Raima Larter's Blog, page 2

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Is there a silver lining in all this? Not sure..but holding onto hope.

For more Wordless Wednesday, check the main site.

For more of my photos, see Flickr.

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Annual Writing Report

Here we go, almost the end of another year, so it's time for my annual writing report. This post will be a little longer than normal, since I have a few categories to cover. In summary, though, I'm happy with the way things went this year in my writing life. I've spent a lot more time writing, thanks to the support of other writers and teachers.

I'm sure some people think that writing is a solitary venture, and it does involve a lot of time spent alone, but without the support of the writing community, I would get almost nothing done. So--thank you to all who have accompanied me on my writing journey this year! You know who you are!

Submissions: I had a goal to submit 50 times this year and I managed 46...so far! There's a few days left in the year, though so I still hope to reach this goal.

Short Stories Published: It was a pretty lean year, with only one story published. I can trace this to a paltry submission rate in 2023, when I only submitted 23 times. (Hence this year's more generous goal!) Thank you, Gone Lawn, for publishing my strange little story, We Have Always Lived on the Earth.

Books Published: I'm very proud to report that my first science fiction novel was published this year. The Kiss Catastrophe came out in paperback, hardback, and e-book form in early June. You can buy it in all three formats on Amazon, but the paperback is available on Bookshop where you can order through your local bookstore. I also have signed copies if you'd like one! Just send me an email (raima.larter@gmail.com) or find it in my online store.

Time Spent Writing: Last year I noticed a distinct and disturbing downward trend in the amount of time I'd logged writing. I keep track of my writing time, as I do for other things that it's easy to fool myself about, so I knew that my sense that I wasn't writing, even though I wanted to, was real. I have done better this year, as can be seen in this graph. There's still a ways to go to get back to those impressive numbers (achieved during the covid pandemic....probably not unrelated!) but I'm happy with the upward tick in the trend.

Reading: Writers must read; there's no way around it, and reading books was also something that fell off for me in recent years. So, I've made an effort to read more and my local library has been a huge help in that regard, since I'm out of bookshelf space at home! I signed up for the Goodreads Challenge this year with a goal to read 25 books--and I crushed that goal. 32 books read so far, with another about half finished and likely to be added to the total before the calendar turns over to 2025 in a few days. Some favorites this year have been City of Dancing Gargoyles, by my friend Tara Campbell, a strange post-apocalyptic world peopled by some odd but very engaging characters (yes, some are gargoyles); Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel (finally read it and wish I had done so sooner! Fantastic time-travel tale); and a whole slew of books by Alexander McCall-Smith who I'd never heard of until this year when I stumbled on his books at the library. These very cozy reads were just what I needed this year, and help explain how I smashed my reading goal. If you like humorous BBC programs, you'll love these light tales.

Other Writing-Related Activities: I continued my volunteer work as Nonfiction Editor for Utopia Science Fiction Magazine. We are still going strong and were excited, this year, to increase our pay rates for writers to what is considered the "professional level" for scifi magazines. I also took a few classes, mostly at the Lighthouse, Denver's fantastic writers center, but also a few online. And I've spent quite a bit of time meeting (usually via Zoom, but sometimes in person) with several groups of writers for help critiquing each others' work and just generally supporting one another on the journey. Thanks to all of you; you know who you are!

In the Works for Next Year: I am currently working on copy edits for a novella, Silver Rush, which I plan to publish next year, probably early summer. This novella is a spin-off featuring characters from my earlier novel, Belle o' the Waters, and follows the saga of Maggie and Silas McPhee as they travel the US in the 1850s, each seeking a different goal (hint: Silas is looking for silver!) I will have more to say about this project soon.

That's it! Sorry for being so wordy...but it was a pretty good year, at least in my writing life. I hope your year was good, too. On to 2025!

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Thankfully Reading

November 27, 2024

Fourteen years ago, in 2010, I participated in an online reading challenge over the Thanksgiving weekend and I just discovered that it's happening again! This event is hosted by Jenn, a book reviewer in the DC metro area where I used to live. Count me in!

The point of the challenge is to encourage people to relax and enjoy the holiday rather than stressing out over cooking and shopping and travel. People who participate use the hashtag #thankfullyreading to post updates about their reading throughout the weekend. I'll still be cooking, but will definitely be reading in those moments when I'm waiting for the bread dough to rise, the pie to bake, etc.

I am especially grateful to be able to participate in this challenge this year, since it wasn't that long ago I was finding it difficult to read at all. I posted about that here and am happy to report that this year is totally different. In fact, I've met and surpassed my Goodreads Challenge of 25 books for the year and have just started my 28th, another installment in the Corduroy Mansions series by Alexander McCall-Smith. These easy-going, cozy books are just the thing I've needed to read this year...which may explain why I've already read 8 of them! Onto to #9.

And for my US readers, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Happy reading!

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November is coming....

For the last 13 years, I have participated in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. I've not always "won" this event, which generally requires writing 50,000 words during the month of November, but I've always benefited from it. I've completed and published two novels that started in NaNo, drafted two novellas that may someday see the light of day, and made progress on two more novels. 

This time I hope to draft more material for a book I started last summer. I love the sense of immersion in another world that happens when I participate in this event, and I'm looking forward to starting again tomorrow.

One note, I feel I should make: the NaNoWriMo organization has had a number of difficulties this year, largely stemming from their lack of moderation of social media spaces they maintained for young writers. The organization's response to this is posted here, so I won't repeat all this - and I don't actually know all the details. 

This controversy has led some participants to leave, but I've decided to stay. I feel the current organizers are doing their best in a difficult situation. I don't believe we should leave, or threaten to leave, whenever a group (or, ahem, country) does something we disagree with, It doesn't solve anything or help anybody to walk away when someone disappoints you. 

So, I'm cleaning my desk and making room for a new writing project. See you on the other side, with (hopefully) 50,000 new words that haven't yet been written.

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Goodreads Giveaway

I am giving away 5 signed paperback copies of my latest book. Sign up at Goodreads for your chance to win!

Goodreads Book Giveaway The Kiss Catastropheby Raima Larter

Giveaway ends September 21, 2024.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

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New Release!

Get your copy here!

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Publication Day!

And it's here! My new novel has just been published today. It is now available in paperback and hardcover but you can pre-order the e-book version, which is due out July 1. As the book percolates through the system, it will become available at local bookstores and through bookshop.org. And I'll have some copies on hand. Let me know if you'd like one!

Although not my first novel, this is my first science fiction book, and I'm very excited about it. I hope you enjoy it!

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Coming Soon!

My new novel will be available in just a little over a month! 

Publication day is set for June 3. Here's a short synopsis for you:

It is 2071, 29 years after Earth's Great Climate Catastrophe. Syd, a chemist at a powerful mega-corporation, meets Jake who takes her to a cave that contains a portal to another planet, Cascadia an oceanic world suffering its own climate crisis. Meanwhile on Cascadia, Ruddy, a poet employed by the Ministry of Poetry is pursued by resistance forces of an enslaved minority, the In-Between, who see him as the key to their deliverance. An explosion strands him and an In-Betweener scientist on Earth and the four must join forces to save both planets from their climate crises.

I will have pre-order information for you soon, so stay tuned!

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Happy Birthday

Five years ago today, my first novel was published, and things have not been the same since! Although Fearless was the first to be published, it wasn't the first novel I'd ever written. In fact, it was the third. The second one (Belle o' the Waters) came out a few months after Fearless, and as to the first? Well, let's just say it is STILL a work in progress. Maybe some day!

You can still buy Fearless directly from the publisher, New Meridian Arts. Another way to purchase it is through Bookshop.org, which allows buyers to designate their own local bookstore to receive a portion of the funds. It's a great deal and helps support both independent publishers and independent bookstores. Fearless is also available on Amazon and B&N. 

And, yes, I can send you a signed copy if you'd like. Find those here.

Finally, to celebrate this milestone, I'm excited to announce that my latest book, Motherhood and Other Magical Realms, is available as a free Kindle e-book all this week! From Feb. 27 - March 2, you can download this collection of sometimes weird stories for no money at all. Someone once asked me if the collection is "memoir," and I had to laugh -- because, no, it isn't, but yes, it IS in a way! All of these stories came from my life, even the ones that some might feel are impossible (like the one about humans who live on the moon). 

Thanks for all your support through the years and happy reading!

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A Return to Reading

I have always been a big reader. I zipped through books as a kid like I was drinking water, and although my interests evolved over time, I really never stopped reading. Until I did.

The Covid pandemic brought a halt to my ability to read a book. In recent years, I've logged my reading on Goodreads and, as can be seen in the above screenshot, my reading took a nosedive just as Covid surged. I suspect it wasn't just the pandemic that caused this, but everything happening in the world - I couldn't let go of reality long enough to lose myself in a book, and it shows in my reading challenge statistics.

The low point occurred in 2021, with only 3 books read. Two of these were books written by friends; the third is a book of poetry that I don't even remember reading. It distressed me that I wasn't reading, but not enough to do anything about it. 

And then I was asked to write a selection for the Washington Independent Review of Books column Bedtime Stories, where authors write about what they're reading. Panic! What could I do....but be honest. So, I was, and talked about how I couldn't focus on books anymore, but fondly remembered books I'd read in the past. It's still posted here, if you're interested in reading my rambles.

In 2022, I decided I needed to at least try. I started with another book by a writer I personally know: "The Other Ones," by Dave Housley. This turned out to be a great read, but I still couldn't get into novels. The next book I tried was nonfiction: "American Republics," by Alan Taylor. This fascinating history of the US and Canada in the period before the US Civil War kept my attention all the way through, and I was able to read the whole thing.

I tried a few more novels after that, and really enjoyed "News of the World," by Paulette Jiles. I'd never heard of this author, but found this short novel in a Little Library in my neighborhood. The short length helped me finish, but the story and the writing were both fantastic. That year, I also enjoyed "Sleepwalk," by Dan Chaon, a bizarre but totally compelling thriller about a near-future world much like our own.

I still felt like I was not reading, though, and months would go by without me picking up a single book. I decided enough was enough; I needed to approach this the way I do my running. I needed to go back into training - put myself on a schedule and read at least one book each month. It worked!

Last year, I exceeded my Goodreads goal of one book a month, and I have kept the momentum going. I am currently on my fifth book of the year in 2024, so have gone back to my goal of 25 books per year, a goal I never had trouble reaching before the near-end of my reading life. 

There are no shortage of books to read, after all. One favorite among the five I've read so far this year is Jill McCorkle's new book, "Old Crimes: and Other Stories," which I found on the "New Books" shelf at the library. I've become a regular at the local branch of my public library. This is the way it should be. This is who I am: a reader.

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