H.B. Pattskyn's Blog, page 8

Women who write Gay Romance (not the post you're expecting...)

Every once in a while, it rears its ugly head: the tired, old, beat-the-horse-to-death post about how women have no business writing gay romance. And it is frustrating. To be called a homophobe for writing gay romance (I kid you not) was probably the worst for me personally; the same person accused me of "trotting out my gay friends" when I said I was part of the LBGT community. Hello, bisexual here. That's kinda what that "B" stands for. I guess because I don't look the part, most people just assume I'm straight. (What does bisexual look like anyway?) But that's not what I want to talk about today. Not really. (But yes, it does still make me angry).  My first novel came out in 2011; at the time, I was utterly ignorant of any unhappiness over women who wrote m/m. I cut my teeth reading and writing fanfiction, and as far as I knew, most of my readers were women; so were most of my fellow authors. I figured there were some guys out there who enjoyed it, but I hadn't met any, so I simply assumed because we all loved the same stuff we would all, at least for the most part, get along. Yes. I can be naïve.  My first encounter with the Nasty was a huge shock and it left a lasting impression, so much so that the first time I went to a conference put on by my publisher, I was a nervous wreck. I knew I wouldn't be the only woman in the room, but I didn't know what the other ladies would be like. Had they somehow won the right to be there (a right I doubted I had, other than, well, I wrote a book and all, but...) And what about the guys? Were they going to be like the ones I'd encountered online, spewing nasty shit about women who dared to tread into their domain? After all, a good deal of the vitriol being spewed was coming from male authors in the m/m genre. I'm not really shy (okay, I'm not shy at all) but I have an extreme dislike of confrontation. So in I went, ready to duck and cover. Enter B.G. Thomas, Michael Murphy, and a half dozen or so utterly awesome gentlemen. They were warm, welcoming, and sweet. (Seriously, Ben has one of the biggest hearts I've ever encountered.) There wasn't a pitchfork in sight. No tar. No feathers. Just normal people.  (The ladies, by the way, were equally awesome and were a lot like me: middle aged wives and mothers who loved to write. Sorry to break anybody's fantasy about authors being glamorous!)  Life went on and  occasionally this particularly ugly specter raised its head and like Don Quixote, I tilted at windmills, vainly defending myself and my right to write whatever I damned well pleased. I didn't change anybody's mind; all I did was get angry. Eventually, I started (mostly) ignoring the vitriol.  Then, last year, I began volunteering with AIDS Partnership Michigan. I had the sneaking suspicion that most of the guys in the office would likely be gay men (AIDS isn't a "gay disease", there's no such thing, but in the US it is more prevalent in the gay community, so I figured, realistically speaking, any straight men in the office would be in the minority--and I was right.)  The men I expected to meet at APM wouldn't be writers. They wouldn't be a part of the family of authors I'd come to know and love. They might be like that who called me homophobic and said that I only had gay friends so I could trot them out and put them on display. (Just for the record, I don't have "gay friends" any more than I have "Jewish friends." I have friends who happen to be gay or Jewish, or black, or whatever. As long as we're friends , that other stuff doesn't matter.) So, at any rate, in I went on my first day, braced to face who knows what and of course one of the first questions the volunteer coordinator asked was why I wanted to volunteer there.  I explained the premise of my third novel and how it had utterly broken my heart when I Googled the question "would you date someone with HIV?" (I've blogged about that enough not to repeat it here; short version: it boggles my mind that here is so much freaking mis-information floating around in this day and age about HIV and AIDS.)  And wouldn't you know it, I didn't get so much as a raised eyebrow. Not only was the volunteer coordinator awesome about the fact that I write gay romance, but he continues to talk me and my books up to anyone who comes into the office and encourages me to promote myself when I'm doing an event like Pride.  In fact, everyone at the office has been wonderful to me. I do occasionally get asked why I write what I do, but I don't mind answering that questions; it's always been asked politely, out of curiosity. That's cool. Everyone in the office has made me feel welcome and like I'm part of the family, even a year later when I'm pretty much a fixture  ;-) Yesterday I was with APM at Ferndale's Gay Pride; I met a bunch of people, including Mr. Friendly and of course the subject of Hanging by the Moment and what kind of writing I do came up. And there it was again: that easy, open acceptance. I also ran into the (awesome and amazing) guy who does my hair (we'd talked briefly about what I write the first time he worked on me, although it took me a moment of guts to say "gay romance" because I'd kinda guessed he was probably gay and did *not* want to piss off the guy about to do my hair for the first time! Needless to say, it wasn't an issue ;-)  ). So. In real life, I have encountered not a single hairy eyeball from the gay community. What I have gotten is a lot of warmth, for which I am grateful and wanted to take this moment to say Thank You. The next time the B.S. starts flying, I do believe I will have what it takes to smile, nod, and turn away from it--because really, who has the time or the energy to waste on that, anyway? Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Writing Goals, Writer's Block, and doing the two-step with Depression

Happy Friday!Yikes. Is it really Friday??  That means tomorrow is Ferndale Pride!  I hope to see any of you who live locally in downtown Ferndale tomorrow afternoon. 
I'll be hanging out at the AIDS Partnership Michigan table in front of Affirmations from 3 until about 6. You can't miss me; I've got a floppy straw hat with a rainbow rim (it's my gardening hat!) and if that's on my head, my neon blue hair is pretty darned hard to miss!
Today being Friday, and near the end of the month also means that Sunday (the 1st of June) is the day I said I was going to buckle down and get back to some serious writing--and that means setting a writing goal. I know the goal I'd like to set, but I'm going to shoot for "realistic" rather than kill myself   :)  (We're still working on the house, after all).  And I'm asking all of YOU for help. If I look like I'm slacking off, poke me, prod me, nag at me in an email or on Facebook. 
My goal is to write 75,000 words a month. 
That sounds big, but it breaks down to a little over 2800 words a day, 7 days a week (although the beauty of a monthly goal is that if you miss a day, you can make it up the next day).  Typically, that's a very do-able number for me, but the last year or so, I've suffered from dreaded writer's block and had some depression issues (I actually may talk to my doctor if it gets bad again next fall; right now I'm sussing out whether it's seasonal or just stress in general--as some of you know, it's been a rough couple of years on several fronts in my personal life. I finally started calling a spade a spade--admitting that yes, it's depression--and getting some help, which has, funny enough, helped tremendously! I guess that's why they call it "help" *G*  Hey, we all have the right to be a little slow on the uptake sometimes) 
Anyway, the "catch" with my writing goal (if you can call it that) is that it doesn't matter *what* I write, as long as it contributes to my overall progression as an author. Blog posts count. Work on any novel or short story counts. I have several WIPs (two above and at least one that's been pecking at my brain that may end up in the top bar). My newsletter (which has been hiatus) not only counts, but is an absolute MUST. Starting in June, it will be going back out every month, just like before. (I really do feel like I've been in a fog since sometime last fall and I'm only just starting to come out of it). Work on my non-fiction, non-romance book counts too. (I'm writing a book about the Anglo-Saxon Runes. I won't give you guys major details as it's so not what this blog is about, but I'll at least post word counts when I get from the research stage to the writing stage). 
So I'm not concentrating on writing a book every other month (which is about what I'd been trying to do and it just wasn't working). I'll finish what I finish when I finish it (as long as I don't end up with eight started stories that don't progress past the first three chapters!) I'll post updates here or on my Facebook page. And you can feel free to nag at me if I'm not keeping up my end.  
And now, I'm off to the gym, because road trips are fun, but they play merry havoc on the diet! (I swear, what is it about sitting in a car for 9 hours that makes me perpetually hungry??)
Happy Friday, everyone!

Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Dub-Con (i.e. Dubious Consent) in romance

Recently, Sue Brown shared an article to her Facebook page, and it's caused a tad of a stir (at least on the thread), a stir I must admit, I contributed to. (Who, me, weigh in on something with a strong opinion? Nah..... *giggle-snort*).

The article, penned by Ashlyn Forge, entitled, "Raping gay men is okay...if it's for the titillation of straight women" isn't nearly as inflammatory as as the title suggests. Forge is simply commenting on the rise in popularity of non-con and dub-con (non-consensual and dubiously-consensual) sex in gay romance. (Anyone who's ever read a "bodice ripper" knows that the idea of dub-con is a) nothing new, and b) hardly confined to m/m and has long held a special place in romance.)  The question of the popularity of the tropes have become so popular is a good one, one for which I have no solid answer.

But first, I must confess that I enjoy dubious consent--when it's on the page. Just as in real-life, I would never condone someone running off with a guy they'd just met (as in Heidi Cullinan's Special Delivery, one of my favorite books, *ever*), in real life No means NO. Period. End stop. No room to negotiate. Smile, nod, and move on, and no, it doesn't matter how he or she is dressed, no woman (or man) needs someone else to "liberate them" (as per Robin Thicke's "epic" tune, "Blurred lines"--epic if for no other reason than the sheer number of parodies it inspired in so short a time).

But in fantasy (which is what romance is), dubious consent is romantic. Really. It is. And it's nothing new (may I turn your attention back to the classic story Beauty and the Beast? Beauty was in no way enamored of the Beast until she got to know him, and she certainly was not a guest in his house by choice.)  How many (particularly those old bodice rippers) start with a beautiful heroine being kidnapped by pirates or brigands, only to find herself falling madly in love with the captain or leader of the band of highwaymen? Women, while in real life would never want to be kidnapped, often find the idea of being whisked away by a strong, handsome--and remarkably kind, despite his "profession"--man intoxicating. And why not? We read romance to escape our dull, often hectic lives.

So yeah, I'm a total fan of dub-con.

Non-con is a different matter. I totally understand that it's appealing to some people, for pretty much the same reason dub-con is, but personally, I know my limits and what I can and can't read. There's a reason I won't touch the Flesh Cartel series--and the fact that it takes place in the here and now and deals with a real issue--modern slave trafficking--doesn't help my ability to stomach it. (That's not a judgement on the series, that's just me being honest my personal limits). I don't like the idea of men (or women) being "broken" (although I did happen to see a blurb for the final installment of The Flesh Cartel and I'm pretty sure I like where it ultimately seemed to go).

So, here's he question (and the point that became debated on Sue's FB post). Is dub-con (as a trope in romance) rape? When the master in some alternate universe (or some alternate arrangement of this one) seduces his/her slave, is it rape? (Because even if the slave consents, there's little about that kind of Master/slave "relationship" that's consensual--it's a whole different kettle of fish than contemporary consensual slavery in the BDSM culture). Is it rape when the Alpha Wolf claims his/her mate, an otherwise unsuspecting human or subordinate shifter? Or when the pirate kidnaps the governor's son/daughter?

I think we can all agree that rape is bad. But is dub-con bad? Does it encourage "rape culture"--or is it simply a healthy outlet for both the author and the reader's darker sexual fantasies? Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Writers' Conferences

I just read a great article by Daisy Harris called "Self-pub, Conferences, and the Limiting Factor of being YOU."  
The article was well timed to my life, and not just because Ms. Harris opens up with an anecdote about about how she and her husband almost bought a fixer-upper in a formerly questionable neighborhood in Seattle. As most of you know by now, my husband and bought an old fixer-upper in a not-quite questionable section of Detroit. (Our neighbors are lovely and we're very happy and anxious to move in--but let's be honest, I'm a hop, skip, and jump from Highland Park and I know it. For those not from around these parts, Highland Park is a very unsavory neighborhood).
But the bulk of the article was about something I've been giving a lot of thought to lately, that is, how many conferences and conventions can I a) afford to go to and b) are actually worth attending. I posed the question to a Yahoo! Group of fellow romance writers and the responses were nearly unanimous across the board: 
You don't go to these things with the idea of making back your airfare and hotel room at the conference (something I already knew, but was glad to see it was indeed conventional wisdom).You go to these things to receive intangible rewards: making friends, meeting people you've only conversed with online, possibly meeting new readers (assuming you're like me and perfectly comfortable talking to people--although I think the pay off here is for people who have more than three novels out). You should think of these things as vacations more so than marketing opportunities--but at the same time, they ARE marketing opportunities and more or less necessary to success.

I also have to admit, with my background in science fiction and Pagan conventions, I have a hard time ponying up $300 for the privilege of a badge that says "AUTHOR" and the further privilege of sitting on a panel--you know, those things science fiction and Pagan conventions use to entice people to come. I'm used to being, if not paid to teach, having my membership reduced because of the hours I put in to preparing for the lectures I give and panels I am a part of. Or, at the very least, not paying EXTRA to be on those panels. 
(I am endeavoring very hard to accept gracefully that in the worlds of science fiction and Pagandom, authors and guests are paid to attend, while in the world of romance, authors pay more than attendees to be there. It's just the way the world works; unless I want to start my own convention, I'm going to have to deal with it--but oh, can I just see some of my favorite Pagan authors heads' spinning at the notion of paying to attend a conference which, really, they're going to so they can further promote and sell more books, just the same reason I'm considering going to GRL....)
And no, this isn't really a rant against GRL or RT or any individual conference. Truly it is just the way that world is set up--and no, I do not want to start my own conference!  
What I'm really getting at, in a meandering sort of way, is that while it's very early yet in 2014, it's actually time for most of us to start looking ahead to 2015 and deciding which conferences we want to attend. GRL in particular books up super fast, especially if you want to go in with an AUTHOR badge. My understanding is that last year, the Author slots were gone in a matter of minutes after registration opened. (I was bummed about not even putting it on the "maybe" list for this year because the conference is in Chicago, VERY close to home, but I'd already decided to take the year off to pursue other things...and then plot bunnies struck, but that's another story.) 
I have promised the family that we will absolutely attend Dragon*Con next year, a two to three thousand dollar commitment when you add up travel expenses, hotel costs, and food at the con--plus we've decided to take our daughter's beau because he's been so awesome with helping us fix up that old house we bought. ;-)
Now, I may be able to weasel onto a panel or two at Dragon, but it's one hundred percent a vacation. It's about meeting up with old friends, having fun, and sight seeing. Which is pretty much what it seems like GRL and RT and all the rest seem to be about. (Bear in mind, I've never attended one of these; I only made it to the Rainbow Book Fair in New York a couple of years ago and an LGBT Book Fair in DC last year). It's also a matter of, while my family is VERY supportive, it seems unfair for my "working vacations" to use up all the vacation money for the year, which is what happened last year and the year before (although admittedly, we weren't in the position to shell out two grand on anything. Buying that fixer-upper changes our finances considerably--you know, assuming nothing major crops up *knock on wood*). 
I have put my foot down that I want to get to my publisher's yearly conference next year; it's not about marketing or selling books, it's a chance to meet up with friends, meet people I've only interacted with online, and for me, at least, get charged up and inspired to go home and write up a storm. This year, I *really* could have used that (I wasn't able to go this year). Yes. I know. I'm taking a year off. The Muses got the memo; the Plot Bunnies didn't. So while I've had ideas coming out my ears, I've had very little "umph" to sit down and write more than outlines. 
I'm also committed to at least one Pagan event (possibly two, depending on how life pans out--although there's a third I'd like to put on the list of "maybe" because of those personal projects I took the year off to work on, which got quickly supplanted by the house, project, but are still kicking around--but that third one has more to do with meeting up with a very good friend who's on the planning committee and will be there, so even there, these things seem to be more about making connections than selling stuff!)
Which brings us back to the topic of just how useful are those other events, RT, GRL, Rainbow Book Fairs, etc.  Honest answer is that I'm not sure. If I can get a few other authors to join me for the Rainbow Book Fair in New York, I might consider getting a table because I have a friend who lives in NYC and it's a great excuse to visit her. We sold a ton of books at Media*West in Lansing, MI, two years ago and that's close to home and seems worth the investment (partially because it's in my comfort zone of how things work--i.e., I paid for my membership and table, and got to sit on whatever panels they had room to put me on without paying extra for the privilege). 
I really, really would like to get to GRL just once--or maybe Rainbow Con, which I had to pull out of last year due to finances. GRL and Rainbow are the only conferences which cater specifically to LGBT romance (and GRL specifically to M/M). Of course there's also OutlantCon and GayLaxicon--not romance, but definitely LGBT. Or now that my kid is old enough to go with me, YaioCon might be fun...but probably out of my price range (it's on the West Coast; the travel expenses would kill). 
But there's another expense to consider as well. Swag . 
When I look at the amount of money my friends and colleagues put into promotional materials for GRL and Rainbow Con and RT and the rest, it's kinda scary. (There was a great post-GRL or maybe Rainbow Con blog by someone else about promo materials; the conclusion wasn't anything I didn't know already: Paper gets pitched; people keep things like lip balm and--sometimes--pens and other useful items--items that cost quite a bit to produce. Pens can cost a dollar or more a piece; lip balm and hand sanitizer is a bit less, totes and T-shirts can run considerably more unless you find better deals than I ever have. By my accounting, someone could easily spend several hundred dollars per convention to produce the kind of swag that doesn't automatically end up in the trash--or hundred dollars or so in stuff that's almost guaranteed to end up in the bin, probably on the way out of the dealer's room). 
At what point does any of this ever begin to pay off? 
So maybe it's wiser for someone at this point in my career to stick to local conferences or "craft" conferences (that is conferences that focus on the craft of becoming a better writer, like what the Detroit Working Writers put on--conferences like the Dreamspinner author's workshop where we authors aren't expected to bring anything but pen and paper to take notes). 
Questions, questions, questions..... 
Please feel free to comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 
(And as you can see, I'm slowly coming out of winter's hole and promise to get a newsletter out soon!)

Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Mother's Day Reflections

I know it was a few days ago that we celebrated Mother's Day (at least here in the U.S.--I'm honestly completely unsure if it's an international holiday or one that Hallmark has only been able to convince Americans to buy into). 
At any rate, it's a strange holiday for me. As some of you know, I wasn't raised by my mother, but rather by my (maternal) grandmother. Although my mother was a part of my life for the first 25 or so years of it (and even on and off for another few years after that), we grew successively further apart as the years wore on. That made the task of buying her a Mother's Day card harder and harder which each passing year--mostly owing to the fact that with age comes wisdom. 
Or at least awareness.
The sad part (for me) is that I've come to realize as an adult that if she was just a *slightly* better person, we might have become friends in time. We share a lot of the same interests and she introduced me to some of my favorite childhood television shows (Space 1999, In Search Of...). We watched together and I know we watched a number of he same programs and enjoyed the same sorts of books (overall). I'm not quite sure what she'd think me writing gay romance, but I know she was quite the romance reader in her youth. The fact that she was a pretty rotten mother is something I would have gotten over if she'd been a better human being. (I'm using past tense because I haven't spoken to her in almost sixteen years--it's not an accident. We didn't drift. We had a fight in which I finally spoke my mind--or at least the very tip of its iceberg--and she hasn't spoken to me since. I've been quite happy to return the favor). 
But I still sometimes catch myself wondering if she's watched this or that movie, or if she's enjoying this or that television show as I sit down to watch it myself. No, I don't miss her; I miss the relationship that could have been if she wasn't an emotionally and psychologically abusive alcoholic. There may be some mitigating circumstances (I suspect she suffered a closed head injury well before my birth, as the result of a motorcycle accident--she wasn't wearing a helmet. Family antidotes make it seem as if, while she was always on the selfish side, after that her personality grew more...difficult.) 
The person I do miss is my grandmother. We also shared some of the same interests (although I shudder to think what she'd really think of my writing. She was very much a product of her era and culture, though in her way, she tried to be open-minded. I suspect that given time to digest the changes in the world, she would be--perhaps a big begrudgingly--tolerant of the idea of marriage equality. I also suspect my writing is one of those things we would politely not speak of because it would be too close to home for her--she could tolerate other people being gay or bi, but when it came to me, she preferred to pretend it wasn't happening. Though she would be proud of me for writing, she would, I'm sure, prefer that the neighbors--and Heaven forbid her friends from church!--never know. I could live with that. There were a number of subjects that fell under that category between us. It kept the peace and I never, ever doubted how much she loved me.)
As I find myself starting to decorate a new house, I'm sad that I've lost or broken so many of the things that belonged to her and I keep hoping a few of them turn up in boxes that are still packed from my move out of her house. It's silly, but I *wish* I'd packed up her old kitchen clock when I moved because I would love nothing more than to put it in my new kitchen. I wish I had more photos of her, but I was never one to hang onto things like that (ironically, she was the one who instilled a dislike of "dust collectors").  I do have the picture of her mother that always hung in the hallway; it'll go in the upstairs hallway of the new house, on the wall I've designated for family photos, because I want to do a better job of capturing important moments and putting happiness up on the walls of my new house.
It's the home I want to grow old in, the way she grew old in the house I grew up in--a house I've regretted leaving for almost 10 years. My new house is older and bigger and more work, but it has character and I want to fill it with the memories. 
And I know my grandmother would hate that it's in Detroit--but that's okay. It's just one of the many things we'd agree to disagree on.  :)  

Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Weird, old tip...

Sorry, I couldn't resist!  If you're one of my FB friends, you're probably aware that I've started a new "diet" and exercise regimen.  (I'm reticent to call it a "diet" because diets are something you go off eventually; what I'm doing is changing--or really just modifying--my eating habits. For the last few months, I've been putting in an extra effort to eat better, mostly because the first month after we bought the new house, we ate a steady diet of fast food. Even trying to make the best choices possible, it wasn't a pretty sight!) Of course, since I'm cutting calories, I wanted to make sure I was still getting the right balance of good fats (yes, there is such a thing), protein, and the right kind of carbs. That last one is a kicker. On the one hand, there's the glycemic index (which is more important to people prone to diabetes than me--that's one thing that doesn't run in my family) and on the other hand there's the "eat lots of whole grains" (which are high in the kinds of carbs that can cause a glycemic spike). I'm taking the middle ground: eat on the lower end of the "high side" (because that's where whole oats and brown rice fall--but white rice and white bread are a *lot* higher!)  Now, what would have been really nice would have been if the professional nutritionist I saw when I had gestational diabetes would have actually explained this to me. All she said was that I should start drinking my coffee black and cut down to 1% milk--neither of which happened. (Fortunately, I did manage to keep that under control and there were on complications as a result; I developed the condition fairly late in my pregnancy and it's one of those things that--they tell me--goes away after delivery).  But back to the present.  This year, I turned 45. It was only a little scary at first. Then I started thinking about the next five years and the five years after that and looking in the mirror...and yeah. I also know that heart problems run in my family like crazy, which is why I'd been trying to generally clean up my dietary act over the last couple of years--not enough to loose weight, but enough to ensure that at my last check up, my cholesterol and blood pressure were still right where they should be. (Go me!  I was honestly surprised; I expected the doc to come back with a long lecture about heart health).  Two things I will never do, however: eat margarine again, or consume artificial sweeteners. I've switched over to raw honey for everything but my coffee and the occasional (and occasionally necessary) cup of hot cocoa (home made, of course!) because it's at least got a little food value (where as white sugar is nothing but calories).  And I'm exercising (although the pool is playing havoc with my hair color! I'm going to get the roots professionally done this week--some things are just easier to have someone else do--and I'll stay out of the pool for a week or so after re-coloring--instead, I'll hit the gym/weight room. I'm not thrilled about treadmills and the like, but I love weight lifting. Yes. Really. Once upon a time, I was in pretty good shape. If only I hadn't listened to everyone who told me I was fat, I *might* not be quite where I am now, because after you hear how fat you are for so long, you kinda just absorb the message and stop caring. At least that's what happened to me. I weighed about 110 lbs and stood 5 feet tall and I was *convinced* I was obese. I wasn't thin, but I was *wasn't* fat.  Ohhh to be that weight again....but my goals aren't that lofty.  I'm shooting for about 135, which is just a little over the "ideal weight" for a woman my age/height/build. We'll see how it goes--and how I look/feel--as I get closer and modify that goal as needed.) Oh and the title of my post? I'm sure you've seen those "weird old tip" adverts (truthfully, they drive me batty). Well, here's my "weird old tip" for losing weight: eat good food in moderation. Good foods are a combination of the foods that are good for you and the foods that you love (or healthy variations there-of). Also, drink lots of water, and get in an hour of exercise everyday--housework and walking the dog totally count! Basically, that's everything my grandmother taught me--no need to pay some guy a jillion dollars a month after sitting through his inane video (which I've never managed to do)--and there are no magic pills or silver bullets, no miracle "cures" for being overweight. It takes patience, hard work, and a lot of self-love because feeling guilty over a slice of cake or an ice cream cone will only make getting back on the bandwagon harder.  Do you love ranch dressing? I sure do. And ranch has totally skewed my fat intake every time I have a salad. I *loathe* "Low-Fat Ranch". I don't know how they make it, but it always tastes icky (and low fat is often even worse for one's health than regular fat).  There *had* to be a way to eat the one true indulgence that I eat every day (or every other day, anyway) without totally skewing my fat intake (and really, though none of the oils in my ranch are "bad" they're not "good" either). So I went looking on line and this is what I found: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/homemade-ranch-dressing/ This is the base recipe: 1 clove (to 2 Cloves) Garlic Salt To Taste1/4 cup Italian Flat-leaf Parsley2 Tablespoons Fresh Chives1 cup (Real) Mayonnaise1/2 cup Sour Cream Buttermilk (as Needed To Desired Consistency) I switched out the mayo (which I'm not too keen on anyway, although homemade mayo is pretty good--and basically, I like controlling what goes into what I'm eating) AND the sour cream for 0% Fage Greek Yogurt. I chose Fage because it and Oikos had the only ingredient list I didn't need a dictionary to understand, but only Fage came in a 0% milk-fat option. I used the 2% milk we always have in the house for the milk--final ration ended up being almost half and half yogurt to milk, but you could make it however you wanted. Hubby chopped the herbs. I wanted 2 cloves of garlic and he just sort of eyeballed the parsley (which is very good for you, by the way) and chives, but it came out tasting *really* great and almost exactly like the stuff from the bottle. Obviously, you could easily sub low-fat mayo and sour cream if you don't want to go all in (or all out?) on fat. (Or make your own mayo--remember, egg yolks ARE good for you! That's where all the omega-3's are.) Next time:More house pics! The place is coming along beautifully. Oh, and if you haven't signed up for my newsletter, *now* is the time. After a painfully long hiatus, I'm coming back with something very special at the end of the week--a hot scene from my WIP (Derrik and Palo)!  If you like sexy, sweet, BDSM, this one is definitely for you. Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

How about an excerpt?

So I've been very, VERY busy over at the new house (remember those pics from a few weeks ago? Stay tuned and I'll update with some new ones in a couple of days.)

Anyway, I've been putting in a lot of time at the other house--and winter has been kind of kicking my butt (me and Depression keep doing the two-step). February is always notoriously insane, but before that was January, when a friend passed away not exactly unexpectedly but...well, the short version is that it sucked. Put the suck and the stress of moving and the depression together and I decided to set Dillon and Andy aside for a couple of months and take a break from writing.

And you know what happened next, right? Of course you do: ATTACK OF THE PLOT BUNNIES!

from "Night of the Lepus" which seemed a) wholly appropriate and
b) hopefully less likely to get me into copyright trouble, since I'm
crediting the movie (which is awesome in a B-horror flick sort of way).

The plot bunny that surfaced at the Dragon Ritual Drummers concert was actually one that had been hibernating for a while.

And here's that excerpt. Please bear in mind that this is entirely unedited; I wrote it while watching the the sun slowly filter into my dreary family room--I can't WAIT to be writing in my bright sunny office in the new house!


“We meet again.” Palo was so startled he dropped the small bag of trash he was carrying toward the bin outside the shower house—he immediately dropped to the ground and started picking up his mess. He didn’t have to look to see who was behind him. After hearing the man’s voice once, he’d know it anywhere. What he didn’t expect was for the beautiful Asian drummer to kneel down and help him gather up the trash that had fallen out of the bag—and when Palo looked up and saw him, his breath slipped away. The man was wearing a leather corset, the under-bust kind made for a woman, but there was nothing girly in the way he looked, even with the long black…Palo didn’t know what the super-wide pleated pants were called, but he’d seen them in pictures of Samurai. “You’re a jumpy little thing,” the Asian commented—but there was nothing derisive in his tone, just a friendly smile on his face and a slightly mischievous glint in his eye.Palo still couldn’t help ducking his head in a silent apology as heat flooded his cheeks. He desperately wanted to tell the other man he didn’t have to help, it was Palo’s mess, his fault, he’d dropped it—but his heart was racing so fast he was sure he’d never be able to get the words out. The best he could do was try to work faster, so the Asian wouldn’t have to pick up as much. “You don’t like to talk, do you?” Palo shook his head. It had nothing to do with Stan’s stupid rules. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”Palo shot him a startled look.His smile warmed, completely melting Palo’s insides so that his knees felt like they were made of jelly. “I noticed your little bit of a speech disfluencyDerrik watched his little pup run toward Muttonchops, looking like a scared rabbit running toward a hungry coyote. Part of him wanted to go after him—the look of pure terror in the kid’s eye reminded him too much of the looks he’d seen on battered spouses. But you have no idea how these two roll, he reminded himself. Every couple was different. Every kink was different. Outsiders looking in might have thought Henry was abusing him every time he called Derrik a cunt or a slut—every time he slapped Derrik across the face. But that was the way Derrik had wanted it. Never mind that the old man was right and it was no good for me. Even after two years of therapy, he still hadn’t forgiven Henry for refusing to give in when he said he wanted more. More pain. More punishment. More verbal abuse. For all I know whatever those two have going is exactly what each of them needs. Because two years ago, he never would have believed that he didn’t need everything he thought he wanted.He still couldn’t help the way his gut twisted up into a knot when Muttonchops grabbed his little pup by the arm and practically dragged him away.

Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Writing Dialogue

Of all the literary pet peeves I have, poorly written dialogue is probably the biggest. I will forgive typos (as long as there aren't so many the prose is unreadable) more quickly than I will forgive characters who sound like robots--you know, assuming they're *not* robots  *G* In preparation for writing this blog post, I went looking at other people's advice on the subject--that was less than ten minutes ago, because straight away, I found advice that I disagree with, in the strongest possible terms.  "Use juicy verbs, edit superfluous words and keep sentences simple. Reveal complex characters with simplicity. Again, often what’s not said that is most important and revealing. Most “real” speech contains fragments, “ums” and idioms. Don’t include those. Don’t have your character say something unless it’s pertinent to the story or the character." I agree with the very last sentence: Don't have your character say something unless it's pertinent to the story or the character.  The rest of it is rubbish. Real people speak with superfluous words, we us "um" (although too many I written dialogue is going to be tedious for the reader), we sometimes speak in fragment sentences, we hardly ever use "juicy verbs" (i.e. the average person doesn't stop to think "I shouldn't use passive voice when I tell mom what happened to her vase; I should avoid copulas whenever possible, substituting instead action verbs), and we most definitely use idioms. The idioms your characters use will clue readers into their age, ethnicity, and what part of the country they're from. We also um and erm, and let sentences fall off part way through, and sometimes we go round the mulberry bush instead of getting straight to the point.  There is a fine line, of course, between real and boring. One of the best pieces of advice I've read sums up that fine line like this: dialogue doesn't repeat real conversation, it imitates it. It cuts out the boring parts, many of which can be summed up in exposition. (E.g.: they said their goodbyes and Tom disconnected the call.) When you're writing exposition, all that stuff that comes in between dialogue, definitely use the best verbs possible, avoid idioms (unless they fit he situation), and avoid over-using fragment sentences. Almost always avoid passive voice and replace as many copulas with action verbs whenever you can (again, opting for what works best for the text, not  what works best for your English professor.) When you're writing dialogue, the ideal is to strive for speech that sounds natural but won't bore your readers to tears (or worse, bore the acquisitions editor into tossing your ms into the circular file). In real life, my husband and I might have a lengthy and time consuming conversation about dinner. I can tell you from experience that those conversations don't serve to move our personal plot along one bit. If we were characters in a novel, the first time we had that discussion it might provide some entertainment and certainly some insight into our personalities. (We're both to bloody indecisive for our own good and each of us is usually hell-bent on pleasing the other--unless I'm having a mad craving for Mexican food *G*). So when your characters talk about dinner plans, it needs to serve an actual purpose. Has one character forgotten the other's food allergies? Or is he being a prick because he knows the other guy doesn't like Chinese, but insists on it anyway. Or maybe he's the one who hates Chinese, but he knows his best friend loves it, so he suggests going to Chang's for her birthday.  It's also important to remember that characters are people, that means they sound different from one another, some to a greater degree and others to a lesser. If you take two twenty-year-old males from the same neighborhood, they're probably going to use a lot of the same words. If you take a poor twenty year old from the inner city and place him next to a twenty year old from a wealthy white-collar family living in Beverly Hills, he's likely to make different word choices and have different speech patterns. Education, socio-economic background, culture, ethnicity, and age all play into the way people talk.  The best way I've found to learn about speech patterns is to eavesdrop on conversations. I know. It's rude. But I'm always listening to conversations going on at the other tables in restaurants or to what people are saying to each other as we wait in line at the bank or the grocery store. Mostly, I'm listening for words and syntax more so than actual content--but sometimes the content is pretty inspiring, to! I also credit writing fanfiction with helping me develop an ear; I wanted my version of other peoples' characters to sound true to form. (That's one more reason why I disagree with the people who say fanfiction writers are lazy. In some ways, I think it's harder to write another author's characters accurately than it is to create your own from whole cloth.) A couple of the "tricks" I employ when I write is to pick a couple of words and always have a character use that word. As an example, in my current (and currently neglected WIP), I have two main characters, Dillon and Andy. Andy is a high school drop out and Dillon is college educated. But Andy is very well read, especially for his age (and those reading choices have been explained in the story), so sometimes he uses words that the average eighteen year old wouldn't choose. He's still a street kid, so when he's talking about his favorite recreational drugs, he uses "molly" and "pot." Dillon, an attorney, refers to Andy's bad habits as "MDMA" and "marijuana." On a deeper and more personal level, Andy always uses the word "stupid." Dillon always uses the word "dumb." Because they're both typical Michiganders, they both drink "pop" not "soda." They both usually use grammar that wouldn't make an English teacher cringe, but of the two, Andy is more likely to use the less correct word (although very few human beings speak with correct grammar 100% of the time.)   Here are a few good articles I found on writing dialogue: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2013/07/writing-good-dialogue.htmlhttp://www.writersstore.com/writing-great-dialogue/https://www.standoutbooks.com/6-insanely-good-dialogue-tips-from-your-future-literary-agent/  Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

I bought a house!

And really, even though my husband and I are paying for it together, he couldn't make the meeting, so it's just my name on the purchase agreement, so technically, *I* bought a house  :)  (It's been a running joke for years that technically the house we're living in now is his, since my name isn't on the deed--it was another paperwork sort of thing. If you were to come over and look around, you'd realize that this place is far more me than him, even though frankly I hate it. Which is why we bought a house!) If you've been following my life on Facebook or even in my newsletter (which is running *way* late, I apologize), you know we were trying like heck to move out of state. The Universe kept throwing us curve balls; we were also trying to move into an apartment (let somebody *else* shovel the snow for a while!) That hasn't panned out, either. So here we are with an upside down mortgage on a house we can't afford that I don't even like (although I love the garden, but that can be moved). Not 10 miles down the road is the city of Detroit (cringe now, get it over with) where there are hundreds of beautiful old homes in need of a little TLC that can be had for reasonable prices. The more TLC the more reasonable the price, of course.  We found a compromise. A house that's within our meager budget, in a pretty nice neighborhood, that doesn't need too much more work on it than we can do ourselves. And what's that in the attic? Is that a plot bunny? Why, I think it is! People sometimes ask me where I get my ideas; the answer is EVERYWHERE!  But first, I have to finish Andy and Dillon's story  :)  The last couple of weeks have been difficult (emotionally draining with everything going on), so the writing's been slow, but I'm hoping to wrap them up in between scraping, sanding, patching, and painting.   Standing in our bedroom looking into whatmight have been a nursery; we're going to turn itinto a sitting room and it even has a desk! I need to re-finish it over the summer, of course. Stairwell going upstairs--drywall needs to come out and be replaced. Ditto in the kitchen (the dining room is in similar shape) My daughter's closet; needs insolation and proper walls/ceilingbut she has a thing for huge closet spaces, so we gave her the room with the bigger/more interesting closet. Her room--needs a good scrape and paint. Bathrooms don't actually look too shabby(this is the upstairs bath; downstairs is about thesame...except from some gods awful wallpaper) Our room again, from a different anglewe have a walk in closet, too. It's not a real fireplace, but still...  It makes up for the kitchen! (Hubby found a junk drawer--with junk still in it *G*) In addition, there's a little office space off the dining room,and another bedroom upstairs we want to use as a spare room/sitting room (we already have a futon sofa/bed).  There's an old upright piano in the basement that needs a complete re-furbish, but it looks like it's more tan worth the effort. And look at those ceilings. No, I don't just mean the falling paint and cracked plaster. The ceilings are at least 10 feet tall  on most of the main floor. Which means it'll be a bitch to keep warm and an even bigger bitch to fix, but I finally get my 100 year old house *G* (The house is currently almost 90 years old. It looks like prior to the last decade, it was kept up pretty well. We've been able to learn snippets about the couple that lived here before; last registered owner was 87 and stopped being the owner in 2004. We suspect she passed on. Prior to her, a man with the same last name had the house in his name until 2000; we're guessing he was her husband and passed away, leaving the house to her. Someone was at least paying the taxes on it until 2 years ago, but the water bill is current--and the back taxes are well within our budget to pay by the March 1st deadline.)  We bought her on a land contract (or rather *I* bought her on a land contract) and within the year, she'll be ours free and clear--at which point, yes, hubby's name will go on the deed, too  *G* We'll be tackling the biggest projects first to make the house livable and hopefully be in there in a couple of months. (Fair warning to other bargain hunters, of all the "move in ready" homes we looked at, *this* was the nicest. Move in ready does not always mean amenities like a hot water tank or even toilets. We saw a lot of houses where the bathroom fixtures had been completely gutted. We will have to replace one of the toilets, it has a crack, but at least it was still there. The place has newer siding, newer windows, a newer roof, and updated electric.) Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Welcome Anne Barwell

First, let me take a moment to say welcome and thank you for being here today! It’s always a pleasure to have guests in the hot seat…erm, I mean interview chair.

Why don’t you start out by introducing yourself (where you call home, how long you’ve been writing, etc.)?
Helen, thanks for having me here today. I live in Wellington, New Zealand. I’ve been writing stories for as long as I can remember. I used to write when I was at school but picked it up again when I got my first computer, and discovered fanfic on the internet. Dreamspinner Press published my first novel Cat’s Quill in 2011, and my sixth publication with them, Shades of Sepia, is coming out end of January. My day job is in a public library so I guess a lot of my life revolves around books.  
Please tell us a little bit about your current release. What inspired you to write this story? How did it come about?
Shades of Sepia is book 1 of The Sleepless City series. This urban fantasy series is a joint project with Elizabeth Noble – we’re alternating books. We were chatting about how we both had vampire characters we wanted to do something with and that’s how the series was born. The other character I had morphed a little into a local Wellington guy, and we added a few ‘joint’ characters and it grew from there. Shades of Sepiawas a lot of fun to write, and I’m looking forward to revisiting the characters when I write book three later in the year. It’s also quite a buzz having someone else write my characters, and Elizabeth did a great job with it as Simon and Ben also appear in her book, Electric Candle, which is the second in the series.
Here’s the blurb from Shades of Sepia:
A serial killer stalks the streets of Flint, Ohio. The victims are always found in pairs, one human and one vampire.
Simon Hawthorne has been a vampire for nearly a hundred years, and he has never seen anything like it. Neither have the other supernaturals he works with to keep the streets safe for both their kind and the humans.
One meeting with Simon finds Ben Leyton falling for a man he knows is keeping secrets, but he can't ignore the growing attraction between them. A recent arrival in Flint, Ben finds it very different from his native New Zealand, but something about Simon makes Ben feel as though he's found a new home.
After a close friend falls victim to the killer, Simon is torn between revealing his true nature to Ben, and walking away to avoid the reaction he fears. But with the body count rising and the murders becoming more frequent, either, or both of them, could be the killer's next target.
  Is there an underlying theme in your stories?
I write across a range of m/m genres but I like to give my guys a happy ending but I expect them to work for it first! My characters screw up and make mistakes, and aren’t always 100% sure of themselves. They’re often strong willed and stubborn, but ready to do whatever it necessary to protect the guy they love. I like a few plot twists, and a good mix of action/drama in with my romance, so it’s more a story with a romance than a romance with a story, if that makes sense. I try to put in some kind of Kiwi connection, although that’s not always possible, and some whumping (hurt/comfort). If there are handcuffs or restraints involved in the whumping that’s an added bonus.
What’s your favorite part of the writing process? (the spark, the research, character oultines…?)
The brainstorming and seeing the characters come alive as their story takes shape. I love character interaction, throwing them into a situation, and seeing what they do. Often it’s not what I thought they’d do either, but I take that as a good sign that they’re three dimensional and this is going to be a fun story to write.
What’s your least favorite part of the writing process?
Finding the time to sit down and actually write the story. Sometimes it’s really frustrating when there’s a lot going on in life and all I want to do is sit and write. I find writing is good stress relief but unfortunately when stuff is going on that really stresses me, that’s often the time I can’t squeeze in time to write. Catch 22 and all that.
What’s your favorite part of the publishing process? (writing the story, working with an editor, working with the art department, marketing, etc?)
Getting the cover, from the initial sketches/ideas through to the finished results. I love covers, and Dreamspinner Press has some very talented cover artists working with them. I have my high resolution prints of my covers hanging on my wall. I love them.
What’s your least favorite part of the publishing process?
The wait between submission and contract. The longer the time in between the more I start to second guess myself about whether they want it or not. I’ve never been good at the waiting game. When I decide I want to do something, I want to do it now.
Do you listen to music while you write, prefer absolute silence, run off to the coffee shop…? If you do listen to music, can you name a few songs off your playlist?
I always have music playing in the background when I write. What it is depends on what I’m working on, the characters, and the mood. Some of my playlist for Shades of Sepia is: “Dancing in the Moonlight” by Toploader, “Demons” by Imagine Dragons, “Kiss Me” by Ed Sherran and “Photograph” and “If Everyone Cared” by Nickelback.

*happy squee* I love those songs!

What do you do to get in the mood to write, especially when you don’t feel like it?
I make a cup of tea, and put on the CD player, then settle in front of the computer. Once I’ve started writing all is good, but it’s getting started especially if I’m tired or distracted by the not so great things that happen in life. I then tell myself I need to reach x amount of words for the day (it’s usually 500). Sometimes the first hundred or so go slow, then it runs and I look up and it’s twice what I aimed for so all is good.

What makes for a great hero/heroine?
I like heroes who aren’t perfect because they’re far more interesting that way. A self-assured totally capable hero doesn’t interest me that much, and in fact can be really annoying. I much prefer a hero who makes mistakes, isn’t always sure he’s doing the right thing and isn’t afraid to admit he screwed up.
What makes for a great villain?
Shades of grey. I love villains who have their own motivations and think they’re doing whatever for all the right reasons. They don’t perceive themselves as the villains but in their mind are doing what is necessary for the greater good. To me, that’s far more interesting than greed, though that and revenge often factor in as well.
What makes for a great overall story?
As a reader I read for characters and plot. Characters make or break a story for me, and if I can’t connect with them or are interested in their journey I lose interest in the story. I like a few twists in my plots, and interesting three dimensional characters who make mistakes. Some whumping (hurt/comfort) in there too tends to seal the deal.  

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing? (hobbies, time with friends?)
Spending time with friends, whether it be meeting for a cuppa/lunch, or getting together to watch movies and TV shows. The discussion that follows the latter is just as much fun as whatever we’ve just watched and has led to many a very late night.  I also watch a fair bit of TV shows (as a way to unwind as I don’t get home from work till after 9pm), and I play violin in a local orchestra.
What are the three most important things in your life, the things you absolutely could not do without?
Family, friends and reading/music.
If you could have one (and only one) super or magical power, what would it be and why?

Teleportation. It would save not only a lot of time and money but it’s probably the only way I’m ever going to get to the other side of the world to meet the friends I’ve made through the internet and writing. Although I love living in New Zealand, it often does feel like I’m very far away from everyone else. I’d also love to be able to pop over to other countries to go shopping, in particularly for books/graphic novels/DVDs and CDs. The prices of books here is very high and it’s difficult to get hold of a lot of stuff.  A lot of online stores charge a small fortune in shipping and that’s IF they will ship here.
It’s the Zombie Apocalypse and you can take three of your characters along with you to help you and your family get to safety. Which characters would you take and why? 
Denys from A Knight to Remember, as he’s a dragon so could provide air support, and toast the zombies to a crisp. Simon from Shades from Sepia as he’s a vampire, so he’s strong, very fast, and a good fighter. Will from Hidden Places as he’s an archer and could take them out from a distance, especially if he tars and lights the end of his arrows. Denys is also an archer in his human form so between the three of them they’d make a good team and line of defense/attack.
If your books were to be turned into a movie, which channel would it air on (Logo, Lifetime, Syfy, etc.)? Assuming you have an unlimited budget, who would you cast to play the leading roles? Who would direct it?
Elizabeth and I already cast the main characters of Shades of Sepia/The Sleepless Citybecause a)it was fun and b) with us both writing the characters it was easier to have a common point of reference. It could air on Syfy, Fox, CBS, or WC – the homes of a lot of our favourite shows with supernatural themes. For director – the team behind the TV show “Arrow”.  
Our cast:
Simon – Jason Dohring (“Moonlight” and “Veronica Mars”)
Ben – Andrew Lee Potts (“Primeval”)
Forge –  James Murray (“Primeval”)
Lucas  - Noah Wylie (“ER”, “Falling Skies” and “The Librarian movies”)
 
If you could have a lunch date with anyone in the world, living, dead, or fictional, who would it be and why?
My dad. He passed away just over a year ago. I miss him and there’s still so much I want to talk to him about.
What’s your favorite genre to read? Why, what about it do you love the most? What are your favorite books/authors in that genre?
I read a lot of sf and fantasy but I’ll also read anything else that catches my interest. I also read a lot of graphic novels.  SF and fantasy appeals to me because it’s about what-ifs, and I like reading about how characters react in those kinds of situations. But, despite the different settings, it’s still about people and their interactions with each other. I also have a fondness for stories about psi powers and time travel.  I love the dual nature of the characters in graphic novels, and often having to hide or make the two very different parts of their lives mesh.  I’ve been reading about some of these characters for years and seen them grow, it’s like catching up with old friends.
I’ve read a lot over the past— we won’t say how many years—so it’s really difficult to name favourites so I’ll go for a few I’ve read fairly recently ie within the last two years.
Tanya Huff is an author I’ve read a lot of. I love her books and own most of them. I loved her last book The Silvered which was about shape shifting wolves, and elemental magic. Wonderful characters, and I couldn’t put it down.
I’m hanging out for Lynn Flewelling’s next Nightrunnerbook. They’re a great mixture of action, drama and fantasy and I love the relationship between the two main characters, Alec and Seregil.
Also waiting on new books next year from Suzanne Brockmann and Diana Gabaldon.
In graphic novels, I tend to read a lot of DC and in particularly the Bat family, and am collecting the stories which feature Nightwing and Red Robin (both of whom were Robins at some stage, and in Dick/Nighwing’s case also Batman). I’ve also recently got hooked on Marvel’s Young Avengers series, and in particular the characters of/and relationship between Billy (Wiccan) and Teddy (Hulking).
 What television shows are you currently watching?
Probably far too many but there is a lot on at present, and more I need to play catch up on. But the ones I’m currently watching are:  The Tomorrow People (I’m a fan of the original and 90s version of this show so was thrilled when I found out it was being remade), Arrow (I’m a huge comics reader so again this makes me very happy), Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Murdoch Mysteries, Atlantis, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Dr. Who, Almost Human, Agents of Shield, Sleepy Hollow, Young Justice, Smallville, Eureka, and far too many others I need to play catch up on.
What’s in your CD / MP3 player?
I usually have an audio play from Big Finish on my mp3 player. I’ve just finished listening to ‘The Light at the End’ which is BF’s Dr Who 50th anniversary special. It was really good.
My CD player is where I play music. I have a stack of CDs I’m going between at present (and others from work as my reserves come in):  Michel Buble, Nickelback, Robbie Williams, Ronan Keating and a few ‘mix’ CDs.
What’s next on the horizon for you? WIPs, writing goals, personal goals…?
I’m presently working on book 2 of the Echoesseries, Winter Duet.  It’s an historical action/drama set in Germany in 1944 and is the sequel to Shadowboxing. So far I’m over 60K in on it, and aiming to finish it by end of February. After that I’m writing On Wings of Songwhich is a novella set in WW1, and then Family and Reflection, the third book in The Sleepless City series.  Lou Sylvre and I are also co-writing a series of historical fantasy novellas. The first one is set in 1745 in Scotland.
I’ve worked out that it’s going to take me until 2017 to finish the series I’ve started and I have several more waiting in the wings once these are done. I have pushy characters.
For personal goals I want to keep writing, and have a good balance between work and down time, which can be difficult with the day job being full time and the writing I want to get done.  It’s one of the reasons I play in an orchestra and have movie nights with friends once or twice a week. It keeps that balance in place and helps me hang onto what I like to call my sanity.
 
Links (in case you need/want them):
http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/
http://annebarwell.wordpress.com/
http://coffeeunicorns.wordpress.com/
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_426
 


 
 
Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author