Tag Archives: writing

Feb
8

Tough Love

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      I’m sitting on the floor of what I’m beginning to consider my room. It’s a dangerous thought to have because Moon Children don’t own anything. And yet, here I am, hunched over a book and pretending the squiggles are supposed to make sense. The doctor’s clothes hang off my frame loosely; I’m like a scarecrow from that children’s story, wishing for brains.             The scarecrows here live under the city and dine on flesh, but it doesn’t make them any smarter. “Mags?”             Dr. Barrows raps me gently on the head to bring me back from my woolgathering. It’s on the tip of my tongue to mention the scarecrows, but I decide the joke will fall flat. Moon Child humor is not for the faint of heart.             “This is useless. I cannot make sense of scribbles.” I turn the book so it’s upside down, but the words aren’t any… Read more
Feb
1

Inspiration

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So if you follow me on Facebook or Tumblr at all, you probably saw me post this lovely drawing by Lucy yesterday. Yes, it’s a heart taking a poo. I don’t particularly understand her logic behind why it needs to take a dump in an outdoor toilet, but 6 year old minds are a wonderful puzzlement. Maybe it’s a statement about love. On the other hand the rest of her journal is full of stories and pictures that make me think she’s going to be a romance writer. Yes, there are pictures of ninjas – several of them, in fact, but she was very excited to share one of the stories last night involving a little boy who was bullied. (Complete with pictures of children lining up and kicking the boy. The children all have huge shoes. Perhaps they are Dutch?) Eventually the little boy meets a girl who is… Read more
Jan
22

Word Counts

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I tend to make a big deal when I hit the 50k mark of a WiP – even though in means I’ve still got a long way to go. It’s a mental hurdle though, because it usually means I’m hitting that half-way mark. It’s all downhill from here. (Although in this case I’m not sure it is, but I’ll pretend it is, for the sake of argument. In truth, I think I’m aiming for another 70k, but I also need to leave some room for editing – there’s a lot of world building additions that are going to need be added/smoothed out, many of which I’m thinking about as I go.) But it’s nice to get there either way. I’ve got an actual story in play now, with plots and characters that I’m getting to know, so that always makes the rest of it a bit less intimidating than the… Read more
Nov
7

How to Hijack a Genre

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One of the panels I went to at WFC this past week was about Urban Fantasy – and specifically what sort of writing really makes up a UF story. (Charles de Lint, Tanya Huff, David G. Hartwell and Tim Powers were the panelists) There were some rather fascinating arguments being made as far as what was historical fantasy vs contemporary fantasy vs urban fantasy – and really, I think what it all comes down to is how the publishers choose to market the books more than anything else. But even so, you could see there was a definite line drawn in the sand between the “old school” UF authors and the fact that they really didn’t want to be associated with what’s being marketed as UF today. Even the description of the panel – The North American lineage of Urban Fantasy has been traced from Unknown Worlds, and the term was clearly… Read more
Jun
11

When To End a Series

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I was asked over Twitter this past weekend if A Trace of Moonlight is going to be the last Abby book. The short answer is: I don’t know.  The long answer is that Abby’s story arc ends with this third book. Does that mean it’s the end of her story completely? I hope not, but there are always a number of factors at play. There’s publisher requirements and those sorts of mundane topics…but it’s also about if there’s *room* for another story. Does it make sense to continue? Maybe. Maybe not. I had a conversation with a voice actor via Facebook a while back – and I had mentioned that I had no real idea what life was like for actors, but that I imagined it’s a lot like musicians or any sort of artist really – and that you’re only as good as your next gig, or book, or… Read more