I Have No Idea Where to Post Anymore

1/19/2019

Do I even have an LJ anymore? I feel like that might be something gone from inactivity. Fifteen years’ worth of off and on again journaling might be gone. Oh well. Tumblr is a massive mess. Plus, I kind of just reblog random, unimportant junk on there more than anything else. Do I want to commit to something like WP? These are some of my concerns for the new year.

Along with some really crazy things happening in my personal life, my writing is still at an all-time low. I’ve tried to motivate myself but it’s a struggle and a long process. I feel like every time I get myself back to a good place mentally, something happens that knocks me right back to my basic foundations. 2018 seemed like one battle after another.

I’ve missed writing. I’ve missed the excitement of filling a blank screen or notebook. I’ve missed the feeling of completion as I found things to change or fix during the editing stages. But it just hasn’t been inside me. There hasn’t even been drive enough for something fun and uncomplicated like a piece of fan fiction to keep me occupied.

However, I have written down ideas and notes whenever something comes to me. It’s just been difficult gathering all the bits into an actual plot. So there’s that.

Also, in the past few days, I’ve had some promising ideas that will flesh out some of my projects that have been on the back burner for years. I don’t think I can put into words how much happiness that has brought me; just being able to focus enough and let the ideas come to me once again. Maybe it’s the super moon, or something. :)

Cross-blogged on my tumblr.

Happy New Year!

1/1/2018

Well, 2017 was a bit of a garbage fire, eh? One of the only good things about last year was my parents' health being somewhat stable and finally, FINALLY, publishing Calling of Blood.

So what now? As far as writing goes, I haven't started a new project yet. Made lots of notes for lots of different things, but have yet to commit. I've written some for fun. Nothing I'll publish for profit. Just stories to unwind and help detach from COB. I'm still trying to decide what to do next.

It's cold and horrible here. Nothing to do but read and write.

I hope everyone had a safe last few weeks. And I hope nothing but great things happen for you this coming year!

Calling of Blood

12/5/17

As stated previously, "Calling of Blood" is officially available for sale!

I know, I know. I just didn't think that an oily torso was the way to go for this book. :) https://smile.amazon.com/Calling-Blood-New-Earth-Book-ebook/dp/B077XRW29X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512493437&sr=8-1&keywords=lale+baize

For those of you just passing through, or can't really remember what the first version, "An Indigo Feather," was about, here's the basic jist: This is, essentially, an M/M Sci-fi/Fantasy. I want to go further and tell you right now, it's M/M in the loosest sense. Some characters use he/him/his pronouns or she/her/hers but, honestly, that's for the reader's ease. A lot of the characters are hermaphrodites. There are a lot of characters that use they/them/theirs pronouns. Some characters are very fluid and their identities shift by whoever is describing them. This story explores a lot of themes on sexuality. There are a lot of themes of disability. 

If I could compare it to another author/s, I'd say Storm Constantine or Ursula K le Guin. 

The world of "Calling of Blood" is vast, hinting at histories spanning thousands of years. I love folklore, so I played around with the mythology of this world.

There are sex scenes but apparently nothing too graphic or frequent as, years ago, Loose Id was interested but only if I added more sex.

Essentially, if you like Science Fiction or Fantasy that spans about 443 pages, explores everything from sexuality to politics to disability, that has diverse characters and is all wrapped up in an M/M story, you might be interested in "Calling of Blood."

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

***cross-posted on Tumblr.

The Ability to Let Things End

12/5/2017

"Art is never finished, only abandoned." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Over the past few years, when I could seriously sit down to work, I have rewrote, cut and edited "An Indigo Feather" into what is now known as "Calling of Blood." It's true what writers say about themselves, when they're being honest with themselves. We are our worst critics. There is nothing I am more self-conscience of, and yet so confident of, than my writing. Sure, I make errors and rereading and editing are still SUPER IMPORTANT, but I've never really told myself to give up, to find something else to.

Writing is, honestly, the only thing I feel I can do. I have to do. I like to write. I like to put down all of the ideas that pop into my head. I love when I create something I've been searching for in a bookstore because I have yet to find it.

But I need to learn to let things go. Stop editing and let a piece be.

And so, this post is to let everyone know that "Calling of Blood" is officially "abandoned." :) I've edited it as much as possible. I've cut as much as I dare. I sat for an hour or so putting in a linked up table of contents.

Finally, it's finished. As of now, it is available on Amazon through the Kindle Store. Look up Lale Baize.

I am super excited but also kind of terrified. I'll post more information soon but I just wanted to let everyone know who's been waiting for this that there is a copy up for sale.


*cross-posted on Tumblr.

Inside the Writer's Head #6

2/20/17

Inside the Writer's Head #6 – Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

I don't really want to say something is completely off the table. Who knows what one will find them doing in the future? However, I think it is safe to say I will probably never go near any idea found in what I like to call Dick Lit. You know the type. Average, Ordinary Nice Guy or Awesome, Amazing Action Guy, who does everything right and gets the equally boring, but hot, girl in the end of whatever they find themselves doing. But that's not really my style anyway. Unless it's a parody. Then I might. But probably not.

Inside the Writer's Head #5

6/25/16

Inside the Writer's Head #5 – Describe your comfort zone story-wise.

I stick with Fantasy and Horror, for the most part. Under those umbrellas, I'd say that my flavor is of Fusion Fiction. I can't help adding a little bit of everything to most of my stories. Fantastical Horror with some action, a bit of mystery usually with a dash of romance (if the story takes that route) and, if I can work it in, Science Fiction. Definitely a Fusion Fiction kind of writer.

I like to write about characters that are not physically and/or mentally ideal. Disabilities, characters that aren't just white, non-hetero relationships, non-hetero sexuality, dark story lines, non-traditional endings—I really like to explore and am happiest writing. Whenever I try to write something more mainstream, something always sneaks its way in; be it a character death or someone gets maimed. :) I'm a bit like CLAMP in that way. If someone doesn't lose an eye, I haven't completed the story!

cross-posted on Tumblr

An Apparent Habit of Mine

5/12/16

I don't mean to, but I have noticed over the last couple of months of rereading, editing and writing that most of what I do could arguably be seen as an obvious allegory for sexual identity. Or it seems obvious to me. Apparently, I like to explore sexuality and disabilities. Oh well. I can think of worse things I could be obsessed with. ^_______^

Inside the Writer's Head #4--Tropes Discussion #1

1/21/16

Tropes #1

What kind of trope have I not got around to trying my hand at but would like to?

The thing about tropes is that they're basically clichés and I try really hard not to fall back on them. On the other hand, they can be super fun to write. Especially given the right setting and characters. I think the one I haven't tried but in my secret heart of hearts want to try is the Sex Pollen idea. I don't know why. Maybe it stems from my love of Star Trek and I just want to pay homage? That could be a really fun trope to play with. Or the Zombies trope. Hey... Maybe I could throw sex pollen in with zombies.

Cross-posted at tumblr.

Best Laid Plans and All That...

7/26/15

Hooo-boy! Did some stuff happen after my last post! Like, right after I posted. Like, that day went south real fast shortly after posting. There's a reason we have the story warning of counting one's chickens before they hatch. Just to sort of put it out there, my roommate of only three months decided to move out. Right then. Within the day she announced she was moving. Not gonna lie, it threw a massive wrench in a few things. But, I think I'm ironing everything back out pretty good.

Anyway, July has been insane.

COB is chugging along. I haven't worked on it as much as I wanted, but it's so close. So close to being where it needs to be. I'm actually looking for a few people (mayhaps two or three) to read the manuscript and tell me what they think before I get it all gussied up for Kindle. If anyone is passing by and is interested, let me know.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Calling of Blood (or its previous incarnation as An Indigo Feather) know it is a slow-burn Fantasy novel revolving around basically an M/M relationship. I say "basically" because the characters aren't human. They aren't male, more hermaphrodite, to be honest. The best way I can recommend this book is by saying, if you like Fantasy, if you can enjoy something like Storm Constantine's Wraeththu, than you might enjoy this.

Hit me up if interested!

*entry cross-posted on my tumblr account as well

Small Announcement

6/29/15

Hello, all!

The time for finding my works is once again nearing time. There are a few things going on right now. The Calling of Blood is on its final stages of edition. Steps for publication have been made for COB and future works. I have created a new name to publish under.

Sadly, I feel it is time to put away Coco Reed. One of the main names I will be publishing under now is Lale Baize (I think I'm sooooo clever. :P) Once COB is published, look for it and other titles under that name.

Inside the Writer's Head #3

4/8/15

Just for fun, I am going to answer questions from a meme and various other things sent to me via my little writing segment.

Inside The Writer's Head #3 – Taking Requests

Those of you reading this who dabble in fan fiction will understand the idea of prompts, or requests. When someone, a reader or another writer, asks you to write something with an idea they give you is such a thing. It can be anything. Any form. Any style. Any length. Unless, of course, the person who gave you the prompt states otherwise.

The longest piece I ever wrote was a novel. A friend wanted a romance between two male characters. As a birthday present. It was challenging because this would be the first time I ever wrote anything focusing on two men in a romantic relationship. And this would be the first (and only so far) time I would write a straight-up romance. I'm not a big fan of the genre but my friend is. It was a challenge, but fun. It's not my best. It's ridiculous and melodramatic and buried somewhere deep in the recesses of my computer. :) It was the second novel I ever wrote and one can see in my style how much I didn't know about writing. Honestly, I don't think my friend even read it after all that. So, that's not the happiest writing story, but there you are.

My favorite piece I did for a prompt was when I still wrote for Gamble With Fate. For a week or so we had been super stoked that our small, seemingly unknown site was about to reach 50,000 visits. The people who would not only read but leave us messages and joined our message board were told that if they happened to be our 50,000^th visitor the writer of their choice would gift them with a short story. Anything they wanted. We had two people to win and it worked out because one wanted a story from Lacy Grey while the other wanted one from me. My prompt was an adaptation of the Narcissus myth. I had so much fun with it! And I got to play around with mythology, one of my most favorite things to do.

I haven't done a request story in a long time. I'm not opposed to it, just haven't really been into any fandoms far enough to get the request. And I've been hacking away at the last edition of “Calling of Blood” before it, hopefully, is ready to send out into the world. 

Taking Care of Business

1/8/15

It's been a while since I actually worked on a manuscript. Like, really worked on it. It's fun. I missed doing this. Mayhaps my soul is no longer constipated! Without starting on the serious business of cutting and chopping, I have about 100,000 words written. Probably more. I'm too scared to check. I'm looking to chop a few thousand from that once I bang out the rest of this part of the edition.

Yay for productivity!

New Year Ponderings

1/4/15

The last few months, or whenever it was the last I wrote, have been crazy and weird and sad and overwhelming at times.

I had a birthday. A beloved family member passed away. And in between all that I've barely written more than a grocery list.

I hope this isn't how the rest of the year is flavored. I'm very under-motivated. All my projects seem uninteresting. I am hopeful though. The past two weeks I was at my parents' house. With my four niblings. So that could account for my lack of enthusiasm for anything other than sleep and comfy socks. And I was eating my parents' cooking. Maybe a good detox is in order? Who can say.

I promise I'll be getting back into the swing of being productive.

Inside the Writer's Head - #2

11/14/2014

#2 – Number of Pages in a Successful Work

Just a quick entry on some thoughts that have been floating about in my head lately on story length. I have heard from a few people lately that the best way to make money off of the stories one writes (especially in e-book form) is to get the story down to 40,000 words. That's roughly 100-120 pages in a standard-format book. I've been also thinking about some of the books I've bought recently on my Kindle and that seems about right. Many e-books are quick reads. Some could even be glorified short stories that are formatted in a novella type style.

This is fine. I'm not bothered by this. It just gets me thinking. The books of this length I buy are mostly from authors I've read before and enjoy their style and stories. Authors like Josh Lanyon and Aleksandr Voinov have ideas I usually enjoy. They're fun and quick reads that I can usually finish in an afternoon. But I also love books that will keep me company a few days. Storm Constantine and Neil Gaiman come to mind. Shoot, even Isaac Asimov is someone I will ditch the world for in a heartbeat. Ursula K. Le Guin can write something that falls into either category. To me, length really doesn't matter, though I will say most times I wish the shorter novels I read were just a tiny bit longer. :)

And then I think of profit. Is length really a factor? I mean, George R R Martin and E.L. James have shown us that people will pay for anything. Do I really need to bring up Robert Jordan? I didn't think so. Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with luck and timing when it comes to profit. Also, marketing. If you're in it for profit, you need to sell it. Seriously, with the right marketing approach, people even buy dinosaur porn for 3 to 4 bucks a pop.

And if that doesn't fill you with warm, fuzzy hope, I don't know what will! So what my brain is basically throwing around with all this thought of length and profit is this: really it doesn't matter. Do your best. Write the story the way you feel it's going. And if you feel nervous and worried about potential sales remember, someone somewhere out in the world made a market for dinosaur porn possible!

7/7/7 Challenge

11/14/2014

7/7/7 Challenge. Post the seventh page and the seventh line and the following seven lines from a work-in-progress. 

Mine is from the Calling of Blood editions. Of course it is. :)

"'However, there is one condition.”

“Which is?”

“No sex between you and I, unless I seek you out.”

Monista’s smile faded, expression becoming serious. Now there was the true queen, not the harlot she let Lysander and Drumeria make her into. “I did what I must to secure some sort of an alliance, Dandel. Surely you have read that not all battles are won with force and steel.”

Dane bowed his head to her, tilting his glass as well in respect. “It seems Tonse made everyone fight for their survival.’"

Inside the Writer's Head - #1

10/26/2014

I've been thinking lately about certain entries I want to write but they have no connection to works in progress, memes or anything of the sort. They are about writing though. Mainly my own thoughts on writing. Feel free to skip over these entries if they don't interest you. Inside the Writer's Head will consist of personal musings and about writing and my own writing process. Also, this is an exercise to try and get me into the habit of writing journal entries again. Good. Now that I've tipped everyone off to what I'm doing, onto the first topic:

Sex Scenes First

I don't know if anyone else does this--if you even write stories with sex scenes in them--but I find that sometimes I will write a sex scene early on. Even if my characters haven't got there yet in their relationship, or if they even will. Especially if they don't have sex in the actual, finished story. Just to get it out of my system. I then find I can concentrate on other things within the story--little details and focus on the build-up. I do the same thing with fight and battle scenes too. I think it's because usually those kinds of scenes (really, any kind of action) is what I'll think of first anyway. I'll have a really cool idea, or a dramatic idea, and then I need to build around it.

Anyone else do that? Have a similar process?

Editing Monster

9/20/2014

I get to a point sometimes where I will make several editions of a work. I don't think this is a bad thing, personally. However, sometimes I start another edition in the middle of one. I'm basically rewriting Calling of Blood. For several reasons, but the main one is that I know there are holes in the story and some characters could be better. So that's what I'm doing right now. I was feeling stuck, though, and went back and read the new editions.

I Am Not Happy Still. At all. 

So very tempted to rewrite the first few chapters (these have very little editing to begin with and now I wish I would have scrapped them in the first place.) But. But. One step at a time.

This is just another delay, but I need to finish the rewrite first. And then, apparently, start back over. Just the first few chapters and I know what I'll do instead. So that part will be cake. Just need to finish this edition is all. :D

Inspiration, Vindication and Being Okay with Your Own Voice

7/7/14

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a book that I have been meaning to read since forever. "The Left Hand of Darkness." I may have mentioned before how much I love Ursula K. Le Guin. I find her work, fiction or otherwise, interesting and inspiring. Her work pulls me in and captivates me. And almost always she punches me in the heart guts by the end of the story. That's always a bonus.

It is somewhat fortunate that I picked up this book. Almost seeming at just the right time in my life.

While there is a similar element in this book as the one I am writing, it is a completely different idea. I noticed though that my personal style (certain elements that I was worried would be no-no's in the publishing world) are similar to things Le Guin does in her own writing. It made me feel vindicated, in a way. The way she told the story made complete sense. I didn't feel less drawn in or that it was lazy writing, or even overdone in some parts.

This took a lot of worry away from me. I feel refreshed and ready to do even more, go places in my writing where I was afraid to earlier. I need to remember to not be so afraid of what others think. Of "what sells." Just tell my story. Tell my characters' stories. To hell with boundaries put in place. They don't matter. Only telling the tale matters.

I need to remember to not be so afraid.

Writing Meme!

"“Challenge on Infinite Earths” is a 30-day challenge where you take your favorite ship (or character(s)!) and place them in various “what if” scenarios and alternate universes.  Feel free create artwork, graphics, stories, playlist or anything in between while exploring how different environments could potentially create a new experience for characters. 

(Hover over the prompts for ideas or to clear up any possible confusion.)

1. Hogwarts
2. Zombies
3. Medieval
4. Spies
5. School
6. Mythical Creature
7. Fairy Tale
8. Futuristic
9. Aliens
10. Parody of another Fandom
11. Slice-of-life
12. Deserted Island
13. Buddy Cops/Detective
14. Allegiance-Swap
15. Sex-Swap
16. Superheroes
17. Gang
18. Military/War
19. Idols
20. Species-Swap (Animals, insects, etc.)
21. Fantasy
22. Horror
23. Pre-21st Century
24. Apocalypse/Dystopia
25. Children
26. Seniors
27. Family
28. Race-bending
29. Pirates
30. Your Life

Please tag your posts under “#30dayAUchallenge”!"

So, I am going to do this. It sounds like it'll be potentially fun! I want to break out Lyre Westreach for this. Perhaps Spooky and Dane as well. Maybe some of my other characters that I haven't finished their stories. Oh, the possibilities!

Editions and What Not

2/16/14

If anyone noticed: I did have an excerpt posted from some of the new edition of COB. I left it up for an appropriate, I think, amount of time before taking it down. If anyone actually read it, hope you enjoyed. If you missed it, sorry.

Also, I have been doing a lot of rewriting. A lot. Like whole new chapters. I was getting a bit worried that I was branching too far off from the original story (but so much had to be included to fill in glaring plot holes!) Then I decided on doing something with the narrative, a kind of experiment if you will, that will hopefully work as a sort of detour. We'll still be pacing with the original story, and see some new things on the way, but eventually meet back up at a certain point that doesn't need as much fleshing out.

I'm actually quite excited about this as it was worrying me and causing a bit of a delay in chapter out-put.

Just another bump overcome in the great process that has become Calling of Blood.

Out.