Sep
3

Poetry and Pop Culture

Posted in craft, poetry, pop culture, writing | 2 Comments
I’ve been warned before about using pop culture references in my book. I suppose it’s true – refer to a walkman or record albums and it’s a pretty dead giveaway that the story was written in the 80’s. It dates the story, and then I imagine that some readers are left wondering if the rest of the book is dated too. I’m guilty of this sin, of course – I refer to things like iPods and musical bands (i.e. Black Lab or James or Rilo Kiley) in my manuscript. It’s mostly flavor, something to flesh out the moment. I’ve certainly seen it in other books, particularly other Urban Fantasy/Paranormal romances. Most of the time they’re subtle – a reference to South Park, for example – but I suppose you do run the risk of alienating someone who isn’t “in the know”, or who might not be an obsessive Aliens/Terminator/Silence of… Read more
Sep
2

New Beginnings

Posted in craft, pantster, shadow weaver, writing | 2 Comments
I finally started getting down the beginnings of the new book yesterday (though I haven’t updated the word count widget yet). I only got a few pages of it written…but the first chapter has been kicking in my head for over a month now – I just need to get it down.  Hopefully I’ll be a little more successful with that today – mr myn is working all night tonight, so once I get the kids into bed, the evening is mine. I’ve tentatively  titled it “Shadow Weaver” and it’s a direct sequel to “Shadow of the Incubus”. (The 3rd book, should it come to pass, will be called “Child of Shadow” –  but that’s a *long* way off, though I already know how it begins and ends…go figure). Shadow Weaver will pick up approximately 6 months after SotI, and though I know exactly how it begins, I’m not entirely… Read more
Aug
23

Writing by Numbers

Posted in craft, writing | 2 Comments
In looking at the last batch of judged contest entries, I’ve begun to notice a pattern. For the Golden Opportunity contest, two of the judges gave me nearly perfect scores – one shredded me. Fair enough – it happens often enough that I can’t really put much weight on it. Judges either love the writing or hate it – as long as the opinions are inconsistent, I can’t worry about it at this point. Certainly if a particular aspect gets pointed out again and again, then it’s worth looking into – grammar, plot or what have you. But in my case, it seems to be coming down to more of a personal preference – someone didn’t like the cursing or thought there wasn’t enough info in the beginning (or too much) – etc. (Lots of opinions there where some aspect either is too much or not enough, but it’s not… Read more
Aug
10

Small Writings

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In between all the other things I’ve been doing lately, I finally gave in and started writing a short story. (Very short – probably less than 3000 words). Not sure if it’s going to go anywhere, and I’m feeling rather shy about it, honestly. I wouldn’t call it a secret story, but it’s definitely a subject that’s always meant a great deal to me. And yes, I’m going to be cryptic and not say what it is just yet. Sounds silly and superstitious, but sometimes it feels like if I say too much too soon, the magic kind of dies away and I no longer feel the urge to finish. It’s been good, though. Very low pressure – and after the last several weeks of writing queries and submission letters, it’s nice to just do something *fun*. It’s blessedly free of any the trappings of my previous stories, so there’s… Read more
Aug
3

Query Letter Hell

Posted in craft, query letters, writing | Leave a comment
One thing that I seem to have discovered about the pubbing process is that there are very few straight answers to anything. Everyone has their own opinion, and they can vary pretty widely. Take Query letters, for example. Most people agree that as long as you do this, you’re already heads above people who don’t: 1) Use complete sentences 2) Address the agent/editor correctly 3) Follow submission guidelines And I believe that is true. I’ve been trolling a lot of agent blogs in the last few months and most of them say the same sort of thing. The idea here, of course, is to make things easier on the agent. The more difficult your letter is to read, the greater chance it’s just going to be rejected outright. The thinking being that if the author can’t even bother to follow directions for a simple query letter, what are the chances… Read more