Deby Fredericks's Blog, page 20

Getting Ready

This is the weekend for concrete preparations to attend RadCon. I’m packing books for my table, doing an inventory of them first. Naturally, Minstrels of Skaythe are the books I want to feature, but I also have copies of my older books that I plan to set out. Plus I’m printing reservations, licenses, comments for the writing workshop, and so on.

I’m getting together costume stuff for the convention theme, Witches and Wizards. I have a plain brown witch hat that I want to decorate with beads, sequins, trim, etc. I’m also doing laundry and setting aside anything that I’ll want to wear at other times during the weekend.

Mostly, I’m checking through all my emails to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything!

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Secret Mission

The Spirit Binder grows apace, with my young protagonist about to be handed a secret mission from a powerful spirit, the Gardener. (This name may change.) While Cleodora has been training and preparing, there have been sporadic incursions by corrupted spirits. The shrine has been repelling these, but they keep happening.

Rather than driving the corrupted spirits off, the Gardener has decided to try to subdue one and just ask what it wants. Should be so easy, right? Her anxious parents won’t get in the way of that at all.

Anyway, I’m back to it. Cheers, everyone.

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Woman at Work, February 2024

What’s Happening? One of my kids moved back in two days ago, with girlfriend, two cats, and a lizard. Their landlord jacked the rent and they need a couple of months to recoup and find a new place. It’s going to be an adjustment — 5 people and 1 bathroom? — but it’s family. It will be fine.

What I’m Working On. The Spirit Binder is nearing the end of its middle section. I know, I keep saying that. Work and moving-in have slowed me down. You know what they say about middles. I just remind myself that when the readers are reading it, they won’t know all of that.

What’s Next? My current second project is Wee Folk and Wise, an anthology of fairy related short stories. It originally came out in 2016 from Sky Warrior and is being reissued by Wolfsinger. I’m at the point of chasing down four more authors to approve the galley. Then I can send it on to the publisher.

Where I’ll be. RadCon is in two weeks. The book table is all figured out, but my schedule is more complicated now that I’m a Guest of Honor. They also sent me homework for their writer’s workshop. I’ll be going through that today.

Fun and Games. Right now I’m playing Animal Crossing and building my town, but I’m starting to think about another game. There are a couple I’ve had my eye on and I haven’t chosen one yet. Should I do the one with the lost cat trying to get home, or the fisherman dredging up increasingly weird creatures?

Take care, all.

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Economics

That press release? I sent it. The book table is arranged. RadCon will be my first in-person appearance of 2024, and I couldn’t be happier.

Until then, I continue to press on with The Spirit Binder. I went through an interesting section where Cleodora learned that her mean old Aunt Nerona, who tried to take over the shrine where they live, went away and took over a different one. She’s been charging everyone for services there. Some of the adults thought this was normal, but Cleodora was shocked.

It led to some thinking about the economics of their world. Not only are they governed by trade guilds rather than nobility, but much of the economy is not based on cash transactions. It isn’t even barter, where you negotiate intensively. Instead, they exchange goods and services based on need or request. This is one reason there isn’t a lot of crime. No reason to steal when people will just give you what you need. (Yes, I know, there are other kinds of crime. Don’t bother me with logic. I’m writing here.)

So that’s been fun to think about with this story. It’s also a major clue in the plot. Some of the adults think this money demand is the reason the spirits have caused a severe drought. Cleodora has an inkling that actually Aunt Nerona has gotten into something even worse.

In the current bit, some other people have arrived to help Cleodora’s very pregnant mother run their shrine. Cleodora is feeling defensive and fearing that they plan to take it over. This has been a running threat, but Cleodora needs to realize she can’t to everything at once. She’s going to have to make some choices and accept some help. Not so easy for a headstrong thirteen-year-old.

As I worked on that chapter, I realized a lot of the tension is based on adults not telling her what was going on. However, there’s really no reason for them not to tell her. So I’m re-writing that part. Good thing it was only one chapter!

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Tanith Lee Read-Through

Every few years, I take a look at my bookshelves and see how many old paperbacks I’ve collected over the years. How long has it been since I read these? This often gives me an urge to do a read-through of everything I have by a certain author.

This year, it’s Tanith Lee. Lee was a new, hot author in the 1970s. That’s when I made the jump from checking out library books to buying paperbacks with my own money. They were inexpensive then, as low as 75¢ or $1. Lee was one of the first authors I started buying consistently.

Fantasy from the Seventies has a distinctive feel. They were coming off the incredible blockbusting of Lord of the Rings in the Sixties. Everyone, authors and publishers alike, was trying to figure out how to incorporate the high fantasy elements from Tolkein — the long journey, the presence of historic artifacts scattered around the countryside — into current work. Fantasy in the Seventies rambled through fantastic vistas, bringing in odd details to clash or blend. There was a lot of absurdity and/or political cynicism. You can see it in Lee’s work, in Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, A. E. Van Vogt, and others.

Lee stood out with her blend of science fiction, fantasy and sometimes horror. Her voice was distinctive, and her subject matter often edgy. She did experimental things, like creating a whole slang for the teen protagonists in her Don’t Bite the Sun series. One of her hallmarks was to have a young protagonist who is bright and bold, but also awkward. They often had a companion/familiar who was clumsy and propelled the plot with their antics.

The first of her books I’m re-reading is The Black Unicorn. It’s an explicitly YA trilogy about a teenager whose mother is a sorceress, but has no such power of her own. She’s bored, cooped up in her mother’s castle of random sorceries, so off she goes.

I thought I had all of Lee’s books from the Seventies and Eighties, but now I’m seeing a few gaps. Maybe I borrowed some of her books from the library after all. Anyway, I’m sure I can easily find them at used book stores.

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Run With It

Recently I’ve been mentioning that I hope to get a book table at RadCon, where I’m planning my first in-person appearance of 2024. They haven’t been answering my e-mails, which doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. You might also remember that my schedule there was going to be a marathon — yikes!

But, on Sunday, I got a different e-mail from them. Are you ready for this? They want me to be their author guest of honor this year!

This is the opposite of yikes. More of a yippee! So I said yes, and I will be the author guest of honor (or keynote speaker, if you prefer) at RadCon 9, February 16-18, in Pasco, WA.

After having helped run a lot of SF conventions, I am pretty sure this invitation comes because another of their honorees cancelled. Normally conventions schedule their guests of honor well in advance. However, I’m going to take the opportunity and run with it. When I get done with this blog, I’m going to start writing up a press release and see if I can get some coverage in my local papers and even the PBS radio station.

My schedule may possibly be even more of a yikes now, but in a good way. And, who knows, maybe I can get them to commit on that book table!

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Small Chores

My writing chore for today is to submit a story where I know the submission window is open. So I guess that’s more of an opportunity than a chore. I’ll handle that later this morning.

RadCon science fiction convention is coming up next month. I got my list of panels a few days ago and yikes! They had me on SEVEN panels between noon and 8 pm on Saturday. What do they think I am, a panelbot? I dropped out of two panels in order to focus on the ones that were my own ideas. Now I need to look at those descriptions and try to remember what I had in mind when I suggested them.

The other complicating thing is that I’ve been partnering with another writer and trying to get a book table set up. Neither of us has heard back. If I am on all those panels, and she is too, I’ll have to ask my husband or kid to sit at the table. I guess if we don’t get a table, that won’t be such a worry.

So my other chore this weekend is to follow up on that. Bansai!

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Training Issues

In the last week I’ve crossed over 20,000 words on my middle grade novel, The Spirit Binder. The initial goal was 30,000 words, and that’s fast approaching. Methinks I think I’ll be revising that goal before long.

The current stage is basically a training montage. The main character is Cleodora, who starts out at age ten. But if she’s going to trot out spellcasting and such, I thought her growth and training ought to be on the page. By the time she sets out at age 13, she’ll have had several years of preparation.

It isn’t something I had planned on, but possibly I’m also writing this stage in response to so many stories where a young protagonist is trained to be some kind of super-assassin or thief. Cleodora is learning how to avoid being grabbed, and how to get out of holds. Her spells are things like a shield that deflects attacks, and a light, rather than attacking people herself.

A couple of creeping issues have appeared. Most of the training is under the structure of the guilds I mentioned in an earlier post. I still haven’t come up with titles for the guild leaders and such. I really need to get going on that. Also, my characters in Minstrels of Skaythe used light spells and barriers a lot. I’m not anxious to be repeating myself with their magic.

More seriously, Cleodora doesn’t know who’s behind all the troubles, but she has a spirit companion named Tef who really should have at least some of the answers. I need to come up with a good reason for it to not clue the humans in.

I know I will, though. The first draft is for putting the plot and characters together. Second draft is for fixing plot holes.

I hope you’re all writing along without those creeping issues.

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

The Seven Exalted Orders

How about some mid-month marketing? My epic fantasy novel, The Seven Exalted Orders, was re-issued by Wolfsinger Publications last year. It’s available in print and as an e-book. Check out the publisher’s web site, https://www.wolfsingerpubs.com/shop

The Seven Exalted Orders

Arkanost has Seven Exalted Orders. No more, no less. When a magus goes renegade in a far-off province, the Mage Lords demand that something be done.

Ryamon is bitter and frustrated. He longs to be a Fire magus; as a Stone magus, he’s miserable. If he can bring the rogue back, he has a chance – his last chance – to fulfill his dream.

It’s a great plan, until he actually meets Valdira.

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Morsels

Just a couple of morsels this time. Returning to work was even more confusing and stressful then I had predicted. We currently have no teacher, not even a substitute, for at least two more weeks. I’ve been trying to keep the momentum with my groups, but it was pointed out that paraeducators like me aren’t supposed to work with students at all unless there is a certificated teacher in the room. So all my groups are paused unless there is a substitute, which I never find out until the morning right before my duty begins. Fun!

I supposed I could look at it as another sort of vacation, but the worry is really wearing me down.

Bad news first: The Spirit Binder has slowed to a crawl. I knew it would happen, but it’s still frustrating. I have to remind myself that this is how I write all of my stories: two pages at a time, five days a week, no matter how tired I am.

In some better news, I have already completed my Resolution 0, to reorganize my cabinets. As a bonus task, I cleaned off the top of my desk. Hey, look at that — it has wood veneer!

I also heard back from an editor who is holding one of my stories for a second read. It’s a long way ’til I know for sure, but it’s nice to have that affirmation.

Plus, I submitted The Tale of the Drakanox to the Endeavor Award, which is open to all Pacific Northwest authors. Heck, why not? That’s another one where I won’t hear back for a long time.

So it goes. What have you been up to?

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, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.