Jemi Fraser's Blog, page 7
September 1, 2021
IWSG & Success!
The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
***
September 1 question - How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?
For me, success is a moving target.
On any given day, any of these mean success:
feeling good about the words I've put on the pageknowing I had my first short story chosen for a great anthologysomeone buys one of my booksdrafting over 1k words in a sessiona reader leaves a positive reviewa payment from one of the retailers lands in my bank accountI manage to write a scene I've been avoidingan idea for a new scene/book/series/character lights up my dayI edit a scene and it's so much betterI can provide feedback for another authorI can help a newbie writer - even though I feel like I'm in that category myselfI manage to plot out a book...Oh, wait! That last one is totally impossible!Success is relative and changing. To be honest, I rarely give it much thought! Instead, I just focus on the next step.
How about you? What does success mean to you? When was your last successful moment?
August 18, 2021
WEP & Their Voices & News
Their Voices
They try to silence
the voices
the voices that tell the truth
They try to squash
the stories
They try to rewrite
the histories
They try to erase
their lives
They took away
their freedom
their choices
their futures
But truth cannot be silenced
Not forever
Unmarked graves will be found
Their stories will be told
Their truths will be shared
Their lives will be celebrated
and mourned
and remembered
Their potential was erased
Their loss is uncountable
But they have not silenced their voices
Those who will listen
Will always hear
***
Some parts of Canadian history are horrific. Residential schools aimed to destroy indigenous cultures and people. Unmarked graves in multiple sites have been found. It's a hideous part of our history and something we have to acknowledge. We can't go back to fix the mistakes of the past, but we can acknowledge them and offer reparations and work to ensure nothing like this happens again.
The freedom to speak, the freedom to live and thrive, the freedom to be, was taken away from so many kids. I hope it never happens again. I know I can't fix the world, but I'll continue to work on my own little corner of it. It's the least we can do.
***
The above is part of the WEP Challenge - although it's not an actual part of the challenge. One reason is that I'm offering the prize this month. The second reason is, I'm now a part of the WEP team!! I'm thrilled to be joining this talented and lovely group of writers!
Please check out this link to find the stories that are actually part of the challenge. WEP is always a good place to stretch your skills. I'm excited to work with the winner and to be part of the team in the future!
August 4, 2021
IWSG & Pants & Family, Oh My!
The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
August 4 question - What is your favorite writing craft book? Think of a book that every time you read it you learn something or you are inspired to write or try the new technique. And why?
My favourite craft book is Take Off Your Pants!! by Libbie Hawker (scroll right to the bottom of her page for links).
I'm NOT a natural plotter. I was the kid who had to write the essay first and then make the outline that you had to hand in before you were supposed to start writing the essay.
As a teacher, I've always planned units backwards - start with the assessment piece at the end and work back to figure out how to get everyone there.
Most plotting books hurt my brain and inhibit my process. They also make me feel like a twit because I simply can't do it no matter how hard I try.
Libbie's book talks about starting with the character and his/her personality and flaws. Then you build a path based on that. It's not written for romance authors, but I simply think about two people, two paths, and how they can twine together.
Notice I said think, not write. I do create charts for the steps of the plot points along the path for each character but I haven't completed one of these charts yet. Getting better though!
I don't follow Libbie's entire process but it makes sense to my brain and has helped me organize my stories in my head so that I'm not dealing with a bazillion revision rounds trying to make the plot make sense.
Honorary mention to ALL the Thesauruses (Thesauri??) written by Angela & Becca. They are amazing!
How about you? Are you a backwards planner as well? Plotter or pantser or somewhere in between? Thesauruses or Thesauri?
***
In other news, Reaching For Family (Bloo Moose Romance #8) releases on August 10th! That's next Tuesday!
Jenna Wilkes grew up knowing that animals were the only source of unconditional love. As Bloo Moose’s vet, she’s determined to make sure all of her patients find a loving home.
Noah Washington may not have been able to save the farm his adoptive parents owned, but now he’s got it back. Instead of taking out the bad guys as a Ranger, he’s trying not to sever his fingers while shearing his herd.
When the land surrounding her barn is suddenly filled with nosy alpacas and a wary man with shadows in his sexy eyes, Jenna realizes she wants to heal him as well. But when accidents start to happen she wonders if he only wants her gone.
When the threats escalate, they’ll need to rely on each other if they’re ever to learn what family feels like.
When family isn't safe, you need to make your own.
Preorder today to make sure Reaching For Family pops onto your e-reader as soon as it's available!
July 21, 2021
Bloo Moosiversary!
One year ago, the first three Bloo Moose books hit the shelves. Hard to believe it's been a year. And a great one at that!
A huge thank you to everyone! I've had so much support over the last year.
blog postsguest poststweets and retweetscheerleaders in so many cornersreadersreviewerskind wordsfriends - so many amazing friendsSo thank you!Happy birthday, Bloo Moose! You're 1!!
If you're interested in any of the books, check out my website for easy links. Reaching For Family will be out in the world on August 10!
July 7, 2021
IWSG & Stress Breaks
The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
July 7 question - What would make you quit writing?
Hmm. It would have to be something serious in my personal life.
When dementia slammed into our family a few years back, we had several months where I maybe slept 30-35 hours a week. Didn't write much for those months. Took my heart several more to heal enough to have the zip needed to produce any words. Even then, it took more than 18 months before I was back writing with any sort of regularity.
Writing about dementia helped me come to terms with the disease and its effects on our life. As that healing process moved along, I was eventually able to turn my attention back to the Bloo Moose romantic suspense stories.
Life has a way of throwing curve balls my way, but I can't imagine a time when I wouldn't want the release & enjoyment that writing gives me. Even if I never published again, I think I would continue to create stories.
I write because I enjoy it. It's my "me" time.
How about you? Do you have to change things up when life gets stressful? Is writing your "me" time, too?
June 16, 2021
WEP: Red or Green?
It started in her toes.
A tingle that ran from the baby toe on her right and grew across her body until it hit the final toe on the left.
The next wave reached her ankles, then legs. Each wave of tingles higher and stronger until her entire body shook with them. And it took only seconds.
When she’d lived on planet, she’d experienced earthquakes. This disorientation was similar but the specific directionality differed.
Momentum wanted Liane to move left, but the cause had to be on her right. At the rate the waves were growing, if she didn’t find and fix the cause soon, she’d be space dust before she handed over command to the next shift.
By the time she reached the engine room, the deck was buckling beneath her feet, comms were inoperative, and panic was trying to claw its way up her throat.
The door had been cracked and as she approached, the deck rolled in another wave and the door fractured into pieces.
The engine room itself was unrecognizable. Metal lifting and rolling.
Screens shattered. And bodies trapped in the debris.
Grief and despair battled against her control but she moved forward into the chaos.
Walls weren’t supposed to buckle, floors weren’t supposed to roll.
And the engine wasn’t supposed to pulsing with an angry orange glow.
Nothing she’d seen in any of her decades had prepared her for this and Liane wasted precious seconds simply staring.
The next wave threw her into the bulkhead and brought her focus back. From this angle she could see the body of the engineer, arm outstretched toward the wall.
Crawling to the body of her friend, Liane saw he’d been reaching for a panel with two buttons.
Engineering gobbledygook covered the wall and she wished she’d paid more attention during those classes.
More waves. More cracks and breaks. More screams and anguish.
Red or green? Stop or go?
Which button was he trying to reach?
The entire ship shuddered around her.
Liane closed her eyes and pressed red.
***
This story is part of the WEP Challenge.
Click on the link to read the other entries.
Have you joined the challenge yourself? Jump on in - the people are awesome. I've learned a ton by participating!
June 2, 2021
IWSG & Marinating Stories
The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
June 2 question - For how long do you shelve your first draft, before reading it and re-drafting? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?I NEED some time away from my draft. It has to marinate for a good while (about a month) before I set eyes on it again.
I have a bouncy brain that is often working on (worrying about) multiple stories at a time, so this is pretty easy to do.
At the moment, I have:
Bloo Moose #8 - awaiting final polishNew series #1 - awaiting a rewrite after a critique on draft 1New series #2 - first draft about 1/2 completeBloo Moose #9 - making planning notes in Scrivener on plot & charactersOf course, there are also main characters for Bloo Moose #10 and New Series #3 & 4 who are walking around in my head letting me know who they are and what their stories will be about. That doesn't count Future Series characters knocking on my skull.An author's head is never lonely!!!
So, with my Tigger Brain, I focus on one story's needs at a time. Then while that sits and waits for the next step, I do the next round of work on the next story. That gives me the 3 or 4 weeks I need away from the first story to see it with clearer eyes.
So far, my pattern has been pretty consistent - basically 3 or 4 stories in various stages at a time.
How about you? Do you have a Tigger Brain? Or, does you brain let you focus on one story from start to finish (I can't even imagine how that works!)? Anyone else have a head chock full of characters?
Reaching For Family is up for preorder at most retailers.Google Play & Eden Books will be up soon!
Jenna learned early that family wasn’t safe. As Bloo Moose’s vet, she’s determined to find her patients loving homes even if she knows the same isn’t possible for her.
Noah Washington promised his adoptive parents he’d save their farm and now he’s bought almost all of it back. Only one acre to go but it belongs to a woman who makes his owned guarded heart seem vulnerable.
After a decade as an Army Ranger, Noah’s alpaca are supposed to ensure him of a peaceful life but someone is targeting them. Or Jenna. Or him.
As the danger escalates, Jenna and Noah build a wary trust, but they’ll need to learn the true meaning of family if they want the farm—and themselves—to survive.
May 17, 2021
Patricia Josephine & A Quick Spell
Please welcome Patricia Josephine back to the blog today!
The challenge of writing short fiction.
You may think writing a 200 word story isn’t that challenging, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Some writers may actually say it’s harder than writing a full-length novel, and I know a few who don’t write shorter fiction because they can’t wrap their brains around it. Their muse only works in long form.
Writing short fiction is different from a novel. With novels, you have an unlimited number of words you can use to paint a picture for the reader. Short fiction you have restrictions on word count. You may only have 1000 words. You can even have as little as 50. When you have that limit, you are forced to choose more carefully. Your strokes have to be broader instead of going into minute details as you can with a novel.
The way I approach short fiction is similar to my novels. I just start writing. I figure out the story as I go and when I get to the end, I edit. I edit until the story is at the word limit I’ve imposed. That’s done by cutting descriptive words. The sentence doesn’t need the color of someone’s shirt for example. Thoughts the character has might get axed as well. If it doesn’t serve the basic story I want to tell, it can go.
Sometimes that doesn’t always work. Sometimes the story I’m trying to tell needs to be longer. When that happens, I stop worrying about word count and let it end as a novella or novel. I have a zombie apocalypse story I hope to release in the future that I initially intended to be 100 words. It ended at over 10,000!
Writing short fiction is a great exercise. It makes you think about word choices and their importance to the story. I encourage anyone who enjoys writing to give it a shot.
Blurb
Magic.
Myths.
Fantasy.
We are bewitched by what we can't see.
Conjure delight with a fantastical collection of tales. Each story is told in exactly 200 words and designed to delight your imagination no matter how busy your day is.
Will you believe?
Buy Links
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
About the Author
Patricia Josephine is a writer of Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi Romance books. She actually never set out to become a writer, and in fact, she was more interested in art and band in high school and college. Her dreams were of becoming an artist like Picasso. On a whim, she wrote down a story bouncing in her head for fun. That was the start of her writing journey, and she hasn't regretted a moment. When she's not writing, she's watching Doctor Who or reading about serial killers. She's an avid knitter. One can never have too much yarn. She writes Young Adult Paranormal, Science Fiction, and Fantasy under the name Patricia Lynne.Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, and has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow.
Social Media Links:
Website: - https://www.patriciajosephine.com
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/pjlauthor
Twitter - https://twitter.com/pjlauthor
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pjlauthor
Newsletter - https://www.patriciajosephine.com/new...
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Amazon Author Page - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00UH7GAK0
Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Draft 2 Digital - https://books2read.com/ap/xoOZX9/Patr...
***
Thanks, Patricia! I didn't start writing flash fiction until I came across the WEP challenges. I really enjoy the shorts now! You're so right that it's a big challenge to write a good small story!
May 5, 2021
IWSG & Reader Response
The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
The May 5th question is:
Has any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn't expect? If so, did it surprise you?
Reaching For Balance is the 4th story in the Bloo Moose series, but it brought me a great big first!
My first fan email.
From a complete stranger.In another continent.
Who loved my book.
Loved!!!! (with multiple exclamation points)
After reading Balance, this person had gone back and read the first three books in the series and has read all the others as well.
In the email, she called me her new favourite author.
I think I read the email 5 times before I believed it. When I started publishing last year, I didn't really know what to expect in terms of sales and reviews (still don't). It's a big scary world out there with a whole lot of twists and turns.
I honestly never expected to get an email from someone who called herself a fan.
Getting that email surprised me in such a good way. It's one I use on those tougher days to bolster myself and remember that good things comes in unexpected ways and at unexpected times.
How about you? Have you ever received an email that made your day? What was the last unexpected good news you received?
May 4, 2021
Dark Matter Releases Today!
The newest IWSG anthology is out and about today! These anthologies will also be special for me. My first published piece of writing was in Tick Tock: A Stitch In Crime. I met so many great people through the anthology and learned a ton about the process and working with a small press publisher. An excellent experience and a great welcome into the publishing world.
I'm thrilled to know a few of the authors in this newest anthology. Can't wait to read their stories and to meet some new author friends as well.
To celebrate a SF anthology I thought it might be fun to find out what fictional worlds the authors like best.
The fictional world that intrigues me most is definitely Star Wars. I suspect it's because I've been fascinated by it since I was knee-high to an Ewok, but it definitely pushes all the right buttons for me. No other world has inspired me to create so many of my own stories, games, crappy fanfiction, or fuelled so many arguments. No other intellectual property can instill such joy and rage in me.
C.D. Gallant-King
Besides that of Middle-earth? :p
I'm fascinated by Middle Grade and Young Adult books set in 19th and early 20th century Canada. To the extent that the first time I visited Toronto, I expected it to still look like it had in the 1930s, in the books by Bernice Thurman Hunter!
Deniz Bevan
My favorite fictional world is the one where I grew up, a fantasy land that emerged from the very prosaic soil of Queens, New York. My neighborhood was Rego Park, which was created in the 1920s by an enterprising real-estate company that took the name Rego from the slogan, "A REal GOod place to live." The developers carved up the farmland (yes, there were still farms in NYC in the 1920s) into plots that were strategically situated along Queens Boulevard and the Long Island Railroad. By the 1960s the neighborhood was a cluttered mishmash of attached houses and 15-story apartment buildings, drab red-brick piles graced with idyllic names such as Park City Estates, Saxon Hall, and Anita Terrace. But in my imagination, each housing complex became a fortress in a war-torn medieval land. As I wandered down the commonplace streets I imagined that I was embroiled in the bitter feudal battles, and when I looked up I saw knights and archers standing on every rooftop. In short, Rego Park became my Middle Earth, my Westeros. And now when I visit my old neighborhood, I see the fantasy more clearly than what's really there.
Mark Alpert
I would say it is the universe Wen Spencer has created in her Tinker series. That universe has immortal elves in it, and magic, and quantum physics too. The author postulates that there are several parallel worlds that almost mirror each other in terms of continents, climate, and such, except for one huge difference. Some of those worlds, like Elfhome, the planet of the elves, have oodles of magic. Others, like Earth, don’t have magic at all. There is even a possibility to travel between those worlds, but the presence or absence of magic makes for all sorts of problems for the author’s characters. Plus, people are the same everywhere, magic or no magic. Some are good, some are evil, and most are in-between, struggling with their everyday lives.
This world intrigued me so much that I wrote three fan fiction novelettes set in it. All three have original characters – I didn’t use Spencer’s characters. All three are posted on my wattpad account [https://www.wattpad.com/user/olga_godim].
Olga Godim
I tend to lean toward worlds that are full of magic and nature. As an avid gamer (before I had a baby), the Kingdom of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda series is particularly interesting because there are different “worlds” within the world—levels made entirely of water or sand, inside a tree or inside a volcano. This also made me think about the fictional nations in the animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. There’s Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and Air Nomads. People within this world can “bend” the elements of water, fire, earth, and air in order to travel, heal, fight, defend, and more. It’s like magic, but feels so personal.
Stephanie Espinoza Villamor
The fictional world that intrigues me the most are books and movies with inspiring romances with happy endings--this world has too much heartache to not desire a bit of joy!
Elizabeth Mueller
I'm a fan of all fictional worlds, and each has its own unique way of storytelling, but I'm always going to go back to books as my favorite source. There is richness, emotion and detail in great written works that you can't find anywhere else.
Kim Mannix
I love to escape reality, so sci-fi and fantasy are my favorite fictional worlds. Anything from epic fantasies like The Hobbit, Harry Potter, and my own Beast World to sci-fantasy Star Wars/the Mandalorian, near future sci-fi Ready Player One, and YA sci-fi Hunger Games. Imagination rules!
Tara Tyler
When I was a boy, I dreamed of creating my own fictional world someday. I wanted to create one with the imagination of Michael Ende's Fantastica, the depth and attention to detail of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and the cheerful comfort of C.S. Lewis' Narnia. (The "Harry Potter" books weren't around back then, but if they had been, I would have added a liberal dash of J.K. Rowling's tongue-in-cheek humor.)
Charles Kowalski
Fully developed universes with multiple stories intrigue me the most. A few examples: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, the Ekumen systems in Ursula K LeGuin’s stories, and even TV worlds like Once Upon a Time. I love how they weave pieces of our own history into their fiction worlds and somehow make them new and breathtaking.
Steph Wolmarans
Dark Matter: Artificial
An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology
Discover dark matter’s secrets…
What is an AI’s true role? Will bumbling siblings find their way home from deep space? Dark matter is judging us—are we worthy of existence? Would you step through a portal into another reality? Can the discoverer of dark matter uncover its secrets?Ten authors explore dark matter, unraveling its secrets and revealing its mysterious nature. Featuring the talents of Stephanie Espinoza Villamor, C.D. Gallant-King, Tara Tyler, Mark Alpert, Olga Goldim, Steph Wolmarans, Charles Kowalski, Kim Mannix, Elizabeth Mueller, and Deniz Bevan.
Hand-picked by a panel of agents, authors, and editors, these ten tales will take readers on a journey across time and space. Prepare for ignition!
Release date: May 4, 2021
Print ISBN 9781939844828 $14.95
EBook ISBN 9781939844835 $4.99
186 pages
Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database; articles; monthly blog posting; Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram groups; #IWSGPit, and a newsletter. A Writer’s Digest 101 Best Website for Writers and The Write Life’s Best 100 Website for Writers
https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/
Links:
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S7LP369
Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-matter-artificial
Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-matter-insecure-writers-support-group/1138581452?ean=2940164777661
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56632113-dark-matter
***
So many great answers and incredible fictional worlds! My TBR list just got longer!
I love many of the worlds above and I'd also have to include Anne McCaffrey's PERN world as one of my favourites.
And my very own Bloo Moose, Vermont, because like Elizabeth said, the world needs more happy endings and I think Bloo Moose would be a great place to live!
How about you? Which fictional world is your favourite?
