Cate Morgan's Blog, page 13

AUTHOR’S LOG: Ch-ch-ch Changes (#ROW80)

 So you’ve probably noticed (or perhaps not–either way) I’ve been off my blogging schedule of late. I apologize for this, but rest assured I’ve been deep, DEEP into revisions for Waking Muse #1. Now, however, it’s as clean as I can make it without going all cross-eyed and drooly (at least, no more so than usual). Here’s what I’ve been up to:

1. All drafting, development, and other revisions has been at standstill while I finish production on THE LADY TENNANT, which is FINALLY going to be released on June 27. (This Friday! Eep!!) I’m going to start out on Amazon with KDP select for the first 90 days, then move to other platforms.

2. Production Schedule Changes: With the drafting of Waking Muse #2 it occured to me that it wouldn’t be fair to readers to make them wait another 6 months to 1 year for the third book, so I’ve slated it for Winter 2014 instead. This way I can also make a valient attempt to release a box set for all three book at some point. I’m now shifting my production queue accordingly, to close out a new series each year.

3. Production Lines: I’ve decided to create official “lines” for my books–one for Speculative Fiction and one for Romance. I’ve been working on pull this all together art, including special art for each one. The tentative plan at this point is to start a mailing list for each line, so I can get free books and ARCs to my readers, as well as news and updates.

4. Website Updates: New production lines also means updates to my website for navigational ease, so I’ve been tinkering around with some new pages, and getting rid of the ones that aren’t pulling in any traffic and might be considered superfluous.

5. New Blog For Writers: I’ve in the process of launching The Story Hacker (Hacks For Today’s Authorpeneurs), wherein I study books, movies, TV, games and discuss what I’ve learned from a crafting standpoint. I’ll also include a page of resources for writers, instead of on this, my now official authorly home base. I’ll still be blogging my own updates here, but I’ve now reached a point where I need a separate place for craft and business-type stuff.

Also, I have book-y type news which I cannot, quite yet, share. And it’s killing me not to be able to climb atop the Internets and hollar into a bull horn. But I will soon–promise!

So what have you guys been up to? Have you been as busy as I have, or are you taking it easy this summer?

Author’s Log: Breathing Is Good (& #ROW80)

 I’d say I were buried in Revision Hell (tantamount to Tech Week, aka “Hell Week” in theatre), except that I’m weird in that I like revisions. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Revisions are where true storytelling comes into play, for me. My rough drafts tend to be very cumbersome because I fast draft everything in my brain, and then end up taking out too much in the revision process, which is where my editors come in. I’m trying to learn to give too much that can then be pared back, which is a lot easier than adding stuff.

I have a lot of work on Waking Muse #1 to be getting on with.  There are things that are working, and other things not so much. I need to flesh out (heh) the romance arc, and work on the clarity and pacing of the timing of events. The musical aspects seem to be going well, however. I’m still hacking, slashing, and then adding a la Beautiful Mind, so that’s where all my focus has been lately–that’s where it has to be, because I need to get this story up to snuff before I release at the end of June.

I’m also transferring some of The Hammer’s feedback–mainly those things I’m most guilty of in Waking Muse 1, to the second book of the series. I’m going through red pens the way the highly allergic go through tissues, but this part is almost as fun as drafting.

Like I said–weird.

So I have content to add, and lots of rearranging to do, the latter part of which means printing it out and taking a pair of sharp scissors to it. Yes, I get that down and dirty sometimes. (Double “heh”.) There’s something about getting handsy (okay I’ll stop now) that brings that crafty part of my writing process that puts my mind in the right frame to rewrite. It makes it a physical, logical thing, rather than a creative one. Again, this hails back to my theatre days when you’re crafting a character or story with feedback from your peers and director, and you’re doing so in a physical space, face-to-face, corraborating. And that physical space holds a certain gravitas that lends to the energy of creating.

The performer in me still needs to always be learning, honing, making progress and improvements. I don’t think I’m wired to actually stop at this point.

While Waking Muse #1 is the only firm deadline I have at this point, I also know that Keepers of the Flame #3 will be coming back from Editor Awesome at almost any moment. And with the other revisions I have in my queue (currently there are something like eighteen chapters in my revision queue across three projects), I am definitely getting my craft on. But it also means I’m REALLY REALLY busy. And I don’t feel like I can do Waking Muse #2 justice until I get the first book squared away.

I don’t know if Genius is acutally Burning, but something certainly smells funny.

 

 

 

Resonance = Success (#IWSG)

 So this weekend the Tech Monkey and I went to a matinee showing of Xmen: Days of Futures Past, and it got me to thinking (again) about resonance, and how said resonance might feed into becoming a successful writer. The Tech Monkey and I always have a great conversations when we get to the lunch part of our movie date, because he is Fan + RPG Game Master, which equals Geek Squared, while I am Fan + Genre Writer, which is Nerd Squared. So we either a) agree on most points, for often different reasons, or b) occasionally don’t agree on a point, sometimes for the same reasons.

When we go to a movie, the Tech Monkey is watching for purely entertainment’s value. Me, my brain is often split in half because it is damned near impossible to turn my writer brain off. I’m pretty sure my Infernal Editor in is there, cackling maniacally as he pulls the switch to the lightning rod. This would explain why I have ten years’ worth of books in my queue, even when I stuff four novellas and two novels into each year’s production schedule.

But I digress.

The first thing that happened is we saw the Transformers 4 trailer. It was full of special effects of the robot versus robot with humanity caught in the disaster movie crosshairs, and Optimus Prime coming over all peevish because said cross-haired humanity sucks, and he has to save them anyway. At least those members we have not buried under buildings we’ve crush, or set on fire. (I loved the cartoon as a kid, by the way—but I’m not—obviously—a fan of the movies.) My husband is an ever bigger fan of the old eighties cartoons he grew up with, and the movies make him even more peevish than Optimus Prime when waffling humanity gets up his exhaust pipe.

Tech Monkey’s reaction to the trailer: “…Okay. But what is it about?”

Me: “An obnoxiously large special effects budget?”

But what he said rang home. It’s all well and good to make with the big explosions and set pieces and cool stuff because it’s cool, but the trailer did nothing to compel me to want to see that movie. Then again, I’m not the audience the movie’s going after, I suppose.

Eighteen trailers later (seriously, where did they all come from—and how do half them even relate to the movie I’m about to see?) we finally get to the movie.

Now, back in 2000, the Tech Monkey went to see the very first Xmen movie as our first date. Tradition decrees that we see every other Xmen movie when it comes out. And we like the new cast, and this movie handled the mash up of new/old casts really well. (I am, however, disappointed that Wolverine made no sassy comment as regards to young Professor X having a full, glorious head of seventies hair. I love Wolverine’s sass.)

Yes, there was an extensive run of set piece effects (I loved Quicksilver’s bit the most, I think). Yes, there was an incredible amount of external conflict with the Sentinels being able to adapt to mutant powers, but that wasn’t really what the movie was about. At least, that was what the movie was about only on a surface level. The external conflict—a combination of premise and stakes—bled into the strata of everything else that was going on. But the true conflict came from opposing goals, characters changing sides as their goals change, and complications to meeting those goals—and seriously blurred the line between straight good and evil, which I love.

It was all very human, despite all the mutant-y stuff going on. And holy wow, James McAvoy having a heart-to-heart through time with Patrick Stewart, i.e. his older self—it resonated. (Although I was still waiting for a hair comment—it had better be in the DVD Outtakes). Beyond the themes of hope and redemption, all the characters—including the ‘bad guys’—were sympathetic.

It was this resonance, I think, that truly made the movie. When you can touch something human within your audience, it will leave them wanting more.

(P.S. Can we just put Peter Dinklage in everything in the history of ever? Because then you can have all my money.)

(P.P.S. Wolverine and Beast need their own web series, to air opposite the web series starring Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.)

Author’s Log: Playing Catchup

 So I know I haven’t checked in in awhile, for which I heartily apologize. Revisions for Waking Muse #1, due out later this month, has taken up a significant portion of my time. Given this is my one hard deadline, I need to concentrate on this–and I figure getting a book out when I say I’m going to is more important that weekly status updates at this juncture.

June is going to be a catch up month for me, seeing as there’s much yet to get done. Until I master the revisions of Waking Muse #1, I can’t, in good concscious, finish drafting the second book at my usual high rate. I’m thoroughly in post-production mode at this point, which means I’m hidng in a cave until the work gets done. Between Waking Muse #1, THE MINSTREL’S DAUGHTER, and Keepers #4 I am officially declaring June the Month of Revisions. This doesn’t mean I won’t be drafting, it just means it won’t be my first priority.

Also, I fully expect news on Keepers #3 from Editor Awesome at almost any moment. *refreshes inbox*

ALSO also, I need to buy more red pens.

A lot more.

Don’t get me wrong–I love this part of the process. The crafty, get-your-hands-dirty bit. But it is a LOT of work, yo. Probably even more so than the actual drafting. I wonder if movie editors feel this way in the cutting room? *ponders*

So while I pop my head back into the Revision Cave, why not sound off in the comments about how you tackle difficult revisions?

Or, as a reader, how often do you like to receive status updates from your favorite authors?

 

 

 

Author’s Log: Pen Of The Red Death (& #ROW80)

 Lots of updates this week, so let’s jump right in, shall we?

Waking Muse #2 is really coming together. I’ve got a list of 21 or so scenes, for seven chapters. My characters are still funny, despite the fact I did not plan this. In fact, I think it’s safe to say they’re no longer “my” characters–they’re now, more or less, wholly their own. Jo’s twin brothers, aka the “Dancing Kinneys”, remind me a lot of the Weasley twins. Lots of back-and-forth, aiding and abetting, a mischief more or less managed.

I also came up with ripping epiphany of Dickinsian proportions in regards to Ian. I don’t know if it will make readers roll their eyes or fall in love with the idea–but I kind of like it. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes over.

I’ve figured out my antagonist, and shifted the food critic to a helper character for Jo instead–a master sommalier turned food writer as played by Michael Gambon–very classy, and a bit swishy until it’s time for serious business, at which point he’s utterly on point. I’m severely tempted to start a “Trevor Darling” food blog or something. The Tech Monkey, being a former chef and restauranteur, is going to help me draw up a mock menu for Ian’s restaurant, Hearth. He thinks his folks might have some of his old leather bound menus lying around somewhere.

Speaking of Waking Muse, I got my edits back from The Forge this week, so I’ve added it to my revision queue. I’ve been officially hammered! *proud* I’ll do a formal review soon to let my fellow Writer Monkeys how well it worked, but as of now I give the ladies at The Forge an “absolutely recommend.”

Thanks to the lovely folks at Scrivener, I was able to figure out my word count meter problem. Under the heading of “Dorkus Maximus”, I thought my story files were under the “Manuscript” bucket, but they apparently work. We now seem to be in working order.

As far as the Revision Madness goes, the machete approach seems to be working. I’ve broken down all my revisions by project and chapter and copied/pasted each one as a new note into a Revision Queue on Evernote. Now I can print each one out a work and spend my lunch hour going through red pens like tissue. But using a printed copy shifts my perspective on my manuscripts somehow, so I’m seeing things much more clearly. The print outs then go into a folder until I’m ready to make the changes in Scrivener, with another pass. I’m feeling much more calm about things now. Really. *pant pant*

And, as if I weren’t busy enough, I got smacked between the eyes with another series idea–which led me to yet another idea.

Sigh.

The first idea I’m calling the “Elemental Assassin” series–I don’t know if they’ll be novellas or novels, or four or five books. The idea is to have a book told from the POV from an assassin who’s mastered one of the four elements, all following a larger story arc. This then led me to a “Four Horsemen” novella series, with each book told from the POV of one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. A writer’s job is never truly done, I suppose–add it to the queue!

Production Schedule (&ROW80)

WAKING MUSE #2 (Drafting): I’m really loving these characters. They’re fun, they’re funny, and they’re just damaged enough to be interesting. This week I need to write Jo challenging Ian to show her who he is as a chef, and Ian following through. I’m going to write it almost like a double interview–both asking questions and finding what they have in common. The fact that Jo once won her own Michelin star is going to be a watershed moment for Ian.

WAKING MUSE #1 (In Edits): This is my weekend project. I sent 66 pages worth of story to the Pink Hammered, and she sent me 77 pages back in commentary. I love this. Now I get to roll up my sleeves and really start crafting. I may be working at a computer, but I still consider it getting my hands dirty, because this is the hard part. I love taking raw material and shaping it, word for word, into something special.

THE MINSTREL’S DAUGHTER (In Rewrites): The Red Pen Of Death seems to be winning the struggle. I need to be done hacking through ACT I this month, so I can begin ACT II rewrites next month to get back on schedule.  Onward! *swings machete*

KEEPERS #4 (In Revision): Nothing has gone seriously wrong yet story-wise, for which I am pathetically grateful. I’m deep into ACT II this week. If nothing is too terribly awry, I can hit ACT III the week after. Then I put it away again before one more cleanup pass for an eary reader copy.

GAME PLEX #1 (In Development): This one’s a nice exercise in cleaning the palette. The fact that it’s mostly for fun takes a lot of the pressure off, so I’m having fun figuring out the logistics. I’ve got my characters and premise pinned down, so now I need to bring my gaming experience to the fore to come up with viable campaign to send my characters on. This means a ton of world-building research for my world-within-a-game. Needless to say, this makes me very happy–gaming AND research AND crazy characters? *bliss*

Hoo, this was a long post! If you’re still conscious, sound of in the comments–what are you working on and loving now?

 

 

Author’s Log: Have Machete, Will Write (& #ROW80)

 This week I’ve been hard at work in my writer’s notebook on Waking Muse #2, refining my story line via outline and brainstorming my key scenes. I also changed one or two things about my main characters, Jo the food writer and Ian the comeback chef.

My opening scenes with these two for the setup sequence turned out quite well, not to mention funny. I’m not certain where the funny came from, BTW. I hadn’t originally intended this book to be funny, but it seems my characters want to be amusing. Considering how emotionally devastating THE LADY TENNANT (Waking Muse #1) turned out, despite the HEA, my readers may find the second book in the series a welcome break from all the feels.

Don’t get me wrong: HEARTH & HOME is not light, airy fare, per se–it’s just my characters apparently decided to form an improv troupe behind my back and surpised my by dancing on stage in full, vivid form. The dialogue’s gotten rather away from me, I’m afraid. Waking Muse #2 opens with Jo regarding an ostentatious bouquet from her ex that is currently invading her desk and remembering how her brothers once duct-taped her prom date to a water tower (this is the Midwest–it happens). The first time readers meet Ian he’s giving a solemn pep talk to a lobster doomed for the cook pot in a scene I’ve dubbed “Dead Crustacean Scuttling.” The final scene, once again from Jo’s POV, involves “The Dancing Kinneys”, Jo’s older twin brothers of duct-tape infamy.

With the opening chapter tagged, bagged, and in Scrivener, I’m now focusing on my other key scenes. My ending scenes will need to resonate with the opening ones, which is why I book end them when I first starting working in my notebook. I’ll do the same with the Inciting Incident and Climax, and Plot Points 1 & 2–it’s the best way I know of getting a tight, logical plot structure, character arcs, and resonance.

In other news, I think I’ve figured out a solution to my cover art hitches for Waking Muse #1, which I hope to reveal in time for the pre-order announcement at the end of the month. Now I just need to get the titling right.

On to the Goals!

 Production Schedule (& ROW80):

WAKING MUSE #2 (Drafting): Pay no attention to the word count in the sidebar–for some reason Scrivener is neglecting to give me a full document word count (I write in scenes), despite the fact that “Include In Compile” is switched on. I have also decided that my ending must, in some way, involve duct tape. Because everything needs duct tape. Also had an epiphany about Ian of Shakespearean bent, and I can’t wait to see if it pans out.

THE MINSTREL’S DAUGHTER (In Rewrites): I’m following my own advice and hacking my way though the first act with a machete at this point, rather than a scalpel. That’s how it usually goes for me: I have a forest on my hands, I hack a path through with a machete, followed by the surgical strike of the scalpel. I’m deep in the brush at this point, machete swinging.

KEEPERS #4 (In Revision): I confess: I’m not certain how readers are going to react to this one. I think they’ll like the characters, but the non-urban setting may throw some people off. It’s a bit out of my citified comfort zone, I like it–hopefully my readers will agree.

GAME PLEX #1 (In Development): I love the characters coming out of this one, but I’m still scratching my head a bit over the story. This book will be meant for the gaming geeks out there, and entirely for fun. I’m hoping readers will enjoy the adventure as much as they do recognizing gamers they “know”–or even themselves. I essentially have to come up with two separate plot lines–one for the game, and another for the story–until real life inevitably intrudes on the game. That’s where the resonance comes in–it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt–and I want the instrusion of real life to jar the readers as much as it does the characters.

How about you guys? Hacking through any forsests this week?

 

 

Go For The Throat (#IWSG)

One of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve ever gotten came from Natalie Goldberg’s Wild Mind. It’s an older book, but one I dog-eared into oblivion in my beginner days, long before I ever got published. And the one thing Natalie said that has stuck with me, most likely because it harkened back to my theatre days, was “Go for the throat”.

This was a watershed moment for me, back when I was uncertain of my own skill level or if the stories I wanted to tell would be stories anyone would want to read begin with. There was, quite literally, an audible, tangible click in my head when the light went on. It wasn’t all that long afterwards that I was offered my first contract.

Of course, I then proceeded to take matters to the other extreme and over-edited myself, but that’s another story.

Anyway, back to this going for the throat business.

This isn’t a matter of going all Walking Dead on a story, shambling up on an unsuspecting victim and biting indiscriminately to make more zombies. This is a matter of hunting—focus, patience, and then taking the shot.

Anyone who has ever had cats has seen the following happen. We have Ninja Katz, so this happens to the power of 10. (Seriously, if they ever learn to use the can opener, we’re toast.)

We have a small sunroom/nook off the end of our living room that facing out onto the golf course behind our condo complex. The windows are floor-to-ceiling, and have sliding glass doors—and the Thing One and Thing Two LOVE to hang out here to watch all the action—birds and lizards and squirrels, oh my!

Something not visible to the mere human eye will zip past, or fly over, or bounce along a roof. Do they immediately try to disembowel a perfectly innocent little critter whose only failing is to be made of fur and enticing squishy bits? Some cats might—but not ours.

First, their eyes widen in the prescribed “bug face” mode, to take in more light, examine the surrounding terrain and environment elements, and possible the fires of hell while they’re at it. Then they stalk, one paw at a time, toward the window. Every muscle, every sinew, every molecule of their very existence is narrowly focused on their potential prey. Only when they are strategically, perfectly poised do they try to bullet-pounce through the screen with the full array of their armament displayed for maximum fear and death. They know what a jugular looks like, and they see one RIGHT NOW.

I guess this makes them more like vampires than zombies, if you want to see it that way. But whatever.

It’s that pre-pounce focus, though, that captures one’s attention. That still, silent posture of imminent death. There’s no fear there–only unfathomable, undeniable instinct.

As writers we tend to dance around the things that make us uncomfortable, searching for the right steps, and the right words. We fox trot and waltz round and round, but we rarely tango straight on through when the occasion calls for it. Mostly this is due to inexperience, or self-conscious uncertainty. We use too many words trying to get our point across, or not the right words.

Sometimes we just need to clench the editorial dagger between our teeth, and GO FOR IT.

I’ve learned there are three steps (and drafts) to getting to that jugular:

Discovery Draft: Get it all down. Mind dump it. Whatever it takes—just as long as you get the story out of your head so you have the right perspective to see what it is you actually have to work with. Make it tangible as well as visual. Just say it, whatever it is. Focus on that prey, and the situation surrounding.
Meditation Draft: You’ve said it, now say what you mean. Stalk up on your prey, word by word, sentence for sentence. Think through and strategize every step, and be aware of every flexing muscle. See where it all fits together in the rhythm of the hunt. Be aware of the terrain of structure, the paw print of foreshadow. In other words, seek clarity.
Revision Draft: You’ve said it, you’ve hunted for the right way to say what you mean—now say it well. Cut away the unnecessary, the redundant, anything that lacks focus—this draft is all about purpose. Find and pull out layers, textures, sensory detail made touchable in the mind. Anything that doesn’t fit, that doesn’t do the job—rip it out. Have you hurt your characters enough, or were you just a bit too kind because you love them so? Eye that difficult scene where you meandered around, searching for what you were trying to say and didn’t quite get there—and take no prisoners. Be brutal. This isn’t about the romantic notion of writing complete with a diaphanous white gown and gothic notions—this is about blood.

 

In other words, write fearlessly, with focus and purpose. Go for the throat.

Author’s Log: To The Finish Line–And Beyond! (& #ROW80)

So BRIGHID’S MARK launched on Tuesday to a respectable bit of fanfare. So much so  that–thanks to you guys–I ranked really well on Samhain’s website. Really REALLY well!As in RANKED NUMBER 1 for best-selling new book in the Angels & Demons category as well as Post-Apocalyptic

Number. Freaking. ONE.

*squeesplode*

*falls over*

And if that couldn’t possibly get any better, on May 1 Keepers of the Flame #2 hit #9 in overall New Releases:

You guys put the “Phenom” in “phenomanal” and the “Diggity” in “Bomb-Diggity”. Really.  I hardly know what to say, except perhaps:

And:

 

I figure the best possible way I can thank you all is to KEEP WRITING. So that’s what I’m doing: making with the typeity-typeity until my fingers bleed. But you’re totally worth it. *warm fuzzies*

In other news, on Wednesday I finished drafting ACT I of my new fantasy novel, SEARCHER, and right on schedule. Approximately 30K words are now on the School Points board for House Searcher. Only 60K more to go–woo-hoo! In July I’ll swing back around for Act II, but for now I’m taking a break so I can get to work on Waking Muse #2.

In preparation for this I’ve been watching a LOT of cooking documentaries and learning about the world of haute cuisine in general. I’ve also been getting to know my characters, Chef Ian and Food Writer Jo. I’m thinking the conflict is going to be that Jo wrote the review article that put in the nail in the coffin of Ian’s first restaurant–which really did him a favor but he doesn’t quite see it that way. All I’m lacking at this point is a true antagonist-perhaps a snooty food critic as played by Alan Rickman? One can’t go wrong with casting Alan Rickman in much of anything, I’m thinking. :-D

On to the goals!

 Production Schedule (& ROW80):

WAKING MUSE #2 (Drafting): I need to get 20-25K words in the bag this month, beginning this coming week. As long as continue to average 1K words/day I should have no trouble making this deadline. *crosses fingers*

KEEPERS #4 (In Revision): The rough draft for this has been put away for several months now, so it’ll be interesting to see where I stand as far as how clean the raw draft is with the benefit of a fresh perspective. I recall really liking the beginning, but I suspect ACT III is a bit of a mess. I may or may not have repeated a major story point. *cringes* I’ll begin revising ACT I this week.

THE MINSTREL’S DAUGHTER (In Rewrites): This is the only goal I’m epically failing on thus far, but I’ve upgraded this draft from Revisions to Holy Overhaul, Batman! I see the problems–but it’s a serious liposuction that lies ahead of me. Time to tighten, tighten, tighten–without (hopefully) overdoing it. But I can make it stronger, faster…better than before. I HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY. Namely Scrivener.

GAME PLEX #1 (In Development): This is veeeeeeery tentative, and most like just for fun. I’d like to take explore the gaming culture of the near(ish) future and mix it up with some kind of mystery revolving around industrial espionage–sort of a modern take on Larry Niven’s Dream Park series. As an avid gamer (who else out there is waiting for Dragon Age III, and hating the fact the Elder Scrolls Online has no auction house?), this is an idea I’ve been playing with off and on for years. This will be a self-published endeavor, unlike THE MINSTREL’S DAUGHTER and SEARCHER, which I’m intending to shop around to agents. I don’t even know if GAME PLEX will turn out to be a viable thing or not–that’s what R&D is for! :-)

So as I feverishly refresh my Samhain New Releases page get to work on my May production, let us know in the comments what you guys have planned for this month! Any new shinies on the horizon? Finishing anything good? Sound off!

 

 

 

RELEASE THE DEMON! Brighid’s Mark Is Officially Unleashed (#Keepers2)

Under the heading of “Having Fun Storming The Castle”. I don’t have a Holocaust cloak, but I do have one made of Apocalypse, and that’s pretty close, right?

*trips over wheelbarrow*

I love book launch day, even more than cover art day, I think. Cover art is the first tangible proof an writer has that their book actually exists, that is a really real thing. But book launch day is when this Really Real Thing has its coming out ball, with all the anxiety and excitement implied.

Today, BRIGHID’S MARK (Keepers of the Flame #2) is, indeed, a Really Real Thing. HUZZAH!!

It was a long time coming. Last year, when this book was officially contracted by Samahain Publishing (aka Publisher Amazing), my Countdown widget started at 9 months. Last week, it had counted down to 9 days. As I’m writing this, the day before release, it says “9 Hours”. COINCEDENCE? Well, yes, okay, probably.

Let the celebrations commence!

First, an Unleashing Anecote, also known as the Author’s Note (which I tend to read as soon as I’m done with a book, because I love learning what research and stories what went in to a book).

BRIGHID’S MARK began as a completely different novella several years go. At the time eBooks were at the point that self-publishing is at now. Basically, a few forward thinking necromancers were caressing the beautiful potential of the dark portal that was the Internet and fingering out how to perform the Rites of Ash Kente so its strings might be pulled and its secrets thus revealed. These cultists may or may not have summoned Cthulhu, by pure accident I’m guessing. I’m almost certain the smoking fezzes were completely unrelated.

Meanwhile, everyone else regarding the entire eBook tidal wave as pure black magic and generally unholy. The sky was falling, and, also, we are all doomed. Much of this Chicken Little mentality came from traditional publishing, much as it is now. eReaders were never going to take off, etc. It’s all a fad. Fingers were being poked into both ears with such vigor it’s a miracle there weren’t more inadvertant labotomies as a result.

Now, of course, eBook publishers are considered as respected, list-sticking members of traditional publishing, even if their distribution models are still considered ahead of the curve. Harlequin was one of the first to don the Necromancer robes and show the rest of the cultists how it was done. They launched several novella lines, one of which was for paranormal and urbany fantasy, called Nocturne.

This was right up my alley. The novella length and the kind of content the Nocturne line was meant for was exactly where my interests lay at the time–I had tons of stories in my head that were considered too short for full novels and way too long for short stories. BRIGHID’S MARK began, then, an urban fantasy featuring vampires, a snarky sidekick for my hero, and a title I no longer recall (probably a good thing). It was eventually rejected (probably also a good thing), and I went on to other stories.

Then Samhain Publishing came along with their anthology calls for submissions. I missed the one for Angels and Demons, but that was okay, because what I ended up writing (BRIGHID’S CROSS, Keepers of the Flame #1), and the heroine from that early vampire book was reborn, personality-wise, as Aika Lareto. I rounded out my Irish-pathenon based mythos, shoved the timeline to a near-future, pre-apocalyptic era, and switch the location to London.

But I still really wanted to write an Urban Fantasy, action tale in New Orleans. So I kept a couple of the characters from the original manuscript, including my hero, but I needed a heroine who would stand up to a Great Demon and own her talents as well as her destiny. Then an opening scene of flashlight circles tracking through a train yard, and the questions started coming. I ripped apart the original story that was (rightfully) rejected from Harlequin, pulled out the main storyline and the bits that worked, and retailored it to the new mythos I’d built for the series. Callie is a character completely different from the reluctant Aika, and I think she’s resonate with readers. She’s the kind of girl that other girls look at and say “Theeeeeeere’s my new drinking buddy.” She’s the kind of girl that’d be a BLAST to take partying in New Orleans.

Of course, you may end up coming to in a jail cell–but it’d TOTALLY be worth the bail money.

Speaking of New Orleans and bail-worthy exploits, in celebration of BRIGHID’S MARK’s release, the Tech Monkey whipped up a genuine Big Easy feast to make the pickiest of the Loa proud:

Shrimp Po Boys, Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, Stuffed Oysters

Yum!

 

Rum…LOTS of rum.

That last one is a rum drink we discovered at a Landry’s in Huntsville, Alabama called an “Outlaw”, and almost entirely comprises of rum: one shot each of Bacardi, Bacardi Gold, Bacardi 151, and Meyer’s Dark. Add both orange juice and pineapple juice, followed by splashes of Apple Pucker, Grenadine, and Triplesec. And it. Is. DIVINE. After four of these I woke up in the passenger seat of my then-boyfriend’s 1995 Mustang Cobra in time to see the first New Orleans sign of our trip the Halloween of 2000. Then-boyfriend is now the Tech Monkey, and my husband of over ten years.

Is it any wonder that New Orleans is a city so close to my heart, liver, and stomach? :-D

On that note, I hope you all enjoy reading BRIGHID’S MARK as much as I enjoyed writing it–in both incarnations. It’s been a wild journey, but I’m so glad I did it.

 

 

Author’s Log: Words, Words, Words (& #ROW80)

 This week was all about the words: counting words, writing words, editing and revising and tweaking them all into little word notes that make the music of prose and character and story.

I feel like I’m revising and rewriting more than drafting these days, and no wonder–I’m still slogging through rewrites of The Minstrel’s Daughter, which is going much slower than anticipated. On the other hand, revisions of The Lady Tennant (Waking Muse #1) went much faster than anticipated, as even the messy parts are turning out to be much cleaner that I suspected. o.O

It’s becoming quite clear that The Minstrel’s Daughter, at nearly 10% over my projected word count and with consistent feedback coming from my fellow word wranglers over at the Online Writing Workshop for Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror that extensive rewrites are going to be needed. I’m overwriting, essentially, which is the other extreme from the over-editing problem I’m usually guilty of. Note: Find a happy medium. My full length novels need to be as tightly written as my novellas, and my novellas need to gain some weight so as not to leave my reader confused or wanting more.

In other words, this is going to be a job for the dreaded Red Pen of Death and the Infernal Editor. ABANDON ALL HOPE, etc.

I’m actually kind okay with this–I’m one of those weirdo writers who actually LIKES revisions. I love picking things apart, putting them back together, smoothing them out. This is where the craftmanship of writing comes into play, which is as much (or more) a part of the gig as the art stuff is. This, THIS is wordsmithery.

I do so love wordsmithery. :-D

IN OTHER NEWS: We are now mere days away from unleashing BRIGHID’S MARK (Keepers of the Flame #2), for which I am naturally all excity-pants over. Woo-hoo!!

 Production Schedule (& ROW80):

1. DRAFTING: Searcher Act I– In Progress

My heroes have reached their first destination, with the hounds of war more or less on heir heels. I can’t decide if I want them to be caught here or later by said hounds–it may be required. But the important thing is I’m getting them to Plot Point 1 through a blizzard and into safe hands–for now. One of my shady antagonist-types is due to catch up with them early on in Act II.

REWRITES: The Minstrel’s Daughter ACT I–In Progress

As I said, moving slowly now that I’m seeing inherent problems–not in story, but in my craftsmanship in telling it. The legs are wobbly enough to cause sea sickness and while the foundation is sturdy the top is made of that crappy plywood they used to make Sauder student desks out of. Time for some Nip/Tucking.

REVISIONS: The Lady Tennant–QUEST COMPLETE!

I gave this novella a final read through yesterday (Saturday), and this morning submitted it to The Forge for a content edit, right on schedule. I’m still wondering if I really made a rough draft so truly clean, or if I’m missing something so obvious I’m about to fall into it and land somwhere in China. If I did write something this clean on the first go, I strongly suspsect I’m going to end up wasting time trying to figure out HOW, exactly, I did it. My second or third drafts are this clean, not my firsts. *baffled*

IN DEVELOPMENT: WAKING MUSE #2– In Progress

I’m having a lot of fun researching Montreal. There’s an annual food and wine festival I think I’m going to set the story in, and I’ve been digging into the inner workings of restaurants that host or are run by premiere chefs. I’d already decided my hero will be a chef who’s starting over in Montreal and my heroine will be an American food critic from (possibly) Chicago. Now I need to host a story meeting with my characters to hash out a plot.

Your turn–how’d you guys do this week? How do you go about breaking a new story?