Apr
29

Big Fish, Little Fish

Posted in craft, pitching, writing | 2 Comments
You know, hanging out at RT and waiting to pitch this past week was a real eye-opener. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that while there is a big difference between being pubbed and not being pubbed, in some ways there’s an even bigger difference in what sort of pubbed author that you are. And that’s not to say anyone was nasty about it at RT, but clearly there does seem to be a line drawn between epubs and hard copy pubs. Whether that’s something that was caused by the big RWA bru-ha-ha a few months ago or just something that’s always sort of been there, I really couldn’t say. I do think there seems to be a misconception about the quality of writing between books that are epubbed and those that are printed and that’s a shame. I won’t lie – I *do* prefer hard… Read more
Apr
17

Home Stretch.

Posted in craft, wip, writing | 2 Comments
Ok, nearly 95k and counting on the WiP. I’m in the second to last chapter now and the last chapter has already been partially written. Between that and maybe a one or two page epilogue, I am just about finished. If all goes as it should, I’m aiming to have the rough completely done at some point on Sunday. It’s a strange feeling, knowing that I’m almost there. This last week in particular has been a bit surreal – I feel like I’m purposely slowing down in a way, almost like I’m trying *not* to finish. Which would be horribly stupid. 😉 I started writing the book last year, about this time, but I didn’t really *start* until mid fall (and then I didn’t really kick it in until this past January). The summer was mostly me fucking around – unsure and uncertain of what I was doing and where… Read more
Apr
14

On Writing Rape…

Posted in craft, rape, writing | 3 Comments
Ugly, ugly subject. Unfortunately it’s necessary to the plot at the moment. I’d like to think I redeem it some because it’s not actually occurring. It’s more of a dream, and it happens at a point in the story where the reader would probably figure that out, even if the heroine hasn’t. The hero certainly does, anyway. But then, I have to wonder, does it need to be there at all? Is the act cheapened, in a way, *because* it’s a dream? Or really more of a nightmare. It’s a bit complicated to explain – it’s not quite a dream, not quite reality, but in either case it’s not actually happening except in her own mind. Although, does that lessen the impact for her? Should it? The hero isn’t a rapist, after all. In her heart of hearts, the heroine knows this as well, but still, I needed something to… Read more
Mar
31

Yoda shoes…

Posted in craft, sex, shoes, violence, writing | Leave a comment
Meh. I had a point to make here and then I got all rambley. Sue me. I was running around Facebook today and there’s a group there that is talking about how to balance out sex and violence in their books. Mostly it’s a lot of people just talking about what they do in their own writing or what they like or don’t like. It’s kind of funny really – there’s an awful lot of people that don’t like sex *or* violence. Or just writing it maybe. So then I have to wonder…is it really that they don’t like reading/writing it, or is it that they just don’t know how to? (Admittedly this is a group of mystery/suspense writers, so there may be a bit of a bias here) For myself, I think I can read or write either – in whatever amounts are required for the story. Note that… Read more
Mar
18

Pitching

Posted in craft, pitching, tentacle dick | 1 Comment
Ha! I’m still hoping to pitch to *someone* at RT at the end of April, but I’m starting to realize my chances of having the WiP done by then are probably nonexistent. Actually, I might have the rough done, but it certainly won’t be edited enough for any kind of submission. Which isn’t really the point of pitching anyway – as far as I understand, you don’t actually show up with a finished manuscript – you just ‘pitch’ the idea and if the agent/editor/publisher or whoever likes it, they tell you to send them a few chapter or whatever. Doesn’t mean anything except that it’s no longer an unsolicited manuscript, so in theory, you have a better shot. So I’ll need to practice that, I guess. On the other hand, I have to admit I feel like a total doofus trying to explain the ins and outs of my story… Read more