Leah R. Cutter's Blog, page 39

A Sword's Poem

I know I have other things to chat about. But this is on my mind.

A Sword's Poem was the historic fantasy I'd planned on writing after I'd finished The Jaguar and the Wolf. I've actually written the first 19K words.

The main character loses her mate in the first chapter, then is in denial about her mourning process through much of the rest of the novel.

Then I lost my mother.

It was impossible for me to write a character who was going through such a different mourning process. I had to put it away.

The novel is set in the early Heian period of Japan, around 680 AD, just as things were starting to change.

The hook?

Hikaru is a fox fairy. Her mate is killed, his soul, stolen, then reforged into a sword. Hikaru must find the sword and break the curse–but it's never as easy as that.

I'd originally envisioned the novel with six, first person point of views. That's really not doing me any favors. I know why I did it–all the journals from the time are written in first person. And there are 10 novels/journals from this time period.

I think the main character's story should still be in first person — she's in so much pain and grief, the reader needs distance from that. I think the scenes from the POV of the sword won't work unless they're first person. But the others should all be redrafted into third person.

Could I go back and write this novel now? I think so. I took extensive notes while I did 12+ months of research for it.

Plus, enough time has passed. The other problem with this novel was that I plotted out too much of it. There wasn't enough left for me to discover, to make it interesting to write. I can ignore all of what I had planned now.

I'm not convinced that I'll go back to write this novel. I kind of want to, though. Some of it's so pretty. I was steeped in Japanese poetry when I started: it shows in the language. I like the characters, and I still can see some of the scenes further on in the novel. It's just — time, as much as anything else.

The good news is that I read through the first chapter of Siren's Call, the novel I'm supposed to write next. It's in pretty good shape — MUCH better shape than Zydeco Queen. It needs some updating, but I think I can go through with that novel as well. And it won't take me too long to finish.

So we'll see what the next novel, after Siren's Call, turns out to be — if it's a brand new novel, Popcorn Thief or the historic fantasy.

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

Free fiction!

As promised, when I post a new story I also make it available for free for a week on my web site.

The Key To Many Places

Sure, Martin is Irish. And he doesn't stand more than four feet tall. Maybe he has a fondness for red jackets. Perhaps also a shoe collection that would rival Carrie Bradshaw's.

And sometimes, yes, he can make wishes come true.

But that doesn't make him a leprechaun…or does it?

This was one of the short stories I wrote at the workshop last week. The other short story, honestly, it isn't finished yet. I added a scene to "end" it, but it really wasn't the end of it. I'm not sure where that story ends yet. If it's a 9000 word short story or a 20,000 word novella. (The title — The Raven and the Dancing Tiger)

I'm moving forward well on Zydeco Queen. Will be finished with it next week. Think I'll move to the raven story. I'm looking forward to the journey.

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

Norwescon 2012

Okay — here's my schedule for Norwescon. I will be around later in the day on Saturday, as well as Sunday.

Saturday 9-11 am Baker

Writers Workshop – Round Robin 1

Saturday 11 am – 1 pm Maxi's Ballroom

Single Pattern Contest Judging

Closed Judging session for the Single Pattern Contest entries.

Sunday 10 am Evergreen 1&2

Should You Publish an E-Book First?

The publishing landscape is changing rapidly. Now anybody can e-publish a manuscript and even sell it on Amazon. But just because you can, should you?

Leah Cutter (M), Mike Shepherd Moscoe, Matt Youngmark, Ken McConnell

Sunday 11 am – 1pm Salon

Writers Workshop – Round Robin 4

I will be missing the Broad Universe RFR due to the pattern judging contest. I bought chocolate covered figs for the chocolate raffle they'll be having. I'll try to remember to bring it to the panel instead on Sunday.

Hope to see at least some of you there!

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

Tomorrow I’ll work

I just came back from a week-long writing workshop. I’m exhausted and completely fried. No brain: It dribbled out my fingers all week.

But — the workshop was amazing and I feel as though I learned so much. I’m really looking forward to restarting writing tomorrow.

I will be at Norwescon this weekend. I’ll post my schedule tomorrow, when I have a brain again.

I’ve published a few more things. Again, will post tomorrow.

Tonight, it’s back to reading and relaxing.

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

Tomorrow I'll work

I just came back from a week-long writing workshop. I'm exhausted and completely fried. No brain: It dribbled out my fingers all week.

But — the workshop was amazing and I feel as though I learned so much. I'm really looking forward to restarting writing tomorrow.

I will be at Norwescon this weekend. I'll post my schedule tomorrow, when I have a brain again.

I've published a few more things. Again, will post tomorrow.

Tonight, it's back to reading and relaxing.

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

Clockwork Kingdom Available!

Clockwork Kingdom

My new novel, Clockwork Kingdom, is available at Amazon!

It's YA. Steampunk fairies. Need I say more?

Okay. Here's the brief teaser:

Adele, queen of the fairies, longs for the past when fairies ruled the skies and humans trembled on the ground below. She's enthralled a human tinker to finish her grand machine and restart the human-fairy war. Only the tinker's twin sister can break the spell.

Here's the longer teaser:

Adele—a beautiful fairy queen with wings of clockwork—despairs when her husband, the Master Tinker, dies before he finishes the machinery that will drive the humans away and restart the human-fairy war. Then she meets Dale, a human boy with natural talent who can finish the machine. She enslaves Dale and binds his will with fairy magic.

However, Adele fails to capture Dale's twin sister Nora, who has only recently discovered that she is a Maker and has power of her own.

Can Nora accept the magic that makes her different and save both her brother and herself before the fairy kingdom clockwork can be turned on, killing millions of innocent people?

I'm experimenting with the Amazon Select program for this novel. With Zydeco Queen I'll try a different strategy.

Clockwork Kingdom

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

Measuring effort

One of the things that I always find frustrating with rewrites is how to measure my effort. For example, I worked for about two hours today on the rewrite of Zydeco Queen. In terms of word count, I only added about 600 new words.

If I was writing first draft, 600 words in 2 hours is shameful, at least for me.

However, that 600 doesn't count the rewriting and replacing of sentences and paragraphs. It doesn't count the thinking and planning and verifying I'm doing. I worked hard for those two hours. I know I did some good work. But there's very little product, something I can point to and say, "I accomplished that!"

This is one of the reasons why I find rewriting to be less satisfying than writing. And yet, I know I'm doing good, necessary work. I know that I'm adding a lot of quality to this book. I know that I need to do all of this work.

Still. I'm searching for more satisfaction than it will ever give me.

In other news, I'm close to being finished with Clockwork Kingdom. I spent this morning working on the cover, creating two from two different pictures. I'm going with my first idea, as opposed to my second. The first idea is more fantasy, the second is more clockwork. If I was doing a more science fiction/steampunk story, then I'd choose the second.

One other thing I've discovered is that the PoD version of a cover doesn't have to be identical to the ebook version. The lettering that looked awesome as an ebook and at the thumbnail size looks *way* too big on the paperback version.

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

Trade Paperback of Baker's Dozen Available!

I am pleased to announce that the trade paperback version of my collection Baker's Dozen is now available!

This version has been thoroughly copy-edited, so it is my belief that 99% of all grammar and word errors have been corrected. (It is also my belief that there's no such thing as a perfect book. Chances are there are still errors but I won't find them for another week or so. I've already updated the ebook versions of the files.)

I will do a separate post about this later, but I realize that some people are completionists, and they want both the ebook and the hardcopy, but they don't want to pay for the same material twice. If that describes you, do the following:

1) Go here: https://www.createspace.com/3770667 to buy the trade paperback.

2) Edit your confirmation email to remove shipping address information, credit card information, etc.

3) Forward the confirmation email to me, and tell me what format you'd like the ebook in: PDF, epub, or mobi.

4) I will email you the ebook.

Why am I asking you to buy off this particular link? I am selling the paperback through three channels:

1) Createspace page (which is what this link is to)

2) Amazon

3) Extended distribution

With option 1), I get 80% of the cover price, or about $6 after additional fixed fees.

Option 2), I get 60% of the cover price, or about $3.50 after additional fixed fees.

Option 3), I get 40% of the cover price, or about $1 after additional fixed fees.

So, say you buy this paperback through the B&N website, which in 6-8 weeks you'll be able to do. I won't send you the ebook for that purchase. I don't make enough money off of that transaction. Ditto via Amazon.

If you've already bought the ebook and want a discounted paperback, send me an email and I'll work something out with you. I can't send you a free paperback, I'm sorry, but I don't get them for free.

By the first week of April, I should be announcing the trade paperback version of Paper Mage.

One other note — I've tried both trade paperback and mass-market paperback versions of these books in order to reduce the cost. I cannot shrink the type and margins enough to make it significantly cheaper. I figure this is because I'm not really doing mass-anything, this is print on demand, so I can't get my costs cheaper. Paper is just more expensive.

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

Toughest boss

I sometimes play a game with myself, pretending that my inner writer is working for the world's toughest boss. This inspires me to write even when I'm feeling subpar. (So, you're tired and hungry? World's toughest boss says write your 1000 words, then you can have a snack and go to bed early.)

However, the toughest boss tends to be very understanding with regards to migraines. I woke up with one today. I can write through a lot of things, but not that kind of pain and fuzziness. Fortunately, around 7 PM, my head finally cleared and I was able to finish the rewrites of chapter five.

Chapter five was easier than all the preceding chapters. I didn't have missing scenes so much as slim ones. I added about 2000 words (which is average) but I didn't have to do as much rewriting as I've had to do on every chapter up to this one.

I've read through chapters six and seven, and they're in about the same condition as chapter five: One or two nights work on each and they'll be finished. I haven't read beyond chapter seven, but my gut sense is that I've finished the horrible part of the rewrite.

If this is true, I will finish the novel rewrites sooner rather than later. Not before the end of the month, but with the first week of April. Which I think counts as a win.

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

Slight disruption

I think that's the theme of this week — filled with slight disruptions.

In order to save money, I moved the Knotted Road Press account. It's now a subdomain on LeahCutter.com. This meant I had to cancel the account then rebuild the website from scratch. Fortunately, that only took a couple of hours. I figure the website itself was down for 30 minutes or less.

I was sick earlier, then my team (day job) came into town, which meant that instead of working from home, I went into the Seattle office and had tons of meetings. Tonight I couldn't do any real writing work: I'm too exhausted. I have two scenes to write for chapter four, as well as day job work, as well as a bunch of social obligations this weekend.

I did do some work tonight (see rebuilding website, above) as well as produced what is hopefully the last draft of the print version for Baker's Dozen. This is all formatting and busy work, not writing work. I'm pitifully shy on writing work this week, between sickness and exhaustion. I'm hoping that next week I'm able to get a ton of writing done.

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