How Do You Write Dialog?

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We receive a lot of questions about writing at LegendFire. How do I ...? What do you think about this idea? Am I doing this right? What's the proper grammar rule for ...? Recently, however, I've noticed that the most-repeated question over the years has been, "How do I write dialog?"

This question has always struck me as humorous and, honestly, astonishing. It's like the "What does your watch face look like?" kind of question, where someone says to you, "Cover your wristwatch with your hand and describe your watch face."

How many times a day do people look at their watches? Yet every time I've seen this experiment done, most people are invariably stumped.

So it must be with writing dialog. How many conversations do we take part in everyday, much less hear to our left and our right throughout the waking hours? Most of us are continually surrounded with the sounds of conversation and the visible signs of body language. We even have conversations on candy:

So how does a beginning writer capture conversation on their pages?

1. Actively listen. As in: "What does your watch face look like?" Go sit in a busy place (where you won't be caught eavesdropping) and really listen. Don't think, don't analyze, turn off the phone (ironic tip, that), and just listen. How does a conversation evolve from small matters to hitting the heart of someone's problem? How do the speakers stop and start, hesitate, stutter, hammer their points home? How can you tell if they are nervous, angry, in love?

2. Note the body language that accompanies a conversation. Actively observe.

3. Read. How do the pros capture dialog? Actively read. Note how the author of your favorite book filters through the chaos of real-life conversation to make dialog useful for their storyline. If you're writing a Romance era romance, you'd better be reading a lot of Jane Austen. Her characters never respond with, "Okay."

4. Practice. If you're nervous about writing dialog, write a script. Forget the exposition and the action descriptions for a while. You're obviously comfortable with those. So write your story in script format. Minimal scene direction. Meaningful dialog that moves the plot-line forward.

5. Read what you've written. Aloud. Really. Can a human tongue easily and naturally pronounce what you just wrote? Given the era and subject you're writing about, do average people really use those words on a daily basis? Remember, you actively listened already. You should be able to answer that question.

These are the same tips I find myself repeating over and over again when LegendFire members ask, "How do I ...?" Have I missed anything? Does anyone have any tips to add? Because what works for me may not work for others. How did you learn to write dialog?
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Chilling Halloween Reading!

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Looking for scary, grotesque, or disturbing tales to read during the Halloween season?

Ever since its release in October 2011, Past the Patch has been available for FREE at Smashwords and other sites. This collection by Dark Red Press features stories by thirteen authors (an appropriate number, eh?).

I'm not bringing the book up again because I hope to make a penny or two; we contributors don't make a penny off free books. I'm simply passing it along to you again out of the kindness of my heart. Have fun reading, and have a safe, candy-filled Halloween season!

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Like Pulling Teeth - Progress Report

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I don't know about you, but I hate having dental work done. Seems like my childhood was punctuated with trips to get teeth pulled or braces tightened, so I do not title this post lightly. *sob* It's been three weeks since I put up a progress report, because I couldn't exactly tell if I was making progress. Some passages are just difficult. This week's rewrite involved a certain character's death and another character's nasty reaction to it, and my poor brain just didn't want to go there. But it finally made the jump, and today that difficulty has been overcome, and I'm relatively pleased with the result. As always, much more character depth has gone into the draft, which often means diving into painful places. But it's worth it.

THREE WEEKS' PROGRESS
Chapter(s) of the Week: 7 and 8 
Pages Revised: 25
Scenes Cut: 1
Deaths: 1
Good things that happen: ... (*thinking, thinking* Nope. It ain't there.)
Bad things that happen: Oh, dear. It's all going to hell in a handbasket. The behind-the-scenes action is getting darker by the minute.
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Comments on Gardens of the Moon

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It's not really proper to do a review on a book I didn't finish, but I worked too hard for too long to leave it alone. So I won't file this under my reviews, but merely voice my reaction in informal fashion.

Some people are sure to throw rotten eggs my way when I say that I could not finish Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon. More than once I heard, "If you can finish the first book, the rest are great." Red flag. But I had already bought the thing before I heard this general reaction, so I gave it a try. This book looked like my kind of book: a huge, well-developed world, dense with characters and details and subplots revolving around a big overarching quest. Indeed, this is exactly the kind of book Gardens of the Moon is. Unfortunately, though I have read to the halfway point, I cannot explain what any of those subplots are. I do not know. Seriously.

The problem with this novel is "withholding." There is so much going on, and some of the characters even know what is going on, but the reader is not told what that "thing" is. Some of this "thing" I was able to puzzle out. I think. And I'm not a stupid person. I like puzzles and mysteries in the books I read. I like to have to work for some of the content. That's part of what makes the reading experience so fun, involving, and rewarding. Gardens of the Moon, however, goes a step too far and doesn't let me know enough of what's happening among all the different factions vying for power and survival. Really, it's okay if the reader is told what someone hopes to accomplish; it gives the reader something to hope for, too. Then let the reader see how the characters' hopes are dashed. That creates reader sympathy and evokes big reactions in the human heart.

This also brings up the fact that halfway through the novel I felt little emotional attachment to any of these characters. The characters I liked best are in the book the least, up to this point. I thought, finally, I can get attached to someone, then they vanished again for umpteen pages. At the halfway point, I still haven't found them again. Where did they go? What are they doing? I don't know. I knew this novel and I were not going to work out, when at the middle climatic point where one of the main characters apparently dies, I felt no emotional reaction whatsoever. Eh? Shouldn't I be astonished and boohooing and pleasantly angry or something?

There's only so many times I can say to a book, "Okay, I'll give you another chance. It will surely all click into place today." But nobody's telling nobody nothing and I can't get involved when I don't know what I'm supposed to be hoping for. So when I picked up the book today to try to press on to the finish line, I literally groaned when I saw that after struggling along this hard, an equal amount of the book still awaited (?!?). Grimacing, I asked myself, "What is the point?" Shelve it. Swallow the disappointment. Move on.

If this were an official review, I would give Gardens of the Moon three magic wands. Dock one for massive, frustrating withholding. Dock a second for lack of character-reader involvement.

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So now I'm torn. In the queue is some self-pubbed material I need to read and review, along with what I'm sure is a great short by Milo James Fowler. Also, is a beat up copy of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth that a friend gave me, and The Help, which movie I loved.

What to choose first?
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Travelogue: Writing, with BATS!

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My weekly progress report is several days late because travel knocked me off routine, but that's okay, right? Last week, my husband and I drove to Austin, Texas, for his work. My work got to take place on the eighth floor of a hotel room with a river view. I've had to learn to enjoy writing from hotel rooms. Years ago, the change in location threw me off, and it used to take a day or so for my brain to adjust and start creating again. But now? Glorious. There are no distractions in a well-placed hotel room. No dishes to be done, no cleaning, no weeding, no shopping, no cats to feed and push off your laptop, no reason to even answer the phone because you simply can't come to dinner tonight, you're out of state, see ya later.

I did not expect to like Austin as much as I did. A lovely city. The best part to me was the natural wonder right in the middle of downtown, all of fifty yards from our hotel. Most people are creeped out by bats, but bats are one of my favorite animals. I mean, c'mon, they're mammals that FLY! And they're furry, and they eat West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes. So when I heard from a friend that Austin had a colony of bats, I was thinking, "Okay, we'll get in the car, drive to a cave in the hill country, and see the bats." Noooo. We walked out of the hotel, onto the bridge that crosses the Colorado River and experienced the bats. On one side of the bridge, we got to watch an amazing sunset turn the sky and the skyscrapers orange. On the other side, dusk approached. Under the sound of the traffic crossing the bridge, we could barely hear the squeaking as the bats woke up and became more and more excited.

When sunset was almost completely faded and the sky was the right color of lavender-gray, the first bats started darting out from under our feet. Then wheels of bats started circling, and the squeaking became odd little clicks. At last, three narrow columns of thousands upon thousands of bats flew out over the river and into the city. I'm sure I was standing with my mouth and eyes popped wide open. At my house, we have exactly three bats that come out on summer nights and eat our mosquitoes. So I was not expecting clouds of bats. Literal clouds; once they flew out over the city, the three tidy columns bunched up into shifting black clouds. And they kept pouring out, pouring out, pouring out, till after dark when we could no longer see them.

Another unexpected surprise was the scent. Exactly three bats don't put off much perfume, you know. But when thousands upon thousands of bats get the air moving, there is this distinctive sweet, musty odor. I might have chalked it up to some little old lady's odd perfume, but we smelled it the second night as well. The second night was even better, because we walked down the riverside trail and rented kayaks. I had never kayaked before, so I was very glad the river was wide and calm, else I would've ended up in the water with the turtles and catfish. But I stayed in the boat and at sunset we paddled to the bridge. Down on the water, the roar of traffic was much softer and the squeaking of the bats far more distinct. The bridge, we saw, is actually constructed with deep slots made to house the bats, so we couldn't see them until they started flying out.

When the sun dropped behind a skyscraper and the sky turned to lavender-gray, here they came. Three columns right over our heads. I paddled as fast I could to keep up with them as one of the columns followed the treetops along the bank. A second column crossed the river and flew along the water on my other side. Then came that sweet, musty odor and the black shifting clouds as the bats left the treetops and joined up over the city.

An unforgettable experience. So, if you happen to travel through Austin, take the opportunity to see this amazing nightly nature event right in the middle of downtown.

All that to say that, while in Austin, I finished Chapter 6 and it was a doozie. *whew* But writing more about it here would spoil the bat story. 
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Inspiration: Character - Lyrienn

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Those of you who have been following my blog for a few years may be aware that I love art and collect it in various files on my computer so that I can gaze at it and ponder or sigh or be inspired or what-have-you. Once, I even posted weekly Art History/Appreciation entries. Remember those?

Well, every once in a while, movies or my web searches for new art will cause me to stumble across images that inspire stories or seem to fit ones that I've already written. And as Wordweaver has come to revolve solely around my writing, I thought it might be fun to occasionally post some of these images and a tidbit about the character or setting that they bring to mind.

The image that inspired this blog idea was this one:

Disclaimer: I know nothing about this image, neither its name nor who painted it, but I would dearly love to know. I found it on some wallpaper site during a random Google search. Please post if you have this information, so I can give credit where it's due and promote the artist with a link.

Point is, the moment I saw this image, I gasped and said, "That's Lyrienn!"

CHARACTER PROFILE
Project: The Falcons Saga
Name: Lyrienn
Race: Elf
Home: Lady's Palace, Linndun
Family: daughter of Danyth and Leavhan, sister to Lothiar and Laniel
Significance to the story: handmaid to Lady Aerdria; helps Kieryn through his darkest time.
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Falcons Saga - Progress Report #5

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Well, last Monday I thought, "This chapter is going to be a breeze. I'll bet I get it finished, plus part of Chapter 6." That was until I saw the need for a new scene, and remembered that I had a contest entry to write for LegendFire. So my contest entry took up the last few hours on Friday, meaning Chapter 5 didn't get finished after all. This is the first week that I've not reached my chapter goal (given normal circumstances). Bummer.

The contest promises to be a fun one, however. We've never done one exactly like it. One of our members proposed a Character Creation Contest, in which we choose between two prompts, flesh out the character in a profile, then write a brief excerpt showing their, um, character. I can't give away too much about my entry before the voting is over, but it resulted in my first-ever piece of flash fiction, so I'm doubly excited about it.


THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Chapter(s) of the Week: 5 
Pages Revised: 7.5, which became 17
New Scenes: 1, 4.5 pages worth
Good things that happen: Kethlyn and his royal cousin conduct a successful kitchen raid.
Bad things that happen: They end up stuck in a dark, haunted place.
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The Falcons Saga - Progress Report #4

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The last two weeks have been slow going on the novel. First a head cold threw a kink into things, then one of my beloved uncles died. Ah, perspective. There I was, complaining about being unable to breathe or sleep, while my uncle was lying in a hospital battling a Staph infection. After visiting the family and attending the funeral, only halfway recovered from that blasted cold, I was exhausted come Wednesday, and so the writing had to wait yet another day. But here comes Friday and chapter 4 is complete.  

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Chapter(s) of the Week: 4 
Pages Revised: 8, which became 16
New Scenes: 1, 3 pages worth
Good things that happen: Laral ventures into Fiera
Bad things that happen: Laral must choose between love and loyalty
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The Falcons Saga - Progress Report #3

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 Lots of meaningful information in these pages. Now, just to find the most entertaining, punchy way to tell it. Ah, but it is so painful when scenes I love no longer work and must be cut. Killing one's darlings is never fun. Good thing is, I will still have them saved in the old draft, so they're not gone completely, and readers will never know the difference. Trick is, then, to make the entire final version my darling and be proud of the content that survives the cut.

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Chapter(s) of the Week: 3 

Pages Revised: 12
Deaths: 0
Births: 1
Good things that happen: Thorn goes home
Bad things that happen: old tensions surface
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The Falcons Saga - Progress Report #2

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Given that there are currently 44 chapters in the rough draft, and given that there are 52 weeks in a year, and given that there will be holidays and the occasional need to flee the novel for a few days here and there to save my sanity, I think it's safe to say that rewrites on Falcons 2 will take at least a year. That's if I succeed in rewriting one chapter a week. The tally does not make me happy, but there it is. A realistic estimate, for now.

But, like I said last post, rather than look at the whole wall to be built, take it one brick at a time.

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Pages Revised: 3 1/2
Pages of New Content: 5
Deaths: 30+
Dreadful Happenings: There is much blood on the snow
Positive Happenings: Kelyn is going to miss a certain lady

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The Falcons Saga - Progress Report #1

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Here we go again. A full week of writing (or rewriting, as the case may be) is under my belt. Ground has been broken, and what do I find but bricks strewn absolutely everywhere. Reconstruction has begun.

I was rather disheartened last weekend when I opened that huge 3-ring binder to read over chapter one and found that what I thought was good was, in fact, shallow characterization and boring exposition. Instead of penciling in corrections line by line, I sat down at my laptop, heaved a sigh of dread, and typed "Part One, Chapter 1." This is going to be an uphill battle, no mistake. I refuse to set a deadline yet. Doing so, I fear, will be setting myself up for failure and expectant readers for disappointment. So, suffice to say, I'm taking it one chapter at a time, one scene at a time, one page at a time. If you look at the building as a whole and how much progress still has to be made, the job can look daunting, even impossible, but keeping focus on one brick stacked on top of another doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

So here's to the long haul! See you at the other end.

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Number of pages revised: 5 1/2
Character deaths: 1
Dreadful happenings: a young prince makes a deadly move
Positive happenings: a young prince finds hope in a new friend

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Review: Wild Cards I by George RR Martin, ed.

Blurb:

“There is a secret history of the world—a history in which an alien virus struck the Earth in the aftermath of World War II, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Some were called Aces—those with superhuman mental and physical abilities. Others were termed Jokers—cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. Some turned their talents to the service of humanity. Others used their powers for evil. Wild Cards is their story.”

Review:

When I became a George RR Martin fan some years ago, I kept hearing Wild Card this and Wild Card that, but couldn’t figure out what the hype was about. When Wild Cards: Inside Straight, the seventeenth installment in the series, came out in 2008, I ran out and grabbed a copy. But I still didn’t see what the big deal was. For instance, I found myself asking the same question that opens Inside Straight: “Who the f—k was Jetboy?”

This wouldn’t do at all. I tried to track down a copy of volume one in the series, only to learn that the book was no longer in print. ‘How can a popular series no longer have volume one?’ I asked, highly disappointed. So when Martin announced on his Not A Blog that the book had been re-released and that the ebook was temporarily on sale, I whooped and hollered, grabbed my Kindle and downloaded a copy. I was in for one wild ride…

Originally published in 1986, the first installment of Wild Cards was a collection of 10 stories and several interludes that followed a timeline from the virus’s release in September 1946, up through the social changes of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, all filtered through the lenses of those who suffered the virus.

With its re-release in 2010, the original stories are joined by 3 new tales that enhance the early progression of the Wild Card virus. Michael Cassutt’s contribution, “Captain Cathode and the Secret Ace,” describes the fear in Hollywood after McCarthy’s Communist trials in the 50s, but with a twist. The HUAC hearings not only targeted suspected Communists, but aces as well. “Powers,” by David D. Levine, goes inside the CIA as a secret ace strives to save a kidnapped spy while trying to remain anonymous. And Carrie Vaughn explores Jokertown and the 80s club scene in “Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan.”

The progression of stories not only touches on well-known historical and social events, but also on phobias. The kind of phobia that comes to dictate how we treat our neighbors who look differently or live differently from what is deemed “normal.” The authors managed to weave this common and dangerous paranoia into the action until it becomes the predominant theme by the end.

Conclusion:

Wild Cards I provides my first run-in with a collaborative work on this scale. While reading, I was continuously astounded by how these authors managed to pool characters and information into an elaborate patchwork that forms a dramatic, cohesive whole. Though the book may be most accessible to readers who have some knowledge of the events that marked the last half of the 20^th Century, I think the bizarre elements found in these stories will appeal to a new generation of sci-fi fans.

I give Wild Cards I five out of five magic wands:

(I’m also rating this book Mature, due to language and sexual situations)

For another review on Wild Cards I, visit Book Spotlights at The Bearded Scribe

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Fan of the Olympics and Janis Joplin

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The games are back again, which means the writing suffers. I just can't help it. Sports were never my thing. The only reason I like to watch football on Sunday afternoons is b/c it's the best thing ever to fall asleep to. An endless drone of pointless noise. Sorry, but that's the way it is. Now, the Olympics on the other hand? I'm glued. Everything else, or nearly, takes a backseat for two weeks every two years. Even writing. That's permissible, right?

Janis

Good thing is, despite the games, I finished the short spec-fic involving Janis Joplin yesterday. Lots of fun. A bit macabre. But lots of fun. Now I must choose between endings. I have two options, which I will keep to myself. And where to submit the bloody thing? But first things first, I must cut down the word count, as usual. My stories are always so full of character development that I have a difficult time keeping them brief. But I love the narrator. I can't decide if she's reliable or not, even now. Maybe that will keep readers guessing, too.

Anyway, back to the games. Then, when they conclude, it back to the Falcons saga for me. Don't even want to contemplate the workload waiting in that stack of paper...

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Recouped At Last!

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Well, at least it feels that way. Rewriting Falcons over 18 months wore my brain thin, I tell you. It felt numb and zombified after that project. My goal, during these months of rest, was to write several short stories and revise some old ones that have been lying around the house, but in that state, I couldn't force my brain to think of  a single new idea. Even sleep was dull. I barely dreamed at all, not dreams that stuck with me after waking up, which is really odd for me. I got to worrying, "Is this how it's going to be? Have I lost it? Has my imagination been wrung dry? Will I ever care to write again?" Really distressing stuff. But I waited. And waited. 

And here it is. At least for now. This week, my brain seems to have come alive again. Bizarre story dreams prove it. Several nights in a row, dreams that have characters, plots, intrigue, the whole bit, so I guess that means all is returning to normal. One dream was about Janis Joplin, and I'm converting it into a bizarre spec fic. After I type "the end" on that one, I do believe it will be time to drag out Falcons 2 and start looking it over. It's been lying on my writing room floor, collecting dust, and tapping an irritated foot. I had to keep telling it, "Not till July. Give me that long to rest, at least, please." So, here it is, the middle of July, and things are heating up again.

What makes me even more eager to get started on Falcons 2 are the sells on Falcons 1. I never expected the response both volumes have received. Both have made it into the Top 100 Epic Fantasy list, alongside George RR Martin, Stephen King, Brandon Sanderson, Steven Erikson, and Tolkien. Then there are the other self-pubbed authors, like Michael G. Manning, on that list. I feel like my twins are competing with the big boys now, and the feeling is surreal. A little unbelievable. But I'll take it and run, thanks.

In any case, here we go again ...

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EXPLORERS Available At Last!

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It was May of last year that I posted that my short story "A Mournful Rustling" had been accepted by Dead Robots' Society for inclusion in their  anthology. Well, Explorers: Beyond the Horizon is available at last! The collection features characters forever changed by their discovery of lands and worlds beyond their own. Whether it’s by charting new stars, trekking across fantastical realms, sailing new oceans, or traversing the wild and unknown spaces between dimensions, readers will find the unimaginable in the pages of Explorers. Authors contributing work to the anthology are:



J. Daniel Sawyer
Jeff Brackett
Lauren M. Roy
Colum Paget
Vincent Morgan
Ira Nayman
Jocelyn Adams
Court Ellyn
Jesse J. Summerson
Andrew Hawnt
Mark Mellon
Laura Givens
James Ebersole
Kurt H. Hyatt
Daniel Latham

So far, the anthology is available at the following venues:

CreateSpace

Amazon Print

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble Nook

Smashwords

Now, the interesting part is, if you purchase a print version of this book from Amazon or CreateSpace and email a copy of the receipt  show(at)deadrobotssociety(dot)com, they will send you the ebook for FREE.

I'm so excited to see how this project turned out. I've been waiting on pins and needs since December 2010, when the call for submissions was extended. The results should arrive in my mailbox soon.

So, cheers! And happy reading!

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I'm a Guest Blogger!

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Well, it's now official. I am a guest blogger for The Bearded Scribe. For the record, I do not have a beard, but apparently Joshua Mercier does. He and I met via LegendFire, when he became a member there and he then proceeded to ask me if he could interview me. Remember that one a few weeks back?

Anyway, I'm getting to return the favor by offering book reviews for The Bearded Scribe. My first humble offering is a review of the graphic novel version of Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn. The blog features frequent Book Spotlights by other reviewers as well, along with posts focusing on reading and writing the fantasy genre. Hop on over there and check it out!

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Novel vs. Novella: A Question of Time

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So Blood of the Falcon has been out for a month or nearly and checking the Kindle sells daily has resulted in my overwhelming astonishment. The actual numbers are not the point; the point is that a novel so fat that it has to be broken into two volumes keeps selling steadily, when a skinny, convenient, fast read like Mists of Blackfen Bog stagnates at tiny numbers. In comparison, I've marketed Falcons far less than Mists and the novel's sells keep rising.

Now, I have discussed this question with a writing friend and we cannot come to a satisfying reason why, in our fast-paced culture in which people with shortening attention spans are expecting quick results, that short stories and novellas would be largely ignored while novels, that take up so much more time, energy and devotion to reach the end, would continue to sell like hot cakes. The best I can come up with is that readers who are following this trend are those bookworms who prefer long-term commitment to a character and a situation rather than a one-night stand with a briefer story. Any other theories out there?

From a writer's standpoint, then, considering all the numbers, is it more worth my own time and energy writing full-length novels rather than novellas? Novellas are hard to sell, few markets exist that accept them. Yet fewer publishers take chances on unknown novelists. So the results will most likely end up in a self-publishing venture.Which leads me back around to while novels sell better, I can have more novellas out on the market in far less time, but if few are buying them (aka reading them), why bother? As you can see, I'm torn. Any opinions or encouragement or personal experience to share?
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Blood of the Falcon Is Published At Last!

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After what feels like a billion years of toil, the first novel in my Falcons series is now, at last, for realz, available for sale. Crazy, saying that at last.

So here's the scoop so far. The print version is available at CreateSpace right now. It will take a few days for it to be listed on Amazon. The Kindle version is not yet uploaded, but hopefully tomorrow or the next day it will be. Crossing fingers on that score.

Now, for future reference, all you people who plan on self-pubbing your novels: CreateSpace has a page limit of something like 844 pages (may even be less than that). My novel was like 30 pages over the limit, so I had to publish it in two volumes.

So there's less confusion, even the Kindle version will come out in two volumes. Be watching, b/c Volume 1 will be free for a run of five days coming up soon.

Here are the links to each volume's CreateSpace page:
Volume 1
Volume 2

Don't let the prices scare you. These are big books. 9.21x6.12 in size and together, they probably weigh 7 lbs. I'm very pleased I got to price them at a realistic price, instead of having to jack it up to $20 a piece, like I feared.

In any case, the Kindle version will be only .99 cents per volume (at least for now). When they become available, I will certainly post about it.

Now that the business stuff is out of the way, I'm going to do a happy dance and pop open the champagne. Cheers!

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Interviewed!

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A few weeks ago LegendFire received a new member who called himself by the mysterious username "The Bearded Scribe." Because it is my job to keep an eye on new members, mildly stalking them, if you will, until they prove themselves benevolent, I checked out the links that the Bearded Scribe posted and engaged him in conversation (it may sound creepy, but I'm Momma Bear where our members are concerned). Lo, and behold! Who would have guessed that my investigation would lead to a valuable network with a fellow fantasy author and an interview and guest bloggerhood?

The Bearded Scribe is a relatively new blog at Blogger that will focus on speculative fiction, writing it and reviewing it. If you're curious, check out my interview there. It's lengthy, but it provides a thorough overview. A little about writing, a little about administrating LF.

About that guest bloggerhood bit. I'm flattered and astonished. I always wondered how that happened, and now I know. Not sure when I'll be posting there, or about what, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers!

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My Babies Have Come Home!

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The proofs for Falcons came in five days before I was expecting them. It's like Christmas around here, folks. I figured that holding a physical copy of my novel would feel good. But I didn't expect a high quite like this. Twelve years of labor, worry, tears and doubts are about to come to a close, and it feels amazing. While I've spent the last couple of days tweaking the layout, I would often pause and just pick up one volume or the other and flip through it, sighing or smiling.

One more set of proofs to order, then final release...

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Itchy Fingers

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Like the title says, my fingers are starting to itch. The last proofread on Falcons is complete, the covers are designed, the maps are tidied up, and the whole package has been uploaded at CreateSpace and approved. I ordered the proofs today. The estimated arrival in my mailbox is Friday, May 4! What? That's over a week away! Way too long. I can't stand it. I want those copies in my grubby paws yesterday! Ah, waiting. Why must it hurt so?

In the meantime, here is a sampling of cover art:

copyright 2012 by Court Ellyn

Not exactly happy with the muddiness of the falcon pic, but hey, it's a start. Brighten up that puppy and all should be well. Volume 2 gets cerulean fonts and pics. Cerulean ... a very important color on the battlefield, as readers will discover, so that color on at least one of the covers was a fun detail to play with. Set side by side, the two books will make an eye-catching pair on the shelf. Nice.

So, what's left? A bit of formatting once I'm sure about my margins, then final approval and release. Mid-May ought to see it happen. *crossing itchy fingers*

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FALCONS FINISHED!

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Woohoo! Last Tuesday I finished the major rewrite of Blood of the Falcon! Three days before deadline, too. I was so stoked that instead of posting about it, I dove into the next stage of the project: the formatting and beautifying of the final product. So it looks like end of April might become the release date after all. 

My embarrassing confession is that the text, when formatted in the size I want, is 30 pages too long to fit into one volume. So I used the old dividing point, the one the editor advised way back when, and will be putting the novel out in two volumes at the same time. That way, I also have plenty of room for maps and appendices. I could let the Amazon page limit dictate the content, but because this is a personal project, I feel like I would be untrue to my novel if I let Amazon's thing govern the result. So two volumes it will be.

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Almost There...

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Over a month since my last post? Yikes. Well, it's only because the end of the novel project is at hand and I've been obsessively rewriting the conclusion. Now, there's only one chapter of Falcons left to revise! One chapter!!! This is the week. I'm stoked. Hoping nothing goes wrong or gets in the way. This project went on for several months more than I expected, but it's almost over now. I can almost taste the glorious words "The End."

Back when I was panicking about the number of pages still to go, I feared I would have to move the deadline yet again, but it looks like the end of March it will be. April will be a whole 'nother adventure. I've formatted a novella and a short story for self-pubbing, but never a full-length novel, a novel that, in truth, is long enough to be two novels. That task will take time and diligence and a sharp eye, or the results may be disastrous. Then maps and covers and proofreading. My goal was also to have a website set up before the novel's release, but I'm not sure I can fit that in as well. Me, busy? Never. So here goes nothin'...

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Blood of the Falcon, Progress Report

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Ack, this novel rewriting business is eating my lunch! My brain is on the verge of fried. Honestly, I did not expect rewriting a novel that I know so well to be so difficult. I was trucking along, enjoying myself until about three chapters ago. Then the end felt soooo near, and for some reason writing became exhausting. Is it because I’ve spent a year and a half revising something that originally only took me six months? Is it because I have a “perfectionist” issue? Is it because all those loose ends are starting to tie up and there are too many details for my shrinking brain to handle? I think it’s the latter, actually.

But I shall persevere! Hoping to be finished with the major part of the project and reach “The End” by the end of March. Then comes the proofreading, formatting, covers and maps, etc. in April. That’s the tentative schedule at present.

So, the updated progress report:

Where We Stand This Week

pages left to revise: 65

bad things that happened: a hero faces the demons chasing him

good things that happened: … nothing? hmm, that’s a good sign

Wow, sixty-five pages left is far fewer than I had feared. Hurray!
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Mists Climbs the Charts!

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Experimenting with this self-publishing thing prompted me to enroll my novella, Mists of Blackfen Bog, into the Kindle Select program. Whatever your feelings may be about this potentially ebook-monopolizing program, I found that it allowed me to experience a momentary high. Mist's first "free" campaign just ended, and while it lasted, the novella rose to #37 on the free Fantasy ebook list. What a glorious sight it was. 

Next weekend, the novella will be available for free once again. Just saying. *wink-wink*

How well will it do on the 11th? We shall see.

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My Heartfelt Wish For All Spammers...

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This post has absolutely nothing to do with writing, sad to say.

Spammers are evil. Up there with lice and the bubonic plague. I haven't posted much this month because the invasion over at LegendFire has really sapped my enthusiasm for almost everything internet-related. They even became a problem at LiveJournal, so I'm probably going to shut that blog down. 

LF's ban filter is growing longer by the day, tons of ip addresses and suspect email addresses that are used to spread useless ads all over the world's unsuspecting forums. The best solution? Dig into my savings envelope and upgrade LF's license so we can have a spam filter. That sounds like a painful process. I am not looking forward to it, though I'm sure the results will be worth the trouble. Better than nailing one spammer after another on a tedious individual basis.

I really loathe spammers. Even more than the taste of cough medicine and hitting my funny bone. If I knew who these people were and could find their computers, I would pour a million hungry, genetically-engineered rats into their cubicles (or secret warehouse basements) and cheer the little beasties on while they chewed every cord in sight and treed the quivering spam people atop their desks for all eternity.

Ahem ... tea, anyone?

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"Fire Eater" Receives Review!

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There's nothing better than knowing that folks are reading what you write and find themselves enjoying it. Angela, from the blog "The How-To Life," posted favorable words about Mother Mirrah's attempts at prison reform.You may read her review of "Fire Eater" here: Review Of Ebook Fire Eater
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"FIRE EATER" at Smashwords and Amazon!

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Decided it was time to add to my self-pubbing ventures by publishing "Fire Eater" at Smashwords and at Amazon's Kindle Store. The story is a fantasy novelette at 8,300 words, so not too long a read, but still meaty, nonetheless. I have a particular fondness for this story, because it marked my first publishing success. Nothing like that first acceptance letter that reduces a grown girl to tears. It appeared in the now-defunct Midnight Times in 2007 (I think it was 2007), then good ol' Martin Davey told me he couldn't believe I sold that story for free. So when the rights reverted to me, I tried selling it again. This time Kaleidotrope bought it, of which I am exceptionally proud. However, since the story was a reprint, I still received not one dime for it, even if my payment was three copies of the magazine, the equivalent of $15, which I would've spent on copies anyway.

Good thing about Kaleidotrope is that it receives reviews. I was able to track down three. The links to them are:
Kimberly Todd Wade (quotes from Ms. Wade's wonderful review earned a place on the cover!)
SFRevu
Rich Horton (excited about this Locus writer mentioning "Fire Eater" from among a year's worth of Kaleidotrope stories)

So a year and a half later, it's time to shove the story out there again. This time it's available at Smashwords and in a day or so at the Kindle Store (will provide link when it's available). For the readers of my blogs, here is the coupon code for a free purchase of "Fire Eater" from Smashwords: SV94M

The code is valid through January 31.

Enjoy! 

EDIT: Amazon has given its approval already. So here's the link to the story in the Kindle Store: FIRE EATER FOR YOUR KINDLE
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Contests and Progress Report, 12-14-2011

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PROGRESS REPORT
Project: Blood of the Falcon
Pages Cut: 18+
Pages Revised: 16
New Scenes: 3 (pretty sure I made up those 18 pages cut with new stuff. Oh, well.)
Good Things that Happened: Fairies deliver messages really fast. Better than texting!
Bad Things that Happened: Poison ends all hope for peace

In addition, LegendFire's biannual Legends Contest (can you call it biannual if you only had it once this year?) launched yesterday. Lots of participants have already signed up, so I'm happy. Our prompt is "Redemption" which ought to work well for Fiction and Poetry but will likely be tough for our Non-Fic writers. I haven't got a clue about what to write. Well, maybe a clue. As far as Non-Fic goes, all I can think of is writing my testimony. Not sure a contest at LF is the best place to submit that. Or maybe it is the best place. But I seriously doubt one's testimony is a proper contest entry. Ah, well.

Preparing for a road trip this weekend to visit friends who moved away in October. They just got into an apartment of their own this week, so things may be nice and chaotic when we get there. Hmm...hope the weather holds.

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Xmas Tree Success!

Here are the results of my Christmas tree decorating weekend. The pic is a little blurry and grainy b/c I was too lazy to get the tripod out for the snapshot. 

Our Gingerbread Xmas Tree, 2011

I started collecting gingerbread men soon after I was married, so slowly the tree decor has shifted toward cookies and other holiday food for a theme. This tree does make one wish for real holiday cookies and candy, so it's rather dangerous to look at for long. Teehee.

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Christmas Lights...

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The paint on the living room wall is dry at last, and so we (I) finally got the Christmas tree set up, no matter that it's nearly mid-December already. Not much better than a mug of egg nog and Christmas music blaring and a tree to be decorated. Bad thing is, I'm at a standstill. I don't have enough strands of lights. Four strands, you'd think, would be plenty for a seven-foot tree. I can't figure it out. I know I had plenty of lights last year. I don't even think I used all four strands. Weird. Now I have all the Christmas decor strung out across the living room, but a tree that refuses to accept any of it until there are lights all the way to the tippy top. I'd run to the store for more, but it's 9 p.m. (and my mug of egg nog is empty. Don't want a D.U.I, do I!). And there's no way I'm unwinding all those lights to retry. That's the part that takes the patience of a saint, and a saint I ain't. Hmm...

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Progress Report, 11-28-11, and Ebook Pricing

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My methods of revising Falcons are changing enough that it's becoming more tricky to accurately count up my progress in terms of pages or word count. Cutting, keeping, tossing, rewording. Very little is as it once was. Book One is also undergoing a title change. Rising this, Rising that. I'm seeing it everywhere. Don't want the thing to be lost in a Rising sea. So here goes:

PROGRESS REPORT
Project: Blood of the Falcon
Pages Cut: 4 3/4
Pages Revised: 2 1/2
New Pages: 5 3/4
Good Things that Happened: The Black Falcon accepts a new shield
Bad Things that Happened: Kelyn fears a bit of vengeance

That aside, the subject of ebook pricing has come up in recent discussions. I was wondering about the range of opinions concerning the $0.99 craze. A good thing? A bad thing? Does it help budding writers and the ebook market in the long run? What might be the cons of pricing books so low? Any analysts in the house? Helpful links?
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Spammers and Pen Pals

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It's been over a month since I've blogged about anything! Since the last couple of weeks of October, a great deal of my free time has been combating spammers. LegendFire has been invaded, and I've been turning over options to keep them out. The trolls in the basement seem to have eaten their fill and are fast asleep, which lets the rest of the spammers through. My Anti-Spammer Sword of Doom is well-honed, yes, but my sword arm is getting tired. Even the Forum Leaders with their Anti-Spammer Laser Pistols are getting miffed by the influx of these creeps. Despite all our magical wards, these spammers must be wearing amulets that let them pass through. We're going to have to consider thickening the outer wall. Anything to make it comfortable and inviting for the members. If they only knew ...

On a more positive note, some of my usual blogging time has been used to resume correspondence with someone who might as well be called a writing pen pal. Though pens are no longer used to write letters, it seems. I "met" Martin through Hatrack several years ago, and while he was helpful in pointing me in new directions for my writing, it's been most rewarding to discuss writing and publishing with him on a more detailed level than I can with most of the members at LF. Our recent discussions have provided some writing-related material to blog about, so if these spammers are soon under control, I'll have some new things to post.

In the meantime, the study on Acts concluded last week. It was a great success. One of our members who has been a Christ-follower for only a few years confirmed my hopes when she said that she hugely appreciated this study b/c the Bible stopped being a collection of random, helter-skelter verses and finally became a whole, a story, a history told from beginning to end. I was thrilled. Reading Acts years ago also helped my husband come to the same conclusion, and he was raised with those random verses being shoveled down his throat. I remember, when Acts changed his view of God's Word, everything changed. His outlook, our marriage, his relationship with God and his coworkers. It was amazing.

So now, a break, in which I shall begin reading Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge, and dive back into writing. I'm ecstatic.
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Progress Report, 10-15-11, and Losing Friends

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I finally made it to the novel's last Part. And I've divided into two less intimidating sections. I have only 5 months until my deadline, which means that the last read through/proofreading will likely be rushed, which makes me unhappy. So here goes:

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Project: Falcons Rising
Pages Revised: 2.5
Pages Cut: 6.5
New Scenes: 3 --- 11 3/4 pages of new stuff!
Bad Things that Happened: sneaky schemes of murder are hatched
Good Things that Happened: A prince is born

In other news, I'm grieving this week because our circle of friends is losing not one couple, but two. Two couples are moving out of state on the same weekend! Losing one was almost too much for me to contemplate, but two? My husband's mountain biking buddies are moving to Denver, which is their dream come true. The other couple, from our LifeGroup, is employed to build those enormous windmill farms, so they go where the business is. In truth, we got to keep them longer than we hoped, but now they are moving to far southern Texas, near South Padre, which is an absolutely gorgeous island on the Gulf. They'll adjust; we'll adjust. But I'm not sure others realize how traumatically this might affect me. I think it comes from moving so often as a child. All through Elementary School, we moved every two to three years, and I would make maybe a single friend each time. I don't even remember their names, and doubtless, I'm no more than a blip in their memory. I hung out more with my sister's friends b/c there was less of a heart-attachment involved. I wasn't leaving my friends, I was leaving hers. No biggie.

Seriously, the past year-and-a-half is the first time I've had friends as an adult (I was 32). I'm settled at last in a place I mean to stay, so I opened up and let myself become attached to people. Then they move away. I'll have to work very hard to keep from convincing myself, "What's the point? Why bother?" Good thing is, our circle is still intact, just smaller. We get to watch one of our remaining couples become parents for the second time next spring. And they mean to officially open up the LifeGroup for new participants, so new couples will try us out and hopefully be a good fit. We're a crazy lot. We love to have fun while we explore the Word of God. Serious? Us? Ha, rarely. But we're all sad this week.

So here's to learning how to cope...
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Our FREE Halloween Antho is HERE!

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I'm excited beyond words to bring you the links where you can download a free copy of Past the Patch. Brian, the editor was kind enough to call "The Witch of Mistletoe Lane" -- my efforts for the collection -- "the shining gem of this piece." *dumbfounded gape* I have not read the collection myself, as of yet, so I cannot vouch for the other stories inside. Be aware that these authors come from many genres and backgrounds. It will be an eclectic read, that's for sure. So, friends and family, I encourage you to get your hands on a copy.

Here are the links:

Smashwords

Scribd

Goodreads
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Past the Patch, A Free Halloween Anthology!

On Tuesday, October 11, Dark Red Press releases its Halloween anthology, Past the Patch, edited by Brian Fatah Steele, author of horrifying tales like In Bleed Country and Fragments of Ruin. This new anthology features 13 all-new tales of Halloween from 13 different authors, writing in a variety of genres, from horror to literary. Best of all the anthology is free! FREE! It can't get better than that. You will be able to find it for download at Smashwords, Scribd, and Goodreads. Once those links become available, I will happily post them for your convenience.

The list of contributing authors, in alphabetical order, is as follows:

Sarah E. Adkins
Jonathan Dukestein
Court Ellyn
Matthew J. Leverton
Jack Lloyd
Jack X. McCallum
H. H. Shullith
John Claude Smith
John J. Smith
Brian Fatah Steele
C. L. Stegall
J. T. Warren
Robert S. Wilson

Progress Report, 10-7-11, and Gleaning Good Stuff From Negative Comments

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THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Project: Falcons Rising
Pages Revised: 0
Pages Cut: 2
New Scenes: 2 --- 9 pages of new stuff! This particular section has allowed me to apply what I've learned about Show vs. Tell
Bad Things that Happened: A bridge comes tumbling down
Good Things that Happened: Nobody was on it

When Daniel Pool of Larks Fiction Magazine reviewed my novella Mists of Blackfen Bog at the Examiner, one of the few criticism he had about it concerned the "Interlude" that I included near the end. It's a linking scene, summarizing the passage of time while including the important details, between the rising action and the conclusion. He called this a "hiccup." Now, I'm indifferent about the matter. I can't agree or disagree with his opinion, but I see his point. How does that relate to my novel Falcons Rising and the revisions it's suffering through? Don't tell, but I had an "Interlude" there as well, in which I summarized not the events of a few days, but the highlights taking place over a couple of years. The reader does not need to know every event that occurs during those couple of years, but some important things do happen. How to handle this information has proven a problem in the past couple of weeks.

My conclusion is to choose the major pieces of information and show them in full detail, while tossing in the tidbits of other important info, as my POV character learns of it, letters, hearsay, battle reports, etc. If "telling" must done (and it must b/c there's just too much info), then let it be done through the characters themselves, their words, their thoughts, rather than a very, very ... very ... distant omniscient narration. It's been tough trying to decide how to present the information in a more interesting way without belaboring the issue and drawing out the book to ridiculous lengths. But I think the reader will appreciate the results, if not the immense effort involved.

So, if nothing else, it's good to read the negative comments as well as the good, in the hopes that one's future endeavors benefit. Have you received a less than favorable comment that helped strengthen your writing later?
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Falcons Promo

A bit of promo art, anyone?

Well, ideally, I'm not lying about the date. Okay, okay, it's not a date, it's a season, which gives me lots of leeway. Friend Virginia is getting very, very upset that this project isn't finished yet. She only got to read the first half of this novel, and she's anxiously awaiting the rewrites for the rest. I can't let my new head cold get in the way. Rewrites must go on.

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I can breathe now...

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I had to wait until I had a moment to breathe before I could spend decent time posting. Things have calmed down a bit. I gave up on the LeFiWriMo project, which helped immensely. The writing frenzy was a good learning experience, however. I learned that I'm writing more in a day than I thought I was. All these years I felt as if I wasn't doing enough, not accomplishing enough in my day-to-day tasks. Now I know that's not the case. Seriously, when you write rough drafts longhand for years, you go by the number of pages you've filled with your increasingly horrible scrawl, rather than word count. Now I know I can type 2000 words a day without much effort at all -- as long as the story itself is flowing clearly. So, I will now be typing all my rough drafts. I know, I know. Welcome to the modern era, lady!

In the meantime, colleague Brian Fatah Steele contacted me, along with several self-published writers he's acquainted with, and asked us to be part of an anthology he's putting together. When he said it was to have a Halloween theme, initially I was intimidated. Brian is a horror writer. I canNOT write horror, so I was relieved when he said my story could be of a different genre. Now I'm intimidated because the results are on the almost-too-long end, and barely of any speculative genre at all (which is a first for me!). Literary Americana with a smidgeon of fantastical happenings. I hope it fits. If not, oh, well. I had a wonderful time writing it, and feel that the story has something to say about small town life, about decency to neighbors. Best of all, my very honest husband loved it. *whew*

So if all goes well, be looking for a new Halloween antho this October. I won't release the details until I have permission.

My verse during busy times:

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

Which is powerfully interpreted as "Stop striving and know that I am God."
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No More, Please!

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I'm starting to freak out. Last post I said that my plate was full. Now I think LegendFire's ezine layout person has quit on us. She and I had a very . . . strange . . . disagreement. Or misunderstanding. I'm not sure what it was. Typing private messages back and forth over a period of weeks manages to conceal the body language and tone of voice that would confirm exactly what transpired. She proposed layout changes to make the ezine look more professional. I said great! Send me your ideas. Then, come to find out, she expected me to have the vision for something she proposed. ???

We have four days till Issue 7 is supposed to be released, I sent the content to her three days ago, and I've not heard a word from her. Which isn't odd in itself. There are often many, many days between my PMs to her and her replies, and because of her busy student schedule we've never once gotten the ezine released on its release date,even after we rearranged the release schedule to accomodate. So I could be worrying for nothing. Or I could be putting up with too much crap.

In her last message to me, she said that she would drop the project then. Does that mean she's dropping the project of standardizing and professionalizing the ezine? Or does that mean she's dropping the ezine altogether? I don't know! So now I'm chewing my nails, waiting to see if she sends me a copy of the zine to be checked for final edits or if I have to scramble around and take up yet another project that someone drops.

There's no way I can afford publishing software. Getting to know something like Scribus, which is free, will take time that I do not have. So, yeah, I'm freaking out. If this falls through, I'm tempted yet again to urge the ezine staff to drop the whole thing. I will shout, I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!!! Two years ago, some member proposed the idea, thinking, "Ah wouldn't it be great if we still received a newsletter every month." I turned around and asked that member (in slightly more PC language), "So you mean to take this project on, huh, b/c I do not have time to hold your hand and do all the unseen things it would involve." The member with the great idea says, "Uh, I didn't mean me." No, really? Yeah, I know exactly who you meant. I considered the matter dropped, until weeks later someone decides, "Hey, this would be a great idea! Not a newsletter though, but a quarterly ezine!"

I hold up my hands and say, "Fine, y'all industrious folks who have time, have at it. I can't take this on too."

Slowly but surely, I inherited one task for the ezine, then another. Every quarter, I have to spend time hunting up members to write articles, which often feels like begging for someone to step up and take action. In the meantime, the member who first proposed the idea is no longer even a member, due to busyness that took them away. No, really? Then our original editor got busy editing in the real world and vanished, so I'm now the ezine editor too. Somewhere in there, we learned that hardly anyone was receiving the bloody thing in their email inboxes, so I had to involve my husband to try to figure out LF's bulk email settings and server issues, just so folks will receive the product of our efforts. It was so bad that some members didn't know we HAD an ezine the first whole year it was out. *shoot me now*

So, after all this B.S. I have the eerie feeling that our layout lady has dropped us. She only ever showed up once a quarter to do the layouts anyway, which means she's probably looking for any excuse at all to sever ties with LF, and I do believe this was her excuse.

Do I take up yet more slack? Or bury the ezine? I just don't know. Looks like I have four days to wait and see what happens. Then, the old red dragon may rear her ugly head.
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Me, A Teacher?

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I don't think I can pile anymore on my plate. This is going to be one insane month. LeFiWriMo starts tonight at one minute past midnight. So in addition to writing 850 or so words a day on Cataclysm, I need to be making progress on the novel project. In addition, two new developments are spicing things up.

Suddenly, I'm a teacher. My nephew, who is being home schooled, started 1st Grade this year, and I get to teach Art Appreciation. Luckily the text is very simple. But after fifteen minutes or so of looking at art, we also get to make some. I'm sure we'll have paint and glue and tissue paper strung out everywhere in no time. I'm honored that my sister would consider involving me in Seth's education already. I figured I'd be needed for High School Lit or something, but 1st Grade Art Appreciation is going to be awesome. Better, class starts on my birthday.

On top of those preparations that I'll be making, I'm also preparing study guides for our LifeGroup. That is, our church group of young married couples. There are about 14 of us, and we've decided to dig into the Book of Acts. Lots of history and culture and amazing happenings to read about. I know how much preparation my mother has to do to prepare for her Bible studies, and I'm finding out why. This is weighty stuff. Art Appreciation is one thing, but presenting God's Word to adults in a meaningful form is quite another. My mother always tells me, "As teacher, you'll get far more out of it than they will." That doesn't mean we're bad teachers; it means that we must be prepared, whereas the students may give the text only a cursory glance.

Needless to say, my gaming hobby is about to suffer. My evenings will be filled with writing and studying and cleaning up paint spills, I'm sure, rather than seeking treasure and dodging fireballs. Does this mean it's time to grow up at last? Hehe, whatever. It feels good, if a bit overwhelming.
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LeFiWriMo Begins Today!

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LegendFire's version of NaNoWriMo begins today. Instead of a month to prepare, we have one week (though most members who will participate have been planning already). Instead of 50,000 words, we have a goal of 25,000 words. Back in March we held the same event, but none of our members were able to complete the challenge, so we're holding the event again, in the hopes that someone, this time will meet the goal.

Because of the novel project that I've been slaving away on for a year now, I didn't have anything prepared for the March event. But there's a new idea spinning. I've been brainstorming on it since June, characters, structure ideas, dialog, etc. So I'm allowing myself to take time away from Falcons Rising to participate this time around. For want of a title on the LeFi project, for future reference we'll call it simply Cataclysm. Technically, since I only have to write about 850 words a day to meet the goal, I'm hoping to work on both Cataclysm and Falcons every day, but that's being very optimistic. I'm so behind on Falcons revisions anyway. What's one more month, eh? Blah.

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One . . . Step . . . Closer

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Ugh! Today was one super-long day. I realized how large my living room is when we hauled out the furniture a couple of months ago for renovations. It's even larger when one is scrubbing, Cinderella-style, with a sponge and bucket, washing up a mess you made on purpose. Yes, at last, we finished our stone wall with amazing chemicals, power tools, and painstaking labor. This week I got to prep the concrete floor, and today I got up early, turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows, so (hopefully) I could be finished by the time the temperature reached 100, dressed up like an explorer to Mars and started spraying acid all over my floor. Two coats of Golden Wheat, two coats of English Red in spotty, decorative patterns, and accents of Green Lawn (which is sorta turquoise-ish) in small puddles here and there.

My acne does not like rubber masks in humid heat. My lungs don't like it when I take the rubber mask off. What's a girl to do? Because I'm a (somewhat more) practical adult now, I chose practicality over vanity and left the mask on until I removed myself from the icky acid fumes. This evening my sister came over and she, my husband, and I scrubbed and mopped and sloshed all the acid into buckets, then celebrated with spaghetti and (well-deserved) screw drivers.

The floor still looks weird because the acid stain that soaked into the concrete looks powdery, with little color. So all day tomorrow I get to do the fun stuff, which is roll down the sealer. The color will pop, the floor will look perpetually wet, and I get to move my furniture back into my living room. It will feel good to have my house back in order. The only step left is picking out a color for the walls. Once, the idea of painting all that wall space sounded intimidating. Tonight, it sounds like small potatoes.

Once the sealer is dry, I'll try to remember to take pics and post before and after shots.

For now, I'm exhausted in the best way possible. After a day of hard work and much accomplishment. I mean, somehow I even managed to make progress on the novel project. Cool!
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Plot vs. Character - Which Side Do You Cheer For?

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THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Project: Falcons Rising
Pages Revised: 5
Pages Cut: 3.5
New Scenes: 3 --- 10 pages of new stuff. I love diving more deeply into old characters. I know them so well that elaborating on unexplored facets of their lives is easy and enjoyable.
Bad Things that Happened: The White Falcon discovers that his hero is just a man
Good Things that Happened: Arryk is free of his brother's torment -- for a little while

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Character-driven vs. Plot-driven

To any good story, well-rounded characters are a necessity, but so is a plot. What's the difference between these two and what defines a story as one or the other? Can a story be both?

A character-driven story, as described by speculative writer D. Lynn Frazier on her website, is a story in which "the character moves the story forward through action and choices. She initiates the events of the story and causes the events to happen. Each scene is instigated by the characters within it." Whereas plot-driven, also called Quest-driven or Action-driven is a story in which "the events ... move the story forward and cause the character to react to those events. Characters are secondary to the plot. They act in accordance with the plot and do not create events or situations on their own."

When I first started writing, not only did I not know what these terms meant, I didn't know these terms existed. I just wrote. Only later did I find out that the stories I was writing had to somehow fit into one definition or the other for purposes of pitching my ms to agents, editors, and the like. Or, in the least, I had to choose one or the other as the best definition for my work.

Many years later, I can happily say that I prefer to write character-driven fiction. If I get insanely bored while writing a story, often I will find that I've diverged somewhere into Plot-driven storytelling and left the characters behind. As much of an introvert as I am, it's the dynamics between people that keep me interested in what I'm writing.

Now, do my characters drive every event in every story? Certainly not. If events beyond my characters' control fail to happen, that's just unrealistic. Where was it that I read this? -- that the initial catalyst that gets the ball rolling may come outside your main characters, but after that, the story is driven by their reaction to that event. So a well-told story can certainly contain elements of both.

What do you think? Which do you prefer to read and/or write? Can you think of any examples of widely loved fiction that might be defined as both character-driven and plot-driven?
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A Day Full of Blessings

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Seventy-nine degrees, rain. The first time the temperature has been below 100 since June. The oppression of heat breaks for the nonce. Yesterday, when the first gust front came through and the rain began, James and I meandered around outside and ate our first purple grapes from our own vines, then we started experimenting with our new distiller. It's a gorgeous hand-made copper contraption straight out of the Middle Ages and came all the way from Portugal. One might think we were going to try making our own liquor, but we have different plans. I'm not allowed to mention it by name yet.

All week, I took a break from the novel project and thoroughly enjoyed typing up the opening pages of a new project. I won't make too much of it, b/c I've started things like this before and not finished them. On the other hand, these characters and their situation are clicking better than any I've written for a long time, so I'm hopeful that I'll actually get to write "The End" on it one day. I usually hate writing rough drafts, but so far I've not felt bogged down by details or lack of direction. We'll see...

Point is, the blessings keep coming. Such prolonged happiness is a gift.

The only cloud has been my husband's grandfather. It's heartbreaking to see the patriarch so strong and able one day and an old man the next. It puts human frailty and mortality on the table for us all to examine. Hamlet scrutinized a skull. I've been watching a man come to terms with his age. The difference between men and babies being fussed over is that babies have yet to gain a sense of dignity that must be swallowed. A bitter draught.
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Progress Report, 8-1-11, and Writing Amid Sorrow

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What a tough weekend this was. Crying with friends who had every reason to think they were having a miscarriage, only to learn today that the baby is alive and kickin' so we have the glorious opportunity to celebrate and thank God for mighty miracles. And each life is rare and precious. Now learning that my husband's grandfather is in the hospital with heart issues. *whew* Life is a roller coaster, all right.

As for writing, things are good:

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Project: Falcons Rising
Pages Revised: n/a
Pages Cut: 4
New Scenes: 1 - the last 4 pages of the "ship" chapter make way for almost 19 pages of new material! I'm far happier with the content now. There actually is content instead of useless words with no conflict to speak of. But, like I said last time: Ugh! I loathe writing rough drafts. It hurts.
Bad Things that Happened: Athna's plan goes awry
Good Things that Happened: my, but don't those ships look stately. In other words, I'm not tellin'. ;)

It's difficult to press on with a project when circumstances put it into perspective and make it seem like one of the least significant items on the list, but there it is.
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