Beth Alvarez's Blog, page 39

Book Three Woes

Now that we’re two months into 2016 and I’m two months into my current writing project, I finally have a few things to say about it.

I started working on Serpent’s Blood at the beginning of the year. I’m sure it seems like an odd choice, since the first book, Serpent’s Tears, still hasn’t escaped query limbo. More than one person has called me out on it, too–I mean, why work on writing another book in a series when you don’t know if the first book is going anywhere?

Work on the second began while I was querying for the first, which made sense, but I’ll agree that starting the third might not make as much. At least, not at this point in time. But there are a few things I’ve already learned from working on a book 3 in a trilogy, and with these discoveries in mind, I think I’d be reluctant to ever publish a book before its series is complete.

First off…

Writing a series is hard

I’m sure you read that and think “Well duh,” but it goes beyond the obvious part that writing any book is hard. When you’re writing a series, there are a lot more things to keep in mind. Plot threads that need to trail from the first book to the last, but without robbing each individual book of a satisfying ending.  Timelines are more complex, and there are more characters to keep track of, but the hardest part I’ve encountered is that as you write, things tend to evolve.

Things change

Evolution of characters is a good thing; personal growth and change is what gives us a strong character arc and an enjoyable story.  I’m not talking about character arcs, though. I’m talking about the world you’ve created changing, often in ways that challenges what you’ve already written.

One such problem I’ve encountered is that the series relies heavily on magic, and toward the end of the second book, my understanding of my own magic system changed radically. It’s not like it was me working out kinks or anything, either–I mean, I spent 15 years working those out before I even got around to writing the first book. It was that I thought of ways magic could work that I’d never addressed before, and unfortunately, it challenged things I’d done in the first book, when I thought I had the rules set in stone. This meant new revisions for the first book, to close gaps and make the world stronger, while building a solid foundation.

Another problem is that by exploring some themes more deeply, I ended up uncovering a gaping plot hole left in the first book. Somehow, me and a half dozen other people managed to overlook it. I can fix it, and I will, I’m just grateful in some ways that the first book hadn’t yet gone to publication. That one took me by surprise, but I guess it shouldn’t, because…

You learn

Not only do you obtain new information through continued study and research on your chosen subjects, you learn things about your story that surprise you, that you want to include but can’t just shoehorn into a third book without it feeling trite. So again, you’re pushed into a situation where you need to backtrack. It makes the whole series stronger, sometimes with just the addition of a few lines.

And when you’re doing that, of course, you learn more about writing, just because you’re doing more of it. You do things faster, you know your characters better, and all those hours of editing have helped you catch your problems and correct them before they even slide down your fingers and escape into your first draft.

But the strangest issue I’ve encountered?

You get faster

I don’t just mean writing faster. Later stories are often faster-paced. And, partly because you write faster, partly because you’ve already laid down the ground work, books later in the series sometimes get shorter.

It seems counter-intuitive to what I expected, since most fantasy series I’ve worked my way through in the past end with a few really hefty books. Now that I’m more experienced, I realize that usually has less to do with story content and more to do with that they’ve established a strong-selling series and can get away with more fluff and less ruthless editing. But I’ve gotten better at self-editing, too, so instead of my books working their way up to that monster you’d hate to lug around with you, they’ve lost size with each installment.

Serpent’s Tears clocked in at 180k words, mostly because it was the introduction to the characters and the world. Serpent’s Wake came in at around 160k, and at the rate I’m going, I expect Serpent’s Blood will be somewhere between 140k-150k. And it’s not for lack of story, either; there’s more packed into that last book than either of the others, because it’s bringing everything to a conclusion and tying up all those loose threads that have been tangling since book one. But you save a lot of time when you don’t have to spend time doing world building, or introducing characters. By the time you make it to book 3, you already know where we are and who we’re dealing with, so there’s no need to introduce them all over again. Which means as much as 50,000 words of ground work now gives way to story, and a lot of story, at that.

I still hope that when I revisit the first book at the end of the year that I might be able to pare the word count down a little more, but I’m not too hopeful. Especially since new developments mean its count might creep a little higher before everything is worked out smoothly.

After this, though, I am looking forward to writing a few standalone books.

The Song of the Sea

After publishing Gale’s Gift, I received several comments from readers saying they enjoyed my descriptions of the sea. I hadn’t given it much consideration at time of writing, but the ocean is one of those things that proves your writing about a place is so much better if you’ve been there. Research can be enough to get you by if it’s a must, but there’s something extra special that comes from being present.

There’s nothing like being near the ocean. The feeling of the cool ocean air, the scent of the water, the taste of brine on the air. There’s the sound of the water, the surf, the way the sand crackles when the tide first comes in and soaks it. There’s the rasping of shells as they move over rock and sand, the whoosh of the wings of seagulls, and the refreshing sensation of the waves throwing mist over your skin.

It’s hard not to describe the ocean with a lot of love. I only lived near it for a short period of time, but the memories forged there were precious. The base had its own private section of beach, though we only went there once. I scavenged shark teeth from the sand, collected shells, and enjoyed the warmth of the tide pools. More often, we’d pack a portable grill into the trunk of the car on the weekend and head over the bascule bridge to spend an afternoon on Emerald Island.

We always meant to walk the pier, but we never did. We got all the way up to the side of it one time, but we were tired and had miscalculated how far away we’d parked, so we decided to turn back. The pier was always busy, anyway; the beach below the candy-colored houses rarely had so many people on it.

I loved the way you could look at the water and see forever. I loved watching the tide change, watching the fish caught in the waves, watching the pleasure ships coming and going from the harbor. But mostly I loved the air, the sun, and the odd sense of peace that came from sitting on the shore. Strange to think it could be so comforting to sit beside something so devastatingly powerful, especially when I’ve never been very good at swimming. I don’t think I ever went in farther than knee deep.

And strange to think that after such a small period of time being around it, I’d still hear the song of the sea so clearly, and feel its pull on summer days. I want to go back, but for now, the best I can do is use words like these, trying to trap its melody on pages.

What I learned from Slave Leia

With the release of The Force Awakens, there’s been a renewed interest in the lives of the stars from the original trilogy and–along with that–a lot of both praise and criticism for Carrie Fisher.

The complaints that she doesn’t look like she once did boggle me. I think she’s aged like a normal human being; she’s older than my mother and she looks fine to me. I can’t say I’m surprised, however. What does surprise me, though, is the barrage of new criticism for Leia’s metal bikini. There are endless articles decrying the Slave Leia look as objectifying, and when I see them, I’m just as confused as I am by the belief that actresses should never age. What I learned from bikini-clad Leia as a child doesn’t seem to be reflected anywhere, but I’m sure I’m not alone.

Star Wars was still big when I was a girl. I was born in ’87 and the trilogy had been finished for a few years, so I already had Star Wars everything at my fingertips. My grandfather provided VHS copies of the film, and I couldn’t say how often I wanted to be Princess Leia for Halloween–or any time, really. My brother liked The Empire Strikes Back best, but as a girl, I liked Return of the Jedi because I loved happy endings. And along with this preference came frequent viewings of Princess Leia’s bikini.

According to the articles about this matter, this should have been a horrible experience, a bad influence on a developing girl. I’d grow up obsessed with beauty, with being thin, with being sexy. I’d grow up thinking the only role of a geek girl was to be eye candy for the guys. Truthfully, those things never crossed my mind.

The journalists and opinion columnists complaining about the bikini view the world through lenses colored with experience. When they see Leia in her skimpy getup, they relate it to years of looking at Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions and Victoria’s Secret catalogs. And in doing that, they overlook a deeper message that, as a child, I found easy to grasp.

Leia’s bikini was never objectification to me.

It was empowerment.

Leia was the picture of everything I wanted to be when I grew up. She was a princess, yeah. She was beautiful, sure. But most importantly, she was capable. She was leader of her people. She was intelligent. She could fight and shoot and ride speeder bikes just as well as the guys. She could do everything.

And Jabba? He represented everything our society wanted Leia to be.

Looking back at the films now, it seems so fitting that he was an enormous, disgusting slug. He was greedy, gross and unforgiving. And as soon as he got hold of Leia, he chained her at his side and stuffed her into the metal bikini.

Despite that, Leia never stopped being herself. She never stopped being independent, never stopped resisting, never stopped fighting. Despite the role Jabba tried to force her into, she never stopped being herself. It’s easy to see her as a damsel in distress just because she was chained, but knowing her resilience, I still believe she would have found a way to get herself free if things had worked out differently. And the very moment she had the opportunity, she had a blaster back in her hands, and leaped at the chance to strangle Jabba with the very chains he tried to control her with.

Was she sexy in the bikini? Of course she was. But it wasn’t her body that made it so. It was the strength of her character.  So if you ever tell me the bikini only existed for fan service, I’ll just shake my head and encourage you to look deeper, because Leia–complete with sexy slave bikini–was one of the greatest role models a girl like me could have had.

50 Character Questions

At the end of December, my husband stumbled across this character questionnaire on Tumblr.

Back in the days where I used to roleplay online, I saw a lot of these. But I don’t do that any more, and I don’t really use Tumblr for much, so I thought it would make more sense to post it here instead. And maybe adjust a few questions, if they’re too Tumblr-centric.

Before I get started, though, here’s a glossary of terms not everyone might know:

OC – Abbreviation of “original character.” Any character you’ve created yourself.

RP – Abbreviation of “roleplay.” Popularized by Dungeons and Dragons, where you dictate your character’s actions.

OTP – Abbreviation of “one true pairing.” Your favorite romantic pairing of characters.

Crack ship – A romantic pairing that makes absolutely no sense, sometimes as a crossover between series.

All clear? Let’s go!

1. Your first OC ever?

Her name was Kate. She was a farmer who had a pet crow. That story was about as exciting as you’d expect.

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

I think everyone knows Rune is my favorite; he’s the one who really kindled my desire to write novels.

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

No. I’ve created characters as a joint joke before, connected to someone else’s character, but they’ve all been mine.

4. A character you rarely talk about?

I have many characters I don’t speak of often, mostly because they were either bad ideas or their stories haven’t come to the writing table yet. The first one that comes to mind is a young prince named Rathe, though. He has a book planned for the far distant future.

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Rune, certainly. Though I suppose since he’s part of a series, all the other main characters in it would be dragged along kicking and screaming.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

Rhyllyn and Rune, to an extent.

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

Every single one. This question seems silly for a writer to answer.

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

I used to, long ago, but I haven’t had time for that in years.

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I would trust my husband to do them justice. There are a few I would trust Megan with, as well, if something horrible happened, like I died in the middle of a published series and needed another writer to take over.

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

I am not sure why this is a question. It’s grammatically incorrect. I’ll still answer, though. I don’t use complicated designs often, and if I do, it’s usually one-off type illustrations. In writing, there’s no real way for a character design to be complex; clothes in books are changed more frequently than clothes in art. I suppose some armor descriptions are complicated, but they aren’t a permanent feature.

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Laele or Rhyllyn. They are both very happy people.

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

My favorite is Arrios, who belongs to my husband. But I’m also fond of Domerin, who belongs to Megan, and Super Cosplayer, who belongs to my sister.

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Vahnil. He’s a rabble-rouser.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

I think half the cast of Serpent’s Tears qualifies for this, if I’m poking fun.

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

Not everyone likes to talk about creative things, but I love to speak of my characters and their stories when people are interested.

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

Laele or Firal, since Laele is an alchemist and Firal is a medic.

17. Any OC OTPs?

Yes, but I’m not going to say, because I need to keep an air of mystery.

18. Any OC crackships?

Envesi and practically anyone would qualify here, but I know I’ve joked with at least one person about a Nondar/Envesi pairing.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

They all mean a lot to me, but Rune is dear for teaching me why I wanted to write, and Laele is dear for rekindling an interest in creation after a very long dry spell.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Rhyllyn means to be a bard. His brother, also, is passionate about music, but prefers not to be incriminated, despite his lovely tenor.

21. Your most artistic OC

Aside from the brothers above, most of them don’t have time to devote to the arts, unfortunately.

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

Not that I know of, or can think of off the top of my head. I can’t decide if that’s good or bad.

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Although she’s not a major character, Medreal underwent a great deal of evolution from the time I first put her on paper, 15 years ago. In spite of being a minor character, she’s also one of my favorites.

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Oh man, I would have to roll a die on this. It would be impossible for me to pick between wanting to cause trouble with one of the guys, wanting to bake cookies with Laele, and wanting to sit and listen to wisdom from characters like Nondar or Indral.

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

I tend to shy away from making characters too much like myself, but all of them end up having something in common with me. I think Rune would have to be the most like me as far as interests and likes go, simply because he’s been around the longest, and he’s persisted through all of my changing tastes.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

No, every change has been a conscious decision or development.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

No. I tend to find songs that suit them, though, after their personality is developed.

28. Your most dangerous OC?

Probably Envesi.

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

Firal. I mean, this is right up her alley.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

Oh, Sera, without a doubt.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

I intended to change this since I’m not posting this on Tumblr, but it’s too funny to think about! Firal would post pictures of herbs and flowers, books, potion bottles, crystals, trees, things like that. Rune would share a lot of pictures and information about archaeological sites, architecture, armor and weapons, history, and occasional inappropriate humor.

Laele would run a blog filled with cats and cute things.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Garam. He’s a grizzled war veteran who is near unflappable in most situations, so putting him in a situation where he could come unhinged would be marvelous.

33. Your shiest OC?

Years ago, I tried to create a character who struggled with supernatural empathy. Her name was Kuni. I could never get her story to take root, though, so she was scrapped not long after creation. Now I would say Marreli.

34. Do you have any twin characters?

None!

35. Any sibling characters?

Angie, Russ and Krissy in Death of the Sun/Born of the Moon. Kytenia and Shymin, Garam and Sera are two prominent sibling pairs from the fantasy side of things. Interestingly–and unintentionally–both pairs are actually half-siblings.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

Laele is mine, Arrios belongs to my husband. But they’re like peanut butter and jelly.

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

I think it would be easier to list those who are just regular humans, to be honest!

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

Kifel and Rune would be pretty closely tied for this. Court comes with certain demands.

39. Introduce any character you want

I have always loved Tahl, but he has never fit into any stories. He was a D&D rogue first, then shifted to thief, but that didn’t suit him either. He’s a little melancholy, sweet on the inside, but he dreams of being able to fly.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

I have a lot of fond memories from the days of roleplaying, when many of my characters were first conceived. I also have a lot of great memories that came from writing their stories, but nothing in particular stands out.

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

My husband draws my characters often. Here’s a few he’s done: Laele – Lumia – Sera – Huitzilopochtli

I have gift art from several friends I’ve collected through the years–mostly drawings of Rune, of course–but few of them are online and I don’t know if they’d want me to share them, so I’ll refrain.

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

Probably Natalie or Lauren. Mythology is right up Lauren’s alley, that’s for sure. It’s harder to relate with the others, since they don’t exist in an Earth setting.

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

I’ve found I tend to favor darker hair in characters, so I try to be mindful of how many brunettes I have now. I also favor male characters who are either fit/athletic or very slender, there doesn’t seem to be much in-between. None of these are conscious preferences, they just sort of happen. Though the men being fit makes sense, considering most of the major male characters I use are soldiers.

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

Writing my characters feels like making friends.

45. A character you no longer use?

There are many I no longer use, but since I already mentioned them, Kate and Kuni for sure are gone. I also don’t think Saleina will ever be used again; she was my next OC after Kate.

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Oh yes. But they’re also friends and writers themselves, so they understand why it must be.

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

No, although one has claimed she wants to adopt Rhyllyn.

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Serenity started this way, but she changed very quickly. Enough for me to keep her in the roster for the future, in any case.

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Devin. Or Laele. Especially if it’s a meme with cats.

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

There was a time where I kept a stable of over 160 characters who were all written regularly. Needless to say, I never finished anything until I took an axe to that number. I don’t know how many characters I’ve created, but the point is no longer creating them–it’s finishing their tales.

What life was like at 28

Today is my birthday, and growing older is strange.

I spent such a great deal of my life wondering what it felt like to be an adult, what it would be like when I got there, wondering when I’d cross that magical line and become some strong and capable person who doesn’t get tongue-tied leaving voicemail when someone doesn’t answer their phone.

Turns out that never happens.

I’m 29 now, and it doesn’t feel any different from 28. Or 25, or 21, or 18. Things have changed, surely; circumstances are much different than they were 11 years ago. I’m a mother, for one, responsible for the security and well-being of another tiny person. We have a nice little house, and I’m a stay-at-home mom because it’s totally cheaper than paying for childcare.  But I still drive a Mustang, I still play video games, I still suffer anxiety at the idea of having to schedule a dental appointment for myself.

The only major difference I’ve noticed is the perception of time. When I was 18, 28 seemed a million years away. Because of it, I thought I’d be light years from where I am now. It’s funny now to look back at the goals I had for different ages and stages of life and realize that I had no idea what could actually be accomplished in a certain window of time. No matter how hard you work or how fortunate you are, some things still take a while. And while I hit on a few of my major life goals envisioned for my future at age 18, I think I missed more.

Because when you’re 18, it’s easy to sit back and say you’ll be married and have kids by the time you’re 25. That you’ll have a great job, big house, cool car by age 30. (Or be an author with a traditionally published book by age 30, if you’re me. Yeah, not looking so good on that front.)

Likewise, it’s easy to sit at those ages–past 25, just shy of 30–and be disappointed that you didn’t make it.

But it’s also easy to look back and think some goals were unrealistic.

It wasn’t until recently that I spoke with my mother about life and accomplishments and I realized that where we are today is leaps and bounds ahead of where my parents were at this age. It’s hard to look back and think of my parents as anything other than blessed, but when you’re a kid, maybe it’s just that you don’t know better. I’m sure my mother didn’t always feel blessed when she was expecting a sixth child and still living in a three-bedroom house.

I made my goal for marriage, and I made my goal for parenthood if I fudge a little, since she wasn’t born until my last month of being 25. Great jobs might be a matter of perspective. I get to stay home and work on my books, so I guess that’s pretty great. And our house might not be big, but at least we’ve got one, and it’s in good condition. I’ve also got the cool car, so there’s that.

I don’t know what to expect from age 29. It feels like a major threshold, the last step between being considered young and being considered an adult. But I have a busy year ahead of me, so you never know. If nothing else, I expect it’ll be a year of learning, and maybe one of the things I learn will be realistic goal-setting.

Like “become a traditionally-published author by age 35.”

Yeah, that one sounds pretty good.

Persimmon Tree Tea’s Peach Picnic

Peach Picnic was one of the teas I wasn’t sure of. It sounded good, but while I like peaches, eating them or anything peach flavored tends to give me a stomachache. I don’t know why, but it tends to put me off from anything peachy.

Fortunately, this tea gave me nothing to fear.

In addition to peach, it also boasts of citrus and strawberry. Many peachy things strike me as too sweet, which might contribute to my stomach’s protests, but this begins with the pleasant, mellow flavor of the rooibos, followed by hint of tartness. The tang is mostly citrus with a hint of berry, leaving the sweeter peach flavor to round out the end. The aftertaste is primarily peach with a touch of berry.

The fruity flavor also lends the tea an overall sweet tone, without being overbearing, so I found it best when served straight. I drank mine warm, as winter is finally beginning to set in, but I expect it would make a pleasant iced brew for summertime as well.

What to expect from my YouTube channel

The Internet has been trending toward video for years. I always wanted to join in, but I didn’t know what I had to offer. I have a peculiar set of skills, and writing doesn’t translate to video well. There are already a lot of vlogs for writers to follow, anyway, and I’d be amazed if I thought of anything they hadn’t already covered. So I decided to do something a little more niche. Most of my videos will be related to my other big hobby: dolls.

I do a lot of customization work on them, but it’s difficult to share in photos alone. That makes them perfect for sharing in video, so that’s what I’m planning to do.

There will be a wide variety of customization topics I share progress in, from costume design and sewing to wig creation and face-ups.

You can find my channel here, and expect new videos about every two weeks!

And while there’s not a lot there yet, you can at least see a quick introduction to my collection.

Hope you’ll join me there!

Plans for the New Year

This time last year, I posted a list of goals for 2015 instead of a list of resolutions.

I’m still not a fan of resolutions, so I’m doing the same thing this year. I’ll share them in just a moment, but first I wanted to talk about the goals I set for 2015. While there’s more information on the post linked above, I’ll just tackle the bullet points here. So how did last year’s plans turn out?

Finish writing my current work-in-progress.

At the time, this was Serpent’s Wake. Not only did I complete it, but I also completed the first edit. Then I went on to write and edit both Gale’s Gift and Born of the Moon, even seeing Born of the Moon published before the end of the year. So this goal was a definite success!

Send out queries for my last completed project.

The “last completed project” mentioned here was Serpent’s Tears. I did query through 2015, but it didn’t yield any results.

Make progress with organizing the house.

While nothing is ever perfect, the house has come a long way in the past year. There’s plenty of room for improvement, but it feels great to have pared down our belongings and organized things well enough that we still fit in the house. This was also a success, but one I intend to make a perpetual work in progress.

Finish the big to-do list.

There’s always that one thing on the list you don’t accomplish, right? That’s this one. And part of it is that I always, always underestimate how long a project will take. I did make substantial headway, since there are only 10 things left on the list, and two of them weren’t on the list at the beginning of the year. I’ll continue to work on this through 2016, and maybe I’ll see the end of it by this time next year.

So now that we’ve looked at what I did with 2015, what are my plans for next year?

Well… the list is a lot longer, for one.

Goals for 2016

Goal #1: Try to exercise at least 2-3 times a week.

I started doing yoga in the middle of the year and it helped my back and shoulder pain substantially, as well as offering relief to a pinched ulnar nerve that made using my right arm perpetually uncomfortable. I no longer have nerve pain in my arm at all, which seems miraculous after how miserable it left me. Unfortunately, through the busy holiday months, it became harder and harder to find time for a workout, and the pain in my shoulders, neck and upper back has been slowly returning. I don’t have to do it every day, but if I make myself fit it in a few times a week, it should offer pain relief again pretty quick.

Goal #2: Sew 1 piece of doll clothing every 2 weeks.

In 2015, I presented some of the doll clothing I made to the owner of a specialty store and she purchased it from me on the spot to offer through her shop. I sell doll clothing on Etsy as well, so while I prepare more things to take to her to have sold in a brick-and-mortar location, I also need to keep my Etsy shop stocked up. Since my Etsy shop is just a small shop with low sales volume, one piece every two weeks should keep it nice and full.

Goal #3: Post a video every other week.

While I’ll be speaking more about this on blog day next week, the gist is that I’m using YouTube for some projects now, and I’m really excited to share them! As I said, I’ll say more next week, so be sure to come back and read about that next Tuesday.

Goal #4: Complete one drawing each month

It doesn’t have to be big or fancy, but skills are like muscles. If you don’t use them, they atrophy. So even if it’s just a small doodle, making a little more time to draw in 2016 is important to me.

Goal #5: Try to write, but don’t stress.

In 2015, I made a point of trying to write every day, and sometimes I thought it would kill me. It was exhausting, but if I didn’t do it, I felt like I was losing momentum. Writing shouldn’t be like that. It should be enjoyable; it’s a passion, after all. So while I hope to write things–and finish things–in the new year, I’m going to cut myself some slack. I’ll set time aside for writing, but if I don’t get it or I’m not feeling it, it won’t be the end of the world. Sometimes breaks are necessary.

Goal #6: Dye my hair again.

I really loved the pink ombré I had in October. It might seem like a silly thing to put on a goal list, but finding the time to do it is tough, and since the bright colors don’t last long, they can be difficult to maintain. In some ways, this goal can be interpreted as me just making time for something silly and fun, just because it’s fun.

Goal #7: Write first draft of Serpent’s Blood.

This is the end of my trilogy, and I feel like finishing it will be a big landmark. It’s also necessary for me to finish the third book in the series before I move on to the next goal, which is…

Goal #8: Revise Serpent’s Tears.

After querying in 2015 without any results, I decided to put the project away for a little while. When I completed the second book, I discovered some things I could go back and add to the first to make it stronger and–hopefully–more appealing. But instead of adding them right away, I think it’s better to wait until I’m done with the third book as well. That way I’ll know all the little threads that need to be tied up, things that need tightening up earlier in the series, and things I can sprinkle back through the previous two books to make the trilogy stronger as a whole. And if I can get #7 and #8 done, I can shoot for…

Potential Goal #9: Query through the end of the year

Once the books are all wrapped up in a neat little well-edited package, I hope round 2 of querying will go better. But for reasons listed above, I’m not going to push for it until everything else is done. If I get this far, then that’s great. If not, then oh well. At least I’d already know what a goal for 2017 would be.

What are your goals for this year?

A year in review

In just a few days, 2015 will come to a close. It’s weird to think the year is already over, especially when it feels like it just began.

2015 was a strange year; it feels like a great deal of it was spent waiting, without a lot of things happening. I know that’s not true, of course, because in mid-July I started keeping a list of all the things I was accomplishing. I’ll be starting a new page for 2016, but here are a few favorite achievements from 2015.

In 2015, I…

Moved my blog to my website here
Sent query letters for the first time
Finished writing Serpent’s Wake
Wrote, edited and published Gale’s Gift
Wrote, edited and published Born of the Moon
Read 12 books
Did beta-reading for a friend
Wrote several short stories and writing prompts
Drew the cover for Crossroads of Frozen Eternity
Made a miniature couch for my dolls
Helped my husband start developing his own website
Added the art gallery and drew several new pieces for it
Sold my handcrafted jewelry at a craft fair
Sewed several Halloween costume commissions
Tried my hand at doll sculpting
Filmed a handful of videos to share online in the future
Created a calendar for Ithilear
Repainted my craft room
Completed 14 home improvement projects
Started outlining Serpent’s Blood
Celebrated a special 3-year-old’s birthday

…and that’s all I can think of right now, though I’m sure there are a lot more things I accomplished.

I didn’t do everything I wanted to do this year, but it’s not a bad list, and I already have a nice list of intentions for 2016. I’m not waiting until the new year to get started on them, but I am going to wait until 2016 to tell you what my goals for the new year are.

Tell you all about them in a week!

A Garnet

Firal had never seen snow; not the natural sort, anyway. All mages had to practice creating ice at some point, so clumps of snowflakes and pellets of ice were not so foreign as to be mysterious, but the idea of it falling from the sky was still strange.

Other islands might have had enough elevation to yield snow on the mountaintops, but Elenhiise was nearly flat. She’d never been anywhere cooler than a cave, which made it all the more difficult to imagine snowfall. But she wondered, sometimes, looking out her window.

The gardens outside were lush, glittering with droplets in the lull between rainstorms. This was the only shift in seasons she’d ever known, subtle changes in temperature that came with the rainy season.

“Will you be joining us for the solstice tonight, or will you be doing something on your own?” Kytenia tempered the hope in her voice. She waited beside the door, smoothing her mageling robes with both hands.

Firal hesitated, glancing back out the window. It wasn’t that she disliked attending festivities with her friends and classmates, she simply preferred to do things on her own. The winter solstice was a day for reverence, after all, and she found it easier to be reverent when she wasn’t surrounded by people laughing and chattering. She didn’t begrudge them for enjoying themselves, but she and her friends often found enjoyment in different things.

“Of course I’ll be there,” she said at last, doing her best to smile.

Kytenia beamed. “Oh, I’m so glad! I still have to find what the others are doing, but I’ll find you when the candle-lighting begins.”

“All right. I’ll look forward to it.” Firal dipped her head in a farewell as her best friend slid out into the dormitory hallway and closed the door. Then she turned back to her desk, staring at the books before her.

She’d been studying, but only because she thought she’d be stealing away for privacy that night. If she’d be attending the ceremonies in the courtyard instead, there was no sense in waiting for the smaller ritual she’d had in mind. Pushing back her chair, she rose and crept to the small chest at the foot of her bed, digging inside for the small box of things she’d gathered over the past several weeks.

Master Nondar had told her what the solstice was like on the mainland. He’d told her about years there had been snow and years there was not, years where the moon was full and years where the sky was empty. Most of all she’d enjoyed his descriptions of the trees, aglow with mage-lights for remembrance and honor.

She didn’t have a tree, or even a branch. Instead Firal drew a paper from the small box and unfolded a drawing of a fir tree, which she’d done under Nondar’s direction, laying it on the window sill. She drew the shutters and sat the box atop her desk, drawing things out one by one.

An acorn, to ask for growth.

A chip of iron, to ask for strength.

Dried fruit, to ask for health.

A vial of earth, to remember her origins.

And a small garnet, still rough, infused with power in the palm of her hand, glowing bright as a mage-light as she laid it on the drawing, at the very peak of the tree. A gemstone for new beginnings; red for the connection of blood.

“Every path in life is the branch of a tree,” Firal murmured, arranging her tokens on the paper, turning the garnet so its best defined corner aligned with the top. It meant nothing, it simply made it more pleasant to look at. “And every life is its fruit.”

She swallowed hard. “If I am given any blessings, Fathertree, let it be this.”

It didn’t seem too much to ask, and yet every year, it was the only blessing she really wanted.

A tree’s branches could cross every year.

Sooner or later, perhaps the branch of her life would cross with that of her family.

Today’s prompt was “A winter holiday.”

This is the last prompt I’ll be doing for a while, as I’ll be tackling much bigger projects at the turn of the year.

Thank you so much for taking this ride with me!