Possibly a Snippet to Come

11/13/13

Hello, all!

Whoa my goodness, it's been a bit since I last checked in! Know that COB has been being worked on in the time I've been silent (and a few other things too!) I received a comment on the last entry asking about the progress of COB and a possible date on when it will be finished.

While I can't give a precise date, know that this will be finished. It is technically a finished story, but I don't want to release it for possible publication without filling plotholes and tightening the writing. It doesn't sit well with me the idea of trying to sell something a few people read and enjoyed for free. That's not how I roll.

Also, I've been fighting with myself about posting a piece of the new story on here. Just a snippet. A scene. I'm liking the idea more and more but have yet to decide on what to post. That might be the next entry. We'll see.

Thank you, Anon who wrote me on the last entry. It's nice to be reminded that there are people interested in Dane and Spooky, who want to hear their story. Sometimes I forget. That gave me a nice good push when I wanted to slack off. And it made me smile.

Out.

Greetings!

8/28/13

And exactly one month since the last time, I am updating. Woo! That takes some sort of talent to do that without trying.

So I don't know why I got it into my head that the COB manuscript needed to be less than 100k words, but I have been dreading having to cut once I'm done with the second edition. I've been trying to think what could go, where the extra fat is. Well, I am pleased to say that there isn't actually a maximum. It has to be 15k or more. I'll still edit the crap out of it ('cause I actually think that part is fun) but now I can write to my heart's content, add all the plot I've thought up to flesh things out. So far, so good. I want to post a snippet but I can't decide which passage to choose.

Nothing else of mine has seen much light, that's going to be published anyway. And that's where I'm at. On writing the new Chapter Fourteen and at around 103-thousand-some words.

Out.

Real Life Crazy Times, Progress and Writing Amnesia--Oh My!

7/28/13

So much has been happening since last I wrote. What was it, the end of April? Well, May started off normally, however... It's not really a big secret that I'm from Oklahoma so I'll just say May ended in chaos for those that have been following the news or are familiar with the term "Tornado Alley." Thankfully, I wasn't directly affected by the destruction but it hit pretty close and many friends and family weren't so lucky. Then I found out I will get to move back to my old house. Huzzah! You guys don't even know how happy that makes me, well maybe you do if you have had the pleasure of reading my rants on LJ. :p The bad news in all of that is that the tenants who were renting my house completely trashed it. Like, thoroughly turned my sweet home into a crackhouse--broken windows and all. Also, they wouldn't leave. They stayed the whole month of June (without paying rent) and a week of July. We've spent the remaining month trying to clean up their filth and get rid of the flea infestation they caused. It sucked, but the house looks so much better than it did.

Through this all I have been editing, cutting, pasting and rewriting. Also, I have been reading quite a bit. Most of what I've read has helped in the way of what I won't be doing with my own style. :) I'm really excited about the new bits and baubs that are added in now. Monista is so delightfully rounded. Killius has more to do, and I think that will make an even greater impact on readers once that thing happens. I've also been having fun editing out all the superfluous details and imagery. We really don't need to know every single facial expression. Once or twice is fine, but we don't need to be reminded of the color of this character's eyes, do we? That's the fan fic writer in me wanting to overdo it. People who write fan fic yet also are familiar with original works will know what I mean.

I keep experiencing what I like to call "writing amnesia." This is when one looks back over certain things they've written and finds something they added once while editing and think, "Wow, did I write that?" So far, it's mostly been in a good way. I'll go back and see new dialogue I put in for Lu'Bella and the flow of the scene is just so much better, or the completely new scene makes everything more interesting.

I have received over time a few lj messages saying they were recommended AIF through the Slash Pile community and what my plans are for the story. Sorry you missed it the first time, but I am planning on releasing the story again. Just a better version of it. The only other thing I can say is, check here or my lj once in a while to see what I'm doing if you're still interested in my works.

Foreshadowing

4/8/13

What I wouldn't give for a writing circle right now! I know someone out there reads this, and you still can be all quiet lurker on me ;) but just so you know I flicked the "anonymous" switch on commenting, so please feel free to come by. Onto what I need to know...

For those that have read "An Indigo Feather" and now "Calling of Blood"--or also for those who are good at hypotheticals: how allowable is foreshadowing? I have this new, awesome, conversation happening between Spooky and Dane. I mean, there's a lot of Spooky peeking into the wonderful and terrifying place that is Dane's mind and his reasoning for some of the monstrous things he does. Let's just say that Spooky asks a question that those that have read will know hits frighteningly close to home later in the story. My question is, should this moment exist at all? Is the risk of foreshadowing, though I swear I tried not to bash readers over the head, worth it?

I may post the exchange and see what readers think? Is that cool? If I hear static I'll just keep it to myself. No worries. I'll eventually work something out, it'd just go along swifter and smoother if I had a practice group.

What to do...

2/7/13

I almost wrote myself into a corner. Still contemplating if I just cut some of the last pages written or not. Or forget about some of the things I was going to add to keep from having to insert entirely new chapters. I can do either one,  but not sure if I'm actually adding for the sake of the story, or falling into the ego of the story--"Of course this needs to be added! Everything I'm putting in is necessary!"--bullshit.

I don't know... Something's just not gelling. I would have liked to write on it a lot more than I have but this is tripping me up. I'll probably have to write some more in-depth outlines, compare them and then see what works better. Poo. That's never as fun as just writing the chapter and being done with it.

Oh well. The first step to getting any of it done is just starting it. So, with that in mind:

Out.

Exile is Not as Fun as People Might Think

1/18/13

Whoa, it's been a bit. By the way, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I'm lame.

On the plus side, I can get onto LJ with my netbook so there have been a few more journal updates somewhere. And that's about as good as it got for me recently. When was my last update? Beginning of November? Well, at the end of November my chair broke. The remaining days of November, the ENTIRE month of December (which includes my birthday and my sister finally came home and I saw her face-to-face for the first time in over a year) and to now I have been inside my house. Couldn't go out, have a loner chair that doesn't fit me and basically been a shut-in exile this whole time. Well, at least I have a loner chair, otherwise I would be in bed these weeks.

Thanks, Jupiter.

Didn't get as much writing done as I would have wanted. I dedicated all of my energy to COB just so I would have something to show for these crap couple of weeks.

Oh, oh! I did see something that tickled me into giggles. One of the places I am going to query has a new genre they're interested in. They call it New Adult and, I am not kidding, the criteria fits to the T my story "A Night Like This." I don't know if readers are familiar with that one, but it is my first attempt at not only straight-up romance, but M/M that I ever put to word. It's melodramatic and ridiculous. Meh, what can I say? It was written as a gift. It made me laugh because, really, people actually want that? *giggles* I guess it's not really surprising, what with "50 Shades..." taking the literary world by storm.

My life has been dullsville lately so that's about it. I think Monday--FINALLY--I get my chair back. I'll get to leave my house, stimulate my brain and come home with an urge to write. I'm feeling really good about the changes I've made. I completely rewrote a few chapters, adding things that should have been addressed and giving Spooky and Dane more interaction and conflict and I'm making Killius and Garenet more rounder and less cookie-cutter. That's important due to events that happen in the sequels. Yep, quite happy about what's going on.

That's it for now. See you on the flip-side!