Lex Chase's Blog, page 31

Andrew Q. Gordon Conjures Magic With The Last Grand Master

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“The Last Grand Master” by Andrew Q. Gordon is the first in the “Champion of the Gods” high fantasy series.

The greatest joy in Andrew Q. Gordon’s life is his infant daughter whom he affectionately calls “‘lil q.” In between bottle feedings and diaper changing, maintaining his day as a criminal prosecutor, his latest novel “The Last Grand Master” hit the e-shelves at Dreamspinner Press on February 1. A high fantasy novel, and the first in the series “Champion of the Gods,” Gordon discusses his inspiration in-between burping babies.

The Premise

“Farrell is a young but very powerful wizard, he is the last grand master wizard left to oppose the dark wizard Meglar,” he said via email interview. “The fight has broader implication because it is really an extension of a fight between the gods.  The Six gods of Nendor are at war with their brother, Neldin, god of the underworld.  The Six and Neldin each choose a champion and their conflict is played out through their chosen champions.”

He went on to explain the finer mechanics of the plot.

“Both sides are gathering their followers for a final confrontation that will decide the direction the world takes for the next few millennia,” he said. “The six send others to aid Farrell including Nerti, queen of the unicorns and Miceral—an immortal warrior who has been chosen to be Farrell’s life partner. I tried to make at least as character driven and plot and the world building is spaced into the story around the character and relationship development.”

  The Spark of a Story

Gordon elaborated that the story appeared in his head as a “small scene” he came up with one day. From the small scene bloomed a much larger story spanning hundreds of thousands of words.

Gordon talked about his grand scheme for “The Last Grand Master.”

“‘The Last Grand Master’ is part of a larger series—‘Champion of the Gods,’ so it’s not entirely completed,” Gordon said. “Originally I envisioned four books but Dreamspinner and most of the other publishers want the story to be in the 100-120K word range.  The shortest of the three completed books is 330K words.  So along with cutting back and editing, I’ve had to chop up the story into smaller bites.”

As staggering as the word count seems to be, Gordon claims he was unaware of what’s the standard length for a traditional novel ranging from 90 to 100,000 words.

“I didn’t know any better,” Gordon admitted. “I started ‘Champions’ about 6 years ago— but I wrote about another 500K words for stories I posted for free or have or will have published.”

Finding the Time

With the longest of the “Champion of the Gods” books being upwards of 500,000 words, Gordon shares his secret of what helped him get the story put to paper.

“I used to be able to write 2-3k words in a morning easily sometimes well more,” he said.  “But that was before I had a child. Now, I’m lucky and get 1-2 a day in. But when I wrote most of the stuff, I’d get up, go get coffee and write for 2-3 hours—and go through a like number of cups of coffee.  I used to be able to write at night after work too, but now, by the time we eat, clean up, bathe ‘lil q and take care of things like laundry, bills, et cetera, I’m lucky I get an hour of free time to write. So, for the time being I’ve had to cut back significantly.”

 The Contract and ‘lil q

Self-described as tall, dark and dopey, Gordon is a proud papa when it comes to his daughter ‘lil q.

Gordon’s first contract with Dreamspinner was for “(Un)Masked” a novella he co-authored with fellow Dreamspinner author Anyta Sunday. Gordon admits getting the contract was something of a shock to him.

“The first contract was sort of a shot out of the blue,” he said. “Anyta did the query letter and frankly I didn’t recall she sent it to Dreamspinner—I mean she told me and I said yeah that sounds like a good place to submit it to, but when the time came, I totally didn’t remember.”

Gordon had bigger things to consider he said, like starting a family.

“My husband and I had a baby with a surrogate in September of 2011 and Anyta and I hired Magnifico Manuscripts to edit for us in October,” he said. “From September to January, my life was diapers, bottles, and burping. I had just gone back to work after 18 weeks off when Elizabeth [North editor-in-chief of Dreamspinner Press] sent us the offer.”

In the haze of baby fever, Gordon relates his delayed reaction to the good news.

“I didn’t get to read the email for hours, but Anyta was home and read it within an hour of getting it—an hour is generous, if I checked it was probably just a few minutes after the email arrived that she was emailing me, trying to find out where I was,” he said.  “I must have gotten three emails and four instant messages from Anyta who was bouncing off walls she was so stoked.  She wanted me to review the contract, et cetera, and all I wanted was some sleep from playing papa. Everything went off without a hitch after that, but to be honest I just remember it was some day in February 2012.”

The Curious Q in Andrew Q. Gordon

It’s not every day when you meet someone with the middle initial of Q. However, Gordon revealed his moniker has a more peculiar origin.

“When I first joined Gay Author’s website to ‘get feedback’ on my writing as my author friend suggested, I picked a username of Quonus10,” he said. “Quonus was the name of a minor minor character in the ‘Champion of the Gods’ series.  People started to call me ‘Q’ and my daughter became ‘‘lil q.’ When I was selecting an author name, my husband, me, and my co-author agreed the ‘Q’ needed to get worked in so as to provide some continuity to the people who read and supported me over at GA.”

What the Future Holds for Gordon

With a novella and the foundation for an epic series released into the wilds, Gordon talked about his upcoming projects.

“‘Champions’ will be a long range project,” he said. “Hopefully, book two will be out before the year is over. There are a couple other projects I’d like to get if I had time—one is a sequel to a free story I wrote that was well received. The other is another fantasy story, which follows a young man as he progresses up the ranks as a warrior.  I’d say more, but I really want to flesh it out before I give away my ideas.  Who knows, maybe they’ll be popular.”

Where To Buy

“The Last Grand Master” Book One in the “Champion of the Gods” series, and “(Un)Masked” are available on Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

The post Andrew Q. Gordon Conjures Magic With The Last Grand Master appeared first on Lex Chase.

J.L. O’Faolain Saves The Day With No More Heroes

 

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“Scratch and Sniff” by J.L. O’Faolain from the “No More Heroes” series by Dreamspinner Press.

As a child, J.L. O’Faolain would run though his yard on a windy day and pretended he could fly. Now, at 32 years old, O’Faolain channels his superheroic youth into his “No More Heroes” novel series for Dreamspinner Press. The first installment, “Push Comes to Shove” and the sequel “Scratch and Sniff” tells the story of superheroes that are average Joes in spandex.

The Great Big World of Tomorrow

O’Faolain explained his premise to the “No More Heroes” series in an email interview.

“’Push Comes to Shove’ takes place in a world where superheroes emerged to do basic charity work, and their evolution grew to something that isn’t quite out of a comic book, but not a match for our world, either,” he said. “Push and Scratch are two heroes who work for the Real-Life Superhero Association, the non-profit organization that rallies all heroes under its wing.  Push is the only member of the Association with an actual super power, but this is about to change. Push and Scratch are assigned to work with Wrath, a pyrokinetic who was once a member of the first documented supervillain group.”

As for why Wrath was enlisted in the Real-Life Superhero Association, O’Faolain continued.

“Wrath’s stipulation for being released from prison is that he joined the Association as a full-fledged member,” he said. “Needless to say, no one in the group is thrilled with the set-up, but Wrath’s initiation sparks a chain of events that not only make their lives seem more like a comic book tale, but also blur the lines between love and the belief that gender is the one great exception to unexpected romance.”

The Cross-Pollination of Superheroes and Love

Using the premise of superheroes as a backdrop, O’Faolain sought to tell a deeper tale.

“Believe it or not, though, I didn’t expect to become a writer of M/M fiction,” he said. “In a Southern Baptist household, that isn’t usually the first thing that springs to one’s mind. I’ve held the belief for many years that labels often keep us from finding happiness.  One thing the series explores is the characters realizing this, and trying to live their lives without letting preconceived notions get in the way.”

O’Faolain credits his core inspiration for No More Heroes to two friends, both bisexual men, who fell in love with their straight best friends.

“Both had written stories about their experiences and how the relationships eventually worked out,” he said. “I was touched by both, and having a love for superheroes, the two bled into one another.”

Going Inside the Real-Life Superhero Association

Clear your mind of any preconceived notions that the Real-Life Superhero Association is anything like the Justice League or X-Men. O’Faolain claims he drew his inspiration from real world vigilantes such as Phoenix Jones.

O’Faolain elaborated on what made the Association of “No More Heroes” so different.

“I started thinking about how superheroes might have originated, and how they could sidestep the pesky vigilante accusation,” he said. “In real life, there are people now who create their own superhero identity and costume, then go out and pick up trash off the streets and so forth.  In my head, I imagined what might have come out of this phenomenon occurring decades earlier, and becoming more media mainstream. The Association, where most heroes are ‘employed’, grew out of that. The Association is an organization that has its hands in all manner of things.  Heroes do everything from drive around offering rides to stranded motorists, to helping the police solve crimes.”

Superheroic Origins of J.L. O’Faolain

O’Faolain claims the multiverse accepts him as their undisputed overlord. He has to work his way from the bottom here on Earth and just needs a good publicist.

Residing in Union, Mississippi, the youngest of five children, and growing up Southern Baptist, O’Faolain said he always told stories much to his family’s chagrin.

“I started seriously planning on being a writer when my teens kicked in,” he said.  “I actually wanted to write teen thrillers.  I was a heavy reader, and had graduated to hardback novels by the time I was in high school. I also loved paperback teen mystery-thrillers like Fear Street and Christopher Pike novels.”

Not only does O’Faolain have a fondness for Christopher Pike novels, he also said Jim Butcher was a great influence on his storytelling. Still the inspiration for teen mysteries remains firmly in O’Faolain’s mind.

“I still love Pike to this day, and I actually have a teen series that I would like to see published one day,” he said.

As for O’Faolain’s all time guilty pleasure book? He insists his ‘man card’ can’t be revoked.

“I actually read a few volumes of the Sweet Valley High series when I was in high school,” he said. “One of my sisters had left an early copy in her closet when she moved out, and I was nosing around for something to read—it was an incredibly boring Saturday night.  The over-the-top quality of it appealed to me at the time.”

The O’Faolain Family

Many families claim their lives could easily be a prime time sitcom. With four older sisters, O’Faolain is no exception. From oldest you youngest, there’s Kim, Gay, Karen, Susan, and O’Faolain himself.

He reminisced about the misadventures with his sisters.

“There was the time Kim made me a robot costume for a church Christmas play and didn’t factor in the fact that I would be sitting down, which resulted in my legs going completely numb by the time the performance ended,” he said. “Then the time Gay and my mother thought the Government had made it illegal to download, meaning the whole internet was now outlawed. And then the time Karen took me out with her boyfriend for a drive, and my mother thought I’d been kidnapped. And finally, the time Susan ‘insisted’ that I play football with the other boys.”

What’s Next for O’Faolain

O’Faolain refuses to let the world pass him by. With two series currently contracted by Dreamspinner Press, he spoke of his current endeavors.

“’Scratch & Sniff’ is the sequel to ‘Push Comes to Shove’ and the second book in the No More Heroes serial,” he said and then continued about his other serial. “‘Section 13 Case Files,’ follows the adventures of an exiled sidhe, Tuulois MacColewyn a.k.a. Cole, who works for a clandestine group of police officers called Section 13, that solve occult-related crimes. Magic, sex, murder, sex, over-the-top drama, sex, unrequited love, sex, explosions, sex, and even an ancient conspiracy or two abound.”

He went on to add, “Did I mention the sex already?”

Where To Buy

The “No More Heroes” Books One and Two, “Push Comes to Shove” and “Scratch and Sniff” as well as the “Section 13 Case Files” are available at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble.com.

The post J.L. O’Faolain Saves The Day With No More Heroes appeared first on Lex Chase.

Book Promotion On A Shoestring Budget

Not Quite A Shoestring Budget!

Promoting your book when your wallet has mothballs in it can be a challenge. You want to make the best impression you can with what you got. As the US Marines say ‘Time to Make Do.’ With $150 bucks, here’s how I did it on a shoestring budget.

The Wish List

I started out wanting postcards for sure of my cover. I also wanted stickers of the title “Pawn Takes Rook” because in theory it’s going to be a logo. And of course giveaway swag like trinkets and goodie bags. Thank the world for Oriental Trading for cute goodies for not a lot of dough.

The places I had considered included:

Moo
Vistaprint
Next Day Flyers
Standout Stickers

Pros and Cons

Moo: I go through them for my business cards. They also do stickers. They are also incredibly expensive. I love them, I get great comments on my business cards, but they are ultimately too expensive for something I am just going to give away.

Vistaprint: Way too expensive, oddly enough. And I couldn’t be sure of I was getting what I truly wanted with how unclear the sticker pricing was.

Next Day Flyers: Mark Rossmore of Escape The Clouds goes through them for his postcards. I have a couple and the quality is rather nice. They also do stickers and are more clear about the templates and pricing.

Standout Stickers: Gorgeous work. I am looking forward to one day using them. At the current moment, too expensive for the shoestring budget.

But Then… Bookmarks?

So I reconsidered my options because no matter where I went the stickers seemed a little out of my price range. Then someone mentioned bookmarks are always an awesome item to sign. And upon pricing them? Next Day Flyers was my winner for conquering the shoestring budget.

Final Budget Tally

Or I should say in the Rockapella Carmen Sandiego Voice “Da Loot!”

So going with Next Day Flyers I’ve budgeted for 100 postcards, 250 bookmarks.

From Oriental Trading I’ve scored a few goodie bag things such as superhero rubber duckies, rubber bracelets with superhero sayings, and some bulk candy.

From Etsy of all places, I scored a template for these little guys of superhero Tootsie Pops. Are they not the most adorable things?

And there’s still room in the budget for a $20 Starbucks Giftcard.

All in all? I spent $130 and some change. With still enough left over to wiggle around on some things.

Got Mothballs In Your Wallet?

It just goes to show, if you live in a lifestyle where you need to make every penny stretch to the limit, you too can score some fairly awesome swag. You have to be creative, consider price points, make allowances for what you can do right now and what you can do later. One thing I want to do is give away mini hand sanitizers from Bath And Body Works, but it’s just not in the cards this go round.

Look at what you can do and look at what you’ll need to have done by a professional. Do you bake awesome cookies? Can you concoct a recipe in theme with your work? Go for it! Do you draw? Make origami? Do something with that! Are you good at graphics? Make your own flyers! There’s always something you can do.

Wishing you all the best in your promotions.

In closing, as this post goes live, I am currently out of the country and away from the internets. Hello from Cozumel in the Yucatan Peninsula!

Originally published at Lex Chase. You can comment here or there.

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Anne Barwell Reconstructs WWII In Shadowboxing

Anne Barwell’s father once told her stories that he sucked on lemons in front of brass bands during WWII. Now a Dreamspinner Press author with the WWII era story “Shadowboxing,” Barwell, a librarian by trade, considers herself a woman of many talents. She’s authored four titles with Dreamspinner, is 2nd violin in New Zealand’s Hutt Valley Orchestra, and can knit a mean scarf despite her repetitive strain injury.

“Shadowboxing,” previously released in January 2012, is the first in a series transporting readers to Germany in 1943 at the height of WWII featuring two unlikely heroes.

Barwell elaborated on the premise.

“Kit is a scientist who discovers that the Nazis propose to use his research to create a terrible weapon with the potential to win the war,” she said via an e-mail interview. “Michel is an undercover Resistance operative who helps Kit escape after his conscience will not allow him to ignore reality of the situation any longer. Add to that mix the Allied team sent in to retrieve the plans, and everything going to custard very quickly, and the scene is set for an action/drama with very high stakes.”

The Title

When concocting a title, Barwell explained why the title “Shadowboxing” bore such significance for her story.

“Kit is fighting himself in a way at the beginning of the story, boxing with his conscience and being true to himself, in regard to his sexual orientation so the imagery of shadowboxing fit rather well,” she said. “He and Matt, the leader of the Allied team, have dealt with their sexual orientation in different ways, both fighting being true to themselves because of what was acceptable, and not, for the time.”

Barwell continued how the elements of the characters fighting their nature bore such importance.

“While Kit has buried himself in his work and walked away from someone he had feelings for, Matt became involved in a romantic relationship with his best friend, Elise,” she said. “It was only when she wanted to settle down that he realized he couldn’t go through with it. While he loved her as a friend, he wasn’t in love with her.”

The Struggle

The story of “Shadowboxing” did not come easily to Barwell, she said she had conceived of the idea ten years ago and had a love for stories set in the WWII era. She explains what took so long to finally cross the finish line.

“I got so far with this story, and stopped and it sat there at a nasty cliffhanger for literally years,” she said. “The thought of all the research was daunting and I got distracted by easier shinier stuff. Finally, after my first novel was published with Dreamspinner—and several people nagged me to continue with it—I got back on the horse, rewrote what I’d already written, kept going and submitted it six months later.”

The “easier shinier stuff” Barwell refers to was her dalliances with writing fanfiction, playing online story roleplaying games, and writing other titles for Dreamspinner. She talked about her new project “A Knight to Remember.”

“There is so much less research in writing about dragons and making up another world,” she said. “It’s still research but at least as long as I keep to my own continuity it’s not going to be ‘wrong.’  Even my beta readers said to me, ‘You’re procrastinating “Winter Duet” and “Comes a Horseman” aren’t you?  Umm, yeah.”

The World

For recreating the world of 1943 Berlin, Barwell related her peculiar finds during the research process.

“One of the pain in the neck bits of research was trying to find out about telephones in Germany 1940’s and how they were attached to the wall,” she said. “You’d think something like that would be easy to find but no.”

And for the locations, Barwell had her own riddles to solve.

“A lot of the locations and buildings used in the story are real and were standing at the time, even if they were destroyed shortly afterwards,” she said. “I was looking for a park at one point, and found a wonderful location on Google Maps then discovered that in 1943 it was railway station! Back to the drawing board.”

Barwell further explained how the happy discoveries of historical events aided her.

“The Allied bombing of Berlin became the answer to an important plot point,” she said. “Once I shifted my original dates so it happened at just the right time I needed it to. I figured why not let history work for the plot, and it also gives it realism.”

The Origin

Barwell said the true origins of “Shadowboxing” were inspired by an alternate universe fanfiction she dabbled in. With so many bestselling authors with titles that are repurposed fanfiction such as the blockbuster “50 Shades of Grey,” Barwell explains the difference between originality and capitalizing on an established universe.

“I wouldn’t write original fiction that is set within the canon universe of a show,” she said. “That’s still fanfic.  But taking inspiration from existing characters and dropping them into a completely differently scenario, that’s a different ball game. Most writers draw character inspiration from somewhere, fanfic is just one source.”

She further explained how radically altering the source material is challenging.

“Changing something from alternate universe fanfic to original takes a lot of work as it’s way more than just find/replace for the names,” she said. “In fanfic, you can get straight to the plot as the readers know who the characters are. In original stories, you have to spend time introducing the players, who they are, and why they react the way they do.”

The Future

Barwell said she has stories to tell that could keep her going for years. She divulged some of her upcoming projects. “A Knight to Remember” she said is “a fantasy story about quests, swords and dragons and I had a lot of fun writing it especially as there are a few twists in the tale.”

Following “A Knight to Remember” is “Shades of Sepia,” the first book in “The Sleepless City” series that she’s co-authoring with Elizabeth Noble.

“We’re writing alternative books in this urban fantasy series which features vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and humans,” she said about “Shades of Sepia.” “I’m really looking forward to it.”

But the book she really wants to write? Barwell answered.

“The other book I want to write, or at least get started on this year is “Winter Duet,” she said. “This is the sequel to “Shadowboxing” and the next chapter in the characters’ journey as they try and escape Germany with the German officer Holm still tracking them. I’m planning a few new complications for them to deal with in this one like a downed Kiwi pilot who needs their help. I also like including Kiwis in my stories just because I can.”

Where To Buy

“Shadowboxing,” the first book in the “Echoes” series is available at Dreamspinner Press in eBook format for $6.99 and paperback for $16.99. An M/M historical with action, drama, and as Barwell said “a good dollop of romance.” All of her titles can be found on the Dreamspinner Press website: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=426

Originally published at Lex Chase. You can comment here or there.

The post Anne Barwell Reconstructs WWII In Shadowboxing appeared first on Lex Chase.

How To Edit A Novella In Three Days

Novella edits? Don’t panic!

Over the weekend, I received my edits to Pawn Takes Rook, awesome right? Well here’s the thing, I had to turn them in by Wednesday. I was booked solid with the second week of college. That only left Friday through Sunday. That’s right. I had three days to edit a novella.

Here’s how I did it:

Step #1

Panic. Run around the house. Freak out some more. Scream and get it all out of your system.

Step #2

Try to do all of it at once. Meaning grammar edits, content edits, adding in new material, the whole bit. Get to page 6, completely fry your brain, and go to bed.

Step #3

Wake up on Day 2 realizing you need to seriously work smarter and not harder. And lo you learn from one of your buddies that the way to go is in passes. Bless every red hair on Cate Ashwood’s noggin. I wouldn’t know what to do without her.

Which leads us to:

The Revised Way To Edit:
Step #1:

Plant your ass in your chair and read every single one of your Editor’s comments. Make notes on a pad of paper about content edits specifically. It helps to mark down page numbers to keep things straight.

Step #2:

Go through the file and accept or decline the grammar edits one by one. Instead of right clicking on every individual comma, use the Track Changes tool bar with clicking one single button to accept and move on to the next. Very handy, and saves a ton of time. For me? I worked on it from 7 am to 1 pm and finished all the grammar edits. It should be noted in this step you should highlight in a color that sticks out to you where the content edits go. This is for small things like rewording sentences, and big things like altering scenes. Right now, you should be focused on punctuation and grammar.

Step #3:

Take a break. Trust me on this. I did three things: Attended Chris T. Kat’s Facebook Chat on the Dreamspinner Page. Then German II homework. You’d be impressed how much German can be immensely refreshing for your brain. And finally Netflixed Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog because I had never seen it before. (I know. I know.) Proceeded not to get the ending. Had it explained to me. Finally got it. Life was grand again.

Step #4:

By this time, it was around 6:30pm. I settled in for the content edits. For my content edits this included things like small rewording of sentences, adding in a couple details, to complete scene alterations. The only scene I had to alter at my editor’s request was actually the ending. She wanted it to go one way, I wanted to maintain the way it went because the third book in the Pawn Takes Rook series wouldn’t make any sense otherwise. I fleshed out the ending to affirm my point, left a comment explaining my decision. The actually bulk of the content edits came from my own decision to add layers to the story and make it less superficial.

Overall, expanded a 18k story to 20.5k. Finished my edits at 2:36 am.

Step #5:

Now we are at Day 3. Woke up feeling like a bus hit me. Staggered around. Went back to bed until noon. Got up, sat down, did a final read-though of Pawn Takes Rook. Tweaked a few things like words accidentally being merged and a couple errant punctuation marks. Welled with a bit of pride that holy crap this book is pretty freaking good now. Handed sent it back to my editor. Patted self on back.

Step #6:

Utterly panicked once again that I handed it into my editor. Suddenly, everything felt all too real. Like the book was now morphing into a really real book that other people are going to read. Watched The Blind Banker episode of BBC’s Sherlock as a reward. Because I likewise haven’t seen it yet. (I know. I know.) Went to bed. Proceeded to think about my edits all night in-between actually sleeping.

Step #7:

Real life continues anew. And if you kept track? Even if I edited the book in three days? I actually did it in a day.

Hard. Core.

I get to rinse, later, and repeat for second edits now. I’m way ahead of myself on panicking.

Originally published at Lex Chase. You can comment here or there.

The post How To Edit A Novella In Three Days appeared first on Lex Chase.

Happy New Year!

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Russia – 2013 – Courtesy of Reuters

It’s a New Year!

How did that happen? Not to point it out like the six billion people on the planet, it seems the Mayans had it wrong. Or someone horribly mistranslated somewhere along the way. Where’s that guy? I want his job. But without too much fanfare, and maybe a momentary holding of breath, the New Year is here.

Isn’t that cool? 2013. A year no one thought they’d ever really see. (Re: Mayans) And here it is. And here I am. Drawing breath on the first day of this auspicious occasion. I’ll call that a win.

And I’m Thankful

I’m thankful for the new beginning and the fresh start. I’m going to be embarking something I’ve never done before at the end of the month, and that’s going on a cruise and to Mexico with the family. More importantly, I’m going to be unplugged. For a week. No Twitter. No Facebook. No Email. No Laptop. I think either, I will One: Fall apart without my electronic tethers. Or Two: Be just ducky. I think Number Two will be the winner. I will be taking my Moleskine and a trusty gaggle of pens, because I will be worthless as a human being if I don’t get a moment or two to write.

I’m also thankful that as far as I understand, I should be getting my edits on Pawn Takes Rook this month. I don’t know when, I just know this month. I’m pretty excited in this next step in the process. Every day the whole idea of becoming a published author gets a little more real. I’m actually quite terrified I’m going to get eviscerated on Goodreads, but it’ll be a learning experience. You won’t know if you’ve arrived until someone trolls you with a terrible review, or writes slash fic about your characters.

Looking Forward

Looking forward, I have a new school semester coming up next week. It’ll either be a breeze, or it’ll put a major dent in my writing time again. I’m taking Philosophy of Film, Poetry Writing, and German II. The only class I expect to be somewhat difficult is German II, but I’m learning very quickly to expect the unexpected.

For new projects, I have to stay fluid on when I’m going to be able to squeeze the time into working on them. Life has kind of gotten in the way this week and I’ve had to reevaluate writing Pawn Takes Rook #3. I’m giving myself to the 20th to finish it now, but if I meet my daily goals, it’ll be in the can on the 13th which will be lovely.

Haven’t decided if I’m going to immediately dive into Pawn Takes Rook #4 afterwards, but the idea is tempting. This summer for sure, if not sooner, I’m going to pick up Americana Fairytale again and get that presentable. There’s been signs (like literal classic Americana signage) that I should pick it up again. You have no idea how much it pleases me Lucy the Elephant survived Hurricane Sandy. She has a prominent role in the book, and it would be highly upsetting if she no longer existed. Besides, out of all the locations in AF, I want to visit her the most. Talk about a bucket list item!

The Future Has Arrived, What Will You Do With It?

So, the Mayans, or some drunken translator had it all wrong. It’s 2013, and we’ll be writing 2012 on checks and paperwork until June. It’s the future. It’s a new year. It’s a fresh start. It’s time to take a leap, take a plunge, and do something you never thought you’d do. Do something you never thought you’d live to do. (Re: Mayans) So what will you do with this one life you’ve been given?

Barring oncoming fire and brimstone, rising tides, raining toads, I will be here. Writing stories about people that fall in love despite themselves. Telling the tales of two characters so screwed up as people that they’re perfect for each other.

Originally published at Lex Chase. You can comment here or there.

The post Happy New Year! appeared first on Lex Chase.

As The Dust Clears, Back To Writing!

A Happily Unexpected Christmas Gift!

Pawn Takes Rook Writing Status Report:

The good thing of my holiday break I have to report is I totally got Pawn Takes Rook #2 done. I gave myself a week to get it done and actually got done a day early. Which is good because I’ve been feeling a little sluggish as of late and I needed a few extra days to figure out what I was going to do with #3.

Taking a look at what I had going on this week, I decided to relax a little on my New Years Eve deadline on the third installment. There was Christmas Eve, Christmas, the After Christmas Sales, New Years, and varying commitments in-between that meant sitting to write was going to be harder to squeeze out. But, hey, I figured I go back to school on the 7th, as long as I get it done by the 6th I’m good to go. I’m already 5k in and I’m predicting this one not to be as long as the second. Maybe. It’s very action packed whereas the second was far more lovey dovey.

Annual Phat Lewt Report:

Christmas with the family was good. And as per my annual phat lewt report I got:

A chess set (Pictured) – Because I write a story about dudes that are based on chess pieces. I actually mentioned I wanted a chess set in passing. Like five seconds in that ‘I kind of want one, but it’s no big deal, it’s kind of silly’ way. Well, Mom went on this madcap adventure to find a chess set and ended up meeting the local chess club that meets at the same bookstore I hang out at. The guys ended up chatting her up, telling her what kind of set to buy, what kind of board to get, and that they’d totally teach me to play. I really do love it. Despite being all ‘It’s kind of silly. I don’t really need one.’ It’s honestly the only gift I asked for. I wonder if the chess club guys are going to be all ‘I know you!‘ when I approach them. Because I seriously see them all the time.
Princess Candace My Little Pony – From Dad and it’s the best thing ever. I collect My Little Ponies and I look at Princess Candace, and I look at her price tag, and I think in my head ‘If I put that in my cart, Mom will yell at me.’ So I never bought her myself. She’s big and her wings light up and move and she talks and everything and I’m totally five years old every time I look at her.
Cool Art Prints – From the Sis-In-Law. It’s photographs of graffiti on a building and one is of a little boy holding a demonic looking panther kind of cat that reads ‘He might look scary but he’s my best friend.’ It’s totally my little tuxedo girl Remmi and me to a T. Remmi creeps the hell out of my Sis-In-Law but she’s my little squishface.
Black Kitty slippers – From my Brother and Sis-In-Law and they keep my feet toasty warm.
A nice Starbucks tumbler – From Mom and Dad and a Starbucks Gift Card from the neighbor.

And then I was Santa to my feline children and got them catnip toys shaped like sushi, a tinsel-y thing on a stick that you dangle in front of them, and a puzzle game they have to figure out to get treats. Pootie loves the sushi, Remmi figured out the puzzle game in fifteen minutes, and the both lost their goddamn minds over the tinsel-on-a-stick. Best toy ever.

Smartphone Writing App of the Day: Write-O-Meter

The new smartphone app I found that I just adore is Write-O-Meter for my Android. I’ve only used it for two days and I find it much more user friendly than trying to wrestle my way through an Excel worksheet. My wordcount template sheet is by Jeffe Kennedy and while it’s awesome, I’m an Excel Newbie that still can’t figure out how to customize it to my needs. I usually spend 30 minutes after every writing session just figuring out the calculations.

Write-O-Meter has the ability to set wordcount goals for any number of projects and time frames to complete them. They also have a fully customizable Pomodoro timer. And you know how I am about the Pomodoro Technique.

So time to fire her up and off we go.

Originally published at Lex Chase. You can comment here or there.

The post As The Dust Clears, Back To Writing! appeared first on Lex Chase.

The Next Big Thing: Pawn Takes Rook

Today, it’s finally my turn for the Next Big Thing Blog Hop where authors talk about their up and coming project. My author sister from another mister Cate Ashwood tagged me, so here we go with the nitty-gritty on my novella Pawn Takes Rook!

What is the title of your book?

Pawn Takes Rook. Due out from Dreamspinner Press Spring 2013.

How did you come by the idea?

I’ve been a fan of superheroes since I was young. In another life, I wanted more than anything to be a comic book artist but as they say, life has a way of changing your priorities. One of my top favorite superheroes is Batman and his angst and tortured hero ways. But instead of writing a super dark story, why not have it told from the POV of his clueless hyperactive sidekick and make it a comedy? Thus the brooding death machine Memphis Rook and perky geek Hogarth Dawson were born.

What genre does your book fall under?

Gay Science Fiction Romantic Comedy

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?

 

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I think for Rook the closest thing I’m seeing in my head is if Josh Hollway (Sawyer from ABC’s Lost) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Thor, and did I mention Thor?) were put in a blender and press frappe. Rook is referred to as a brawny Viking quite a bit.

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For Hogarth he’s been ridiculously difficult to see in my head, but the closest I can come to is Chris Colfer (Kurt from Fox’s Glee). Actually the internet was kind enough to cough up this photo which is spot on Hogarth.

And because it is actually important and hilariously ironic, Captain Chivalry is absolutely without a doubt Brandon Routh (Superman of Superman Returns). I wouldn’t dare make him Christopher Reeve. Some things are just sacred.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

To repay a favor to the disgraced Rook, Hogarth concocts a scheme to get Rook back into the good graces of the Power Alliance and ride his coattails, but not everything is as it seems in the glamorous world of capes and cowls.

Do you have an agent or did you submit on your own?

I’m seeking an agent for another project, but thankfully Dreamspinner doesn’t require you to have an agent.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Pawn Takes Rook is a novella. That said, it took me four days to write it. The story goes was I was getting my wisdom teeth out that week and I had to get this story done or else I’d be drugged out of my gourd and lose the mojo. I was going to originally submit it to an anthology and the deadline seriously snuck up on me. Perhaps to my good fortune, the story ran long, and I couldn’t find 3k that I could just cut off. Instead, I had parts that needed expansion.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

The comic series The Authority by Wildstorm Comics of which Midnighter and his lover Apollo is from. It was the first mainstream comic series to feature an openly gay couple. The awesome part about it was it was Midnighter and Apollo were powerhouses of the team that happened to be gay. They were not gay superheroes. There’s a difference. I love stories with gay characters that the plot isn’t all about being gay. I love it when there are bigger things to deal with, like the world exploding in six seconds unless they don’t drive the bomb into the sun’s core.

The anthology submission in question had gay superheroes as a theme I had that “Ah-hah! Moment” and thought “Do you know anyone more qualified to write superheroes than you? NO!”

 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Perry Moore’s Hero, a gay YA with a teenage superhero. The protagonist is more levelheaded than Hogarth but even he has moments of dopey boy and his superhero crush. If the ending doesn’t make you cheer and then sob happy tears, you don’t know what you’re missing. Chip Kidd designed the book jacket to the hardcover, and I met him at a lecture once. Not only was he insanely witty and engaging, I had no idea how much he’d affect me from then on as I noticed a majority of the books I collected were because of his covers. Completely unrelated to my book, but the story of how the cover to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road came to be is a hilarious story. I had to read The Road for a class. And against my sense of reason McCarthy is one of my favorite authors.

As for comics related to Pawn Takes Rook: The Authority is a fantastic place to start. Besides Midnighter and Apollo, I’m cooking ideas for characters inspired by Jack Hawksmoor and Jenny Sparks. Jack Hawksmoor’s power is he controls urban environments and actually can’t live in rural areas with little to no pollution and clean drinking water. How weird and awesome is that! Jenny Sparks’ power is she is electricity. Plain and simple. What makes her different is she’s a Century Baby. Born at the first second of one century on New Year’s Day, lives a full 100 years, and then set to die at the last second of New Year’s Eve a hundred years later no matter what. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg of why The Authority is so freaking cool.

And on the other side of the coin: The Tick, a rather bizarre slapstick superhero comedy. The Tick and the cartoon Darkwing Duck is where I gather inspiration for my ridiculous superhero and villain names. The Tick has American Maid (a female Captain America) and Die Fledermaus (A pun on Batman). Also random battle cries of: “SPOON!” And Darkwing Duck has a rogue’s gallery like Negaduck, the Liquidator, Splatter Phoenix, Ammonia Pine, and dozens of others. They’ve inspired me for characters like Captain Chivalry, Pixel, Mr. Greenie Meanie, Ree-Alli-Tee, Wyld Stallyn, and Uniscorn. I feel like if you don’t get a giggle or grin from the name, I haven’t worked hard enough.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

For one, I am planning to make it a series of novellas, like issues of a comic book.

The most important detail is the book is rife with geeky pop culture references. For the person that can find all of them, or close to all of them, there might be a prize involved.

The types of stories I write I suppose you’d say my world is a bit idealized with the idea of homosexuality being something people don’t bat a lash at. In my stories there are always bigger issues than who is sleeping with whom. There are plenty of books out there that are the Coming Out Story, or the Struggling With Adversity Story, and they’re all amazing. But I’d like to see a world where we can move past that and learn that being gay is as normal as choosing what jeans to wear that day. The history of homosexuality is an important one, and mustn’t be forgotten, but there comes a time when you need to shake off the chains of angst and realize the world is very shiny and lovely. If we can have Dora the Explorer teach culture to preschoolers, Katniss Everdeen teach girls to kick ass and be strong, Harry Potter teach everyone that being weird and misunderstood is okay and makes you powerful, why can’t we have stories with gay protagonists that teach people being different is pretty super and everyone has the power to be a hero?

In conclusion you can find me at:

Facebook @ Lex Chase

Twitter @ Lex_Chase

Here at http://lexchase.com

Who I’m Tagging:

Tune in to these blogs their posts of awesomeness.

 

Darlene Henderson of Still Moments Publishing

 

Tali Spencer of Dreamspinner Press

 

Skylar M. Cates of Dreamspinner Press

 

Lily Grace of Dreamspinner Press

Originally published at Lex Chase. You can comment here or there.

The post The Next Big Thing: Pawn Takes Rook appeared first on Lex Chase.

Adventures In Publishing

Southern Snow in ATL!

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas even if here in Pensacola it’s been upper 70s on average. In December. And climate change isn’t a thing. And denial is a river in Egypt. But anyway.

Adventures in Publishing

Update on my adventures in the world of soon to be a published author. So far I have learned Pawn Takes Rook is on the deck for editing. I predict I’m going to get my edits probably in January. I had a dream I got my editing letter this morning saying “There really isn’t anything that needs to be done! It’s good to go!” Obviously, my psyche is setting me up for the largest of falls. I always say if an edited file doesn’t look like an editor opened a vein and bled all over it, no one learns anything.

Last week, I got my spec sheets for both the cover and blurb. Like you’d expect, I was doing my idiot Snoopy dance around the house. Considering I’ve spent an inhuman amount of time trying to picture my what DSP calls “Your Dream Cover,” I had no trouble filling out the questionnaire. The only hilarious part was wondering if I was that author that enclosed too many references. But all seems well, and now I just sit back and wait.

The spec sheet about the blurb fascinated me. It was balls hard, but fascinating. Turns out you don’t write your own blurb. Crazy, huh? There’s a lot of things I assumed as an unpublished author that I’m learning isn’t quite how it works as a soon-to-be published one. Things that you assume works one way, work entirely differently, but it’s fun learning along the way.

Pawn Takes Rook #2

The problem with being a writer is you never get an real vacation from being a writer. The only “vacation” as it were I got from writing was the Fall college semester, and even then all I could do was be cranky over how much I wanted to write. Now I’m on holiday break until January 7th, it’s all hands on deck to get Pawn Takes Rook #2 drafted.

In a fit of insanity, I’ve set the finishing goal for this coming Wednesday, take three days off to plan Pawn Takes Rook #3 and then write that in a week finishing on New Years Eve. I’m doubting my sanity, but with the limited time I have for holiday break you gotta do what you gotta do.

I’ve set myself the goal of writing 3k a day to get there. I’m 13.5k in and far I’ve written upwards of 4k two days in a row. Sure my sleep schedule is all out of whack and I’m starting to feel the creeping exhaustion, but I just might get there. Amazing what pushing yourself can do.

Coming To An eReader Near You: The Labor and Red Tide

I have a handful of short stories that are just a little too out there to get into the market. Such as the Post-Apocalyptic story The Labor, which is based on a series of shorts I did for fun in a universe called Red Tide. The Labor and Red Tide are just weird, they mingle genres like Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Survival Horror, and Romantic Drama in all one gooey gob. In any event, I’m likely going to format them for Kindle and Nook and let them be free reads. Perhaps it might make me continue the story, which honestly I was making up as I went.

When Pawn Takes Rook gets closer to a release date, I’ll definitely have them available by then.

Originally published at Lex Chase. You can comment here or there.

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