S.M. Carrière's Blog, page 4

Can-Con 2023

Good afternoon, Readers! I'm a bit late today, but I hope I'll be forgiven. I'm not as late with my blog post as I am with my newsletter... so there's that!

Just a quickie post today to let you know where I'll be and when at CanCon 2023 - only the best ever Canadian SFF convention. This year, it's running from 13th October - 15th October.

If you're by on Friday evening, you can find me here:

6:30-7:20pm Salon D for the panel Let's Create a Chivalric Order!

The rest of the time, you can find me in the Vendor's Room. The best part about the Vendor's Room is that it's free to enter, so you can just drop by and check stuff out without the need to pay for entry to the convention. I highly recommend doing so, especially if you're struggling to find something unique and cool to give to the bookish people in your life.

Christmas isn't that far away, people!

Alright, I must dash. Things to do. You know how it is.

Ciao!

*Insert Screams of Despair*

Good afternoon, Readers! Image by Josip Rmc from Pixabay Okay, so the title is a little dramatic. But I'm feeling a wee bit annoyed with myself and my current situation... which is entirely of my making.

Okay, so many of you know that I've decided that I really want to learn Gaelige (Irish); largely because learning three Celtic languages is on my bucket list (those three being Gaelige (Irish), Cymraeg (Welsh) and Breizh (Breton). Since it was on offer free through a university, and since my mum also wanted to learn (and I'd have a practice partner), I've focussed on Gaelige for now.

Now, it is offered for free through Future Learn. However, there is a catch. You must complete the course in the four weeks it is on offer, otherwise you get locked out and can't complete the course.

Well, in my ever-green hopeful naivety, I figured if I just portioned out the work and managed my time, I'd get through this no problem. And I'd have been right. Except...

WHEN THE HELL HAVE I EVER MANAGED TO MANAGE MY TIME WELL?

Look, I know that I've managed to write a whole novel (well, several), while working full time and training. But when I started this studying lark, I was just about finished my manuscript, and then I did finish it, and it needed so much editing that I put all considerations aside for about a week and a half and just edited.

I fell behind.

This, when I was already slightly behind due to attending Ottawa ComicCon for a weekend.

Plus training has begun again, and I'm teaching for four hours once more on the weekends so....

I'm busy. But I thought I could handle it.

To be fair, I still think I can handle it. Except, I am behind nearly an entire unit, the last unit has already gone live, and the entire course will lock me out in six days.

To make things worse, I was feeling quite poorly this weekend, and so spent most of my time after training asleep on my recliner... like an old person. Hush, you. I was intending on getting caught up on the third unit in preparation for the fourth unit opening up this week. Did I? No.

I also intended to finish a painting I intend to offer to CanCon to help with their expenses, finish the book I should have finished a week ago and start another, and get a head start on the blog post that's due for tomorrow. Did I manage any of it? No.

Damn everything.

Tonight will be spent on that blog post, as soon as I figure out what I want to write about, and I'm just going to have to hope that I can fly through the end of unit three and the beginning of unit four really quickly during my lunch hours.

That's the plan.

So, if I seem a little more spaced-out than usual (which is saying quite a lot, I should think), that's why. My apologies.

Right, I have to go and do actual work that earns me rent and groceries now.

​Ciao!

I Did It!

Good evening, Readers! ​Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay Well, I did it!

The rough draft of The New Haven Incident is now written! I wrote the final word — Fin — this afternoon while on my lunch break at work. It felt so incredibly good!

Now, this rough draft is rougher than most of the rough drafts I write, because of the way Reedy kinda expects you to know the outlines of your chapters already. So, there will be a long period of pretty intense editing before I’m ready to put away this brew for the ferment (which is to say, a protracted break before the second pass edit I do before sending it off to the first of the beta readers).

I’ve had so much fun writing this. It’s a bromance… which is one of my favourite types of mances. There’s a sunshine and a grump and killer fairies created by a virus. So. Ridiculous. An absolute blast to write. I really love the two characters I created, and I’m so excited to have it ready to publish.

Which will be a while yet. Because even when self-publishing, it takes ever so long to go through all the various edits.

I’m most excited that I get to share this with you all for free. Look, I’m not well known enough to make much money with my writing as it is, so offering a novel for free as a serial on this blog is really no skin off my nose. I’m just really hoping that you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it, and that I hope it takes away the burden of life for a little while every Friday for a month or so… when I finally start posting it up.

Anyway, I just wanted to celebrate with you all. I’m feeling really good about this silly little book I’ve written, and I can’t wait for you to read it.

Now, I have a bunch of editing to get to.

​Ciao!

Ottawa ComicCon... Post-Con Frenzy

Good afternoon, Readers! Well, Ottawa ComicCon was this weekend just past, and holy hell was it a busy weekend for me!

First off, I was not prepared for it. At all. I had big plans to have a range of leather dice bags, bookmarks, and a whole bunch of other stuff. But did I? No. No I did not.

Also, as usual, I had some very poor planning to thank for a last minute rush to load in, but thank heavens for friends with cars. A big shout out to Jerry, who helped me load in and out. I'd have not managed without him. THANK YOU JERRY!

Still, my table didn't look terrible once it was all set up, so it wasn't a complete fail.

Friday was lovely. I had forgotten to ask my father and his girlfriend to borrow the book jackets I made for them as examples to show for the custom leather book jackets I make. So I wandered over to their house Friday morning to collect them. That turned into breakfast and lunch, and a ride into the EY Centre. It's so nice not to have to rely on Ottawa's famously inconsistent (read here: bloody awful) public transit. The doors opened to the public at 2:00pm, and bam! Suddenly it was go time.

I'm a little out of practice selling stuff, but I still had a great time Friday. There's just something lovely about sharing a table with a good friend, and sitting in the centre of nerdom. They're my people!

Saturday was a little more frantic. I had the opportunity to take a wood-working class, and I had to take it. This class is usually only on offer when I'm teaching martial arts and can never go. This time, however, I saw it pop up, and I had to snap up a spot... even if it meant not being at ComicCon for the morning. I had taken what we called Shop A in school - back in the stone age - and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, the direction I wanted to go at the time meant that I had to drop the class for grades 11 and 12. I feel like maybe I shouldn't have. I've really missed building things.

For the record, I had a great time at the shop. It was totally worth skipping out on ComicCon for the morning. There is something magical about the smell of sawdust. I have really missed it. I also got to work on machines I've never used before in my life - table saw, mitre saw, joiner, ban saw and one other machine that I can't remember the name of... but it functioned in the same way as a joiner. We never used these in school. I remember only using hand tools, with the only machines available (at the time for my grade level) being the belt sanders and a lathe.

I want to continue with woodworking; specifically working with hand tools, as that's where my interest lies. But jumping on the machines was really fun, and gave me a whole 'nother level of confidence around machines. I could totally help build a deck now.

Afterwards, I had to run to ComicCon. Alas, I had to rely on OC Transpo to get there. That meant more than an hour of travel time, and no chance to stop off for lunch. I arrived annoyed and hungry. Not a great combo, I'll admit. I was also a little spaced out from a morning of not having to go into 'public mode.' I did not survive Saturday afternoon all that well. There was much zoning out.

Sunday was a little better, but I was absolutely exhausted. I just couldn't bring the energy I normally do. That said, it was still a great day... even though I was a little loopy.

I really, really appreciate everyone who came by my table for a chat, or to look at my stuff. Even if all they could offer was a compliment, it really did mean so much.

Sunday evening, I had a show I completely forgot about, so I was out quite late (but it was a great show). I'm completely wiped out today.

Now I am back at the regular life thing, and feeling loopy. There is not enough coffee in the world for me right now. I'm also very far behind on all my work that I need to get done. I had hoped to get it done before today, but alas, I did not plan well at all. Now I have a number of units for my school work that I've got to complete, a couple of thousand words to write, and a blog post for Black Gate that I need to figure out and write before tonight.

I am so far behind!

I'm hoping I can get it all written and caught up before tomorrow. We shall see.

Wish me luck!

​Ciao!

Getting Close! And Other Thoughts

Good… evening, Readers! ​Image by Tünde from Pixabay I’m very late to this, my apologies! Still on a Monday, though!

In my defence, it is a public holiday here in Canada, so I spent the entire morning catching up on much-needed sleep. Then this afternoon was catching up on all the things I needed to get done in order to stay on track for my goals, which I didn’t do yesterday because I spent the day with my dad and his girlfriend. Family always comes first.

In any case, it’s been quite the day. I did not achieve all that I wanted to, and will not. There’s only one thing on my to-do list that I’ve decided I must absolutely complete (my daily 1000 words on my WIP). The rest can wait until tomorrow. That said, I did do a fair bit of catching up.

I managed to read two chapters of a book I’m making my way though. The chapters for yesterday and today. It’s quite heavy, and bringing up a lot of stuff I need to work through, so I decided a chapter a day was enough. I was right, but I wanted to stay on track, so I did two today. 

Then I had to catch up on my studies, so I spend a full two hours on the two units I had to complete in order to stay on task. It’s really fun and interesting learning, but I’m going to need to be able to practice with folks if there is any hope to have it all stick. I’m very glad my mum is studying with me. I can practice with her on occasion.

Writing this blog post was on my list of things to get done. So… glad I can check it off!

The only thing left is to get my daily count down. I’m really stoked with how well this WIP is going. It’s fun to write, and I hope that will translate to it being fun to read. As I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of what to do once the manuscript is written, I’ve come across something called Reams. It’s kinda like Patreon, but specifically for writers.

I suspect that my style of getting a rough draft done are a little too chaotic to make a monthly subscription service work for me, I’m still thinking hard about whether or not I could find a way to make it work. I’m not sure I could, but there’s a lot about the platform that I like; particularly the community aspects of it. Discoverability is not a function of the platform yet, so I’m not sure about that aspect. We’ll see. I’ll look into it more as I compete the thing I’m working on. It might be something to look at for future projects as I struggle with how to make a decent living from my writing.

It’s a task that feels impossible at the moment.

But, not time to contemplate that. I’ve a manuscript to finish. I’m almost there! So…

Ciao!

We Are Legion!

Good...evening, Readers!Image by ju Irun from PixabayA bit of a late one this time. I was supposed to write this yesterday, but I got distracted by… uh… a film. Let’s not talk about it.

In any case, a few days ago, I was mucking around on TikTok, and I accidentally went semi-viral. Not wildly viral. But… this silly dumb video popped of way, way more than I ever expected. Most of my videos hover around the 200 views mark. Par for the course, as I’m a giant nobody in that space. One video, which I actually really like and spent quite a bit more time on, only has 12 views. But this video hit, for some reason. As of right now, it’s got 58.8K (that’s roughly 58 800) views, 6888 likes and 389 favourites. Like… what the actual f[redacted].

It’s not even a particularly clever, creative or otherwise groundbreaking video. It’s just me, stitching another creator who did a little skit to another creator’s sound about how, sometimes, when we’re actively in a mal-adaptive daydreaming state we might, you know… accidentally verbalized what is going on in our heads.

Anyway, here’s the video… if the embed code works. It’s kinda going berserk in the editing of this post. If not, here’s a link if you’re very interested.

@smcarrierewrites #stitch with @Lolita ♬ original sound - SMCarriereWrites

See? It’s nothing profound or even good.

But boy did it strike the right nerve. People came out in droves, all, I’m assuming, finding some resonance with it. Not just likes, but comments on their experiences with accidentally verbalising the nonsense going on in our weird little brains. Honestly, it was really amazing to witness.

I felt seen. I felt unexpectedly, quite suddenly, part of a great community. The chorus of ‘Me too!’ That echoed from this video was quite uplifting.  I’m not a weirdo all by my onesie. I’m not alone in my oddness.

There are many of us weirdos.

We are legion!

Honestly, thanks to everyone who viewed, liked, favourited  and or commented on that minimal-effort video. It really did warm my heart. I’m so glad I’m not alone!

Oh, and here’s the video with only 12 views, in the vain hope that I can get it reach more eyes.

@smcarrierewrites Amazing music by @Akhil Augustine, whose incomplete track reminded me of Commander Skye and inspired this video. #BookTok #Skylark #SciFi #ScienceFiction #MilitarySciFi ♬ original sound - Akhil Augustine

Alright, I’m done now. Off to relative obscurity now as I try and hit todays word count goal. Alas, I was only able to write about 600 words at lunch today. I’ve 400 to make it to my goal.

Ciao!

Doing the Hard Things

Good afternoon, Readers! Dreaming of this being the view from my window one day. Image by Tom from Pixabay I meant to write this yesterday, but as it turned out, it was an obnoxiously busy day and I didn't get it done, so now it's an afternoon post instead of a morning one. But at least I remembered to post this week!

Anyway, on with the subject at hand.

I wrote a blog post for Black Gate Magazine last week, as I usually do on a fortnightly basis (when I'm not being a total flake. Thanks to my editor for not coming after me with a spiked baseball bat, honestly). I thought I was being just a bit silly while reviewing the writing programme I'm currently using (Reedsy, if you want to know).  I received such a lovely comment on it, but it really got me thinking about where I am in my writing journey. I'm sure it was not the intent of the commenter, but it did get me thinking, a little sadly, about why I'm not where I want to be at this stage.

Look, I am incredibly lucky compared to sum. I have a full-time job, which affords me food and shelter, which gives me a little bit of space to create. That's great! It's a stress I don't have.

But it is a double-edged sword. It means I have very limited time to create. And when I do have time, it's not often I have the capacity. Between the commute, the time spent at the job, and the other rigours of life, having the energy to create is something of a struggle, even if I have maybe an hour or two here and there.

I had hoped that, by now, for how long I've been writing and how long I've been published, I would be able to at least cut back on the hours I needed to work for someone else. I had hoped that by now I'd be able to at least support myself with my writing, even if I wasn't especially wealthy because of it.

Alas, no.

Granted, much of it comes down to sheer dumb luck. It's not just one's talent or skill, your work needs to hit the right eyes at the right time in the social zeitgeist for the messages it contains (unconscious or otherwise). It's a perfect storm of je ne sais quoi that lets a work just kick off. It can sometimes happen for works whose craft might seem a little... uh... less than deserving. It just hits right at the right time with the right people.

But that's not the totality of it. There's more to it than that; and it's not about being able to afford advertising.

Look, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I can write. I think I can, in any case (and the comment left on the post I wrote for Black Gate Magazine seems to confirm it). My stories are good; they have a lot to say and are, at least for me, entertaining (I'll leave it up to you to decide if that's actually true). So why, with more than seven published titles, am I still not at home in front of my own computer, writing - instead of at someone else's office, in front of their computer, doing stuff that isn't writing?

The problem is likely one of my own creation. There are fears and blocks, no doubt. I'm not keen on becoming famous, for example. I would love it if my books did - I dream of taking the bus and seeing someone's nose buried in one of my books - but I don't want people to recognise me on the street. And, unfortunately, writing in this day and age requires the author to be out there a lot - on social media, doing interviews, centring themselves in order to sell their stories. That t.e.r.r.i.f.i.e.s me. I hate the idea. It makes me want to retch just thinking about it.

This is something I need to actively work on.

I'm sure there are other issues I need to work through that I haven't discovered yet.

And this is the hard work I will be doing. If I don't want to remain stuck forever where I am, if I want to move forward to the life and vocation I want, that I feel I do deserve, I'm going to have to turn inwards and do a lot of changing. It's going to get uncomfortable. It's going to be difficult. I'm probably going to hate it.

Wish me luck!

​Ciao!

Why 'The New Haven Incident' Will Be a Freebie

Good morning, Readers!Image by kirill_makes_pics from PixabayI have very little real news to impart this week. I am very out of practice with this blogging thing. I used to write a post four days a week. How the hell did I manage that? What on earth did I have to talk about? I am baffled.

All I have at present is that my work on The New Haven Incident is going well. I should be finished the first draft in a little under a month (though probably a little more as I fill in the gaps). I'm excited about this one. The premise remains very silly, but I'm just having so much fun writing this one.

I think I mentioned last time that I've decided to offer this one as a freebie - posting a chapter here every Friday until the story is done and offering an eBook version for a small amount for those who cannot wait a week to find out what happens next. I'm quite committed to that, I think. There are several reasons for this, I think.

The first, is that I'm just having too much fun, and I'm ridiculously eager to get this one out and shared so we can all have fun together (assuming that what I'm experiencing writing it is translated well onto the page. It might be that this is just horrid drivel and I'm having too much fun to realise it).

The second reason is that everything is terrible right now, and maybe this will help provide a little relief - a small escape that folks can look forward to every week. Just a couple of minutes of reading that might make the day a little bit lighter and easier to deal with.

The third, and perhaps most compelling, is that I'm so very tired. Let me explain.Listen, I really like being traditionally published, and I love Renaissance Press. I love how inclusive they are, how they're dedicated to highlight oft-ignored voices, and that they're really trying to make sure things are done right. But, like most traditional publishers, they're slow. You must query, they must read and if you're lucky and good enough, you'll get a contract. Then they must edit it, you must receive those edits and make changes. This may happen a couple of times. Then they do all the glorious work of formatting, book cover design, etc.

While it's wonderful to not have to do these things, it is also quite difficult to sit down and wait for them to happen - especially if you're giddy with the want to share the awesome silliness of whatever it is you're trying to get published.

For some stories, they may never find a publisher. What then? Well, you keep trying... which means infinitely more waiting; on a loop as you wait for an answer for your query, which will likely be a rejection, so you query again... on and on and on.

It's frustrating, disheartening and can really suck all the joy out of writing.

So, for this one, while I wait for an answer about The Lioness of Shara Mountain, I will be offering this one up for anyone to read. Because I've had so much fun with it, and I want to share it while I'm still excited about it.

This does mean, of course, that it'll likely be rougher than the books I have published with Renaissance. They will be edited, with the typical three rounds of editing I normally do before I put books on the submission circuit. But it won't have the benefit of an additional couple of edits from an in-house publishing editor. You'll have to forgive it for that.

If I'm very, very lucky, I might have this one edited and ready for upload this year. If not, then very early next year. Keep an eye out!

Alright, that's all I've got today.

​Ciao!

The New Haven Incident

Good morning, Readers! Image by 2234701 from Pixabay Oh my glob, it’s been quite a while since I posted on here. My apologies. I was making a good go of it being pretty regular on Mondays for a while there.

Things got very busy at work, and then martial arts training switched from Tuesday to Monday evenings, so I couldn’t sneak in a quick post after work like I used to. I was, and still am, working on a new story, which was taking up my lunch hours, so I couldn’t sneak in a blog post then, either. Well, I could, but that would be detrimental to my weekly word count goals.

Today, however, is a holiday (strictly speaking, it’s not a stutory holiday here in Ontario, Canada, but my boss has given us the day off regardless) and so I find myself with a little bit of time this morning. Instead of putting on my makeup and walking into work, as I normally would, I got dress, put breakfast together, and sat down to my laptop to blog.

Speaking of this WIP, some of you may know if you’re on my Facebook or Spoutible (where I do most of my updating) that I’m quite a ways into it now. I hit the 69 (heh… I am twelve) thousand word mark on Friday, and am currently ahead of my weekly schedule by a thousand words. I did mean to increase that by another thousand this weekend, but found myself unable to move pretty much the whole weekend. I spent it lounging around and being very lazy.

In my defence, my weekdays are so full of hustle that I need a day or two of absolutely nothing in order to recover.

Anyway, back to the WIP. I have decided to call it The New Haven Incident if only because that is what I have been calling it before I made it official, and also because it kinda fits in the overall world it’s set in. The title is terribly generic, I know. But it is what it is.

It’s an odd, not-very-serious take on a zombie-like plague… but instead of zombies, it creates these weird, hyper-aggressive fairy-types. It makes me giggle. I’m not taking it very seriously, but the characters certainly are. I think that’s why it makes me giggle. While I myself find the premise incredibly silly, I am adoring the characters I’ve written. They’re wonderful. I’m having a blast writing it, I have to say.

I have decided that I’m going to offer this one as a serial. Once it’s gone through the typical editing process I use, I’ll post it up here on this blog for free. Every Friday, there will be a new chapter until the story is done. After that, I don’t know what I’ll do with it. Maybe once it’s up, I’ll figure out a paperback copy in case folks really wanted it on their shelves. I’m also seriously contemplating trying to create an interactive website for it. I have some creative ideas there, but have absolutely no clue how to implement them.

I’m mulling it over right now. I’ll see what the future brings.

In the meantime, I’ve managed to gather a book cover for it already. I’m afraid that you’ll have to wait on that reveal for a while yet. Subscribers to my newsletter , though, will be getting that with the next issue.

The whole thing has been a delight. It’s so much fun to write. I hope it will be fun to read.

Right, the rest of today’s agenda is as follows: breakfast, laundry, deep clean the kitchen, lunch, write a thousand words, clean up my studio. I’ve a full day ahead of me. I’m praying I don’t just fall asleep on my chair like I did yesterday.

I hope you’re all well and things are looking bright. Have yourselves a lovely day.

​Ciao!

A Freebie From My WIP

Good afternoon, Readers! Image by brands amon from Pixabay I neglected to post on Monday last week. In my defence, it was a public holiday, and my entire schedule was thrown off. But still, I forgot about this blog.

As recompense, here is an excerpt of a scene from my current work in progress… but let me very quickly set the scene for you:

A privately contracted extraction team has been sent to the site of a recent biosecurity breech in order to recover the bioengineering company’s property - research and researchers. They’ve just been informed that the second group of survivors from the lab have a new, unexpected member of their party.

Sighing, Mendez returned to the command table.
Harding was reading a tablet. Riley returned from his patrol and glanced over his captain’s shoulder.
“Lining up a date for after the mission, sir? Very pretty. Didn’t think you went for pretty.”
Harding scoffed, but ignored him.
Joseph and Grindel roused themselves and jostled for a glance at the tablet.
“Sir,” Grindel said, grinning viciously, “he’s beautiful, sir.”
“Yo,” Richards said as he passed by. He stopped and grinned when he spotted the picture of the young man on the tablet. “Who’s the twink?”
“Connors,” Harding mused aloud. He handed the tablet to Mendez, who took it and was met with a young, slender, strikingly handsome man with blonde hair and blue eyes smiling up at him, wearing a Cedarwood City Police uniform.
“Agent Sebastian Connors,” Harding continued, emphasising the word Agent. “Survived Cedarwood City.”
Mendez stared at the file, noting the birthdate and making a quick calculation. “Jesus. He was just a kid.”
Harding grunted. “Continue to read the file, if you wouldn’t mind Javi.”
Mendez obliged. “Following the Cedarwood Incident, recruited by redacted. Trained at redacted, four years. Close combat specialist. Firearms specialist. Sniper… Jesus, what doesn’t he specialise in? Seven missions… All of them redacted.”
“Read the mission statuses, if you please.”
“Okay. Operation… redacted. I’ll just number them. Mission one, objective complete. Mission two, objective complete. Mission three… four redacted objectives, all complete. Five, six, seven… all complete.”
“A soldier with that kind of record would be so decorated he’d need an exoskeleton to walk. Yet I’ve never heard of this guy.”
“So,” Mendez said. “Highly trained. Not military.”
Harding grunted.
“This is a good thing, no?” Riley asked. “Someone like that can help us get out of this city.”
“That depends entirely what kind of man he is,” Harding said. “Right now, he’s an unknown. I fucking hate unknowns.”

That’s it. That’s all you get.

I’m a little more organized with this one. I’m creating character, monster, history and location profiles as I go. I think that maybe I’ll offer snippets of those to my newsletter readers. Nothing that spoils the story, but enough so they’ll get to know the characters and world a bit better before the manuscript is complete.

Want in on that? Sign up!

Right, I have to finish lunch and write a little more while I have time.

Ciao!