S.L. Armstrong's Blog, page 7

What’s Going On & A Call For Help

I admit, most of the spring and summer, I’ve just been too busy to blog. I keep meaning to. I have a lot of things I want to talk about. But, in May and June, things just… hit the fan. I haven’t been able to write and other things have fallen to the wayside as stress mounted.

Right now, my husband, partner, and I are in the process of moving. This… omg, this has been one of the most stressful things I’ve ever endured. Just as we were preparing to catch up on everything and take a month-long holiday, we were blindsided.

Our apartment complex has, for the last three years, been aware of our pets. No one has said anything. No one has given us any trouble. We clean up after our dogs, and our cats are quiet and non-destructive. Last week, Roger went in to pick up a package for us and one of the ladies there told him they were told by pest control we have cats and we had to get rid of them. They didn’t care how, just get rid of them, and we had a week to do it in. I have nine cats. I’ve had most of them since they were born. Seven of them are well over ten years old. There was no way we’d be able to rehome that many cats and have them adjust well to such a move.

So, we chose Option B. We found a new place to live (a house that has a landlord who doesn’t care about our pets so long as they’re well behaved). Monday, we turn in our intent to vacate and buy out our lease. I have one week to pack up an apartment and move a whole family of animals half an hour south. My family will help us with the physical move, but financially, we have no help. Between putting down the deposit on the new place and buying out this lease… We need help. We do. So, I’m going to swallow it all down and ask for help.

Kris and I have an Etsy shop. We make jewelry. If you don’t see something you want, send us a custom request and we can work something out. Please, if you can, please drop by and snag something. It will help us. Everything in the shop is made and ready to ship.

If you would rather, you could always donate funds. Anything would help. If a bunch of people only gave $5, it would go a loooong way to helping us shoulder this burden. Right now, Kris is out of work, so we’re down one paycheck, and that’s hit us in a way we’d hoped to shoulder if not for this move. If you want to donate just a little bit instead of visiting the Etsy shop, just use this button:

Help us move!

I am also available for freelance editing jobs. I have several authors I’ve editor for Storm Moon Press who would happily say that I am a thoroughly and competent editor. You can email me at slarmstrong@slarmstrong.net for any sort of particulars. I’m willing to do a test edit of the first 10 pages of a manuscript to make sure I mesh well with any author who would like to hire me. Anything I can do to help bring money into this situation with the move, I’m willing to do.

Signal boosting would help immensely, too!

I’m A Bad Blogger At The Moment

So, it’s been almost two months since my last blog entry. I’ve just been really, really busy, and I can’t say it’s been writing. This depresses me. Storm Moon Press sort of… exploded at the beginning of 2013. We had a lot of submissions, lots of interest in us, plus we needed to fire and hire some new editors. My life has been a busy hell for the last five or six months, but I’ve taken steps to reduce my burdens. We have hired on new staff with SMP, and I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But, today I bring you a bit of a rant. Something I’ve seen before, and saw again recently, was the… derision for books with sex in them. This is usually from people outside the erotic genres or those who write in the genres but prefer less sex. The latter tends to have those authors looking down at authors who do write with a bit more of a heavy hand.

I think my biggest gripe with this mentality is the idea that if sex is a large part of the book, the book is somehow less. Less plotty. Less character driven. Less enjoyable. It’s ALL about the sex! Umm… no. A good book can be both plotty AND sexy. Uh-huh. It can be, honest! Besides, who can say what is too much sex? Too little sex? And why must we create even MORE boxes to generalize people with? It’s infuriating. This idea that a book is less literary because it might turn someone on… that it might have the characters getting off… that it might make someone blush. The thing about art–and fiction is art–is that there is no right or wrong. No too much sex. No too little sex. No too plotty or not character driven enough. There is something for everyone.

Separating out your genre into those who are literary (based on an arbitrary line in the sand on sexual content) and those who just write commercial smut for the masses doesn’t make those doing the finger pointing any more literary. Just… live and let live. Stop trying to put others down because they don’t write what you write. It’s art, and it’s very personal, and belittling other artists is a good way to be dismissed as a snob.

Pictures!

Okay, so I don’t have much of substance today, but I thought I could at least share some pictures with you. I’m super busy this week, but I wanted to put something up for you. Pictures are always fun!

 

Preparing the shipment for Rainbow Book Fair this weekend. I was actually pleased that Storm Moon Press now has so many print titles, we couldn’t ship and display them all.

 



 

Ready for shipping!

 



 

Kirei (Japense for ‘pretty’), one of our nine cats. Her nickname is Faterpillar.

 



 

Rada (Sindarin for ‘found way’), and her nickname is Kitten Face.

 



 

Mama Kitty, who is called Mama Kitty because she’s the mother of four of our nine cats.

 



 

Yume (Japanese for ‘dream’), Mama Kitty’s youngest.

 



 

Dorian, our youngest kittle, and my baby. He’s permanently attached to me, I swear.

 



 

My living room! The lump on the sofa is Usagi (Japanese for ‘rabbit’), our eldest labrador (she’s 12 this year). I’ve always loved how much light the front half of the house receives.

 



 

The other half of our living room. K. was vacuuming when I took the photo. You can see not only Usagi, but our other labrador, Cala (Quenya for ‘light’).

 



 

Our second youngest cat, the kittle Basil. He’s Dorian’s brother, and he’s 100% Roger’s boy. XD

 



 

My kitchen! This is a place I love to be. It’s not ideal, but it’s one of the biggest kitchens I’ve had in an apartment setting.

 



 

Kitchen, part the two.

 



 

Most of my pantry. We’re in need of a proper shopping trip. That will happen this weekend. I need to get list making for R and K.

 



 

We have a drinking problem in this house. XD

 



 

My favorite sandwich in the whole world! It’s a seedy pumpernickel bread with a thick layer of tart cherry jam and an even thicker layer of good, quality cream cheese. So damn good!

 

Okay! So, pictures! I hope you guys like them!

A Hot Button Topic: Privilege

This has been brewing in my head for ages, but I haven’t quite felt comfortable enough to tackle the topic. I feel comfortable enough today. Maybe it’s the cold meds.

I remember when I first saw the words ‘privilege’ and ‘agency’ thrown around. I also remember my first thought, ‘Really? Wow.’ My second thought? ‘If I never hear either word again, it will be too soon.’ But, the word ‘privilege’ with its modern meaning attached to it has dogged my heels since. I want to discuss three bullet points that have stuck with me, demanding to be voiced, for a long time.

1. Privilege itself isn’t bad.

The mere fact of having some form of privilege in some context is not, of itself, a bad thing. The problem comes when someone in a privileged group either does not recognize or simple doesn’t care that their actions and beliefs stem from their particular life experience as a result of being in a privileged class. That’s where the phrase ‘Check your privilege’ comes from. It doesn’t mean because you’re white/male/straight/cis that you automatically don’t have a right to an opinion. It just means that you need to be particularly aware of your thought process in subject matters dealing with groups that have a different level of privilege than you.

The flip side of that is that if you are a member of a group with reduced privilege or reduced agency, using the fact of another person’s privilege to immediately silence or discount their opinion is equally problematic. Which is not to say you can’t call people out on how their beliefs and actions show a blindness to their own privilege, but it does mean that the mere act of having some form of privilege does not immediately exclude one from a conversation. Too many times in these heated discussions, the jab will eventually be made that ‘Well, that’s your privilege talking, and I refuse to engage any further’. Privilege can’t talk. It’s not that a person has privilege that causes problems; it’s when a person refuses to recognize that their opinion is informed by that privilege, and that other people have different experiences that lead to different points of view.

2. You cannot tell someone’s privilege by talking to them.

Especially on the internet, guys. You don’t know me. I’m just words on a screen. You cannot tell from the opinions I hold what my life experience has been or what my particular intersection of privilege and marginalization is. You might find out that I’m white because I say I am and have posted pictures. You can see that I’m a cis female because I say I am and have posted pictures. Basically, that’s the extent of what you know. I don’t discuss my life experience or my medical issues or my religion or my economical conditions or my sexuality or identity or relationship status. You may find some of these things out through the course of conversation if I choose to make you aware of them, but until then, you can’t know simply by what I say on a particular topic what my life looks like. But this happens all the time. Assumptions leaped to based on an opinion held.

The second part of this is people playing the Oppression Olympics or seeing how many punches they can get on their punch card. ‘Oh, you were poor? Well, I was poor, but at least you were white.’ or ‘Oh, you’re a gay man? At least you’re a man.’ Privilege doesn’t work that way, and it shouldn’t. Everyone has some form of privilege over another marginalized group. Pointing out that your discussion partner or yourself may possess or lack some form of privilege that you or they do or do not, but that is irrelevant to the current discussion, is a derailing tactic. Saying, ‘Yes, it’s bad for Hispanics, but when women are just as oppressed!’ is just a way to shift the focus of the conversation. It’s not always done maliciously, I know. In this instance, someone who is not Hispanic may have difficulty understanding that particular life experience and may try to relate it to something in their lives to help them engage. Problem is, they don’t compare. It’s basically like being told by your friend, ‘I really like apples,’ and you–who has never had an apple–say in return, ‘Well, I had an orange once, and it was pretty good.’ You’ve taken their topic and made it about you. Don’t do that. If you are in a discussion that involves a form of privilege you do not have, the most important thing you can do is listen. You don’t have to relate. They know you don’t relate, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be an ally while understanding your own personal brand of privilege.

3. Wheaton’s Law: Don’t Be A Dick.

On either side. Okay, great, you were in a discussion and someone pointed out your privilege, and you thought about it and realized, yeah, that was problematic of me. Don’t turn around start obsessively pointing out the same behavior in others to the point of being a dick about it. You’re not going to change anyone’s mind with that attitude. It isn’t necessary to hound every discussion and point out every instance you perceive to be privileged speech, especially if you’re not a member of the marginalized group being discussed. If you’re straight, don’t go into gay spaces and point out other people’s straight privilege… at least, not with a sledgehammer.

Yes, if someone is being a racist or homophobic or slamming a religion maliciously, by all means, step up and point it out. But if someone is discussing a book or a comic or a television show and says something that may or may not have been privileged speech, point out the problem you perceived and ask them to clarify. On the internet, there is no facial expression or body language or tone of voice to subconsciously tell you what that person is truly trying to say. Folks need to stop wanking on each other, assigning motivations and intentions without all the facts. Assumptions only lead to butthurt and wank. Neither is fun, and in the end, it just makes the place of discussion a volatile cesspool only the most staunch, vocal proponents and opponents venture. Personal slurs and shouting don’t make you right: they make you a trolling dick. Don’t be a trolling dick.

—

I’m from the school of respectful, if heated, debate. I think more can be accomplished when you use well thought out arguments and solid facts instead of screaming someone has white privilege or cis privilege or is wealthy. Accusations don’t change the world. Activism, education, and tolerance do. And… I think that’s all I have to say on that. Yep, it’s a heavy topic, but I’m glad I finally put that out there.

For the record? I grew up in decent neighborhoods, but was pretty economically underprivileged. Our homes were forclosed on. My parents didn’t always have money for groceries. I didn’t always have new clothes. Our bills went unpaid because, sometimes, it was either pay the electric bill or pay for a doctor’s visit. Both my parents worked, and they worked hard for what we had. When I got married, things were rough. I spent a good five or six years either dirt poor washing my clothes in my bathtub or living with my parents. I’m a bisexual poly pagan submissive. I’m cis gendered. I’ve been the victim of sexual assault, and I am a survivor of rape. I’m a fat girl in a skinny-obsessed world. I have my husband I’m deeply in love with, and I’m involved in an asexual relationship with an awesome and talented genderqueer woman. I am in a financial situation that allows me to have a home, food, pets, clothes, and my own business. I know my privilege. I also know where I came from. And now so do you… a little.

This and That

I’ve been sick since Thursday. Well, I was sick before that, but it was just this low-level ick. Thursday night/Friday morning, though, it slammed into me. I’ve been fighting it since. I’m still not even 75%, but I’ve things to do.

Zombie Jesus Day was nice. We took the day, more or less, off. The husband-thing bought Bioshock Infinite and Assassin’s Creed 3, so he played Bioshock most of the evening. We also watched some of Season 5 Supernatural. Of course, I have issues with Season 4 and Season 5… and don’t get me started on Season 6 (which is where we stopped initially). But, I’m trying to slog back through it so I can get caught up. I’ve been told Season Eight was terrible, so we’ll see if I can even get there.

We had my Dr. Pepper Ham with cheesy baked mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, ginger ale carrots, rolls, and assorted fresh veg. It was lovely. I like cooking holiday meals (even if the three of us aren’t strictly Christian). I was dying for an easy day with nothing to worry about, and I made Sunday that day.

Today, I’m going to be focusing on Episode 3 of Overture and the first of the two bonus contents we’ll be posting for Season Pass holders. In the first bonus, you get to see the first time Dorian sits for Basil and what that was like for Dorian. I’m very excited about it. Basil was Dorian’s first great love. His only great love. It will be nice to share how we see the beginning of that. The second bonus, which will come out with Episode 6, is an art piece Nathie did from a scene in Episode 5. It’s gorgeous, guys. So gorgeous. If you don’t have a Season Pass, you should go grab one.

Once we finish up the Episode 3 edits and such, we’ll return to Episode 4 and finish that up to send it off to our editor, and begin Episode 5. I can’t believe it’s half over at this point! @_@ I can’t wait to start on Season 2, which K. and I will write through the fall and winter, and then begin publishing in February of 2014, a couple of months after the formal novel edition of Season 1 comes out.

My big purchases this paycheck were a new digital camera (finally!). My current one is about seven or eight years old, and it’s on its way out. It’s been a good little camera, though. I wound up getting the latest incarnation of it, and I can’t wait for it to arrive this week. I also bought an ice cream maker and a quick freeze ice pop maker. With my Hawaiian Ice shaver, I am all set for summer in Florida. It means some of my recipes may now become frozen, delicious treats!

Well, this is supposed to be a Recipe Monday sort of thing, so I guess I can share my Ginger Ale Carrots with you.

Ingredients

1 bag baby carrots

1/3 C ginger ale (full sugar, please)

3 TBSP butter

1 TBSP minced parsley

This is a very simple recipe. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add carrots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add ginger ale. Cover with a lid and simmer over medium-low heat for 40 minutes. Remove lid and cook over medium-high heat until the carrots are glazed and lightly brown. Add parsley, stir, and serve hot.

It’s an awesome side dish. This recipe serves three people decent side portions. You can double the recipe for a hefty side portion for four to five people.

 

 

“Lessons In Cowboy” Teaser

Yeah, this baby has been picked at over the last four years. But, I promise, it is a priority this year. Once we finish Immortal Symphony: Overture, we’re going to work on Lessons In Cowboy for its Christmas release. I’m also going to juggle Immortal Symphony: Counterpoint, Human Rights, and Under the Strawberry Moon the last half of the year, and I’m excited to do that. Now that K. has left her day job, we’ve had a lot more time to get our ducks in a row.

So! To get readers’ appetites whet for Lessons In Cowboy, I wanted to offer up a bit of a teaser for it.

—

North followed Cade out of the living room into a room beyond the kitchen he’d yet to be in. There was a desk piled high with papers, folders, and books, with a computer screen peeking out from under a black Stetson. Across from the besieged desk was a worn couch, low table, and a liquor cabinet. “Your personal sanctuary?” he ventured.

“You could call it that.” Cade opened the liquor cabinet. “Ethan took over the desk about two years ago, but he keeps from my booze.” He slammed down two glasses and a full bottle of Jack Daniels. “You want your answers? This is how it’s gonna work. One shot, one question that I promise you I will answer. But it works both ways. I drink, I ask, you have to answer. Deal?”

Shot for a question? North wasn’t that great with holding his liquor. Danny discouraged drunken behavior because it tended to lead to tabloid fodder. How many questions could he manage before he passed out? He looked up from the bottle to Cade, seeing an infuriating smile on the thin lips. It was a smile that dared North to agree, challenged him to prove himself. “Deal,” he said, the word tight as he sat down on one end of the couch. “Pour it, Cade.”

Cade poured a shot’s worth of the golden liquid into each glass. “Take your shot and ask your question, North.”

North snatched up the glass and downed the shot, hissing as the burn settled in his gut. “You said you went to college. What was your major?”

“Literature,” Cade smirked, offering no more information as he poured a second shot into North’s glass. He picked up his glass and kicked back the liquor, and North envied the ease Cade swallowed. “My turn. Why have you been on your own since you were sixteen?”

North looked away from Cade. “My father didn’t like some of my choices. He told me to either live how he wanted me to or get out. I decided it was time to get out.” He took his second shot. “Literature? Why?”

“I already knew what I was going to do with my life. I didn’t need to go to school to learn how to run a ranch. I went to learn something wholly alien to me and my life. Literature was ideal. I knew how to raise and slaughter a cow, but I couldn’t understand a word of Chaucer.” Cade tipped the bottle again. “It was exactly what I wanted and needed.”

“So your big act of teenage rebellion was to go to college and get a degree in Literature?” he asked, the bourbon already making his head buzz.

Cade tsked and wagged his finger. “If you want the answer to that, you’ll need to drink.”

North grabbed the glass and drank.

“No, my act of rebellion was to marry Marissa and have a baby while still in school,” Cade said. Another drink down, and Cade refilled both glasses. “What were those choices your father disagreed with?”

“He caught me giving my boyfriend a blowjob in the living room,” North bit out. He hated remembering his family. If he could, he’d never speak of them ever again. North cursed himself for agreeing to the game, and he kicked himself for wanting to know more.

Most Common Editing Problems

As I slog through my backlog of editing duties, I see a common thread. In fact, I can easily name two of the most common problems that can be easily addressed.

Commas

Commas are a huge problem for authors, I think. Many times, authors use commas where they shouldn’t, and take them away from areas they should use them. Comma splices have to be one of the easiest errors to catch and fix. Does your sentence have two subjects? Yes? Then you have a comma splice.

Bob went to the market, we thought there was time.

There are two subjects there, two complete sentences. This can be repaired three different ways.

1. Bob went to the market. We thought there was time.

2. Bob went to the market; we thought there was time.

3. We thought there was time, so Bob went to the market.

I know many authors are allergic to the semicolon, but it’s a legitimate way to correct a comma splice.

The other area that I see an unbelievable amount of is the comma missing from introductory adverbial words, phrases, and clauses. I know what you’re saying. ‘What is an introductory adverbial word, phrase, or clause?’

Adverbial words: Suddenly, Eventually, Occasionally, Carefully, Finally, Then, Next, First, etc.

Adverbial phrases: With a flourish, Taking a breath, Running down the hall, etc.

Adverbial clauses: Because I could not stop for death, Even though he was a giant monster, etc.

These are sentence modifiers. They describe the sentence as a whole and add information. And they are always followed by a comma. What confuses people, I think, is the fact that, if you take those and move them farther into the sentence, there aren’t commas.

Example A: Occasionally, I go to the store.

Example B: I occasionally go the store.

So, when you start a sentence with these modifiers, be sure to follow them with a comma. If you don’t want the comma, shift the word or phrase into a different spot in the sentence.

—

Overuse of Participle Phrases

This… is becoming a serious problem. I see it happening more and more, and I’m not sure why. What is a participle phrase?

Example: John walked into the bathroom, taking off his pants, combing his hair, talking to Mary on his cell, kicking a camel in the balls.

Every -ing phrase there is a participle phrase. They have a purpose. That purpose is to indicate simultaneous action. Problem is, writers use them to denote actions that cannot physically performed simultaneously. You cannot walk into a bathroom while taking off your pants AND combing your hair AND speaking on the cellphone WHILE AT THE SAME TIME kicking a camel in the balls. It’s not physically possible. Don’t string them together unless your character is actually performing all the action at the same time.

If you’re trying to say these events happened in a sequence, you need -ed verbs, not -ing ones.

Example: John walked into the bathroom, took off his pants, combed his hair, talked to Mary on his cell, and kicked a camel in the balls.

That works. That’s a sequence of events John performed. An odd sequence, yes, but it was physically possible without John being the bastard child of Kali and Jackie Chan.

Now, even if you’re using the participle phrases correctly, you need to be sure you’re also using them sparingly. Having them every other paragraph is overkill. Vary your writing. It makes for a much easier and nicer read for your audience.

And… I think that’s it. Questions are welcome!

Recipe Monday: Sunshine Juice

This is a bit late, but I’m fighting off one hell of a cold-flu thing while juggling a lot of stuff on the SMP end of things. I’ve spent more time in a cold medicine haze than I have doing much else. XD

The recipe I’m sharing today isn’t really a recipe. See, my parents gave me their juicer a couple months back, and the Armstrong-Piet household has been juicing regularly. We’ve preferred the fresh juice over anything store bought, and it’s become out ‘first meal of the day’ sort of thing. And, so, I wanted to share one of our favorite juices so far.

Ingredients

1 whole peeled pineapple, core included

5 ripe mangos, peeled

9 navel oranges, peeled

1 bag baby carrots

Our juicer requires us to roughly chop up all our fruit into large chunks. Do what your juicer requires. Pass all the fruit through the juicer, mix it up, and serve over ice. For us, it makes 4 large (20oz) servings (about 8 cups). This is packed full of vitamins A and C, which are two vitamins I’m often lacking in due to a very poor immune system. It’s absolutely delicious. Sweet and bright and refreshing.

We tend to juice with the season. Right now, mangos and oranges are very inexpensive in our markets. Earlier in the year, it was berries and apples.

Today, we’re going to try to make our own ‘fruit punch’ juice, and I’ll report back with how that goes.

Fiction Friday: “Immortal Symphony: Overture” Episode 4 Teaser

I wanted to give readers a little taste of what’s coming in Episode 4, coming out May 10th, 2013.

—

Gabriel held his gaze for a moment, and he could feel those eyes searching something. After a moment, a smile slowly unfurled on Gabriel’s face. The answer then earned him a short, passionate kiss. Gabriel pulled back for a breath and moaned. “Your angel. Kinda useless as one…”

Dorian knew Gabriel was only halfheartedly fishing for comfort, but talking wasn’t always Dorian’s strong suit. “You’re not useless,” he insisted. “You suck amazing cock.”

It might not have been what Gabriel was expecting in the way of encouragement, but it made him laugh. That was far better than fearful hysterics, and Dorian pushed himself upward, craning his neck to breathe hotly into Gabriel’s ear.

“Stop thinking,” Dorian purred with a teasing lick. “There is nothing but this moment. Nothing but you and me. Let go of everything else.”

“I want…”

The desire in Gabriel’s voice was unmistakable, and the hints of uncertainty and innocence drew him in like a moth to a flame. Gabriel might not have known exactly what he was asking for, but Dorian had every intention of giving it. “I know, angel.”

A firm squeeze to Gabriel’s ass had Gabriel eagerly pawing at him again, pulling him into another kiss. Gabriel’s hand curled in his damp hair, tugging hard enough to fan the flames of Dorian’s arousal to a raging blaze. Gabriel was usually soft, but the slightly rough edge to his touches made him all the more intoxicating. Gabriel never ceased to surprise and intrigue him. No matter how often they’d fucked so far, there was still something different, some hidden need that he was able to unearth.

Serial Fiction vs Novel

Something I’ve noticed as K. Piet and I release our first serial: it’s difficult. XD Not the writing part. We’ve loved writing Immortal Symphony: Overture, and I can’t wait to start working on Immortal Symphony: Counterpoint. However, there is something to be said for readers having to take each piece as it is without advancing to the next immediately to gain full context of a character’s actions.

For example, several readers have disliked Gabriel in Episode 2, Life of the Party. And I understand that. Gabriel in that episode is doing everything his brother is telling him not to do. Hell, he’s doing everything his gut is telling him he shouldn’t do. For a guy who has never touched drugs before, let alone had sex in public, he does both in one night because of Dorian’s urging.

Dorian is a master manipulator. He’s had a long time to get really good at making people do what he wants them to do. Is this a good thing? No. It’s coercion. Although I wouldn’t say the scene at the party is rape–or even non-con–it does walk a line that might be uncomfortable for many readers. But, this is Dorian Gray’s world. It’s a world of vice and excess and debauchery. At the moment, K. and I haven’t revealed much of Dorian’s motivation or of his past, and that’s intentional. We want the reader to learn about Dorian as Gabriel does, offer small glimpses into a twisted man who, no matter how ‘good’ he tries to be, always ends up corrupting and using the ones he loves most.

You see, Episode 3 occurs immediately after Episode 2, and it deals with the aftermath of Gabriel’s choices. This was another intentional choice. We wanted readers to be uncomfortable at Gabriel’s actions. We wanted readers to shake their head at him and say, “What the hell are you thinking, boy?” And judging by the reviews (despite the lower ratings it’s been getting), we succeeded in that. This was the cliffhanger, the hero dangling off the cliff and losing his grip, the dramatic chord at the end of the soap opera scene telling us something unexpected just happened.

For readers and reviewers unused to serial novels, this can be unsettling. They want to review each piece on its own merit and rate it accordingly, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I completely get it. But in some cases, a scene that they didn’t care for or that didn’t make sense in the particular release might make more sense when taken in the larger context of the work. I’m going to be very interested in how well Episode 3 answers the concerns that readers and reviewers have raised about Episode 2, because the questions they’re asking are exactly the ones we wanted them to ask.

It’s just a very new experience for me. XD I’m so used to writing the novel, publishing it, and having the whole story judged in one fell swoop. It’s been a long time since I wrote fanfiction, which is episodic in nature, and so I’m trying to fall into the groove once more and just go with the flow.

Right now, Episode 3 is with my editor, though I know there will be substantive additions to the episode when it comes back to me. It was very short on length, and I needed some help with where to beef it up, what might be missing in the context of the episode. Episode 4 is just about done. K. and I should finish that today and send it off to our editor. I’ve also begun working on the bonus piece for Season Pass holders over on SMP. I’m very excited about that! I can’t believe the season is half over at this point in the writing. It’s exciting!

Once K. and I finish out Overture, I’m going to finish Human Rights and get that to my editor, and then K. and I are going to focus on writing Under the Strawberry Moon, which is a lesbian novella we’ve had planned for well over a year now.

The serial is an interesting project, and I have no intention of abandoning it or not moving on to Counterpoint in 2014 (as the second season of Immortal Symphony will begin coming out in February 2014), and I’m enjoying the challenge of the serial in terms of writing, pacing, editing, and reviews. I hope you’ll all stick with me through it!