S.M. Pace's Blog, page 15

Third Short Story and a challenge

Wings is almost ready to take flight, and the final short story has been released.  Another glimpse into the past of one of my favorite character’s from the Threads Universe.

Today I have something different to offer for those of you reading my blog.  It’s part question and part challenge.  My question is, when was the last time you stepped outside your comfort zone?  And if it’s been a while, my challenge to you is to go for it.

For me, my comfort zone is hiding behind a keyboard.  I’m painfully shy, and because of that, I probably come off as standoffish in public.  I dislike that about myself, so I’m making an effort to change it.  Which means doing something that terrifies me.

Striking up conversations with strangers.

It doesn’t sound that awful when I read it, but the thought of stepping out of my own personal bubble still unnerves me.  But, I make myself do it.  I seize an opportunity to chat with people I cross paths with in the store.  I ask store employees for help (yes, this is something that I used to bulk at)

I’m slowly getting better, but I keep pushing myself.  So when was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone?  And if you decided to do so, what would you do?

Cheers, and see you at the Wings release.

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 What's Up Wednesday and My Journey to Indie Part 1  The Rules of Religion  The Why Of Procrastination  I'm Back and Why I Don't Write Horror  Closer and Closer to WingsCopyright ©  [Third Short Story and a challenge], All Right Reserved. 2014.

Second Short Story and Another Question

A look into Leah (and Toby’s) past is already waiting in subscribers mailboxes.  For all of you reading on here, I have another question.

What would you give up to protect someone that you loved?  

A simple question, but I found the answer didn’t come so easily to me, especially where I am now in my life.  Giving up even the silliest things is suddenly not so easy when it’s no longer an academic matter.

I can’t wait to hear what you think.  If you’re interested in reading Leah’s story, and finding out what she had to give up, sign up below at Fantasy World’s Post.

Cheers.

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 The Rules of Religion  Indie Life - The Dos of Self-publishing  What's Up Wednesday and Flash Fiction  What's Up Wednesday - Celebrate WordsCopyright ©  [Second Short Story and Another Question], All Right Reserved. 2014.

First Short Story and a Question

The first free short story set in the Threads of Magic universe is winging its way out to all the members of Fantasy Worlds Post.  If you’re interested, sign up below.  For all of you following on here, I have a challenge for you.

We’ve all experienced being different from those around us, but have you ever had that feeling so strongly that you were afraid.  Did you ever sit in your desk at school, or huddle in the swing at the park, and wonder what your friends would do if they knew your secret.

It doesn’t matter what the secret was.  I believe everyone had at least one growing up, one thing they didn’t dare trust with anyone, because they were afraid of what would change when they did.

So my question to you is, have you shared your secret yet?  If so, how did it feel?  If not, how does it feel to still keep it hidden?

Cheers.

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 A Writing Exercise  A Short Break  The Rules of Religion  Nanowrimo and Writing Inspiration  The Why Of Procrastination Copyright ©  [First Short Story and a Question], All Right Reserved. 2014.

Closer and Closer to Wings

Closer and closer, and Wings of the Butterfly will be flying free.  Here’s a little flash fiction teaser to whet your appetite for the Threads of Magic Universe.

 

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, the slap of leather shoes against stone pavers.  Sana ran blindly, her thin legs burning, her breath rasping in and out of her lungs.

Voices chased her, yelling for her to stop.

Never.  Her body sang to be free, to feel the fresh air on her face.  She laughed to finally escape the awful dungeons for good.

The voices drew closer, and with them the thud of boots.  Dungeon guards, who would drag her back to her little cell.  Despite how much they feared her.  Her, a skinny girl-child.  Sana bared her teeth in a wicked grin at the terror in their eyes whenever she raised her hand.

No time to remind them of why they feared her.  She needed to get away while she had the chance.

“Sana.”  A familiar voice, but that was not why it frightened her.  It came from in front of her.

A tall, heavily muscled man appeared around the corner ahead.  Several guards skidded to a stop behind him, and one grabbed his shoulder to hold him back.

Master Ienoz shrugged the hand away, and walked toward Sana, no hint of fear on his face.   It always fascinated her that he was not afraid.  He’d seen what she could do.

Sana stopped running, and stared at the man who scared her almost as much as her cell, and the chains that once held her.

He knelt before her.  “Do you understand what you’ve done?  Those men may as well be dead.”

“They wouldn’t let me leave.”  Sana smiled at the memory of the deadness in the eyes of the guards who’d been charged to watch her.  New to her section of the dungeons.  No one had warned them not to get too close.  “I won’t go back.”

“You have amazing power.”  Ienoz reached out a large, calloused hand to her.  “And you’ve proven today that it’s getting stronger.  You don’t need to go back there.  Come with me, and I can make everything better.”

Sana frowned at the offered hand.  Two years held captive, chained and tortured.  It could not be so easy to gain her freedom.

Ienoz did not smile.  “I’m not offering you freedom, or the life you once had.  Something must be done for one as powerful as you.”

Sana considered his words.  If he had smiled, she might have hurt him.  But he remained impassive, and unafraid.  For that she respected him.  She trusted him.

She took his hand.

 

Learn more about Sana and her unfortunate fate in Wings of the Butterfly, set to be released in less than 10 days.

See you all then, and remember, for more fiction teasers, sign up at Fantasy Worlds Post below.

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 What's Up Wednesday and My Journey to Indie Part 1  Indie Life and Self-Publishing: Wouldn't you Rather be Writing?  New Website, New Blog, Same Me  Write With Me - June 25  Indie Life - The Dos of Self-publishingCopyright ©  [Closer and Closer to Wings], All Right Reserved. 2014.

I’m Celebrating My Wings

 

Wings of the Butterfly will be out in less than 20 days.  I’m beyond excited and I want to share that excitement with everyone.

I’m giving away three free short stories set in the Threads of Magic universe as part of my book release party starting August 24th.  Sign up to my mailing list at the link below to join Fantasy Worlds Post, and receive those stories and other fun freebies.  You’ll also receive a heads up when Wings of the Butterfly goes live, on discount for $1.99.  Shadow of the Wolf will also be available for only $.99.  The sale will only last 5 days, so sign up to get your reminder so you won’t miss it.

Thank you for sharing in my world, and happy reading.

Cheers

 

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 What's Up Wednesday and Flash Fiction  New Years Goals and Inspiration  Flash Fiction Wednesday - Daughter  New Website, New Blog, Same Me  Indie Life and Self-Publishing: Wouldn't you Rather be Writing?Copyright ©  [I'm Celebrating My Wings], All Right Reserved. 2014.

Wings of the Butterfly Blog Tour

 

My blog tour started without me!

I’ve been entirely too busy with life in general, and the start of my blog tour completely got away from me.

Wings of the Butterfly, the sequel to Shadow of the Wolf, will be live on August 30th.  Follow the blog tour to not only catch excerpts of Wings, and reviews, but also check out some awesome book blogs.

For even more freebies, including short stories set in the Threads of Magic universe, sign up at Fantasy Worlds Post.  Looking forward to seeing you there, and on the tour.  Cheers.

Wings of the Butterfly Blog Tour

July 30 - Reading Addiction Blog Tours - Kick Off
July 31 - Eskimo Princess - Guest Post
August 1 - Simplistic Reviews - Excerpt
August 2 - Indie Authors You Want to Read - Excerpt
August 3 - Avid Book Collector - Excerpt
August 4 - My Reading Addiction - Interview
August 5 - The Indie Express -  Review
August 6 - Mythical Books - Guest Post
August 7 - Read It Write - Excerpt
August 8 - Texas Book Nook - Review
August 10 - Books Direct - Excerpt
August 11 -Novel Notions - Guest Post
August 12 - A Life Through Books - Review
August 13 - Simplistic Reviews - Excerpt
August 14 - Book Suburbia - Excerpt
August 17 -Andi’s YA Books - Guest Post
August 18 - The Word at My Fingertips - Review
August 19 - Pieces of Whimsy - Excerpt
August 20 - Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock - Review
August 21 - DJ’s Book Corner - Interview
August 22 - A Leisure Moment - Guest Post
August 25 - Chosen By You Book Club - Excerpt
August 26 -Pure Jonel - Review
August 27 - Dalene’s Book Reviews - Review
August 27 - Ashley’s Paranormal Book Blog - Excerpt
August 28 - Let’s Get Booked - Guest Post
August 29 -
August 30 - RABT Reviews - Wrap Up


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 Why Do We Love Zombies?  The Why Of Procrastination  A Short Break  Indie Life and Self-Publishing: Wouldn't you Rather be Writing?  How Fanfic Started It AllCopyright ©  [Wings of the Butterfly Blog Tour], All Right Reserved. 2014.

The Why Of Procrastination

Wings of the Butterfly is done, and ready to be formatted, so I’ve launched into Book 3: Cry of the Hawk.  And it has been a rather slow launch.

I am a serial procrastinator.  I read a fantastic article a few months ago, which I’ll link to at the bottom of this post, that does a great job explaining the nature of procrastination and ways to combat it.

But despite having a lot of open time for not only writing, but all the other stuff that comes with self-publishing, I keep putting it off.

I love watching short videos.  It’s my procrastination vice.  The internet is the procrastinator’s best friend, because it is so easy to get sucked into watching one stupid video after another, and there will always be another.  Links for “more articles like this one” or “videos like the one you just watched” are ubiquitous.  Will power, not so much.

The thing I don’t understand is, why do I not want to do something I love.  I can understand procrastinating to avoid school work, or chores.  But writing is my passion.  It’s the thing I want to quit my day job to do.  That quote about “if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.”  For me, that’s writing.  It’s what I want to do, so why does my inner child balk at it.  Why does she feel the need to bury herself in Youtube videos?

I know the basic answer.  I do have a part time job, and time I don’t spend working I spend searching for a full time job, because there are bills that need to be paid.  Time is short, and I have a lot of demands on mine.  My husband, my family and friends, a house to maintain, chores to get done.  Time spent writing is time that could be spent “relaxing” in my inner child’s opinion.

And there’s the crux of the issue, what I mean when I say writing.  My inner child, my muse, whatever she is, loves writing as much as I do.  She also has the attention span of a two year old.  She doesn’t want to slog through an entire book, work out plot points, and make sense of character motivations.  She wants to write story until she gets bored, about twenty pages in, then jump to the next story, whether the previous one was finished or not.  She hates revision, and re-writing and formatting.  She gets bored easily.  If I wrote the way she wanted to write, she would enjoy herself, but I would never get anything done.

So, writing, the thing I love, becomes work.  Good work, and certainly when I’m writing a scene I really love, the flow kicks in, and my muse might as well be on a roller coaster, she’s having so much fun.  That’s not a rare thing.  It happens about fifty percent of the time during a first draft, and a lot more during re-writing.  But, my muse likes to dismiss it because it requires effort, and she would rather pursue her effortless joy.

I sympathize with her.  After all, she is me.  That doesn’t mean I won’t put her in a mental headlock, because I have things that need to get done.

Sound off in the comments.  Are you a procrastinator?  What do you avoid doing to keep your inner child happy?

And check that article on procrastination here Wait But Why

Cheers all

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 How Fanfic Started It All  A Writing Exercise  New Years Goals and Inspiration  Indie Life - The Dos of Self-publishing  What's Up Wednesday and Flash FictionCopyright ©  [The Why Of Procrastination ], All Right Reserved. 2014.

The Rules of Religion

It takes a lot of research to create my worlds.

I have friends members who would roll their eyes at such a statement.  When I tell them I write fantasy, they laugh and say, that must make it easier.  I ask why, because I can’t resist being snarky.  They respond with something along the lines of “well,  you can just make up anything.  You don’t have to worry about rules.  It’s all make believe.”

Anyone who reads fantasy would know better.  In all fiction, there must be rules.  Without limits, there is no story.  Without limits, magic does anything the characters need it to do, death means nothing and there are no stakes.  Maybe some people would like to read stories like that, but not me.  And I definitely wouldn’t want to write them.

I’ve just finished the final revision on the second novel in my self-published Threads of Magic series, Wings of the Butterfly.  I love this world.  I have other worlds that I play in now and then, and that I plan to write longer stories for in the future, but the world of Threads has captured me.

With Wings currently awaiting a proofread and the third novel in the series, Cry of the Hawk still in pre-writing phase, my thoughts turned to another aspect of this world.  The Threads series deals with war, the nature of loyalty and family ties.

With the side story that came to me, I wanted to play with something different.  Religion is one of my favorite things to create, second only to languages.  Creating religion brings lifeblood to a world.  So much of what a group of people believe is fed by their religion.  It colors how they feel about life, and death, how they celebrate, how they grieve, how they go about their daily lives.

The physicist Steven Weinberg once said “with or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”  I’ve also heard it argued that for evil people to do good things also takes religion.

Religion, faith and belief carries people away from the earth, to something beyond.  To a meaning that some feel science can’t give them.  It drives people not simply to do bad or good things, but things that frighten them.  Things they never imagined they would do.  Things that change, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse.  Because of religion, people may discover something they never would have known.  Something new about the world, about themselves, about what they believe.

All people, including the characters in my worlds, are volitional beings.  Under normal circumstances (minus otherworldly mind-control), they are capable of thinking and acting.  They react to what they experience, and develop beliefs.  They have new experiences, and either their beliefs change or they become stronger.

That’s a rule of life.  A rule that saves me from creating one-dimensional characters, like the evil priest, or the saintly nun.  I used to worry about creating religion that were too similar to ones that existed on earth.  I don’t anymore.  It isn’t about the religion.  That’s window dressing.  It’s about the people.  Those who believe one, those who believe something else, and how they change when confronted with new experiences.

Cheers.

 

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 Indie Life - The Dos of Self-publishing  What's Up Wednesday - Celebrate Words  What's Up Wednesday and Flash Fiction  What's Up Wednesday and My Journey to Indie Part 1  The Insecure Writers Support GroupCopyright ©  [The Rules of Religion], All Right Reserved. 2014.

Blog Tour: Marewings by Kristen S. Walker

 

Korinna’s life gets turned upside down when the ghost of her father suddenly appears. Her father was duke of Kyratia City and he wanted Korinna to marry his warlord, the foreign mercenary Galenos, and inherit his title–but the city’s Council has other plans. When the Council denies Korinna’s right to rule, she decides to join Galenos’s mercenary company and tame a wild marewing in order to take the city by force.

But people whisper that the late duke’s untimely death was murder, an induced madness that forced him to dance himself to death–and now that madness is spreading. Can Korinna become a marewing rider and conquer Kyratia in time to save everyone?

 

I love a take charge heroine.  And isn’t that cover beautiful?  It’s certainly inspiring me. 

January is the month of inspiration here at Word By Word, and what inspires me beyond anything else is reading a fantastic story. 

So, allow me to welcome the author of a fantastic story.  Kristen S. Walker is here to share the secrets behind some of dangerous monsters in her new novel, A Flight of Marewings.

Take it away, Kristen. 

Monster Mash-Up

When I was writing A Flight of Marewings, I knew that I wanted a bit of the old-school feel of heroes fighting dangerous monsters to protect their kingdom. I already planned on having some of the classics, like dragons, and because I was inspired by Greek myths, I picked chimaeras, too. But I also wanted to come up with my own original monsters to give my world a unique feel. What could I dream up that would fit the classical dragons and ancient myths that I’d already chosen for my story?

I Did the Mash (The Monster Mash-Up)

Then I hit on the idea of combining real plants and animals into terrifying creatures. I could take two things, stick them to together, then mix and match the traits of each. At first, I thought that they would be the twisted creations of mad scientist-mages who got loose to terrorize the countryside. But then I struck on a deeper idea for my story: these monsters were Mother Nature’s revenge on a medieval society that was heading toward industrialization. The concept of Wyld Magic, a force that’s attacking humanity to slow their expansion, added new conflicts to my plot—and I loved the outcome.

1. Marewings

The first monster that I thought of were the marewings themselves. I’ve always been fascinated by flying horses, but I didn’t want the typical feather-winged beauties like Pegasus. Marewings are part horse, part bat, and maybe a little demon, too—with huge leather wings, glowing red eyes, and sharp, cloven hooves. Getting close to one is often deadly. Only a few people can win their trust and become a rider, as my main character, Korinna, soon learns.

2. Trapflower

The next monster I mashed up is a plant, but it’s far from passive. Think Venus Flytrap on steroids. I combined traits from several carnivorous plants and increased the scale until they could be a real threat to humans. Then I tormented my heroes when they had to figure out how to beat one in an epic battle.

3. Spiderwolves

The spiderwolves only show up for one brief encounter in this novel, but that might be for the best, because they are the stuff of nightmares. Someone in my family has arachnophobia, and giant spiders have been a classic in fantasy since The Hobbit, maybe even earlier. I combined them with wolves to give them pack-fighting tactics, fur, and sharp teeth. Not something you want to think about too long!

I had a lot of fun dreaming up new monsters for my world and pitting them against my heroes to up the stakes. There are more to be found in A Flight of Marewings (including one of my favorites, the crystalbell bugs), but I don’t want to give away all of my secrets too soon. And I look forward to writing future stories, so I can use some of these again, and invent a few more. I can see myself filling up a whole magical bestiary someday with all of my monsters. I hope that you’ll have fun learning about them, too.

I love turning something on it’s head from how it’s usually imagined.  The description of the Marewings gives me chills.

Fantasy author Kristen S. Walker dreams of being a pirate mermaid who can talk to sharks, but she settles for writing stories for teens and adults. Her new novel, A Flight of Marewings, tells the adventure of a duke’s illegitimate daughter who must stop her father’s murderers–by taming a dangerous monster. A Flight of Marewings is now available in print from Amazon and digitally from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and other ebook retailers. To read a sample chapter or check out Kristen’s pirate pictures, please visit kristenwalker.net. You can talk good books, cats, or medieval cooking with Kristen anytime on Twitter (@KristenSWalker) or Facebook.

Enter below for a chance to win either a print copy or one of five ebook copies of A Flight of Marewings.  The giveaway ends January 24th, so enter before then for a chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway for A Flight of Marewings

Or, if you’d rather not wait, purchase a copy now:

Smashwords: A Flight of Marewings by Kristen S. Walker

Amazon: A Flight of Marewings by Kristen S. Walker

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 How Fanfic Started It All  The Insecure Writers Support Group  Flash Fiction Wednesday: And They Lived  IWSG - Writing and Real Life  Indie Life and Self-Publishing: Wouldn't you Rather be Writing?Copyright ©  [Blog Tour: Marewings by Kristen S. Walker], All Right Reserved. 2014.

New Years Goals and Inspiration

Happy New Year!

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Yes, a brand new year.  A time of resolutions, new commitments, fresh determination.

And, of course, the inevitable slipping back to the old ways.

Well, I hope not.  I’m told the best way to ensure that your resolutions don’t fall by the way side, is to set clear, achievable goals.  So, my resolutions/goals for 2014 are as follows:

 

Write for 45 minutes every day
Write a new blog post every Thursday
Workout one day a week.

Simple, clear cut goals, with no hedging and firm deadlines.  I also avoided the dreaded “at least,” a term that tends to worm into my brain and convince me I haven’t really done enough and shouldn’t even bother going on.

A lot of exciting things are happening for me in 2014, and I’m feeling exceedingly inspired.  So that’s what this month is all about.

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I’ll be posting on the things that inspire me, not only to write, but to dream and to better myself.   My hope is that my inspirations will also inspire you.  Let’s make 2014 an awesome year.

Sound off in the comments about what inspires you, and what your goals are for 2014.

Cheers!

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 Indie Life - The Dos of Self-publishing  Write With Me - June 25  A Short Break  New Website, New Blog, Same Me  IWSG - Writing and Real LifeCopyright ©  [New Years Goals and Inspiration], All Right Reserved. 2014.