Kate Lowell's Blog, page 28

Three Dirty Birds, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, and Chapter 2: Characterization and Exposition

Over at Zoe’s blog today!

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: writing advice

Checking Out Publishers Part 3

This is going to be the weird part, because it’s the part where I argue both for and against having more than one publisher. I’ve already had this argument with myself, several times, and here’s how it came out.

 

 

Pros:

Different publishers have different audiences. The people that read Dreamspinner may overlap with Loose Id, but not all of them. The ones who read Riptide may overlap with Samhain, but not all of them. Moving a book or books to another publisher gets my name in front of a group of people who might, otherwise, have been unaware of me.

Some books are better suited to certain publishers, whether judged by genre or amount of sex. I know, if I’m planning on something for Loose Id, there better be lots of hot sex, and sexual tension, or it’s not going to fit their brand. But I don’t always write high sex stories, and I have a few that are sitting on my hard drive because I’m wavering between jacking up the content, or hunting for another pub.

Some publishers are better at different genres than others, or have a decided preference for them. Riptide likes military and police stories, though they’re actively pushing to expand that range. Loose Id really likes scifi and urban fantasy, and seems to do well with it. Dreamspinner puts out a lot of epic/high/paranormal fantasy. Samhain seems to be strong in contemporary. I’m not sure about Carina–they don’t seem to have developed a brand for their MM yet. Siren does well with shifters and ménage, the hotter the better.

Working with different editors. I really like the Editor in Question, but I often wonder–just like moving to a different sports coach or teacher in school–if there are things that I could learn to do better with another editor. Notice I don’t say “in place of”, but in addition to. I’m not willing to give her, or my family at Loose Id, up.

Branding by publisher might make it easier for readers to see right away what they’re getting, just from the cover styles. Riptide’s covers are very different from Samhain’s, which are different from Dreamspinner, which are different from…you get the gist.  With so many people buying from places like Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble, visual genre differentiation is important so readers don’t end up with a book that isn’t what they assumed it would be.

In the case of financial or sales issues, such as what’s happening with Ellora’s Cave and Musa, it means that all your eggs aren’t in that one basket.

Cons:

It makes scheduling releases a little more complicated, since I’d be working with two or more sets of release schedules. Which happened last year, when my original release schedule had two books coming out within two weeks of each other. (Thank heavens, that changed.)

Editorial styles could get confusing. Particularly for the grammar bits and pieces.

If I want readers to buy straight from the publisher, since that keeps more money in my pockets and the pockets of the people who make it all possible for me, should I make it more difficult for readers to do that? As in, if one book they’re interested in is at Loose Id and the other at Dreamspinner, will they go through the trouble of setting up an account at both pubs, or will they just go to Amazon?

I know I have a good editor at Loose Id. The idea of going to another pub and not being happy with editing or other aspects of the process makes me extremely uneasy. And, since you have to sign the contract before you can even start editing, it’s like buying a pig in a poke. You have to take the seller’s word that you’ll be happy. (Though I suppose I could argue for a clause letting me out in the case that I’m really disturbed or upset by the editing. The issue there is that you don’t always realize what’s being missed until the reviews start rolling in.)

I’m still slightly on the ‘more pubs is better’ side, but I waver a lot. Currently, my plan is to try it out with one book, which has the potential to become a series. We’ll see after that. I’ve become a lot more cautious after the past year and I have no plans to scatter stories hither and yon over the internet.

Still not sure which pub to try first. :P

Filed under: writing Tagged: choosing a publisher

Three Dirty Birds Talk about Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

The dirty birds are back, chirping about a new book. This time we’re tackling Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – How to edit yourself into print by Renni Browne and Dave King.

Kate: The first chapter talks about Show and Tell, which is a big thing that writers need to learn at the beginning of their career. Not just which one to use when, but to recognize when they’re using it incorrectly as well.

Ana: It’s probably the first thing you find in most writing books. And I recommend actually reading about this in a writing book, because when you get all your advice on this from the Internet, the Internet will tell you that telling is always bad. Always. You’ll go to hell for it.

Zoe: Yes, I liked the explanation of when narrative summary was a better choice than writing the information out in a scene. One important point they brought up was that it gives readers a chance to breathe, that it helps vary the “rhythm and texture” of your writing. Scenes are important, but one after another after another can be exhausting, and the reader can start to tune out if there’s no variation. Although really knowing when to use scene and when to use summary is an art you develop over time, through reading and writing and editing (and critiquing others!).

Kate: I like her explanation that in summary, you’re engaging your reader’s mind, and in scene, you’re engaging their emotions. Which brings us back to her comment that the first chapter is not the place for a lot of summary.

Ana: I wish a lot of beginning writers I critique would take this to heart.

Kate: I’ve seen a lot of potentially excellent science fiction and fantasy stories ruined by the big narrative summary of the history that brought us to this point. No, just…no. Engage me before you start throwing information at me.

Zoe: There’s also nothing more frustrating than going through four pages of a mundane, fully detailed scene only to have the thing you were actually waiting to see happen rushed through in narrative summary. I wish I didn’t have so many examples jumping to the front of my mind on this, but… *sigh* (And not just from beginning writers, either.)

Ana: So she gives an example of a book that was improved by having the events of weeks and months summarized in narrative summary instead of showing a few single scenes. I can’t help wondering how long that narrative summary ended up being.

Zoe: With a skilled writer, it could have been just a paragraph or two. You can get away with a sketch…but most people don’t even try to.

Kate: it’s a tough skill. I’m working on improving my command of it, but it’s a bigger challenge than it looks. Which is why you should practice it.

Zoe: Yes, you have to be able to pick out which events are the key ones, and then come up with something that encapsulates them. In an engaging yet tell-y way.

Ana: It’s something I considered doing with my last wip, where originally I needed a few weeks to pass where the characters could get to know each other, but it felt boring just writing it all out. It stopped the pacing dead, so I thought of summarising it. But then I ended up not doing it because I wasn’t sure I could do it right, or that it wouldn’t feel rushed… I ended up just changing the premise to avoid the problem altogether.

Zoe: That works! Browne and King also talk about not just scene vs. summary but the use of telling within scenes. This probably drives me away from more books than anything else, all the unnecessary telling when really the author should be showing me how the characters feel, think, and react. I don’t want to know that “she was scared.” I want to see her fear. I don’t want to know that she spoke “eagerly.” I want to see her tripping over her words or dropping things or whatever. Let me infer from that. Let me use my brain!

Ana: You know what really bothers me? Telling that follows showing. Like the writer does a totally fine job of showing me an emotion, only to name it again a sentence later just to make sure I really got it.

Zoe: YES! And when it precedes the showing as well. Don’t tell me what’s going to happen. Just show it.

Kate: It’s a good reminder. I’ve pulled quite a few things out of the latest revision, just because they reminded me about that. It’s not something I do anymore, but this is an older manuscript, and I hadn’t learned that yet.

Zoe: So did you guys do the exercises at the end of the chapter?

Kate: Eeeeh, kind of. I didn’t write anything down, but I looked to see what I would change. I think I was stopped by it because I was trying to stay within the same approximate wordage, and they don’t expect that. (This is a personal brain issue for me, and may not apply to other writers.)

Zoe: I skipped them because I do the same sort of thing so freaking often when I’m Amazon Look-Insiding books to read. (As you two, beneficiaries of my rewrites and rants, are aware.)

Kate: Some day, we need to talk about the benefits of reading bad fiction. Because I’ve learned a lot, skewering the Look-Insides.

Ana: If there’s new holes in my walls by the time I move out, it’ll be because of the Amazon Look-Inside…

Zoe: It’s more like a hole in my liquor cabinet here.

Kate: Ana just wants more windows. Me, I usually find I feel better about my writing. Even if I’m not always consistent, and some stuff gets past me, it’s good to know  I can recognize it, which gives me hope I’ll start recognizing it more regularly in my own. (Or, hopefully, discover that I’m not doing it as much.)

Zoe: I feel better about my writing, worse about the state of the world.

Ana: Yeah, that’s what the liquor is for.

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing

(Early) Tuesday Tickle: Bite Me

The Dirty Birds had a scheduling conflict, so the first post on our new book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne, will begin tomorrow.

In the meantime, have a bit of young Glyn. I don’t know if this will make it into the book. still struggling through PTSD and not always making good choices, but this part’s a bit of a laugh, so I thought I’d share it.

 

“Get where, Gram? Are you kicking me out?” This would be the third time his family had dumped him on someone else.

 

 

“You’re going to Yale. Glynnie, you never go anywhere, you little house-mouse. No, you need to see the world. I’ve booked plane tickets since you don’t like travelling Underhill, and we’ll find you a house or an apartment or a swinging bachelor pad—whatever you want.”

 

 

“But, Gram…” He knew it. He’d gone too far with the C4 last week. Still, he could hardly regret it; it had been a glorious explosion, and one exterior wall had been small recompense for the spell Geneth had put on him the week before. Glyn still fought the urge to fall to his knees and bow every time his cousin came around—part of why he was hiding in the tree this afternoon.

 

Filed under: Bite Me, Tuesday Tickle Tagged: mm romance, shifters, teaser, witch

Three Dirty Birds Talk Blurbs and Back-cover Copy

Over at Ana’s blog today!

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing

The Three Dirty Birds Sing Farewell to Story Trumps Structure

We sing a fond, or not so fond, farewell to Steven James and Story Trumps Structure, over on Zoe’s blog.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Tuesday Tickle: A Knight in Shining Kevlar

I’m deep into the revisions on this story, so of course that’s where my mind is when I go looking for Tickles. This bit occurs fairly early in the story, on Ben and Ross’s first date. (No guarantees that this will stay in this form, or that it will even appear in the final manuscript. The story’s in a pretty amorphous state at the moment, being stretched in some places, compressed in others. I love these lines, but I won’t know if they are appropriate until I get a bit more tweaking done.)

Ross pulled back and tugged on the front of his coat. “So I’m not the only one feeling this?” he asked, eyes wide and dark in the streetlights.

Ben shook his head.

Ross nodded, as if he’d suddenly come to a decision. “Good. It’s spooky.” He ran his thumb across Ben’s mouth again, then patted Ben’s chest. “Dinner.” He walked around to the passenger door and waited for Ben to unlock the car.

Ben stood a moment, stunned, and then scrambled to hit the door locks. He settled himself into the driver’s seat, put on his seatbelt and was leaning over to put the key in the ignition when Ross said, “Ben?”

He sat back. “Yes?”

Ross looked toward him. “Just so we’re clear on how this night ends, I’m not sleeping with you.”

Ben leaned forward and started the car. “I wouldn’t expect you to.” He smiled a secret smile at Ross’s small “Oh.” Good to know he could throw the other man as off-balance as he felt.

Filed under: A Knight in Shining Kevlar, Tuesday Tickle Tagged: mm romance, police, stalking

Three Dirty Birds Talk Story Trumps Structure and Story Gimmicks

Today on Dirty Birds, we’re talking about the last chapter in Steven James’s Story Trumps Structure–Gimmicks.

Ana: I like the first line already: “If your novel isn’t entertaining, it’s not worth reading.” I think this is also why a lot of novels that aren’t that well written do better than some that are; they’re entertaining.

Zoe: For people who don’t get headaches when they read clunky writing…yes, they’re entertaining!

Kate: My first ever experience of editing in my head while reading happened a few years ago. I still finished the book, because I liked the characters and it was a good story, just clunky writing. I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything by that author since, though.

Zoe: Readers can forgive a lot if you’re pushing their (good) buttons. Plus, writing is easy to fix—it can be tightened and cleaned up. But telling a good story is hard, writing engaging and interesting characters is hard, drawing readers into the story is hard, leaving them satisfied at the end is hard.

Kate: It is, which is why I’m so conflicted about the author I mentioned above. I’m much pickier about the writing mechanics now than I used to be, so I’m afraid to try any of this person’s other books, but I keep looking at them.

Ana: Sometimes I wish I weren’t so picky about mechanics, but studying writing just does that to you. I still remember fondly the times I could lose myself in really crappy fanfictions.

Zoe: I used to read the hell out of Sidney Sheldon…and now I’m afraid to open one of his books. Over the years, the highs get higher when I find good writing—because I know more about what makes it great—but the lows get more plentiful.

Ana: Good point. I do appreciate some books more now than I would have some years ago, simply because I can appreciate the work that went into them. But, sometimes, I think we need to remember that the average reader doesn’t care that much about the rules.

Kate: So, you can worry less about your mechanics if you can tell a rollicking good story with great characters. In this chapter, James talks about Gimmicks, and warns the young writer to stay as far away from them as possible, because it spoils your story. (And here I am trying to be clever, when James says to NOT DO THAT!)

Zoe: His first advice is to stop trying to be that, yes.

Ana: I find it funny that he mentions trying to write books without a semicolon. I’ve heard some editors at certain publishers hate semicolons with a passion and so writers shy away from using them.

Zoe: I can verify that there are publishers that will edit out the semicolons (or ask you to).

Kate: Yes. Which makes me all the more likely to use them. Because I actually do know how to. (contrary Kitty)

Zoe: They’re a tool. They have a purpose.

Ana: I think my editor put like 90 semicolons into Lab Rat’s Love. Taught me never to comma splice again.

Zoe: Good!

Kate: I had to laugh when he talked about people picking a number of words and writing their story so it’s exactly that amount. Is that a thing? Have I been doing this all wrong? o.O

Zoe: I hadn’t heard of that for novel-length works (like he mentions), but it’s of course a thing for very short stories. (And I used to love writing to exactly 100 words. You learn a lot about tightening, and what’s really important to the story, that way.)

Ana: One author I read recently talked about her plotting process and she mentioned having a number of words for every scene she writes so that when she’s done with a scene she can check if it’s not too short. Like, if she wants a scene to be 1000 words (she sets the amount while plotting) and it ends up only being 700, she finds ways to add more words. (I do not think this is a good approach.)

Zoe: No, it seems kind of arbitrary.

Ana: It made me see why some of her book dragged.  I guess sometimes we think important scenes SHOULD take a lot of words, but quite often, they don’t.

Kate: I was just going to say, it would make me worry about adding fluff. The comment on the dialogue tags was spot on. When, or have they, stopped teaching students to use all sorts of different words instead of said?

Zoe: I don’t remember being taught either way (but school was a loooong time ago).

Ana: It’s different in German. We love our variations of said. The first time I read a book in English (Harry Potter) I thought all the ‘said’ all the time was off-putting. But I got used to it.

Kate: I wonder if that will come back in style again some day. I will occasionally use something else, but only if using that different attribution will save me words elsewhere in the text. Mostly, I try to stick to action tags or beats if I can.

Zoe: I probably use a word other than said once or twice per novel.

Ana: I use ‘shout’ or ‘whisper’ occasionally. Sometimes my characters mutter or mumble.

Kate: Those are good ones. Because there’s more than one word’s meaning in them.

Zoe: My characters ejaculate from time to time, but not with their mouths.

Kate: Lol. James also talks about vocabulary. Now, my mother loves to read books where she needs a dictionary to understand them. (My mother is weird.) But most people don’t. So, unless you can get the meaning of your new word across in the context, it’s probably better to find some other word to use. I totally agree with James on this one.

Ana: Yeah, one author I occasionally read, the first thing I think when I see her name is: Oh, it’s the one with all the big words I never know.

Zoe: He also says to avoid the temptation to impress your readers with your knowledge of the flora and fauna of western North Carolina, which was a huge relief, because it means I don’t have to go outside. (I can see western NC from here. I’m sure their flora and fauna has crossed over the TN line.)

Kate: I see this in critiquing a lot, and have to watch out for it myself. You’ve done so darn much research, you can’t wait to trot it out. But does the story need it? Probably not, especially if it turns your entire first chapter into an info-dump, with only a couple of lines of action. (I have, indeed, seen this.)

Ana: I’d be surprised if anyone who’s ever critiqued hasn’t seen it.

Zoe: And next James talks about style. Which is something I don’t have.

Kate: Writing, Zoe. Not clothes.

Zoe: No, even there. I always think of my writing as “utilitarian.” I don’t care about “style”—I want to disappear. I don’t want you to realize you’re reading. When I’m editing on a word- or sentence-level, I’m busy removing speedbumps and “style.”

Ana: I’m kind of the same there. I think of my ‘style’ as ‘simple.’ Still, people have told me they like my voice and I’m like, I have a voice? But at the same time I’ve been told it’s not something you usually see yourself. I’ve even read somewhere that authors shouldn’t try to figure out their voice because when you do, it becomes something constructed.

Zoe: Right? I’m all “What voice? I’m just telling the story.”

Kate: I like simple. I generally do my best to stay out of the way of the reader when I’m telling the story. I try to focus on the emotion and let that lead the way, and then I hide behind it.

Ana: It looks like we’re all trying to do kind of the same thing style-wise, still we all read different. I guess that’s voice.

Zoe: Must be!

Kate: Ha! What did you guys think of his name examples, when he was talking about not getting too precious with your characters’ names?

Ana: Honestly? I thought of Remus Lupin.

Zoe: It wasn’t what I was expecting when I saw the section heading, “Just use normal names.” I thought he was going to talk about how, if you’re writing contemporary (or historical real-world) fiction, people should (mostly) have the names you’d expect for people of those ages/locations, etc. I don’t think I’d notice much if people got “clever” in the way he describes.

Kate: I think, sometimes, that’s part of the voice, or the charm, of a book. It’s one of those layers that you might not notice the first time around, but once you do, it’s like a little in-joke. It’s part of what makes Shakespeare so great.

Ana: I don’t think I’d mind much as a reader, but it might be one of his pet peeves.

Kate: Oh, is he inserting himself into the text again?

Zoe: I hadn’t noticed him having pet peeves…

Kate: Lol. The last thing he talks about is not inserting yourself into the story. (See what I did there? Am I being too precious?)

Ana: He might have taken this advice for himself when writing this book….

Zoe: Yes, so don’t use your story for therapy, for imposing your political or religious (or plotting) views on readers, or to impress readers with your greatness.

Ana: Yes, that’s what blogs are for.

Zoe: He closes the chapter (and the book) with his advice for how to get readers to clamor for more: simply write emotionally gripping fiction. I can’t argue with that.

Kate: Nope.

Come back on Wednesday, when we’re going to talk about the book as a whole, and give it a rating.

Ana: Dun dun dun.

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: writing advice

Three Dirty Birds, Story Trumps Structure, and Plot Flaws

At Ana’s blog today, talking about plot flaws and discussing the nifty little chart Steven James put in the book, to guide you to the chapter that will help you fix them.

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: writing advice

On Change, and Turning The Bad Stuff to Good Purpose

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Bite Me Tender’s release. It was a lighthouse to remind me that it wasn’t all doom and gloom, in a year that brought me unending turmoil and changes.

While it feels like the entire structure of my life has been through a tornado, it has also thrown me into a kind of mindset where anything is possible. If no structures are left, that leaves me free to create my own. Stumbling over this article at Cracked got me thinking about how we go about making changes and looking at what’s worked and what hasn’t for me. And so, I’m jumping into this–my second year as a published author–with a bunch of changes I’ve either started to implement, or have serious plans for. Interestingly enough, all the changes I’ve made or plan to make are aimed directly at reducing the amount of anxiety I deal with on a daily basis.

1. I’ve started running again. I haven’t done this in years, not since I worked as a paramedic. It was never my favourite exercise–weightlifting was always more my thing–but it was part of the recommended program for the job, so I did it. I probably wouldn’t have started again, except that my daughter decided she wanted to lose some weight, and I stumbled across Zombies, Run! at about that point in time. I’ve discovered a couple of things. One, it doesn’t take very long before the weight starts dropping off, even if you change nothing else. (And, heaven help me, ALL my jobs are sedentary.) Two: That 45 minute run (or walk–the Kitten doesn’t like running anymore) does more to handle my anxiety than all the drugs I’ve tried. Anything that reduces anxiety and helps me sleep is good for my writing. So many of my ‘no words’ days follow a night, or nights, where I didn’t sleep, or didn’t sleep well. I feel like I’ve lost so much productive time to this, and I’m still struggling to figure out how to deal with it.

I find myself jonesing for that run on the days that the Kitten and I don’t go, because it does feel good afterwards, and I think I’m going to start running on my own on the off days. The exchange I’m making is a bit of online time socializing with other writers, for the anxiety-reducing and health-increasing effects of the run, plus the fun of following the serial-story and collecting supplies for my base in the connected online game. (I was absolutely SHOCKED at how big a draw that was for me, since it’s a pretty simple game. But right now, I’m taking every chance to run or walk for extra supplies, because those darn zombies keep attacking my base!) This was, hands down, the easiest change to make.

2. I built myself an office out of a spare bedroom. I made it my own and, while I’m still trying to figure out what I need and what works best for me, I think it was a step in the right direction. The only issue I’m having is that it removes me somewhat from the rest of the house, which keeps me socially isolated. I suspect the next change I’m going to need to make will be to implement a strict schedule of when I’m allowed to be in here, otherwise I’d just lock myself away and emerge in ten years time a crazy old hermit with hair down to my ankles and the inability to speak in anything more than grunts and editing mark-up. I gave up some storage in my storage-impaired house and had to do a lot of sorting through junk and throwing things out, but having a space that’s mine, where I can keep research books open and never have to shut down my computer to make room for the supper dishes, is definitely worth it.

3. After the winter from hell, I’ve decided to make changes with the barn and how the ponies are kept. I’ve thrown out a LOT of junk, cleaned one side out, and gotten some pallets to put down on the floor, so that I don’t lose hay. I’ve also set aside some of the money I saved over winter to fix the North wall, so snow isn’t blowing in all winter, soaking everything and making a mess. I plan to go in and buy feed in bulk, 20 bags at a time, now that we have a working truck, so I can just make 3 or 4 trips to the feed mill per winter, instead of once a week. I took money I could have used for other things, and put up a serious, 90%-pony-proof fence, so I don’t need to worry about them getting out. (No fence is 100%-pony-proof, and anyone who tells you different is a liar.) It might seem silly to put money into the barn instead of the house, when both need work, but my anxiety last winter over things pony related was through the roof and contributed to the exhaustion and burnout I’ve been recovering from this summer, so this wasn’t a hard change to decide on. And I’m eager to see what kind of difference it makes, since they’re apparently changing the hours of my evening job, which will make scheduling a bit trickier. My hope is that this streamlining will leave me with more spare time to write, and cost me less in terms money I have to put out to keep Old Man Pony and the Red Mare.

4. I want to get farther ahead in my list of things I want to write about, the longer pieces that seem to give me fits, and I want the time to do them right. As The Editor in Question says, I have stories that age. By that, she means that the more time I spend with it, the more clearly I see it, and that I will continue to refine and make changes to a piece for as long as I have access to it. Working with longer pieces, that adds quite a bit to the time I need to do it right. To make that manageable, I need to buy myself some time. So, I’m working on some shorter pieces (still fun!), with the intention of giving myself some breathing room to really figure out these longer ones. I get Jaime and Henry back in December, which means I should either start looking into self-pub, or consider writing the next part of their story and trying to farm the whole thing out to someone. I’m also keeping myself to a strict ‘only work on these pieces’ rule, which is a change that I hope has enough pay-off for me to replace the ‘oh, this is what I feel like working on today’ mindset that I’ve been fighting all summer. (This is a bad habit I developed over the winter, when I was working three jobs, exhausted, burnt out, and stressed to the point where sleep was starting to become an occasional thing. So, perhaps, not so much a change, but a return to the me of last year, before everything went to hell.) I get really anxious when my timeline gets shortened–ask the Editor in Question. Which becomes a vicious circle. Maybe I should set aside some time to write an Emergency Submission, that I could keep in a file in case of scheduling conflicts? Which would require me wanting that security more than I want 4 releases in the next year. Not sure I’m there yet…

5. I want to read more, which means I’ve had to make the decision to give up social time online (again!), and small conveniences around the house, so I have money to spend on the books and time to read them. I want to read more craft books, and try to apply their advice to my writing. I want to read more good books, both MM and not, and dissect why what they’re doing works or doesn’t work for me. I want to read more bad books, because I’ve found that ripping them to shreds makes me paranoid about my own writing and more conscious of not doing whatever made me snark at that story.

6. Once winter hits, I want to streamline my day more, which means making some decisions about how things are organized right now, and perhaps adding infrastructure so that chores don’t take as long, or forcing myself to develop habits that will take the sting out of it when I really need it. (Sigh. I hate housework…) Someday, I hope, when the major repairs are done, I’ll be able to afford a maid to come in once a week. Which would require me wanting the maid enough to go through the house and finish throwing out all the junk. o.O Not there yet either…

Most of all, I think I need to get back to this–being in love with my life. Which means giving up my worry, anxiety, and fear–they’ve served their purpose. Those emotions protected me and kept me prepared for the unexpected, but also kept me locked behind walls for most of the past year. I want to head out the gate, running shoes on, and tease all the zombies until their legs fall off. And then come home and write awesome zombie porn.

Because, after all, what’s life without a little challenge, right? :)

Filed under: writing Tagged: changes, getting my act together, making choices