Jamie Ferguson's Blog, page 16

So many deadlines!

It’s deadline week!

Plot hole filled!

Last week one of the writers in my wonderful writing group pointed out a very important plot hole. I’d thought I’d handled one particular issue, and I had – but only sort of. (And no, I’m not going to say what it was because it wasn’t apparent that it was a hole until chapter 15, so I’d be giving something important away.) As soon as I realized this really was a problem I knew I had to resolve it, but I didn’t know how.

And then I went on vacation!

Redrafting the dreaded chapter 17

Chapters 16 and 17 have been the hardest chapters of the entire book. The climax begins in chapter 16 and extends through 17, so this section is kind of important because I have to keep the tension high and make sure I’ve pulled in all the pieces that need to be resolved. These two chapters have also been challenging – particularly chapter 16 – because there’s a lot of choreography, and I have to keep track of all the logistics (who is standing where? which hand is that thing in? etc.).

I com...

300,000 words, and a free short story!

Yesterday I wrote my 300,000th word since I started tracking my word count almost 12 years ago!!!

In the big scheme of things, this isn’t really all that much. I know a number of authors who have written 300,000 words in 2016 alone.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It’s been busy here on the home front!

I received my first ever personalized rejection letter! They really liked my story, but wanted something longer (they were looking for 3,000+ words and my story is about 2,400). They also suggested that it could be a good starting point for a novel. Yay!!!

I realize getting rejected sounds like a bad thing, but I’m super happy about this. I think this particular story – a western entitled “Solitude” – is one of the best stories I’ve ever written. So to g...

The Fantasy in the City Bundle!

The Fantasy in the City bundle has launched!

I’m so excited! Not only is the first bundle I’ve ever been in, I’m the curator (organizer) for this bundle, and I’ve worked really, really hard to put all the pieces together. It’s SO awesome to see it all come together and go live!

This bundle contains twenty different short stories, each with its own variant of magic. It will be available on BundleRabbit through July 10th, 2016.

Here’s the cute little BundleRabbit bunny!

Each of the other aut...

One more pesky scene whipped into shape!

After a weekend of editing and attempting to create a semblance of order in my yard, I managed to edit a little over five chapters and plant almost all of the plants I bought the first week of May!

Bundling up

For the past week, my writing time has been spent on the BundleRabbit bundle I’m curating, and on the two writing classes I’m taking (one more week left for both classes – but there’s no more homework!).

The bundle is named “Fantasy in the City” and is, as you might have guessed, filled with urban fantasy short stories.

Does it get any easier?

Does it get any easier?

Yes and no.

Yes, sometimes I write stories where the words flow from my fingertips.

No, sometimes I have a great idea, and I sit down to write a story and realize there’s a key part I haven’t yet figured out, and whatever I’m supposed to figure out remains hidden for a while.

Yes, either way things go, I eventually figure out the story.

Sure, sometimes a story feels like it’s writing itself, and sometimes it feels like a chore. This can – obviously – be easier or more...

Cover fun

I’m very excited to have created a cover for my short story “The City Trees,” which will be in the upcoming “Fantasy in the City” bundle through BundleRabbit!

Why, you might ask, does a short story need a cover? And why am I so excited about having created it?

This bundle will contain short stories from 20 different authors. In an anthology, one file containing all of the stories would appear on your ereader; with a bundle, each story will appear on your ereader as a separate file. Hence the...