Leah R. Cutter's Blog, page 42

Free Fiction Monday!

I know, I know. I was supposed to post last week. I'm hoping that even though I've had a really late start on writing the new story this week that I'll still finish on time.

The Doom of Alokai

Storm has lived alone her entire life, shunned like all witches, for her gift of prophesy. However, every augury comes with a geas to tell the person their future. This time it's the doom of Alokai temple and the priestesses who burn witches. How can Storm tell them of their fate while not revealing her true nature? Can she also escape the doom of Alokai?

This story is currently available for free, here on my web site, for a week. After that it will be available at all the usual places, Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

This is week 11. I can't believe I've kept up this pace. I also can't believe how good it feels to be writing like this. I feel very satisfied.

I like this story. I like the place it came from, with shifting morals and no one being completely right or wrong.

And where do ideas come from? I already had the picture of Storm on the beach destroying her divination in mind, but I didn't know what she'd seen. I was at the tea shop, looked across the room without my glasses on and saw a book that had "Aloha" in the title. Somehow that became the Doom of Alokai.

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

Special Snowflake

The reasons why I missed my weekly deadline and didn't publish a story last week are numerous. I will be posting a new story before the end of tonight.

The main reason I didn't meet the deadline is because I didn't figure out that I was never going to finish the story I was writing until Sunday, yes, yesterday. I wrote a new story yesterday, and in some ways I did make the deadline, because I finished handwriting and had actually started typing it yesterday. But I didn't finish typing it, and I didn't publish it.

I kept thinking I could make the story work. I'd rewritten the start of it 3 times. Saturday, though, I didn't write a word. Generally, that's a clear clue that the story is wrong. It just happened really late in my schedule. (I was also traveling last week for the day job.)

As for the special snowflake status, I've come to accept that for now, my process means I write everything out by hand and then type it up. I was trying to write last week's story straight to computer.

What I've discovered is that while I can do it, sometimes, I just don't like it. Maybe when I've retired and am writing full time I can get into writing fiction directly on the computer. For now, I'm not going to mess with what works for me. (Again, FOR ME. YMMV.)

I timed myself yesterday, working on a story I was really inspired to write, that I was enjoying the hell out of. I can crank out 1000 words in 40 minutes if I'm really inspired. Then I take a break because my hand hurts. But I think that's about as good as it's going to get — 1000 in 50 minutes (counting the break.)

Now — back to the writing! I've typed up 3000 words, have about 1500 left, then editing and copy editing and making a cover, then formatting and publishing.

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

Sunday Free Fiction!

I just posted the tenth story in the Baker's Dozen challenge.

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Illumignot lived the handsome King Franklin and the clever Queen Isabella. They loved each other dearly and their only wish was to have a child. After a decade of trying, the brave Prince Kyle was born. All the kingdom celebrated. That night, while they all slept, the Blue Fairy came and stole all their shadows.

This story is available here on my web site for free for the rest of the week. I'll pull it down when I post the next story.

I came up with this story back in the late '80s — 1988 maybe — while I was babysitting a young boy named Kyle. I told this story out loud, and I think I may have written it down at some point. But I realize recently that I'd never typed it up. So I decided that since I've remembered this story for so long that it was about time I actually wrote it out.

Much of the original elements of the story are in this version, with the prince trying to be brave, how the children and the dead are affected by losing their shadows, the princess who challenges Kyle, and the meeting with his shadow at the end.

This is a story I wrote straight to the computer. It isn't as clean as my other work. I should go through it carefully one more time, but I needed to post to meet my deadline. Before it goes into the anthology I'll edit it heavily, I'm certain.

Was it not as clean because of the method I wrote it? Probably. But it was also just a messy story, trying to remember something from so long ago, trying to make my current voice accommodate that old voice. It was originally all fairy tale, nothing told from any POV. But I like the mix that came with this version.

Did I enjoy writing this straight to computer? It was certainly easier. I followed the one bit of advice about figuring out exactly what I was going to write just before I wrote it, and OMG did the words fly from my fingers. Were they good words? Some of them were. It's a new way of writing for me, but I think that with practice I could get really good at it, that it would become my new process for writing.

I'm still not convinced that I can produce a clean enough draft typing straight to the computer. I had to spend a lot of time rewriting, and I hate revising. I'd just as soon it all came in really clean.

This week I'm going to be typing straight to the computer again though, unless the story screams that it must be hand written. (I've had stories like that.) I have to travel this week, I have social obligations, I have vacation rental stuff to do and stuff around the house as well. I am BUSY this week. My choice, always my choice, but this week is a little more crazed than usual.

Tonight, though, I'm taking some more time off and just relaxing.

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

Half a Dozen anthology available!

In addition to Caves of Buda being available now as an ebook, I've also gathered the first six stories from the Baker's Dozen challenge into an anthology.

What's it called? Half a Dozen of course.

Travel to cold Seattle and the see the world from the viewpoint of a private investigator who just happens to be a ghost, then go down to the creole fairy courts of Louisiana, visit with women who may or may not have cloven feet and others who just need to slip outside of what's always expected of them. Here are six tales of fantasy and wonder to fill you up just right.

Today's been my birthday and it's been a pretty good day. Busy — worked hard at the day job all day today. Tonight I went out to eat and then finished the latest story at the coffee shop afterward. This story is probably the roughest of any that I've written to date. There are lots of reasons why — I'll fix what I can before I post it on Saturday. I have Friday off, and I plan on writing, as well as cleaning and party prep. Then more writing and party prep. Then, finally, PARTY!

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

Caves of Buda available as an e-book!

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<p><a href="<a href=http://www.leahcutter.com/&quot;h... on Amazon (Kindle)</a>&#8220;><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1168" title="Caves of Buda" src="http://www.leahcutter.com/wp-content/..." alt="" width="228" height="300" /></a></p>
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<p>Just in time for my birthday tomorrow!</p>
<p><em>A Roman magician binds a 5-stone-eyed demon deep in caves in a part of the world that eventually become known as Budapest, Hungary. Now, the bindings are breaking. The three main characters have to either rebind the demon, or destroy it, before it causes another war in Eastern Europe.</em></p>
<p>Going through this novel, re-editing it and getting it ready for e-pub was very difficult for me. I had thought it would be hard because I was ashamed of the writing. While there are some transitions that are clunky, the writing itself is better than I&#8217;d remembered.</p>
<p>However, many part of this novel are at best a thinly-disguised autobiography. The emotions it brought up were painful. Plus, there are parts of this novel that can still make me cry.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006..." target="_blank">Available on Amazon (Kindle)</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books..." target="_blank">Available on Barnes &amp; Noble (Nook)</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/..." target="_blank">Available on Smashwords</a></p>
<small>Crossposted from <a href="http://www.leahcutter.com">my website</a>. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or <a href="http://www.leahcutter.com/blog/"...

Racing toward that final word

This last week I read a couple of different posts about writing 10,000 words a day: here and here.

First the caveat — this is talking about me and my writing, my process and my speed. Not comparing or disparaging anyone else.

Anyway, both posts got me thinking, a lot, about my own process. I think that the triangle of know what you're writing about, know when is the best time for you to write, and fire up your enthusiasm are key for higher word counts.

For me, I tend to write out drafts by hand, first, then type them up. When I'm on fire (that is, I know what I'm writing about and I'm pumped up about it) I can easily write 1000-1500 words per hour.

The problem is then, after I've written out all those words, I have to type them up. So I effectively cut my writing speed in half, down to 500-7500 words per hour total.

Words-per-hour isn't my only measurement. I hate rewriting. I'd much rather get it right the first time. By doing the hand-to-typed draft, that first draft is really clean. When I type up the first draft, I end up doing a lot more editing. So even though the words-per-hour may be higher, I'm not convinced that the overall writing time is less.

So for the next few weeks I'm going to keep better track of things. I'm writing this week's story out straight to the computer. (Which is good, actually, it's about 9000 words.) I want to see how I can achieve high-quality, high-word-count hours. What it takes for me to tweak my process.

Tonight I followed her advice and wrote out the scenes before hand, getting all jazzed about them before I started typing. (That's always one of my problems — I can get really excited before I start to hand-write — it's like anything is possible. Sitting down at the computer has over-tones of working on the day job. It's too much like work and not enough like writing!fun.) It was a very good writing session tonight.

Holding myself to a timer, and only letting myself write while I'm "on the clock" is always very effective.

I can't tell yet how much rewriting this story will need once I finish typing it straight into the computer. At least 20% gets rewritten going from the hand-to-computer draft, then another 10% gets changed during the last couple of drafts. (That number can be higher, but is generally not lower.)

And now it's time to not be writing, but knitting and reading instead.

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

Free fiction Friday! The Secrets of 9s

I finished the ninth story early this week. This was a story that just pulled me in, demanding that I write it. I really, really like this story. It's a bit experimental for me, very different than my usual stuff.

The Secrets of 9s: A tale of anarchy broken into nine bits

One of the secrets of 9s: they always return. They may come disguised in the coyness of eights, with the rigid line of the one hidden at their back. Or maybe you mistake them for fours marching across burnt fields, not seeing their friends, the fat fives, until it's much too late. Other secrets are that 9s are anarchists, hyper-local, and stand alone at the end. Come learn about the 9s and their more militant anarchists.

This story has mature themes, bodily fluids, and a high body count. Reader discretion advised.

I went to college in London during the 80s, when the IRA were planting bombs. I had many close calls, like the time they blew up a store front on High Street just after a concert at the Prince Albert Hall had let out, when the street was full of people. I was two blocks away. If I hadn't stopped to go the bathroom, it might have been me cut to shreds by the flying glass.

This story has a lot of bombs and anarchists, and some Britishism as well. They fit the story that I told.

This story is available for free, here on my web page, for a week. When I post the next story I'll pull this one down.

Enjoy!

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

The day after

Happy Thanksgiving, for those who celebrate. I hope your day was as wonderful as mine, full of good food and friends.

The only drawback to yesterday was my fall: when coming back from the car (after dropping off more food to be carried with me) I twisted my left ankle. I spent much of yesterday seated, foot raised, icing the thing.

Today my ankle is better, but it still isn't healed. It's sunny outside, and I'd love to work a little in the backyard. However, given the way my ankle burns after standing on it for a while, I think that would be foolish.

I've finished the story for the week – just have to read it out loud, then format and publish it. There are other publishing things that I'd like to do as well. So I'm going to sit and keep my foot elevated and ice it now and again and just relax for the day. Hope that your day will be as stress-free as mine.

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

Fires and such

I continue to be obsessed by this story. There have been a few other stories in this challenge like this. The Hell stories both grabbed me and said, "WRITE ME." Gabriella, the character from "True Vision" was very compelling, though the story itself wasn't as grabby. I've enjoyed writing the other stories, quite often I fell into the "flow" where the words just came. I think some of them are quite good.

But this one is different. I don't mean quality — it just feels different to write. It's not my usual style and it's not my usual voice. It also has deep echos within me.

I went to college in London during the 80s, when the IRA was planting bombs. I had many close calls, like the time they blew up a store front on High Street just after a concert at the Prince Albert Hall had let out, when the street was full of people. I was two blocks away. If I hadn't stopped to go the bathroom, it might have been me cut to shreds by the flying glass.

This story has a lot of bombs and anarchists. It also has some Britishism as well. I may take them out on the final edit if they strike my American ear wrong. But I may leave them in as well — they seem to fit the story as it's being written.

If the story really only is 9 parts, I've written 7 of them. I don't know what the next bits are. I don't worry about it blossoming, though, either tonight or tomorrow morning. The mana is flowing, and it's all so good.

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

Story Eats Writer's Brain: News At 11

I hope ya'll can hear the sarcasm that accompanies that headline. It really isn't news. It's happened before, it'll happen again. And again and again.

I really liked the last story I did. It was fun and light and humorous. Not a laugh a minute, but still some parts that I at least found funny.

This story, though, is eating my brain. It's only coming one scene at a time, but each of those scenes is so compelling I must sit down and write them now. The first three scenes are done, and it's about 1500 words, which is the right length. (Nine scenes all averaging 500 words.)

This story is my "breaking the rules" story. I'm doing everything wrong on purpose: switching POV characters, killing off POV characters, switching tenses, making up my own words, etc. This is a story that I doubt I'd ever be able to sell anywhere. I am also in love with it right now, and think it's a great story that will have an audience (though it might be a small one.)

Readers are smart. They know what they like. They'll find it. I trust the reader.

Because I love this story so much right now, I'm going to share a couple small pieces with you. The title is: The Secrets of 9s: a tale of anarchy broken into 9 bits

This story is more graphic, in terms of bodily functions, fluids and the number of dead bodies than most of my stories. Please click or do not according to your self-health.

1.

Alexis lived in the bottom of a tea cup, swimming between the dregs, swallowing other people's fortunes. The sharp points of her hair flared like a crown of thorns that matched the diamond tips of her nails and her ruby-encrusted incisors. A white film spread across her amethyst eyes as she grew bloated on tasseomancy, until she had to vomit, regurgitating what she'd witnessed amid the jasmine and drown leaves.

. . .

2.

The first secret of 9s is: they always come back. They might disguise themselves with the coyness of eights, the rigid line of the one hidden at their back. Or they could tumble roly-poly across the margins of your daily rag. You might mistake them for fours, marching sternly across burnt fields, and not see their fat friends, the fives, until it's much too late. Or they may glide through your living room as ones, distracting you with their dancing and swirling, before they gather together for the ambush.

Yes, the 9s always come back. And it's never a party.

. . .

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