Category: Books

Level Up

I’ve been working on a novel series for a while. It took a few level-up style exercises to get here. It’s been working, and I’m currently doing the pre-writing exercises for Book 3.

It’s not really a trilogy, or I would be happy. And then my scope creep friend enters the conversation, and I’m done for. Really. Truly. Done for.

Because tonight I realized I needed an extra book. It’s not that I need another book. But I desperately want to write it. And I think I need to level up again.

I think a couple of my characters, Audrey in particular, want to be activists. Audrey wants to run around the galaxy freeing the oppressed and creating new havens for the displaced. Audrey finds more trouble to get into than I can keep her out of, and I’m worried she’s going to drag her friends into scary stuff they might not survive. Maybe I should say they won’t all survive. I already knew that, though, but this escalates it.

Isn’t it fun to write? Isn’t it fun to have bigger and better ideas as you go, and trying to keep up with all of them while also doing the other things life demands?

I also figure if Audrey’s getting into trouble, Ichek is not far behind. I’m almost positive I’m going to have an entire Zoo War book on my hands and be helplessly blocking all those movements. Must be time to ask all those veterans I work with how that might go down. Call it a group project and don’t mention aliens… I can’t see how that can go badly. (Ahahahaha they already think I’m weird.)

Sometimes I think of how some male writers in the past had wives or mothers to make them food and to take care of the chores, and I imagine what I could do with that kind of time. Pardon me, but it’s time to rescue the poor kitty from my son again, referee yet another disagreement between the kids, and somehow make sure everyone eats enough before we try to sleep. Is it time to sleep yet? If it isn’t, please lie to me.

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Don’t Tell Your Mother

The sample book arrived this week from Ingram. I’ve been having a bunch of big feelings about this book finally being real and readable.

I’ve been writing a lot of words over the years. I started working on novels almost as soon as I got out of college (and of course there were pieces of novels before, but I’d never finished a longer work before The Art of Science).

One of the bad habits I got into was not finishing them at the time I wrote them. Maybe it was neurodivergence, and maybe it was just not understanding how the editing process worked.

Don’t Tell Your Mother was originally written in 2009, the year my daughter was born. I took time to edit, to send to different readers (and I also read for them), and eventually I had a book.

My step-dad told me when I was young that nobody writes anything worth reading until they’re fifty, or maybe (strongly stressed maybe) forty. I was published for the first time at thirty – and I wanted to prove him wrong. That I wrote things worth reading. At least I did prove it to myself and others along the way.

However, there are a lot of things I understand better now. So many authors can’t support themselves on their writing because the world is tough and a steady income is needed. So many authors are busy with children and writing is very time consuming and we can’t all make that time on top of a family and a full-time job. So many of us need health benefits so we can’t just quit a full-time job with insurance and hope our written words will carry us through.

While it feels like this book took me a very long time, it also sat for long periods where I didn’t touch it. Some projects are like that – and we don’t always have time to confront a project day after day when we’re so busy with the rest of our lives. Plus, I had this idea that I needed to get out – and I’m also working on it now – that had my attention from the beginning (2006). The problem was I knew I wasn’t a good enough writer to tackle it then, but I think I am now. The multitude of years behind that project shows how time changes the project, and how I look at it now isn’t how I imagined it in the beginning.

I’ve had a few of these ideas over the years that just stick with me, and I’m cleaning them up and doing my best to get them out now. Waiting isn’t making them better, but it does make me want to rewrite the entire thing again. One problem is the next few in the queue are SFF and in my own created worlds – problem only because they’re involved projects and I need to keep them all clear in my head. But also – it just means every project I am bringing out only makes me more excited to share the next one. Stay tuned.

Amazon has a ‘temporarily out of print’ on the Don’t Tell Your Mother page- try Barnes and Noble or BAM. Or send me a message- I am due to buy more books and I could sign and send them direct.

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The End of NaNo

At least for this year. I didn’t expect to write this many words. I didn’t expect to have my project split into two pieces. I definitely didn’t expect my characters to take a vote to not follow my outline anymore. However, I’m pretty excited with how these things did turn out. I’m really excited that I’m going to hit the end of the novel tonight.

Even the NaNoWriMo site has a link that says, “Now What?”

For me, I know what I’m going to be doing. I’m translating this into a workable schedule. I spent an amount of time that I felt I could continue into December. I’ve been working to update my media presence and I have one more book in the queue to be available in December. I averaged about 4000 words per day during NaNo, plus I was working to preplan the next stage.

As for the series I’m working on, I have Book One, Novella, Book Two, and where it ends I have to think. I had Book Two taking on several things that didn’t actually happen as I thought it would, and so Book Three may be on the horizon, and it might have a few other things happening in the middle. I need to add at least one more novella to the saga because the villains of Book One changed, and they give another layer to where the book actually ended up. I also have several other pieces I could write, and from here I’d need to take a few minutes and write out the parts I want to write at the moment. Book Two was supposed to have a brilliant mad scientist involved, and so far he’s been absent. The other thing I need to remember is that a bunch of relationships changed during this project and that will shape how the next piece falls out. Mr. Mad Scientist Dude might just get his own novella/novel alongside his hero, who came up more often because of his own great and terrible creations.

This is the joy of writing, editing, and discovering. This is also one reason I’m so happy running around the galaxy with these not-so-intrepid adventurers. There’s simply no end. Maybe because I don’t want it to end. I just can’t wait to share all of this with you!

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Back Cover Blurbs

Oh, they’re fun, right? How do you choose the text that goes on the back of the book, and how do you make sure it reflects the tone and feeling of the whole thing?

It’s a beautiful bit of text, and I’m going to hope I get it right enough. It’s tough to think that I am going to be needing one of these for every book. Marketing and sales are not my strong suit, so this is all a learning experience.

I remembered my synopsis that I crafted so carefully when I thought I would send this book to publishers, and the key to that back text is in there. I took the previously published one in a new direction because I think it’ll be a better representation of what’s inside.

Will it work for me? Fingers crossed. Some of these front and back matter parts of a book aren’t the most fun to assemble, but it gives me the feeling that I am accomplishing good things and when I look at it now I’m better able to craft them into what I think they should be.

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On the Right Foot?

That saying may or may not go all the way back to when people thought the right side was luckier than the left.

I feel like I didn’t start off correctly this year. My family was sick last week (each of them had something different, and somehow I escaped without catching anything). Then I lost my story binder, found my story binder, and my son’s birthday is Friday. (He was also born on Friday the 13th, so this is a huge to-do in my home. We find these days quite lucky.)

Yesterday I finally put my fingers to the keyboard to start Book 2. I’m excited, but also keeping my sights on the coherent draft, rather than a completely perfect one. Coherent for me is the characters, settings, plots are in order, and not with all the extraneous things. Description is often an issue that I have to get later, but as much as I can I’m working to weave them together. It’s hard looking at these character names that I’ve already done an entire book with and remembering to describe them as if they haven’t met the reader, just in case they jump into the wrong book first. (Something my dad usually does. I am a completionist for book series, but he recently borrowed just Bk 2 of a trilogy from my bookshelf without ever having read the rest. That author has 4 series within that world, too. So I don’t know why just that one book seemed readable to him.)

It doesn’t matter that I didn’t get very far. I’m excited to start. I’m keen to make all the happenings and characters fit in with Book 1 and be sure that it makes sense. I know that like Book 1, Book 2 will have several places where it is more polished and less polished, depending on whether I had to draft it from scratch. I’m starting the very first page from scratch, since the draft I’m following had the plots of books 1 and 2 mixed together so completely it tried to masquerade as just one novel. Silly books. I will finish you properly.

Oddly, something told me I needed a quick project to finish, too, so I have a silk ribbon scarf crochet project I also started yesterday. I’m hoping it’ll get me through the cool 9th grade orientation we have tonight at the high school.

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End of November

Have you ever tried to write a novel in a month? It’s not necessarily impossible, especially for a zero draft. The fun part for me this month, I didn’t try to write a zero draft. I aimed at a better one. However, I didn’t take into account how much I had to write from scratch to make this novel work.

So, I have a draft that is better in some places than others (especially the middle needs attention). The part I’m really proud of is that this draft is all Book 1 and not with Book 2 mixed in of my Space Western. I have a beginning, middle, and end, and my plot and characters are pretty much where they need to be. I only have chaptered it up to 9, and I am starting to go through to find the rest.

Also, I wrote/edited about four short stories this month. Two have been sent out, one is finished this morning (that few paragraphs were haunting me), and I’ll start the rewrite on the next soon.

Finished four books this month, and I was surprised they were all #2 in series:
Narwhal I’m Around (The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter #2) by Aaron Reynolds
Storm of Locusts (The Sixth World #2) by Rebecca Roanhorse
In Over Their Heads (Under Their Skin 2 of 2) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Merger of Evil (Sequel to Minion of Evil) by Shannon Ryan

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Writing Life

I’m not sure anyone knows what to expect when we dreamed as kids to grow up to be writers. I had ideas but no deadlines except schoolwork, and writing (and reading) filled up a great deal of my free time. Adults seem to have a lot of extra responsibilities and a whole lot less free time, so what does that life look like?

Creative scheduling helps. I know I’m brilliant at picking up part-time jobs. I have three besides writing at the moment, plus the full-time job of herding children everywhere. The good news is that ties down part of my week (Mondays and Tuesdays) so it isn’t a long mess of days without much change in what happens. I’ve also learned to use timers and lists of what needs to get done, though somehow the laundry is always trying to take over my to-dos.

I’m currently 13.3k into a novel rewrite, with a bunch of work on untangling that plot from book 2, as well as finding the details of book 3. It’s going to feel amazing to get that trilogy together, though I’m not exactly sure how long it’ll take. Rewrites are apparently easier for me than major edits, and that’s a very interesting realization for me. It has helped me shake off that major edit dread, and I’m starting to see where i get lost in the words while I’m doing it differently.

On the horizon- self-publishing, a press, and an anthology for Paradise ICON to support the con. The first two are here and here. I’m really excited to bring another one into existence. Also, to learn the book making process and all the fun parts of marketing.

Don’t worry- I’m still writing. Make that 41 days!

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Does an Outline Prevent Discovery?

Plotters and pantsers make up the ends of the spectrum of writers about outlining. Some hate the word, while others live by the outline map. I happen to be someone who outlines. It wasn’t always this way, but I have come to find a way to outline that keeps me focused on the story ahead.

The biggest complaint I hear from pantsers (the ones who write by the seat of their pants) is that if they outline, they’ve already written the book. What’s the point?

Maybe we have too much thrown into the category of outline. I remember them from school with the Roman Numerals and the Arabic numbers underneath. Someone must still use that kind of outline, but not most of the writers I know.

What happens to me without an outline is that I wander far from the beaten path of the story. When I have my draft, I spend more time figuring out the threads and the pieces that don’t fit than anything else. Like, why did my protagonist wander off with her dragon here? That doesn’t fit the story! Did I really need to discover that for twenty pages? (Yes, I’m exaggerating here.)

But the key to a great outline is to allow enough to keep in mind the end while not tying hands too much to get through the story. And it isn’t like an outline is set in stone. If your characters mutiny against it, the writer had better understand what happened – and act accordingly. The choice is to change the characters so they’d choose to run through the outline, or change the outline so the characters want to travel that direction.

How much of an outline is enough? It’s what keeps the writer on track with the story. If it’s enough to have that vague image of an ending in your head through the writing – go for it. An outline can be as minimal as fifteen words or as detailed as a snowflake. It’s simply a tool to work for the writing.

So does any kind of information go against the discovery of the novel? Is it forbidden by the pantser to make character sketches or physical sketches of settings or to write out the history of the world before the story begins? Maybe because I write science fiction I struggle with this. I might have years to cover with changes to the characters, society, and technology to get to the point where I want to begin the story.

I might be able to do that off the cuff, but I might get left with questions like I did from reading books like Divergent: How do you get the factionless to work in factories or drive trains or do anything when they’re homeless and don’t have food? What did Voldemort do in the thirty or so years from when he left Hogwarts to when Harry’s curse zapped him away? Thirty years feels like a long time to be gathering the supporters, if only to try to take down the Ministry of Magic the moment Voldemort gets his body back. If he gathered power to terrorize people for thirty years, wouldn’t he be a little more patient? (And I know the Harry Potter novels were outlined.)

But then again, perhaps I just overthink these things. Maybe you have your own examples of those books that have those little questions that keep you awake at night. It isn’t really possible to answer every single question about a world, but the writer ought to know. Some of that is always discovered for me while writing, no matter how tight my outline becomes.

Some resources for outlines:

Minimalist- 15 to 20 words by Les Edgerton 

Rowling’s Method (There has to be a name for this somewhere, but I haven’t come across it)
If you have a way to outline other than these, please share!
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Demons Are Jackasses – An Interview with Tru

I invited Frankie Blooding to bring one of her characters in to talk about Demons are Jackasses. So excited about this book and I hope you will be, too. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise, but I don’t mind.

Hey, folks! Today I’m here with Tru, Paige’s brother-in-law as we discuss Demons Are Jackasses! We’ve got a lot—

*waves excitedly* Hey, guys!

*frowns* Not yet. *turns back to the audience* We’ve got a great line-up for you this month as we build up the excitement for the book which is currently available only in—

*the EMF meter buzzes loudly*

*@_@ at Tru*

*frantically turns it off while studying it and trying to find the source of the EMF…at the same time*

*talks over the buzzing* Anyway, it’s still only available in paperback, but the book is SO pretty!! I really recommend having it in paperback. I’m…mildly distracted by the–*takes EMF meter and turns it off*–character joining us today! His name is Tru and he’s a ghost hunter, if you couldn’t tell.

*grabs the EMF Meter from Frankie and turns it back on* There is something here with us!

*leans over and whispers back* It’s the readers, you doof! They would show up as energy since this is CYBER SPACE!

*thinking frown*

*takes the meter away and sits on it*

*glare*

Anyway! Wow! He’s distracting! Tru is a really FUN character and I usually enjoy having him IN the scenes! He’s originally from Texas and Webster’s definition of the word “Geek”. Please help me welcome Tru!

*turns beat red and grabs digital voice recorder*

So, Tru, tell us a little bit about yourself.

You just did.

*grins and says through teeth* So tell them something else, you twit! You’re the one who wanted to do the interview.

*talks through grin* That was BEFORE the spotlight was on me.

Just relax. Be yourself. You’ll be fine.

*deep breath* Well, I’m the husband to Paige’s sister and a proud father of three—oh, wait, at this point we’re at two and a half – children.

Why don’t you tell us what it’s like living in the Ansley household.

It’s a ZOO! *dead pan look at audience* No. Really. Alma is the craziest witch I’ve ever met. This woman can make the house shake on the foundations! And she knows how to weld the wooden spoon. Like, seriously, my hand’s been nearly broken more times than I can count!

LMAO!! I’ve seen that happen a time or two!

You laugh! My oldest daughter is a fire starter, so when she’s pissed off, fire comes shooting out of her ears! It makes it really tough to be a father! So, I let me wife wear the pants. I prefer not being the pig on the spit, so I’m the nice Dad. My middle son is a bard, of all things. Now, here’s me, the dumb dad, thinking, “Hey, having a bard as a son is SAFE! My daughter might be trying to kill me, but my son is going to be AWESOME! Ohhhhhh noooooo! He threw a tantrum at the age of two and broke every glass bottle in the pickle aisle!

ROFL!!! Pooor Tru!

I MIGHT, maybe, get my pants back after the little one (that you’ll see in Angels) is grown and out of the house. But let’s just say that being the Muggle in the Ansley house SUCKS!

*picking self off floor* What are your thoughts on Paige?

*pauses…blinks…shifts in chair…explodes* Thank GOD I married the one that talks to dead people!

*chuckling* Okay, well, folks, that’s all the time we have right now! Stay tunes and be sure to check out Demons Are Jackasses!! It really is a great story!

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Books

We had to move my books from the library during the move, so my husband could remove the bookshelves from the wall without worrying about when the movers wanted to put them on the truck. My empty living room became a sea of books from the fireplace to the wall about knee-deep.

It probably goes without mentioning that I love books. The sea wasn’t all of them, some had been moved to the basement to de-clutter the library and others came with me to my temporary home. As I looked at them, I realized how impatient I was to be reunited with them again. It was all I could do not to snag one of two to read right then. [Despite corralling two children away from the action of the packers.]

How do you explain to someone who doesn’t read about the joy of books? How can you ever hope to get into their heads how the fiction takes you away to another place? How the nonfiction infects your brain with more knowledge? How much space those engineering textbooks take and how heavy those things are?

Some days I’m not sure why we keep those textbooks – they were in storage for 10 years, never touched, yet they are guaranteed space on my shelves, along with my fictional pursuits in various stages of editing and first editions from published works. It’s an odd mix that the estimater under-estimated for my home.

While I’d love to share those books with everyone, especially to get the nonreaders to understand the greatness of print – I get that not everyone’s going to get it. [It just makes me sad, as a writer.] I don’t let go of them easily. Even the ones my husband questions, like “Dummies Guide to Coaching Basketball.” No, I’m not sure I’ll ever need it, but you never know when it’ll come in handy.

My writer-friend Shawna once said she’d never be surprised by any book I owned. I like that – she understood that I love books and I can’t resist the treasures they hold. Thomas Jefferson said it best: “I cannot live without books.” And why should we?

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