Linda Maye Adams's Blog, page 26

Hunted

Too long since shapeshifter Tessa Hawthorne’s last change to Sasquatch.  

With the town dying, a rising restlessness puts her in jeopardy.  Men hunt the woods, murderous intent in their eyes.

Then the aliens from space return.  Instead of abducting her again, they need help.

Tessa must face Insurmountable obstacles, risking losing everything.A chilling, action-packed tale of betrayal. 

Available from your favorite booksellers.

Great Challenge Story #14

Story #14 is another sword and sorcery, same characters as 12 and 13. It was inspired by a reference on the Science Channel to a map which had the following phrase: “Buried Shipwreck.” (They didn’t find the shipwreck). The story is called Ship of Dread.

Behind the scenes

I ran across a blog post that inspired me to write the story fast (the site is down, so sorry, no links). I did the first scene in on setting. Then I walked away and inner critic started talking, because it likes to keep me straight.

Inner critic: “You described them arriving at the ship, but didn’t spend hardly any time on the interior of the ship.”

Oops. That needed to be fixed. The action scenes happen inside the ship, so I have to do the legwork before those scenes describing it. During the action is not the time for it!

So I made a note at the end of the scene to jettison the hill and add more ship interior. And went to bed.

The next day, I started writing at that point, simply starting with the characters going on board the ship and doing all the detail of the interior. Inner critic tried to nag that the first scene was messed up, but I wanted to get the story done. So I wrote straight through and finished the last three scenes. The ending felt a little weak at that point, but I always have to circle back and make sure it works. Endings are a known pantser issue because they have to go back through and make sure the validation happens.

Slept on the story overnight, revisited it the next morning. My goal was simply to remove the section where the characters were on the hill and do a final cycling pass.

Well, inner critic was horrified. It thought the story was horrible, grating.

Okay…so I took out the hill section, ran Grammarly to catch the typos, and stopped.

The next day, it looked better than inner critic thought. My cycling pass was mostly cleanup, and then the story was done.

#

Additional news: I bought a second computer for writing. That turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. The salesman had a lot of problems with the idea of a second computer and me being knowledgeable about computers. I literally looked at three laptops and picked the one on sale (17.5 inch screen).

Salesman: You’ll need a extended maintenance warranty. You’ll get free tech help if anything goes wrong with the computer.”

Me: “No, thanks.” I’ve purchased those warranties in the past. Never had a computer that required any maintenance during the warranty period. Complete waste of money.

Salesman: “We can get you set up with Microsoft Office.”

Me: “No, thanks. I have Office 365.”

Salesman: “If you bring your old computer in, we can copy your hard drive.”

Me: “No, thanks. I’m not replacing a computer.” And he wasn’t listening. Office 365 has OneDrive.

Salesman: (Circles back around): “These batteries lose 80% of their charge in the first six months. It’s a really good idea to get the extended warranty.”

Me: “No, thanks.” Seriously, dude, you’re talking to a person who has a laptop more than 2 years old. Battery still works.

At the counter, he had to try one last time for that extended warranty, this time implying that I would be out of luck if I had a technical issue if I didn’t.

Fed up, I said, “I work for the IT department. I can fix it.”

I suppose to be fair, a lot of people are tech-stupid. Kids today don’t know they have to reboot their iPhones so it runs properly. But seriously, if someone says no, stop trying to guilt trip into buying.

Spy Wolf

Special agent and shapeshifter Keira Wheeler receives a threat from her nemesis, The Jackal.

But she killed him.  A prank?  Or something more nefarious?

The Jackal’s thirst for revenge puts Keira in danger that her even her wolf may not be able to help.

A twisted shapeshifter urban fantasy short story to keep you turning pages.

Available from your favorite booksellers.

Mayhem in the Library: Catherine Mayfield Mystery

Off on her latest adventure, widow Catherine Mayfield discovers a haunting at her aunt’s house.

With the help of her gentleman friend Victor Rowe and fierce man-dog Henry, Catherine must track down the ghost.

But with time running out, she must figure out what the ghost wants and bring the mystery out of the shadows.

A fun cozy adventure to keep you smiling.

Available from the usual suspects, er, booksellers.

Great Challenge Story #13

This week was a bit challenging with the writing. I don’t think it was actually anything writing related. But the Washington DC weather was kind of crazy and that in turn made it hard on sinuses and sleep. We went from rainy to dry, and then back to rainy and then back to dry. It’s also been pretty cold. It was in the 30s when I walked this morning.

The story is another sword and sorcery, with the same characters as Story 12. The story is called “Campfire Terror.” This one was the same basic idea: monsters, battle, beat monster.

I took my inspiration from a class called “Building Campfires for Women.” We went out to a local park and built campfires. One of the male writers in my writing group was unhappy because he couldn’t attend (serious grumbling). But the reason it was women only is because the guys will take over and do it for the women. One of the women attending even said she’d been camping many times when she was growing up–and her brothers always took the task the campfire.

It was really something magical and primal about building a campfire. So I used it here. And monsters.

Also, a very interesting sighting this week. Before I start work every day, I take a fifteen minute walk through a local park. The whole park is probably about a hundred feet wide and a block long. School visible on the right. Apartments visible on the left.

So I’m out walking, just around dawn, and I hear the leaves crackling. It’s still early for the squirrels and birds. I turn and there’s a doe–not more than five feet away from me.

We both look at each other. She seems not at all bothered by me and turns away to root through the leaves. After a moment, I walk on past, leaving her still looking for food.

And I’m wondering where she came from. She’s not living in the park, and there’s nothing really nearby that she could have come from. But a beautiful, amazing animal.

Great Challenge Story List

Here’s a quick guide to the Great Challenge stories (plus some extras).

Mask Pretty – historical science fiction
Teddy Bear Man – fantasy – Received a Silver Honorable mention from Writers of the Future!
Hunted – science fiction/fantasy
The Patron – science fiction
Spooner’s Cove – secondary world fantasy

a. Treacherous Cliff – flash fiction/ mystery (250 words)

b. Broken Agreement – science fiction (250 words)
Lake of Whispers- science fiction
Giant Hunter – urban fantasy / Buy copy!
Malice in Morro Bay – historical cozy mystery / Buy it here!

9. Death at the Fair – historical cozy mystery / Buy it here!

10. Murder on the Set – historical cozy mystery / Buy it here!

11. Mayhem in the Library – history cozy mystery

12. King’s Port Clash – sword and sorcery

13. Campfire Terror – sword and sorcery

Cold Nightmares: A GALCOM Universe Short Story

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Flashes of a captivity she can’t remember drives former galactic soldier Ella McLaughlin to write poetry.  Just to survive.

Then an officer from GALCOM arrives with a deadly warning.

With her life in danger, Ella must remember before time runs out.

A page-turning action-packed space opera story.

Pick up your copy from your favorite booksellers!

Great Challenge Story 12

It must have been the holiday week. This story just felt hard to get to. I hit Monday, usually when I have an idea ready to go and write the first scene.

This time…nothing.

Admittedly, I’m feeling the wear of producing so many stories now. That may have played into it, so I took Monday off.

Tuesday, this was my idea:

Sword and sorcery, monsters, blow things up.

Then all I had to do was decide on a setting and a type of monster. The story is called King’s Port Clash.

The reason for sword and sorcery is that there’s an anthology call coming up. I haven’t done sword and sorcery before. I also need to practice blending emotion, setting, and action.

That’s not as easy as it sounds. It seems like a lot of writers just think that an action scene is simply a movie reel playing. Document the action in detail and it’ll be exciting.

But the excitement comes from the development of the characters and setting before the action. The reader can’t care what happens to the characters if the legwork hasn’t been done first.

And the same time, the situation has to be something the reader can relate to.

I just read a book where the writer didn’t do either one of those. She normally does really good books (enough that I bought at least 12 in the series), but this was a branch off that didn’t work. The characters were not a situation that the readers could relate to, and we jumped into an action scene without any intro to the characters. It was such a problem that I couldn’t remember the names of the characters. So instead of enjoying the action, I was distracted because the character the legwork hadn’t been done.

What went right on this:

I started to panic yesterday because I was stuck on the second to last scene. I had to keep telling myself that it was only this scene and the validation to finish. I finally resaved the file, removed the scene entirely, and started over. This time I kept telling myself “Write the next sentence,” and out popped a different direction.

Murder on the Set: Catherine Mayfield Mysteries

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War widow Catherine Mayfield gets a front row seat to a movie filming in Morro Bay–and a murder!

With the leading man dead, everyone comes under scrutiny.  

Accompanied by her man-dog Henry and gentleman friend silent screen star Victor Rowe, Catherine investigates the crime. She discovers a tragic secret.

A fun cozy mystery to keep you smiling. 

Available from all the usual suspects, er, booksellers.

Death at the Fair: Catherine Mayfield Mysteries

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A fun adventure to the county fair turns deadly for widow Catherine Mayfield–murder!

A woman dies on the fairgrounds and the killer comes after Catherine.

She, her man-dog Henry and gentleman friend silent screen star Victor Rowe, must solve the crime before time runs out.

A fun cozy mystery to keep you smiling.

Available from all the usual suspects, er, booksellers.