November usually means Nanowrimo for me, but not this year.
This year I figured I’d be working on editing the one submission that needs redone and working a job and a half and I wouldn’t have time. And I suppose the beginning of the month was busy, but this last week has been quiet (too quiet) and I wished I was using that time to write.
Except I got a massive case of writer’s block. Or maybe I should say seasonal writer’s block. Too dark to motivate me to write. So I started just write a little bit each day. Completely unrelated things just to keep me writing. Things that will probably not form into anything. And if some of them do seem to be taking shape, well that’s just a perk.
I’ll be sure to share all the ones that have no future. Because I’m fun like that 🙂
Right now I’m very much struggling with depression, which kills motivation for me and makes me exhausted constantly, so even though I’m sleeping 8 to 9 hours, I wake up sleepy and am ready for bed by 7 most nights. Oh, and I read about author pairs writing over 50,000 words in three days and I crumble into a fit of self-pity and -loathing.
But I’m trying to remember the positives too! I have two submissions coming out in December, I have one with an editor, and I have multiple stories that need a refining touch before I can send them off, so I figure even if I’m not writing all winter (if the despondency continues), I can still edit. It takes more work, but less creative efforts.
And hopefully my next update won’t be such a downer.
Keep warm.
Uncategorized
Reading, writing, and worrying
Blankets, books, and brewed tea
all a reader really needs!
Isn’t that some lovely poetry? 🙂
Enjoy it, because it’s practically the only writing I’ve done recently 😦
OK, not really, but there hasn’t been a ton. Partly because of work, partly because of muses, partly because I’m not really feeling inspired on any of the three pieces I’m working on. One involves sexual abuse and asexuals (which I will eventually finish, but can’t get in the right headspace right now), one involves sibling sexual abuse and some weird repercussions, and one is a follow-up story involving the previous character’s father. That one I’m actually kind of enjoying, as it’s light and will eventually have a very happy ending.
But not much writing has been actively happening. My two Christmas submissions were both accepted, and the submission I sent in at the end of October has come back as “This needs to be an actual full book.” Which makes me cry a little (a lot). I can agree with the editor, and I knew the story had some issues, but just thinking about having to broaden everything makes me groan and curl up in a ball. And while I can objectively say to myself, “Well yes, but she’s willing to work with you, which means the writing/idea must be good enough,” most of my sensitive writer parts shriveled up.
We’ll see how and where that goes. For now, I’m just trying to balance work, my job, my writing, and my life. And getting sleep. Getting sleep is important.
Please find me…
This isn’t my main blog. You can find me blogging over on blogger. Hope you check me out! I put updates on my writing, sometimes complaints, and sometimes just thoughts on random stuff. Mainly I post about my writing though.
Guesting Blogging with Jen
Today I’m guest blogging at Well Read! Be sure to check it out here.
Excerpt and Excitement
In preparation for “Mark of the Familiar” going on sale (you can preorder the anthology, Written in Flesh, here), I thought I’d share a sexy lil piece of it for my loyal followers (err..follower?).
Here’s the description: Ellis comes to the Sui Generis Protection Agency bearing the Mark of the Familiar, magical animal tattoos granting him remarkable shapeshifting abilities. When he feels a True Bond to William, the Wardsman of the agency, he has to convince William of the truth or risk losing his sanctuary, and perhaps even his life.
When William awoke, his magic stirred and his breath quickened; their magic hummed and sang in their veins.
Lips touched the black mark on his neck, tracing the arch down his spine and swooping around his shoulder blade where each starburst was kissed.
“Mmm,” Ellis purred, squirming with the pulse of his Master’s life and the buzz against his skin. “Master?”
“Yes, my little pet?” William said, dipping farther beneath the covers, his tongue swirling on Ellis’ lower back before picking up the symbol there, with its thick black strokes that broke apart, some curving along his butt, others hugging around his hip. It was these William’s mouth followed, the tongue giving way for lips, kisses, and at each curled point, a nip.
Ellis whined, rolled onto his back, and threaded his fingers through William’s hair, the long, straight copper strands soft as silk. He couldn’t help grabbing it—and then immediately releasing it with a tremble—when William’s lips touched the final branch that ended at the base of his cock.
“Master?” he whimpered, his heart pounding in time with William’s as his member swelled. “I—”
William’s tongue traced the veins up his cock to the head, kissing away the pre-cum there. “Ask me for it, Ellis.”
“Master!” he cried, his hips lifting despite his fight for control. “Please?”
William chuckled, and warm air rushed over Ellis’ sensitive skin. He gasped, dropping his hands to clasp the sheets. Despite this, or because of it, William licked Ellis’ tip. “Ask, or I won’t give.”
Ellis panted, his marks hummed, they nearly burned with need. “Please, Master,” he whispered. “Please me?”
Another chuckle. “Close enough.” And then he was encased in heat.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Did you hear?
Did you hear that whooosh?
That wasn’t me exhaling in relief, that was the days flying by.
It snuck up on me, but the anthology with my short story “Mark of the Familiar” is due out on Friday, Sept. 13!
You can preorder it here: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/Written-in-Flesh.aspx
I’m super excited!
The anthology is Written in Flesh, so if you like tattoos and gorgeous ink, then check it out 🙂
To-Do Lists
Need I say more?
Victory doesn’t mean the war is over
As I anxiously await the second edits that I’m assuming are coming on my submitted piece (the print date is listed as Sept 14)…
I got two submissions out the door, both for Christmas/Holiday-theme calls. One is straight up soft, gooey marshmallow fluff, contemporary Christmas story, the other is a fantasy continuation of the already accepted submission. So I got both out, which means victory.
Of course, I still have plenty of work ahead. I made a spreadsheet of my writing to-do list and it’s terrifying how many stories I want to write. Having the time to realize those stories is another matter. I worked this weekend on doing a quick edit on a story (to see if there were plot holes, inconsistencies) and want to write the sequel now (thankfully it was already on the list)…but have a submission due In November that is uber priority.
And I started writing a romance with an asexual lead, but got horribly distracted, so it’s on the back burner for now.
Now to bury my head in edits 🙂 Happy apocalypse edits. Woo!
How the time flies
Swiftly this month, it seems!
While July was my Camp Nano adventure, and I successfully finished the story (at about 30,000 words), August has been barren of writing for the most part.
Not for lack of wanting. First it started with house sitting for family, plus a ton of proofing projects for work, plus edits came back on one of my submissions. I’ve also been working on pulling together two new submissions for Christmas anthologies.
Really. Really. Busy. If I can get these two submissions out the door, I’ll count August a success. I then need to start editing the November submission and maybe work on some of those projects that have been put to the side with everything else.
August has been overwhelming, but hopefully it won’t always been this heavy-duty.
That’s it.
Surprise! It’s August
August is a month of mixed emotions for me. When I was a kid, I was torn between wishing summer would never end and wanting school to start again (Shush, I was one of those!). Also, my birthday is in August, so I always got excited about that.
Despite continuing to age, I still look forward to my birthday presents and I no longer dread summer ending, as it just means the weather is going to get nice and cool (before getting VERY cold and me looking forward to April).
This August snuck up on me. I’ve been busy writing 30,000 words for ‘Camp Nano’ (You can see the progression here.) Plus working full time and part time, riding my horses, and flitting around place to place for birthday parties and other familial events.
But, I did get my Camp Nano done (code name BAW), I got back MotF edits (*weeps*), and I finished up and sent out to beta MotF2. I have two stories I want to submit at the end of August, one at the end of October, and several others I’ll get to when I have time to check my pulse! I’m feeling like an actual author, just a bit 😉 Of course, all of these could get smacked down and not accepted, but yeah…that’s part of feeling like an author too 🙂
On a happier note, I have 12 billion stories I want to tell and no idea how many of them will make a complete story. Pretty little trinkets in the mind don’t always translate into a story others want to hear (or stories that the characters want to tell). Some days I just want to make a book of snapshots of various characters. Maybe I will.
I’ll put it on the list.
when no one's looking 