Kate Lowell's Blog, page 35

Tuesday Tickle: Bite Me Later

I need to be wary of this turning into a darling, but it was so unexpected and funny I wanted to share it.

Glyn smiled back at him and plotted a distraction. One more movie filled with explosions and random violence, and he was going to hotwire a car himself and go on a rampage—to the theatre. “Depends. Maybe I can interest you in something different?”

Levi slouched to bring his head on a level with Glyn’s and sipped at his beer. “What are you thinking of?”

Glyn raised his glass to his lips and contemplated the man sitting next to him. “Anything without car chases.”

“I like chasing cars.”

Delighted, Glyn sat up and put his wine safely out of harm’s way. “Fido, did you just make a joke?”

Filed under: Bite Me Later, Tuesday Tickle Tagged: mm romance, werewolves, witches

Feeding the Reader to Nurture the Writer

This post popped up in my blog feed this morning: The Editor’s Blog It’s by Beth Hill, who’s a freelance editor and a writer. This is something that’s been running around in my brain for a little while. When I was first dreaming about publishing, I never imagined all the new jobs that I would be taking on, along with the writing. Arranging promo, researching background material for stories, doing the social media thing. On top of the normal daily life stuff, it means my days are full in ways I never anticipated. The thing that most often gets pushed to one side is reading.

And by reading, I don’t mean the kind of reading you do for research, or to learn a tactic or trick to up your writing game. I mean reading for pleasure. Filling the well with someone else’s words.

What I’ve noticed over the past two years is that, the longer I go without reading something that simply piques my interest, the more it affects my own writing. The same wordcount takes twice as long, and isn’t nearly as well constructed. It takes more work to fix and more effort to put in that work.

My word choice becomes–blander. It’s an easy fix, but more time intensive than simply having a wide range of words at my fingertips the first time you write the sentence. When I start reading, the first thing that happens is that I notice words they author has used that would fit in with the story I’m writing. And when I come back to my own story, these words are sitting there, anxiously waiting for me to find the right spot to pop them into the text.

Plotting becomes more difficult. I get lost in my own story, because I haven’t stepped back from it. Dropping into someone else’s world gives me an easy way to pry myself out of my own story. It helps create the distance I need in order to see my story for what it is on the page, not in my head.

It’s also down-time. Before I started writing, I was a reader. A voracious reader. If there’s one regret I have about starting on this new career, it’s the loss of reading time. However, it’s the only fly in the ointment and, from reading my Twitter feed, I know I’m not the only one suffering these withdrawal symptoms. Dayjobs have vacation time; as writers, we have books. But it’s important, as a kind of professional development and mental health care, to make sure I immerse myself in other worlds, other thoughts than mine. That I explore different mindsets, and different approaches to subjects. Just as you need to eat a variety of foods to support the health of your body, a writer needs to read a variety of books to support the health of their muse.

But go read Beth Hill’s post. She says it pretty well.

Filed under: writing Tagged: filling the well, reading

Tuesday Anti-Tickle: Bite Me Later

You would think, after all this time, I would recognize that when a chapter isn’t working for me, it’s probably a point of view error.

Nope. To parody Writing Excuses: “Fifteen hours, because no one can see it happening and I’m not that smart.” I’ve spent the past three days tweaking and rearranging this chapter, making it incrementally better with each change. Yet, no matter what I did, I was still unsatisfied.

I was driving home from paying the vet bill today when I realized that this chapter needs to be from Levi’s point of view. I have information I need to pass on to you all, but to do it from Glyn’s point of view means rehashing information you already have, and going ‘public’ with information that Glyn can’t have during this book. (Because I wrote myself into a corner in Bite Me Tender.)

Coming at it from within Levi’s head… I can toss all sorts of tidbits your way, and leave Glyn in the dark. *cue evil laugh* I love Glyn dearly, but I love torturing him more.

If he ever finds me, I’m done for. :D

So, here’s a piece from the broken chapter. Look for Levi’s take on things in the published version. Unless the editor nixes it. >.<

The server caught Glyn as he was about to stomp out the door. He handed Glyn his credit card slip to sign, which gave Levi just enough time to catch up. Glyn glared at the werewolf, shrugged into his long coat, and walked out.

Levi was right on his heels. “Fine.”

Glyn kept walking. “Fine, what?” He shouldered through the outer doors and gasped as the cold wind blew his coat open.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. Hope it makes you happy.”

“Getting blindsided later on certainly won’t. What’s the big deal?” Glyn lowered his voice. “You keep telling me werewolves are tough.”

Levi came to an abrupt halt. “I was a monster. I’m trying to get better.”

Glyn spun to glare at him. “Really? Who do you think you’re talking to?” He gestured at himself. “Am I any less a monster?”

Levi stepped in close, and said in a low voice, “There’s monster, and then there’s killer.”

Filed under: Bite Me Later, Tuesday Tickle Tagged: mm romance, shifters, werewolves, witches

Beltramino

Kate Lowell:

Check out this anthology! Reviews are looking good.

Originally posted on velvetpanic:

Here’s the opening lines from “River Gods” included in the Juicy Bits Anthology from Dreamspinner Press:

The first morning the garden grew a man, the cats led Beltramino to him, two gray ones who stared into the thick rosemary hedge at a third curled against the man’s back for warmth. Beltramino thought the man was dead—the dying from the night’s battles sometimes crawled in their last moments to this sheltered place to die. A little snore told him the stranger still lived. Beltramino divided his morning meal, wrapped that portion in a bit of cloth, and put it within easy reach for the sleeping stranger when he awoke. Bel left him under guard of the cats for the workshop and another day of chipping at stone to free the spirits within.

photo credit: StephYo via photopincc

You’re in luck! Both the e-format and the paperback are on sale at…

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Making Time and Taking Chances

Writing is the long game. It’s not the kind of career that’s made in a sudden flash of brilliance. It sometimes looks like that–we see someone who appears on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, and the years of hard work and practice are lost in the blinding light of their ‘meteoric’ rise.

The reality is–there’s years of work that goes into a writing career. Years of reading, years of thinking, years of writing. And all of this takes time. We fit it in during spare moments when the family is occupies with their own pursuits, in random half-hours between classes, during lunch breaks and stolen ‘sick’ days. We give up movies, and restrict our TV watching to only the most interesting of shows. We write our million words instead.

A lot of writers take jobs that aren’t intellectually draining. We live on reduced incomes, scrape and save and budget and say no to ourselves, so that we have the time and the emotional energy to give to our characters; characters that we love, but have no guarantee anyone else will. As they say in show jumping, we ‘throw our hearts over the fence’, following our dreams with hope and determination.

I’ve been saving all winter, as hard as I could. I wanted the summer to spend on writing. It’s something of a catharsis for me, but also, I think, a necessary step on the road to–whatever this becomes. Hopefully a career, because I can’t think of anything more fun and less like work than this. The money I’ve saved, and all the things I gave up–the movies I didn’t see, the clothes I didn’t buy, the dinners out that I didn’t eat–will let me do this. At least until fall.

Not everyone can do it the way I have–I’m incredibly fortunate, and I know it. My plans for the summer are ambitious, in response. I hope I can follow through. The thought of five whole months with the freedom to focus on this and this alone…well, it’s amazing. And scary. I hope I don’t screw it up.

Even if you can’t afford to do it the way I am, I hope you can find some way to give yourself this gift, in smaller chunks. An evening a week with no interruptions and no other responsibilities. Saturday morning. Sunday evening. Every lunch hour. Whatever works, and gives you the time to fulfill the promise of your dreams and your ability. Make your plan and stick to it.

And please, if you see me wandering from my plan, grab me by the scruff and drag me back on track, okay? :)

Filed under: writing Tagged: mm romance, planning, writing time

Juicy Bits Anthology

Kate Lowell:

You want to read some lyrical, evocative prose? Read this lady’s work.

Originally posted on velvetpanic:

The paperback price of the “Juicy Bits” anthology has dropped to $11.00 on the Dreamspinner Press website!

Here’s a little story about my story, River Gods:

Everyone who goes to Florence visits the Piazza della Signoria, the heart of social and political life in the Renaissance. In the piazza are many statues—Michelangelo’s David used to stand there until it was moved inside to preserve it. According to Mary McCarthy’s “The Stones of Florence,” the people believed spirits inhabited their city’s statuary and that their river, the Arno, had a god. The sculptor, Ammannati, created the statue of Neptune that stands in the piazza today. In a fantastic juxtaposition of ideas, the story goes that this statue of Neptune was inhabited by the Arno river god who had been turned into a statue because “like Michelangelo” he spurned the love of women. Michelangelo, by the by, hated the statue of Neptune…

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Tuesday Tickle: The Super Sekrit Project

Involving a firefighter, a paramedic, and–at some point in the story–a genie with a touch of pyromania. And maybe, if you’re very good, I’ll tell you where it’s headed.

Later. :D

Gene walked out of the bunkroom with his overnight bag and dropped it behind the couch. He picked an apple out of the bowl on the counter and took a bite before asking, “You still okay to go digging through the antique shops with me this morning?”

“Sure. You know what you want?”

“I don’t know, exactly. Maybe a table, or a jewelry box? Man, I hate shopping for anniversary presents. But it’s ten years, now, and if I don’t make it a good one, I’ll be fighting for space in the doghouse for the next ten.”

Cody tapped his nose and nodded wisely. “That’s why I never got married.”

“You say that now, but I bet when the right girl comes along you’ll change your tune.”

The clock said five minutes to seven now and Cody’s stomach gave a little flutter.

Seth walked in. The flutter in Cody’s stomach turned into full blown nervous twitches and he turned his back on the man to hide his reaction. He’d always thought he was straight, until two months ago. Until the day Seth, with his blond hair and lean, compact body had transferred to Cody’s station. Now, every time he saw the man, his body bluntly informed him that he wasn’t nearly as straight as he’d thought.

Filed under: Tuesday Tickle Tagged: firefighter, genie, mm romance, paramedic, short story

The No-Longer-Proto Office

It’s done. Well, not completely done, but mostly done. :) I’ve cleared a bunch of those old cookbooks out of the way. They’re hidden inside the dresser at the other end of the room, until I get truly sick of them taking up space and toss them. The small table now has a couple of small Japanese pottery vases and a couple of other souvenirs from one of my husband’s trips to Japan. Storage under the bed, until I find something cooler.





















My bookcase, which is short enough to fit under the slope of the ceiling, but isn’t big enough to hold anything larger than a novel. Next thing on the list.

The other end of the room. The junk is gone, the monitor and the computer (and my chair!) are upstairs. Whiteboards installed and the cork in place, though it needs some sort of backing to thicken it up. Yes, I’m watching House. :)

The first thing my editor said when she heard about the whiteboards was, “Make sure you write something rude on it right away.” Never let it be said that I’m one of those authors that are impossible to deal with and never take direction. The snake in the corner? That’s my daughter trying to convince me to buy her a snake. No.









The other white board, where I’ve been trying to figure out which story I actually know enough about to put at the top of the list.

The fish tank, with its five guppies, to go with the tropical theme of the room.

The obligatory cat. :)

























A pretty decent place to work, if I do say so myself.

Filed under: Random Weirdness, writing Tagged: happy author, office, tropical theme

Proto-Office, Part 2

Been making progress on the office. Got a few things moved around. I’m still trying to decide where I want to put the pictures on the wall. Maybe it’s egotistical, but I’ve been thinking about getting one of those multiple picture frame deals and putting book covers in it. But I think it might be fun to watch the spaces fill in over time.







There’s my ‘brainstorming’ cot, with my chameleon pillow and the stuffed parrot I made in Grade 7 Home Ec.















There’s my desk. I like them wide and not terribly deep. My fishtank is going to stay there, right in front of the window. I’m thinking about a small school of barbs–I like the way they move. The lemur’s tail has to move, though–I keep running into it. If it can touch my head, then it’s way too low for anything.

Finally a desk with drawers! I like having all these drawers at my fingertips, so I can keep the desktop clear. My current desk is the exact opposite, which drives me wild, because I can’t get to anything. There’s still a lot of stuff hanging around in this picture, but by Sunday night, I plan to be moved in, whiteboards installed, corkboard in place, and my bookshelf within easy reach.

In other news, I’m officially on summer leave at my job (I’ve been saving like mad to be able to do this) and now I’m free to write all day long if I want to.

Better make it count, eh?

Filed under: writing Tagged: mm romance, writing office, yay!

Tuesday Guest Tickle: River Gods by Heloise West

Heloise is a member of my critique group who writes beautiful, lyrical prose. Her primary interest lies in time periods which are not our own, and she has a particular affection for Venice and all parts Italian. (What can I say? The lady has good taste!)

Her short story with Dreamspinner press has just released as part of the Juicy Bits anthology. If you haven’t heard about it, the idea was essentially to strip away most of a full length novel, leaving us with just those bits that you come back to read over and over again.

Here is the premise of her story:

In Renaissance Florence, legend says the statue of Neptune, once a man who spurned women, walks the night in search of his lover. Sculptor Beltramino also yearns for a lover. Marco, on the run and accused of a crime he did not commit, finds shelter in Beltramino’s garden, as if in answer to Beltramino’s prayers. The two submit to a formidable erotic attraction that transforms them into lovers who are stronger together than apart.

If you want to check out her blog, she’s going to be doing some fascinating posts about the legend mentioned in the description above, and about some of the history that plays into the setting and the central idea.

Keep an eye out for this chick. I’ve seen what’s coming down the pipe, and you’re not going to want to miss it.

Filed under: Tuesday Tickle Tagged: Dreamspinner, historical, Italy, mm romance, short story