Natasha House's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"

Okay, so maybe not 5 million. But, seriously. I feel like I have multiple stories tapping their feet, crossing their arms, and just waiting for me to put fingers to the keyboard and write them. I was just thinking of a new one today and jotted down a couple pages on paper. (Almost every story I've published started on scribbling something on paper on break at work!) I keep having to buckle down and focus. I have to finish my fantasy books first (this is the speech I tell myself even when my fans are asking me, "When is the next Heart of Grace book going to be out?") I did write a good 30 pages on the next one, but no, no, I need to focus on the other ones first! Lol. See what I go through? Haha...so much to write so little time!

I've been working on a fantasy series for about 2 years now. Needless to say, these characters feel so real, that I get overly concerned for them when I'm writing their story. I was writing a scene on lunch yesterday and this was my reaction right here:


I certainly have had my heart grip as one of characters are facing a life and death situation, even though I know what's going to happen.



I get what I call a writer's high, where I seriously want to start dancing, screaming, or crying hysterically.


Glossmer
The Vullens' CurseThe Deities TouchThe Jade SeriesNatasha House

I'm working on book 5 of my Fantasy Books today and before I started(or close to it) I saw how many more pages I had to go with detailing my rough draft. I had 70 pages left.


Wahoo! So after, who knows how long, let's just say 2 hours, I get out my calculator again (I hate math, can you tell?)


Low and behold I'd done five pages. Five! At this rate I'll be 95 and still working on this book.

I'm hyperventilating right now!!!



I finally got through all of Book 5 material, which I'd previously written, and now am adding a bit more. It's tough trying to figure out if this is "enough" to satisfy the reader.


I feel like someone gave me five espressos!!!



This is the final book in the Jade Series, and I don't want anything left unfinished. Whew...breathe...girl...breathe.

So, we had a young adults night at our church last night that lasted til' about 12:30 am. Me being the crazy girl that I am stayed the entire time. So, like a goofball I decided to drink my brother-in-laws coffee which made me like this:


Then I got home and finally went to bed by about 2 am. The next day, instead of writing or doing some somewhat productive I'm staring at my computer.

Us writers know the ins and outs of every book we write, but here's what I think my friends, family, and readers think I do.

I sit down at my computer, like a normal person, and poop out books.



No problem! It's fun! It's easy! Oh Yah!


Pretty sure readers/friends/family think I party all day and in minutes I have a beautifully written book! BAM! BOOK!



This is pretty much my reaction when I want to accomplish a book sooner rather than later.


This is me at the computer rewriting, editing etc, etc, etc



So it goes. So it goes.

Chapter 1


It wasn't an ordinary day. It never was for him. He glanced up from where he sat on a park bench, one eye lazily open, the other closed as if sound asleep. The sun beat down on Trance's head, making sweat trickle down the back of his neck, like hot oil in a frying pan. People thought him mad. Let them think it, he thought and his mouth cocked into a smile.
The sounds around him became a chaotic blob, the smells of the morning almost annoying. The well packed muscles beneath his overly-large hoodie tensed, as if somewhere in the back of his foggy brain he could sense danger lurking over top of him.
Let them come, he thought, What have I to lose? He heard the sound before he felt anything at all. Phftt! The bullet whizzed through the air like an erratic bird. It struck the back of the bench, leaving a hole inches from his skull. Is that supposed to scare me? A mad laugh tried to escape his throat, but he pressed it back down again. He lay as if dead, hoping his attacker would think him as such and let him rest a few minutes longer.
Phfft! Another bullet struck the bench.
No rest for the wicked, I suppose, Trance thought and finally pushed himself up off the bench.
"Trance Kelley," a woman said, with enough authority to stop any maniac of a man. "Come with me." Her stature was laughable, at least to Trance it was. She was five foot nothing, with short brown hair, large green eyes, and a gun the size of the Titanic.
She's out for blood. Whew, what a little hothead that one is. Better not throw any short jokes her way.
Trance leaned forward on the bench, crossing one leg, his hooded brown eyes staring at his fingernails. Let the little kitten sweat. She's trigger happy, this should be easy as pie. Pie sounds delicious; maybe the kitten brought some pie.
"Did you hear me, Kelley?" the woman said with a growl and raised her amazing gun at his face. Trance contemplated what to do next. Kill the kitten or let her think her bad cop impression was working on his poor little self. Kittens are adorable, perhaps I'll throw this one some catnip.
"I give up, Thumbelina, no need to wave your little gun around. Besides, you could poke an eye out with that thing."
Of course she didn't appreciate the short joke, what had he been thinking? The kitten raised the gun again. Phftt! This time Trance did laugh. The bullets whizzed through the air and suddenly exploded into tiny shards. Stupid kitten, should have let me play a bit longer. Now it's time for her to die.
"How did you..?" The woman staggered back, her fingers slipping off her gun, tripping over roots coming from the ground.
"I grow tired of the cat and mouse game with you people. Either send a real assassin, or just let me take my nap." With a wave of his hand, Trance gathered the shards of the bullet, reformed the metal and shot it back at the woman. Bye, Kitty, nice knowing you. The woman's body slumped to the ground, her overly impressive gun clattering like a discarded toy. Nap time. Finally.

So, all of us authors know we love writing, right? Right! But, every author I've ever met or have known dreads the looming task of EDITING. Dun. Dun. Dun.


Yes. It needed ominous theme music. Editing! (Shudders) I'm doing another read through of Book 5 and I seriously have like 20 pages left, so of course everything in my author head says, "Finish it!!!" while this is my body...


When I've had a good dose of caffeine, the creative mind is snapping awake, I reread something that I've already read oh, probably a half dozen times, and gasp! How did I miss that!


What was I half asleep? Um, answer, YES. Because, us indies have jobs that suck (like my lovely retail job) they drain the life out of us, so that when we edit our books they come out with words like "killing" instead of "kissing."


So, please if you help support us indies (Yay! Thank you!) please forgive our slap you in the face errors, because we are sleeping as we edit. Sorry. It's just the way it goes. Happy reading!!!


Natasha House

I haven't written anything interesting in a long time. Well, this post isn't any different. I've been working away at an old project I published. It was a short story I wrote for my facebook fan page, just for the heck of it! I got it from 12k to 30k. Then...of course I had to get all distracted! Squirrel!

Now I'm reediting The Vullens' Curse. This was not planned! I simply downloaded it off my amazon account to read it again before I publish the final book. Boom. Errors. Ugh. So...yeah reediting again! Plus, I uploaded the wrong version. I had combined books 1-3 into one book, but I'd taken out the other books, but I accidentally put that version on amazon....heh heh. Oops! So this writer has a butt load of work...and instead I'm blogging. Go figure.

Every writer faces the big, drooly monster of I quit. You get a bad review, someone trashes your work, your family/friends aren't supporting you, or crummy sales. All of this can make you throw in the towel as a creative person. Whether it be writing, drawing, singing, or something else creative, you face this. There is ALWAYS going to be someone better than you. Always. Someone is always going to say something negative at one point about your hard work.

Keep dreaming. No one is going to kill your dream except you in the end of things. Keep going! Keep following the love you have for writing! #Dreambig