Tag Archives: Fiction

Road to Publication #18: Reviewing the ARCs, OH NO!

Posted on October 1, 2012 | 36 comments

Holy Crud.  This is not happening.  I just found out why you DON’T want to have two works being published at exactly the same time… and even worse… by two different publishers.

I was stunned this morning when the first round edits for Connect the Dots came through. I thought I would have another week.  I have two weeks to finish the ARC edit (the very last edit) of Last Winter Red AND finish the first round edit for Connect the Dots.

Okay.  Breathe.  It’s all good.  This is a great problem to have.  People are going to spit at you for having this problem.  Take a deep breath.  Chocolate helps.  Good.  Relax.

Okay.  No problem.  I can do this.

So… back to Last Winter Red.  I started reading it on Kindle last night.  I made a lot of highlights on the ARC with the handy Kindle Notes feature.

The reason for some of my notes is because my writing style has changed a lot in the last few months since I worked on Last Winter Red, and things don’t seem right to me anymore.

I did find a missing quotation mark at the end of a sentence.  Easy fix (I hope).

What is odd, is every once in a while I stopped and said “Is that what he said?” or “Did I write that?” or “Wait.  That makes absolutely no sense.”

I’m wondering if I even wrote some of these things, or if they were edited to the point of losing “something”.  I want to go through the whole thing, make notes, and then go back to my original copy and see if I need to smack myself upside the head for past mistakes.

Maybe I do.  At this point, I’m not sure what happened.

Either way, I think some more changes are in order.

What makes me cringe over this is that I could have made these changes months ago.  I am tucking this away as a “lesson’s learned” though.

I did have a bad feeling about not reviewing the full version before it went to copy editing.  You know that deep clawing pit-in-your-stomach feeling when you think you lost control of something?

To make sure this doesn’t happen again, I MADE SURE before I signed the contract with Still Moments Publishing for “Connect the Dots” that I WOULD have a chance to review a final before it went to final editing.  Not only that, I will get to see a FULL VERSION as it stands through each round of the editing process.

For a control freak like me, this is a huge relief… because I know I will not be down to the wire and fixing errors I would have seen earlier.

This is not J.Taylor Publishing’s fault either.  It is the way they work.  All publishers are different, and as an author, I need to be ready for this.

What I need to do now is finish reading and marking.  Then I want to go back again reading carefully for spelling/punctuation errors, and then I need to document and changes necessary on  a spreadsheet.

I need to do this within one week, so I can devote the next week to Connect the Dots.

Once again, sleep may become optional.

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Work in Progress Challenge Part Three. Yep… Still being honest

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 9 comments

If you are wondering about the title, I don’t want to get into it again.  Check out the previous posts part one and part two

And without further ado… on with the riveting questions…

1.       Is your WIP Published or Represented?

This is a really weird question.  A WIP is, by definition, is IN PROGRESS.  So, obviously it is not published.  Represented?  Kind of an odd question as well.

I guess I can tell you that no, I do not have an agent hanging over my head asking me to finish fast so they (we) can get our paycheck.  This is the first of a possible series, so I do not have a publisher in line waiting for it, although I do have one that has expressed interest.

2.       How long did it take you to write?

Oh!  Actually an easy question to answer!  I started this novel with a vow to myself to finish it by a certain time.  I took two weeks and did nothing but plot it out.  I decided what was going to happen before it happened.  This greatly speeded up my writing time because I didn’t have to fix, rewrite, or add scenes to fix plot holes.  From the actual start of writing the first page, to finishing the first draft….   I started on May 9th, 2012 and finished on July 27, 2012.  I don’t write on weekends (with the exception of a writer’s retreat.)

So, that’s 58 writing days… during which I also completed line-edits for my publisher on “Last Winter Red”, and I took the idea for “Connect the Dots” (a 9,000 word short story) from idea, outline, completion, beta and submission to the publisher – before I got back to (and was able to complete) Fire in the woods.

All that to say… looking back at my writing log, it looks like I actually worked on Fire in the Woods exclusively between 35 and 40 days. (That’s first draft, though.  I’m still editing… and I think I want to add a few more action scenes and make it longer. — I feel a few more explosions coming on 🙂 )

3.       What other WIP’s in your genre would you compare it to?

Here’s another really wacky question.  Comparing to other people’s WIPs?  Even if I could do this, I would be comparing to beta-manuscripts I have read, and none of you would have read those, so comparing would be futile.  This question really does not make sense to me.

I suppose I could try to compare it to published work.  Ummmm.  Geeze.  I don’t think I could to that either.  Imagine “When Harry Met Sally” meets “Die Hard”.  Sweet Romance intermingled with lots of explosions.  ***sigh***   Yup.  Just good old-fashioned fun.

4.       Which authors inspired you to write this WIP?

Honestly, none that I could directly relate to this work.  I suppose everything you read can sub-consciously mold you in a certain direction.  Lately, I have been taking notes on good and bad things I have seen, but actual inspiration?  I can only give that credit to the Big Guy upstairs.

5.       Tell us anything else that might pique our interest about this WIP.

I just love this story, so everybody else will, too.  So there! Tee Hee.  🙂

Seriously, I think there is a little bit for everyone in Fire in the Woods.  Jess is a kid struggling with a bad relationship with her dad.  It’s a story about a father struggling to raise a teenage daughter on his own, while protecting the planet at the same time.  It’s about a boy trying to overcome past demons while proving his own self-worth to himself and others.

And best of all there are lots and lots of explosions!  What’s not fun about that?

6.  Finally:  Tag three other Authors and ask them to complete the above interview.

I’m going to jump out of the box and shoot this over to the three most recent novelists that I’ve read.  I’d love to hear a little about what they are working on now.

Olivia Devereaux – Of that little western “Mended Hearts” Fame

Claire Gillian – Of that annoyingly good mystery with the great voice “The P.U.R.E.”

Rebecca Hart – Author of “Call of the Sea”  Ahoy Me hearties!

And just because I’m a rebel… I’m gonna also give it to J.M.McDowell ’cause she’s an archaeologist and I just find that incredibly COOL!

How’s that for mixing it up?  A Western, an Office Mystery, and a Pirate book, and an archaeologist/Author.  How well-rounded is that?

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Write a Story with Me – Part 13 with Kai Damian – Laser guns? and WHAAAAT?

Posted on September 25, 2012 | 11 comments

Here’s part thirteen, also known as HOLY FREAKING COW!

Dang, Kai.  Bring it girlfriend.

Now this is getting interesting.  Glad I’m not next!

“Can’t find anything wrong with her,” said the doctor after prodding and probing Marci’s frail body with a series of medigadgets. Behind him, Marci’s parents watched their daughter lie unconscious, her breath so shallow that they could have sworn no air was reaching her lungs.

“Then why isn’t she waking up?” Marci’s father asked. His wife broke into sobs as she sat next to her daughter and caressed her frozen cheek.

With trembling hands, the doctor packed his medigadgets away. “I’m sorry Protector Sumner, I wish I had an answer for you.” He watched Marci for a few moments, a wave of anguish washing over his face, then finally said, “Let’s give her twenty-four hours, and if she doesn’t wake up, we’ll take her in.”

“No, you can’t take her in, I won’t let you—”

“Natalia, please,” Marci’s father said, ending his wife’s lament with an icy stare. She lowered her gaze back on her daughter, silently acknowledging the mistake she almost made: rebel against the Establishment’s Rules under one of its servants’ eyes.

Nobody can tell the Establishment what they can and cannot do. What they can take. When they can take it. Even if the taken is someone’s child. It was a Rule solemnly recorded in the Tablet of Truth, which no planetary raider had ever defied.

Marci’s father thanked the doctor and showed him out, then rushed back to his daughter’s room.

“I’m sorry, my love,” he said gently, and kissed his wife’s forehead.

Natalia shook her head and squeezed his hand. “You did the right thing, dear,” she whispered and wiped off another tear. “But we need to bring her back, Yoran, before they can take her. I don’t think I can survive another Recall.” She rose to her feet with a pant, holding her belly with both hands. “I’ll go make some tea, you stay with her and think about our options,” she said and left lifeless Marci alone with her father.

He sat next to Marci and caressed her cheek. “Oh poppet, why won’t you come back?” he whispered and leaned his forehead against his daughter’s cold hand.

“Perhaps I can be of service.” The tiny voice reminded him of the crystal wind chimes hanging outside his daughter’s window. Hand on his laser gun, he turned around.

“What the—” were the only words he had time to utter before the sight of the enemy rendered him speechless. Speechless, but not mindless. Because in that moment, Yoran Sumner knew that the creature before him—the one he had learned to hate since he was a little boy—was about to turn him into a Rule breaker.

If you’d like to sign up, come on over.  There’s always room for more!

Part One – Jennifer M. Eaton

Part Two – J. Keller Ford

Part Three – Susan Roebuck

Part Four – Elin Gregory

Part Five – Eileen Snyder

Part Six – Mikaela Wire

Part Seven — Vanessa Chapman

Part Eight — Ravena Guron

Part Nine – Vikki Thompson

Part Ten — Susan Rocan mywithershins

Part Eleven — Kate Johnston  AKA 4AMWriter

Part Twelve — Julie Catherine

Part Thirteen — Kai Damian

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

Richard Leonard —- TAG!  You are “It”

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Flash Fiction Friday on Wednesday – He had to Run

Posted on September 19, 2012 | 6 comments

This is the character study I did for my character “David” in my new WIP, Fire in the Woods.  This scene will not be in the novel, but this is how he comes into my MC’s life.

David jumped and landed on the soft turf.  A trail of desolation lay behind him:  fallen trees, scorched soil, and burning branches.  Sparks drifted over his head, silent among the roar of the growing flames.

His plane, burning and cracked in two, lay on its side.  A total loss.  A Failure.  His failure— just like everything else he touched.  It was a miracle that he survived.

Dual beams of light broke the darkness behind the trees.  Red and blue lights swirled.  A moaning high-pitched sound broke the night, echoing above the crackling flames.

David backed away from his aircraft, away from the lights, and the subsequent voices that came from the same direction.  He’d be blamed for this.  He knew it.  He slipped into the trees, away from the warmth of the flames.

He had no choice.  He had to run.

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Write a Story with Me – Part 12 With Julie Catherine “What’d she do?”

Posted on September 18, 2012 | 14 comments

Yay!  It’s my favorite day of the week! If you are new to Write a Story with Me, please scroll down to see a list of previous posts.  Catch up on the story and have a great time!

Today we welcome miss Julie Catherine to the lineup.  Normally a mild-mannered poetess, Ms. Catherine brings on the intrigue this week.  What, oh what, has the devilish Bethany done????????

Read on below!

She laid the leaf gently on the outside sill of the window for the breeze to carry away, and flew to open the door.  Her father, still garbed in his stately Planetary Raiders Captain uniform, scooped his daughter into his arms and whirled her around, hugging her tightly enough that she protested laughingly that she couldn’t breathe.  Marci’s mother hovered behind, rubbing the gentle swell of her belly as she looked on, her face a mix of tolerance and motherly pride. Marci felt a pang of remorse at how quickly that pride would turn to anger if her parents ever learned of her friendship with the fairy, Janelle.

She shrugged off the worrisome thought— for now— slid from her father’s embrace to the floor, grabbed the Needletea pot and skipped down the stairs. “Come, Father”, she called, “tea-time!”

As her mother poured the tea and passed freshly baked scones still warm from the oven, Marci eagerly answered her father’s questions about school and her grades, pleased to be able to give him a glowing report. She was a good student and excelled in her studies. She slathered butter on her scone and nibbled on it thoughtfully;  her mind straying as her parents’ conversation turned to her father’s latest mission.

“… the Commander is convinced the portal can be found; and when it is, the troops will move in, and Argot will finally be rid of the parasitic scourge that threatens to affect the whole of the county!”

Marci’s hand froze, the scone inches away from her mouth, forgotten. Careful not to show any expression that would betray her thoughts, she replaced it gingerly on her plate and wrung her hands in the napkin on her lap, head bowed as she concentrated on wiping her sticky fingers in its folds.  She gulped through the sudden bile in her throat, her appetite replaced with fingers of dread that clawed the inside of her stomach.

She had to find a way to get word to Janelle!  Now!  If she didn’t, the fairies would be totally unprepared when disaster hit— they would be wiped out, all of them.  As much as she adored her father and it grieved her deeply to displease him, Marci could not allow that to happen to her friend; to her friend’s people. She could not condone Janelle’s murder— and that is exactly what would happen if she, Marci, didn’t find a way to warn her friend as soon as possible.

“Poppet, are you all right? You’re white as a sheet!”  Marci’s father’s voice sounded far away and her eyes were having trouble focusing on his face. The room was spinning, and she thought she was going to be sick.

Her father’s hand on her brow felt cool, and it shook slightly.  Suddenly he scooped his daughter into his arms and carried her slight form up the stairs, where he laid her gently on her bed and tucked a warm blanket around her.  Marci was shivering. Why then had her father called to her mother to get the doctor right away— that their daughter was dangerously feverish?  Marci couldn’t make sense of it; was too tired to think, so she closed her eyes and drifted ….

Down the hall, Bethany crouched, unmoving, in the shadows. A slow smile played on her lips as she slipped into her room and closed the door softly.

If you’d like to sign up, come on over.  There’s always room for more!

Previous installments:

Part One – Jennifer M. Eaton

Part Two – J. Keller Ford

Part Three – Susan Roebuck

Part Four – Elin Gregory

Part Five – Eileen Snyder

Part Six – Mikaela Wire

Part Seven — Vanessa Chapman

Part Eight — Ravena Guron

Part Nine – Vikki Thompson

Part Ten — Susan Rocan mywithershins

Part Eleven — Kate Johnston  AKA 4AMWriter

Part Twelve — Julie Catherine

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

Kai Damian —- TAG!  You are “It”

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Jon Gibbs’s Ten things I wish I knew before I was published #10: Interaction is the name of the game

Posted on September 14, 2012 | 13 comments

How you interact with others will have a HUGE impact on your careers

  • Join your first writing group ASAP and join as many as you can
  • Find other authors who might help you
  • Go to Writers conferences – You can meet people who can help you.  They might tell you where a conference is and you may meet someone there (agent publisher)
  • Remember, you will get a lot of useless information
  • But also remember, you will get some great information as well.

Note:  The above are Jon Gibb’s main speaking points, with my rambling opinions attached.

Jon Gibbs is the author of one of my son’s favorite books:  FUR-FACE, which was nominated for a Crystal Kite Award.

Jon is an Englishman transplanted to New Jersey, USA, where he is an ‘author in residence’ at Lakehurst Elementary School.  Jon is the founding member of The New Jersey Author’s Network and FindAWritingGroup.com.

Jon blogs at jongibbs.livejournal.com

Website: www.acatofninetales.com

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Write a Story with Me – Part 11- Tying up the plot holes with Kate Johnston

Posted on September 12, 2012 | 14 comments

Hey!  Someone’s paying attention!  Special thanks to the wonderfully talented Kate Johnston for noticing a little plot glitch in the story.

There was a discrepancy in the whereabouts of the Olden leaf. In installment 6
and 7, Janosc brings the Olden leaf to Gwydyon. But in Vikki’s passage, Marci
puts the Olden leaf in a pot.

What does a writer do????  Let’s find out with Kate’s installment.

Take it away, Kate!

As Marci hurried to greet her father, she wondered if she was wise to put the Olden leaf in the pot, a gift to her father from the Establishment. She’d been so upset over Janelle’s future that she hadn’t been thinking properly. Their family custom was to concoct Needletea in that pot upon her father’s return from his missions.

Move the leaf, Marci thought. She raced back upstairs and grabbed the leaf. Then she stopped.

This wasn’t the Olden leaf. This one had the wrong shape, and it wasn’t warm to the touch.

Where was the Olden leaf? Where did this ordinary leaf come from?

Marci hunted, but the Olden leaf was gone. Did Janelle take it?  No, she wouldn’t have taken it without telling her.

Then where…?

Wanna find out where?  Visit  4AMWriter’s blog to find out! Kate’s just getting started!  Part Eleven — Kate Johnston 

If you’d like to sign up, come on over.  There’s always room for more!

Part One – Jennifer M. Eaton

Part Two – J. Keller Ford

Part Three – Susan Roebuck

Part Four – Elin Gregory

Part Five – Eileen Snyder

Part Six – Mikaela Wire

Part Seven — Vanessa Chapman

Part Eight — Ravena Guron

Part Nine – Vikki Thompson

Part Ten — Susan Rocan

Part Eleven — Kate Johnston  AKA 4AMWriter

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

Julie Cahterine —- TAG!  You are “It”

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Write a Story with Me – Part 10 – Going after the Bro- By Susan Rocan

Posted on September 4, 2012 | 5 comments

Susan Rocan ties two plotlines together this week, and leaves our next person with a devilishly great last line to work off of.

Here’s the beginning of Susan’s submission just as a tease.  You’ll have to hop on over to her site to see where she brings us.

Jenelle perched on a branch outside the window, listening to the joy
in Marci’s voice as she greeted her father. The wee fairy felt a pang
of longing, knowing that such a life was not going to be hers. With
tears clouding her eyes, Jenelle took a deep breath, flicked her wings
and sped across the meadow until her wings ached.

A familiar whirring caused her to whip around and hover, facing her
brother, defiantly.

“Why are you following me?” she demanded.

Wanna see more?  Of course you do!  So let’s hop on over to Susan’s site mywithershins to see what’s going to happen with our story this week!

If you’d like to sign up, come on over.  There’s always room for more!

Part One – Jennifer M. Eaton

Part Two – J. Keller Ford

Part Three – Susan Roebuck

Part Four – Elin Gregory

Part Five – Eileen Snyder

Part Six – Mikaela Wire

Part Seven — Vanessa Chapman

Part Eight — Ravena Guron

Part Nine – Vikki Thompson

Part Ten — Susan Rocan

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

4amWriter —- TAG!  You are “It”

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The Big Announcement! Writing to a Deadline AGAIN #4 The Big Announcement!

Posted on September 1, 2012 | 47 comments

I am so excited to announce that I’ve just signed a contract with Still Moments Publishing to have my story Connect the Dots included in their 2012 Christmas Anthology.

This is totally unbelievable.  In January, I posted a big boisterous banner proclaiming that I WOULD BE PUBLISHED by the end of 2012.  It was quite a lofty goal for me, and now I will have two stories coming out this year.

I’m giddy with glee.

Hey, Canada.  Look South.  See that big bright light down in the USA?  That’s me smiling!

Oh, guys.  This is just so dern cool.  You have no idea.

Click here to see my query blurb and promo page for Connect the Dots.  Yeah, No explosions.  I was a good girl for Christmas.

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Digging through the monotony of writer’s block. Yes! It can be done!

Posted on August 29, 2012 | 11 comments

I was recently a ROW 80 sponsor.  This is a re-blog of the post I did for Row 80, in case some of you didn’t bop over there.  Enjoy!

So, how are we all doing?  Having trouble getting started?  Ugh!  I hate that too.

Personally, I don’t believe in writer’s block.  What you need is just a little inspiration.  Where do you find inspiration?  Well, anywhere.

A good solid writer can make a story out of anything.  You just need to take that first step forward.

But how do you take that step?

Did you see a billboard or magazine advertisement this morning?  Take the person in that picture and write about them.  Are you stuck in the middle of your novel and don’t know where to go?  Read on, my friend, read on…

Here is my method of getting started.  It has never failed me.  You need to start with a character or a setting.  Who or where does not matter.  Just start.

If it is a character, have them take a step.  If it is a scene, just show your reader where they are.  I am going to grab a name out of the air, and see what happens.  Okay?  John is the name.  Here we go:

“John shivered as the cool breeze slapped at his cheeks.  The walk ahead was long and hard, but he needed to make this journey.  More than anything else, he needed to find Geraldine.”

Now, I had no pre-conceived idea in my head when I started.  I just grabbed the name “John” out of the air, and added a setting element.  Within a few seconds, he was looking for someone named Geraldine… and that was completely unplanned.

Now, I just need to let the story “happen”.  The seeds have been planted.  John has to walk in the cold.  Where is he going?  Dunno, but I know it leads to Geraldine.  Isn’t that exciting?

The way I’ve use this method in the middle of a novel, is I take a character, have him sit outside a door, and actually write his thoughts as he figures out what he needs to do.  He doesn’t know what’s going to happen… you don’t know what’s going to happen either.  Just work it out together.

Now, you might not actually be able to use that 2-3 paragraphs that you write in that character’s POV, but just writing and “getting into their head” will start the creative juices flowing.

The important thing is to get words on the page.  Once they start flowing, you might be surprised how hard they are to stop.

Unfortunately, now I’m DYING to know more about John and Geraldine.  Ugh.  Another story begging to be written.

Good luck!

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