R.M. Archer's Blog, page 26

Behind the Blogger Tag

I’ve been tagged once again. This time, thanks are in order to Chalice of Lionhearted Art. Thank you, Chalice!

Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you
Answer the questions
Ping back to the creator: Ellyn of Allonsythornraxx
Nominate 5+ bloggers to do the tag

Questions:
1. Why did you start blogging, and why have you kept blogging?

I answered the first half of this in my last tag post, so I’ll just quote that:

I don’t remember why I initially started my blog (probably just because my mom had a blog and I thought it would be cool to have one of my own), but when I revamped it in August of 2017 it was to start building a platform for my books and to help other young authors.

I keep blogging for pretty much the same reason I started in 2017: to share my books, to help other young authors, and to connect with all of you wonderful readers and bloggers. :)

2. What is your favorite type of blog post to write?

Probably worldbuilding-related posts. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite parts of the writing process, so I really enjoy writing about it.

3. What are your top three favorite blog posts?

Why the Literary World Needs Better Romances (and How to Write Them)

Worldbuilding Based on Ancient History

Self-Publishing 101: Traditional vs. Indie Publishing

4. What are some of your favorite things to do to relax?

Listen to music, dance, read, stargaze (when weather permits), find a trail and go for a walk, bake… And this is probably weird, but washing dishes is pretty relaxing to me.

5. What are three of your favorite things?

Music, dark chocolate, and books. (The full list is a lot longer, but these were the first three off the top of my head.)

6. What are your proudest blogging moments?

After my redesign in 2017, readers said the blog looked very professional, which made my graphic-designer side very happy. XD Or just yesterday when I got a comment on my Slave of the Sea review appreciating how honest the review was. Honest reviews are super important to me (especially on indie books, which I think tend to see some positive bias), so I’m glad I’m providing them effectively through my blog and Goodreads. ^-^ (My Slave of the Sea review was actually quite positive, in case you were wondering. XD)

7. What are your hobbies outside of blogging?

Reading, singing, dancing, writing… theological conversations often fall into this category, too; easygoing discussions mainly exploring different theological ideas and discussing their biblical basis are really fun. More in-depth arguments tend to be less a leisure activity. ;P

8. Describe your personality in three words?

I have one?

Totally kidding. XD But I do find it really hard to pin down my personality, and I tend to take on other people’s expectations of me.

I guess I’ll go with…

Optimistic
Procrastinator
Observant (of people much more than my surroundings, lol)

9. What are your top three pet peeves?

1. People mis-correcting grammar. I haven’t seen this happen a whole lot, but it’s super annoying when your grammar is correct and someone tries to change it to something incorrect. Like changing the proper form of “they’re” to “their.”

2. Nail filing. I can’t stand the sound of it, and my sister has this tendency to file her nails right behind my head even though she knows that. She generally moves if I ask her to, but it bugs me. XD

3. When someone sings the same few bars of a song over… and over… and over… and over… and over again. and never. moves on.

10. What’s something your followers don’t know about you?

Probably a lot of things. I tend to inadvertently not mention things about myself and then people are surprised when they come up. XD But… I will semi-frequently slip into a British accent when talking to myself. And then sometimes I get stuck and can’t switch back to American until I’m talking face-to-face with someone and it magically disappears. XD

Nominees:

Allie at Of Rainy Days and Stardust Veins

Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea

Edna at Bleeding Ink

Evelyn at The Rain-Drenched Writer

Ruby at The Sea Calls Us Home

The Liebster Award #6 and Sunshine Blogger Award #3

I’ve once again been tagged for the Liebster Award and the Sunshine Blogger Award. Noah, who nominated me for these, actually did three tags over on his blog (two Liebster Awards and a Sunshine Award), so go check those out. He’s pretty cool, and he has great taste in Captain America gifs. Thank you, Noah, for the nomination. :)

Rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you.
Display your award.
Answer the questions you were asked.
Nominate 5 bloggers.
Ask 6 new questions.
Let your nominees know they were nominated.

Questions:
1. Who are you, and why did you start your blog?

I’m Ariel. I’m a Christian author, homeschool senior, and singer, among other things.

I don’t remember why I initially started my blog (probably just because my mom had a blog and I thought it would be cool to have one of my own), but when I revamped it in August of 2017 it was to start building a platform for my books and to help other young authors.

2. What do you do for fun?

I sing all the time. I also dance every now and then (if I had more opportunities to ballroom dance, I’d take them in a heartbeat), read, watch TV shows and movies (read: analyze TV shows and movies; it drives most of my family crazy), and I enjoy studying ancient history and mythology.

3. What if you had a sidekick? Who/what would it be? What would s/he do? Or are you the sidekick?

My author assistant, Zeke, would make for a fun sidekick. (Thank you, Mariposa, for the drawing. ^-^)

But if I were to have a separate sidekick, a black tabby cat named Kalmar would be awesome. He’d keep me company while I’m writing/blogging/editing and cheer me up when I’m stressed. And he’d have the power to travel among fictional worlds and take me along so I could see and explore all the awesome places I’ve only experienced through words.

4. Favorite animal, real or fantastical?

Phoenixes. Primarily because of my brief obsession with Phoenician purple and my theory that the words “Phoenicia” and “Phoenix” are etymologically related is because the phoenix (whether the mythological bird or some real-life bird it was inspired by) was a reddish-purple color like Phoenicia’s purple dye… which is probably nothing more than a theory, but it’s a fun theory. Plus, phoenixes are just cool in their own right.

5. What is your most visited nostalgic moment?

Fun fact: I have an entire document of memories that make me smile. I’ve nicknamed it my “Happy doc” and I can’t even open the file without grinning.

I’ve probably visited any moment on that doc roughly the same number of times, but the one that immediately came to mind was an interaction from camp. Camp has a craft table set up in the afternoons, and one of the crafts a couple years ago was painted rocks. One of my friends found a shield-shaped rock and decided to paint the Hylian shield from the Legend of Zelda games, and he had a reference hanging to paint from, and at one point I asked if he was going to include the designs over the tri-force (since the rock made the scale pretty small), and after saying yes and continuing to paint for a second I remember his eyes just lighting up and he looked over at me with a grin and said “Wait, you said tri-force. You know what this is?” and we ended up talking about LoZ for a minute. Seeing people get excited about things they love is one of my favorite things, so that moment stuck out. ^-^

6. What do you want your legacy to be?

*takes a deep breath* Well… I want to be remembered as always having time and space for people who needed it. I want to be there for people, and I want to welcome people into my home when I have one of my own. I guess I just want to touch lives in really real and tangible ways? I specifically want to minister to young people, and if I could get teenagers fired up about the gospel and strengthening the Church and influencing the culture in a better direction and be remembered for that, that would be awesome. And if/when I have kids, I want to instill in them similar values and pass on a passion for hospitality and ministry.

New Questions:

If you could live in any fictional world, what world would you choose?
What’s a hobby or interest you’ve pursued for a really long time, and how long have you been doing it?
What’s something people find strange about you that you don’t understand the strangeness of?
What’s your favorite song right now? (Or one you’ve recently discovered and enjoyed)
If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
If you could be instantly fluent in any language, what language would you choose?

(I’ll share nominees after the Sunshine Award.)

Rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog so others can find them. Thanks again, Noah.
List the rules and display an award logo on your blog post. 
Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and notify them by commenting on any of their posts.
Ask the nominees 11 new questions.

Questions:
1. Who are you?

*points to first answer*

2. What’s your dream job?

Youth/music minister and line-/copy-editor. Less-than-spectacular experiences in church youth groups or with church worship, plus the fact that my dad used to be a youth pastor and music minister, have resulted in a strong passion for those areas of the church and I really want to minister to teens and through music. And similarly with editing, I see a lot of indie-published books with great potential that didn’t reach that potential because they weren’t edited as cleanly as they could have been, and I want to help authors polish their books–and learn to polish their books–so they can be as effective as possible and the communication of the story isn’t hindered by a bunch of misplaced commas or confusing line breaks or modern slang that jolts you out of a fictional world.

3. What’s your all-time favorite movie?

When I first watched The Greatest Showman, I thought for sure it had beaten The Princess Bride out of this spot, but… I think it’s still The Princess Bride.

4. All-time favorite book?

Either The Monster in the Hollows or The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson. It’s a really hard pick. I think I’m going to say TWatWK just because it made me cry so much harder than any other book, but both were fantastic.

5. What are three hobbies you have?

Reading, singing, and writing.

6. How many musical instruments do you play, if any?

None, unfortunately. But I’ve been wanting to take up the ocarina.

7. What’s a habit you don’t want to break, but you know you should?

Staying up late. I’m such a night owl, and I often stay up past midnight. Which would be fine, except then I sleep in wayyyy too late the next morning, and I know I need to get into a more normal (and consistent) sleep pattern.

8. What’s a habit you do want to break, but know you shouldn’t?

Depending on the season, prayer journaling can fall under this category. XP Sometimes I love praying and I have no problem keeping on top of it and prayer journaling every morning; other times it feels pointless and I don’t always push through those feelings and do it anyway even though I know the feelings are lying. And, unfortunately, I’m kind of there currently. :P

9. What’s your favorite word?

Oooooh. “Snickerdoodle” is awesome just because it’s fun to say (and because snickerdoodles happen to be delicious). But “sonder” is a really beautiful word with a beautiful meaning. (For those of you who don’t know, “sonder” refers to the realization that everyone around you is living a life equally as complex as yours.) So… probably one of those.

10. What is the quintessence of your life?

My faith is at the core of my life. I don’t always perfectly live like it is, but I see everything through the lens of my faith and my desire is to live in such a way that benefits the kingdom of God and honors Him. It’s something I’m constantly working on living more completely, and surrendering my life to Christ is something I’m always working at, but my relationship with Him is always impacting my life.

And, far less important in an eternal sense, music is a huge part of my life. I’m practically addicted to music; I constantly have music playing–if not from a playlist, then in my head–and I’m frequently singing. I’m in a choir I’ve been part of for nearly twelve years, and music is super important to me in many areas of life. Not only do I use music to get in touch with how I’m feeling, but I also love learning more about the other people in my life based on what music they listen to, and music is one of my favorite kinds of worship.

11. What is a belief you will carry to your death bed?

The gospel, as a whole. But since that’s kind of a given… the belief that God is completely sovereign. I find it’s not a popular belief among many Christians, but I firmly believe that God is fully sovereign in and in control of everything that happens in the world, good and bad, and He uses everything to His glory and for the good of those who love Him. Nothing is beyond His control or His reach, and everything is controlled by His power. (I have a whole post on my second blog about why I believe in predestination and the total sovereignty of God, if anyone’s interested.)

New Questions:

If a genie gave you three wishes, what would you wish for?
What’s your favorite mythological creature?
Have you ever been fascinated with something super specific and unusual? What was it?
What’s your dream job?
If you could live in any decade of the 1900s, which would you choose?
If you lived in that decade, would your ideal job be the same? If not, what would you do instead?
What’s your all-time favorite book series?
How do you feel about tabletop RPGs?
What’s one unpopular opinion that you hold?
What book is at the top of your TBR?
What’s your favorite quote?

Nominees:

Eden at The Happy Hedgehog
Edna at Bleeding Ink
Allie at Of Rainy Days and Stardust Veins
Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea
Ruby at The Sea Calls Us Home
Felicity at The Wonderous World Around Us
Elyra at Wandering to Find My Way Home
Evelyn at The Rain-Drenched Writer
Keturah at Keturah’s Korner
NC at Weird As Usual
Acacia at Acacia’s Story Corner

The Benefits of Vignette Worldbuilding

There are many methods for worldbuilding. I mean, many. Everyone is going to have a different way they go about worldbuilding, and I personally tend to use a broad variety of methods. One method I’ve found a lot of fun while working on Deseran (my huge “desert fantasy” world, which I finally get to share a piece of with Caithan) is what I call “vignette worldbuilding.” The way it works, I select a piece of the world that I’ve been developing recently, or I latch onto a cool new concept that doesn’t have an official place yet, and I write a piece of short prose around it. Caithan, for instance, was an exploration of the mix of cultures in Teraco, an empire that’s something of a cultural melting-pot. I’ve also written short pieces to further develop races, or to show how certain groups are treated in differing countries, or to showcase the unique traits of the wildlife of the world. There’s really no limit to what you can explore with vignette worldbuilding. But what are its unique benefits?

It allows you to narrow your focus

When you’re constructing a world, it’s all too easy to get caught up in all the broad, sweeping facts of the world, or to jump around from place to place because everything’s interconnected. Vignettes allow you to focus on one aspect of the world and go deeper with your worldbuilding rather than just bigger. This doesn’t mean you completely cut out all of the other connecting pieces, but the outside influences on your primary object should simply color the piece and hint at more instead of taking over your attention.

It gives you “firsthand” experience of the world

When we build our worlds, we tend to come at them from a distance, as their creators. We get the broad view of the world, but we can sometimes miss the smaller details that make the world truly come alive. When you write a piece of prose to explore the world, you’re almost always writing from the perspective of a character who lives in the world. Someone who has a certain view of things and who takes things for granted or who notices things you wouldn’t. You get to come at the world from the perspective of someone on the ground and pick out the deeper intricacies of the world (whether they be physical or non-physical).

Another facet to this is that you can explore the world more genuinely. As a speculative writer, you’re creating the world out of thin air, so there is automatically some degree of exploration because you’re discovering something that’s never been seen before. But there’s also a sense of control, because you’re the one creating it. In prose, from the perspective of a character, you can more genuinely explore as someone inside the world would. You can place yourself in the position of an in-world explorer and see things from a more “direct” perspective.

It exercises your writing skills

Vignette worldbuilding not only deepens your worldbuilding, but also gives you a chance to practice your descriptive writing (and even your dialogue and characterization, depending on the snippet). In these vignettes, your purpose is to show the world as you would in a story, but your focus on setting should be extra pointed. It’s a great exercise for showing the world effectively through your description and through the reactions of your characters. Depending on what your focus is for a certain snippet, it can also get you thinking about how a character’s world impacts their worldview, their actions, and even the way they speak.

It can produce ideas for full-length works

Sometimes when writing out your world, you can stumble across characters or places whose stories are begging to be told. Sometimes you write from exactly the right character’s perspective and you realize there are ingredients for a whole novel in your vignette, or there will be after you explore a couple of different facets and put it all together. This doesn’t always happen (I’d even venture to say it doesn’t often happen, and this is coming from the writer who constantly has characters vying for her attention), and many of your vignettes will remain “incomplete” and simply serve their purpose as exploration. Others, however, may result in your next great book idea. (Because we all know we need more of those. ;) )

You’ll also learn what characters won’t work for longer works, or would need a lot more development. Some characters end up just being vehicles for showing off the world, which is perfectly fine for vignettes, but makes some of those vignettes impossible to build into longer works as-are.

An example of vignette worldbuilding

Mehera stepped out into the dim morning and took a deep breath of cool air. The snores of her clan-mates drifted from the tents around her and she smiled faintly. There was something beautiful about being awake while the rest of the world slept. Her bangles clanked as she made her way to the wagon the horses were tied to, sand shifting under her feet. As she reached out to her stallion, she caught sight of a dark smudge in the sky. Tenayl whinnied as Mehera watched curls of smoke mar the sunrise.

Mehera stroked Tenayl’s snout. “Let’s go see what’s happening.”

After unhitching Tenayl, Mehera swung onto his bare back and urged him in the direction of the smoke. It didn’t take as long as she’d expected to find the source of the fire, but this had not been what she’d imagined. A bird stood in a patch of bright orange sand, its purple-red plumage flaming. It squawked as the flames consumed it and it turned to a pile of ash.

A phoenix. They’re actually real. And I just saw one burn.

As the sand cooled back to dun, a beaked head emerged from the ash heap, followed by a red-violet bird just as magnificent as–if smaller than–its predecessor. Gold feathers edged its wings, glittering in the rising sun. The phoenix stared at Mehera a moment before flying off, scattering ash and sand alike in its wake.

A while back, wanted to write a piece that showcased both the phoenixes of Deseran and the color-changing sand, and this was the result. This is probably my favorite vignette piece, but even those I don’t like as well served their purpose in showing facets of the world and deepening my understanding of those facets.

To read more about a similar worldbuilding approach, check out this post by Deck Matthews on the Phoenix Fiction Writers blog.

Have you ever tried vignette worldbuilding? How did it go? What’s your favorite worldbuilding method? Leave a comment and let’s chat!

Pre-order Short Story Collection vol. 1, 2nd edition here and check out Caithan!

5 Writing Exercises to Get You Out of Your Comfort Zone

This week’s blog tour focus is Carnival Hearts, the second story in the new edition of Short Story Collection vol. 1. Since Carnival Hearts was really a writing exercise that went well, I figured it would be fun to share a handful of writing exercises you can try to get out of your writing comfort zone! I don’t know about you, but my best writing tends to happen when I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone; and even when the end result isn’t great, the process of doing an exercise is almost always a ton of fun.

Cut out a certain story element

My primary challenge with Carnival Hearts was using as little dialogue as possible and communicating through description, action, and internal monologue instead. I write a lot of dialogue in most of my stories, so I wanted to push myself, and Carnival Hearts was the result. If there’s a story element you find yourself using too much, try using as little of it as possible in a short story (or maybe even a scene of your WIP) and strengthening the other elements.

Use only a certain element

Is there a writing element you know you need practice with? Try writing a story using only that element to practice. It could be a fun challenge, for instance, to make two characters starkly recognizable through only their dialogue. Or to communicate the entire history of a place through only the way you describe its appearance.

Write a story based on a song

This was another challenge that went into making Carnival Hearts what it is. I don’t remember how I came across Kayla Diamond’s song “Carnival Hearts,” but I immediately fell in love with it, and it provided a framework for me to use with my dialogue-light exercise. (I highly recommend giving the song a listen; it’s a super cool song.) Since music is such a huge part of my life, this exercise is a personal favorite of mine, and I may or may not have an idea simmering on the back burner of building a full novel series that includes elements from every song on my “Writing Inspiration” playlist…

Start with a writing prompt

Bonus points if it’s a prompt outside of your normal genre. There are so many things you can do with a writing prompt, from using it straight to totally subverting it, from writing it in the genre you’d expect to twisting it to fit a different genre… Writing prompts can be super fun, and writing prompts have inspired so many of my stories (especially short stories).

Write a story based on an image

Pinterest is great for this. Look up “visual writing inspiration” and see what comes up. Then pick an image and have a heyday! Look at all the little details of the image, analyze the mood; if there are characters, decide what they’re thinking and feeling. You can use any portion of the image to go off of, or the whole thing, or just the emotion it evokes… There’s really no limit to the possibilities. A picture really is worth a thousand words.

Book Review: Slave of the Sea by Dawn Dagger

Levanine’s life as a slave is insignificant. She has always been property; bound to her owner, content to serve quietly where no one can cause her harm. However, when her master sells her to pay a debt, her false safety is shattered, and she finds herself offered as a sex slave on the continent of Dreanis.

Fearful and hopeless, Levanine expects the worst to happen. Nothing could prepare her to be suddenly swept onto a pirate ship by an infamous captain whose interests are a mystery to her. Forced to think on her feet, the silent girl must overcome a lifetime of servitude to survive on a ship where everything is trying to destroy her.

As sea monsters, mutinies, and ghosts wreak havoc on the ship and its crew, Levanine realizes that she doesn’t have the luxury of simply surviving until they arrive at Avondella, her continent of redemption. Levanine must decide whether she will die the person she has always been, a meek nobody… or will she make a name for herself at sea? 

Goodreads – Amazon

To be entirely honest, I wasn’t quite sure what I’d think of this book because the subject matter is not what I usually read, but I’m familiar with the author and knew she’d handle the issue tactfully, so when she reached out to ask if I’d write a review, I said yes. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Yes, this book is uncomfortable at times. A story set in a world where sex slaves are the norm should be uncomfortable. But, as I expected going in, Dawn put forth the issues explicitly enough to have emotional impact while still handling it tactfully and never going beyond what was absolutely necessary (and not much was necessary). I also appreciated that, while there were many awful men in Kethaltar (and they were, unfortunately, the majority), there were also enough good men to feel like the balance wasn’t excessively weighted toward creeps. (At least at any one point in the book; when taken as a whole, I would maybe have liked to have seen more decent guys).

Another thing that contributed to my considering the balance to be adequate was that the world was well-constructed to support the themes Slave of the Sea explores. It felt natural for there to have been fewer good men. As unfortunate as it is to have a world where such a balance feels natural, I’ve seen books in the past where it just felt contrived to have so many abusive men and so few respectful men, but Dawn’s worldbuilding supported her plot and themes well.

The characters in this book were, as a whole, enjoyable. There were times I would have liked for their feelings to be shown more than told (or where they were both told and shown, and the telling could have simply been removed), but for the most part they felt well thought-out.

Levanine’s character growth wasn’t as smooth as might have been ideal, but her flaws, tics, and insecurities all felt natural to her character.

Captain Guy wasn’t my favorite, due to his violent tendencies and bloodlust, but he still made for a compelling POV character. His goal, his beliefs, and his overall opinion of the world were all very clear and well-written in the majority of cases.

As usual, however, the side characters were my favorite. Rafiki was tops on my list. I loved his support for Levanine, his respect, and how clearly he cares for the people and the world around him all contributed to my appreciation of his character, and I’d love to see more of him in future books in the Chronicles of Salt and Blood series.

Silva was my second favorite, and I loved his relationship with Levanine. Their relationship deepened both of their characters. Plus, kids have a tendency to be high on my list of favorite characters; something about the specific perspective they bring to the world is a huge draw for me. With Silva, it was interesting to see a mixture of child-like beliefs with a worldview shaped by a pirate-filled, harsh world.

I also enjoyed reading about Braxton and Quinn, and I appreciated the respect and discipline they both had (considering how rare those qualities were on the ship).

Admittedly, many of the less-prominent side characters never clicked in my brain–Awla, Ska (all I remember is that he has a bird), Eldred, etc.–but enough description was given for my imagination to coast by when they popped up.

Since I got an ARC, there were quite a few grammatical and spelling errors, but I trust those are remedied in the final version.

Overall, Slave of the Sea was a compelling read and I look forward to reading more in this series.

Dawn Dagger has had a passion for reading and writing ever since she could remember. When she was six she drew and wrote her very own book, and though it hardly makes sense now, she was so proud. She has written many books, short stories, and poems since then, and continues to do so. Dawn placed highly in her two middle school years of Power of the Pen and even has her short story ‘The Haunting’ published in an anthology, She admits she isn’t good at anything physical (except some ballroom dancing), or video games, but she does enjoy a nice game of Mario Kart, a trip fishing, or just a walk in the woods. She has a knack for taking pictures of whatever catches her eye; especially brightly colored flowers. Dawn is a sucker for a good fantasy book, lives off of coffee, and loves her wonderful family and friends, and her dedicated boyfriend, Nevin, who is just like a romance novel character.

Dawn has over 70 stories started (don’t believe her? Just the other night she rattled off the 37 stories she’s actually named and what they’re about to Nevin because he wanted to know) and that doesn’t include short stories or poems. She has lots of writing to do, and is excited for what’s ahead!

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A nautical bracelet
Nautical-themed wooden signs
Message in a bottle
‘Slave of the Sea’ keychains
A ‘Slave of the Sea’ poster
and a signed copy of ‘Slave of the Sea’!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Character Interview: Fiona Wildman

Short Story Collection vol. 1 is re-releasing in a month, and Silence with it, so I’m bringing back my interview with the story’s MC, Fiona. It’s been slightly updated to reflect edits I’ve made to the story (as well as, hopefully, an improvement in my writing voice), but it’s primarily the same interview I posted two years ago for the first release.

Fiona is a runaway from a tech company that wants to use her DNA to make a race of superhumans, which is why she’ll come across as borderline rude in this interview; she doesn’t trust easily. Enjoy the interview!

Fiona: *steps into the interview studio, shoulders tense and walk stiff* Hello.

Interviewer: Hello. How are you today?

Fiona: Fine.

Interviewer: *gestures to a seat across from him* Shall we get started?

Fiona: *hesitates before sitting down* Please.

Interviewer: What is your name?

Fiona: Fiona Wildman.

Interviewer: How old are you?

Fiona: Nineteen. *regards the interviewer suspiciously*

Interviewer: Do you have any siblings?

Fiona: No.

Interviewer: Do you have a job?

Fiona: Used to. Grantech chased me out of it.

Interviewer: I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?

Fiona: *shifts in her seat, straightening and lifting her chin a little* Nothing important.

Interviewer: Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Fiona: *shrugs* It depends.

Interviewer: What is your favorite food?

Fiona: *brow furrows like “Why does that matter?”* Black licorice.

Interviewer: Favorite color?

Fiona: Grey…

Interviewer: Do you prefer movies or books?

Fiona: Books.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite?

Fiona: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Interviewer: *nods* Good book. What’s your favorite animal?

Fiona: Dogs.

Interviewer: What are your hobbies?

Fiona: Reading and sketching, mostly.

Interviewer: Which of these is most important to you: kindness, intelligence, or bravery?

Fiona: Intelligence.

Interviewer: And honesty or selflessness?

Fiona: Honesty.

Interviewer: What’s something you can’t leave home without?

Fiona: A well-stocked backpack.

Interviewer: Could you define “well-stocked”?

Fiona: *shrugs* If I can stay alive for a few days completely on my own, my backpack is well-stocked.

Interviewer: *nods* That was the last question. Thank you for your time. *smiles*

Fiona: *nods and leaves*

About Silence:

Due to her birth coinciding with a full solar eclipse, Fiona Wildman was born with powers she doesn’t understand. Powers a scientific mega-corporation will stop at nothing to exploit.

Pre-order Short Story Collection vol. 1! (Paperbacks are still the old edition until February 8th.)

Short Story Collection vol. 1 – 2nd Edition | Blog Tour Schedule!

There’s just one month until the new edition of Short Story Collection vol. 1 releases! I have a blog tour going over the next four weeks leading up to the release, so be sure to check out the following blogs for exciting content. ^-^ (I’ll be adding direct post links here as things go live, also.)

Pre-Tour Posts

Candice Yamnitz – Author interview

Kayla Green – Author interview

 

Week 1 (Jan. 12-18th) – Silence
January 12th

Allie Lee – Author interview

January 14th

Edna Pellen – Silence review

January 15th

R.M. Archer – Fiona Wildman character interview

 

Week 2 (Jan. 19-25th) – Carnival Hearts
January 19th

Allie Lee – Carnival Hearts review

January 21st

R.M. Archer – Writing Exercises to Get You Out of Your Comfort Zone (Fun fact: Carnival Hearts was basically a writing exercise that I found myself super happy with)

 

Week 3 (Jan. 26th-Feb. 1st) – Escape Room
January 26th

Allie Lee – Laena Elderwood character interview

February 1st

Edna Pellen – Story review

 

Week 4 (Feb. 2-8th) – Caithan
February 2nd

Chelsea R.H. – Author interview

February 4th

R.M. Archer – The Benefits of Vignette Worldbuilding

 

Pre-Order Short Story Collection vol. 1 now!

Pre-orders are already live for SSCv.1! Order the ebook now (for $1.99) and it’ll be delivered to your device on the 7th (the day before the new paperback releases!)

3 Indicators That It’s Time to Let Go of a Project

This post is a little ironic, seeing as I’m gearing up to promote a book I edited after I’d already published it and clearly didn’t let go of, but… here we are. With the new year, many writers are taking on new projects (or refocusing on existing projects) and letting go of others. But how do you know which are worth keeping and which to let go of? Here are a few indicators your project might be ready for the far back burner.

You’re not excited about it

If you look at your project and you’re filled with dread instead of excitement… it might be worth considering to set it aside. Writing is work, yes, but it’s not supposed to be drudgery, and if even you–the person who thought up the idea–aren’t excited about it, is it going to be exciting to readers? (Maybe the answer is yes. Maybe it’s not.) If you can’t get back any spark of “This is why I wrote this book,” maybe it’s time to move on to a different story.

There’s no meaning to the story

Excitement, however, can be a faulty guide. After all, sometimes we’re just not motivated to write, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t write. Procrastination is a real thing, and it’s something that should be battled, not succumbed to. In those cases, the next thing to think about is the meaning of your story. What are the themes of this book? Are they something you’re passionate about? Are they edifying? Or have you failed to introduce a theme altogether? If your theme is something meaningless, it might be time to retire the story and think of something else. Or alternatively, you might realize through this process that you don’t have a strong theme but there’s one you can naturally draw out of what you already have, and that might rekindle your excitement for the story.

If you already have a strong theme, great! Keep plugging away and remember why you write this story. It will get easier, I promise, even if it takes something like setting a tiny daily word count goal to get the words down.

It’s really not moving

If you’ve been stuck on the same chapter for six months and you still can’t figure out how to move forward… it might be time to drop your project. ;P Like excitement, though, this guideline can have issues. First, ask yourself if you’ve come at the problem from all angles. Have you brainstormed? Come at it from a different character’s POV? Asked a critique partner for help generating ideas? You don’t have to try everything, but give it a good go before deciding to bench the project. If you’ve tried several different tactics and are still deeply stuck, though, it might be time to set the project aside.

How do you decide whether or not to bench projects? What was the last project you had to give up? Do you ever truly get rid of your projects, or are you like me and keep them in the archives of your computer?

 

 

 

 

 

2019 Wrap-Up and 2020 Goals

The new year is almost upon us, and time has my brain screwed up in knots. On the one hand… it’s been a whole year already? On the other hand, wasn’t July a full year ago? And how did November and December pass in a week? Time is just weird, and the way my brain handles time is even weirder. But according to the calendar, it’s almost the start of a new year and a new decade, which means it’s time for reflection, new goals, and fresh starts. So, let’s reflect, shall we?

2019: An Overview

At the end of 2018 I was extremely discouraged, I felt isolated and cynical, and my relationship with God had apparently taken a nosedive. My hopes for 2019 were that I’d find more joy in Christ, that I’d get out of my comfort zone and talk to people more, that I’d break out of my “introvert” shell, that I’d be a light and encouragement and good example to people (especially those younger than me), and that I’d just generally get out more. And I smiled so big when I read that, because I can say that I did make huge progress in that direction! This year, overall, has been fantastic for my mental and spiritual health. I haven’t been as consistent with my Bible/prayer time as I would have hoped, but I’ve made huge progress. I haven’t made any super close friends yet, but I’ve gotten out of my bubble a lot more and started setting foundations for future bridges. I’ve been far more optimistic and joyful, and there’s been a huge contrast between my mental health this year and my mental health last year. So overall, it’s been a super encouraging year!

The beginning of this year was still a little rocky, as I was still coming out of my 2018 depression, but more time with God and extra time with choir for an extra performance helped a lot. In May, I published The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles, which went super well. June was really fantastic, as choir took up a lot more of my time and I got to spend time with the people there and sing and dance and go on a bus ride (bus rides with choir are always the greatest). July included camp, which went fairly well; I got to know one of my friends a little bit better, and practice leadership… and I learned that focusing too much on people can, in fact, be a problem. (My priorities were a little skewed that week, unfortunately. :P) August was great for social engagements and productivity, both. I seem to remember my motivation sort of dropped off in September and October, but then NaNoWriMo went really well (despite a huge drop in motivation about halfway through the month), and December has been… interesting. But it’s starting to pick up again, so I’m hopeful for January. :)

And I started learning French this year! It’s a super fun language, and I’m looking forward to getting back on track with it around the new year and building up a longer Duolingo streak.

I also learned just how much I enjoy ballroom dancing, and my family learned about a homeschool group that does dance classes, so I’m really hoping I’ll get to do more in the future through that class before I graduate.

Overall, it’s been a fantastic year! I’m a little sad to see it go. But I’m hoping it’ll just be the foundation for a better year in 2020. :)

2019: Goals in Review

1. Prayer journal daily

I haven’t been 100% faithful with this, and there have been some weeks or months I’ve neglected it altogether, but overall I made a lot of progress toward prayer journaling consistently.

2. Do a devotion/read the Bible daily

This one… didn’t go as well as the prayer journaling. I still made a lot of progress, especially toward the beginning of the year, but after my first devotional ran out I started falling out of the habit again. But still, a lot of progress was made, and I’ve been getting back into it over the past week or two.

3. Go to church regularly (after I get my driver’s license)

Well, I still don’t have my license, so…

4. Read daily

This is another one I did really well at for a while and then just… tapered off. I think my reading really slowed around October or November.

5. Get out of the house once a week (once I get my driver’s license)

Like I said… no driver’s license. :P

6. Take a day away from electronics once a week

This one worked really well for a few months and served its purpose of helping me keep my sanity, but then the specific thing I’d been giving myself a buffer from became much less of an issue (hallelujah! one of my friends saw their mental health drastically improve, also), so the habit tapered off. As I’ve done Christmasy things over the past couple weeks, though, I’ve realized how much I appreciate unplugging, so this is something I want to bring back in 2020.

7. Dance every morning

Epic fail.

8. Drink 3 glasses of water daily

Also an epic fail.

9. Take vitamins daily

Nope.

10. Get to bed at 10 and get up at 6 daily

*laughs*

Can you tell the physical health goals are where I most struggle?

11. Participate in conversation at every social event (choir, youth group, etc.)

I’m not sure this was really an effective goal to set in the first place? But I did get out of my shell a lot more and have a lot more conversations, so the heart of the goal was still achieved, I guess.

12. Publish Slander & Steel

This book is currently in the “I have no idea what to do with you” category. I’m no longer focusing on publishing it in the near future, but that’s as much as I’ve decided.

13. Edit and publish The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles

Done! :D And with (relatively) resounding success! You can find the book here. ^-^

14. Write one “easy” novel (so I have something to work on that’s not as time-consuming or emotionally draining as The Dark War Trilogy)

Yep! I wrote two, actually. ^-^ I completed The Masked Captain‘s first draft in June and Calligraphy Guild‘s first draft in November.

15. Win all three NaNoWriMo events

I… don’t actually have accurate stats for the two Camp NaNo events, since the website redesign. I think I won in April? But I don’t remember July. I did win November. So… I don’t remember how well this goal went.

16. Write 2k every day

Nope. I was verrrrry sporadic in my writing; some months I wrote a ton, others I wrote close to nothing. But I learned in November that it is definitely possible, so I’ll be shooting for this again in 2020.

17. Find an accountability partner

I found an accountability partner a few months into the year. I found that our method was ineffective, and our check-ins sort of… died. :P (Thank you, though, Leila! I appreciate your time and effort. ^-^)

18. Outline Unstoppable with Allie

We mutually decided this story isn’t working and we need to either completely overhaul it or just… not write it. It’s another limbo story, for now. :P

19. Post once a month on Our Mind Palace

#1) I’m not sure why this was a goal in the first place? #2) I only posted once the entire year.

20. Write a short story each month

I cut this goal in my first quarterly check-in, I think, because it just didn’t suit my long-term goals anymore. But I did write/finish eight short stories this year.

21. Finish and publish Short Story Collection Vol. 2

I decided partway through the year that I didn’t really like half the stories that were supposed to be in this collection, so this goal is postponed until I can figure out what stories I do want to include.

22. Finish and publish Memories & Photographs

This is another one I decided I didn’t really want to do. The stories aren’t really my style, at this point–they were really only fun as a once-off thing–and they’re really old and rough. :P

23. Read the 23 books by the Phoenix Fiction Writers that I haven’t read and can get in paperback

This didn’t happen, unfortunately, but I did read twelve PFW books this year (or thirteen, if you count the one I beta-read in November/December). And I’m still planning on working toward this goal. I aim to have a complete PFW collection, one day.

2019: Concrete Goals

This is just a selection, because some of my goals are either especially irrelevant or more personal, but this is a lot of them.

Spiritual

1. Prayer journal daily

2. Read Bible daily

3. Keep up Within the Static (at least one post per month)

Physical/Mental

1. Dance every morning

2. Drink 3 glasses of water daily

3. Take vitamins daily

4. Go to bed at 11 every night

5. Get up at 8 every morning

6. Unplug once a week

Relational

1. Do something with each sibling weekly

Vocational

1. Go to Realm Makers

2. Revise Calligraphy Guild

3. Prepare to pitch Calligraphy Guild

4. Draft The Half-Elves

5. Re-publish Lost Girl

6. Re-publish Short Story Collection Vol. 1

7. Write 2k each day

8. Win two NaNoWriMo events

9. Figure out a strategy to finish The Shadow Raven

10. Write a guest post for Story Embers

11. Volunteer at the library

12. Revive my editing services

Miscellania

1. Revise Hands (a poem)

2. Get my license

3. Finish reading A Series of Unfortunate Events

4. Practice French daily

2020: General Hopes

2020 is going to be a weird year. I’ll be graduating (not only from school, but also from choir and youth group), and I don’t really have anything concrete planned for beyond that aside from what I’m already doing. I’ll be taking a couple of trips, hopefully, but I have no college plans or anything like that (2020 will at least be a gap year; I might take an online course in church ministry come the 2021-2022 school year), and I really don’t know what I’ll be doing for most of next year besides continuing to write. It feels like everything will change as far as the big picture is concerned, but everything will stay the same when it comes to daily life. And that’s a little scary.

So I guess my general hopes are to make the most of the last few months I have in choir and youth group (building relationships, especially), to find what God wants me to do with the year, and to keep my joy and hope in Him even after I graduate and I have to leave most of the people I know. And I hope I’ll be able to keep in touch with more of them than I expect.

Honestly, next year scares me more than anything else, lol. But here’s praying God will help me conquer that fear and have joy and faith despite the unknown. *breathes deeply* Easier said than done.

How was 2019, for you? What are your goals for 2020? Does anything scare you about the coming year (or the coming decade)?

 

 

 

 

Know the Novel Part 3 – It Is Written

Hi. I’m not dead. I’m sorry for (once again) falling off the face of the earth; I should be around much more consistently as we head into the new year and I get back on top of… all the things. For now, here’s a link-up to conclude my series on Calligraphy Guild. (If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, you can find them at those links there.)

1. Firstly, how did writing this novel go all around?

Pretty well! I was able to get down the basics of the characters and their relationships, the bare bones of the plot are there, there are some cool descriptions I can build off of… Overall, it’s a workable first draft. :) Plus I had a lot of fun with it, which was the hope, and I’m super excited to dive into “remodeling” and making it even more of what I want it to be. ^-^

2. Did it turn out like you expected or completely different? And how do you feel about the outcome?

It didn’t turn out exactly like I hoped, because I was hoping for more description and more vivid characters on the page and that kind of thing, but I more expected what I got, which was a place to start. And it actually exceeded my expectations, to some degree; it has a lot more going for it than I was afraid it might. So overall, I’m happy with how it turned out. :)

3. What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? (Characters, plot, setting, prose, etc.)

The characters and the setting, both. I was super excited going in, and it turned out to be just as fun to write as I’d hoped. I also enjoyed the play-by-play scenes of the fictional sport kyang much more than I’d expected to.

4. How about your least favorite part?

Probably the kyang games. Which I know sounds like a contradiction of my last point. :P While it was enjoyable, it was also tedious, and there was no part of the book that I remember expressly disliking the process of, so kyang it is.

5. What do you feel like needs the most work?

…All of it? The characters need more page time (the whole thing is shorter than intended), the description needs fleshing out to do the setting and the characters justice, there’s a character I want to give a full arc to which will mean a lot of reworking stuff… I guess the character arc is probably the biggest thing. But the whole thing needs a lot of work. (Which I plan to start in February!)

6. How do you feel about your characters now that the novel is done? Who is your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!

I still love them!

Favorite: Makio

Least favorite: Chaska? Which is a bummer, because she’s a really cool character. She didn’t get enough time to show off some of her character traits, and I want to fix that in the next draft.

Surprise: Makio. He wasn’t even supposed to feature heavily, but he made himself right at home. XD

7. What’s your next plan of action with this novel?

Editing it. The plan is to let it sit through January so I can come back with some perspective (but I might jump in early… we’ll see what happens), and then work on edits from February to June (with a break for Camp NaNo in April). That’s the plan. My plans tend to derail, so we’ll see what actually happens.

8. If you could have your greatest dream realized for this novel, what would it be?

A final draft that perfectly communicates the feelings and characters and setting, a gorgeous cover, and glowing five-star reviews saying how much people loved the book and how unique it was and how much they want to read more set in this fantasy world. (I, um… may love this book just a little bit and want other people to love it.)

9. Share some of your favorite snippets!

Ryuu walked over from a conversation with some of the younger boys and set one foot on the steps. “Are you doing all right?”

Duyên nodded with a soft smile. “Thanks for asking.”

Ryuu took a seat beside her, hands between his knees. “I saw Makio had to get Po away from you again.” Ryuu smirked.

Duyên chuckled. “It wasn’t like that. Po was actually being nice, he’s just… not the best company when my thoughts are heavy.”

“I hope I’m an improvement?” Ryuu wiggled his eyebrows.

Duyên laughed, head thrown back. Her expression faded to a grin as she turned back to Ryuu. “Yes.” She leaned up and kissed him briefly.

Ryuu grinned. “I’m happy to hear it.”

Duyên leaned on his shoulder and watched the lights dancing over the field a moment before closing her eyes and listening to the childrens’ laughter. She felt Ryuu press a long kiss to her forehead. Duyên released a contented sigh. “Can’t evenings like this just last forever?” she murmured.

“I wish.”

“Can we pretend?”

Ryuu rubbed her shoulder. “Absolutely.”

Duyên’s thoughts drifted and she fell asleep.

*****

Duyên stepped onto the porch as a peal of thunder rolled in the distance. She looked up at the dark clouds gathering over the jungle and frowned. The sunset was coming faster than usual.

With a quick glance, Duyên spotted Ryuu looking up at the sky before stepping down from the porch. She hurried over to him and set a hand on his arm. “Do you want some company? I could walk you home.”

Ryuu smiled a little and offered her his elbow, but his eyes didn’t hold the sparkle they usually did. “Shouldn’t I be the one walking you home?”

Duyên hooked her arm through his and tried to give a reassuring smile, but she doubted it was effective.

The two of them walked in silence, the thunder growing louder as the storm approached. Duyên set her head against Ryuu’s arm, wishing she could do something more to make him feel better.

Just as the Lai house came into view, raindrops started to hit Duyên’s skin. She raised her head and looked up at Ryuu. “Race you to the door?”

Ryuu chuckled and unhooked his arm from hers. The two of them took off, racing the rain, but the rain turned to a downpour a few feet from the house and they were soaked by the time they stepped onto the porch.

Duyên turned back to Ryuu. “Do you want to borrow an umbrella?”

Ryuu shrugged. “I’ll be all right. Thanks, though.”

Duyên frowned. “Are you sure?”

Ryuu nodded and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Have a good evening, Duyên.”

*****

Makio turned back to Tora. “Take care of yourself, okay? I don’t want you getting yourself into any more trouble than you have to. Come home in one piece.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Makio wrapped Tora in a hug. “I love you, Mixa.”

Tora groaned. “You know I hate that nickname.” She pulled away and punched him half-heartedly in the arm.

Makio grinned. “You love me anyway.”

Tora sighed. “Yes.” She looked up at him. “I love you.” She smirked. “Even if you are obnoxious sometimes.”

Makio chuckled. “It’s my job as an older brother.” He ruffled her hair, earning another eye roll.

Tora walked over to Zen, and Makio came over to Duyên.

“Hey.” Makio tugged on Duyên’s braid. “You take care of yourself, too, okay Nỏcha?”

Duyên nodded. “I’ll look out for Tora, too.”

Makio smiled. “I know you will.” He looked over at Ryuu. “And you take care of them both.” Makio slapped Ryuu’s shoulder. “I trust you.”

Ryuu nodded. “I will.”

Makio returned the nod.

“Look out for Riye,” Duyên blurted.

Makio looked down at Duyên with wide eyes.

“She’s been… off lately. Just… make sure she’s okay, and make sure she knows someone’s there for her.”

Makio nodded slowly. “Okay.” He turned toward the door, but immediately turned back. “Why me?”

Duyên smiled. “I trust you.” And I trust you to care about her.

“Th-thanks.” His brow furrowed, like he knew she’d left something out and wanted to know what, but he just tugged on her braid again and said, “Gossalu be with you,” before leaving the guild.

10. Did you glean any new writing and/or life lessons from writing this novel?

I know I’ve said this so many times in this series and my NaNo updates, but I learned that I can write consistently if I really set my mind to it. I wrote 2k each day fairly consistently for most of November, and it worked really well, so I’m hoping to do that more in the coming year as I work on other projects and see if I’m able to keep it up as effectively.