Raven Oak's Blog, page 14

Visions!

Visions: The Art of Jeff Sturgeon

If you remember, my short story “Scout’s Honor” was a part of Jeff Sturgeon’s anthology The Last Cities of Earth a few years back. Its Kickstarter did so well that the book was picked up my WordFire Press for a full run. Well, Jeff’s back, but this time with an art book featuring decades of award-winning SF/F art, which will be edited by yours truly!

Since this is my first large, pro editing job AND because Jeff’s work is so beautiful, I’m going to sing this fro...

Book Launch Event!!

We’re approaching June 1st, and that means it’s time to get the book launch party for Dragon Springs & Other Things on your calendar!

6/2/23 @ 6 PM PST

It’s currently not safe for Raven to do in-person bookstore events, so this event will be virtual. However, there will be loads of fun as Raven attempts to make this event all that and more! We’ll have:

be a brief reading from the collectionlive Q&Avirtual cookiesprobably catsparty prizesautographed booksand more!

While the event will be ...

There’s Beauty in the Breakdown

If you know me at all, you know that music is life for me. So is writing and art, but music makes up my personal triad in the pieces that make up me.

One of my favorite lyrics ever comes from musician Imogen Heap by way of her other group Frou Frou. It comes from the song “Let Go” and the line says that “there’s beauty in the breakdown.” One of my favorite people, The Bloggess aka Jenny Lawson, said something similar in her book Broken (in the Best Possible Way)–makes me wonder if she’s an Imoge...

The Saga of House

OUR HOUSE

We bought our current house in the Pacific Northwest in 2016, four years after moving up here from North Texas. Because the seller is a wanted criminal (which we didn’t know until after closing, of course), we started our first week in the house spending close to $20K to replace the main circuit breaker, the sub-breaker in the basement, and about ½ the interior wiring. We knew coming in that the place needed a new driveway and some paint, but we didn’t expect the oof of the electrical ...

Halloween 2022

For some people, it’s Christmas. Others, Thanksgiving. For me, my favorite holiday is Halloween. Part of the reason I love this holiday so much is because it gives people the opportunity to be whatever and whoever they want to be. That’s important. Exploration is part of our identity, and it’s part of how we learn.

Part of our skeletal family in the side yard, including a dragon, two cats, a dog, a crow, a turtle, a frog, and a duck. In the background, a human skeleton pretending to be a tree fo...

Tasting Colors

The main word I have today is WOW. Also, COLOR. All the colors.

Yesterday, I had “Eye Surgery #1,” which removed the white cataract in my left eye and restored my sight. (Right eye aka surgery #2 will come in late November.) When I tell people that for the last year, I’ve been blind in one eye, they don’t always understand what I mean. I’ve created an image to help you understand.

My left eye was *that* bad. Everything was dark gray with occasional lightness if I stood in front of a lamp.

MY LE...

New Interviews and such!

We’ve been slowly ramping up to the release later this year of Amaskan’s Honor, Book III in the Boahim Trilogy, and with this has come quite a few interviews and author spotlights on a variety of blogs, podcasts, TV shows, and so on. Rather than individual posts about this first batch, I’m going to list them all below for you. I talk about a lot of new stories, books, ideas, and life so be sure to check them out!

First off, my story “Weightless” featuring a multi-disabled female character is bei...

The March from Hell

March has been…chaos.

2020 was hell. 2021 was heller. 2022 said, “Hold my beer!” in the worst way possible, especially last month.

For those following along on social media, you know that Riley’s heart meds are killing his kidneys. Nothing we can do about it other than let the two organs fight and see who wins. You also know that DiNozzo may have cancer and gets his biopsy tomorrow. You might also know that I got diagnosed with steroid-induced cataracts, for which I need surgery in both eyes. (T...

How I Outline

Recently, a friend and colleague asked me to share more in-depth details about my outlining process, so here goes.

I’m what they call a plotser, meaning I do a mix of plotting and pantsing when I write. Plotting suggests that I outline what’s going to happen (plot, character arcs, etc.) and pantsing suggests that I write “by the seat of my pants” without any outlines.

THREE-ACT STORY STRUCTURE

When I outline, I usually use a three act story structure, meaning I outline the major themes/arcs/eve...

Winter Promo!

If you’re looking for some great holiday reading in just about every genre, I’m part of a winter reading promo you should check out!

You can click the image above or head on over to: https://jaedawson.com/christmaspromo/

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

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