#ROW80 Check-in the Twentieth – busy busy busy

I can’t believe I have no new words to report! Well, exactly I have new words, just not on Grave Touched. I worked on a short story for the Turtleduck Press Freebie Rotation. Short stories used to be almost impossible for me to write. I’m such a longwinded writer! So for a very, very long time, I avoided it at all costs. So I wrote poetry for the TDP Freebies and all was well.

Then I was required to write a short story for one of our TDP Anthologies. Yikes! Luckily, I’d come up with an idea and was able to write pretty much to the correct wordcount (the story in question is Stasis, in our Seasons Eternal Anthology, BTW. It’s about a world with seasons that don’t ever change). And I realized, hey, maybe it’s not impossible!

Then I took Holly Lisle’s Flash Fiction class. What a challenge. Writing flash felt like writing haiku! But I worked on it and was able to write 7 flash stories. Seven! And I ended up self-pubbing In Flames, my own flash anthology, last August (and it’s freeeeeeee).

So, over the past two days, I’ve written a grand total of 2,600 words. I had a bit of trouble with the ending, the how of it, but I believe I’ve worked it out. It just needs to be edited and/or tweaked, but it’s done. I’m pretty happy with it.

So how come I’m not writing poetry? Well…my poetry muse has kinda been in hiding. I get flashes of stuff occasionally, but haven’t found anything strong enough to sit down and develop. According to my Year of No Fear Manifesto, I’m supposed to be writing poetry. But the year is still young and I’m sure something will come to me. (I did look over some drafts of poems I wrote for the various TDP freebies, some of which I’d abandoned, so looking at them again may spark some ideas).

I’ve also been really, really busy this weekend. Some of my weekends are, unfortunately. I spent most of yesterday reformatting both my poetry chapbooks because I realized I’d forgotten to include a copyright page! Granted, I was just starting out then, so it’s an easy mistake to make. So I have proofs coming soon. And our internet was a bit touchy so every time I made some progress, it’d hang up somewhere. And then came the backups. I have a backup program that does it automatically, but I am severely paranoid (or is it OCD?) about having multiple backups everywhere: on CD, on a thumb drive (this stays in my purse at all times), backup drive, Dropbox, email…yeah, kinda wacky but let me tell you, I’ve had computers die suddenly on me with 10+ years of writing on them, and I haven’t *knock on cyberwood* lost a SINGLE thing yet. So it’s working!

Today alone has been nuts, too. Went to watch the hubby bowl, took a nap (because I was up at 8am on a weekend day! Yikes!), came home, did some housework, cleaned the fish tank, and now I’m here typing this up. I’m not even sure if I’ll get to writing today. I hope so!

Not doing stats as they are identical to the last check-in.

Getting down to the wire now!

2013 in Review and 2014 Goals: Year of No Fear

This has been a very tough, challenging year for me because of my eye problems and everything that went along with it. An awful lot got compromised and set aside. But, I have accomplished some things that I am very proud of:

~I didn’t write for 3 months and did not go insane or kill anyone. That’s a big plus, right?
~I finished the revision of Grave Touched and turned it in on time. (Unfortunately, it needs a rewrite. More on that later).
~I took Holly Lisle’s Flash Fiction class and wrote 7 flash stories, 6 of which I self-pubbed as an anthology called In Flames. I also contributed to the Turtleduck Press Freebies with actual stories: Beloved(sci-fi) and Mirror (horror). I have another flash story going up on the TDP website on Jan. 1st, The Penitent (supernatural/horror).
~I made great progress on the Flamebound. I’m up to lesson 17 of 22.
~I took Holly Lisle’s Motivation class and learned some very, very important things that I have been trying to put into practice. Not quite there yet, but it’s happening.
~I got several new story ideas to add to the ever-growing writing queue.
~I worked a bit on Darklight as well.

Other goals I set not mentioned above:

~Reread Survivor and make notes for rewrite <–This has been started, but not much work done on it to be honest.
~Start a new novel? (Contenders: Darkweaver and Soul Touched, Fey Touched book 3) <–Not done. Darkweaver's still in the queue, and Fey Touched book #3 has been changed to Ever Touched. I can haz a plan!
~Redesign website so it makes sense Have decided to put this on hold.
~Get on a regular blogging schedule Started, with WWW Wednesdays. Would like to add more.
~Continue to look for more freelance editing/proofreading jobs <–Not really done, as my eye thing made it impossible to do anything except drafting for a loooong time. Still not out of the question — just not right now.

So you see I'm working little by little on reclaiming my life. It might not look like much at all, but I did things — I didn't bemoan my fate and give up. I kept plugging away. And while my writing numbers are quite low, I managed to release an anthology, write 7 flash stories, and finish Grave Touched. Not bad in my book. (I also want to add that as of November-ish, I’ve written just shy of 150k for the year. Not bad for having eye pain for almost a year!).

A little aside about Grave Touched… What can I say? I was be-bopping along, thinking I’d nailed it (or came close to it), only to find out that I screwed up. Bigtime. I believe I might have been a bit delusional. I won’t blame my eye entirely, but it did mess a bit with my creativity and story decisions. My editor — bless her soul — is totally right. It needs a rewrite. I know I am up to the challenge, and I know the book will be better and stronger for it. Am I disappointed? Hell yeah. But I consider myself a professional, and a professional would take a step back, shed the ego, and really look at what’s going on. Once I did that, I knew she was right. And I’ve already started on the planning, and I have some good ideas for improving it. So, no big.

As for the release date…we’re rejigging our release schedule and tentatively it looks like around February 2015. That may seem like a loooooong time, but in writing time, it’s not. It’s partly to accommodate the new schedule and to accommodate my need for enough time to do a thorough rewrite. So that’s the story.

As for 2014 goals…I’ve made some big decisions for this year. I am going to do things that I’ve been afraid to do. Fear is a HUGE factor in motivation, I found out. And when I dug in and followed the path to the source, it was mostly fear that was holding me back. So I want to fix this in 2014. Along with the following:

~Rewrite and revise Grave Touched by deadline (Sept/Oct – we’re not sure yet)
~Continue working on another draft of something (Flamebound is the top contender) if it doesn’t interfere with GT
~Continue the Flamebound revision (ties into the draft above)
~Make some type of ruling on Survivor – when to work on it and COMMIT to it
~Plan/plot/figure out Ever Touched
~Write more flash stories/poetry

As for the non-writing goals, check out my 2014 Manifesto (forthcoming!)

Hopefully, things will settle down in 2014 and I can get more creative stuff going. I miss photography and I want to grow and enrich my life. I also hope to nail the GT rewrite and get back on track with the series. And WRITE MORE.

Happy 2014. See you on the flip side.

Update on everything.

Yep.  Thought it was time for an update, so here goes.  I’m on page 86 of 257 pages.  So far, I’ve rewritten the bulk of it from scratch, and I believe I might be almost done with that.  And then it should move quicker.  I hope.  My deadline is December 1st.  Which is approaching quickly. We’re pretty much into fall now.  Soon, it’ll be November and Thanksgiving and my deadline.

Health-wise, I’m doing okay.  I have good days and bad days with my eye.  I have an appointment with my neuro next week, so we’ll see what he wants to do.  I’m also a bit sleep-deprived these days because I had to change my schedule at work which requires me to get up at 6:30am.  Yeah, not real fun.

Been reading like a fiend.  Will do another WWW Wednesday soon.

In anthology news, I’m just shy of 50 downloads.  It is still free, and will remain free indefinitely.  The link is here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/349458

I’ve also been giving some thought to what project comes after Grave Touched.  I want to say Darklight, cuz it’s the most logical one, but I promised myself a whack at both the Flamebound Rewrite and Survivor.  And there’s Fey Touched book #3, Ever Touched.  I’ve also been thinking about how many books I want to write for the Fey Touched series, and I think I will cap it at 5 at the most.  Because that’s about 5 years and it’s a good run.  And I don’t want to beat it into the ground.

Covenant has been tugging at me, as well as Queen of Wolves (formerly Alpha Female).  It’s just a matter of finding the time and getting it done.  And that’s only a sliver of my Priority List on projects…

Also been trying to relearn French, which is something I challenged myself to do.  It’s been going pretty well, for someone who was really fluent in it, lost about 90% of it, and is older and it is sticking a lot slower than when she was young.  Um.  But it’s been a lot of fun.  I’ve been immersing myself in it — free classes, apps, games, podcasts, an audio course.  I think it’s really important to keep the momentum going, so I decided to do some type of studying every day, even if it’s just going through flash cards or verb conjugations.  I’m still working on present tense.

So, that’s what’s up with me.  How about you?

In Flames on Smashwords for FREE!

 

In Flames, my first flash anthology, is on Smashwords for FREE.  All the time.  No limited period here.

Grab it here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/349458

The blurb:

This flash fiction anthology – my first – consists of six flash fiction stories, as well as an exclusive four-chapter excerpt of my debut novel, Fey Touched, book 1 of the Fey Touched series.

 The flash stories are the following:

 Blindsight – A cancer patient takes an experimental treatment, but the side effect is horrific…or is it?

 The Stranger – A grief-stricken widow has her husband resurrected – except there’s a slight problem…

 In Flames – A pissed off angel sentences everyone to hell, but refuses to see the truth.

 The Beautiful Woman – A deformed man is suddenly attractive but the woman he wants isn’t what she seems.

 Marionette – A serial killer finds he can control every victim except one…

 The Last Kill – A rehabilitated murderer faces madness when her victims become voices in her head.

Check it out.  And if you enjoy it, please consider leaving a review.  We indie writers need all the exposure we can get. 😉

In Flames Cover Reveal

I thought I’d share the lovely cover I made for my flash fiction anthology, In Flames, to be released August 31st.

I’m very proud of this.  Being that I had to take a forced break from writing, and then slowly re-acclimate myself to it again, it’s big.  Obviously, not as big as a novel, but I had set a goal to get something published before Grave Touched releases next year.

Here is the blurb:

This flash fiction anthology – my first – consists of six flash fiction stories, as well as an exclusive four-chapter excerpt of my debut novel, Fey Touched, book 1 of the Fey Touched series.

The flash stories are the following:

Blindsight – A cancer patient takes an experimental treatment, but the side effect is horrific…or is it?

The Stranger -A grief-stricken widow has her husband resurrected – except there’s a slight problem…

In Flames – A pissed off angel sentences everyone to hell, but refuses to see the truth.

The Beautiful Woman -A deformed man is suddenly attractive but the woman he wants isn’t what she seems.

Marionette – A serial killer finds he can control every victim except one…

The Last Kill – A rehabilitated murderer faces madness when her victims become voices in her head.

 

Stay tuned.  It is coming.