Deby Fredericks's Blog, page 2

Title Trouble

Project X is taking shape. I know which two stories I want to include in the volume. I have an agreement with my artist on price and delivery. But I haven’t settled on a title yet. So heck, I might as well throw a few in front of you.

First, I should specify that “Project X” has already been used. Part of my process in developing titles is to search for key words and phrases, so I can avoid duplication of existing work. If the previous title is older, say more than ten years, I might still use that title. If it’s within the past few years, then definitely not.

“Two Stories” is one idea. It states pretty clearly that there are two stories in the volume, but doesn’t say what kind of stories they are. Unfortunately, “Two Fantasy Stories” and “Two Fantastic Stories” are already taken.

“Fantasy Times Two” is free and clear, but sounds more like a romance than a genre fantasy.

In both stories, a man and a woman work together, so I thought of “Partners In Sorcery” or “Partners in Magic.” It seems a bit bland and maybe suggests a heist, but could work.

“Standing Stones and Danger Zones” invokes a bit of the stories’ content. It has a fun rhythm and I feel it would work well for an urban or cozy fantasy… which the stories aren’t, exactly. One is Victorian-ish, and the other is more of an adventure story.

I’m still working on it, obviously. But I welcome your thoughts about these titles. Which one do you like best?

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Ol’ Smoky

Yes, the winds have turned and my town is blanketed in wildfire smoke. Conditions have been declining from “moderate” early in the week to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” and today just “unhealthy.” Meanwhile, we’ve been in the upper nineties most of the week. The sky has a strange overcast to it. The light is very muted and filtered.

On the plus side, we haven’t had glowing embers drop from the sky, as we did in 2015!

It’s interesting, in a mildly disturbing way, to experience this. It isn’t quite like the Mt. St. Helens eruption when I was in college, but somewhat like it. One day perhaps I will use these sensations in one of my stories.

Work does go on with The Warlock’s Army. I’ve been able to make my goal (2 pages or more each day) even with the resumption of my work schedule.

Onward!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Woman at Work, September 2025

What’s Happening? It is Labor Day as I write this, and I’m enjoying a relaxing weekend. We went to a food festival yesterday, and had hoped to go to a local lake in the afternoon. However, my husband got serious about a home improvement he’s been putting off all summer. So just a quiet day for me.

What I’m Working On. The Warlock’s Army is my current WIP, as mentioned in several recent posts. However, I may need to pause it in order to assemble my next publication, due out in November.

What’s Next? “Project X,” that is. It is going to be a double feature, with one short story and one novella. I have given the story I want illustrated to a friend, who is a good artist, and I trust I will have cover art soon. However, I actually haven’t decided on the title yet. I have a few clever ideas, but nothing has jelled quite yet.

Where I’ll be. Just-A-Con, September 19-21, 2025. It’s a very small, relaxing convention where we’ll be talking about Worldcon, DEI, and more.

Fun and Games. In addition to my perennial game, Animal Crossing, I’m about to start a new one called Wildmender. The goal is to build a garden in a desert and explore some enigmatic ruins. My current read is Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders.

Wishing you a smooth segue from summer to fall!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

The Warlock’s Army

It’s progressing nicely. A couple of situations are developing. The boys, whose warlock father is raising them on his private island, has been acting erratically. In the latest chapter, he up and disappeared. One of the boys has clairvoyant powers. He’s offered to peek in and see where Dad got off to. Cassander, the PoV character who got left in charge, thinks that’s a breach of trust.

For dramatic purposes, I think the peeking needs to happen. I haven’t figured out how to make it work yet.

On the girls’ side, an adult witch arrived in their town looking for her son, who’s one of the boys on the island. Jeniana and the other girl witches there have a ton of questions for her — and she has questions about why they were adopted by strangers rather than being raised on the island.

So things in Revelstone are messy and painful at the moment. Better yet, I’m steering them all toward a big meeting that is going to be even messier. This is what writers live for!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Some Nice News

A couple of nice things have fluttered down to me, like little butterflies of happiness.

First of these, I was accepted to perform at Fall Folk Festival in November. It seems from the email format that I should have received this news earlier, but that’s fine. I can look forward to reading Lucy D. Ford’s work on November 8th or 9th, 2025.

Second of these, during the back-to-school staff training, the librarian let me know she wants to buy the Cleodora duology (Acorn Canyon and Willow Lake). I had loaned her the books during the last few weeks of the 2024-25 school year and she didn’t return them. Which I was irritating. But, she read them over the summer and they are appropriate for the school library, so all is forgiven!

Also, a submission window opened this week. I threw my short story “Curse Maker” through it. Let’s see if my lucky streak can continue!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Winding Down the Summer

Since returning from Worldcon, I’ve been working as hard as I could on The Warlock’s Army. I got some story notes down, even with the hustle and bustle of the convention. The story is now about 140 pages and approaching 40,000 words, so definitely no longer a novella. In fact, the plot of this novel is only beginning to get complicated. I have fun times ahead, writing it.

On the other hand, just after we returned, I got back a personal rejection on a short story. After a few days of rejecting their rejection, I did some minor revisions. The publisher didn’t say they wanted to see it again, so I’m prepping it for another submission window that opens on Monday.

Speaking of Monday, it is now just a few days until the new school year starts. First up will be a couple of training sessions on Monday and Tuesday. I’m not obligated to attend, but they’re introducing new staff and going over things like discipline policy that are important to know. I hope they also will talk about what we should do if masked goons show up and start grabbing parents or students. The district might be trying to keep its head in the sand on that one, though.

In addition, this is a bargaining year for my union. It seems to have gone smoothly this year, no rumbles of a strike or anything like that. We have a meeting on Tuesday evening to go over the changes and vote on the new contract.

At home, the excitement is that we had a tree taken down. The yard looks really different without it. Now I have the pleasure of re-doing the landscape, which will have much more sun than before. Hard work, but it’s something I enjoy. I’ll be going to a plant sale on Saturday, to get a better look at some of my ideas.

That’s about it around here. Hope your August is going nicely.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Worldcon 2025

I made it back alive! (No, there wasn’t really much question of that.) So, how did it go? It was a mixed bag, honestly. Not because of any major hiccups in the con itself, but other things that happened around it.

The Good. I enjoyed volunteering in the Green Room. The panels I attended were excellent. It was especially great to get into the very crowded Q&A and reading with Martha Wells, an author I really admire.

The Bad. Our drive across the state went well, until we reached Seattle itself. Then we got lost for over an hour, with the map program trying to send us into one-way streets. It also turned out that our hotel was five blocks from the convention center. That’s a longer walk than it seems like, when you have to go back and forth a lot. Also, the meals were costly at the convention center. That was expected, but still unpleasant.

The Ugly. My husband got lost and walked for an hour and a half. He ended up at the Space Needle, which wasn’t on our planned itinerary. He finally called me to say he didn’t know where he was, which freaked me out because I didn’t know where he was, either! We did connect and get back to the hotel safely, but he over stressed himself and basically missed 2 days of the convention because it hurt to walk. I didn’t want to yell at him, but there’s such a thing as a taxi if you need to get around in strange cities.

In the end, we came home a day early. I missed a couple of friends I wanted to get together with. And it really did seem like 5 days is too long for a convention. However, the art show was wonderful, and the dealer’s room was great, too. There were a whole lot of publishers there, which is possibly a topic for another blog.

I’m glad I got to go to Worldcon, and I was glad to get home. I have everything unpacked and put away. My summer break is over next Monday, but at least I have a couple of new books to read.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Dragon Trivia

While I’m at Worldcon, here’s a silly repeat from waaaay back in 2012. Cheers!

Here’s a little dragon trivia question for you. Which of these is NOT a kind of dragon?

a) wyrm, b) firedrake, c) Loch Ness monster, or d) wyvern.

No peeking!! Write down your best guess, and then scroll down to see the answer.

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It’s C, the Loch Ness monster. Although Nessie is widely regarded as reptilian, it doesn’t fly or breathe flame.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

A Gathering of Dragons

While I’m at Worldcon, here’s a fun repeat from 2019. What if dragons had conventions?

Over the summer, I’ve been working as director of programming for SpoCon, my local science fiction convention. I’m going a little nuts, frankly. But it has given rise to a few fun thoughts. If dragons had a convention, what would their programming look like?

Humans: Friends or Food? Older and wiser dragons share their advice on whether to play nicely or take what you want.

The Perfect Hoard: A great hoard needs more than mountains of gold coin. Maybe you’ve thought of adding some gems or a bit of gold-plated armor. Experts discuss how to give your hoard personality and flair.

Fang and Claw vs. Flame Breath: Warrior dragons debate the best way to slay those pesky knights.

Lair Security: Are you troubled by sneak thieves and traveling salesmen? Learn a few new tricks to keep intruders out of your private space.

Human Arms and Armor: Information on the most common equipment used by knights and adventurers, with tips on how to overcome them.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Getting Ready

Worldcon is next week, and my real preparations now begin. As I previously mentioned, I’m volunteering in the Green Room. There were setups involved with that. They have a mailing list, Google group and Slack that I had to sign up for. That’s done and I feel pretty confident I can keep up with it during the weekend.

The convention is using a program called Guidebook. I’ve been going through it, marking panels I’m interested in. It also lets you connect with other attendees, so you can plan together. Everything from meeting for coffee to attending events together. Pretty cool.

Today and tomorrow I’ll be focused on printing documentation. Reservations, proof of registration, and so forth. I also need to pick which books I’ll donate to their charity auction. I need to prepare a list of questions for my Dragon Age meet-up. The conversation doesn’t usually lag at meet-ups, but I like to be ready if it does.

Monday, the actual packing begins! Tuesday, we drive. Wednesday is the official start of Worldcon. But never fear, I’m not forgetting about Wyrmflight. I have ideas for setting up some fun posts on my regular days.

If anyone else is going to be at Worldcon, look for me in the Guidebook and we can connect.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.