S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 44

PBW's Book of the Month

I did not get a lot of reading done in September, but I did manage to reread the first two novels in author Anne Frasier's Elise Sandburg series and her newly-released third installment, Pretty Dead , which is also my pick for book of the month.

As the first two books in the series were among my favorite reads of 2014 it was no surprise how much I liked this one. Set in my favorite U.S. city, Savannah, Ga. Pretty Dead continues following Homicide detective Elise and her partner, former FBI profiler David Gould as they try to find a particularly crafty serial killer. As they do, they both have to face people from their past who have done major damage to them, deal with the changes in their relationship on and off the job, and navigate the political tides in the department and city government that are threatening to destroy both their careers.

Besides being beautifully written and tightly plotted, this book was that sort of great read you need on a regular basis to restore your faith in a genre. There are some terrific crime fiction books out there, and this is one of them. I really liked that I never knew what to expect, not even when I finally arrived with Elise and David to the unmasking of the killer and the final chase. The ending made me angry (for the characters) but also made perfect sense. I also love how Anne Frasier keeps all the books connected through her characterizations and artful back story weavings without overburdening the narrative with a lot of flashbacks or as-you-remember-Bob introspects.

Even if you haven't read the first two book (and I feel sorry for you if you haven't) you can easily follow along with this one. You do need to read the other pair, though. Yep. She's that good.

Here's where you can buy your own copy of Pretty Dead:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Indy Planning

Now that I've taken the first giant step toward indy publishing by ending things with the agent I am working out a plan for the first byline title I intend to publish. I've decided that will be the third novel in my steampunk Disenchanted & Co. series, for which the working title is Her Majesty's Deathmage.

The first task is, of course, to write the novel. Since I'm working full-time as a ghost writer I will have to fit that in with my professional obligations, which at present are rather hefty. I am sending out inquiries to the people I want to work on the book production, so that I have a team in place once I'm ready to publish. For promotional purposes I'll probably resurrect the Toriana blog (although I'm not entirely decided on that yet.) Scheduling everything is also important for me, as I like to set deadlines for myself to keep the process rolling along smoothly.

While all this is going on I'll also have to take a harder look at all the indy publishing options available and decide which direction I want to take with HMD. I am grateful to all of you who have offered to help, and I will probably be asking plenty of questions in the future. That said, it's important to me to learn and be able to the majority of the grunt work myself. As always I'll pass along whatever I learn in the process that I think may be helpful to other writers taking or considering the same path.

Readers, I will keep you updated here at the blog. I know I can't write the book fast enough for some of you, but I hope you will keep in mind that I now have a day job. I must give my clients top priority (and since they pay me for the privilege, I'm sure you understand that.) I'm also likely to be a bit slower than most writers at leaping into the indy publishing waters, but this is so I can swim instead of sink the first time out. My ultimate goal is to provide you with the best possible reading experience that I can once the book does hit the shelves, so your patience will be greatly appreciated.

Indy authors, if there was one bit of advice you now would give to yourself back when you started, what would it be? Let us know in comments.

Sub Op

I spotted this open call for Valentine's Day-themed LGBTQA+ fiction over in the paying markets forum at AbsoluteWrite.com:

"Special call for Valentine’s Day 2016 stories!

NineStar Press is currently on the lookout for romance stories for the Valentine’s Day period. These stories must be LGBTQA+ and have a Valentine’s Day theme. Any genre, any category, and within the word count length parameters stipulated in our general guidelines. Submit to submissions@ninestarpress.com. Please put “Valentine Submission: [Title], [Author Name]” in the subject line and follow all other guidelines as stated on our website.

Our general submissions call also remains open. For more information, visit: http://ninestarpress.com/submissions/

We're a full-service publisher of LGBTQA+ fiction, currently accepting most genres and lengths, paying 40% royalty. Full details and a breakdown of our terms can be found on our website: www.ninestarpress.com."

Done

I've been hand-stitching this almost every night since mid-April, so I have to show off the finished piece -- my tropical-themed quilt, which was promptly claimed by our rescue pup Skye.

The kaleidoscope quilt blocks are actually a vintage set I purchased them from Kathy's Strange Notions shop on Etsy. The original maker had put them together in all slightly different sizes, which due to the patchwork could not be trimmed down. As a result I had to finesse the piecing quite a bit. I used Sulky Holoshimmer (holographic) thread to accent the blocks, and Gütermann quilting thread for the rest of the quilt, all of which I did by hand (which is why it took almost six months.)

It feels great to finish a big project, and I really enjoyed this one, but now I think I'll make some totes. Little totes. :)

Sub Op

Here's an open call for a furry/legend-themed genre fic antho: "We're looking for excellent general audience furry stories on the theme "legend." Submissions should be under 12,000 words, no lower limit. If you have an excellent story, but you're not sure it fits the theme, give it a try. We can be flexible on "legend," but all stories have to be furry. That means an anthropomorphic animal figure should be significantly featured in your story -- it could be anthropomorphic in body or only intelligence. We'll consider any type of furry fiction from secret life of animals to fox in Starbucks -- as long as it's excellent.

Please send submissions as an attached .doc, .docx, or .rtf file in Standard Manuscript Format to ROARanthology(at)gmail.com with a subject line that reads: SUBMISSION: "Story Title" - word count.

Multiple submissions -- Keep it reasonable; two or three stories at a time is probably okay; ten isn't.

Reprints -- Yes, but include information about where the story was previously published. We're more interested in stories that will be new to the majority of our audience.

Simultaneous submissions -- No. If you send a story to us, please don't send it anywhere else until you hear back from us.

Response time -- Most final decisions won't be made until after the deadline, but all stories should receive a response by March 1st.

Paymet -- 1/2 cent per word and one contributor's copy on publication.

Deadline -- February 1st, 2016"

For more info, see the guidelines page.

Running Late (Again!)

Sorry I'm late posting. It's been a heck of a week here, work-wise. Here's a neat video about the miniature art of sculptor Thomas Doyle, who isn't just building dollhouses (with narration and background music, for those of you at work):

Cool Hunting Video: Thomas Doyle from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

Just Write

Today I'm off to write something new and post it online before midnight. Everyone inclined to do the same is invited to join me.

My link: A bit more on Ghost Writer (click on the title to go to the .pdf) with new material beginning on page 128.

For more details on Just Write Thursdays, click here to go to the original post.

Image credit: windujedi

Whoopee!

I wasn't sure I could get the freelance career going smoothly in less than a year, but as of yesterday I have steady weekly and monthly work (and both jobs are really fun), plus I'm booked full-time through April of 2016 on series projects. The really nice part is building my own list of clients who are terrific to work for and offer consistently interesting assignments. I'm so much happier and relaxed, too. I'm not going to say I should have done this years ago, but I'm glad I was at the point to make the transition without regrets (because now I have zero, lol.)

So what's going on with you all? Let us know in comments.

Image credit: natamc

Sub Op

One of the very few entry-fee contests I endorse, the 5th Annual Friends of Merril Short Story Contest, is now open for entries, and here are all the details:

"Entry (Periods and Fees)

Contest Period: The reading period for the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest is noon EST on Friday, September 18th 2015 to 11:59:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 20th, 2015. Any entries received after the contest closes will not be eligible for entry.

Entry Fee: All stories submitted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest must be accompanied by a $5.00 (CDN) entry fee. This fee is used to fund the winners’ purse and all funds raised in excess of that amount are used by the Friends of the Merril Collection to support the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy at the Toronto Public Library. We will not read a submitted story until we have received an entry fee for it. We recommend that you pay your entry fee first and then submit your story so that you can include your proof of payment in your submission cover letter. The entry fee must be paid by PayPal via the button on the Pay Entry Fee(s) page (the PayPal button will be available September 18th, 2015. Please pay before you submit your story and include your Transaction ID (17 characters, letters and #s) in your cover letter as proof of payment. We will cross-reference this number with the contest PayPal account to corroborate payment of the entry fee.

Submissions

Content: All entries submitted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest must have a speculative fiction element (see the FAQ page for our definition). As we are no longer posting the winning stories on the website, there are no restrictions on content or subject matter. All entries must be previously unpublished.

Eligibility: The Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest is open to all writers of all levels (published, unpublished, emerging, etc.), without restriction. The contest is international, so writers of any nation may enter.

Number of Submissions: There is no longer any restriction on the number of entries you may submit to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest, but each entry must be accompanied by a separate entry fee. So, for example, you may submit three stories, as long as you pay $15 in entry fees.

Simultaneous Submissions: This year, simultaneous submissions WILL be allowed.

Submission Type and Length: Your entries must be stories, and must be a maximum of 6,000 words in length. The Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest does not accept poetry or creative non-fiction.

Submission Format (Electronic): This year, we are ONLY accepting electronic entries. Entries should be e-mailed to us at fomsscontest@gmail.com with the words “Submission: Story Title” in the Subject line. All entries must use Standard Manuscript Format and be attached to your e-mail as a .doc or .rtf file. Include a brief cover letter in your e-mail with your Contact Info (name, address, telephone number and e-mail address), story title and word count. Remember to include your payment information as well. You can include a bio or publication history if you like, but it’s not necessary.

Response Time for Submissions: We try to acknowledge all submissions within one week of their arrival, but if you have not heard from us within two weeks of having submitted your entry please query us at the contest e-mail address (fomsscontest@gmail.com) with the words “Query: Receipt – Story Title” in the Subject line. Please provide the date sent.

Adjudication of Entries

Preliminary Judging: All stories are judged blind. During the three month reading period (September 18th, 2015 – December 20th, 2015) all stories will be read by a team of slush readers. Our slush readers will choose the finalists two weeks after the end of the reading period (December 31st, 2015). Once this two week period is over, rejections and notification of progression to finalist status will be sent out via e-mail. The finalists are handed over to the Final Panel Judges for consideration and voting. At that time the story titles of the finalist entries will be posted to the contest website, and we ask that if your story if chosen for the shortlist that you please refrain from mentioning which story is yours anywhere online. You can absolutely feel free to mention that a story of yours is a finalist in the contest, we just don’t want to prejudice the judges by having them know who wrote which story on the shortlist.

Final Judging: The judges will select one winner and two runners up from the finalist stories. Final selections as to the winning story and honourable mentions will be made no later than January 28th, 2016 at which time all the finalists will be notified via e-mail to inform them of the results. The winners will be announced at the annual AGM of the Friends of the Merril Collection.

Prizes and Payment

This year’s prize pool is a grand total of $600.00 (CDN), and the funds will be awarded on the following basis:

First Place: $500.00 (CDN)
Honourable Mentions (2): $50.00 (CDN) each

Posting of Names and Story Titles to the Contest Website: The titles and authors of the winning stories will be posted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest website after the winners have been notified. This information is left online indefinitely to provide exposure to both current and past finalists and winners of the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest.

Payment and Prize Distribution: Monetary payment will be made to the winners once we have contacted them and received information as to their preferred method of payment.

Rights

At no time do you relinquish any right, copyright, or ownership of your story to us, either during the reading period, during consideration for finalist status, or in the case of your story being selected as a winner.

Conditions

All entries submitted to the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest must be previously unpublished, original (plagiarism or fraudulent entries will result in disqualification) work. The exception to this rule is fiction not previously published in English: material previously published in another language and translated into English is acceptable.

The Big Why (And How You Can Help Whether You Enter Or Not)

We know that for many writers the idea of entry fee based contests is a touchy subject, both because of the fraudulent practices that choke the field like the risen dead clawing their way free from rotting loam, and because of the idea of the fees themselves.

We, the Friends of the Merril Collection, would like to make very clear the fact that we are not charging “reading fees”. We are running a contest to raise funds to aid the Merril Collection, and to raise awareness of the Collection. We hope you will visit the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy website, or better still, join us at The Lillian H. Smith Branch of the Toronto Public Library for readings, exhibits, discussions and other special events! Your entry fees and donations will help the Friends continue to offer great programming throughout the year.

We hope to do vastly more than simply raise the sum we need to meet the prize monies guaranteed. We are looking to engage good old fashioned barn-raising, put-on-a-show, shoot-for-the-moon fundraising. Some organizations run bake sales. We work with fiction. And what better way to work with fiction than by encouraging lovers and practitioners, amateurs and professionals, enthusiasts and connoisseurs of that craft to write and try for some cash prizes?

We hope you’ll help. You don’t even have to enter to do it. Help us spread the word. Tell a friend. Tell five. Tell ten. Blog about the contest. Tweet about it. Whatever you can and are willing to do to help, know that we appreciate it more than we can say. Because at its heart, the Merril Collection is about the love of fiction, be it science fiction, fantasy, horror, or any of the other less easily defined branches of speculative fiction, and the wide world of mainstream literature lying just beyond our doorstep. It is about discovery and change and imagination. It is about the power of the written word to motivate and move and foment and catalyze and crystallize and inspire.

It is about wonder.

And if that isn’t something to get behind we don’t know what is."

Color Week #5: Color Collection Notebook

Creating, collecting and keeping handy all your color-related stuff for stories is a lot easier if you have a notebook in which you can work and store your reference materials.

For this you'll need:

a good size, sturdy three-ring binder
a three-hole punch
a package of top-loading sheet protectors
ruled notebook paper or a spiral-bound notebook with binder holes
dividers in the basic color spectrum (optional)
ziplock bags (optional)

How you set up your notebook should be what works best for you, but I generally go with dividing sections into the color spectrum first, then keep particular color combinations in a palette section, and put my notebook paper in the very back of the binder (I also use a spiral-bound notebook that I can remove from the binder and take with me for trips to the home improvement store or wherever when I'm hunting new color ideas.)

If you collect or make color charts, store them in your sheet protectors so you can reference them without having to remove them from the notebook:



For smaller items like paint chips, swatches and other bits can go inside your sheet protectors, too. Since they're cheaper than sheet protectors I like to use ziplock bags to hold the little stuff, and punch holes in the bottom of mine like so:



My ideas, word list charts, particular story placements and all the other writing-related work I do go in my spiral-bound notebook:



If you like to be super organized you can also use color dividers (the kind with pockets can also hold your little bits, too):



Your color notebook is also a great self-teaching tool. Once a week take it out and go color hunting, as I do, to find new words, shades and descriptors to add to one particular color section. Make a habit of this, and in no time you'll have a wonderful collection of colors to use whenever you're writing.