Delilah S. Dawson's Blog, page 2

FOR SALE, FROM ME: Signed, personalized books. Also by me.

I'm selling off some of my author stock before the big move, and I'm passing these deals on to youuuuuuuu! (Insert wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube girl here.)

THE FINE PRINT: US only for now. Everything mailed by media mail, so $3 shipping and handling per book. I'll update as stock disappears. Paypal only. When sending Paypal, leave a Message to Seller telling me WHICH BOOK(S) YOU'RE BUYING and if you'd like your book personalized in any way. Otherwise, I'll do a standard message, signature, and drawing of whatever tiny animal I draw in that book, plus add in some bookmarks, postcards, and possibly tattoos and buttons, as stock allows. Please make sure your Paypal address is correct or write in the new one in the Message to Seller box. Books will be available in this fashion for 3 weeks or so, at which point I pack them all up and keep them forever. Please send Paypal for book price + $3 shipping PER BOOK to pollywogpouch@yahoo.com. It's an old email address. Don't ask.

HIT hardcover - 5 available - $10

HIT paperback - 7 available - $7

STRIKE hardcover - 26 available - $10

STRIKE paperback - 30 available -  $8

SERVANTS OF THE STORM hardcover - 11 available - $10

SERVANTS OF THE STORM paperback - 47 available - $9

WAKE OF VULTURES hardcover - SOLD OUT!!

WAKE OF VULTURES paperback - 18 available - $12

CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS hardcover - 11 available - $12

WICKED AS THEY COME paperback - 2 available - $7

WICKED AFTER MIDNIGHT paperback - 14 available - $7

Thanks for shopping!

 

First Chapters Cheat Sheet

One of my most popular workshops is on Writing First Chapters. I've taught this topic at Surrey International Writers Conference, I'll be teaching it at GenreCon in Queensland, Australia this November, and I most recently taught it at Star Wars University at Star Wars Celebration Orlando. 

And here's the cheat sheet!

Note: You'll get a lot more out of it if you take one of my classes, but hopefully you'll find this little slice of my personal rulebook helpful.

First Chapters (CHEAT SHEET!)

1. First of all, RELAX. You do your best writing when you're calm, nimble, and not afraid to mess up.

2. Be aware that the first chapter is often the writer making notes. It might get cut. That's normal.

3. Start with action, character, and conflict. Don't info dump.

4. Figure out the instigating factor and rewind one scene. That's where to start.

5. Know the things that literary agents claim will get your first pages rejected.

Including: dream sequences; a character looking in a mirror to describe themselves; the most boring day ever or the most action-packed battle ever; a character waking up; a gross bathroom scene; an overtly sexual scene; a cliché for that genre; beginning with an interesting character and then killing them off to focus on the actual hero.

6. Skip prologues. Agents hate them. If you need one, add it after the book sells.

7. Your opening line must be awesome. Read great opening lines that set the tone for their books.

8. Know that you can break the rules, but it's only going to work if the book is genius.

9. Got a great first line? Good. Write a great second line. Keep compelling them.

10. Avoid using cheap tricks, cliches, and tropes. They won't work on a literary agent.

11. Make each chapter its own little story. Beginning, middle, end. End on a cliffhanger or question.

12. Remember: the first chapter is the hardest to write. Just get it on the page. Fix it later.

13. Give us strong character and voice from the first sentence.

14. Make the first chapter represent what to expect for the entire story.

If you're interested in having me read and critique your first chapter, you might want to sign up for my upcoming Worldbuilding Crash Course workshop at LitReactor, which happens entirely online.

How to Write a Book Synopsis (without hating it!)

I salute you, brave synopsizers!

Tips for attending your 1st con (or a new con) as a writer.

Your writing questions, answered: How do you find your voice?

When people ask me to describe my voice.

Your writing questions, answered: How do you start a writing career and balance it with life?

Q: Why do you write like you're running out of time? A: I NEED IT TO SURVIVE. #hamiltongetsit

How to Avoid Getting Scammed by Shmagents and Fake Publishers

Predatory contracts are not your friend, yo.

Surfing vs. Paddling: The emotional landscape of being a full-time author.

My last surfing day was Friday, October 21,. My birthday, faculty at Surrey International Writing contest in Canada, Hellboy anthology news went live, and CBR had a big article about my upcoming comic, Ladycastle. This must be what cocaine feels like!

Pre-order BONUS! Get some MURDERDUST!

1. Pre-order CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS before 10/11, when it launches.

E-book or hardcover is great!

2. Email a mailing address to whimsydark (at) gmail (dot) com

International is welcome! 

3. I will send you a signed bookplate (bottom left) all this rad paper swag, temporary tattoos, and a SPECIAL, EXCLUSIVE packet of MURDERDUST, a spectacular mineral eyeshadow made by Sweet Libertine, who recently debuted a line of eyeshadows called Wicked as They Come and based on my Blud books. As you can see if you click the link, Murderdust isn't available on their site yet-- you can only get it by pre-ordering. It's one of my favorite colors in the line and makes a spectacular smoky eye, especially paired with Magic Dust.

4. We are all happy, and you get to read Conspiracy of Ravens next Tuesday!

Spread the word! Let's sprinkle Murderdust on EVERYONE!

Hold onto the light.

Sometimes, the light slips through your fingers.

Truth: When I received an email encouraging me to participate in #HoldOntotheLight, I immediately closed it. I didn't have enough spoons to read that much, to see so many actions I needed to take and hashtags I needed to use and social media badges that I had to spread around. Here it was, a great idea that would help people like me, maybe help people feel less alone, and it seemed like an impossible hill that I just couldn't climb.

That's the thing about depression and anxiety. It lies, and it can keep you from doing great things.

I've blogged on depression, on suicide, on my own origins story, which I also wrote about for my essay in Last Night a Superhero Saved My Life. At 38, I've accepted that I'm never going to be normal, that I'm going to spend every day fighting to stay afloat. I've learned the signs that predict when I'm headed down a dark path and the concrete steps I can take to get back on track-- exercise, yoga, meditation, medication, getting away from the computer. I know all this-- and yet it still gets me. I still fall into that deep, dark, cold hole where I feel helpless and worthless.

But I'm fighting.

The day I received that email, I closed it and walked away. And this morning, waking up to a sunny day that smells like fall, I had the energy and focus to open it and see the good it was doing. I knew what I needed to say, and I had the spoons to say it.

It got better. It always does.

The most important thing I can say on this topic is that whatever you're dealing with, whatever monsters you're fighting: You're not alone. You're not weird or terrible or crazy or sick. There is no normal, no perfect, no brain that's happy all the time. Especially if you're an artist or a writer, the flip side of creativity's coin is often a brain that has trouble calming down, quieting, regulating, sleeping, self-loving.

We're here, with you, fighting.

Look, I'm sometimes a mess. I wrote my first book in 2009 at the age of 31, and it sucked. By 32, I had an agent. By 33, I had a book deal. Writing has become my antidepressant, the obsession that pulls me through dark places and lets me dissect pain and rage on the page. But even having a successful career I'm passionate about isn't enough. There are some days I wake up and can't write a word and just flop around in bed and eat coconut milk ice cream, and there are days that I type 12,000 words and lie awake until 4am, pretty sure I'm having a heart attack and will somehow forget to breathe if I stop counting breaths. This is my reality. This is my cycle. I know that in February and June and August, I'll have a hard time. I know that sometimes I have to take Unisom to sleep. I know that I have to travel with my anxiety medication, just in case. But I know that I can succeed despite whatever my stupid brain throws at me. I know that what's to come is worth the fight.

I'm holding onto the light. Sometimes it's slippery and hard to grasp, but just reaching for it when things get hard feels like victory.

#HoldOntoTheLight