Category: Writing

WIP it! WIP it good!

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The wip it good blogfestSo last Friday, I stumbled across a post about the WIP IT GOOD Blogfest.  I found the original detail post here and thought it sounded interesting, so I decided to participate.  There was just one tiny problem: My current pitch kinda sucked.  Like, bad.  So I thought, “Okay, no biggie, I’ll just fix it.”

Yeah, that turned out to be a bigger challenge than I had anticipated.

I finally finished the polishing this morning.  It took me a week of scribbling and thinking and trying not to pull all the hair out of my head (bald isn’t a good look for me), but I finally finished the polishing.  At least for now.  Till someone tells me it could be better.  Because really, in all honesty, it probably could be.  I’m still not convinced about the transitions between paragraphs.  And I’m only halfway through writing the darn thing, never mind revisions, so it could still go in a completely different direction.  But this is the direction in which it’s currently heading, and I think it’s on track to stay that way.  So.  A plan.  I kinda sorta maybe have one.  Possibly.

Anyway, to the deets!

She winds up for the pitch…

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That’s right, I’m working on my pitch again.  But this time it’s for my WIP.  I stumbled across a WIP blog hop the other day and I want to participate, but first I need to shine up my pitch a bit.  I’ve been polishing since Friday.  But I think I’ve just about got it hammered out, so I’ll be posting regularly-ish again soon(ish)!  I hope. 😀

All this is to say that I’ve been doing a fair bit of writing and even more thinking about writing of late.  If I’ve been a bit absent, well, everywhere, now you know why.  So in the meantime, please enjoy this pretty, pretty picture from The Great Gatsby:


Happy Hump Day! 🙂

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

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A solid battle plan

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Having a good idea is only half the battle.  Executing that idea into a book takes time, patience, and plenty of caffeine.  -Brian Klems

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

Pitch-tastic!

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Yep, that’s right, I’ve been working on my pitch for The Lokana Chronicles again.  Though (as far as I’m aware, having not checked Twitter in the last couple of hours) the Query Kombat picks haven’t yet been announced, I’m not holding my breath that I’ll get in They’ve announced the picks for Query Kombat and I didn’t get in, but I’m not surprised because what I submitted for a query was, well, not very good.  Even I knew it, but I crossed my fingers and hit submit anyway.  Huge congrats to everyone who made it in, though – out of something like 210 kontestants, only 64 made it through to the next round and I think 32 are being eliminated in the first cut.  Pretty brutal, but pretty awesome, too.  Good luck to everybody who made it in!

Anyway, as I was trolling Twitter the other day (and by trolling, I mean more like scrolling through my feeds, not being a troll), I happened across this from the lovely Stacey Trombley:

So I took her up on it! Read all about it behind the cut. Come on, you know you want to. Clicky clicky! 🙂

Progress!

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Yes, that’s right, I’m making progress!  My synopsis-writing project is almost at an end (meaning I hope to be finished with it by tomorrow or the next day) and if you follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I started a new short story.  I plan to post it here when I’m finished.  I’m really excited about it – it’ll be my first foray into sci-fi, but it’s not hardcore.  At least, I don’t think it will be.

I was inspired by the news I heard over the weekend that a Dutch company plans to launch an expedition to colonize Mars within the next decade.  I started writing late last night and kept at it today.   As I was driving home tonight…

Outlining, synopsis-style

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He crossed the room slowly as the unseen hand of his tutor banged on the door again. The knocking had a tone and texture all its own, not unlike a voice. It was at once demanding, frustrated, and annoyed, as if the person knocking would much rather be somewhere, anywhere, else. Michael had never noticed such a thing in a knock before; he wondered what else he’d missed as he had sailed through life trying to engage fully with a half dozen different things all at once.

-The Lokana Chronicles: Fog of War

I’ve been working on my story again. It’s been a while, though, and I’ve lost touch with what I’d written before, so I’m rereading it and creating a synopsis so that I have something to look back at any time I need a bit of a refresher. The quote above is from Chapter 7.

Of course, the problem is…

Ich bin ein liebster!

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Hiya!  I know it’s been a few days, but after all those haiku I posted last month, I needed a bit of a break.  Also, I’ve been fighting off a migraine for the last few days, so my time doing much of anything productive has been pretty limited.  But now I’m back, more exhausted than ever, and ready to…uh…well, maybe not wow you, exactly, but hopefully keep you entertained with my stunning ability to trip over flat surfaces.

That should do nicely, yes?

No?  What do you mean, no?

What do you mean, you want substance?  Why on Earth are you here, then?  Wait!  Don’t leave me!

Okay, that was a little pathetic.  Well, if it’s substance you want instead of slapstick, how about this?  I was nominated for the Liebster Award earlier today by the lovely G. Edward Smith.  He’s got a very nice blog and it’s well worth checking out.

As usual, we’ve got some rules for this puppy. They be as follows (and you know you want to follow, right? Right!):

Paperback Writer

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To close out a great week of fun, Will has kindly written up a little something about music and fantasy.  As it really needs no introduction other than that, I’ll step out of the way and let him have at it.  Take it away, Will!

“And I want to be a paperback writer!”

Hands up if you remember that Beatles song?  Thought you might.  Those of you reading Kay’s blog (as I do, being one of her subscribers) have possibly looked at some of the fantasy work I put out.  If you have, you will know that music runs through the books as a solid theme.  As the books are loosely based on the adventures of a dwarf rhythm and blues band, that’s inevitable, really.  But stop for a moment and think about the link between music and fantasy.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the two genres enjoy such close links. . .

The Banned Underground: Bass Instinct

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biToday, a little later than my last several posts but better late than never, I have the honor of reviewing the latest release in The Banned Underground series, Bass Instinct.  The boys are back in town with a new friend in this book, and – hell’s bells! – it’s a g-g-g-girl!

Dai the drinking dragon has been kidnapped by the Dark Lord for nefarious purposes, and by his receptionist for even less reputable reasons.  Without their bass player, The Banned Underground are in deep trouble with their record label.  They have to produce the recordings for an album, and someone has stolen the tapes from the last gig.  Can they make some more recordings, or will Freya, the renegade dwarf bass player, distract the boys while the Dark Lord’s evil schemes come to fruition?

The Dark Lord has found some thugs to help him in his latest plan to invade the Dwarf Mansion, but they have other things on their minds – like looting and pillaging – and it’s all going wrong again.

Will record-producing Adam set his Ants on the Banned?  Or will it all come good in the end?  Time is Tight on this one for The Banned Underground…

With a blurb that focuses on Dai, I expected the story to focus a bit more on him.  To the extent that he had a larger role than in previous books, I guess you could say that it did, but it really did focus on him as much as I had expected.  That said, I loved the bits between Dai and Gloria, the Dark Lord’s receptionist, and I do hope that what started in this book will be continued in future installments.

The Banned are back in town and between the lack of tapes (from their last gig), the lack of gigs, and the lack of funds, trouble is the only thing they don’t lack.