Celebrating Shakespeare!

Looks like the western world is gearing up to celebrate the life and works of the Bard. Four hundred years ago, on 3 May 1616, at the age of only 52, Will Shakespeare died, leaving behind one of the most treasured collections of plays and poems the world has ever known.

William Shakespeare, 400th Anniversary

To offer my own tiny tribute, some of my favorite quotes:

(from Macbeth, Act V, scene v)

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

(from Hamlet, Act V, scene ii)

Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now,
'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the
readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he
leaves, what is't to leave betimes?

And for drama at its best, Lady Macbeth going mad with guilt (from Macbeth, Act V, scene i):

Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my
lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account?--Yet who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him.

The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--
What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'
that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with
this starting.

Here's the smell of the blood still: all the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand. Oh, oh, oh!

"Ophelia: and he will never come again"
 1865, Arthur Hughes

I guess it's obvious that my taste leans toward the darker side of things. So many exciting passages to quote, I had a hard time choosing. The words are like dark chocolate on the tongue. Delicious and rich and a little bitter.

Fun stuff found on Twitter:
@Shakespeare_400
@s400events

Care to share your favorite quotes? Any other worthwhile sites dedicating time and bandwidth to our favorite Bard? Please share!

My First Book Signing!

I am so excited to get to blog about this at last.

My first ever book signing is scheduled for the evening of June 6, at the LaVergne Public Library in LaVergne, Tennessee! Woot!

LaVergne is a burb of Nashville, a city I've always wanted to see. So this should be an interesting learning experience all around.

The event will also include a reading. I've never read my fiction aloud to strangers before, only some of my poetry, years ago in college. It was nerve-wracking, but fun. I've chosen my selection, a scene from Cry of the Falcon (that one, riiiight there -->), and my nerves have quieted. For now.

I have a month and a half to prepare. Book copies are arriving in large heavy boxes, just in case someone is kind enough to purchase something, and I've ordered business cards and a display banner.

As long as I can get to the library on time, I'll be okay. Best thing, I'm not going alone. Family got my back, so I'm toting along my mother and a cousin. I will probably be a wreck on the trip out, so I hope they can put up with my insanity. These were the same two wonderful ladies who I traveled with to Stuttgart, Paris, and Rome in 2009, so at least we know we can survive each other. Should be fun. As long as I don't freak out.

geek freaking out

I hope to bring home a basket full of new knowledge so that I can set up signings closer to home. OKC, Tulsa, Dallas, Kansas City maybe. And I have friends in Denver. I foresee a signing there too. Hmm, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's survive the first one, and then ... who knows?

Have book, will travel...

Adventures in Editing

My favorite part of the writing process has long been the editing. Writing first drafts frustrates me. But during the editing I get to relax, build out the characters, the setting, increase the tension, etc.

So as part of my "who am I?" journey, I've dived into my first foray as an editor of someone else's novel. It's been scary. Lots of pressure to catch the obvious along with the hidden problems lurking in a manuscript. And I've learned one thing. Editors don't get paid enough. Editing is hard work. I mean, I knew it would be, but by the time my work day is over, my brain has turned to mush.

It's amazing to me how we writers can be so close to our story that we are unable to see the contradictions, grammatical slips, and vagueness that an objective pair of eyes can pick up on.

Whenever I subject my own stories to critiques at LegendFire, it's usually with a face burning with embarrassment that I read over the issues the critiquers found, as if I've been caught being less than perfect.

Writer's Disappointed Face :(

Why do I do that to myself? Probably because during the editing of my own story, I will think I've caught all the glaring errors and fixed them, only to see that, to my reader, the story still has shortcomings. Editing, I've learned over the years, is to benefit the reader, not the writer.

Falcons and Free Books

Cry of the Falcon is selling, and it's awesome to see the number downloads climb. Last night I received the final proof for the paperback as well, and it's gorgeous, so the print version is now available as well. Hurray! (may take it a couple of days to show up on Amazon)

Kicked that kid out the door, and he's on his own. Hello, universe! Sink or swim, baby.

So far, my baby is doing all right. The initial reviews are very promising, and I have no idea who posted any of them.

In honor of both digital and print versions being finalized, Cry of the Falcon will be available for FREE this weekend, starting Friday, March 4, through Sunday, March 6. Then again on March 12-13.

Woot! If you've read it and you like it, tell somebody.

Press Release...

…yes, press release, in a literal sense. Today, February 11, 2016 marks the official launch of Raven Eye Press. Check it out HERE. Pop goes the cork. Champagne time!

(If the technical details matter, read about the press itself on REP's About page.)

Why today? Because it has happened:  I’ve re-released the digital versions of the Falcons Saga! I grabbed the polish and the buffing brush and gave shined them up a bit. Each of the three books has had a few typos fixed and some inconsistencies and phrasings revised. And Blood of the Falcon, volume 2 is now available as Sword of the Falcon, with an all-new cover.

Find it HERE

Ain’t that pretty?

Better! If all goes well, Cry of the Falcon will be available for download this weekend. If that’s the case, then I nailed my Valentine’s release date. Woot! "Celebrate good times, c’mon!"

Print versions will be available before the end of the month, I hope. I’m having some trouble with CreateSpace and titling, but maybe we can have that ironed out soon. Crossing fingers. If not, I’ll be ranting and raving, and you’ll hear all about it.

But let’s leave the bad news and muddy shoes at the door. Today I am celebrating the opening of REP, my falcon kings, and my twins. Have some more champagne, on me.

CRY OF THE FALCON, to be released in February!

FINISHED!!! Cry of the Falcon is finished. Just a few days to format and correct a few typos, then I can push this one out the door. This was a loooong haul. Arduous, agonizing at times. I just told my husband, "I feel like I've birthed an army of ogres." If you haven't read my books, you won't get the joke. Shame, shame. 

Yep, I'm a proud, happy mother:

Isn't he kewt? Okay, so this is NOT how I envision my ogres, but those muscles are still cool, right?

So what's next? Lots of exciting stuff in the works. Not only will Cry of the Falcon be released in February, but all the earlier books in the Falcons Saga have received a make-over with a few typos and inconsistencies edited, new blurbs, and slightly new covers. All this because Blood of the Falcon, volume 2, is getting a new title, new cover, and new interior, and throws off all the other books. So I've been doing lots of work on all of them.

I hope to re-release the entire Saga with the publication of Cry.

Secondly, and here's the exclusive scoop, the never-before revealed funness (no, "funness" is not really a word):

*drumroll*

... the unveiling of Raven Eye Press. All the re-releases will include a custom logo designed by graphic designer Elle Boozer and will be listed on a new site dedicated to the press. The site has a bit more work to undergo before it's ready, so I still have much to do before I can take a vacation.

More to come...

Finished! Sorta...

Today, about 20 minutes ago, I wrote the last words of Rewrite Draft #1 of Cry of the Falcon. Wow, exactly a year ago, I was suffering from a debilitating case of burn-out and sobbed at the very idea of sitting down to write. Today, I get to celebrate completion of the part of writing I detest most.

Tomorrow, I will print out the whole manuscript, grab my pink pens, and begin the part of the process I love. The editing. To revise, to tweak, to polish, this is where my joy lies. And I am stoked to get started.

Tonight, however, a celebratory cocktail, a movie, a toast on the back patio around the firepit, with a view of the super-moon.

Will I make my self-imposed Christmas deadline? Probably not, but I won't be too far behind. With all the editing, blurb, formatting, and cover work to do, I am now shooting for a tentative release date of ... mid-March? Valentine's? Mid-February might be too optimistic, but we shall try.