currently wishing I could work a long-term eight weekends in one place faire, but maybe one day. This season, I'll be doing several smaller faires.
The first of which, by the way, will be the Valhalla Renaissance Faire in Tahoe. It opens the first weekend of June (June 2nd) and runs two weekends. If you're in the area or feel like making the trip, come see us. Let me know.
I am in the process of fixing up some borrowed garb before I can get the material to make my own. I am apparently "squishy" enough to fit into this particular dress (by which I mean I can be laced into a bodice tightly enough to make it fit), so I'm good to go, at least for this faire. We are a tailoring guild, so we'll be talking about and demonstrating sewing and embroidering and lace making and possibly spinning and dyeing and ... it's going to be a blast.
I am also currently obsessing about building my next-step character. I've always wanted to play a Spaniard at Ren Faire. I may get my shot!
At any rate. I'm back on track for posting, I think. If all goes well, Wednesday's post will be a little different. Keep your fingers crossed. :)
Hello, folks. Apologies again for a quiet weekend. How were things on your end? Do anything exciting that you want to share? Or not exciting but that you feel like sharing anyway? It's all good.
This weekend, I did some more renaissance faire prep. I drove up to Grass Valley, about 90 minutes away from where I live, and spent the night with a couple of other ladies from my new guild. Saturday we got up bright and early and continued on to Fallon, NV where we met some other new guild members, did some fitting, did some sewing, and generally had a grand old time.
I've got the Ren Faire bug pretty seriously again. I realized that it's been eleven years since I worked a faire and I've -missed- it, people. I am currently wishing I could work a long-term eight weekends in one place faire, but maybe one day. This season, I'll be doing several smaller faires.
The first of which, by the way, will be the Valhalla Renaissance Faire in Tahoe. It opens the first weekend of June (June 2nd) and runs two weekends. If you're in the area or feel like making the trip, come see us. Let me know.
I am in the process of fixing up some borrowed garb before I can get the material to make my own. I am apparently "squishy" enough to fit into this particular dress (by which I mean I can be laced into a bodice tightly enough to make it fit), so I'm good to go, at least for this faire. We are a tailoring guild, so we'll be talking about and demonstrating sewing and embroidering and lace making and possibly spinning and dyeing and ... it's going to be a blast.
I am also currently obsessing about building my next-step character. I've always wanted to play a Spaniard at Ren Faire. I may get my shot!
At any rate. I'm back on track for posting, I think. If all goes well, Wednesday's post will be a little different. Keep your fingers crossed. :)
May 17, 2012
More fiction! Less brain fail!
This forgetting to post thing is becoming problematic. I will work on that.
Nothing witty to relate today. Just more fiction.:)
Nothing witty to relate today. Just more fiction.:)
May 14, 2012
Time keeps on slippin'
I missed another day on Friday. I am sorry for that! Clearly I need to build up a backlog of posts so that when I have nothing creative to say or I run out of time, I can pull from the pool and be good to go.
Anyway!
Hi! It's Monday again. It's Monday in the middle of May, actually. A very alliterative day and holy heck, how did it get to be that far into the year already? I distinctly remember when a month seemed like fooooreeeevvver, Mom (unless it was summer vacation) and now? Now they just zing by without giving us time to catch up.
Ah, the joys of getting older.
Over the weekend, I finally managed to see The Avengers. Yep, I'm a week behind oh, the rest of the world, but it was well worth the wait. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It's been a while since I was caught off guard and laughed out loud in a movie. That happened several times. There were also a couple of near-sniffle moments. If you've seen it, you probably know what they were.
I have to confess, though: I still don't get Hawkeye. I don't know his story. What's the appeal there? Props for him actually, eventually, running out of arrows, though.
Nothing more exciting than that to report, I'm afraid. I hope your weekend was a good one, and that all of the moms in your lives had a fantastic day yesterday!
Anyway!
Hi! It's Monday again. It's Monday in the middle of May, actually. A very alliterative day and holy heck, how did it get to be that far into the year already? I distinctly remember when a month seemed like fooooreeeevvver, Mom (unless it was summer vacation) and now? Now they just zing by without giving us time to catch up.
Ah, the joys of getting older.
Over the weekend, I finally managed to see The Avengers. Yep, I'm a week behind oh, the rest of the world, but it was well worth the wait. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It's been a while since I was caught off guard and laughed out loud in a movie. That happened several times. There were also a couple of near-sniffle moments. If you've seen it, you probably know what they were.
I have to confess, though: I still don't get Hawkeye. I don't know his story. What's the appeal there? Props for him actually, eventually, running out of arrows, though.
Nothing more exciting than that to report, I'm afraid. I hope your weekend was a good one, and that all of the moms in your lives had a fantastic day yesterday!
May 9, 2012
Brain Status: Functional
Hello hello, and apologies for Monday's radio silence. Sadly, I caught my annual head cold and it laid me flat on Monday. I could have tried typing, but it would have come out as nonsense, I'm sure. Rather than being productive, I sprawled bonelessly in a chair at my desk, stared blankly into space and wished that wishing to feel better didn't make my head hurt so bad.
But I'm better now, thanks to the passing of the ick and the Engineer's gift of broccoli cheese soup. (I was craving it while sick. He doesn't like cheese, but he made it for me anyway. From scratch! Now that's love, right?)
I managed a pretty eventful weekend before I was felled, though. On Saturday, I went to a Renaissance Faire symposium. These are hour-long workshops on various topics of interest to those who volunteer, vend at, and perform at ren faires. I used to work at a ren faire. I have not for years, but I'm pleased to say that I'll be slipping back into garb this season for the first time in a decade plus. I am so excited!
Then Sunday, the Engineer and I went up into the hills to visit a co-worker of his and his wife, to spend the day and meet their llamas. Yep, llamas. Silly looking critters with a bouncy gait and long, fluffy, almost-bunny-ears. I got to help shear a couple of them, including a -gorgeous- young gent. I got to touch and pick through the fleeces she's collected for years and I brought home, I kid you not, several pounds of llama and alpaca fiber.
I now have enough of that to last me a while. Probably. Okay, maybe not. What can I say? It's an addiction.
The ick set me back a little on my projects, but I can tell you that I have at least one book cover coming up relatively shortly that I think you will all appreciate (which means I need to finish those revisions so I can share the story with you.) Another is promised and, knowing the artist's work, I don't think any of us will be disappointed.
So the list of Things To Be Done hasn't gotten any shorter, but really, with us writer types, when does that ever happen?
To tide you over until I have something more to show, there's another chapter of the good (free!) stuff under the jump here.
But I'm better now, thanks to the passing of the ick and the Engineer's gift of broccoli cheese soup. (I was craving it while sick. He doesn't like cheese, but he made it for me anyway. From scratch! Now that's love, right?)
I managed a pretty eventful weekend before I was felled, though. On Saturday, I went to a Renaissance Faire symposium. These are hour-long workshops on various topics of interest to those who volunteer, vend at, and perform at ren faires. I used to work at a ren faire. I have not for years, but I'm pleased to say that I'll be slipping back into garb this season for the first time in a decade plus. I am so excited!
Then Sunday, the Engineer and I went up into the hills to visit a co-worker of his and his wife, to spend the day and meet their llamas. Yep, llamas. Silly looking critters with a bouncy gait and long, fluffy, almost-bunny-ears. I got to help shear a couple of them, including a -gorgeous- young gent. I got to touch and pick through the fleeces she's collected for years and I brought home, I kid you not, several pounds of llama and alpaca fiber.
I now have enough of that to last me a while. Probably. Okay, maybe not. What can I say? It's an addiction.
The ick set me back a little on my projects, but I can tell you that I have at least one book cover coming up relatively shortly that I think you will all appreciate (which means I need to finish those revisions so I can share the story with you.) Another is promised and, knowing the artist's work, I don't think any of us will be disappointed.
So the list of Things To Be Done hasn't gotten any shorter, but really, with us writer types, when does that ever happen?
To tide you over until I have something more to show, there's another chapter of the good (free!) stuff under the jump here.
