Apryl K.B. Lopez's Blog

Pandemic Productivity & a Cover Reveal!

As pretty much the entire world can attest to, the last few months have been...something, to say the least. First and foremost, my heart goes out to everyone affected by the coronavirus and the many resulting measures that have uprooted different aspects of our lives. I truly believe we will come out of this stronger and wiser; it may just take a while and there are sure to be more bumps, bruises, twists, and turns along the way.

Like many people, I've been trying to channel the many emotions of the last few months into some semblance of productivity. It hasn't always worked, but I've felt more encouraged and productive in these last months than I have in a long time. It also helps that we turned the guest room into my own office ;-)

If anyone has some decorating ideas or inspirational quotes I can put on the walls, please feel free to comment!

Another factor in my productivity has been video chatting with my critique group almost every week and doing daily writing sprints with them. Under regular circumstances, we were all too busy with our daily lives for this much communication. Though life is resuming in many areas, I know we're all happy with the regular contact, even just to chat as friends. This has been a tough time, and we (as in all humankind) need as much connection as we can get.

Okay, on to the super exciting part! The last few months, I've been working on the next two stories in

I'm so excited for you all to read this new novella, and I'm even more excited for the rest of the series to unfold over the next year. Please let me know what you think of the cover and what you're looking forward to most when it comes to Ata, Mera, Jonas, and rest of the Cavern.

Talk to you soon!

Apryl~

The Cavern and the Cinematic Book Contest

A few months ago, a former coworker suggested I enter The Cavern into the "Cinematic Book" contest held by ScreenCraft. I did my due diligence by researching the contest and the organization--they are legit. I was intrigued, and of course flattered by the suggestion. I've had this ongoing image of The Cavern becoming a Divergent/Hunger Games-esque movie or, even more appealing, something like The 100 on the CW. The action in the story all by itself always felt like it would communicate better on a screen. Throw in the glowing eyes of the Caverners, the inevitable journey to The Surface (the title of the sequel, btw), and the entire book series plays out visually to me. Btw, if you haven't already, you can read The Cavern, and its free prequel novella The Descent, through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and everywhere e-books are sold. After entering the contest, I'd like to say I played it cool and didn't check the submission site, even though it clearly said nothing would be announced until early January. But I'm not cool at all, and I checked that site at least once a week just to see if something changed. Of course nothing happened, but January 8--the date of the quarterfinalist announcement--finally approached and I didn't check that sucker until well into the afternoon. I was too scared! It felt easier to ignore rather than find out I hadn't made it to the next round. When I checked my personal submission page and saw that I was a quarterfinalist and made it through the first round out of 1200+ submissions, I still didn't believe it. I checked the ScreenCraft website where the quarterfinalists would all be listed and scrolled down the page, just waiting to not see my name or the title of my book. But there it was. I guess it wasn't a mistake! Even if I don't make it to the next round, I'm still beyond excited for this win. This little bit of validation means that the visual story I see in my head is a possibility to other people. Nothing may come from this actual contest, but my name and my book are still on a reputable screenwriting website. People working in the business will see that and hopefully look further into my series. Maybe I don't win the contest, but that doesn't mean I don't make my dreams come true.

Capitol Reef Writer's Weekend!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a writing retreat in beautiful Capitol Reef National Park in Southern Utah. The retreat was led by the incomparable Lisa Mangum (editor, writer, Supernatural encyclopedia, etc.), and our group was housed in a small off-grid field station run by Utah Valley University. Check out the CRFS website for more info, because there are multiple programs held in Capitol Reef, and it is an amazing experience. As you can see from the picture above, it was a beautiful place to step away from the world and re-center myself. It was such an astounding location that I found myself more focused on the landscape than writing! But I managed to get some writing done ;-) Now I'm back and continuing my rewrite of the sequel to The Cavern, The Surface. I plan to take the many lessons I learned during the Writer's Weekend and apply them all, so I can deliver the best stories to my readers. Until next time, please be happy, healthy, and always running toward your goals.

Critique Groups: Why They Might Be Scary Yet Necessary

The argument for critique partners.

Rod's Writing Wisdom: The Diarrheal Pacing Theory

Be warned, this may be a bit of an...interesting blog post. While talking to my husband Rod the other day, I was detailing my current writing dilemma. I’m knee-deep in rewrites for The Surface—sequel to my young adult dystopian novel The Cavern, out now in paperback and ebook—and I’m reworking some chapters that are a bit info-dumpy. Basically, the characters are talking and revealing important information, BUT it goes on for 2-3 chapters. That may not seem like a lot, but think about yourself as a reader: do you start skimming long paragraphs or does your attention drift a little when there isn’t a lot of action? If that’s not you, then great! I’m probably a more forgiving reader, as well, because I enjoy epic series like Outlander, The Belgariad, and The Wayfarer Redemption. However, many readers, like my husband, are not as forgiving. They’ll read some exposition and character history, but if the characters don’t start moving around, then attentions start to drift. So my dilemma is: “How do I reveal this important information yet still keep my characters in the action?” So, now to the interesting part. In response to my explanation of what I needed in these few chapters, my husband, in all his glorious, poetic ability, said, “It’s like having diarrhea.” … … … “What?!” I looked at him like a crazy person. First, gross! Second, what in the world does diarrhea have to do with writing a book? Here is the gist of his explanation: Writers want their readers on the edge of their seats, desperate to read the next chapter and see what happens to their favorite characters. Keeping this in mind, writers need to keep their characters on edge, or at least moving, which in turn moves the story. So, Rod’s analogy is that pacing a story is like having diarrhea. You can have a little bit of rest, i.e. the conversations/info “dumping” (pun unintended), but you need to be ready for that inevitable run to the bathroom, i.e. the action. This cycle isn’t fun when you’re actually sick, but it makes sense for pacing a story. I can’t guarantee I’ll always keep this analogy in mind when writing my stories, but who knows? Maybe it can help someone out there to keep up their pacing, or it can offer a brief moment of laughter. Either way, hopefully you enjoyed this look into my personal life and just how crazy my husband is. To finish this interesting (gross) post, here are Rod’s final words of wisdom: “After every chapter, think: is your reader on the edge of their seat just like you were after eating that day old burrito from the corner food truck?”

It's Out! Here's The Cavern!

I finally hit "publish" on The Cavern, and it's out in the world for all to see! ...Oh no, what did I do?? I'm incredibly proud of this book (been working on it since 2013), and I can't wait for you all to read it. Head on over to Amazon to purchase The Cavern or read it on Kindle Unlimited. If you prefer paperbacks, then be on the lookout during the next week. And don't forget to leave a review, subscribe to my newsletter, and be on the lookout for all things Cavern-related! Thank you all for your continued support!

HB90 Q4 Coming Up!

If you read my earlier blog about the HB90 system, then you have a leg up on what I'm talking about now. If not, then you are in luck and get to find out about this amazing planning system! Sarra Cannon's HB90 Bootcamp for the 4th quarter is starting this weekend. Click on this affiliate link to learn more and hopefully sign up to learn more about making your dreams come true in a realistic fashion. Oh and this system is great for anyone, whether you are a writer or not. Enjoy!!!

Fighting My Procrastination Superpowers w/ HB90

There are countless planning and goal-setting systems out there, and each one can appeal to at least one person. I recently learned about kanban boards, quarterly planning, goals versus tasks, and the HB90 system. I encourage everyone to look into HB90, but, in the end, find the right system for you. Here is a quick update on how the first month of this new technique has gone for me: First off, I learned about the HB90* system, created by Sarra Cannon (blog—Heart Breathings), through a Facebook writing group. I was hesitant to sign up, not because I didn’t agree with the system, but because I didn’t believe in myself. I can get very excited about the “shiny, new thing” of organization, writing, working out, dieting, etc. However, I don’t have the staying power; I’m a personal saboteur and master procrastinator who can easily justify why I do or don’t perform a task and kick myself for it later. I didn’t want to invest if I was going to give up on it two days in. Eventually, with the encouragement of my husband, I decided to do it. I watched the videos, printed out the planner, and set up my kanban board in the last week of June. Rod was usually playing video games right next to me, so he heard and helped a lot. I won’t go into too much detail (it’s a comprehensive, yet effective, system), but here is a basic rundown: Set 3-4 measurable goals that you then create projects for. Within those projects are tasks to complete each one. Tackle these tasks—as simple as “Write 100 words” to broad like “Write Chapter 3”—by placing them on a kanban board (see here for an easy breakdown on kanban). HB90 utilizes a specific type of planner to lay out all of these steps to achieve goals within a 90-day, or quarterly, chunk of the year. By creating these smaller tasks, and only addressing the ones that are important within the current quarter, I can better manage my time. BUT, the more important thing is that I don’t feel overwhelmed from the start. And the system itself can be fluid throughout the quarter, which I will discuss later. I’ve recommended HB90 to pretty much everyone I know, whether they are a writer, photographer, artist, or someone trying to organize their life. It’s a great planning technique to help anyone achieve their goals. I’m in week four of the third quarter, and, technically, I’m on track to complete at least one of my three goals: to write or edit 90% of my working days. I say technically because while I have written/edited almost every working day, it hasn’t been for very long. The most time I clocked in a day was about three hours of writing. Now, that’s not the best when I’m making writing and self-publishing my full-time career. I know that I need to improve, and I will. What I will give myself a pat on the back for, though, is that at least I did something. Many of those one and two-hour days were still used to do a fair amount of editing or writing that will have a very positive effect on the overall story and series I’m creating. In regards to HB90’s fluidity, I had to do a little bit of an overhaul for my tasks and kanban board. I found that while a task said “Finish Chapter 3,” I spent all of my writing time on one specific scene within that chapter. I would beat myself up because the scene became longer than I anticipated, so I couldn’t move onto the next scene to finish the overall chapter. My husband soon encouraged me to reevaluate my tasks, so I wasn’t beating myself up for not finishing a task before the end of the week. If I made my tasks more manageable, then I would get more satisfaction, and be encouraged to continue, when I saw my “done” tasks piling up. That piece of advice, which I know Sarra has given as well, was just what I needed. It suddenly freed up my internal monologue to say “Yay, you’re almost done with this scene,” instead of “You’re not even halfway done with this chapter.” People who know me may disagree, but as positive as I am on the outside, I am incredibly negative on the inside. Especially toward myself. Changing this small piece of the process has been a great decision so far. Even though the quarter is nowhere near over, I can tell that this system has already helped me by leaps and bounds. And I anticipate it will only continue to improve my creative output so I can truly build my business to a success. It’s a constant learning process, and I have to stay on top of myself every day just to write my tasks in the planner and take time for reflection. But it’s working, and I look forward to the end of this quarter and the start of many more to come. How have you worked to fight your inner dialogue that encourages procrastination and self-sabotage? Have you found a planning or goal-setting system that helps you stay consistent and productive? Let me know in the comments and be sure to sign up for my newsletter to hear about my soon-to-be released debut The Cavern. *Click here for the original Q3 HB90 Bootcamp page. Definitely check back for, and I'll likely post, when Sarra announces her next bootcamp. *Click here for one of Sarra's many YouTube videos on her HB90 process. And here for her Kanban board setup.

The Cavern: Chapter 1

The first chapter in my debut YA dystopian novel, The Cavern

Welcome!

This is my first blog post on my first official website! I have no idea what I'm doing, but hopefully everyone visiting will stay, watch me toddle around, laugh at me a little, and then continue to watch me get a little better at this thing. The previous posts are from my WordPress blog: Watch Apryl Procrastinate. Feel free to read them; I think some actually resemble a coherent author's point of view, but I'm not making any promises. As things progress in my writing career, and figuring out this website business, I'll keep everyone updated. Thank you for visiting, and I look forward to entertaining you with my awesomeness (i.e. ridiculousness).