2016 Resolutions

January 1, 2016 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

A new year, and now some new goals!

First, let’s look back on the past year and see how I did…

Read ONE non-work book a month
I did…okay here. I missed 3 months. And my goal was to not read any queer romances as part of this “book a month” but I definitely fudged on THAT end. But I also read a bunch of different books, which was good. So, mostly a win. And I want to keep this up!

Write 5,000 words a month
YES. I feel like I did well here. There may have been a month or two where I didn’t hit, but I made up for it with some of the other months. And that size is good for me right now. I want to keep it up, definitely.

Focus more on the craft of writing
Erm. Maybe? Writers’ group and editing has definitely improved, but I haven’t really actively done anything to work on the “craft of writing.” Sooo, gonna say FAIL

Waste less time online
…define “waste”…

Live my life honestly
Sorta? All my friends use “they” pronouns and are cool with it and yay! But I’m still not really out with my family. Things didn’t really change as much as I had hoped in this regard. I didn’t necessarily feel like I was lying, but I wasn’t 100% honest either. But then, who does live their life 100% honest with everyone in their lives?

And for this year? Well, I want to continue trying to read outside of work and hitting my 5K words a month. But those are continuing actions, not new goals.

This year’s goals are going to be a been more physical in their aim.

– Take care of my teeth!
– Make necessary doctors’ appointments!
– Make MORE necessary doctors’ appointments
(I really hate making doctors’ appointments)
– Work on generally treating my body well (exercise, eating, stretching, and RELAXING)

No one wants all the details about how I work from home and have become a slovenly cave-dwelling monster, so we’ll just leave it at those basic things. Though there is one thing I want to work a bit more actively toward, and that is buying a freakin’ house. But that’s kinda huuuuge, so I don’t know if it, in itself, will happen this year. But I’ll take some steps toward it. (Oh goody, more talking to serious professionals. UGH.)

And if anyone has tips on how to deal with the obstacle that is making doctors’ appointments, please let me know!

Finding the Light All Year Round

December 22, 2015 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

For the solstice, which is the longest night of the year, I like to mention those people that bring light into my life. Because I’m a dork. And to remind us when things are dark, there are lights to guide us to better times.

My brother, who has been extremely supportive of my writing. Honestly, if I didn’t know at least one other person who’d bought a copy, I’d suspect him of buying all the copies. He’d really, really great at celebrating what I sometimes am too stunned/disbelieving to celebrate.

And this next one may be silly, but I really appreciate publishers who take the time to give feedback on stories that need work that they’d otherwise like to publish. It gives me a chance to improve what needs improved (or move on). It gives me a chance to improve my story and my craft. Publishers aren’t just about publishing (or shouldn’t be), but about publishing great works that have been edited and honed to their greatest potential.

My friend, Noodle, who has to deal with my thousands of texts over the course of a week. I’m single, the rest of my friends are paired off, so anytime I’d normally text a significant other, she normally gets it. I’m sure it drives her nuts sometime, but she really keeps me sane by interacting. And keeps me from posting a lot of random stuff on Twitter.

The new friends who I have in my life, who don’t follow this blog….But new friends are an amazing thing. It’s always hard when you’re older to meet new people and set aside time for them, but this year/year and a half has brought two friends (a couple, of course) into our fold of friends and it’s awesome. They’re amazing and it reminds me that things can continue to change and grow.

My writers’ group peeps have been awesome. It’s not really conducive to how much I write, but it’s definitely teaching me. Teaching me to write better, or at least to edit myself better. And to read their stuff and my stuff with a critical eye. Also, the group that’s growing is around my age (the older crowd stopped coming for some reason) and made of some pretty fun people. We may not have much in common, but it’s nice to be around other writers.

Twitter friends, who I pretty much just interact with on Twitter, but you guys make me laugh a lot. And keep me company. ‘Cause I’m all aloooooone. There’s no one else besiiiiide meeeeee.

And all the authors who have put out books and made me want to read and write, and have entertained me, kept me company, and given me hope and curiosity.

I hope everyone has a warm and safe winter!

Updates, Panicking, and Knitting

November 27, 2015 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

First off, Sharing a Pond has now been out a week. You can find it on Less than Three Press’s website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, All Romance ebooks, etc, etc.

You can also find a short side story on Joyfully Jay. This isn’t in the main story, it’s just a fun little side bit. And there’s a giveaway, so check it out!

Okay, enough PR BS 🙂

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you know I’ve been working on a short story, which isn’t my usual stuff. It mostly came about because I said, “Hey, I want to write a short story.” I checked out what pubs had what calls for anthologies, found one I liked, then whipped up 7K to go with it.

I love writing novels, but sometimes the immensity of it makes it difficult. For my writing group, it’s hard for them to see the larger pictures and work with me on plot, pacing, and climactic moments when they’re only seeing 1K at a time. While they aren’t going to see this in its entirety before I send it out (because I picked one with a Jan 1 deadline, because ME), I can easily read through this story and nitpick it (and fix it, hopefully). So it’s not only working muscles I haven’t used in a while, but it’s also a good exercise for getting my brain to look at the plot and fix it.

I’m also not expecting AMAZING THINGS out of the story. It’s not meant to be great literature or high-brow fiction. It’s supposed to be fun and cute and sweet. (Which is the shit I LOVE, so you’d think I’d write more of it 😛 )

So the 7K is written. Now I just need to sit on it a week (while I do the developmental edits that came in that I’m not panicking about at all. Nope. Not at all. Not panicking. Not even a little.) And then I’ll read through and see if it’s utter shit and if it’s not then I guess do self-edits because I’m guessing I won’t get a beta reader.

Oh, and did you know the holidays are coming up? I survived Thanksgiving, so that just means Christmas and New Years. And Amy Lane keeps posting fun knitting patterns that I want to try. AND I’m trying to use up all my extra yarn from the Christmas stocking I made, by making a Christmas shawl.

Oh, and I have 3 beta feedbacks in (with one more coming, not to mention the R&R that’s been sitting around for a year or so…). I may have put too much on my plate. But I wouldn’t be Alex if I didn’t!

Not a Countdown

November 11, 2015 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

I am NOT counting down to my book release. Not actively. There’s not eight days left or anything.

Not at all.

BUT OH MY GOODNESS if there were it’d be so exciting!

Thankfully I have lots of other things to keep me distracted. Like editing BAW, giving WCR a read-through to send it off to a beta (which is where it is now), and trying to figure out where to send BAW for possible publication. Plus a few other things.

AND, related to my sorta kinky Sharing a Pond that may or may not be coming out in eight days, I was at a convention for work this weekend. It’s the Geeky Kink Event, and while it was exhausting and a lot of work (and stress), mostly because of prep and car’s crumpling, I had a great time. Talking to like-minded people is always fun, meeting new people, forging new bonds, getting your back set on fire. Good times.

Oh, did the back-set-on-fire thing catch your interest? Well it’s called fireplay and it was amazing. Using rubbing alcohol, firesticks, and her hands, fire was on my back. The alcohol creates a barrier between the fire and the skin so it doesn’t burn, just feels warm, and it’s a fantastic sensation (although requires training and skill, so don’t just run off and do it on your own).

I was really stressed on Saturday night after a 12-hour workday, so a nice fire massage (which is pretty much what it felt like) was much appreciated. The stress just fell away and I was so relaxed I was a little loopy.

Obviously there are no pictures, and I was given an introductory session (so not as intense as it can/could be).[I wanted to upload a picture from the internet but blogger hated me and wouldn’t let me do it right now] The stick/ball is generally material (cotton? I can’t recall) doused in the alcohol, rung out, then drawn over the skin, with the other hand following shortly after to put out the fire.

A Very Exciting Saturday

October 31, 2015December 4, 2018 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

Some Saturdays are definitely better than others. My day in reverse:

The print copies of Sharing a Pond arrived!

My level of excitement is immeasurable. I’m trying to decide how many to keep and how many to give away and if I should just hoard them all. So pretty! *pets* The best part was I wasn’t expecting them, so they just magically appeared in the mail and that was super exciting.

In LESS exciting news, I got my hair cut. I was getting a bit shaggy:

And so I got a fair amount cut off, mostly around the back and sides. But now I’m actually going to have to style my hair most days. Also, I realize for long-haired people the change is not dramatic. But it’s a lot when it’s short hair!

The funniest part is where I got the inspiration for my hairstyle. Which you’ll have to ask if you really want to know 😉

I hope you’re enjoying your Saturday as much as I’m enjoying mine!

You Get What You Pay For

October 16, 2015 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

This past weekend, while doing the final review of a PDF of Sharing a Pond and trying to squint at the screen of my phone (which I was using so I could lounge), I considered getting a tablet (for the twelfth time). My dilemma has always been that I really don’t NEED a tablet for most things. And I hate spending large amounts of money.

So I went to the local bargain outlet and purchased a Bright-Tab for roughly $60. Yes, it’s only 8GB (but so is my phone, so I figured it would suffice) and yes it is Android based (I’m rather fond of my Apple phone), and I figured it wouldn’t be the fastest thing, but I wasn’t planning on watching movies or anything, so it’d be fine.

The device itself is a good size (7”), thin, light, and has a nice screen. The Android system isn’t too bad (though I notice that you always have to click ABOVE where you want it to select instead of the actual thing, and I’ve noticed this on more than just my device), and the device is a touch slow, just as I expected. I’ve heard horror stories online of people complaining that after a week the wireless gives out, but we’ll see how that goes.

Right now my biggest issue is the battery is shitty. Like, it’s a tablet, it shouldn’t gobble through the battery power in one day, especially when most of the time it’s just sitting there not doing anything. According to the papers, the battery should last 4 hours (in use), and that might be true, but not if you’re doing anything too intensive, I imagine.

On the other hand, I definitely like it for reviewing my work, and while I don’t think I’d do major edits on it, when I’m going through something and noting minor things or making a few larger notes, I think it will work quite well. And it’s definitely much more enjoyable to read PDFs on!

But if you’re going for a tablet and it’s something you’re going to want to use often, do not go cheap. If you want something to get and throw away after a year, then go cheap. I’ll be happy if this tablet lasts me a year (that’s only $5 a month). If it ends up lasting longer and exceeding expectations? Well yay!

It may also tell me if I should bite the bigger bullet and buy an actually, good-working, long-lasting tablet.

For now, I’m mostly happy with what I got for what I paid for. Hopefully things don’t go downhill.

On Horses and Character Choices

October 10, 2015 / Alex Whitehall / 4 Comments

Recently, my riding instructor got a new horse, by no choice of her own. Because the border didn’t pay her board (for several months running), the expense added up to the “worth” of the horse and thus ownership passed to my riding instructor.

This horse is a thoroughbred, off the track, and while not a perfect mount by any stretch of the imagination, he wasn’t a bad horse. To keep him fit and sane and see if she could sell him for profit (or at least not quite so negatively), I started riding him. He was sane, a little stupid sometimes, but nothing dangerous. I felt safe riding him. My riding instructor hated him. Felt he was useless (even though she had two other people ride him with positive results), and couldn’t WAIT to get rid of him. He left our barn Sunday, going back to the rescue where the previous owner got him. Which means my riding instructor was down the cost of all that board.

On the other hand, there is a horse who is high-strung, nervous, stupid, flighty, and I don’t feel particularly safe riding…and she’s kept him. She uses him for lessons. Sorta. See, the problem is that because he’s such a difficult horse to ride, he’d be too dangerous for a rider who’s not skilled enough. And the girl who was riding him got a different horse from someone else, so I’m the only one riding this crazed horse.

I really struggle to understand why my riding instructor would keep this insane horse and get rid of the quieter horse. The one is larger and potentially goes lame more, but other than that, he had all the benefits that the other horse did not. Was he perfect? No. But he didn’t make me fear for my life either. But something made my riding instructor hate this horse, and so this horse was marked bad in her mind.

What’s the point of this story? Well, one thing I struggle with in my writing is having characters make poor decisions. I strive very hard in my own life to make the most logical decision based on the most information I can gather. And so I fight against my own characters making poor decisions. (I also get frustrated when characters in other people’s stories make poor decisions that could be easily avoided.) Now, poor decisions (which are a part of human life, whether we know we’re making them at the time or not), are often impetus for the plot. Otherwise the drama has to come from an outside source (Nazis, jealous ex spreading rumors, bigoted neighbors).

But even then, there is supposed to be character growth, which generally means that the character has to have a fault.

And all of my characters are perfect! Perfect, I tell you!

So, uh, you see the problem. I love making characters, giving them backstories, pointing out their quirks and foibles, but I’m terrible at making a serviceable flaw. Which I realized while I was on my walk yesterday, pondering the Pan story I’m writing. I realized while he’s naive, he actually doesn’t have a fault. And so there really isn’t a story. Insert sigh here.

Thankfully my rock star is recovering from an addiction, so I THINK he has a pretty sizable fault, and I know what poor decision he’s going to make. Probably.

So, I need to make more characters with faults that I’m willing to admit. And maybe that means I need to look at myself and my own faults. I’d offer to open the floor to suggestions, but…let’s not 😀

10,600

October 1, 2015December 4, 2018 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

That’s how many words I wrote in the month of September. My monthly goal is 5K, so that’s double (does that mean I get to take October off?). And I’m excited about it because I’m enjoying both stories I’m working on, PLUS I wrote that much while riding, having a horse show, having a life (Hey, don’t laugh!), and working full-time.

And yes, I’m sure other people manage all those things AND 50K a month, but that’s not me.

Speaking of which…No, I won’t be participating in NaNo this year. But maybe I’ll try to hit 10K again. We’ll see. That’s a month away.

For now, it’s writing rehabbing rock stars, dorky asexual college students, and knitting a Christmas stocking for my parents.

Because that’s how cool people spend their Saturday nights.

Rock Stars and Peter Pan

September 13, 2015 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

Last time I updated, I was talking about my River Gods story and the struggle I was having with it’s potential plot (or lack there of). Well, I put that one on the back burner. I know my one writing group buddy was looking forward to seeing more, but I just kind of…flatlined on ideas. I’m hoping stepping away and returning to it later may help.

Meanwhile, I read two stories vaguely involving rock stars and though I dislike rock star stories, I enjoyed these (Running with Scissors by L.A. Witt and Rock N Soul by Lauren Sattersby). And while I struggled with my River Gods story, I decided to just do a quick writing exercise prompt using a picture of someone who I thought could easily be a rock star. Something to try to work on develop my writing craft rather than just my storytelling. So I wrote some. And then some more, and then I kind of had a story to go along with it.

So I’m currently working on a story I’m calling Scruples as the WIP title. I’m obviously trying to work hard on meeting my 5k word count each month, but I’m also trying to develop the writing and voice with this story. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but mostly I’ve been describing things (although some days are better than others). It’s hard to fight slipping into my bad habits.

And while that’s going on, I have a fun idea flirting around of a new adult retelling of Peter Pan in a contemporary setting with an asexual character. That’s just sort of me playing around with things though, so we’ll see. If someone else writes/publishes a Peter Pan-esque asexual books, I’d love to read it and not have to write it 😀