Dec
15

Mental Stuttering

Posted in craft, editing, word counts, wordle | 9 Comments
I sent the draft for the sequel to Brush of Darkness to my new editor today. It’s amazing what a relief it is to finally know that it is DONE. Of course, I also sorta want to throw up. How’s that for shit? As happy as I am on the one hand, there’s still that pitter-patter of doubt that continues to run in my mind. What if she hates it? What if it sucks? What if she wants me to rewrite 80% of the thing? What if, what if, what if. And “done” is an operative word here. The story is finished, but it’s not quite there yet as far as polishing goes. I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to tweak the story in places so that it makes sense – the one caveat to being a panster is that I occasionally stutter-start into part of a plot that… Read more
Nov
10

Bacon Bowls and Updates

Posted in editing, industry, updates | 22 Comments
Yes, that is a bowl made out of bacon. I can think of few things more perfect than a bowl made of bacon, particularly this morning. First, I want to give a massive shout out to Simon Larter for getting a short story published in this Friday’s upcoming edition of Short Story America. Congrats, my friend. Second – had an awesome lunch yesterday with Sara McClung, a local writer that I’ve been meaning to get together and hang with for ages. She is awesome and I just want to thank her for the company and awesome conversation over dumplings at PF Chang’s. (And can’t wait to do the David Garrett Meet & Greet with her in Feb!) Third, I’m unfortunately going to have to announce that Danielle Poiesz is no longer my awesomesauce editor. (She’s still full of awesomesauce, actually…just not in the world of editing.) I won’t say I’m not… Read more
Nov
9

Cliffhanging

Posted in editing, writing | 4 Comments
So I had a mild epiphany this weekend. Book 2 requires a cliffhanger. Not that that was something I actually planned on. I can even dig up my outline that I turned into my editor a few months ago. There’s an actual ending there. It’s sort of neatly wrapped up, even.One of the glories of being a panster, I guess – tangents can wind you around and take you some where entirely different. But the last week or so, (after discussing it with several other writer friends), I’ve come to realize that part of what’s been making me drag my feet a bit is that it’s just too much. Too much story to wrap up in 10k – not neatly, anyway. And I feel like I would be doing the story a disservice to rush it – plus I’ve got enough potential material to take me 1/3 of the way… Read more
Jun
23

The Devil is in the Details

Posted in cover art, craft, editing | 4 Comments
I got my cover art last week. Or at least the sketch. I can’t post it here yet, since it’s not technically for public consumption. (But soon!) And I’ll admit there were a few things I didn’t like, most of which have been remedied at the point, thanks to the art department at Pocket. (And thanks to Danielle for going to bat for me.) Some of them were nit-picky, and some were rather obvious – i.e. wrong eye color for the heroine, etc. And truthfully I think it’s probably hard for most writers to see someone else’s portrayal of their “vision.”  However, with the changes made, I’m feeling much better about it, even if it’s not quite what I expected. Part of my issue is that I’m very much used to the painted covers seen on most fantasy tomes – the ones that depict a scene from the book. But… Read more
Jun
9

The Logic of a Labor of Love?

Posted in editing, random, updates | 4 Comments
Okay – the picture has nothing to do with anything, except it struck me terribly funny. At least for about ten seconds. Subsequent viewings continue to make me laugh, so I’m posting it. Anyway, my edits are due in five days. Five. I’ve found myself panicking at the edge of the wee hours as I continue to rework the end. There are a number of gaps that I didn’t mesh together quite right when I rewrote a large chunk of the story. Things that made sense before are either no longer needed or get explained elsewhere…or, as I discovered the other night, no longer make any sense at all. It’s put in me in a bit of bind, since I’m basically out of time. I did spend a fair amount of time going over it last night, and jabbering away at Jeffe around midnight. I was just on the edge… Read more