Crystal Raen's Blog, page 2

On Editing Older Writings

Child of Galina was very difficult for me to edit. C.o.G. was first completed in 2006. The first time I edited this novel a year was spent on it. Scenes were added, sentences (and even paragraphs) cut. Descriptions were gone over with a fine tooth comb. Everything was saved to my laptop and backed up on a flash drive.

I was finally finished and started sending C.o.G. out to publishers.

A few months later my laptop crashed in a MAJOR way. Even the operating system was gone, not to mention my files, photos...everything. But that was okay, most of that stuff was on my flash drive in my desk. No worries.

I worked on my laptop, re-installing everything I needed. Now to get my flash drive and open up my files and re-save them to the ol' un-trusty laptop. I open the desk drawer that I keep the flash drive in and it isn't there. I search the other drawers, no dice. I search my purses, laptop case, dresser drawers, end tables, night stands, under the couch cushions, everything in that house was turned upside down.

I never did find the flash drive, and it's whereabouts are still a mystery 7 years later. I did, however, find the first rough draft of Child of Galina. I put it away, heartbroken that over an entire year's worth of work was gone.

2013 arrived. Many, many things had changed in my life since I lost the final version of C.o.G. in 2007. I was in a  better place physically and emotionally. I'd moved home, gotten a divorce, went a little wild, got a job, calmed down, started dating, went back to college, changed jobs, got engaged, graduated college, got a house, got married, new job started stressing me out and killing my soul so at night when insomnia haunted me, I edited the original rough draft of Child of Galina, and there waiting for me were memories of some of the things i'd gone through that nearly broke me and the reasons why coming back home had saved my life.

Editing C.o.G. from the viewpoint of having come through it all was much more difficult than when I edited it the first time. Some things were lost in translation as a different person was editing the novel than the person who had written it.

Child of Galina will always be where I truly started as a writer, but I have more stories in me, some that I'm working on right now and I hope to do justice to my new stories, better than I was able to give to C.o.G.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

Christmas Eve is here and I've realized that I've not updated this website since I was laid off from my job in August.

I healed from my surgery with no noticeable issues. I also was able to find another job by the time September rolled around and so far I am very happy in my new position. I am working at a training center facility that is ran by my state's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as an executive secretary.

Also in this time I was informed that I had a poem I submitted published in The Book of the Tribes. Which is pretty exciting for me.

As of this posting there are only 15 copies left of the soft back version of The Book of the Tribes. It can be purchased at http://www.ozhorrorcon.com/apps/webstore/products/show/4171409.


Also, in my new job I've had a lot more free time, most of it has been spent catching up with friends, family, and doing a bit of crafting, now that things are beginning to calm down I'm hoping to take up writing again, both online and working on my next book. So be sure to look for more postings from me here as well as over on Clive Barker Cast.

Dealing with Job Loss

Getting laid off or having your position within a company be terminated can be hard. Especially in this economy. I've been dealing with having this happen to me within just the past week. The shock of it has finally worn off, the fact that I actually have a bit of free time while searching for another job is opening itself up to me.

However, with the stress of having just gone through surgery and then losing my job I managed to catch a hell of a cold. So this past week has also been spent trying to get better without going to the doctor because with the loss of my income I don't want to waste any money on things that can be avoided or done without. I'm finally on the mend and my fever has broken so I think that avoiding a copay at my doctor's office will be possible.

Thinking about things like that is a bit scary as well. What can I do without, what can I do to make our money stretch further right now so that we aren't facing foreclosure on our home in a few months if it takes me longer than expected to find another job. What kind of job do I even want to pursue...

It is like being a scared kid all over again, except now instead of being afraid of the monster under the bed, I'm afraid of putting too much strain on my husband, afraid of not finding another job, afraid of, well, everything. When you were nearly living paycheck to paycheck anyway losing a job is even scarier.

I know I'm not the first one to face this, especially in this economy, but for me this is a first time experience. I've never been fired or laid off before now. I've got a lot of emotions. Some are good, some are dark. But I'll just face this one day at a time as I do everything else. In the meantime I'm going to try to make more time for writing on here, writing for the Clive Barker Cast and writing my next book. I might even get the house cleaned in my spare time. LOL.

Character Profile: Captain Faryl

I'm going to do some character profiles on the secondary characters from Child of Galina. I'm doing this to help open up the world of Galina to the readers a little bit more.

Captain Faryl:

Age: Unknown, guessed to be around 30 the first time he meets David Bahzro.
Race: Dreymew
Physical Description: Nearly 6 feet tall, mostly covered in tawny colored fur, human torso with a mane around the face instead of hair. Legs are those of a lion accompanied by a tail that can alert others to the inner feelings of the Dreymew. Like most Dreymews, Faryl became a soldier as it is their nature to fight.
Characteristics: Loyal, Fighter, Brave, Strong, Forgiving with time

Captain Faryl is highly thought of within the Dreymew community and beyond it. He is ruthless in his training of the soldiers beneath him, but it is for their own good. He wants his soldiers to always be on the ready for it may mean their lives if they are not trained properly. Faryl is loyal to the Bahzro family due to Keila's kindness towards him and his Dreymew bretheran.

Books to Movie - Dream Adaptations

It is rare that a film gets the full spectrum of emotion and story that a book can impart upon someone. But there are a few that get it right. I'm hoping to see The Great Gatsby soon and I hope that it is not one of the disappointing literary to film creations.

To see what other people were looking forward to or enjoyed in the past as far as book to movie adaptations that have taken place or will take place I posed this question on Twitter:


So what are people looking forward to, daydreaming about, or have enjoyed as far as book adaptations go?


So the list on Twitter was

Thief of Always by Clive Barker (I hope that this becomes a movie one day).
Monster Hunter Inc.by Larry Correia (I haven't read this one yet, but am adding it to my list now)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin (Choose your pick of movie adaptations on this one)
Immortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

I did have some replies on Facebook as well to this question.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Under the Dome by Stephen King
The Cement Garden - Andrew Birkin
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ulysses - James Joyce

So what books to movies have you enjoyed, are looking forward to, or wish would happen?

Writing Techniques

When reading other people's techniques to how they write their stories and novels I've decided I must be the odd man(woman) out. I don't really plan my stories. I let the characters lead me where they want to go. Once they've finished telling me their story I go back through and fix the things that either have too much or not enough information. I make sure they left no dangling ends in the story line and brush it all up for them. I don't have an outline or a synopsis.

I've tried writing with an outline before. It felt overly forced and fake to me.

Don't tell my teachers this, but even in school when we had to write a story outline and turn it in before we started writing our stories I would write the entire story then write the outline after. While everyone else was writing their first drafts I was going through my story to make sure there weren't any glaring errors in the storyline. I tried the outline, it didn't work for me.

Now don't get me wrong, I've read authors who swear by the outline and they have phenomenal stories. It just isn't for me.

I would love to hear your experience with various writing techniques!

Daydreaming and New Ideas

There's a character that has taken up residence in my mind as I've began writing my next book. Her name is Celeste and she is definitely interesting to me. I had planned on someone else being the main character, but her personality is not going to stand for that, she is demanding to take up a bit of the story line and it seems like the story she has to share is going to be an interesting one. Can't wait to see more of the secrets that she has to share!

Child of Galina in Paperback

I've finally finished proofing and fixing the formatting issues with the paperback version of Child of Galina. It is now available on Amazon.com and on Barnes & Noble's website. If you want to buy it at your local bookstore ask them and see if they are willing to order it in for you!

I'm really excited about this next step in my novel and I've got to get started on figuring out the marketing aspect of everything. Any tips? Please share them with me!


Prefer to get Child of Galina on the Kindle? Go to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C90G8DM

More than Fear - A Collection of Poems

I've been writing poetry since I was old enough to hold a crayon. Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. You know the sort of thing children like to write. I became obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven at a very young age, and while I may aspire to his greatness, I'm not sure there are many who ever will.

I came across a notebook filled with poems from over the past 15 years of my life. I chose the ones that I felt were the best and compiled a small poetry collection called More than Fear.


If you like poetry, I encourage you to check this book out. It is an outpouring of my soul into the written word, during times that I could not express myself verbally. I hope if you read these poems that you will enjoy them. 

Child of Galina Book Proof

Received the proof for the paperback version of Child of Galina today. If I am absent it is because I'm busy using all my spare time to review it so that it can be approved and ready for purchase.


I'm super excited about this next step in publishing Child of Galina. Wish me luck in my endeavors!