Leah R. Cutter's Blog, page 27

Story Inspiration Sunday

I also blog about this over at Book View Cafe. Feel free to comment here or there!

While I have a lot of pictures from fashion shows, these characters who walk the runway, I also get inspired by pictures of settings.

My favorite season is fall. I am a color junky. I go out and take pictures every fall of the colored leaves.

I particularly am drawn to trails, those paths leading out and beyond. What is there, just out of sight? As Tolkien said, “The road goes on and on.”

So here are a couple of pictures of settings that inspire me. The first is a picture I took at the Seattle Arboretum.

I understand the composition — the trees frame the stairs, and they’re an interesting element because of the way they curve. But even though I took the picture, I still can imagine that this is the stairway to someone’s large home. What type of person lives there? Is it a fake-Tutor style house, or more Victorian?

The following is a picture I took in Kashmir, India.

In my head, I’ve always called it, “The Valley of the King.” I’ve always imagined that the valley here is an old, abandoned road, and just out of sight, in my imagination, I’ve always placed the ruins of a Mogul castle. I know there’s a story about this place. Someday, I may write it.

What kind of pictures of places inspire you? What types of scenes are you drawn to?

And as always, feel free to commit art, tell a story, or write a scene, based on these images. Ideas are a dime a dozen, and anything you do will be 100% different than anything I do.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Write the next line

Recently, Dean Wesley Smith blogged about writing a 70,000 word novel in 10 days.

It was fascinating to read how he did it, his attitudes toward writing, etc. A lot of it is apply butt to chair, trust the process, trust your writerly brain.

Dean writes into the dark, has no idea what the ending is of the project he’s working on. I usually know where I’m going, and have learned that if I don’t, it’s a mess. That’s just my process, which is different than his.

One of the things that really struck me and has stayed with me is the concept of “Write the next line.” From Dean, in the comments on Day 1:

William, do as I do when stuck. Just write the next line. Stuck means you can’t figure out something larger ahead. Stop worrying about that and just write the next line. Focus small and build with small blocks to get something larger.

Write the next line.

For the novel that I’m turning into the copyeditor on Monday, I’ve decided that I need to write a new chapter. I have a question to answer in this chapter, and it took me a while to figure out what the answer was. Now, while I may have a vague idea where I’m going, I have no idea how to get there. That’s very normal for me, how I usually write.

However, I do know the next line. So I can write the next line. And the next. And the next. And suddenly, there are over 2000+ words in this chapter. Still don’t know exactly how I’m going to finish it, but I feel confident that I will, and long before Monday.

Speaking of which…it’s time to go write the next line.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Story Inspiration Sunday

I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors. It wasn’t until I bought my house back in 2011 that I discovered that I really like gardening.

I have lots of books on habitation of different areas, like the plants and flowers of the Yucatan (which I used for “The Jaguar and the Wolf”). I have similar books for Japan and China. They’re all research books, which means the purchase was a business expense. I didn’t buy them just because they were pretty. No! Really!

Anyway. Imagine my delight when I found this site — Flowers of India.

http://www.flowersofindia.net/

Here’s one of my favorite flowers, the Prickly Water Lilly:

If you were doing a dark fairy tale, this would be the plant that would give you riddles to guide you, but only in the middle of the night, and only after you fed it a live mouse.

Or this one, the Sea Poison Tree:

All parts of the tree contain poison, saponin, which can be used to stun fish. The fruits are lantern shaped, and can float on the sea for up to two years. So what about the tiny creatures who use these pods as boats? They’re poisonous, but durable, and keep away the sea creatures? What kind of sea battles do the warring tribes have?

What kinds of nature inspire you? What flowers or trees or bushes show up frequently in your work?

As always, feel free to commit story based on these posts, if you get inspired. Whatever you write will be 100% different than anything I write.

Enjoy!

I've also been posting these over on the BookView Cafe Site.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Unnatural Worlds anthology available!

Woo hoo!

The ebook version of the anthology “Unnatural Worlds” is available today!

Edited by Kristine Katherine Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, “Unnatural Worlds” is the first of an anthology series featuring volumes that appear every two month.

“Unnatural Worlds” also features original stories by Devon Monk, Ray Vukcevich, Esther M. Friesner, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jane Yolen, and David Farland. I’m sitting in mighty fine company.

My short story “Sisters” is set during Tang dynasty China, about a girl trying to find a way to honor her younger sister, during a time when honor is only paid to those who are older.

The audio versions of the anthology will be available later this month.

To read more about the Fiction River anthology series, visit the website, www.FictionRiver.com.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Story Inspiration Sundays

True confession time.

I enjoy reading about fashion. I am a Project Runway junkie, and I religiously follow Tom and Lorenzo. (Their “Pretty of the day” posts are frequently inspiring!) I buy fashion books, and, okay, I sometimes even buy fashion magazines (special treat for when I’m sick and lying in bed and want to look at something pretty.)

However, if you met me, you’d never know it. I’m very much a jeans and T-shirt kind of gal. I may own a few pairs of high heels, but I rarely wear them. My clothes must be comfortable.

A lot of these posts are going to be inspiration from fashion shows. The designers are telling a story, and they have created many characters with their clothes and models. Not every fashion show is successful, and not every line tells a good story. Some are too repetitive, too focused on a theme. But even those will sometimes have a great character or two.

This picture comes from the Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2013 collection.

Me, I see a young queen, just come to power. She’s young, untried, but determined. This is a character with great conviction, who is going to make fabulous mistakes, at least in terms of plot. I don’t have a name for her, or her backstory, but I see such a wealth of character and possibility in her.

What do you see? Could you write a story about her?

As always, feel free to use these images as inspiration for your own work. Whatever you create will be 100% different than anything I do.

Enjoy!

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Dangerous days

I’ve been really sick the last week. This morning, I woke up and finally felt better. Not well, but more like I’ve been running on empty for the last week, with no energy at all, and this morning, the batteries were half full.

Note: Not all the way full. Merely half.

So today, and probably tomorrow, are the dangerous days. The days when I want to push because I can finally do something (anything, really, besides just sleep.) The days when I finally have enough brain that I’m bored with being sick.

I’m forcing myself to rest today. I’m reading “God’s War” by Kameron Hurley, staying off the computer, and not doing anything.

I am not used to this sort of inactivity. But I need to get well, truly well. So I’ll drink my tea, read my book, and let the list of things I need to do pile up higher. This way, by Monday, I’ll be able to tackle that list with my usual energy.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Thin shadows cast by spring leaves

I’ve been sick this week. Really sick. This is probably the sickest I’ve been since 2009, when I have pneumonia. Wednesday was the worst. I had a high fever, I know I got confused, and I lost process. I forgot to brush my teeth that night. Now, that may not sound like much to some, but that was frightening to me. It was the first time I was worried about myself, living alone and being so sick.

I’m better now, but still far from well. My brain keeps throwing words at me, though, like the title for this post. And “The dark ride of the midnight soul.” Things like that.

I’m not able to actually write, as much as I’d like to. The doctor prescribed cough syrup with codeine, which really helps with the coughing, but also puts me to sleep. I’ve spent as much time lazing in bed this week as my cat has, and that’s saying something.

Speaking of which — yeah. It’s nap time.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Story Inspiration Sunday

People always ask writers, “Where do you get your ideas?”

Honestly, for me, most of the time the answer is, “No frigging clue.”

For example, my latest novel, “The Guardian Hound.” I was toward the very end of writing “The Raven and the Dancing Tiger” and I wrote two sentences, just two, and then I had to put my pen down because the entire novel of “The Guardian Hound” sprang into my mind.

That’s generally how I get my ideas for a novel — the whole thing comes as one package: I see the beginning, some scenes in the middle, and the ending. I have no clue how to get from the start to the end, that’s why I have to write it down. But the whole thing just appears out of nowhere.

For short stories, it’s different. I frequently just find the time to write a short story, or I am invited into an anthology, and then I have to poke around for inspiration. I rarely get just a short story idea.

Hence, these posts.

I have a folder of bookmarks, as well as a folder on my desktop, labeled, “Inspiration.” Into these I put snippets of poetry, pictures, quotes — things that have inspired either a character, or a world, or setting, etc.

I have already written stories about some of these inspirations. Others, I haven’t. If something I post inspires you to commit art or story, go ahead and do so! These posts are meant to be shared, and to inspire. Whatever you do will be 100% different than what I do. I have no fear of someone “stealing” my idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Please go ahead and use these for your own work if you feel so inspired.

To start off with, I have a picture of a character who I haven’t yet written about.

This picture is from Jean Paul Gaultier’s 2013 Menswear spring collection. My first thought when I saw him was that the strings hanging down weren’t actually strings: They are wires, and that coat is his computer, powered by motion. I can see him in a type of “Blade Runner” world, where nothing is as it seems.

Do you see any story behind him? Feel free to write your own story about him — I have no idea if I’ll ever get around to mine or not.

Enjoy!

I am also blogging these posts at the BookView Cafe Blog.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Done like a done thing

I finished my edits for “The Guardian Hound” this afternoon, and sent it off to first readers.

YAY.

I am planning on writing a couple of short stories in the next couple of weeks. First, I thought I’d try another Rabbit story. I sold the first Rabbit story to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, so I might as well write the next one (there are a whole series of them, actually.) Then I can send it to Ellery Queen, and say, “AHMM bought the first one, you want the second one?”

But tonight, am going out to dinner and taking a break.

It’s been a tough month, and I’ve worked really hard. Taking off for a night (or two!) I think is a really smart thing right now.

However, then it’ll be time to get back on it.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

The final slog…

I finished typing up the first draft of “The Guardian Hound” Monday, I believe. I’ve moved on to doing a final fix and heavy polish. I must power through three chapters every day in order to be finished by the 31st. That means between 3-6 hours every night of concentrated, hard work.

Ugh.

But I’m really pleased with this novel. I’m happy that I’m taking the time to read it all out loud before I pass it along to my first readers. I know I’m doing good work with this polish, and fixing a bunch of things.

My brain is already thinking about what’s next. I’ll have about 2 1/2 weeks after I finish the novel before comments come back. I’m going to try to write two short stories in that time.

Then the novel comes back for a couple of weeks, I fix things, and it goes off to the copy editor May 6th.

I’m figuring at that point, it’s time to start another novel.

The next novel I want to work on is “Siren’s Call” — the one set in New Orleans. It’s time to write that novel and finish it. I’m kind of excited about it — I know exactly how the novel is supposed to go, what’s supposed to happen. I just need to write the dang thing.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.