I’m having a give away over at Stumbling Over Chaos. By entering, you’ll have the chance to win copies of “Mark of the Familiar” and “Gift of the Familiar”: http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/archives/25074
Check it out!
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December Goals
I don’t think I made November goals, because after returning from GRL I had a task in mind–which I completed–and I knew my editing self was going to be busy–which I was. I still aimed to write 100 words a day…which I only did for under half the month. And suddenly it’s December. I’m not sure how this happened. I’ve barely begun thinking about the holidays! This is going to be another busy month, so I’m trying not to over-plan, or else it will all blow up in my face.
1. Edit my submission for Rachel and send it to her. (I’d like to get this done at the beginning of the month.)
2. Finish shopping/knitting presents.
3. Get back on track with Frogs story.
4. Stick to my new exercise schedule.
So that’s it. I should probably add “update blog more often with interesting content,” but let’s not get crazy.
Yep, Carlos and Cecil. Find the rest of this collection here.
Working on it…
I have 2 short stories I’m working on publishing up for submission. One is a Valentine’s story (not sure if that’s too late for potential publishing), and one is a weird-ass present tense Arabian nights thing. I don’t even know.
But they are both done. And short. Here’s a VERY rough taste of the one story…
It starts with cymbals, a chime to stir the dancers’ blood. Then drums, pounding to wake their hearts. A single player slides into the center of the crowd, his coffee bean-colored skin gleaming. Low-hanging, tightly secured burgundy pants swirl around his limbs with the swish and sway of his hips. Apricot scarves caress his bare torso as he lights across the open space and draws in a lean woman, her skin just as dark, her hair died red, her body sparingly clad in yellow.
Release: Forgotten Menagerie
Wooo!
Forgotten Menagerie is now available—with my shifter story. Hint: OTTERS.
“The Greatest of These”
In “The Greatest of These,” Daniel struggles to deal with his new-found sexuality and his Catholic faith. He’s already overcome the question of how otter shifters fit into God’s plans, but the next step is so much harder. After all, people don’t picket about otters burning in Hell.
Religion and otters. Yeah. I went there. And I enjoyed it.
You can find it here, or at your standard book sellers.
GRL 2013 – pt 2
So I didn’t say much in my last post about GRL, which seems lame since I was all excited about my first year attending.
Aside from being up and active for 5 straight days, I also leaped over a pile of boxes and strained my ankle. The hotel had no ACE bandages, but we made do with what they did have (sports tape, an arm sling/wrap, and a compression bandage)…and thankfully I heal quickly. But yeah, I was the dope limping around the conference trying not to put too much weight on my ankle.
Also, despite eating less and being more active, I somehow gained weight. I’m not even sure how the math works there. I know a bunch of the foods were high calorie, but they couldn’t possibly be that off balance. So of course now I’m at home and eating everything because I’m angry at the world.
I got to meet Amy Lane (again, but still!) and got yarn from her (-insert squee here-). Plus I got to meet Aleksandr Voinov, LC Chase, Heidi Belleau, Heidi Cullinan, LA Witt, Marie Sexton, Cat Grant, and many others! Did I mention I got to sit next to Amy Lane during dinner? And hear her fantastic stories? She’s a natural storyteller.
And Aleksandr hugged me 🙂
I actually had plenty of hugs this weekend, which I normally avoid. But all the hugs were lovely and friendly and nice. I didn’t take many pictures, because I was more in a working mindset than a fan mindset…which makes me a little sad, because the week seemed to fly by.
And despite it being a 14 hour drive (with rest stops), it was pretty awesome to do that with Rachel and our fangirl Sue. Rachel drove the whole way (for which I’m thankful!) and Sue helped with all kinds of manual labor tasks, which make my work half as much. -whew-
I’m glad to be back in my own bed, although all the aches and pains that went away while on ‘vacation’ are back. Boo. 😛
Gay Rom Lit 2013
This was my first year at Gay Rom Lit. I was lucky because I got to attend as a publisher with Riptide Publishing…which means I worked my butt off and they paid for stuff 🙂
But they also let me out to attend sessions and see people and do stuff. Which was awesome. Just being surrounded by like-minded folks was incredible. Because everyone there loves to read and they love to read the stuff I read and write.
There was lots and lots of swag/free stuff and books! So many books.
…and an oddly large amount of Subway eating. I ate its pizza for the first time. Not bad.
But the best part of the week was talking to people about writing. Discussing growing my skills and making connections with people who are willing to help me improve. So now I’m setting aside all my current projects to write a short story so I can submit it and get hardcore feedback, then cry, then hopefully improve my craft.
Thankfully I had a story idea that I found I could develop into something that will hopefully be short. So my new goal is to finish that, then maybe get back to everything else. By then it’ll probably be the holidays. I don’t even want to think about it!
Goals
As the new year approaches (faster and faster every year), I briefly remembered the beginning of this year when I decided to make, and made, monthly resolutions. I think that lasted a month or two. But as we start October, I want to begin anew, not with resolutions, but goals.
This month:
1. Finish current WIP.
2. Finish Mom’s birthday scarf
3. Set aside Solstice monies
The first one is probably the most likely to get axed, since I’m going to be gone for a good week and a half. But we’ll see. Last month I wrote a minimum of 100 words for 57% of the days. Not awesome, but not too terrible either. I want to keep up with that as well, which will help with reaching the first goal. The story keeps getting longer and longer as I go, and I’m not certain with the plot I’d planned. But if I can hash that out, then I can happily go forward.
I also think I know what my next project is going to be, for November, so we’ll see.
Standalone release: Mark of the Familiar
Weee!
“Mark of the Familiar,” originally released in the Written in Flesh anthology is now available as a standalone.
In December, “Gift of the Familiar” will also be available and I’m plotting some giveaways on some other blogs. Exciting, yes?
Anyway, for those who don’t know about it, here is all about “Mark of the Familiar”:
Ellis, having killed his abusive master, is placed in the custody of a safe house for magical beings. Within those brick walls, he finds more than safety. But William has dealt with people’s unwanted attentions his entire life and wants nothing to do with Ellis or his devotion. Except Ellis is determined to convince William that their bond is more than just skin deep and that together they can make something magical.
It’s available through Storm Moon Press.
Writing…or not?
The other day I had an epiphany.
I was online after doing some work and checked my mails, my tumblr, facebook, twitter, RSS feeder, private forum, work email, twitter, tumblr…
Wow. I waste a lot of time online.
Twitter is good for networking and just being social with people, so that has purpose. Facebook I use to stay in touch with RL people (and let’s be honest, it takes the least amount of my day), email is important (although I should probably consolidate the 7 email addresses…), but the RSS feeder has plenty of things I barely look at, but that takes time every day to check. And tumblr. Sweet, tempting tumblr.
I started my tumblr as a creative playground. The plan was that when I (or a follower) wanted to do a quick free write, they could go to the site, click “random,” get an image, and then write that story. A few hundred words or so. It’d be a good exercise.
Then my tumblr started focusing on sexy guy images. And I started following more tumblrs. And more. And more. And then I created a tumblr for my writing stuff. And then another and another and another. The problem isn’t the tumblrs I make. It’s the ones I follow. And I like to make sure I see everything, because some great things get posted. But it takes time.
And what’s the point? Are the images inspiring me? Rarely. Entertaining me? Sometimes. Just cute? Mostly.
Sometimes it’s a nice way to sit back and relax. In most cases, checking tumblr takes no more than ten minutes if I haven’t checked in 24 hours (and my computer isn’t being super slow). Not really a huge waste of time. Except when I check every 10 minutes. And then check twitter again.
Obviously these are all just things I use to put off what I should be doing (whether that’s working or writing). But the point is, I complain to myself that I never get time to write, but then I waste all that time on tumblr and such.
It needs to stop. So here’s the plan:
1. Check all my sites 1 or 2 times a day (am and pm), except on weekends, when I get more freedom. (And maybe check tumblr one more time before bed, just to chill.)
2. Write. Every day, at least 100 words. If I don’t feel focused on one of my stories, then I’ll click a random item from my tumblr, write up a flash fiction, and post it on my writing tumblr.
That’s the plan. We’ll see.
Stuff. And Things
Just so you know I’m still here…
I’m feeling a little better, most days. At the beginning of July I had a streak of shitty days, but I’ve had a week of fairly good days, so we’ll see.
I’ve been doing some writing, hopping between stories in a confusing way which doesn’t particularly make me happy, but I’m not going to argue with the muses.
I edited a story that I’m debating submitting, but I’m torn. I’m not sure it’s as good as my other stuff, and it’s kind of an odd piece. I know I should probably send it to a beta, but then I have to dig up a beta. So, if anyone likes to beta sort of YA books, then I have something for you 😉
Other than that I’ve done edits on a collection of short stories that I was considering doing a slapdash self-publish thing for (through SmashWords), but may just post it on FictionPress. I haven’t decided.
I’m still waiting to hear back for the one submission (I’m really hoping it won’t take until October), and other than that it’s just some wacky stories, one of which probably won’t ever sell, one which may sell if I can finish it, and one which I’m not sure where it’s going.
Guess we’ll see.
when no one's looking 