Nicole R. Murphy's Blog, page 14

Sometimes, it’s not hard to work out what a dream is saying…

So, it's been a weird week. Some stuff has happened that has been mega, fantastically cool (will tell more when I know I can). Other stuff has happened that, initially seems really cool, and then the more you think about it, the more you realise that actually, it could turn out to be a bit of a nightmare.

Then you have a dream like I did last night – I went to visit a bloke, who lived in a motorhome, but unlike any motorhome you've ever seen – the driver's seat was off to the side and up high, and surrounded by a really intense and large house. I went inside and then suddenly, I'm there with the guy only we're on the Judge Judy show and Judy's yelling at him to just stick to the facts cause he keeps pulling out drawers to show how badly the place was built (and it looks pretty good to me). Then I convince him to take me on a tour, and I've got a baby and he's showing me around but the corridors get really thin and the baby can't fit so I put her down and tell her to be good and go on alone. We go around the house and find ourselves in the drivers cabin and the guy realises the brake isn't on properly and goes to fix it and the house takes off and falls over a cliff.

At that point I woke up, my heart pounding and the meaning of it all clear – I'm not adjusting well to the lack of control I have over the future of my books.

Something happened this week (I can't talk about it until I know what's going on) that made that abundantly clear. For some people in the chain of book publishing and selling, I'm the least important cog of all. They'll make decisions to do what is best business practice for them, and not really think through the possible ramifications for others up the chain. Those ramifications also seem to grow and the end result – the impact is greater on me, at the start of the line, then on anyone else.

Note – this is NOT about the fabulous folks at Voyager. I am overwhelmingly happy to be working with them, and hope that I will continue to do so for many years to come.

But boy – the lack of control you have over your future can at times be scary. Nightmarish, even.

October/November 2010 Australian Spec Fic carnival

The great thing about doing the spec fic carnival – going back through the blogs you saved over the month and remembering all the cool stuff that happened.

 

News and views

 

Wins in the World Fantasy Awards by Margo Lanagan and Jonathan Strahan – go Aussies go! http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/

Keri Arthur on geographical restrictions - http://www.deadlinedames.com/?p=5086

Gillian Polack interviews three Pyr authors (including Joel Shepherd) http://www.bibliobuffet.com/bookish-dreaming/1402-talking-to-pyr-110710

Gillian Polack on Star Trek and time travel http://gillpolack.livejournal.com/712967.html

Alex Pierce on Joanna Russ http://randomalex.net/2010/11/02/the-two-of-them/

Halloween sees the launch of the Darkside Downunder blog, from the paranormal arm of the Romance Writers of Australia http://darksidedownunder.blogspot.com/

Tansy Rayner Roberts on winning the Washington SF Association Small Press Award - http://tansyrr.com/tansywp/wsfa-spsfa-awesome/#more-1951

This month we welcomed ex-model, best-selling crime writer and all round awesome chick Tara Moss to the spec fic side with the release of Blood Countess http://galaxybooks.blogspot.com/2010/10/tara-moss-instore-at-galaxy-plus-q-with.html

Erica Hayes talks about the insight she had on YA romances http://faerylite.livejournal.com/19320.html

Alan Baxter muses on fantasy as escapism http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2010/10/21/fantasy-escapism.html

To celebrate the launch of Heir of the Night in Australia, Helen Lowe had a blog carnival where a whole host of people posted on Why F/SF Rocks - http://helenlowe.info/blog/category/fsf-guest-author-series/

The Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association posted about the things they want to do in their first year of existence http://www.awritergoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=the-first-year-of-asffwa.html&Itemid=254

Peter M Ball put up a very honest and open post about the trials of writing as a career http://www.petermball.com/2010/10/19/writing-budgeting-and-shame/

There was a big kerfuffle on steampunk – Tansy Rayner Roberts writes here http://tansyrr.com/tansywp/is-steampunk-so-yesterday/ and Scott Westerfeld here http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/2010/11/genre-cooties/

Writing information

To begin – a website with lotsa pointers about routines for writers - http://www.routinesforwriters.com/ Remember, not everyone does things the same. Find the way that works for you.

Angela Slatter rants about spelling - http://www.angelaslatter.com/spelling-not-an-optional-extra/ Right with you, Angela!

Gillian Polack talks about Steven Utley and his grasp of the English language http://gillpolack.livejournal.com/708873.html

The guys from ROR on writing backstory http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/11/06/back-story-the-bane-of-the-sf-and-fantasy-writer/

Rowena Daniells on fantasy and romance http://darksidedownunder.blogspot.com/2010/11/darklight-onrowena-cory-daniells.html

Anita Bell at the ROR site on cross-genre work http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/10/31/crossing-genres-for-commercial-publication-cross-dressing-styles-using-advanced-editing-strategies-for-any-genre/

Tracey McBride talks about the merits of critgroups here http://traciemcbridewriter.wordpress.com/2010/10/30/the-merits-of-crit-groups-part-one/ and here http://traciemcbridewriter.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/the-merits-of-crit-groups-part-two/

More from ROR, this time on finding your character’s voice http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/10/26/finding-your-characters-voice/

Rowena Daniells on how she keeps track of multiple narrative threads - http://king-rolens-kin.com/2010/10/23/obssessive-moi/

ROR have brought us some great stuff this month – this time on what a map does for your story. http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/10/23/what-does-a-map-bring-to-a-story/

Kim Wilkins reassures a lot of us that even experienced authors have issues with their books and then talks through how she solved a recent one http://fantasticthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/my-brain-is-borken/

Alan Baxter hosted Lorna Suzuki on writing fighting scenes http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2010/10/20/writing-good-fight-guest-post-lorna-suzuki.html

Alan Baxter wondered how a story should start - http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2010/10/19/grabbed-throat-gently-teased.html Rowena Daniells also mused on the subject at ROR http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2010/10/16/in-the-beginning/

Angela Slatter went all good cop-bad cop on a first draft http://www.angelaslatter.com/good-cop-bad-cop-on-interrogating-the-story/

Funny/quirky/OMG that’s so cool stuff

Rowena Daniells on some of the fun stuff that a writer gets to do http://king-rolens-kin.com/2010/10/16/doing-the-fun-stuff/

Tracey O’Hara on animals in fiction http://supernaturalunderground.blogspot.com/2010/10/animals-in-fiction.html

Love paranormal romance/urban fantasy? Here’s the ultimate to read list. http://nicolermurphy.com/post/Paranormal-romanceurban-fantasy-e28093-what-to-read.aspx

Podcasts – if you’re not listening to podcasts, they’re a great way to while away some quality time while you’re doing other stuff eg housework, knitting and so on. Some Aussie spec fic ones:

Galactic Suburbia - http://web.me.com/aifinch/TPP/Galactic_Suburbia/Galactic_Suburbia.html

Coode Street - http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/

The Pangalactic Interwebs - http://pangalacticinterwebs.posterous.com/

The Writer and the Critic - http://writerandcritic.posterous.com/

Bad Film Diaries - http://badfilmdiaries.podbean.com/

 

New office and writing toys

Today is the start of a new way for me – I have my own office! See -

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I used to write out on the dining room, but that's been an issue for some time now. However, the solution wasn't clear – this room was the spare bedroom (and a place to just chuck stuff) and I didn't want to share it, or my own bedroom. However, during the week, hubby and I decided that really, we don't have that many visitors and those we do have are quite happy with mattresses on the floor.

So down came the bed. The mattresses still needed to be stored, so they went against the wall and we put the cane screen in front of it. Then in came the desk and the computer.

It's not completely set up – I need some storage, which we're going to work on. But otherwise, I now have a space that I can shut myself away in and not have to worry about disturbing or being disturbed. Hubby is happier too – he always felt bad about moving around the house, knowing he was probably disturbing me.

The room I have is the front of the house. I can, if need be, having the curtain open (as you can see). We've got a large expanse of lawn and a couple of houses in front, but beyond them are the hills so it's not a bad view. Of course, I can also close the curtains and will definitely do so on sunny days.

So, there's the new space. Now, to the new writing tool. Actually, it's a reading/proofing tool. When I proofed Power Unbound a few months ago, I ended up with a really stiff neck from looking down at the pages. The answer, I decided, was a stand. I looked some up online, but then thought – why by something that won't be exactly what I want, when I was about to go visit my very wonderful wood-working father-in-law.

So I asked Peter, he said yes, we discussed what I needed and voila -

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As you can see, it can hold two A4 pages side by side, and is wide enough to support more than a ream of paper (which is what a printed book ends up as). It's got a strong stand at the back, so I can put pressure on it – meaning I can write on the pages in situ. The angle also helps with that, as well as meaning I don't have to crook my neck as much.

When it's all set up for copyediting, which I'm doing at the moment, it looks like this -

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So I can read and make notes, and if I need to type up any extra scenes I can do so without having to move things around. Whether it works as well as I think it will – well, only time will tell. But I'm happy.

So now, time to get on with the copyedits.

How to write when you don’t feel like it

After several nights of bad sleeping (ankle being a pain in the arse) I really didn't want to write this morning. Some days when this happens, I manage to find other writerly-related things to do so I feel like I haven't wasted the day. Some days, however, I can't find other things to do and so I sit at the computer, stare at the screen and consider just how much I don't want to write but how much I need to pull up my britches and get to it.

Generally, I end up making a deal with myself and the one that usually works is – just do an hour. I can talk myself into an hour – unless I'm absolutely out of it the brain can work for that long (as well as my brain ever works) and if needs be, a shot of caffeine can see me through.

Most times I find that I keep going. The hour becomes two, or three or four and then it's time for lunch or dinner and I've had a good day. Occasionally, I barely make it through the hour and then I toddle off to bed for a nap, or collapse in front of the tv and stare zombie-like at it.

Made the hour deal with myself – ended up doing hour and half and 2400 words, so I'm happy. Now, I'll go collapse in front of the television and rest up before a reasonably busy afternoon and evening.

What do you do to make yourself forge ahead when you really don't wanna write?

Marking the moment–the beginning

Today I'm blogging to, as the title says, mark the moment. Today, I start writing The Lost Ones trilogy, the sequel to Dream of Asarlai.

I'm excited about this – it's  a story that's been growing in my head for several months and of course it's going to be wonderful to go back to the gadda and Sclossin and dip back into that world and reconnect with my old friends.

Originally, the gadda books were going to be a six book series, however I was convinced to stick with writing just three, in case I got sick of the world. That three then became a trilogy, with a storyline over the three books and the other three books slipped from the radar. From time to time, the thought would come to me and actually, I had no interest in it. What I wanted to do after I finished Dream of Asarlai was to return to Battle for Odana.

However, towards the end of writing book three, Rogue Gadda, I started to have glimpses of scenes featuring other characters. One romance in particular came to me crystal clear and over time, so have other scenes.

On Saturday, I finished the draft of the new Battle for Odana. It requires a lot of work and I'm not sure that I've actually written the last scene of that book, but it's there. I've got a 95,000 word novel that is the basis of the story and I feel comfortable enough in saying I've finished it to leave it alone for now.

That means I'm not free to start moving on The Lost Ones. The plan – to have something ready to start submitting in six months. I'm hoping that I might have at least the draft of the entire trilogy, and book one polished to a shining wonder by then.

All this of course means that Nanowrimo is going to be rejigged. I've decided to start again. I'll go back, get rid of all the previous wordcounts and get cracking. 50,000 words between now and the end of November. It's doable. Very doable.

Paranormal romance/urban fantasy – what to read?

Today the November edition of ACTWrite comes out (the ACT Writer's Centre newsletter) with an article by yours truly on the differences between paranormal romance and urban fantasy and why the current popularity?

I'll try to put the article up at a later date but here's my thoughts in a nutshell – paranormal romance focusses on a romance and the happily ever after, whereas urban fantasy can have romance but it's not the focus. I see them at the two ends of a continuum of real-world set stories with superanatural elements.

In the meantime, I asked the fabulous readers at Supernatural Underground for their reading recommendations. These are men and women who are long-time devotees to the twinned genres and if you're looking to dip your toe into the darkness, then here's some suggestions of where to start.

Urban fantasy

Paranormal romance

Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher

Horns, by Joe Hill

Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews

Fever by K M Moning

Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost

Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neil

Mercy Thompson series and Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs

Shifters series by Rachel Vincent

October Daye series by Seanan McGuire

Riley Jensens series by Keri Arthur

Disillusionist trilogy by Carolyn Crane

Dark Oracle by Alayna William

Dark Brethren series by Tracey O'Hara

Dead Witch Walking series by Kim Harrison

Southern Gothic series by Charlaine Harris (aka Trueblood)

Signs of the Zodiac series by Vicki Pettersson

Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep

Evangeline Stone by Kelly Meding

Charlie Madigan by Kelly Gay

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Blue Bloods Series by Melissa de la Cruz

Kitty Norville Series by Carrie Vaughn

Weather warden series by Rachel Caine

Any book or series by Lilith Saintcrow

Anna Strong series by Jeanne Stein

Jaz Parks series by Jennifer Rardin

Cal Leandros series & Trickster series by Rob Thurman

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Death Words series by Trent Jamieson

Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward

Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh

pretty much anything by Anya Bast

Grimm Circle by Shiloh Walker

Breed series by Lara Adrian

Feral Warriors series by Pamela Palmer

Once bitten, twice dead by Bianca D'Arc

Any book or series by Christine Feehan

The Warriors of Posiedon series by Alyssa Day

Guardians of Eternity series by Alexandra Ivy

The Nightwalkers series and The Shadowdwellers series by Jacquelyn Frank

The Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands

The Others series by Christine Warren

Breeds series by Lora Leigh

Darkest Night by Gena Showater

The Hoodoo Series and Maker's Series by Adrian Phoenix

Succubus Blues series by Richelle Mead

Accidental Demonslayer series by Angie Fox

Demonica series by Larissa Iona

Love at Stake series by Kerrelyn Sparks

Dark Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Tairen Soul series by CL Wilson

Dream of Asarlai by Nicole Murphy

Shadowfae Chronicles by Erica Hayes

 

With Christmas coming up, perhaps this can pass for your wishlist :)

Nanowrimo

So I decided to sign up to National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) this year. Not because I think I can win – actually I can't, because my 50,000 words this month will be split over two projects – finishing Battle for Odana book one and starting book one of what I'm currently calling The Lost Ones trilogy, the sequel to Dream of Asarlai. And I know I'll get the 50,000 – in the past 42 days I wrote 75,000 words and that included weekends off and missing a few days with illness and injury.

No, I'm doing it to see how social an experience it is. Having been stuck at home on the couch for the best part of a week thanks to a sprained ankle, I'm feeling a bit like I'd like to see/interact some other people apart from my husband (who I love dearly but just one face 24/7 isn't good for ANYONE).

So far, the Nanowrimo website isn't working for me from the social aspect. It's really quite difficult to find people unless you know who they are or to connect with them. Not sure whether there are any live events organised around Canberra – might have to see about organising them myself.

But if you want to buddy up with me, I'm nicole_r_murphy

Come visit the Dark Side Downunder!

Tomorrow sees the launch of a brand new paranormal romance/urban fantasy blog site.

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Dark Side Downunder is a group of members of the Romance Writers of Australia who cover the fantasy side of things. There's a great mix of published and working-to-be-published writers. People involved include: Keri Arthur, Rowena Cory Daniells, Tracey O'Hara, Erica Hayes, Mel Teschco, Astrid Cooper, newly signed authors Shona Husk and Kylie Griffin and yours truly.

There will be blog articles, giveaways, and all sorts of things – in fact, there's a massive schedule that's already organised well into 2011, thanks to the brains behind it all Eleni Konstantine.

There's also great info such as a list of agents that represent PR/UF.

Tuesdays will feature good news from members, Thursdays will feature a give-away and Saturday will be a spotlight on one of the members. In the first week, you can win books by Kelley Armstrong and Riley Jensen and read about Rowena Cory Daniells, a truly fabulous writer.

So if you love your books with a touch of love and romance, as written by Aussies, this is the blog for you.

Nicole flexes her feminist muscles

So yesterday I commented for the first time on a feminist issue. As you can see here, the owner of the website decided that a good way to find some easy things to post on during quiet news days was to have people vote on whether an author was hot or not.

It was such a ridiculously silly thing to do that it was almost not worth posting on – I mean, really, you think that's okay? But then a) I was angry enough of it to do it and b) it turns out that as part of the white-male-privilege thing, men generally don't see anything wrong with it until it's pointed out to them. As a man I know said – I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, although now that you've pointed it out I can see that it's wrong.

So I posted. I was almost the first person, but admit that I couldn't bring myself to be the one to start it. Good thing I waited – my first response was much more ranty than the one I did post. In the future, however, hopefully I won't worry about being the first or not and just respond to things that are dealing with sensitive subjects in an objectionable manner.

This follows on from the first time I caught myself questioning what I was doing from a feminist standpoint. It occurred last Thursday, during watching Beauty and the Geek. I was really enjoying it and then I thought – should I be? What is this show saying? Is it a message that I should be supporting?

Fact is, I'm not entirely sure what the answer to that is. I discussed it with one of my sisters – much more experienced in feminist issues than I – and she wasn't a hundred percent sure either.

The thing is, on the one hand the show is perpetrating some terrible stereotypes. On the other hand, it's trying to bust some of those stereotypes by having people interacting and learning about each other as individuals. Then each one of the challenges relies on the stereotypes being true. Then you see the genuine friendships and people being changed by the experience and that's a good thing.

So I'm not sure where this should stand on my 'am I laughing with honesty or laughing at other people's expense?' spectrum. Interested in thoughts of those of you who have watched it, or have this issue with other shows. But I am proud that the thought occurred to me and that I stopped and questioned. It's all part of the education and the growth.

Speaking of tv shows – does anyone know why Neighbours has become so anti-marriage? Has a single marriage that's occurred over the past few years actually lasted? Either one of them dies, or the relationship falls apart in quick time. It's sad. Note – I don't watch Neighbours any more, but Hubby does so I catch enough to keep up with it (which says something about Neighbours there and then).

The cover – Power Unbound

Power Unbound goes to print this week, so I can reveal the cover. Those of you who have Secret Ones already (and if you don't – why not? :)) will think you already know what the cover looks like and just want to see it in colour.

You are wrong, my friends – wrong.

At the last moment, some changes were made that have, I think, made it a much more interesting and attractive cover. It's also a little spooky too, which isn't quite the book – this series is light urban fantasy (if indeed it is urban fantasy and not paranormal romance – oh, the arguments). Still, I love it.

Here 'tis -

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Pretty, right? And here tis the full cover -

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Thanks to Alan Baxter for turning the PDF I was sent into a JPG.

Note the new HarperVoyager logo – that's the global one that you'll see in Australia, US and UK. The logo, that is. Not the books as far as I'm aware.