Leah R. Cutter's Blog, page 28

Finished! Kinda. Sorta.

I was able to write The End tonight, finishing up the hand written draft of “The Guardian Hound.”

YAY! ::does happy dance::

Tomorrow night I have to type up what I wrote, about 3500 words or so.

Then I have the rest of the week, until Monday, to make the novel “not broke” as it were. There are things that are missing, an entire scene from the end of one of the middle chapters, and some other plot fixing stuff that I must do before I send it to my first readers.

But still — being able to write The End was incredibly satisfying tonight.

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

Stay on target

Typed up the antepenultimate chapter this afternoon. Was so excited about being so close to the end I also ended up writing the penultimate chapter out by hand, about 2500 words, in a single sitting with barely moving because it was so close.

Tomorrow I’ll type up what I wrote today, and maybe, just maybe, write up the very last chapter as well.

That would then give me a week to type it up, as well as to make the novel “not broken.” (There are some plot things that must be fixed before I send it off to first readers.)

So close. So very, very close.

70911 / 80000

I’m not sure what the final word count will be. I’d been thinking 85,000. Now that I’m so close to finishing, I’m figuring it’ll be closer to 80,000, possibly only 75,000. We’ll see. Depends on how long those last chapters actually are, and how much I add making things not broken.

In the meanwhile, I’m currently taking a class in book cover design. I am learning so much. I’m adding a mock up of the new cover for “Clockwork Kingdom” which I think is SO MUCH BETTER than the current cover.

The new one is both more professional, as well as more “fantasy.”

And here’s the original cover, just for comparison:

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

The end is near…

Of the novel, that is.

I spent this evening brainstorming. I’ve been running into issues, and the most recent chapter has been almost impossible to write for a bunch of reasons.

I have finally figured out what the next chapter has to be, and the point of view it must be from.

Not only that, I believe there are only four more chapters I must write to get to the end of the book — three regular chapters and an epilogue type thingy, only not really an epilogue, just a different type of chapter. (Chapters have all been from a single POV. This ending would be a short scene from every POV character in the novel.)

Current word count:

65660 / 81000

All the chapters in this novel are running about 4000 words per chapter. So if I estimate about 16,000 more words, that brings the total of the novel up to about 81,000, which is about the length I’ve always said this novel was supposed to be.

And more good news — I had to take a break from the novel to attend a writing workshop, and write two short stories. In order to get back into the novel, I started from the beginning and worked my way through it. It took a few days (okay, maybe like a week) but I feel as though most of the things that were broken in it are now fixed (like one character whose name changed midway, I really didn’t understand the essential character of the Big Bad until I was halfway through writing the novel, etc.) So while there are still things that are broken, for the most part, I think it’s clean as it stands.

I feel much less panicked about finishing the novel by the end of the month now. Four chapters in two weeks is totally doable.

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

TOC finalized for “Unnatural Worlds” anthology

From Dean, Kris, and WGM, comes the table of contents for the anthology, “Unnatural Worlds”, which I am in, that comes out in April!

Fiction River: Unnatural Worlds

Life Between Dreams…Devon Monk

Finally Family…Ray Vukcevich

The Grasshopper and My Aunts…Esther M. Friesner

True Calling…Irette Y. Patterson

A Taste of Joie De Vivre…Kellen Knowlan

Here, Kitty Kitty…Annie Reed

That Lost Riddle…Dean Wesley Smith

Shadow Side…Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Sisters…Leah Cutter

The Witch’s House…Richard Bowes

Dog Boy Remembers…Jane Yolen

Barbarians…David Farland

The David Farland story is a Runelords prequel. Kris’ story is a short novella.

If you want to preorder a copy in ebook or trade paper, you can do so here.

If you want to subscribe, you can do so at the above link, and also here.

I’m really honored to be in such great company!

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

Seven year anniversary

Seven years ago today, I brought home the cutest cat. She was a rescue kitty. Her owners had moved out of their apartment and left her behind. I assume she was abused: She’s still afraid of my feet, and she has some funny attitudes toward her litter box and food.

Kiera is really only my kitty. She doesn’t interact much with other people, usually running and hiding when they come around.

But she is my joy. She races around like a crazy thing on a daily basis. I always compare her coat to bunny fur: It’s that thick and soft. When I come home after traveling, she usually sleeps on top of me for a couple of nights, just to remind me of where I belong. She’s opinionated, insists we play together often (she likes me to throw sparkly balls that she can then chase) and generally moves from room-to-room with me through out the day, so we can hang out together. That is, when it doesn’t disturb one of her naps.

Under the cut there are lots of pictures. Be warned!

Happy anniversary, Ms. Kiera.

First day or so after I brought her home, after she finally came out from under the bathtub, looking up at me and wondering if she could trust me. I’m glad she decided she could.

Kiera looking at me

The princess in her castle

The light’s too bright!

One of my favorite photos of Ms. Kiera

This is actually the picture I have on my credit card. Part of her tryouts for the Olympic Sleeping Event: The Twisted Lunge

Sparkly ball is MINE!

The obligatory cat in a box photo.

Who you looking at?

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

SOLD! New short story!

I seem to be on a roll here…

I sold a new short story to the anthology, “Hex in the City.” The anthology will come out December 15th. Here’s a blurb for the anthology:

Seanan McGuire, Dean Wesley Smith, and Jeanne C. Stein lead this urban fantasy anthology from the popular editor of Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies and The Girl’s Guide to Guns and Monsters.

If you’re interested, you can preorder the anthology here, at Ella Distribution.

In addition, the other short story I sold to the Fiction River anthology collection will be available April 25th. You can preorder the anthology here, at Ella Distribution.

Here’s the blurb for the “Unnatural Worlds” anthology:

From a funeral procession in Vietnam to an ancestral estate deep in the heart of a made-up (vaguely Victorian) world, Unnatural Worlds takes readers on a journey to the far side of the imagination. Funny, heartbreaking, frightening, but most importantly, memorable, the stories in this anthology go places few writers dare reach. Featuring stories by Esther M. Friesner, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jane Yolen, Ray Vukcevich, Devon Monk, Leah Cutter, Kellen Knowlan, Annie Reed, and Irette Y. Patterson, Unnatural Worlds marks the perfect start to this brand-new anthology series.

I’m so excited about both of these anthologies! And very honored to be in them.

Now, I must get to the writing. That’s all I’m doing this month. Day job and writing. I even had a dream about it, nasty, nasty nightmare with me complaining about how I never got a break to do anything fun.

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

SOLD! Short story

Since I’ve signed the contracts, I figure I can announce it here.

I’ve sold my short story, “The Curious Case of Rabbit and the Temple Goddess,” to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine!

I wrote this story for a short story workshop last year.

It’s a great example of the writer not having a clue about what she’s written.

A lot of people in the workshop liked this story, including the instructor. I still thought I’d never be able to sell it, that no one would buy it. I thought it was too weird, too much of a mash up: It’s a mystery, set in Tang dynasty China, involving the law of the time.

And yet, I just sold it.

It makes me wonder about some of my other short stories, if I should send out more of them, instead of just going the indie publish route immediately.

This sale means that I’ll have two short stories in print this year. The first one will come out in April, in the “Unnatural Worlds” anthology. I’ll let you know when this story is available.

There is other news as well, that I’ll announce when I can.

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

Dark mode approaching…

This week, I have to travel for the day job.

Next week, I will be at a writer’s workshop.

If I want to finish the novel with enough time for my first readers to get through it before I have to send it to the copy editor, I will have to write between 30,000-50,000 words in March.

This is totally doable. I’ve done 10,000 words a week before.

But I won’t be doing much of anything other than writing.

So while I’m not here that often anyway, I anticipate being here even less, at least until April.

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

Stress Update

On Friday, the handyman finally came and took care of a bunch of stuff at the house.

That night, I slept really well. I woke up in the morning with a dry mouth, which meant that instead of clenching my jaw, I was relaxed and slept with my mouth open. Same thing this morning.

This experience has really highlighted how important my home is. Next time something starts to go wrong, I’ll get it fixed immediately. It weighs on my mind too much otherwise.

Today, I was able to get a few things done and crossed off my list, in part because the list no longer feels so huge and overwhelming. I even got my tax receipts and paperwork all organized (will go see a tax preparer on Wednesday.) I am going to keep working on that list, getting it whittled down so I don’t feel so bad every time I look at it. And I may bring the handyman back to finish off more tasks.

Am I still stressed? Oh yeah. While I still love my day job, I’m preparing for an event on the 19th that’s causing me stress. And I have some other deadlines that are hard. I’m also breathing and stretching and relaxing as much as I can.

I don’t really have a writing update this week. I didn’t finish the chapter I was working on. Finally realized tonight that I was writing the wrong chapter. *sigh* Next week, I won’t be working on the novel. I have to write a short story for a workshop. Although, if I can finish the story early, I’ll switch back over to the novel, and work on the right chapter, and maybe finish it next week…

But I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself about it. Too much pressure is a pretty good blocker for me when it comes to writing. Some pressure is fine. It’s one of those reasons I’m amazed at reality shows like, “Face Off” and “Project Runway” — being creative under deadline is *hard* and I’m always amazed they can do what they do with those time limits.

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

Finding my Sams, redux

To recap: I’m stressed out. I have too many things on my to do list.

And what was supposed to be the theme of this year? Finding my Sams — the people to help me.

Today I reached out to three different organizations to help with things like taxes, house stuff, and cleaning.

I don’t have to go it alone. I can ask for help. It isn’t easy, but I anticipate that once the help arrives, I’ll feel better.

What I’d like to do next is to find someone with mad spreadsheet skills for tracking all my book sales. I have some skills, and I have a very basic spreadsheet that needs updating. I’d like to be able to group the information differently, and I need help with that. If anyone knows someone who’s willing to trade writing critiques or knitted goods for spreadsheet work, let me know. Or even sewing projects or help with indie publishing. I have mad skillz to barter, yo.

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