Finding Kat Heckenbach

Facing the Fear

2012-01-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

This image is dedicated to my dear friend Turtle,
who is facing some fears of her own.
We're in this together!

It has taken some serious force of will, but I have finally jumped back into working on the sequel to Finding Angel.

"Right now?" you ask. "Seriously? Isn't it due out later this year?"

Yes, yes, and yes.

But hang on. I started scribbling ideas for this book waaaaaaay back when I was writing Finding Angel. We're talking 2007, folks. And in between bouts of editing Finding Angel and writing short stories, I worked on it bit by bit. A chapter here and there. So when I say "finally jumped back" I mean into a manuscript sporting 58,000 words.

Okay, it's less than that now. I've been editing what I've written so far.

Still, you are right. It's been months (many, many of them) since I last looked at the manuscript. I should have jumped back in the day Finding Angel released. I could give you a whole list of excuses right now. Most of them legitimate. But I won't, because I know deep down the reason was fear.

It sounds ridiculous to me, but it's true. I know, I've already proven I can finish a novel. But there is still this odd fear that I can't do it again. That I'll get partway through and my creativity and talent will just dissipate. Gone. Never to return.

Even more ridiculous sounding is my fear of disappointing my "fans." All four of them! Okay, there are more than four :P, but I'm nowhere near NYT bestseller, so let's be honest--it's not like a sucky second novel will be disappointing masses of people. But the ones it would disappoint mean SO much to me.

There has also been the fear that I've mis-remembered what I've written so far. In other words, I'd open up my document and find mindless drivel rather than the brilliance I thought it was when I was writing it. This is nothing to snicker at. We writers all look back on early drafts and wonder what we were thinking. I expect a certain amount of that, but my fear has been that the amount would be daunting.

Fortunately, so far, that has not been the case. I've had a few "eye roll" moments, and a "cringe" here and there, but for the most part, the story and writing are pretty well what I want them to be.

(Aside: A new point of view is added to this novel. Finding Angel is all in Angel's pov, except for a few blurbs from the villain. This one, however, toggles back and forth between Angel and Someone Else. Someone I loooooove writing.)

Lastly, there is fear of the critique and editing process. Yes, I've been through this. Yes, my skin has thickened. Still, this is my heart and soul we're talking about. Bared to someone with a bloodthirsty knife--er, red pen. I know critique will only make this book stronger. But it does so through torture.

It took a while for me to admit to myself that fear was the culprit here. But admitting it allowed me to face it, and move past it. I spent all day Saturday editing. Pages and pages. The fire for this story was still there, and it's now burning even more brightly, I'm happy to say.

I'd heard many times that the second book is the hardest to write. I've seen blog posts by other authors attesting to this fact, and maybe that added to my fear. I now understand where they were coming from. I also know it probably won't stop with this book, but I believe it will get a little easier (otherwise they'd all be saying it's the third book and fourth book and twenty-seventh book that is the hardest). If nothing else, next time I'll know it's fear, I'll know what its ugly face looks like because I've seen it before. No more excuses.

Women of the Secret Place

2012-01-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

The newest anthology containing my writing is available for pre-order! I have two stories in this book, btw :).

Women of the Secret Place is a compilation of personal experience stories--think along the lines of Chicken Soup for the Soul, but with a distinctly Christian focus.

The "official" blurb:

Faith. Hope. Humor. Who wants to face the challenges of life without them? Not the Women of the Secret Place! Explore this collection of real-life experiences and glimpses into a woman s personal relationship with God. Discover for yourself what the Women of the Secret Place have learned. As you relax with the fifty-two devotionals in Women of the Secret Place, you will laugh, cry, and be encouraged. You will gain new appreciation for God s unique plan for you as a woman of faith. You will be inspired to trust Him through life's most difficult circumstances! The power and beauty of story is captured in the spiritual reflections of award-winning author Ruth Carmichael Ellinger and other contributing authors who candidly share their experiences.

Reviews:

Women of the Secret Place is the perfect bedside table companion: start your day with encouragement or end it with comfort. Readers will relate to touching, heartfelt, candid stories that are embroidered with meaningful scripture. Over fifty-two devotions, written by several different women, are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always inspirational. This book will appeal to women of all ages and all walks of life.

--Suzanne Woods Fisher, author of Amish fiction and non-fiction Christy Award Finalist, The Waiting

These heart-felt readings took me from laughter to tears within a few pages. The real stuff of life, this. From the whimsical to the sublime, a variety of gifted writers transport the reader to the throne of God on the wings of soul-stirring personal anecdotes accompanied by scripture and prayer. A marvelous devotional that magnifies grace and fully satisfies that need within for quality face time with our Savior and King.

--Debora M. Coty, award-winning author of Too Blessed to be Stressed and More Beauty, Less Beast.

Find it on AMAZON and B&N.COM.

RUTH CARMICHAEL ELLINGER is the primary author for this inspirational collection, Women of the Secret Place. She was born and raised in the Ohio Valley, the setting for her historical and inspirational trilogy, The Wild Rose of Lancaster, Wild Rose of Promise, and Sword of the Wild Rose. Ruth is a two-time recipient of the American Christian Writers Writer of the Year award and the 2010 Brandon Arts Council Award, Artist of the Year for Excellence in the Arts. She has received numerous writing awards for both fiction and nonfiction. Ruth is currently the co-director of Florida Inspirational Writers Retreat, and founder and president of Brandon Christian Writers. As a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ruth celebrated her patriot ancestry by winning first place for OH DAR, Bells of Freedom. Ruth is a member of two Scottish clans, Carmichael and Davidson. The author s unique ministry experiences have taken her and her family from deserts of Arizona to the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia to the tropical banana plantations of Central America. She writes about her experiences in her blog, The Shepherdess. Ruth and her husband, a pastor, make their home in Florida and spend time at their summer home, Wildrose Cottage, an 1882 restored historical cottage in the picturesque Ohio Valley area. They have four grown children: Lucy, Kendy, Kathy, and James.

Latest Interview

2012-01-24T05:57:00.000-08:00

My latest interview is on the blog of a short story writer named Jeff Chapman. As far as short stories go, he and I write on very similar ground. We've been in a few of the same magazines and anthologies. So, he's read quite a bit of my writing.

Which means, when he went into reading Finding Angel, he had some real background. And when he sent me some interview questions to answer, he didn't cop out and ask a bunch of generic stuff. He knew where to dig. (The picture makes sense now, eh?)

So, without further ado, HERE IS MY LATEST INTERVIEW.

And if you have any hypotheses on the "wall and fire" question, feel free to put them in the comments--here or there--because I'm rather curious.

Customer Service is a No Go

2012-01-21T13:10:00.000-08:00

My latest blog post at New Authors' Fellowship is a (rantish) piece about the dying art of customer service. You can read it by clicking HERE.

I don't want to pull my fellows into the fray, so on NAF I left out the name of the company that inspired the post. This, however, is MY blog. So take heed people: If you need to register a domain name, steer clear of Yahoo. They are not the only company I've had CS issues with, but they are the latest. And their "you must follow the rules, but we don't have to" attitude has made me decide I will never, ever use their services again.

Mish-Mash, Again

2012-01-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

I hate that I'm constantly posting these mish-mash posts. But here I am again.

First, my fellow fantasy/horror writer Jeff Chapman reviewed Finding Angel on his blog today. It's rather detailed, although I wouldn't go as far as calling it spoilerish. If you'd like to delve into his ruminations, click HERE. I love his keen eye for detail and deeper meanings.

Second, there are now TWO contests in which you can vote for Finding Angel:

As I told you in a recent post, the Grace Awards are open for reader nominations. A short--very short!--email is all it takes to cast your vote. Details can be found HERE.

But there's also the Family Fiction Readers Choice Awards. This one is even easier to enter--just a simple form to fill out. You only vote in the categories you want to. Click HERE.

In both instances, remember--Finding Angel is YA and fantasy :). And in the Family Fiction awards I fit "favorite new author" as well (er, I hope!).

And my fellow author Keven Newsome's book Winter is up for several awards, including one for cover art (see it there to the left) and two for his rockin' book trailer. Check out his blog for details and to view the trailer.

Finally, I mentioned last time that I have an upcoming speaking engagement. If you happen to live in my area, or whatever whacked-out reason have chosen to visit here during the first week of February, here are the details. It is open to everyone:

Where: Bloomingdale Library (Valrico, FL)
Date: Saturday, February 4th
Time: 3:30 to 5:30

I'll have books for purchase that I'll be signing afterward.

I suppose that's it for now. And I probably shouldn't say I hate these posts. Lots of good stuff, eh?

Record Your Speech to Erase Your Nerves

2012-01-13T06:18:00.000-08:00

One of the best things I ever did for my writing career happened more than fifteen years before I started writing. While attending community college, I was required to take a public speaking class. At first it was THE most terrifying thing I had ever done. I heard somewhere that more people fear public speaking than fear death, and I was one of them.

And when the teacher pulled out the video camera and set it up....

But wait--THAT is actually the very thing I am referring to here. That video camera. IT was the best thing that ever happened to my writing career. Because these days so much of being a writer is getting up in front of people.

Here's what happened: the teacher taped us during our presentations. But *she* did not ever lay eyes on the videos, nor did the other students. We each had our own tape (yes, VHS tape...) and she sent each tape home with its respective owner. We had to watch ourselves and only turn in our notes about what we saw--the good, the bad, and the ugly--and how we intended to improve.

Let me tell you, the first time I sat down to watch I knew I'd see a stuttering, paaauuuusing, fidgeting fool. But I was wrong. Sure, I about wore out the word "um", but I didn't look nearly as awkward as I'd felt up there.

I realized several things:

You don't look as nervous as you feel. That heat you feel in your face and neck? Invisible. The trembling in your hands? Too subtle to see from waaaaay out in the audience, even if they are only ten feet away. If you still worry about it, make your notes on index cards which don't rattle and sway in your hands the way loose-leaf paper does.

The biggest giveaway to nervousness is lack of eye contact. LOOK at people. It will give the illusion that you are confident even when you are not. Don't write your speech out word for word, but use key words and phrases so your eyes are not glued to your notes. And hey--the notes are only for YOU to see, so if you need to, write in reminders like, "look at the audience" and "don't say 'um' too much."

The pause that to you feels like seventeen minutes is probably less than one second. You know the saying "time is relative"? It really is. It will run differently for you than for your audience. If you pause, they experience real-time, while you feel some sort of warped time flow that makes a single, half-second pause stretch into an unnatural length. Remind yourself of that over and over--I promise it helps. And if you don't believe me, record yourself just like I did and see for yourself.

With the exception of the world's most extroverted extroverts, everyone is nervous about public speaking. The fact that you even got up there is going to impress them to a certain degree. And most people will be rooting for you, not hoping for you to blunder. They sympathize, and are merely glad it is you up there and not them, so they want you to succeed.

I never thought that video camera would have such an effect later in my life, but without it I would never have gotten through the speeches I've done already. Knowing what was on that tape completely changed my view on public speaking.

And it's a darn good thing, because I've got some speaking engagements coming up, and boy, am I nervous.

My Blues Boy

2012-01-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

Funny--I said in a recent post that I pretty well never post videos on here. Guess what? Today I'm posting a video. But it's not just a fluff for fun thing.

Almost two years ago I posted here about an up-and-coming musician named Logan Lind. As you would see by following that link, his music is described as "folk/blues with a Scandinavian flair." Oh, yeah.

He's still around, folks, and going stronger than ever. Wanna know why?

Because. He. ROCKS.

Link Collection

2012-01-04T04:45:00.000-08:00

A few things have collected this week, so today is a post of links. But they are good links. Really, really good.

First, Kersten Hamilton joins us today on New Authors' Fellowship to share her journey to publication. She's the one who wrote Tyger, Tyger and In the Forests of the Night, which I have been raving about lately. Her post is truly worth a read. Very encouraging. Very entertaining. Please, please go by and check it out and leave a comment!

Second, another blog to check out today is Magical Ink. Heather Titus has announced the book she has chosen as "Book of the Year." She gives hints in her post as to--ahem--which book it is, with a link to her Bookshelf that reveals the--ahem--title. So seriously, go find out which book --AHEM--she has chosen...and enter there to win a copy!!!

And last...but definitely not least in importance...the Grace Awards have opened for voting. This is a reader driven contest, which means readers get to send in votes for their favorite books of 2011. I would love...really, really love...to see Finding Angel win the Young Adult category. So if you are so inclined (please, please be so inclined), head over to the Grace Awards site and check out how to vote. It is a short 25-word email telling what you loved about Finding Angel. The only prerequisite is some sort of social media account as "proof" you are voting only as yourself.

See, told you they were good links! Now get scootin'.

What I Don't Do Here

2011-12-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

I am not one of those people who generally writes blogs relating to a certain holiday. No posts about Christmas or wishing anyone a merry one last week. And no, I'm not here today to post about my New Year's resolution(s) or anything. I mentioned mine on Facebook the other day. You wanna see it, go friend me :P.

This blog is also "not" for a lot of other things:

I don't post about politics. I do have opinions, but I tend to keep them to myself. My general take on politics is that there is NO such thing as a perfect candidate for ANYTHING because we're are all people and we all make mistakes and we all tend to be stupid and greedy when it comes to SOMETHING. And I've found that sitting around debating politics with people in person, much less online, doesn't generally get either of us anywhere. Maybe you find that to be different in your life, and that's great. Me, I'm just staying out of it. I keep my ears open and vote on voting day. Period.

I don't post "how to write" articles, with the exception of a rant now and then about how the word "was" is not the devil, or stuff like my recent post about making sure a book has an end "hook." If you want to learn mechanics of writing there are gobs and gobs of great books out there, like Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. And awesome websites like K.M. Weiland's "Wordplay." Writing posts like that is a LOT of work--why do so when they already exist and are just a click away?

I don't have a defined purpose for this blog, so I don't plan out my posts way ahead of time, strategically searching for hot topics or whatever in order to drive readers here. I tend to think of this as an online journal of sorts, a place to dump my thoughts on things mostly related to books and writing (but also including the occasional post about family vacations and whatnot). Again, there are other writers out there with a penchant for hitting on controversy, and I don't want to rehash. On the rare occasion I do find myself needing to tackle a controversial writing issue, you'll likely find me posting about it on New Authors' Fellowship.

I don't preach here. I am a Christian, yes, and I don't keep that out of my blog, but I don't push it. If I post about something "religious" it's going to be personal. I actually have a rather hefty background in Creation science, but I don't post about all that here. I did waaaaaaaay back in the beginning of this blog just a bit, and quickly realized this is not the place. And again, there are gobs of awesome books and websites on the subject--where I got my info on the topic, and therefore where you can do the same. (Answers in Genesis is a good place to start if it's something you're interested in.)

I don't often post videos or have trivia contests or other fun little bits like that. Honestly, the music I like it likely not what you like. (How many times can you use "like" in a sentence, without, like, you know, sounding like a Valley girl?) And I suck at trivia except in certain areas, such as Harry Potter and Disney stuff.

Other things I suck at, and therefore would never post about, are sports (yes, all of them), video games (yes, all of them), history, keeping plants alive, working the TV remote, gift-wrapping, and folding fitted sheets.

Things I *don't* suck at include healthy eating and natural healing, organization of physical space (still working on organizing my time, though :P), homeschooling, math, jigsaw puzzles, photography (while I am totally amateur, I've taken some pretty righteous shots), and pretty much anything involving the combined components of fabric, wood, and a staple gun. But does anyone want to actually read posts about that stuff??

So there you have it. Everything this blog is not. If you want to find out all the stuff that is here, though, stick around.

Gobbling Goblins

2011-12-27T07:36:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in my last post a book called Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton. It's about goblins and Irish folklore and a mythical, magical place called Mag Mell. The main character, Teagan, ends up visiting Mag Mell after her "cousin" Finn Mac Cumhail moves in with her family. Turns out they're not exactly cousins--which is good, considering the sparks Teagan feels around him. But with Finn, the goblins follow. One kills Teagan's mother and another drags her father off to Mag Mell. Teagan, Finn, and Tea's little brother go off on an adventure to find him and bring him home.

While they are there, Teagan learns more about Mag Mell and the goblins, and finds out some interesting stuff about her family heritage. They battle goblins of all sorts and experience one of the most unique story worlds I've read. Their adventures continue in In the Forests of the Night, which I loved just as much as Tyger, Tyger.

There is obviously going to be another book in this series, although it hasn't come out yet. I am anxiously awaiting it, though!

This is not the only goblin series I've read recently. Another that has captured my heart is a series by Hilari Bell.

I found the first book, The Goblin Wood, at a local Scholastic warehouse sale. (If you are a homeschooler, check out THIS and see if there are any in your area. Cheap books! Fun times!) I admit I just picked it up because it was only a couple of dollars and the title sounded interesting.

But I fell in love as soon as I started reading. Mackenna is a hedge witch whose mother is killed. She takes revenge on her entire town after discovering goblins aren't quite what the priests of the town have made them out to be. She becomes an ally to them, and they become her loyal followers.

The story continues in The Goblin Gate, and ends in The Goblin War. Both of these books are equally as good as the first. In some sense, the stories follow similar paths because it is essentially the same conflict--humans against goblins--but each book adds a new facet to the story and the whole thing comes to a very satisfying finale.

I had never really given much thought to goblins before. Never read books that focused on them. These two series--with very different takes on goblins--have opened my eyes to them, though. I highly recommend you get out and gobble some goblin books.

End with your Hook

2011-12-20T07:21:00.000-08:00

I’m going to do something I’ve never done before—I’m going to give major spoilers about a book here. If that bugs you, don’t read this beyond where I mark the spoilers. But I have to do this, because my point in writing this post is to illustrate why authors need to have good endings to their books.

So much of learning about writing focuses on “the hook.” You have to grab the reader in the first chapter. Oh, no—I mean the first couple of pages. No, wait, it’s the first paragraph. Uh-uh. The first sentence. There are even whole books about writing craft that focus specifically on the first five pages. It’s that important.

You may find a book or two, a blog post here and there, the occasional workshop, on “middles.” The middle of the book does have to keep the reader reading. Sure.

But what about endings?

I, personally, would rather have a book start slow. Give me good writing, yes. Give me a character I can connect with. But I don’t need to be “hooked” by some clever line, or some odd or intense action scene. I want to get to know my characters, and in some sense, I like to have stories sneak up on me. I would prefer a book to start slow, making me take time to warm up to it, and then grip me tighter and tighter throughout. I want the *ending* of a book to leave me begging for more.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld did that. The first several chapters were world building. I was getting to know the character of Tally. It was enough to hold my interest, but I can’t say I was blown away by the first chapters—but I could tell more was coming. I LIKE the anticipation of wondering what is going to be discovered LATER. You see, I have this assumption when I start a book: it’s a book because there is a story to tell. I don’t need that story to slam me like a freight train the moment I open the first page to know it’s there.

More recently, the book Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton won me over this way. Lots of character building. Yes, there was some conflict—Teagan’s friend Abby had a dream the goblins would be coming. But the story moves at a slow pace in the beginning as we get to know the cast and gain the information necessary to understand the major action to come. And come it did. By the end, I couldn’t get to the library website fast enough to put the next book on hold.

Think about theme park rides. Many of them start off as stories. Splash Mountain tells the tale of Brer Rabbit with animatronics lining a slow moving “river.” The end of the ride is the big splash. But who would want to ride it if it were the other way around? Or…what if the whole ride was thrilling, and then the end was a complete dud?

See? Anticipation is what counts in rides like that. Get the thrill part over with in the beginning and have nothing as good afterward and riders will complain. Or have a thrilling ride end in a dud, and most riders leave the ride with a sour taste despite all the fun they had in the beginning—because they didn’t have that “wow” to look forward to. There was nothing to anticipate.

*Now comes the spoilers, folks.*

I finished reading a book yesterday called Dark Eden, by Patrick Carman. The book starts off with this blurb by the main character, Will Besting, which is actually sort of part of the ending. No, that’s not right—you find out at the end that it’s a thought he had during his experience at Fort Eden.

Because I knew.

That’s what I’ll say when they ask.

I knew, and I was afraid.

It sounds all creepy and suspenseful at first, and then you get to the end and discover it’s really meaningless. Of course he’s afraid. He’s got anthrophobia (fear of people).

Will and six other kids his age are chosen to go to Fort Eden to receive a cure for various phobias. They are taken to a building deep in the woods. Will is too scared to go in, and you find out partway through it’s because he’s so afraid of people. He discovers a bomb shelter in the basement of the bunker next to the main building where he hides.

There are video monitors that show the various rooms inside the main building. How convenient. Will, of course, thinks he’s really lucky. It’s obviously a set-up. But, because we’re dealing with kids who have serious mental issues, it seems acceptable. You know something is coming as he watches each of the other kids get “cured” by being hooked up to this funky helmet with wires that connect to the ceiling and experience their moments of greatest fear. So it’s no surprise when Will is trapped in the bomb shelter and discovers that the headphones he’s wearing to listen in on what he sees on the monitors are actually a modified helmet.

Each kid is, as I said, cured by experiencing their biggest fears. Those fears show up on the monitors as well, as though the images in their heads being displayed. If this was ever explained, it must have been in the last couple of pages which I couldn’t bear to read. At that point I was so mad at the book’s ending I could barely see straight, much less read. So we have psychotherapy, complete with mad scientists. The main doctor, who goes simply by Rainsford. Will’s doc, Dr. Stevens. And the groundskeeper, a codgy old woman named Mrs. Groning.

Will is never “caught,” of course. They know where he is the whole time. Although he does sneak in a few times and speak with a couple of the other kids. All the character interaction and relationship building though is for nothing. It has not a stinking thing to do with the ending.

Each kid also ends up with some side effect from the treatment. Joint pain, vertigo, fatigue, headaches, hearing loss, etc.

OK, following so far? It really does sound like a story with serious potential.

And then the kids all get to leave at the end. No attempt by anyone to keep them there. You’re cured. Sorry about the side effects. Go home to your families and live out your lives. None of them remembers anything about their cure experience, but they are all happy just to be cured.

Will, however, is given something by Mrs. Groning as he leaves. He’d entered Fort Eden with a digital recorder, and she ‘d added some audio files. It was her, telling the story of who Rainsford and Dr. Stevens are, and who she is herself.

Rainsford was her husband, and Dr. Stevens is her daughter. And the children’s “cure” was a side effect of Rainsford stealing their blood. Yep, he’s a vampire, and he hooks himself up to the kids to exchange blood with them, ridding himself of his old, contaminated blood—which is why they all end up with “old people” symptoms (rolls eyes)—and taking in their blood flooded with chemicals produced by intense fear, which is what he feeds on, what makes him turn young again.

ALL of the explanation is given in the last several pages, with Mrs. Groning telling Will via the digital recorder.

Made. Me. Want. To. Scream.

A vampire? Really? Not a HINT of anything supernatural in the whole rest of the book. And if Groning actually cared about the kids, why was she so mean to them? Spitting in their food—which Will saw her do and still ate it. Ew. And why even bother telling Will? I mean, he’s not going to do anything about it. It was just a way for the author to tell the reader what was “really” going on, rather than integrating it into the story and letting the reader discover it.

Actually, there were mini versions of that technique throughout, that bugged me each time, but were mixed in with enough suspense to make me forgive them. But really? Will makes some rather hefty jumps to conclusions, or statements of the obvious and it was obviously the author not wanting to lead the reader. Instead, he’d have something happen, then Will would state specifically what is going on “The headphones were really a helmet!” Duh.

Lazy, lazy author. Ugh.

I’ve read other books that do this. Page-turning plot and a complete dud of an ending. Ted Dekker is a big one. Yes, go ahead, throw the tomatoes. I’ve liked a few of his books, but they mostly make me want to throw them across the room when I get to the end, so I’ve quit reading his stuff. Another book that did this was The Maze Runner by James Dashner. This one, Dark Eden by Patrick Carman, has been the worst by far, though.

I beg of you, dear writers. Think about the endings of your books. A twist is fine! But is it really a twist if you are telling one story and then turn it into something else? To me, this kind of ending is like having the main character wake up and discover everything is a dream.

Endings, even twist ones, need to come organically. You can’t tell one story, and then tack on a big explanation at the end saying that it was all really something else, haha! Yes, maybe a good portion of information can be saved for the last part of the story—we’re all familiar with the villain monologue. But make it integrated, not what is essentially an appendix at the end.

So, sorry if I’ve spoiled a book for you. But it had to be done. This kind of writing atrocity makes my blood boil. I’ve been told a few times that Finding Angel is a little slower in the beginning than some people like. BUT every reader I’ve had so far has agreed that the ending completely sucked them in. I can totally live with that. I’d rather create a story that builds from good to better to best, than a story that starts with a bang and ends with a dud. A hook at the beginning is fine, but if it lets loose during the story, even three pages from the end of the book, the reader isn’t going to stick with that author. But if in the end the hook is still firmly in place…

The Map Across Time by C.S. Lakin

2011-12-14T20:13:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the first book in C.S. Lakin's Gates of Heaven Series, The Wolf of Tebron. I'd read Grace Bridges' review and it sounded like something right up my alley--"a fairy tale for adults." It's a great story.

I liked The Map Across Time even better, though!

The Gates of Heaven series isn't a real series in that the books can be read out of order. They take place in the same world, but aren't necessarily chronological.

The Map Across Time is the story of twins, Adin and Aletha. Their mother the queen is deathly ill. Their father the king is suffering the effects of the curse that has invaded their land. Their future is doomed until Adin stumbles across a talking pig who brings him to a hermit's house. And the hermit leads Adin to a map that will take him back in time, where Adin must find the cause of the curse and its cure.

The concept is simple. The execution is not. The story is complex, and rich, and twisty is such a lovely way! Time travel is one of those concepts that makes my brain feel as if it's being pinched. I just can't wrap my mind around the paradox. Lakin, though, laid out a story that wove the crossed-over timeline perfectly. Brilliant.

The only--and I mean only--thing that bothered me was the use of the "old language." Where words in italics were thrown in here and there, words that all seemed to have randomly placed apostrophes. I doubt this will bother most people, but it is a pet peeve of mine. I will say that their use thinned out as the book went on, and it never once got even close to bugging me enough to make me stop reading. Every ounce of the rest of the book was enjoyable. And the use of the old language was actually integral to the plot!

I highly recommend the book for fantasy and fairy tale fans. And I can't wait to read the third book, which just released, The Land of Darkness.

Oh, and while looking up the links for the above, I noticed that The Map Across Time is on sale at Amazon in print for $6! Go get it NOW!.

Giveaway Winner

2011-12-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

So, yes, I know I said in my Un-Grinching Giveaway post that I'd be announcing the winner on December 13th. Well, I changed my mind and am announcing today. The entries rather died off right there at the end, I want to thank those of you who jumped in right away!

I numbered all the entries and wrote those numbers on little slips of papers. My daughter picked one out of a bowl. Yep, I like to do it the old-fashioned way :).

And the winner is...lucky number 11...

Joy Hannabass!

Joy, I've sent you an email already. Hope to hear from you soon so I can get those books in the mail and you will hopefully have them before Christmas in case any are meant as gifts. BTW, Fred Warren, author of Odd Little Miracles (one of the giveaway books) offered to send a signed copy in place of my unsigned one. Fred is so awesome!

Two or Three...At Least or Only?

2011-12-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Remember in my last blog post I said I was inspired by something Sunday morning that would likely turn into my next blog post? Well, here it is. This all occurred to me while watching church (the one we've attended the last couple of years) on the internet. We stayed home Sunday morning, having been out very late the night before at a friend's Christmas party. I was very glad we stayed home, because the service we watched, imho, was a circus. Had I been there, I'd have walked out.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.

(Matthew 18:20 KJV)

People tend to read that verse as though the words “at least” are in there. “For where at least two or three are gathered…” See? That is the meaning it has always implied to me. Like it’s okay if you don’t have hundreds gathered, because Jesus is present even if you only have a few. But there seems to be an implication that while there’s nothing wrong with two or three, it’s a minimum. More people are still expected. Big groups are the norm, better somehow, but two or three will do if that’s all you have.

But I wonder if maybe it can be looked at the other way. Maybe having “only” two or three gathered is preferential.

Churches these days tend to be all about growing, reaching out, drawing people in. Bigger sanctuaries, multiple services. The church I’ve been attending the last couple of years has started to use what they call “video venues”—where the pastor speaks in person during one service while being recorded. The video is then played at other services that weekend. It’s all because the church is growing by leaps and bounds.

Sure, they push small group meetings—Life Groups—which take place in host houses and involve intimate groups instead of large congregations. But they have felt to me like tentacles still attached to the creature that is the main church.

My family has decided to leave this church. Partly because they have grown so large. We can’t find a way to get connected. We feel the services are turning into performances. Light shows on the wall during the music, dramatic "spontaneous" praying over the congregation...that to me comes across as orchestrated and practiced. Bigger has definitely not equated to better in our minds regarding church in the past, and this has been no exception.

On the other hand, we’ve had some of the most amazing God moments with fellow Christians when there were only a handful of us gathered in situations quite totally non-church related. I personally have felt God’s presence very often while just talking on the phone with a friend, discussing situations in our lives and how we’ve turned to Him. Discussing Bible verses and lessons learned from other Christians. And those moments were generally more powerful than anything I’ve experienced inside a church.

It’s like the distractions disappear. There are no Sunday clothes to put on, no fighting the kids into the car, no tromping across the parking lot. No sit-down-stand-up-sit-down-stand-up. No finding a seat, no following a program. Instead it’s all spur of the moment, from the heart, in the heat of it, connecting between two or three people and the God they are sharing about.

I’m not saying I think church is a bad thing. My family has every intention of finding a new one, although we’ll be looking for a bit smaller than the old one. What I’m saying is that I’m not sure God intended for Christians to feel they must all cram together in one spot. He can be all places at all times, which means if we all gathered in groups of two or three He’d still be able to hang with all of us at once. And without the distraction of crowded lobbies and strobe lights we’re able to give Him more focus.

So think of that next time you read, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Don’t let “at least” sneak in there.

Ow, Wow, it's Monday!

2011-12-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

This has probably been one of the longest and most exhausting weekends of my life. Not in a bad way, though. My family spent the day at Legoland in Winter Haven, FL, on Friday with our homeschool group. It was crazy fun, although I can't recommend it if you're paying full price. Get in with a group for a discount somehow, seriously. Still the "Miniland" area alone was worth the trip. All the Lego models of American cities--so cool! The detail is incredible. Here are a couple of examples:

Kennedy Space Center

New York City

Those are pics I found online. I, of course, took my camera--but, of course, left the battery in the charger, so the camera was useless. Sigh....

Fortunately, I had my phone with me, but it's picture taking capabilities are not exactly top-notch, and the battery was sucked dry halfway through the day. I have no photos to share here, as I haven't figured out how to load them onto my computer from my phone yet. Not that you all want to see pics of my kids with blurry Lego stuff in the background anyway.

Legoland is built on what used to be Cypress Gardens, which was nearly destroyed years ago by a storm and the owner couldn't afford to rebuild. So he sold to Lego, and they were awesome enough to leave a botanical garden area to roam around. The center of that area has this incredible Banyan tree:

Again, photo not taken by me, but oh, my. I want to build the world's most awesome tree house and live in one of these! Not sure what it is about cool trees and forests that draws me so. I am beginning to wonder if I was a druid in past life or something ;).

The rest of the weekend was fun and exciting for me, but likely boring for you, so I won't go into detail. Suffice it to say it involved a writers meeting and a Christmas party, and accomplishing a lot of "stuff" around my house.

On Sunday morning I was inspired to ponder on some things that will likely be my next blog post, when I actually have time to formulate my thoughts.

And don't forget to check out my last blog post and enter the contest for the four-book giveaway if you haven't already!

My Un-Grinching Giveaway

2011-11-29T21:21:00.000-08:00

I am normally not Grinchy at all, but this year...

I am normally one of those crazy people who actually doesn't get at all annoyed when stores start putting out Christmas stuff before Halloween. Despite my penchant for horror writing, Halloween is a holiday I can do without. No, it has nothing to do with me not liking its evil roots--that's not an issue with me--it's just the idea of spending $30 on a costume for each kid so they can wear it for about two hours, griping the whole time about how this is too loose and that is too tight, so they can collect a pile of candy, more than half of which will go in the trash. So, fine by me to skip right on past Halloween straight to Christmas. I love the decorations, the music...the movies!

Most years, the inside of my house is decorated all but the tree itself a week or so before Thanksgiving. I try to hold out, I really do, but always give in. I start with multiple Nativity scenes, one of which is hand-painted by me, then go on to my nutcracker collection. A smattering of miscellaneous figurines and wreaths get spread around. Then the very day after Thanksgiving, the tree and outside lights go up.

My daughter IS this cute, or the decorations might still not be up!

But this year I've had an oddly hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Not a single decoration went up before Thanksgiving. Actually, it took my daughter begging me to put the tree up all day--aaaallll daaaay--on Monday to get me to start pulling out boxes. I didn't put up everything, either. Yep, even half my nutcrackers went back into the box and into the closet.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, I need to do something to get me feeling Christmas-y. I thought maybe giving some books away might help.

So, I am going to run a contest for one copy each of four books. As in, if you win, you get all four.

They are as follows:

A signed copy of my novel, MG fantasy Finding Angel.

Angel doesn't remember her magical heritage...but it remembers her.

Magic and science collide when she embarks on a journey to her true home, and to herself.

Angel lives with a loving foster family, but dreams of a land that exists only in the pages of a fantasy novel. Until she meets Gregor, whose magic Talent saves her life and revives lost memories.

A signed-by-me copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens, which contains my story "Armored and Dangerous" (a tale about the time I found strength in a very odd place when faced by a bully).

A signed-by-me copy of Aquasynthesis, the anthology featuring short stories by all the Splashdown Books authors. Three of my stories are found inside.

A not-signed-by-anyone-because-I-ordered-it-from-Amazon-and-the-author-lives-in-Kansas-but-I-live-in-Florida copy of Odd Little Miracles by Fred Warren. It is a collection of his short stories, which are what made me buy his book, The Muse, which is what got me interested in Splashdown Books as a potential publisher because I *adore* his writing.

These are all brand-new, unread copies, that I bought to sell. So, if you enter but happen to have one of the titles already, think "gift." :D

Now, how to enter.

I hate trying to track these things, to be honest. I want to make it easy on you, and on me. Each of the following gives you one entry:

Leave a comment here, on THIS POST. (If you comment any-ole-where on the blog it makes it very hard for me to track it down.)

Leave a comment on my Facebook wall or in a message.

Leave a comment on my Facebook Author Page wall or in a message.

Friend me and/or become a "fan" on Goodreads and send me a message.

*Make sure your comment or message states that you are interested in the giveaway, please!*

I will contact the winner on December 13th, so if you are giving one or more titles away they'll reach you before Christmas. (I hope.) (I really should have thought of this earlier...)

Back to the Future "Huh?" Moments

2011-11-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

I bought the complete Back to the Future trilogy on DVD for my husband's birthday. We've had a blast watching them the last couple of nights.

I LOVE these movies. They are fabulous fun, and of course totally nostalgic for me :). But watching them this time, I couldn't help picking up stuff I've never noticed before. Stuff that made me think, "Did the writers check facts at all?" and "Why did they choose that?"

The time machine / DeLorean left trails of fire...in the part of the road *past* the point at which it disappeared, but not where the tires actually touched the pavement.

In the scene at the end of the first movie, when Doc is at the top of the clock tower, he tells Marty they only have four minutes left. Marty takes two minutes to get in the car, drive it to the starting point, turn around, stall the car, and struggle to get the car started again. Then it takes him two minutes to drive the *same distance* at top speed, barely making it to the wire in time.

After that, Doc uses the street in front of Marty's house to take off in the DeLorean, hitting 88 miles/hour with no problem within the length of the street. But after Doc comes back moments later to get Marty, Marty points out that the street isn't long enough, and they have to fly the now-converted DeLorean.

In Part 2, they go into the future:

TVs are now wall-size, but the resolution is still crappy. Same for printers. The whole house is computerized, with pizza re-hydrators, yet the printer is this dot-matrix dinosaur.

There are no cell phones--but there are hover-boards and flying cars.

Books have dust-resistant paper. This cracks me up. They didn't even conceive of the idea of electronic books! I'm not dissin' 'em. I just think it is funny how our thoughts of what would be don't line up with where technology actually leads.

And finally, two things that just popped out at me and made me go, "Hey, cool! I didn't remember that!"

George McFly ends up a sci-fi author and gets a box filled with copies of his first book :). I wanted to high-five him!

The guy that played Needles is FLEA from Red Hot Chili Peppers.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the cool, weird, and messed up stuff in Back to the Future. Just a few things that popped out at me this time around. And there will be many more times around watching these movies.

So...what's the most memorable odd, cool, or "what were they thinking?" thing you've noticed in a movie?

Interview With Caprice Hokstad

2011-11-21T05:42:00.000-08:00

I have two main types of writer friends. Those whose writing is outside my preferred genre / personal taste, but I happen to find them to be really cool people. The other group includes those whose writing I fell in love with first, and that led me to respect them as writers. That respect eventually grew into genuine friendship--because they're really cool people. The latter is the case with Caprice Hokstad.

Caprice and I are both published by Splashdown Books. I was honored to originally do artwork for her first novel, The Duke's Handmaid (the key on the cover is mine). After reading the novel, I was doubly honored. Her books are original, heady, and left me contemplating. They read smoothly, and her characterization is one of her (many) strong points.

Today, I'm jumping inside her head a bit. I find some of the concepts in her book fascinating--and controversial. This is not the standard, "So, when did you start writing?" kind of interview....

The key on the cover is my artwork.

K: Caprice, Your books take place in a kingdom where slavery is the norm. It's not in general depicted as a "good" thing, but it is depicted as completely acceptable. And your main character actually *chooses* to become a slave in order to "better" her life. This is a very unusual idea, especially these days, and could be considered pretty controversial. Can you explain why you chose to write about a society with slavery? And why make Kee *want* such a life?

C: Most of us ARE enslaved to one degree or another. We just don't use that term. Example: How many people can just walk into their place of employment and tell the boss he is an A.H. (and I mean saying the actual words)? We can't. Why? Because we NEED that job. Without income, we lose our house, our car, our means to buy food. Okay, so we could get a different job (good luck on a character reference if you actually DID call the boss an A.H.). But we can't just decide not to work at all. (Let's not cloud the issue with welfare bums). You have to trade your nice warm bed and sleep every morning for a paycheck. You have to hold your tongue and adopt certain attitudes and habits. You may have to follow a dress code or wear a uniform. That's just reality.

People in our world are trapped in less-than-ideal circumstances by lack of education, poverty, place of birth, skin color, and the list goes on and on. Very few people are truly free to do only what they want all the time.

So my Kingdom of Latoph is not as different as it may seem. Let's look at Kee's options: when her mother dies, she leaves her daughter a henhouse and some chickens. That's it. No home to live in, because it was burned by marauders. Kee tricked an Elva farmhand to teach her to read, but if she stays a chicken farmer, she'll have almost zero opportunity to read. She doesn't like chickens. She gets scared thinking about having to protect them from wolves. Just getting water to them every day is a huge pain in the butt because she has to haul it up from the stream in buckets. By herself.

She can sell the chickens and move into town and hire herself out as a seamstress. She has no shop or start-up money to buy fabric, so she has to work for someone. Ooops, there it is. Working for someone. She actually plans to do this during her mourning period, using sale of her chickens to pay rent. But then she has to react to another event and that puts her on a different path.

When the duke put her up in his guest house during his "posse", she saw more luxury than she's ever seen in her life: running water inside the house, a flushing toilet, tasty and plentiful food, beds with feather mattresses, glass windows, carpets, and books. The duke's slaves wear clean, new-looking clothes and they eat well and they're very kindly treated. Yes, to us, the treatment looks more like how someone should treat pets, but to Kee, it looks like affection and with her entire family gone, that's appealing. And of course, she's got a crush on Duke Vahn.

Maybe I should answer your question with another question. Why do people in our country join the military? Voluntarily even! They have to give up lots of personal freedom and even some of their rights. And the pay is terrible. Why would anyone do that? I'm sure the answers vary. Some do it for love of country. Some for promise of an education. Some just love the job and can't find anything comparable in the private sector. (How many other employers will pay you to drive a tank or pilot a fighter jet?) Yet we respect those who join the military, those who set aside their freedom to don a uniform and serve something bigger than themselves. Why is it any less virtuous to give up some rights and devote oneself to serving an important governing figure in my fantasy setting? Oh yeah. Because she's scrubbing floors and bowing instead of shooting guns and saluting.

K: That makes sense. Kee's life doesn't offer her much and I can see why she would see that slavery in the Duke's house would appeal to her. Instead of tromping through chicken crap and bathing in the stream (where she is likely to get attacked anyway) she can scrub the floors of a mansion and *live* in that mansion.

What things did you struggle with in trying to make Kee's life choice seem like an honorable one? Have you gotten opposition from readers? Maybe grief for presenting a female MC who isn't all female warrior and secret ninja like so many female leads today? (Did your inner editor scream at my use of the word "female" three times in that last sentence?)

C: My inner editor has the day off. I don't think I've gotten "opposition" as much as just indifference. I think the subject matter does bother people and rather than start a controversy or question it, they just decline to read. And that's their right. I, myself, am a very picky reader. I don't like the majority of fantasy out there because of those very things you mention. Why must a female pick up a sword and act like a man to be worthy of interest? I don't relate to that. Women are strong all the time without becoming warriors or sex objects or damsels in distress. Why can't fiction show women like that?

I don't know if I succeeded in making Kee's life choice seem honorable to readers. I think she's brave and selfless. I find that honorable, but I'm sure others would disagree with me.

As for opposition... would someone PLEASE ban my book? Hold a burning? Denounce it? I could use the publicity.

K: Hah! That would be great publicity, wouldn't it?

You've answered in other interviews (such as the one at NAF) about the lack of overt Christianity in your novel. I know the whole thing is kind of a thorn in your side. You are a Christian, but your book was never intended to be labeled as "Christian fiction." You were writing a story that appealed to you. I've read both The Duke's Handmaid and Nor Iron Bars a Cage. I haven't seen anything in there that would keep it out of the general market. Maybe not "mainstream" since it's technically genre writing, but definitely not pigeonholed as "Christian." BUT, Grace Bridges, who happens to own a Christian spec-fic publishing house, is the brave soul who took a chance on your novels, and I know you are happy with her and her publishing. So...what has been the biggest obstacle presented by this relabeling of your novels as "Christian" (or at least seemingly directed at the Christian market)?

C: The biggest obstacle is explaining. Whenever I see it labeled "Christian Fiction" I try to clarify because there are way too many definitions out there and my fiction doesn't fit a lot of them. In my books, there's violence. (YOU write a society that uses swords for defense and keep the blood out!) There's seduction of an underage slavegirl. There's raping and pillaging. There's cursing. It's NOT sanitized to CBA norms. It's not meant for a YA audience, like the vast majority of fantasy available in Christian Bookstores is. It's allegorical. It's set in a different reality where they call God "The Nymphs" or "The Heavenlies" which sounds polytheistic, but think about it, we call God "The Trinity". Genesis 1:26 says "And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness..." [emphasis mine] Hmm. Plurals. Yet, we consider ourselves monotheistic. Imagine that.

I don't label my work "Christian Fiction" and I discourage others from doing so without a CLEAR definition of what they mean. But so far, my work has been so obscure and ignored, that I haven't really had to do much defending. My biggest problem is finding the readers that might be interested in my book and coaxing them to try it. I've had fans who are Wiccan, Mormon, and atheist. I'm not trying to preach to them or to anyone else. I'm not a preacher. I'm just a storyteller.

And the shackles on this one, too.

K: I mentioned in the last question that your book is "genre"--falling into the category of fantasy. Yet, your books are not traditional fantasy. There is a pointy-eared race, but they are not "elves" in the traditional sense. You have no other races or creatures commonly found in most fantasy novels. (No dwarves, orcs, unicorns, dragons, etc.) The books actually, in many ways, to me at least, seem rather literary. They certainly are heavy on characterization and social issues. How exactly do you personally classify your novels? Are there specific genre labels you would place on them--either already existing or terms you have made up? What other books/authors do you most associate your "genre" with? (And just to be difficult, I'm going to make the rule that you must leave out Lewis and Tolkien, since you mentioned those in the NAF interview. Mwoohoohahahahaha.)

C: I call my books Sword Opera. I made up that Fantasy sub-genre to differentiate from "Sword and Sorcery" since I have no sorcery and "High Fantasy" which is usually about a quest. It is meant to be analogous to "Space Opera", which is commonly applied to Star Wars to differentiate it from "Hard" Science Fiction. I have never tried to lump any other author into my self-applied label. I'm not sure anyone else would want to be there.

I do use a few science fiction-y elements. Byntar (the name of my world) is not just an alternate Earth. It has two suns and two moons. It has some "fantastic" creatures, but they aren't mystical or magic. Koopchucks are strong draft animals that look like shaggy hippos and have especially smelly dung. Zupwolves are like miniature wolves. Think of being attacked by shelties instead of German shepherds. Still not fun, but conceivably survivable. I kind of regret not putting in dragons, because that might have helped me market the book, but then the dragon-crazy would probably complain that I cheated them. I don't dislike dragons, but I don't understand the whole ga-ga over them either. I'd probably only be putting them there to unfairly lure readers who would cry bait-and-switch when the story isn't about dragons at all.

Literary, huh? No one else has ever told me that. I'd never intended it to be anything but fantasy-adventure, but I suppose as a catch-all, it could apply.

K: I like that term: Sword Opera. I think it fits well. And I tend to think of "literary" books as those that have me pondering when I put them down, and yours did so for me.

What books are you drawn toward reading? What is it about a book that grabs your attention and/or makes you fall in love with the story and/or characters? And if you were the reader of your own books, what would those things be in them?

C: First off, I read to escape reality. A writer must give me a better reality to escape to. This is why dystopias don't generally interest me much. However, I have been known to find plot devices within certain dystopias that offset the bleak setting. For example, in Frank Creed's Flashpoint, I dislike the state of the world, BUT when he gives the Christian "Underground" what amounts to spiritual superpowers via "re-forming", then I can set aside the bleakness of the rest of the world. I could enjoy living there if I could also get re-formed.

Of course, in my own books, I made Latoph a place I'd love to visit or live in. Authors spend MUCH more time imagining themselves in their settings than the readers probably ever will.

It also helps to give me characters I love or love-to-hate. Please do NOT make the main protagonist someone I'd avoid in real life if we met. Please do NOT make the protagonist someone I want to slap upside the head either because they're monumentally stupid or whiney. I have children. I get quite enough of whiney in the real world, thanks.

And most of all, do not depress me. I want to feel BETTER after reading fiction, not worse. I'm not saying there can't be sad events, although keep the gut-wrenching, bawl-my-eyes-out scenes to a minimum, please.

Beyond that, I gravitate towards science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, and suspense. I don't typically read the romance genre, but I don't mind romance as part of a plot that includes other things. I think I already covered how my books have lots of elements in them from romance to adventure to mystery.

K: Who is your favorite side character (as in not Kee, not Vahn) and why? (You know my answer on this! Blackthorn!)

C: Well, if I can't choose Vahn, then it would probably have to be Blackthorn. Blackthorn is sort of a Vahn-surrogate in the first book. In the second book, he has to train the duke as a slave and that made for a very interesting situation. By the third book, I have him really reaching outside the box and becoming a "landlubber admiral". He's the guy whose path to knighthood got cut short, who had to figure out another way to make something of himself. He's the "everyman" who can achieve great things by working hard.

K: Maybe that is why I like him so much, too. I felt I could really relate to him--he seemed very real, genuine.

Let's jump ship now (pun intended--read on, readers). Besides your Latoph novels, you also write fan fiction. Sea Quest fan-fic, to be specific. (Get the pun now, readers? Yes you may roll your eyes.) I'm not going to ask you to recap all your reasons for writing fan-fic. You've posted about it on your blog in detail, and anyone who is truly interested can read about it there. But the whole fan-fic thing to me is interesting. I've never personally been drawn to it. I suppose it is because I consider it sort of treading on sacred ground. If I adore Harry Potter, I don't want to muck around with the story and characters. I love it because of how the author wrote it and don't feel comfortable stepping into her shoes. But I *can* see how one would want to be a participant in the world, and how that would lead to writing fan-fic. Or, as in your case, a writer for the show disappointed you and you felt compelled to "fix" the episode. So, let's ask some questions.

C: Wait. Before you ask, let me touch on one of your points. I don't see what I do as quite the same as Harry Potter fanfiction would be. I'll tell you why. Harry Potter was ALL J.K. Rowling. She didn't collaborate with anyone else. It was all her baby. SeaQuest is NOT any one person's "baby". Yes, it was created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. But after he created it, he did NOT write all the episodes or even most of them. Spielberg had a LOT of writers contributing to the show. Three authorized novels were published and even the first one (which is basically just the novelization of the pilot) is listed as authored by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, just "based on" O'Bannon's TV script. The other two published books are by David Bischoff and Matthew Costello. So if to use Mr. O'Bannon's created universe is "stepping into his shoes" then lots of others did it long before I did, and they got PAID to do it.

Another point would be that, unlike the continuing franchise of Harry Potter (Rowling still sells a LOT of books, plus DVDs, merchandise, not to mention a theme park), there is NO continuing franchise for SeaQuest. All the books are out of print. I had to get them used. They had a teeny bit of merchandising back in the 90s, but nothing new is being produced. Only the first two seasons are available on DVD. I also seem to remember that Spielberg once said he considered the show a failure and an embarrassment. I have a hard time seeing my writing as "treading on sacred ground" when the creators have dissed it and abandoned it. I'm giving the poor, unwanted orphans a new lease on life.

K: I definitely see the distinction there.

Have the unique challenges of writing fan-fic--such as trying to stay consistent to an existing story world that you did not create--helped you with your writing outside of fan-fic? In what other ways has it either benefited or hurt your writing? And by that I mean craft, not success of.

C: Fanfiction brought back the joy that had been missing for a long time. I go into the particulars of that in the blog, but suffice it to say that it has helped all my writing to have that back. It also helped me see that my natural writing speed was not so bad. Just because I cannot write 50,000 words in the month of November does NOT mean I'm a failure or "slow".

I'm not saying my fanfiction couldn't benefit from a round of critique and editing, but you know what? The chapters I have posted without it (because it was for FUN, not for publication to be sold) are not that bad at all. In fact, some of it is my very best writing EVER. I constantly self-edit. I get it closer to right the first time because I feel more experienced and my confidence has soared because of fanfiction and the readers there.

My third original book, God willing, will be written, critiqued, edited, revised and polished to publication-ready status in under eight months, start-to-finish. Maybe others can get a book out faster than that, and if you can, more power to ya. I may not be the fastest writer around, but I no longer feel inferior with regards to speed.

K: For a while, you tried to keep your novel writing and fan-fic separate, even using a pen name for your Sea Quest writing. What was your reasoning behind separating like that? I'm curious because my writing spans a rather odd gamut between inspirational nonfiction, fantasy, and horror. I also thought of using separate names but chose to write everything under my real name because I like the idea of being seen as, well, odd in that I write so diversely. Did you find the separation to be help, hindrance, or neutral? Would you change it if you could go back and do so?

C: Fanfiction.net (the site where I posted my stories first) requires people to make up a "handle" to sign in there, like most places on the internet do. I used CF Vici because I know it's generally not taken by someone else and I didn't know what kind of weirdoes might stalk around the place. I did eventually share my real name on my profile, but after building a "following", I certainly didn't want to confuse anyone by changing the name they were used to seeing. If I ever got permission to publish the fanfiction as authorized (and yes, this is one of my far-fetched goals) I would probably use CF Vici, but I'd also be open to using my own name if anyone thought it would be useful or advantageous. I've heard good and bad for both sides of the argument. It does help with reader expectations if you've previously been writing fantasy to give you room to write science fiction in a different style. I'm not sure I have much value in "crossover". Most people who like my fantasy aren't interested in the sci-fi and vice-versa. But I don't have a big fanbase to really worry about. I don't think the name matters much, to tell the truth.

K: Thanks, Caprice, for letting us tromp around inside your head a bit. I know as a fellow small press author, getting people to consider your books is a difficult task. I, for one, am truly glad I found them! And I hope everyone here sees that they are *not* typical, in a good way.

So, dear readers, if you want to read something that's adventurous, with rich characters and a well thought-out story world...

The Duke's Handmaid: available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords

Nor Iron Bars a Cage: available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords

Caprice's blog: http://caprice.splashdownbooks.com/

Caprice's SeaQuest novels (read for free): http://underseaadventure.net/

New Author Mistake #1

2011-11-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

I discovered a new blog review of Finding Angel today. It was written in honesty, with both positives and negatives. The reviewer backed up their opinion with specifics, so whether things were personal opinion/taste or not, they were not arbitrary.

Still.

Upon first read, the only words that stuck out were the not-so-positives. The logical side of me truly appreciated that. I don't give glowing reviews generally and don't expect them in return. But the new-author-with-great-hopes in me felt a little kick, and inadvertently kicked back. I left a comment on the reviewer's blog thanking them--sincerely--but when I reread my comment (after submitting it, of course, because I am a total dork sometimes) I realized there was an edge of snark in one sentence that was not intended.

I've seen authors completely blow their stack over a negative review. I hope I never go to that extreme. This review, while not glowing, was not negative. It was more "not the best book ever but pretty good"-ish. And there was a lot of positive in it that on first read sank into the shadows because we new authors tend to get our hopes up. We put so much of ourselves into our novels, and if something comes across as even remotely close to "meh" in a review it can feel like a whip sting.

Skin needs a little time to toughen. Next time, I will remember that fact. And will likely move on to New Author Mistake #2.

Winterland by Mike Duran

2011-11-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here we go, folks. Winterland, the newest, and very surreal, novella release by Mike Duran.

I reviewed Mike Duran's first novel, The Resurrection, and you can see here how I felt about it. One thing I didn't say in that review is that it wasn't entirely what I expected from Mike. Yes it was dark, and creepy (Mr. Cellophane....*shiver*) and definitely a supernatural thriller, but I expected the style of writing to be a little different. I don't know how to explain it. The Resurrection read like something written by Frank Peretti or Dean Koontz. Scary, but, um, normal?

Winterland is more like what I expected from him. Surreal. Mike describes it as "The Wizard of Oz meets Dante's Inferno." It also made me think a little bit of Alice in Wonderland with Stephen King a la Duma Key hiding in the corner.

I know, you are shaking your head right now, aren't you?

OK, let's start with a summary. I'm taking this right off Mike's site:

Summoned into her dying mother’s coma, recovering addict Eunice Ames must traverse a surreal, apocalyptic dreamscape in search of three generational spirits who have imprisoned her mother’s soul.

Together with Joseph, a crippled drifter who serves as her guide, Eunice treks an abandoned highway strewn with debris from her mother’s “emotional” wars.

(The rest of his synopsis, which goes into much more detail, can be found here.)

My take on it? The characterization was very strong. I got a real sense of Eunice and what she'd been through, even without having "met" her mother in the story. The other characters that accompany Eunice on her journey were vivid. I agree with reviewer Tim George that Mordant was annoying, but I believe that was Mike's intent. I mean--how do you get across that someone annoys another character to that degree without making that someone annoying to the reader?

The descriptive language was fantastic. I could see every contour of the landscape, but Mike didn't go overboard with detail. The words he chose were just right, many of them poetic, dark, and lovely. I think this was my favorite element of the book.

Although there were a couple of small moments where I wish the corner-hiding Stephen King would have stepped out a little more. One spot in particular where I thought, "Mr. King would have my skin crawling here, and Mike should have." But it was isolated. For the most part he really got the feel of each scene and each character to a satisfying level.

And finally, the surreal nature of the story totally appealed to me. I'm not sure where I got the idea that this is what Mike's writing is like. I mean, before The Resurrection I'd read all of one short story by him. It probably fell somewhere between these two in feel, but I guess I assumed a novel by Mike would be even more outlandish.

All in all, a very good read. Thinky and surreal.

The Story Template by Amy Deardon

2011-11-16T06:03:00.000-08:00

The Story Template: Conquer Writer's Block Using the Universal Structure of Story is a new book by author Amy Deardon (A Lever Long Enough) who looks at story structure from a unique angle. Basically, Deardon watched a dozen or so movies and read a good number of books, all of which drew huge audiences, and analyzed them. She noted common elements of the stories that fall at very specific places in the time line, and used her findings to create a template on which to build a story.

Deardon also discusses the four "pillars" of story (character, plot, story world, and moral) and what encompasses each. There are exercises throughout that will help you through each portion of the template. And she touches on some basic principles of writing as well as gives a smattering of advice about editing and manuscript submission. Those last areas are by no means comprehensive, but Deardon includes a great listing of resources for delving into them.

I don't want to give detail about the template itself or the pillars--well, because, I want you to go buy this book. I loved the concept Deardon has come up with. It's very scientific, but at the same time it allows for complete creativity. It's technical, but at the same time she gives so many examples and lists questions in each section of exercise that will easily guide you. There's a great summary of the template in the book, too, that makes for a great quick-reference once you've already read through and completed the exercises.

At first glance, you may think the book is strictly for those who love to outline their novels. And I definitely think it would be a huge benefit for that kind of writer. It lays out all the elements and helps you get everything in order, in the right proportion, and the various "pillars" interconnected. She recommends the use of note cards and story boards--things that make pantsers cringe.

BUT, I think all writers--outliners, pantsers, and hybrids--would benefit from this book, just in different ways. As I read through, I was mentally checking my already written and published novel, Finding Angel, against her recommendations. First, it was lovely to see that I apparently grasped a lot of this intuitively, as I was able to pretty much check off everything Deardon discussed. And as I did so, I couldn't help thinking what a great tool for someone who has finished a manuscript to go through and find if and where anything isn't right with their story! I believe wholeheartedly that if your manuscript seems "off" in any way, The Story Template will help you pinpoint why.

Deardon takes you through creating a one-sentence description of your story concept, to a larger description, to a full synopsis. If you've already written your manuscript, follow her techniques backwards to narrow down your story to a synopsis and then a one-line pitch. I wish I'd had this book when I was trying to do that for Finding Angel--I really think it would have made the process much less painful!

All in all, I highly recommend this book. More experienced writers may find the later writing, editing, and submission basics chapters something they can skim past, but they are great chapters for newer writers who need to know "what's the next step." And as I said, it makes for a excellent reference for all writers when either planning out their story before writing and/or evaluating it once the first draft is complete.

For more info, visit Amy Deardon's blog: The Story Template
And find the book on Amazon and B&N.com.

A Magical Discussion at "deCompose"

2011-11-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

I'm the guest blogger today over at Mike Duran's blog, deCompose. Please come visit me, and feel free to comment with your thoughts on "Magic in Christian Fiction."

What is the difference between the "evil" magic the Bible warns us against and fairy tale magic? Why did I choose to write a book with magic if I'm a Christian? I talk about those things and welcome your questions.

Blog Guilt

2011-11-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

Mike Duran's blog post from a couple days ago, in which he talks about the importance of keeping a blog schedule, included the following symptoms of something he calls "shizo-blog":

--You feel guilty for blogging because you should be writing your novel
--You feel guilty for writing because you haven’t updated your blog in two weeks
--You feel guilty prioritizing one over the other because with some creative management or self-discipline, you should be able to do both
--You feel guilty about feeling guilty because you expected this writer’s gig would be a lot more fun.

After reading that list (all of which I've experienced), and then the following description of the blog schedule Mike keeps and his massive database of blog topic ideas, I felt...you guessed it...guilty.

Of course my brain had to twist the issue even further.

Hang on--let me back up.

Way back when I started blogging, I thought it was putting the cart before the horse. I mean, why have a blog in place for readers when I had no readers? But I figured the practice would be good for me. Get me out of my shell. And it gave me a place to chronicle my journey to publication, vent the frustrations related to said journey, and just kinda share about little ole me.

So blogging became a thing in and of itself. Until now. Because now I've got that book published, and the horse is in front of the cart.

And it still feels backwards.

Now I feel pressure to use the blog to gather minions...er, I mean, readers. Like a marketing tool. You know--make the blog so cool and interesting that people will flock to it and ultimately want to read my book. Completely opposite of my original thinking in which readers would read my blog because they found and loved my book first.

Which brings us back to the guilt I felt after reading Mike's blog. That twisted feeling of worrying that I'm not making my blog cool and interesting enough to attract minions--I mean readers--yet feeling guilty that I'm worrying about such a thing when deep inside I believe the blog should be here for an expressly different purpose.

Now, I'm sure Mike's intention was not to guilt his readers. And he in turn should not feel guilty about making me feel guilty--I promise I could have taken any post down that road on my own. But from now on, I think I'll ignore any posts on proper blogging. And hope my minions (oh, forget it) will join me here because they want to, and because they know that what they see here is what they get. Guilt and all.

A Sad Day With a Bit of Happy

2011-11-02T06:06:00.000-07:00

First, I need to get this part over with, and then we can move on to happier things. Yesterday one of the loves of my life left this world. Rocky joined our family at the age of seven and was nearly thirteen when he died. I honestly didn't expect almost whole six years with him, and I feel blessed beyond reason to have had him that long. He spent five years before that with a loving family who adopted him from the Boxer Rescue. He went in peace, after a long life of love and adventure. He will be missed so, so very much.

Ironically, bad news is often paired with good, and yesterday that was true. Another of my short stories was published, in a magazine I am thoroughly impressed with. Underneath the Juniper Tree is a horror magazine for kids. Yep--they print creepy, spooky, bloody weirdness...and pair it with some of the most fantastic artwork I have seen anywhere. Think The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline. Wicked, lovely. I'm honored to have my story "Frog Face" featured in here. The only thing that doesn't make me happy is that they are online only right now. The layout, writing, and artwork in this magazine doesn't just deserve print--it's the kind of thing I'd love to see sitting on my shelf in hard cover! Click HERE and "turn" to page 19 to find my story. Thanks to Jason James for the awesome illustration that goes with "Frog Face."

Interview with Rebecca P. Minor, author of The Windrider I: Divine Summons

2011-10-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

Today I'm interviewing Rebecca P. Minor, or Becky as I've known her now for a couple of years. Yes, we're fellow authors, and now fellow Alumni on New Authors' Fellowship. We've "met" a few times in other online circles as well. I think it was only natural that Becky and I would become friends as we have a lot in common (as you will likely see in the following interview):

K: Becky, you write primarily fantasy (yay!). What was the first fantasy book you remember reading? And what was it about that book that made you want to keep reading fantasy?

B: The first fantasy book I read was Madeleine L’Engle’s A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and the funny thing about that (besides the fact that it’s the third book in the series and I didn’t bother to read the first two before I dove in) was that the reason I bought it at the school book fair was because it had a unicorn on the cover. (Talk about profound reasoning!) I read and re-read that book too many times to count, but from there branched into the Chronicles of Narnia. I was officially a fantasy addict from that point. The things that drew me into fantasy were the wonder of journeying to another world and the opportunity to experience a place where the rules that govern my real-world life didn’t apply. I admit to shameless escapism.

K: Fantasy writers have the unique situation of really being able to create a world from scratch, with any sort of beings, plants, animals, physical laws, etc., that we can think up. But we also find ourselves needing to follow some “rules” in order to please readers with expectations about what fantasy is. Do you find that an easy balance to maintain? And how do you go about it?

B: I think the place I struggle is pushing the boundaries. I am a fan of resonance as a reader—what I mean by that is steeping in concepts, characters, and situations that have meaning to me because of their internal notes of familiarity. The balance I am trying for in my own work is the lightly-tethered relationship between resonance and the wonder of experiencing something new. It’s never easy, and at least with my novel, I’ve found it got better when I went through the manuscript and made a point of increasing the “wonder beats.” The elves , monsters, and medieval chivalry that resonate with many fantasy readers remain, but my own twists on how magic works and the quirky nuances of the world help keep it fresh. (I hope!)

K: You are also an artist. I will shamelessly say that I am a huge fan. I particularly love the animation style of your drawing that still has that “sketch” quality. What drew you to animation art? Are you professionally trained in that area? What is your favorite subject matter?

B: I got into animation because I’ve never been able to keep myself from drawing, and my main interest is character design. I am huge fan of the work that was being done in hand-drawn animation in the Disney Renaissance of the late 1980’s and early 90’s, so when it came time for me to go to college, I was thrilled to discover a person could major in animation. I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts in animation from The University of the Arts in 1997, and although I only worked formally in the industry for a few years before I began raising my family full-time, I still find a lot of use for the skills I learned there. (And thanks for the kudos on my drawing style. I can’t paint, but I know my way around a pencil!)

K: If you *had* to pick between writing and drawing, which would you choose? (I know, not fair!)

B: That’s not a very nice question. ;) To be truthful, though, I think I’d pick writing, simply because it inflames a more intense passion for me. Hopefully that would be the right choice and people wouldn’t say “You doofus! You’re a way better artist than writer!”

K: Are there other genres besides fantasy that you enjoy writing now? If fantasy (for whatever reason—no, I can’t think of one) were ever to become “not an option” which genre would you shift your focus to, and why?

B: I’m focused on fantasy pretty exclusively right now, but I think I would also be interested in dabbling in historical fiction, especially the period surrounding the American Revolution. Believe it or not, I may at some point try my hand at writing a Christmas or Easter musical (yes, a stage play for church) because I think the marketplace is tragically limited in product choices. And I want to write a screenplay some day. Alas, those projects will have to wait.

K: You are in a unique situation of landing two publishing deals at once. One with Diminished Media Group for your Windrider series that appeared as a serial in DMG’s online magazine, Digital Dragon. The other is Sword of Patron, a full-length fantasy novel that will be published by Other Sheep (the speculative fiction imprint of Written World Communications). Tell me for each:

What drew you to those particular publishers?

B: The relationship with Diminished Media was just a natural outgrowth of the serial and its run over at Digital Dragon. I got tied into Digital Dragon when the powers that be over there approached me and asked if I wrote short stories, and would I consider submitting one to their newly established (at the time) magazine. I discovered I don’t write short stories that well, but I can write serial fiction, it seems, and hence, The Windrider.

As I looked at publishers for Sword of the Patron, Other Sheep was on my short list to query. One of their representatives was attending the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference this past summer, and when I had a chance to sit down and hear more about what Other Sheep was up to and might be delving into in the future, they seemed like a good fit. (For example, they have a real eye on the convergence of media in the coming days of entertainment, and I would love for my work to be presented in the multi-media ways they are considering for their titles.)

And just let me say, because I feel like I can’t say it enough—if you are a writer, go to conferences! There’s no place to learn more in a weekend or to make better connections.

K: What drew them to you? In other words, what was it about your manuscripts that they seemed to particularly enjoy?

B: I’ll have to speculate a little about this, but I think the full package of my book, plus a flashy one-sheet, plus the work I had put into Sword of the Patron (which involved some in-depth critique from some respected mentors) made the book “the real deal” for folks who read it. Not to toot my own horn, but I met with three editors and an agent in Philadelphia, and all of them requested the full manuscript. I guess it was simply time for that book.

As for The Windrider, I think an overlap in tastes in fantasy literature is what really gave me an edge with Tim Ambrose over at Diminished Media. The brisk pace and the resonance back to the sword and sorcery novels being written twenty years ago seemed to draw Tim into the narrative and make him a fan as well as an editor.

K: Awesome, Becky! I for one am really happy about both of your books, and wish you the best of success. Thanks for letting me get inside your head a little.

Ya'll can find Becky--er, Rebecca--haunting around online at her blog: The Call of the Creator, and at Facebook.

And of course The Windrider I: Divine Summons is available at Amazon for Kindle and Barnes & Noble for Nook. 99 cent for a limited time--so hurry!

Necronomicon 2011

2011-10-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention called The Necronomicon. You may remember me posting about it last year or the year before. This was my third time attending, and my third time having a grand ole time. Things have, however, changed somewhat.

Let's see...three years ago I had finished writing Finding Angel and had a handful of short stories under my belt. I sat through the writing panels at the Necro with a bit of wide-eyed wonder. The panel authors each had multiple books published--either traditionally or self-pubbed--and years of experience. Some were more impressive than others, of course, but all in all I felt like a total newbie compared to them.

Last year, I'd made real progress and had more than a few short stories under my belt. I also had done some artwork for Splashdown Books and things seemed to be heading in the direction of me becoming a published author in "just a matter of time." I sat through the panels with interest, but not just because of the topics. I thought maybe it was something I'd want to do down the line. (Oh, and my design made the cover of the program that year! It's the image to the left here.)

This year, I was kicking myself for not pursuing the panel thing sooner. I wasn't sure I was "ready" and didn't look into how to join the writing panels in time. So, I sat through them the whole time itching to be in a chair behind the table, side by side with writers I now had the experience to match. (And honestly, in a few cases, I have more experience at this point...)

Next year, I intend to be on those panels. I intend to have an author table, too. I did at least have the foresight to take postcards with me to leave out on the goodie table this time, and I wore my Finding Angel t-shirt, as did the friend who went with me. That got a few people to ask, "So, what is Finding Angel?" And of course, I got to tell them! (PS--no, that is not me to the right there, it's the model on my Zazzle page :P)

Yep, already looking forward to next year!

Oh, and total coolness: I came home to find THIS REVIEW of Finding Angel waiting for me. Thank you, Tim George, for the awesome review!

No Middle Road

2011-10-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

Books are divided into genres, as we all know. But books written for those under the age of adulthood are also divided by age group. It's a weird and messed-up system in my opinion. Yes, I agree it should be in place. We need to know that a book is for ages 3 to 5 vs. ages 10 to 12. The problem lies when those guidelines aren't used the same way by different publishers and retailers. It makes it confusing. Which ages actually fall into juvenile, middle grade, young adult, tween, and teen? Ask two different writers, agents, or publishers and you are likely to get two different answers.

I started off labeling Finding Angel as "young adult" because the main character, Angel, is 13 when the book starts, and I'd read that YA is for ages 12-18. Awesome. Until, after a number of rejections, I finally got a response from an agent that said it should be labeled "middle grade." Because of Angel's age, partly, as kids "read up." In other words, they apparently don't read about kids their own age, but rather kids a couple of years older. That's not always true as kids get older--it seems to me that 14 yr olds and 17 yr olds read the same books, which are teen and YA, and adult. But apparently my target audience, because Angel is 13 (turns 14 in the novel), would be 11-12 yr olds (which is younger than the audience I intended).

Here's the problem--labeling Finding Angel as middle grade was terrifying for me. You see, it was already long for a YA book. So dropping it down to MG would make it waaaaaaaaay too long. Which meant reducing even further my chances of finding an agent and/or publisher.

Fortunately, small presses tend to be less stringent with word count. So Splashdown Books wasn't as concerned about Finding Angel being long for its target audience. We went ahead and kept the MG label just to be proper.

Hm.

I went to Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million the other day to browse around. Guess what? There is NO middle grade section. There is "young readers"--which includes books for kids from 3rd grade through 6th grade. And then it jumps right to "teen."

No in-between. No middle road. Where do middle grade books belong then?

For Finding Angel, if I were to actually be able to get my book on the shelf of a big chain, the answer is obvious. I originally had it labeled YA and I'd stick to that now. Finding Angel is definitely NOT for 3rd through 6th graders. Some 6th graders, yes. The ones who'd read Harry Potter and Fablehaven and Inkheart. But it mainly appeals to teens (young teen and older teen alike).

You see, Angel is 13/14, but she is essentially the youngest character. Everyone around her is either an older teen or an adult. And Angel is mature for her age and a bit of a brain. BUT--when you visit the teen section, the shelves are completely overrun with paranormal romance and dystopian novels. Sure, there is Eragon. But the other books Finding Angel can be compared to are all plunked in the kiddie section.

Needless to say, I left rather frustrated. Well, because of all this AND the fact that NEITHER bookstore had the book I was looking for. Yep. much as the bookstores gripe about Amazon, guess what? I *have* to buy through Amazon because B&N and B-a-M are too cluttered with toys, calendars, desk trinkets, and other "stuff" to actually carry the book I want. (Sigh....I suppose that is a post for another time....)

So where am I going with this? I don't know. Just griping I suppose. Not very professional of me, I admit. But honestly--why so many labels for books that target tweens and teens if they are all going to be lumped together? Why do I need to call my book MG if it's not really? If someday, when Finding Angel makes it onto the shelves, there's not going to be a proper place to put it anyway?

I think I need to relabel Finding Angel. Maybe even make up my own classification. Not middle grade, not young adult, not teen. Something that encompasses all of those, and the adults that love it too. Who's got a suggestion?

The Gathering

2011-10-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes, the blog title is a bit of a tribute to Highlander (the first movie, of course). Watched it (for the umpteenth time) the other day, and despite the wretched acting it's still one of my favorite movies of all times. So, there. I'm calling this post The Gathering. But it has nothing to do with Highlander, or immortals in general.

What is it then? A gathering of links for places you will find me this week.

1) A newspaper interview that came out in a paper called "Focus" here in my hometown. A writer and very sweet lady named Cheryl Turner contacted me a couple of months ago and asked to interview me for a feature in Focus. We met for breakfast and had a great time talking for two hours. The end result of that conversation is HERE. This shows up as virtual magazine, which means you must click to "turn" the pages. My feature is on page 7. I was most surprised to have merited a full page!

2) A review of Finding Angel by Heather Titus on Magical Ink. I woke up to find this posted and have not been able to stop smiling since. (Well, except when the kids acted up today. Full moon coming....) My favorite part of the review is this statement:

I can't talk enough about this book. It's another Splashdown Books release, and probably my favorite to date that they've put out (as well as gaining a spot on my all-time favorite fantasy books list).

Go check out the rest of the review. Feel free to leave a comment and follow her blog, too! And make sure you it out next week when she post an interview of me.

3) An interview on "A Pen for Your Thoughts." Novelist Shirley Kiger Connolly was gracious enough to invite me to her blog and ask me about my writing.

4) And if you missed it last week (since I only posted on my Finding Angel blog), my "Journey to Publication" was posted at Spire Reviews.

Unlike in Highlander, there doesn't have to be only one....

(Sorry. Feel free to groan and roll your eyes at that.)

More than Numbers

2011-10-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

I knew it would happen. I knew that after Finding Angel released I would become one of those authors obsessively checking Amazon and Barnes & Noble for reviews. I knew that I'd be plagued with worry over what people think of the novel. I am generally not someone who worries about what people think of me, but this is my book. This is my baby. And what people think matters when it comes to books. Because books that don't get thought of well don't get read.

I also knew that I would be disappointed. Most people don't leave reviews on websites. Think about a book you know everyone has heard of. A book that you know has sold millions of copies. Go look it up on Amazon. You may find a few thousand reviews. I did that just now. The Hunger Games has just over 3,000. Twilight just over 5,000. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone also just over 5,000. That is a drop in the bucket. A few thousand out of millions upon millions of readers. If you see a book with a few hundred reviews, it has most likely sold hundreds of thousands.

That still doesn't help me feel better. Yes, I know my book has been out all of one month. Yes, I know it's through a small press. But, still.

OK, I am not here to whine. I am here to tell you what does help. Something that happened today. A girl who was taking a homeschool class with my daughter told me she loved Finding Angel. Face to face with genuine excitement in her eyes. Followed by sincere disappointment when I told her it is likely going to be a full year before the sequel is published.

That is what helps, because I see that I wasn't just shooting in the dark. I hit the mark, the target audience I intended, and those readers are truly enjoying what I wrote. Will I ever get to the point where I have thousands of reviews? Likely not. But when I see real joy in the eyes of someone who has read my novel, I know it's not really the number that counts.

Of course, I won't be at all upset if next time I check Amazon that number goes up ;).

Find Me Over There and Over There Today

2011-09-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

Head over to Ralene Burke's blog for an interview--a unique one. Angel interviews me. Yes, that Angel. Here's a little teaser:

Hi. My name is, um, Angel. Yeah, I know, odd name. I get that a lot. But it’s what my charm bracelet says, and since that’s the only thing I have from the past that I couldn’t remember when I was found by Mr. and Mrs. Mason when I was six…
Oh, sorry. That’s not why I’m here. I mean it is—my story is why I’m here. But I’m not here to tell you that story. The whole thing is written out in a book. Yep, Kat Heckenbach wrote a book all about me. And today I’m going to ask her some questions about it. I bet you’d have questions for someone if they wrote a whole book about your life, wouldn’t you? Yeah. So, here we go.

If you leave a comment--there, not here!--you can enter to win a copy of Finding Angel.

And I also posted on New Authors' Fellowship tonight. You can check that out HERE.

Fighting Writing

2011-09-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

We didn't go to church this morning. Our church conveniently (maybe a little too so) podcasts their services and we often watch from home. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about that, but today I was glad we didn't go.

Because I wrote.

I have not written something new in what feels like months. For a while I could blame it on all the editing I needed to do for Finding Angel. Then the cover art. Then marketing. And weaseled in-between is exhaustion from all of it put together. But the fact is, I haven't been feeling inspired.

Except during church. Only I fight the urge to write during church because, well, it's church. I'm supposed to be focusing. I'm supposed to be listening. I'm supposed to be standing during the songs when we physically go to church. And at home, I feel like I should be paying attention twice as hard to make up for not going.

So, I fight the ideas swirling around my head. I shove them away, telling them to come back later. Now is not the time. Don't you know this is rude? We're here for God, so go sit patiently until I'm ready for you.

The problem is, the ideas don't come back. They don't wait for another time. They storm off or dissipate and I can't seem to find them again when I have nothing to do except check Facebook.

Today I didn't tell them to go away. I let them in. I sat on my couch with my notebook and scribbled all the stuff that comes so easily to me while the worship team sings. And you know what? I still "heard" the music, and I still "heard" the sermon. But I filled up pages with ideas!

I don't know why I fight writing at those times. I don't know why I disregard the fact that I consider my writing ability a gift from God and then shoo away ideas simply because they show up in His house. Or my house during His time. If the gift is from Him, wouldn't the ideas be something He wants me to have?

I realized the problem is not what God thinks of me writing during church, but my concern for what other people will think. And that has led me to pondering what other people think about several things that are important to me. It's all simmering in the back of my head, and I expect it to soon boil into my next post on New Authors' Fellowship...

Darken Your Fairy Tales

2011-09-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

Strange blog title, yes. And a strange post to go with it, I think. I've been reading a book called Wickflicker by an author named Teric Darken. It's classified as supernatural thriller, but I'm here to say I think that's not quite accurate. I'm thinking it should be considered a "dark fairy tale."

It's only recently that I've given thought to what a fairy tale really is. I used to think of them as children's stories. But since I started writing, I've had to look long and hard at the genre classifications and I have discovered that fairy tales are not just for kids--or maybe, not for kids at all. I read three books over the last couple of years that would be classified as fairy tales, and none of them are "children's" stories:

The Wolf of Tebron by C.S. Lakin is a fairy tale, through and through, as are the other two books in the series which are on my to-be-read-very-soon list. In Lakin's guest post on the New Authors' Fellowship blog, I wrote an introduction that included this definition of a fairy tale:

Fairy tales, also known as wonder tales or märchen (from the German), are a sub-genre of folktales involving magical, fantastic or wonderful episodes, characters, events, or symbols. Like all folktales they are narratives that are not believed to be true (fictional stories), often in timeless settings (once upon a time) in generic, unspecified places (the woods), with one-dimensional characters (completely good or bad). They function to entertain, inspire, and enlighten us. In these episodic narratives the main characters are usually humans who often follow a typical pattern (as in a heroic quest) that is resolved partly by magic. The fact that these wonder tales still appeal to us attests to their richness and effectiveness as symbolic (artistic) communication.

As I noted in my intro, Lakin's books have all the characteristics, but I would not call her characters "one-dimensional." I think that many of the modern day fairy tales are like that--they meet all the criteria but are no longer, "Once upon a time..." and the characters are not just the generic "princess" or "pigs and wolf" that are only surface deep. Modern fairy tales have depth and setting and character that make them true novels, while still having that unique style that is fairy tale.

A perfect example of that is I Am Ocilla by Diane Graham. Nope, ya can't get this book yet. It will be coming out next year from my publisher, Splashdown Books. I've read Diane's manuscript, and it is fabulous. Classic fairy tale--with fairies and dragons and some really cool and original creatures. There is a quest, of course, and magic, and it definitely has that "enlightening" quality that the above definition brings up. And its depth and beautiful language make it more than fairy tale.

There are other fairy tale novels out there that are different from The Wolf of Tebron and I Am Ocilla, though. They still have the depth of character, setting, etc, but the style is more like the classic fairy tale. It's the way of the telling of the story that gives it that feel, and The Realities Chronicles by R.L. Copple is like that. I read the first book of this series, Reality's Dawn, right before it came out, as it is another book from Splashdown. I had to adjust my thinking when I read it, though. I was expecting "novel" and the stories are told in more of a traditional fairy tale style. The dialog and events are more melodramatic, and at first it threw me. But when it finally dawned on me that "this is a fairy tale" I was able to settle in and truly enjoy the book! There is real purpose in the way Copple tells his stories that is unlike anything I had read, and it made me realize I needed to investigate this whole idea of fairy tale writing.

Which leads us back to Wickflicker. My blog title does refer to the author's name, but when I say "Darken" your fairy tale, that's not all I'm referencing. You see, fairy tales, the old traditional ones, are really rather dark. For the most part, we've gotten used to the toned down, Disney-fied fairy tales. But read the original Snow White and you will see that the old fairy tales can be down-right scary.

I'm not sure if Teric was going for "dark fairy tale" when he wrote Wickflicker, and I surely wasn't expecting it. I thought Christian horror, supernatural thriller, Ted Dekkerishness, but not "fairy tale." But the writing, the style...it's so different.

Let me give you an example...

First there is the poetic side:
"The harvest moon waxed bright and bold, though bore a most peculiar frosted hue--its sphere encompassed about by floating ice crystals drifting lazily as phantasmal gestures."

That sentence is in the opening paragraphs, all of which have such a literary, poetic feel. It's surreal and stream-of-consciousness and lovely.

And then this, the beginning of chapter four:
Placing his pipe upon a stand, the wispy figure removed his wire-framed spectacles and wiped them liberally with a kerchief. His tobacco-laden voice croaked out, “Well now, what a lovely pair of gentlemen. And who might you two be, hmm?”

And:
I wrestled with my own vexation. Funny, though this withered trunk of a man is, indeed, a stranger, there is something hauntingly familiar about him; he reminds me, all the more, of someone I’d swear I know. Perhaps a long forgotten friend… or an enemy of old.

Having never laid eyes on him before, the invisible magnetism whispered of a thousand trips we had ventured together: in earthly treks, in thoughts, in deeds, in dreams… I had, seemingly, done more with this man than I had with my own best friend. Suddenly, I’d placed my finger on it. Devil-be-damned, it’s the devil, himself! All he needs is a…

How different from the opening, yet descriptive and intriguing. And then there are times Darken rumbles into passages that seem suited for some type of twisted poetry slam--"I would give anything to be able to see the naked truth, but truth be told, the more she bore, the truth became harder to bear." And as you can see from what's implied by that bit, Wickflicker is definitely not for children (language and content put this as something I'd reserve for adults and mature teens with the consent of their parents). But overall, the book has made me think "fairy tale"--dark, creepy fairy tale, of devils and demons instead of magical creatures, of horror instead of wonder, of frightening into enlightening, and a quest to save your soul.

(For a longer excerpt click here.)

First, Second, Third, Fourth, Eleventh....

2011-09-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

First, there is an interview with me and a contest right now at The Barn Door Book Loft. You can enter to win an ebook copy of Finding Angel by visiting and leaving a comment.

Second, Finding Angel is now available in ALL formats, including print and Kindle at Amazon, print and Nook at Barnes & Noble, all ebook formats at Smashwords, and print at The Book Depository (which has free international shipping).

Third, the anthology recently published by Splashdown Books - Aquasynthesis - has been receiving some great reviews. Three of my stories are in that book, two of which are companion stories to Finding Angel.

The latest review really touched me. Heather Titus dubbed my story "Dude" her favorite of the bunch! Check out her full review HERE.

Fourth, I got my contributor copy of Dark Heroes in the mail yesterday. Having my own book has not at all diminished the thrill of getting a copy of an anthology with one of my short stories inside.

Dark Heroes is the eleventh anthology that contains a story of mine. (Ah, now the blog title makes sense, eh?) For some reason that number feels significant. You'd think that the tenth one would have meant more--double digits and all--but this one really jumped out at me. Eleven anthologies. Must admit it feels rather cool to say that.

Anyway, that's my book news. Still pondering in search of a mind-blowing blog post for next time....

Newly Published-itis

2011-09-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

I am brain-fried. Just telling ya up-front. This week has been crazy, crazy, crazy. I want to blog here about something awesome and meaningful. The pressure is really on to get this blog in shape now that I'm cutting down to once a month at the New Authors' Fellowship blog instead of every single week. But right now I'm suffering from "newly published-itis."

Symptoms:

A dining table covered in copies of my novel, divided into stacks depending on destination (i.e., those that have to be mailed, those that go to people in my homeschool group, those that go to family members, etc.).

Moments when I sit down and go, "Oh, crap. This is real," followed by a grin that just won't stop.

Moments when I sit down and go, "Oh, crap. This is real," followed by a complete and total panic attack where I find myself muttering the words, "What have I done? What have I done?"

Stacks of printed out emails detailing information about what I must send to have my guest post or interview featured on various blogs. Staring at those stacks also can lead to muttering, "What have I done? What have I done?"

A notebook filled with scribbled down ideas for marketing that all seemed quite brilliant and plausible at the moment they were scribbled down, but now seem nothing short of ludicrous.

A major head cold.

Obsessive checking to see if my book has shown up yet on Amazon (yes!) and Barnes & Noble (no...).

Obsessive checking for the posting of reviews on the aforementioned sites.

The realization that I have approximately 4,872 profiles on various websites/forums/etc to update with my current publishing information. This is accompanied by shooting pain in various body parts.

Post-it notes friggin' everywhere.

A house that desperately needs cleaning. That is a symptom I managed to take care of yesterday, but it will be back. Oh, yes, it will be back...

A completely neglected Facebook page.

And last, but certainly not least--the joy that comes with emails from people telling me how much they loved reading Finding Angel.

So, hopefully I can at least manage most of those symptoms, getting rid of the annoying ones (like the head cold--I hate not being able to breathe!) but keeping the good stuff.

Getting There...but About to Go Animal

2011-09-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

So, Finding Angel is finally on Amazon!! Woohoo!

BUT. I am about to go "Animal" because.....

They have the pages all screwed up. If you do a product search it ONLY pulls up the Kindle version. Even though there IS a page for the print version! Which WAS searchable the other day, but had no image. Now there is an image, but it's not searchable....

Oh, and the print version page is supposed to allow you to read the first pages online, but doesn't show up that way either. My publisher had to go in and manually add an image. (You can read the first chapter here on my site by clicking the First Chapter tab in the menu above.)

AAAARGH.

(takes deep breath)

Anyway, you can at least order the bugger right now.

For PRINT click HERE.

For KINDLE click HERE.

Thank you for your patience in waiting for Finding Angel to come out properly. I am doing everything I can to get this straightened out. Once the two pages are linked on Amazon, allowing reviews to carry over from one version to the other, I will let you know so those of you who have read it can post reviews.

In the Mean Time

2011-09-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, if you aren't following me on Facebook, and haven't peeked over at my other site www.findingangel.com, you may not know that the Kindle version of Finding Angel came out a couple of days ago. The print version was scheduled to release today, but the dates are not guaranteed. Sigh....

I will, of course, post on here when the print version is appears--probably in really, BIG, happy letters!

In the mean time, I wanted to share some Middle Grade / Young Adult books I've read and loved, just to get ya in the mood.

The most recent, while not fantasy, is a book called Dani Noir, by Nova Ren Suma. The author's name was enough to intrigue me, the title is just cool, and the cover cinched it. But what totally sold me on this book is the author's voice. It's first person present, which some people claim is overdone. But the truth is, what is overdone is authors using first person present poorly. Nova Ren Suma knows how to do it right, though.

The plot is straightforward--13 yr old Dani's parents have just divorced because her dad left her mom for another woman. Dani escapes her reality by watching old movies--Rita Hayworth movies, femme fatale movies--in the one, tiny theater in her tiny town.

But she soon begins to suspect something is wrong--her dad doesn't seem to be the only one betraying loved ones. There is definitely some seriousness in this book, but the humorous voice of the character Dani keeps it in balance--a balance that I think works really well. I truly enjoyed this book.

Another I really loved is The Goblin Wood by Hilari Bell. I've reviewed this book before, I believe, but it is one of my favorites. Makenna is a hedgewitch who flees her village when her mother is murdered for practicing magic. She soon finds herself in an alliance with the goblins of the woods she hides in.

The Goblin Wood is simply a well-written and interesting story with believable characters that kept me captive the entire time and made me wish there was more when I got to the end. Oh, and guess what! There is. The series continues with The Goblin Gate.

And a third, also not fantasy, is The Secret of the Rose by Sarah L. Thomson. (No, that is not misspelled--there is no "p" in her last name.) This book is set in London in the 1590s, which makes it a very odd choice for me. I'm not into historical novels at all, but I picked this book up on a whim at the library one day. The main character, Rosalind, is forced to disguise herself as a boy and take a job as a scribe for a playwright to protect herself and her younger brother while they try to get their father out of jail. Their crime--being Catholic. I really felt the time period while reading this book, without being overwhelmed by too much detail.

That's enough, I suppose. Don't want to get you too busy reading before *my* book comes out!

Moving to the Granny Flat

2011-08-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

I certainly hope y'all have been checking out my posts on the New Authors' Fellowship. I've been a Featured Author there since early January 2011. But my time has run out. It's not a sad thing, though! I'm moving up to the "Granny Flat"--our affectionate term for Alumni status. It means I won't be posting weekly anymore, but I'm still there, and I will be posting once a month.

Today, I posted my last post as a Featured Author: Up, Up...but Not Away.

To make sure you don't miss future posts on there, I'll put links up here. But you are certainly free to go follow the NAF blog--there are plenty of other awesome authors on there posting every day. Bop around the site over there and visit my page to catch up on all my previous posts.

Oh, and I'll be throwing this out now and then: I've started another blog/site specific to Finding Angel (http://findingangel.com/) that I'll be trying to keep up now that I don't have the weekly obligation to NAF. It will be focused entirely on Finding Angel stuff. News, drawings, contests, companion short stories, etc. Anything that can be directly related to the series will make its way over there. Obviously, I'll be posting about Finding Angel and my progress on subsequent books here, too, but not quite as in-depth. So head on over and follow, follow!

Breaking the Surface

2011-08-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

I feel almost as if I have been underwater for weeks now. Editing Finding Angel. Proofreading Finding Angel. Working on cover art. "Make this bigger? Smaller?" Working on interior art. Collecting endorsements. "Shall we place this here, or here?" Finalizing....tweaking...more proofreading!

But, it is all over now. The file has been sent to the printer!

It is a strange feeling. My book will be available in a week. I will have it in my hands shortly after that. I will be...a published author.

Yes, I know, I'm published already. Forty-some-odd instances of short stories, both fiction and nonfiction, in various magazines and anthologies. They do mean so much--truly! Please don't get this wrong. Those things count. They really do. But this is different. This is the dream that started it all.

And now I have to figure out where to go from here. For so long everything has centered around writing Finding Angel. Writing short stories to build my platform (and falling in love with short story writing in the process). Writing queries, sending queries, printing rejection letters...and then revising and rewriting and pushing myself to get better, better, better.

While this feels like a huge milestone, I know it is only the beginning. Now comes marketing. And begging for reviews ;). And rolling my eyes at my husband every time he suggests trading in our travel trailer for an RV so I can travel the country doing book signings. (Which makes for very sore eyes muscles!)

But it won't stop there. I have a sequel to Finding Angel in the works and can now reorient my focus onto that. And there are always short stories to write!

So, while I'm up for air right now, I'll be diving back in and staying submerged for a nice long time.

The Resurrection by Mike Duran

2011-08-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Mike Duran is known for hitting on the controversial topics related to Christian writing. His blog posts consistently make his readers think about their definition of Christian fiction. He also doesn't believe in playing softball when it comes to reviews. The standard among Christian fiction reviewers tends to be a sappy-happy pat on the back, a "great job, my fellow believer!" and shining five stars.

All authors want their readers to love their books. But Mike strikes me as the type who'd rather have a critical breakdown of his than a standard glowing review. So, I decided to do this review a little differently....

The Resurrection is a Peretti-style spiritual warfare novel. It takes place in a small town, with a preacher and certain members of his congregation smack in the center of the battleground.

First up--Ruby Case, church member. She's got rock-solid faith. Is she flawed? Well, she has a limp...but she's the kind of woman you would want babysitting your kids because she's loyal, trustworthy, and has a heart of gold. She really made me think about the whole "perfect Christian character" thing that is so prevalent in Christian fiction. It's actually not the "goodness" that makes those characters annoying. Ruby is "good." She doesn't have a seedy past or fatal flaw (unless you count a stubborn independent streak). Those are techniques used by some Christian authors to show that they have "flawed" Christian characters. But here's the truth--some Christians are just genuinely good people. The thing is, though, they are not pious. And the characters in Christian fiction who come across as annoyingly good are actually pious and self-righteous scripture-quoting cardboard cut-outs. Ruby is not. She 's got serious depth. So while I couldn't point my finger and say, "Look, see, he made her 'flawed' so this book is really edgy," I can say she was real.

Reverend Ian Clark...no rock solid faith here. More like rock slide. This guy is totally on the fence, full of doubts, feeling like a faker in front of his congregation. Talk about a flawed character. But it does come from somewhere. He's suffered some real loss that made him feel the way he does. My gripe? I would have liked to see more of that past. Some really emotional flashbacks that give me a clear picture of his love for and closeness to his sister whose death set him on the edge. It would have endeared him to me, and I would have connected to his pain. However, I couldn't help but wonder if Mike didn't include that stuff on purpose. Maybe he wanted us to see Clark as a big slug, so we spend the first half of the book thinking, "Man up, you big wuss."

Side characters: Jack is Ruby's loving and devoted husband, who has left the church because of its hypocrisy. Vin is Ruby's best friend. The tattooed ex-druggie has a strength Ruby wishes she could muster, and a faith that comes from true thankfulness for the grace God has shown her. Both characters added richness to the story. There are others, of course, but telling you much about them will just be giving spoilers....

The Conflict. Ruby's touch seemingly brings a dead boy back to life. The town is in an uproar. Half of them think she's a saint and people come to her with gifts and requests for miracles. The other half think she's a witch or worse. All she wants is to be left alone, and come to terms with the reason God used her. She ends up drawn into a search of the town's history, though, when echoes of her experience bring forth information about past events that are eerily familiar. Clark, of course, is turned to as the spiritual leader--but how can he fulfill this role when he holds so many doubts? Work in a section of town that seems steeped in new age religion and pagan idol worship, and a friend of Clark's who is tugging hard on his strings of doubt.

The Plot. Hm. In the end, I could say, "Well done." In the middle, I felt it was disjointed at times. Not that it was hard to follow. But there were times when I felt something was introduced, to then be dropped, and the focus shift was slightly jarring to me. But the ending brought all the threads together smoothly. Any bumps in the road were very much worth it because of the destination.

Lastly, the thing that warranted an author's "afterward" in the book. Mr. Cellophane. The spirit who haunts Rev. Clark. I will leave you with this statement, and I want you to think about the difference in its meaning depending on whether I stuck five stars or one star next to my review: "Thanks for the nightmares, Mike." ;)

Two Weeks and Counting

2011-08-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

Finding Angel will release in exactly two weeks. That's fourteen days. In other words--really soon! I promised myself that this site would be centered around all things related to the book, and I'm trying desperately to keep that promise. Ironically, it is the book that has kept me from posting here.

Things involved in publishing a novel that you might not have thought about:

Reading the book over and over, looking for typos "one last time," until you become completely sick of it.

Chapter header images and scene break images. In my case, I'm the artist for my book as well as the author, so those images have been my responsibility. Well, technically, my publisher cut out the keyhole from the cover image to use as chapter headers--but I'm helping :P. And the scene break image is an original drawing.

Reading the book over and over, looking for typos "one last time," until you become completely sick of it.

Dedication page and acknowledgments page. Those are not as easy to write as you think! Making sure you mention all the people who helped you, knowing darn well you should probably be saying more about this person or that person...

Reading the book over and over, looking for typos "one last time," until you become completely sick of it.

Typesetting and formatting, spine and back cover design. Those are in the hands of my publisher right now, but I feel like a mama bear with someone else holding my baby. Luckily, I have a lot of faith in the one holding her ;).

Reading the book over and over, looking for typos "one last time," until you become completely sick of it.

Worry, worry, worry that there is something you are missing. A plot hole, a detail you got wrong. Is someone who is an expert on something you make one tiny statement about going to go "No way! That's not right!"?

Oh, and did I mention...Reading the book over and over, looking for typos "one last time," until you become completely sick of it...

Camping Craziness

2011-08-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

I am home.

I make that statement--with a contented sigh--because for the four days prior to today I was not. I was camping. Our version of camping does not involve tents or sleeping bags. It does not involve deep woods or even state parks. Nope--I'm not too proud to admit--our version of camping involves a 30-foot air-conditioned travel trailer and Disney's Fort Wilderness campground. That, my friends, is as close to "camping" as this girl wants to get.

True, I grew up in the country. It was a brick house, but it was out in the middle of nowhere, on a street where all the lots were heavily treed. We had snakes, of the "rat" variety and the "coral" variety. We had bugs...and bugs...and bugs. Wolf spiders the size of my hand. I spent most of my time climbing trees and running barefoot. I love hearing crickets outside my window and desperately miss that sound here in my suburban neighborhood. I am not afraid of nature. That's NOT why I don't like "true" camping.

"Then why?" you ask.

I'll tell you. It's the lack of solitude. It's having a family on top of each other in a small space. It's hard enough to get away from each other in a 30-foot travel trailer, so forget it in a tent. I know--camping is about being together as a family. Sure. But not every minute. I need space. And to be perfectly honest, I need air conditioning. And I like having a place to plug in my netbook. And I'm not terribly keen on the idea of huddling under a canvas triangle in the rain.

So, that said, this trip was almost the deal-breaker. We had a flat tire on the trailer when we got to the campground. After days and days and days of pouring rain, it didn't so much as sprinkle the day we arrived and that made it HOT. The ac in the trailer could barely keep up, but sitting outside was misery. Oh, and then the battery died on the trailer. I don't understand the electrical system of our trailer, even after my electrical engineer husband explaining it to me--but we did have ac and TV even though the overhead lights and the fridge wouldn't come on. This led to dear husband heading out to Walmart twice in the middle of the night...once for fuses and once for a battery charger, and both times he came back with scary stories about the people of Walmart who shop at 1 am in Orlando....

Ah, but bad things always strike in threes. We seem to have a leak in the trailer somewhere, too. Probably something easily fixed, but the bugger will be trying to find it.

We had other mishaps this weekend, too. Like broken-but-thankfully-not-lost bracelets (two of them) and forgetting to bring the comfy chairs. Taking the bus instead of the boat to get home quicker because it was almost check-out time and finding out the route was actually twice as long, then getting back and forgetting the combination on the hitch lock, so husband calls the maintenance people to have them cut the lock off...only to remember the combination and have to call them back and tell them how stupid we feel.

I have a friend who says this is all because Mercury is in retrograde. I honestly would love to scoff at her, but last time ole Merc was in retrograde we had a slew of craziness, too. This time, it was combined with a full moon.

What. Were. We. Thinking?

At the very least, we are not camping in August again.

What I've Been Working On...

2011-08-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

The official cover of Finding Angel:

Yep, there it is. The official, final cover image. It's my concept cover, only much improved. Thanks to some ingenuity on both my part and that of my rockin' publisher, Grace Bridges, we have created exactly what we had in mind. The locket is an original drawing by me. The keyhole was the part that gave us fits, but with my drawing skills and Grace's digital skills it all came together. The wood...is wood :P. The font, thanks to Grace's status as text master, I couldn't be happier with!

Three. More. Weeks. I am bustin'.

"A" is for August....and Anthologies

2011-08-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

I feel like a broken record. And I feel like one of those authors who runs around going, "Hey, look at all my books! Look at meeeeeee!" I hate that feeling.

But. (*evil grin*)

This has been a stellar month for me regarding anthologies. First, there was the release of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens, which technically hit on July 26th, but that's darn close to August. Then, there was Aquasynthesis, which I have been yammering about for days now because it has three stories of mine as well as some of the most brilliant short stories I've read by other Splashdown Books authors.

Now, the anthology I've been waiting a while for is finally out. While the Morning Stars Sing just released from Residential Aliens, and it features my story "The Guitar."

This, I must admit, is my favorite of my short stories. It stars my favorite character in Finding Angel--a bit of back story about him, told from the pov of his best friend. He's Elven, a musician (with leather and tattoos and pointed ears lost in really great hair...) and has an amazing magic Talent.

Here's the opening of the story:

“Dude, please, you gotta take me with you this time.”
Kalek perched on a low branch of a Platinum Oak, his Elven ears poking through a massive mound of ragged curls. I cringed at the way his onyx eyes gleamed. He’d convince me, I was sure, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“No way,” I said, “I’m going camping. Alone. That means without you, so forget it.”
He jumped down from the tree, lithe as a panther, and stood in front of me. “C’mon. I’ve never been off the island. Just this once.”
“Your father will be furious.”
“I know, dude, all the more reason.”

You can order WtMSS by clicking HERE.

And lastly, coming later this month (no exact date yet) will be my story "Ordinary Folk" in the Dark Heroes anthology by Pill Hill Press. This is my longest published short story to date. Dark Heroes is an anthology of stories in which a character that would normally play the part of the villain is actually the hero. Think vampires and monsters, fur and fangs.

My dark hero? Janey, whose husband and doctor are looking at ordinary things to explain her extraordinary symptoms...but Janey knows there has to be more to it and decides to visit her parents' hometown in search of answers. She finds answers, all right, as well as a chance for revenge.

So, there you have it. My month of anthologies. I will now turn off the record player :P.

Aquasynthesis...

2011-08-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

What is Aquasynthesis?

aqua (n) - water, used in compound names, or substances in water.
synthesis (n) - The combining of elements into a unified entity.
aquasynthesis (n) - a combining of worlds within a pool of water; an anthology of short stories from Splashdown authors.

Gizile follows her mysterious teacher, Tok, as they look into the ice of an ocean pool to contemplate a series of strange and mystical visions: astonishing tales of technology and transcendence, aliens and elves, space and time, dragons and demons, prophecies and scriptures, humor and horror, the gifted and the enslaved, virtual and supernatural reality, insanity and inspiration.

No, really, what is it?

Just what is says--an anthology from Splashdown Books, which features stories by Fred Warren, Caprice Hokstad, P.A. Baines, Adam Graham, R.L. Copple, Travis Perry, Mike Lynch, Keven Newsome, Kat Heckenbach, and Ryan Grabow. Edited by Grace Bridges and narration by Walt Staples.

My contribution includes three stories:

"Between the Pages" is a story that involves my character Angel and the magic of books, sort of a prelude to Finding Angel. Can't say it really happened, can't say it didn't. But it could have.

"The Artist" was previously published in two other magazines (Mindflights and Beyond Centauri) and is a companion story to Finding Angel, a bit of back story for one of the characters who struggles to find her magic Talent.

"Dude" was originally published in Residential Aliens, and is unrelated to Finding Angel. It's the story of a scientist and a stuck-in-the-eighties Elf working together on a very special project.

Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
(Note--Amazon is being squirrelly right now and only has the Kindle version up. B&N has the print version but is taking a while on the ebook. Smashwords has all ebook formats.)

Mind if I Use a Quick Quotes Quill?

2011-07-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

I was contacted yesterday by a local reporter wanting to do an article about me for a small paper. This will make my fifth newspaper interview since I started writing. I've had several writer friends gape at me when I tell them such. Well, I assume they are gaping--it's all online, but their words imply a look of amazement.

I've been told over and over by other writers that they have tried desperately to get featured in their local papers but have been summarily ignored. They ask me, "How do you do it?"

My answer: "Uh..."

You see, I've done nothing. Honestly. (I swear, I did NOT put my name in the Goblet of Fire...)

The first interview came about by me being invited to speak at a writers group. No, let me clarify. I'm a member of that group, and the group president noticed I've gotten a lot of short pieces published and asked if I'd share my secrets. A local reporter happens to also be a member of that group, and she likes to write up when the group has "guest speakers." She checked me out online, saw that I write horror, and talked her editor into letting the article grow a bit to hit on that, um, eccentricity.

The second interview was because an anthology I'm in--The Ultimate Christian Living--landed on the desk of a certain reporter's editor. It had me listed as being from Valrico, FL, so the guy emailed me and asked for an interview. Local author and all. I assume the publisher sent the copy--I sure didn't. I wouldn't have even known who to send it to.

The next two were because I had a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic. One article was written by the first reporter who interviewed me. The other was an entirely different paper. I can only assume that those had more to do with Chicken Soup sending them press releases, and the fact that Chicken Soup is a household name.

Which brings me to this upcoming interview. I have a friend in one of my writers groups who writes for this particular local paper and she told a fellow reporter about me. I did nothing other than become friends with someone whom I genuinely like. I didn't even know when I became friends with her that she wrote for that paper! She's just very excited for me about my book coming out.

What's my point? Well, Kristen Stieffel actually sums it up perfectly in this blog post on NAF. Basically, I never set out to market myself by joining writers groups. I simply wanted fellowship and places to learn, and sought out every group I could find. It has led to real friendships, and those friendships have led to links with people who ended up wanting to write about me.

Oh, and I'm quite sure the reporter I'm meeting will be nothing like Rite Skeeter, but come on, when else will I have a chance to use a picture of her here? :D

BTW, click HERE for links to the aforementioned newspaper interviews, and the blog interviews I've done as well.

Making it Shine

2011-07-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

My first draft of Finding Angel sucked.

I can say that now. But three years ago, those words would have killed me. I worked so, so very hard on that first draft. Obsession is a word I'd use to describe those first months of writing. Of course, I knew it wasn't perfect. Things needed to be cleaned up a bit. Tightened here and there. Adjusted. Tweaked, ever so slightly.

Yes, go ahead and laugh.

With each critique, I learned that I had even more to learn. I've revised, beefed up, killed my darlings, and started all over again.

These last few weeks, I've gone through the cycle yet again. I am amazed by how many things I found to change and carve away.

What blows my mind the most is the change in word count. At one point, Finding Angel hit 114,000 words. Today it sits at 93,400. That is more than a 20,000-word difference.

20,000 words that were useless, unnecessary, or maybe even outright stupid, now gone.

I cannot stress enough the importance of getting critique. And getting it from multiple sources. No, you cannot write a novel, let your sister-who-never-wrote-a-book-in-her-life read it and have a perfect manuscript after that one critique. I've had at least ten different people read through Finding Angel, some of them writers and some of them not. A few of them teens. They have all brought to light different issues.

My most recent acting editor is Diane Graham. She has been brutal, I tell you, but she's helped with this last round of edits in a way no one else has. She has pinpointed issues in certain scenes and helped me find in myself the ability to make those scenes work. Emotion is something Diane knows how to convey in writing, and she's giving me her secrets ;).

Amy Deardon, author of A Lever Long Enough, also contributed to the editing and is probably the key player in the word count drop. I've mentioned before that early on I was told Finding Angel was "wordy." I did find a couple of people who helped me figure out a good portion of why that was so, but Amy threw the spotlight on word and phrase usage that was seriously padding the count unnecessarily.

The last thing I credit for helping this round: Time. I waited nearly a year between the last go-through and this one. I've learned more about writing in this last year than I thought possible. I also believe that distancing myself from the manuscript has been paramount. I was able to see so much that I'd been holding on to out of...sentimentality? I don't know. Maybe I was just so used to seeing those words in the document I hadn't noticed how wrong they were. Whatever the case, the current version now sounds like *me*--the current me, the one who has experience and published short stories, not the me who sat down four years ago, naive and wet behind the ears.

In just under six weeks you will get to see the fruits of these labors. I am excited beyond belief. Not just because Finding Angel is going to be published. But because I am finally happy in the fact that I have improved it to the level it at which it needs to be. "Good" is not good enough. I want this book to shine. And thanks to my critters who have had the guts to tell me--"No, this doesn't work!"--when you finally have it in your hands, it will.

"Shifting Gears" at New Authors' Fellowship

2011-07-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to point out my latest post at New Authors' Fellowship, "Shifting Gears."

And a reminder that you can read all my NAF posts by clicking HERE.

Come September 1st, I'll be moving to what we at NAF call "The Granny Flat." That's the room where the Alumni--as in those of us who have gained publication of our novels--stay. It means I will be cutting back to posting over there only once a month. Which, hopefully, will mean more postings here.

Now scoot on over there!

You Won't Change My Mind, and You Probably Won't Like My Book

2011-07-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

I've noticed a lot of posts lately--blogs, Facebook, etc.--about Harry Potter. Not just those involving the movie currently in theaters (I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the title), but rather the old debate among Christians about Harry Potter and magic. Mike Duran has a good one HERE in favor of the Potter books/movies. A post with which I wholeheartedly agree (and includes my favorite Stephen King quote ever).

This morning I also noticed a Facebook friend had posted a link to a blog that was in favor of Harry Potter, and someone came along and left this comment:

"Maybe I am the only hold out in the entire world, but comparing any kind of witchcraft with Jesus is a blasphemy! Christians are deceived by this and the Bible clearly states that in the end times the lie will become the truth and the truth will seem to become the lie. I am so sorry for all of you Christian people who think Harry Potter is a type of Christ. Open up your eyes and be awakened!"

Um....okay. I don't know anyone who thinks Harry Potter is a "type of Christ." There's only ONE Christ, right? Not types of Him, eh? Harry Potter may have been used as an allegory for Christ, but that is so, so, so different. He's a character in a novel, folks. JK Rowling may have used him to point to Christ, but that doesn't mean he gets to step in and take the Role.

And for the hundredth time--the Bible does warn against sorcery. As in, using the power of demons. Contacting the dead. Divination. (Oh, and btw, divination is made fun of in HP--seen as something of a scam.) In Harry Potter, magic is an ability. I honestly don't see how anyone can compare levitating feathers with biblical sorcery. If that's the case, then we better not use magnets--did you know you can levitate things with magnets?

The magic in HP is nothing more than a different way of doing things. Science, done with words and wands. It warns over and over and over against the use of "dark magic"--which is something that can be compared to biblical sorcery. So, those Christians who gripe about HP are griping against a book that warns against "real" sorcery.

All that said, if you are uncomfortable with the Harry Potter novels, don't read them. But you probably won't like my books either.

Reality is Sinking In

2011-07-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

My life has completely turned upside-down. If you haven't been keeping up, my book, Finding Angel, is finally getting published. What that means is I am now in a flurry of editing. But editing isn't all there is to getting a book ready for publication.

Also on my list:

Cover art--both front and back.
Back cover text--that "blurb" that tells you just enough to make you want to read the book.
Interior pages, like the acknowledgments page and such.
Author photo and bio.
Artwork for chapter headings and scene breaks.

Those are all things I'm working on in conjunction with my publisher, but she has even more on her list than I do. Poor Grace...

Other things flying around my head right now involve what to do about my blog and website. I have this blog, obviously, which really needs a better domain name. And I've also got www.findingangel.com which will eventually house all things related to Finding Angel and the subsequent books in the series. I have plans for it...down the road...that I pray I can actually keep up with :P.

They say the real work begins once your book is published. In some ways I'm seeing how true that is. As the emails show up in my inbox with requests for interviews and guest blog posts, and it sinks in that I have to somehow get word out about my book beyond posting here and on Facebook, my mind reels. So much to do.

It will get done, though. I did not come this far to do things less than 100%.

Little Book of Magic

2011-07-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

“It is my little book of magic,” the girl said to the man who sat on the other side of the wide, wooden desk. “I have put my heart and soul in it. I want to share it.”

The man pulled his glasses off and rubbed his nose. “No one wants a little book of magic, dear girl. Heart and soul or not, it won’t make money.”

She swallowed as her stomach twisted. “But it is magic. It’s meant to be shared.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not for us.” He returned to his work, and she noticed the deep stress lines in his forehead, the rumpled slouch of his suit jacket. His hands were a blur as he ran pen over paper, ignoring her.

She stood and left, her little book of magic tucked tightly inside her backpack.

The next door held a similar office, with a similar man behind a similar desk. He gave the same answer as the other, and she moved on.

The hallway grew as she walked, doors adding to doors, stretching far behind her. Each door locked with a forever click as she exited, and her heart and head sank lower with each step.

And the little book of magic weighed heavy on her back.

“Maybe I should just go home,” the girl muttered to herself. She stopped and turned around, looking down the narrow hallway. A door at the end swayed open. But darkness pulsed on the other side—a tempting darkness that promised both relief and despair.

The girl slid the backpack off her shoulder and opened it. She pulled out the little book of magic, then clutched it to her chest. The door slammed shut, and even from a distance the girl could read the words scrolled across the wood: The Land of What-If.

She sighed, and reached again for her backpack.

“Oy, little girl, what have you there?”

The lilted voice startled her and she spun, nearly dropping the book. A space suit stood before her, although she could not see who—or what—filled it.

“It-it’s a book. My book. My little book of magic,” she said, her heart sputtering back to a normal rhythm.

One arm of the space suit rose then, and the gloved hand pushed a button on the side of the helmet. The dark shield clicked and slid upward, revealing the face beneath.

The little girl gasped. The creature’s face was covered in downy feathers, with bright, round eyes. A pair of metal-framed spectacles perched on its narrow beak.

“You’re a bird!”

“A kiwi, to be precise,” the creature said, and a smile ruffled the feathered face.

Comfort flooded the little girl as she gazed at the kiwi’s warm expression. “Would you like to see it?”

The kiwi’s eyes lit up. “Oh, may I?”

She handed the little book of magic over, and it was grasped lovingly by the gloved hand. The kiwi sat against the wall then, and opened the book. The girl held her breath in anticipation as those bright eyes scanned page after page.

Finally, the kiwi looked up and closed the book. The bright eyes blinked. “Why have you not shared this little book of magic, dear girl?”

“I have no means to share it myself, and those who do will not help me.” She turned toward the hallway behind her and stared at the forever-locked doors, refusing to let loose the tears that burned the edges of her eyelids.

She heard scuffling, and then the kiwi’s voice again. “Would you come with me if I offered to help you share your little book of magic?”

The girl eased around to face the now-standing kiwi once more. “Yes,” she said, and followed the kiwi far, far from the dreary hallway.

...And for those of you who didn't quite catch that, because maybe you're not familiar with Grace Bridges from Splashdown Books...Grace is a sci-fi writing New Zealander, which makes her a "space Kiwi"...and yes, she has agreed to publish my novel, Finding Angel. The release date is scheduled for Sept. 1, 2011.

To celebrate, I'm giving away a copy of Odd Little Miracles, the short story collection by Fred Warren, published through Splashdown Books' Darkwater imprint.

Odd Little Miracles is Splashdown's most recent release, although that's not the main reason I'm giving away a copy. Fred Warren is the reason I found Splashdown. I fell in love with his short stories I'd found online and decided to buy his book, The Muse, which is, of course, published by Splashdown. I knew then that Grace had an eye for awesome fiction, and the more I got to know her, and the company, the more I wanted to earn a spot in her catalog! So, thanks, Fred, for being such an awesome writer and drawing my attention to Splashdown.

Leave a comment to enter. I'm posting this on multiple blogs, btw, so you can enter at each place: at New Authors' Fellowship, at my Finding Angel site, and right here.

Beating a Dead Battle Horse

2011-07-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

Again, I'm not sure why I'm continuing this. It's not like I'm getting much feedback. But I feel the need to clarify some things regarding this whole literary vs. commercial thing rampaging in my head. Call me obsessive--it won't be the first time, I promise.

You can read my first post HERE and my second post HERE.

What I want to say first and foremost is this: The whole thing started because of a chat I was in, where a commercial writer made some comments about having been snubbed by literary writers. A literary writer commented back--and let me be very clear: the literary writer showed no snobbery at all. She was quite gracious.

BUT, most genre and commercial writers have, at some time, experienced literary snobbery. It has put us on the defensive. My purpose for the two previous postings was to explain why. My last commenter made it sound as if we commercial writers misunderstand. That it's not snobbery that is pervasive in literary circles--but rather poor writing that is pervasive in commercial ones.

Um.

I'm fully aware of the amount of commercial garbage out there. Yep, I am. And when I started my first post I said that many literary writers would probably agree with me--as commenter did--that there's a good amount of literary navel-contemplating trash as well.

What I have meant to convey--and apparently failed at--from the very beginning, is the idea that when you compare GOOD commercial writing to GOOD literary writing the choice comes down to preference. A good literary story is not "better" than a good commercial story for the simple fact that it is literary.

Yet, there are literary "snobs" out there who don't see that. The one involved in the chat that started this didn't exhibit this quality, but others do. I know this because I have experienced it and so have other commercial writers I know.

What creates my frustration is that I know full-well that if I sat down with a group of literary sorts and plunked down a copy of their favorite literary masterpiece and said, "I don't get why anyone would read this by choice," many (maybe not all, but many) noses would rise, eyes would narrow, and in their minds my IQ would sink like a stone.

Am I saying that each and every literary writer out there is a snob? No. But nor is every commercial writer a brainless mass-pleaser. I think gobs of writing falls in-between commercial and literary, with elements of both. And good writers are found in every position along the scale. Both types of writing take a certain type of talent--that is all we on the commercial side want understood. We simply want the literary side to stop lumping us in with Twilight-mongers, and we need to try to see the difference between true literary art and splatter-painted toilet seats.

More on the Literary Battlefront

2011-07-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why I'm doing a second post on literary fiction. I mean, I had all of one comment on the first post. But it's something that keeps lurking in the back of my mind. I looked up some other blog posts on the topic, and found an interesting one by literary agent Nathan Bransford: What Makes Literary Fiction Literary?

He boils down the difference between literary and commercial fiction as this:

In commercial fiction the plot tends to happen above the surface and in literary fiction the plot tends to happen beneath the surface.

I, personally, see this to mean pretty much the same as character-driven vs. plot-driven. The important thing he points out, though, is that literary doesn't mean "plotless." Things must happen--it's just that the changes take place inside the character. It is the character's inner journey that is most important.

This is why the books I mentioned in my last post are considered literary even though their style is very commercial/mainstream. Thirteen Reasons Why and Hold Still are the stories of the inner journeys of teens dealing with the suicide of a friend/classmate. Things do happen in the story. Those things create changes in the character, and those changes are the ultimate focus of the book. The book cannot, as Bransford says, simply be "a character musing about the vagaries and eccentricities of everyday existence."

I also like Bransford's description of genre fiction:

Most genre fiction involves a character propelling themselves through a world. The character is an active protagonist who goes out into a world, experiences the challenges of that world, and emerges either triumphant or defeated.

The character can--and in good genre/commercial fiction does--experience inner change during this process. But that change is generally secondary to the main, "outer" plot. In the Harry Potter series, for example, Harry grows up and grows stronger, discovering all sorts of things about himself as a person, but the main focus of the series is still the ongoing battle between Harry and Voldemort.

The fact is, literary and commercial writing are simply different animals. One is not "better" than the other. They serve completely different purposes. That is the end of the story.

BUT...

There is something that tends to go unsaid in this debate, and today, I'm going to say it.

This resentment between commercial authors and literary authors comes down to one thing--Intellectual Snobbery. There is a pervading attitude among the literary set that literary writing and its writers are simply smarter. Many literary sorts believe commercial writing is just that--commercial. Common. Base. Dumbed-down. For the mass of mindless drones that occupy this quickly degrading chunk of rock, who wouldn't know a simile if t hit them in the forehead....

To that I say, Bleh. No. Not so.

Literary does not automatically equal smart. I have the papers to prove my "smart"--IQ test, SAT score, high school and college transcripts. I promise you, I am not sitting to the left of the bulk of the literary writing world when it comes to position on the intellectual bell curve. And yet, I do not like literary as a whole. I don't like much mainstream fiction either--romance and mysteries rarely hold my attention because I know the ending by chapter three. My love is dark and weird, fantasy, sci-fi, and horror--and much of it falling into the middle grade and young adult categories.

I am perfectly capable of dissecting a deep and meaningful literary book. I love the messages behind books such as The Picture of Dorian Grey. I do savor the wording of much beautifully constructed prose...but nine times out of ten, I read a book because I want to be sucked into story. I want to be lost in another world.

That, folks, does not decrease my intelligence. And commercial writers and readers do not like being looked at as lesser, as inferior, as dumb. Your abstractness does not make our straight-forwardness less interesting, or less intelligent. There, I said it.

I'm not deluding myself, though...the battle will most assuredly rage on.

Literary Minefield

2011-07-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

I participated in a chat last night that sidestepped into a discussion about literary fiction. Nasty territory when you bring commercial writers and literary writers together. It fortunately stayed pretty civil, but it's obvious there are seriously different views on the topic depending on what side of the fence you stand.

I happen to be more on the commercial side. That's not to say I don't like literary at all. Yes, I know, in a recent blog post I said, "I hate (most) literary fiction." But that "most" is in there, and it is very important.

You see, just like commercial fiction, literary fiction has more than its fair share of hacks. There is good literary fiction, and like the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead--when it's good, it's very, very good...but when it's bad, it's horrid.

Most literary fiction bores me to tears. It's dry. The convoluted wording makes reading the book tedious. And I simply can't relate to the characters. A friend recently recommended the book "Prep" because it's a YA literary novel that she adored. It's gotten some rather high praise from the big reviewers. I, however, could not get past the first two chapters. I couldn't relate to the MC, at all.

But I have read literary novels that made me absolutely swoon. There is a sweet spot among literary novels that happens to fall within my circle of interest. "Hold Still" by Nina LaCour and "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher are two teen literary novels that blew my mind. Admittedly, they are written in more of a commercial style, but they touched on real-life tragedy in a way that was beautiful and soul-changing.

I just mentioned "commercial style." I said that because so many people think it is the style that makes a book literary--specifically a classic style. As though the book must read like one of the novels you were forced to trudge through in high school. Sometimes literary fiction is written that way, and many literary fans say it's about wording, but sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between literary and mainstream. To me, it has to do with the subject matter. Literary novels focus on character over plot, first and foremost. Also, they are more "real life" than mainstream.

Hm, I say "real life" but I need to quantify that. You see, literary writing is popping up in genre novels. Literary sci-fi, literary fantasy. Style is part of it, but what really makes the difference is the character focus. It's real-life, completely recognizable as what we go through here, now, but in completely fantastical settings.

As you can see by the direction this post is taking, there is muddy water. There is a place where literary and commercial merge, and it's hard to separate them.

Some writers on either extreme, though, ignore that mud pond, staring over it at each other with arms crossed, and noses held high. Both sides feel slighted by the other. The literary fans because they know they are seen as obscure and niche and are unwanted by the norm. The commercial fans because the literary snobs maintain that commercial fiction is so much pig slop.

In all honesty, I just try to stay out of the cross-fire. I see literary fiction the way I see opera. It's something that takes talent in order to be truly good, but it's simply not for me. You're welcome to listen to whatever you want, and read whatever you want--I won't make fun of your too-tight literary bun if you don't scoff at me when I bust out my Stephen King and crank up The Ramones.

It's a Week for Anthologies!

2011-07-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

There Was a Crooked House
(horror)

with

"Cat Call" by Kat Heckenbach

Available in Kindle and Nookbook formats for only $3.99.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens

with

"Armored and Dangerous" by Kat Heckenbach

Available for pre-order through Amazon in print and Kindle.

And through Barnes & Noble in print and Nookbook.

Odd Little Miracles

22 short stories (fantasy, sci-fi, and just plain odd)

by Fred Warren

Available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble in print for only $5.98.

(coming soon in ebook formats)

SPLASHDOWN BOOKS--EBOOK SALE

ALL of Splashdown's Kindle books are on sale at Amazon for 99 cents through July 4th!

Several of these books contain my handiwork....

My artwork is on the covers of The Duke's Handmaid and Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Caprice Hokstad.

My drawings are found inside Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam and Andrea Graham.

My editing skills helped polish Winter by Keven Newsome.

I've given creative advice on cover design and back cover copy for many of the remaining books.

So in supporting Splashdown, you are supporting me. For just 99 cents :). What could be easier?

Making the Rounds

2011-06-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

I have to give a speech next month about online marketing and this week I find myself working on just that. Nothing like hands-on preparation.

There are several places I lurk around online. Other than this blog, I've got a website for my novel, Finding Angel, which will be getting updated eventually. And I'm a Featured Author on New Authors' Fellowship. Those are the main stops for me online, as well as Facebook. These are pretty easy to keep up with. Planning blog posts is part of my normal schedule. I check in on FB daily.

But there are other places I need to visit and post stuff now and then, and they tend to get hit all at once when I--finally--remember them.

This week the Kindle version of There Was a Crooked House, which contains my short horror story "Cat Call," has released. That has to go on my Amazon page and then on Goodreads . As does Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens, which has my story "Armored and Dangerous"--this one is available for pre-order right now. (BTW--if you're local and want to purchase the Chicken Soup book directly from me I'm finding out about ordering them.) This isn't too big of a deal--as my stories are released I post about them and add them to my pages, and then I update my brag books.

Yes, I print out the stories I have published online and of course keep copies of the print zines I'm featured in. At present, I've had to split my stuff into two separate binders--one for non-fiction and interviews, and one for fiction and artwork. Feels pretty good :).

It doesn't stop there, though.

I've noticed lately that everybody and their brother seem to be creating and joining social network sites. There are far too many to keep track of! I've got my blogs, my site, and memberships on Facebook and Goodreads. I joined Linkedin and find that a complete waste--I'm never over there. Ever. I'm also technically a member of a couple of other networks, like Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers, but they are sorely neglected by me. So, I'm stopping here for now. Until someone comes up with a way for me to update all those places at once--as well as my author pages and such--I simply can't add anymore.

And of course there are forums all over that I've joined and pretty much never visit. Making online connections is important, but it is time-consuming!

My other big project has been spiffing up the website for one of my local writers groups,Brandon Christian Writers. Until this weekend it was just a blog page, but I've now added other pages with info about our meetings and members. And since I'm a member, info about me has to go on there :). This also happens to be the group I'll be speaking to about online marketing--which is right back where I started this blog post. No wonder I feel like I'm running in circles!

Yes, it's Writing.

2011-06-18T08:23:00.001-07:00

Another day of randomness here. This time, my list of things that aren't writing, but count:

1--Editing a friend's short story.

2--Critiquing a friend's manuscript.

3--Reading.

4--Brainstorming back cover blurbs for anthologies.

5--Answering questions about viruses for a friend who is doing real writing.

6--Blogging lists of randomness.

7--Planning out blog posts of actual purpose.

8--Discussing writing in the comments on someone else's blog.

9--Outlining a speech I'll be giving on online marketing.

10--Freaking out about number nine.

11--Approving the galleys of my stories that are coming out in anthologies soon.

12--Dusting my desk so my computer doesn't overheat.

13--Daydreaming. Yep, I'm counting it.

See, I've just been too busy "writing" to write.

Feeling Random

2011-06-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure why, but kind of in the mood for random statements this morning.

Some things about me:

My "Love Language" is words of affirmation. So, you have to temper the bad with good. Tell me what I've done right before you pick on what I've done wrong.

I love watching sci-fi, but not so much reading it.

I hate (most) literary fiction, but it is by no means a reflection on my IQ. Call me lowbrow, I don't care.

It finally occurred to me that when the fitness gurus say not to work out after 7:00 pm, they mean normal people, not me. I'm a night-owl, usually up till midnight or later, so 9:00 at night works just fine.

I'm beginning to understand the appeal of adopting dogs that are past the puppy stage.

No matter how hard I try, I will never enjoy cooking.

I am completely OCD about things being organized. But my tolerance for dust on said organized objects is rather high.

Coffee is essential for a happy Kat.

Alone time is even more essential. (Combine the coffee with alone time, and I have heaven.)

I've become completely intolerant of heat and humidity, which is not a good thing considering I live in Florida.

Also not good for a Floridian--I hate the beach.

Even though it is completely and totally hokey, I love the show "Wizards of Waverly Place."

I love the number 13. (Therefore I am stopping my list here.)

There you have it. Thirteen random things about me.

Monday Morning Recap

2011-06-13T03:57:00.001-07:00

If you haven't read the discussion going on at NEW AUTHORS' FELLOWSHIP, head over there now and read my post "Put Down Your Sword...and Write." Then hit Tymothy Longoria's "Writing by Faith: My Writing Testimony." And then, my follow-up, "Christian Fishbowl." Finally(?), this morning Robynn Tolbert posted her thoughts with "The Art of Witness, or A Huge Can of Worms."

I never thought that one post would lead to so much discussion. At least we NAFers seem to all be on the same page. And the comments, as Robynn points out, have all been civil.

Now, a recap of my weekend:

Roller skating for the first time in six years. (With my daughter at her friend's birthday party.) I fell only once, and it was because my own daughter cut in front of me.

Sitting through church feeling like I was stuck on an airplane next to "one of those" people--you know, the kind that thinks half of your seat belongs to them. The kind that wears so much cologne you are gagging. The kind that talks and talks LOUDLY to the person they're with...sigh. I'm lucky I heard a word of the sermon.

Swimsuit shopping. Why do I bother? Why not just poke myself in the eye with a screwdriver? It would be less painful :P.

Dog-sitting for a friend. She's an awesome pooch, but she wants more than anything on the planet to eat my cat. So kitty is locked in one end of the house. At least the guest dog is doing well with our dogs. They are all having fun eating each other's food and sleeping on each other's dog beds--and thinking they are being so sneaky for doing so.

Watching TRON. Mmmm, okay. Was anyone else freaked out by the CG effects used to make Jeff Bridges look younger? Creepy.

Reading. Finished a book called The Maze Runner. It was....meh. So now I'm on to Nor Iron Bars a Cage, by Caprice Hokstad.

There, do with that what you will.

Just Two Things

2011-06-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to report today--just two quick things.

I blogged on New Authors' Fellowship yesterday. Apparently, my most attention-getting post yet. The comments piled up quickly, and a couple of people mentioned they'd be linking to the post on other blogs. Wow. I'm not even sure what to say to that! I was only expressing my views on the way Christian writers seem to choose camps and war over what kind of Christian writing is the "right" kind. If you'd like to read it, here's the link: http://newauthors.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/put-down-your-sword-and-write/

A fellow writer, Jeff Chapman, emailed me to let me know the Table of Contents for the There Was a Crooked House anthology had been posted on the Pill Hill Press Forum. Looks like my story, "Cat Call," made first position, followed immediately by Jeff's story, "The Crooked House of Coins." I'm not sure if that "means" anything, or the order was random or whatever, but it's still rather cool. Looks like the release date will hopefully be sometime in July. Here's the full list of stories and authors:

Cat Call by Kat Heckenbach

The Crooked House of Coins by Jeff Chapman

Glass House by Heidi Mannan

Don’t Let the Rain Come Down by Gerald Costlow

With Breath Too Sweet LaShawn M. Wanak

Unexpected Guests in My Basement by Charles Day

Aliens, Angels, and Arsenic by M. Kaye Moon

The Other Side of Silence by Fiona Glass

Wrong Side Down by Rob Rosen

Her by Walter Campbell

Little Girl Blue by Kevin McClintock

Crooked Time by Samuel Gibb

Summer Schwartz and the Crazy House by David Perlmutter

Remembered Sins by H.J. Hill

Olverston Grange by M. Leon Smith

That’s What Little Boys Are Made Of by Emma Ennis

Every Choice by Mary-Jean Harris

The Mobile Home by Gregory L. Norris

22 Beckett St. by Deb Eskie

I Am But Its Instrument by George Wilhite

Nightmares Every Night by Gary Buettner

Metamorphosis by Eva Glynn Stephens

The Nanny by Susan York Meyers

Eviction Notice by John H. Dromey

Can’t Stop Growing Old by Patrick Shand

The Wyandotte Haunting by K.A. Laity

The Girl in the Crooked House by Katherine Simmons

Clown Fish by Richard Jay Goldstein

True Talent

2011-06-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Earthbow Volume 2 by Sherry Thompson. The book is really making me think. Yes, about the story, and the characters--but I mean beyond that. It's making me think, again, about the subjectivity of the entire publishing industry.

You see, Sherry spent many, many years trying to get her books published. She's fought an uphill battle the entire time. You can read her entire story HERE if you'd like. The point is, she ended up finally being taken on by a small publisher because her attempts at getting published by larger houses failed. Even an agent wasn't able to help her. Even placing third in the speculative category of the ACFW Genesis contest in 2006 did no good.

Many agents and editors and even published authors will tell you that it must be her writing. Something isn't up to snuff or she would have landed a bigger publisher. Something that is the fault of the writer.

Really?

Sherry's writing is fabulous. Not just good. Not just publishable. Seabird--the first book in the series--immediately became one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time. It was one of those books I began to read, and before long had been completely swept away.

And yet, she struggled to find a publisher. I simply don't get it.

I'll tell you this--Sherry gives me hope. She may be saddled to a small press that doesn't have huge reach. She may not be making best-seller lists (*yet*). But there is NOTHING that would convince me it's because of lack of talent--which tells me that no one can point a finger at me and tell me with 100% certainty that the reason I'm not getting snatched up by a big publisher is lack of talent. And that is enough to make me keep going.

Sherry, you have truly been an inspiration to me. And big publisher or not, big sales or not, you are one of my favorite writers ever.

Folks, please, check out Seabird and Earthbow Volumes 1 and 2. You won't be sorry.

Amazon links: Seabird, Earthbow 1, and Earthbow 2.

If I Were....

2011-05-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

I saw this on my dear friend's blog, The Ranunculus Turtle, and just had to steal it. Visit her list (the link in the last sentence will take you right there), then come back and read my version:

If I were a month, I’d be December.
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Monday.
If I were a time of day, I'd be Midnight.
If I were a planet, I’d be Pluto.
If I were a sea animal, I’d be a Stingray.
If I were a direction, I’d be West.
If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be a Desk Chair.
If I were a liquid, I’d be Red Wine.
If I were a gemstone, I’d be a Ruby.
If I were a tree, I’d be an Oak.
If I were a tool, I’d be Pliers.
If I were a flower, I’d be a White Carnation.
If I were a kind of weather, I would be a Rain Storm.
If I were a musical instrument, I’d be an Acoustic Guitar.
If I were a color, I’d be Dark Red.
If I were an emotion, I’d be Somber.
If I were a fruit, I’d be a Kiwi.
If I were a sound, I’d be Pages Turning.
If I were an element, I’d be Silver.
If I were a car, I’d be a 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom II.
If I were a food, I’d be Mexican.
If I were a place, I’d be a Forest.
If I were a material, I’d be Organic Cotton.
If I were a taste, I’d be Spicy.
If I were a scent, I’d be Cinnamon.
If I were an object, I’d be a Drawing Pencil.
If I were a facial expression, I’d be a Scowl.
If I were a song, I’d be “The Boxer.”
If I were a pair of shoes, I would be Black Combat Boots.

(PS--I left out "If I were a body part" on purpose. Cos, well, ick. Guess that says something about me, too, eh?)

Monday "Me"

2011-05-23T06:42:00.001-07:00

I wish on this Monday-ish of mornings I had something profound to write here. But, alas, I am going to just catch you up on things.

My short story "Cat Call" (flash fiction weighing in at a whopping 490 words) has been accepted by Pill Hill Press for their upcoming anthology, There Was a Crooked House. Stories had to either be about a crooked house or be inspired by the cover art:

I opted for the cover art inspiration route. That's all I will say for now. Oh, and, no, I don't know a release date yet.

I do, however, know that my story in Chicken Soup: Just for Preteens will come out on July 26.

Since we're on the subject of short stories, please go check out Avenir Eclectia. I've got several stories up there, and more to come. It's sci-fi, and the stories are all very short. If you like the world created over there, try writing something yourself and submit it! And please "follow" :D.

Lastly, I've added to my Zazzle store. Yep, if you didn't already know, you can buy some of my artwork on t-shirts and such. Right now it's just my odd assortment of beetles. (Or, rather, my assortment of odd beetles!) The latest design was inspired by my recent obsession with Dr. Who.

That's all for now. (What, that's not enough?)

Top it with Cheese

2011-05-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

So, I let a fellow writer read Finding Angel recently. It was only fair, as I had read her entire manuscript and critiqued it from beginning to end. She had some awesome things to say about Finding Angel...except for a few specific scenes.

She said they were missing cheese.

My response: "Huh?"

She explained that she meant the melodrama. The somewhat overly intense use of emotion at times of serious conflict. I thought I got what she was saying, kinda.

Had I been to stingy with emotion?

I opened my document to the first scene she mentioned. Lo and behold, she was right. The chapter before the scene read pretty intensely, with lots of emotion from Angel until...well, until the scene where she should have been completely overwhelmed, but totally wasn't.

I gave it a tremendous amount of thought. I realized a few things:

1) I was relying too much on the events that these scenes highlighted to grab the reader. But no matter what is happening, the reader isn't going to feel it unless the protag feels it.

2) I'd been holding back because I didn't want Angel to be a crybaby. Maybe because I'd read (part of) Twilight and told myself, "Oh, no, I will NOT let my character be such a whiny wuss." But I pulled back too far and went the other way. Not everywhere, just the scenes where the emotion should be running really high. Can you say "backward"?

3) I didn't include enough descriptive physical detail. The scenes are fast-paced, and I must have thought that adding that detail would slow it down for the reader. Hah! You can, apparently, go overboard with killing your darlings.

So....I added back in some detail and ramped up the emotional element. Really got inside Angel's head at those moments even though some of it centered more around other characters. I made sure to read other parts, like those leading up. And it seems I did have all the necessary elements elsewhere--I've got the meat and other ingredients in good amount. The only thing missing was the cheese.

Throw Out the Bones

2011-05-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

Authors hear two bits of advice quite often:

1) Read widely--as in, multiple genres, not just that of your own writing.

2) Read in your genre. A lot. Everything you can get your hands on.

So which is it? I know, the answer is obvious. It's both. But when you hear these bits of advice they never seem to be paired together. More often than not, authors are told one or the other in blog posts or writing books, or simply comments by other authors. Yet, they must go hand-in-hand.

If you don't read your own genre, you won't know your competition well enough to at least keep up with them. You must keep up with current conventions as well as the history of story and style of your genre.

At the same time, if you limit yourself to reading only that genre, you may find yourself simply rewriting what's already out there (likely in overabundance). Reading outside your genre opens you up to new ideas and makes sure your writing doesn't get stale.

This translates over to finding critique partners, but it's not quite as evenly balanced on the critique side. Seeking critters outside your genre gives you fresh insight. But, here's the issue I've found--if they don't read my genre at all, they can't give me solid advice. Maybe they can help me straighten out an awkward sentence, or find typos, or let me know overall if they like what I'm writing.

But if they don't have a clue about common fantasy or horror elements, they will try to "correct" where there is no correction needed. I'm not saying their critique isn't useful, but as genre writers we must be knowledgeable about our domain, so that we know what advice to follow and what to ignore.

This goes for age labels as well. If someone has never read a single YA or teen novel, and you write YA, then I guarantee that critter will point things out to you from a solely adult-fiction-writer perspective. Again, not saying don't seek their critique, but be selective about what advice you follow.

A friend of mine once said to me after critiquing Finding Angel, "Keep the fish and throw out the bones." Great advice--but you have to be able to tell the difference first.

Excuses

2011-05-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

So...I haven't blogged in about a week. First, it was not having anything to say. Then, we went out of town (Universal Studios for three days--the Wizarding World of Harry Potter--oh, yeah). After that it was two days of family gatherings because my grandmother passed away. That was followed by two days of Blogger being futsy.

There, those are my excuses. Rack them up with all the other excuses I've given lately for not writing. For slacking off on homeschooling. For not submitting short stories. For not marketing the stuff I have out there now. For not going to the homeschool park. For not keeping up with emails. For barely reading. For...

The truth is, I've been feeling completely burnt out lately. I've been writing for nearly four years now, and homeschooling for six. I. Am. Tired. It's as if all my creative energy burst out in the beginning and has slowed to a trickle, taking my energy with it.

No worries--I'm not giving up. Although the thought has surely crossed my mind. But I can't give up. I'm one of those people who would hate myself more if I gave up than if I spent the rest of my life fruitlessly chasing this dream. I'd spend forever wondering if things would have turned around if only I'd sent out just one more query, spent just one more day writing.

I've been making excuses, but it's only temporary. I wrote a whole new short story this week--about 1800 words long. And I've submitted two others that have been sitting here. So, slowly but surely, I'm pushing the excuses to the side.

Wibbly Wobbly Bloggy Woggy Stuff

2011-05-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog should tell you two things:

First, I've been watching a heck of a lot of Dr. Who lately. My library has all the latest series (1-5) on DVD and we've been watching a couple of episodes every night or so. I am officially addicted.

Second, this post will be rather rambly. Expect sudden jumps in topic. If you have back or neck problems, or are pregnant or prone to motion sickness, you may wait for your loved ones at the end of the ride.

OK, here goes....

I've been rather blocked lately as far as writing goes, but yesterday I finally got 300+ words written on a short story. Yay! If you are a writer, you know what this means. I was also hit out of the blue as I was falling asleep with an idea for another short story. Now, to find some time for that one, too :P.

Speaking of ideas, I have this really cool idea for a beetle drawing. I won't tell you about it, but I'll show you when I get it done. Again, I need time that I haven't had lately, but that is coming.

Why the obsession with beetles? Well, I'm not even sure. I just think they're cool to look at. They seem to be, along with the reptiles, the thing I am drawn to when visiting museums. No, I'm not keen on holding the little buggers. Just looking at them, pinned on their little display boards. Cruel, I know.

Apparently my last two blogs weren't very popular. Or everyone has been busy. I'm not surprised--on both counts. But they were things I felt I needed to say. I'm not upset at the lack of feedback, though. 'Tis the nature of blogging. Besides, I'm feeling much less ornery today.

My kids have been watching the Twilight movies as I check them out from the library. I already reviewed the first one on here. I won't bother with the second one. My daughter liked it--of course, she's eight. My son and husband hated it. As did I. Although, I thought it slightly better than the first. I realized, at the end, when Edward became a dominant character in the story again, that it was his absence I was enjoying. Oh, and the whole shirtless werewolf thing--can you say, "Tacky?"

Bin Laden. Yep, I've said it. I don't normally have anything to say about politics, because, to be honest, I'm not as informed as the people who love posting about politics. But I wanted to say, one more time, as I posted on FB: His death does not mean this is over. He wasn't the wicked witch of the west. His evil soldiers and flying monkeys will not be broken out of his spell. One of them will, however step into his place. So, whether you're celebrating or not, or arguing about whether we should be celebrating or not, is beside the point, imho.

I am desperately trying to get through my to-read pile of physical books on my shelf. Then I intend to jump back on my Nook and read the books I've not read there. I just finished Needful Things by Stephen King. I'm normally a fast reader, but that book took me ages to get through. Worth it in the end, but I think if ole Steve were to go back and look through it, he'd grimace at the amateurish stuff in there. If he'd cut the -ly adverbs, cliches, and redundant sentences, the book would be half the length.

Hm, I think this post has gotten long enough. Not much more to talk about at present anyway. Things happening, sure, but can't tell you all of them yet. Be patient, my pretties.

Until next time....

A Writer Understands

2011-05-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

I held back from blogging yesterday because I was feeling, well, crummy. Not sick...whiny. Grumpy. Maybe it was the new moon--sometimes I think those are worse than full moons when it comes to throwing my emotions off-kilter. (Yes, I believe the moon affects people. Work in retail long enough, and you'll see. The kooks all come out at the full moon. And my kids go wild the week before. Call me crazy, I don't care.)

So, instead of blogging, I called a writer friend. Someone who can understand the way I feel. The frustration that comes along with this journey toward publication. It's not just dealing with rejection letters. It's the waiting, even when you know something good is coming. It' s lulls in our writing. Call it being blocked if you will. The point is, only another writer understands.

Only another writer understands the importance of marketing, and the pure frustration over hating it at the same time. Only another writer understands the *need* to write, the absolute drive, when there is nothing given in return--no publication, no money, only a handful of congratulations, and more than a few looks that say, "Yeah, so?"

Only another writer understands the guilt that goes along with spending so much time on a seemingly fruitless endeavor. Only another writer understands the joy of seeing their name in print, even when there is no payment or real recognition for that story.

Non-writers can't quite wrap their minds around this most of the time. They don't see how important writing is to us, how badly we want to make it, how it can be worth so much unpaid time and effort when something like 98% of books never see the light of day.

I have my "non-writer" moments where I can't see beyond that either. Most of me sees this as something I simply must do. I've tasted the wine, and it's good. I'm not putting the glass down. I am absolutely driven to see my name on the spine of a book. And someday, I want to see that book on the shelf of a brick and mortar bookstore, so I am willing to work my tail off.

But another part of me wants to start getting paid for my writing--not just bits and pieces of it, like now, but all of it. I'm tired of giving away my writing. I'm tired of feeling like this will have to be a perpetual hobby. Part of me says it's just not worth it! I have a family to care for. I have other stuff that could easily fill my time. When my kids get a little older, I can go get a job somewhere. Great, you say, that can fund my writing. Sure--but will I have time left to write?

It boils down to this: It's not fair that I get next to nothing for doing all this IF my writing is something other people want to read. And if it's not...then I have no business doing this at all!

So, there. That is the crux of my dilemma yesterday, the reason for my rotten mood. Venting to my writer friend helped. Being understood helped. It cleared my head a bit, and made me take stock of how much I've put into this and my willingness--or lack thereof--to walk away from it all.

A blog post would have given me a chance to spew it all out, too. But it would have come across as an online, and most likely wordy, temper tantrum. Much better to have those in private--or in the ear of a friend. A writer friend who can smack me with some reality. A writer friend who understands.

With Sincerity

2011-05-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

We went out to dinner last night and my daughter spied a guy with an interesting haircut. She whispered to me, “Does that guy have a faux-hawk?” If you don’t know what that is, it’s a fake mohawk—hair combed and gelled to look like a mohawk without the sides actually shaved. My son commented that real mohawks (like the pic to the right) look freaky. I kept my mouth shut about the fact that three of my ex-boyfriends had real mohawks…but what I did say was, “Faux-hawks are for people who want to be freaks but don’t have the guts.”

Oddly, this is representative of something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. People who want to be something they’re not, something they don’t really have the stomach for. More commonly called a “poser.”

I found this definition of “poser” on UrbanDictionary.com:

“…someone who attempts to be part of a clique, but out of a desire to be recognized as a member of that clique rather than sincerity.”

A desire to be recognized.

As a member of a clique.

But without sincerity.

I thought the whole “clique” thing ended with high school. I was wrong. It seems to just go on forever, but on a bigger scale. And it’s quite prolific in the writing community. In some ways it works—the writing world is split into genres and those of like genres hang together. In a few of my old blog posts, I compared the average bookstore with a high school cafeteria. The different fiction genres are like the cafeteria tables. For example, the cheerleader table would be the romance section, the metal-head table would be the horror section, science geeks are the sci-fi books….you get the picture.

One type of person I forgot, though, is the “poser.”

Just like in high school, the writing community has posers. Writers who want to come off as being cutting-edge in a certain genre, when they really haven’t a clue about that type of fiction. Or they want to present themselves a certain way, to try to gain readers. Author A sees Author B who is gaining traction because of their personal style or whatever, so Author A starts imitating Author B. I have personally seen some writers do unscrupulous things to prove they belong in a certain group—hypocritical things, imho.

I hope that I have never come across this way. The reason I came up with the whole high school cafeteria analogy is that I didn’t fit into any one group when I was in high school. I bridged the nerd table and the punk/new-wave/goth—aka freak—table because I was who I was and nothing more. I loved my math and science geek side as much as my freaky, self-expressing artist side. And I was accepted by both groups because I was sincere. I hope you folks can still see that about me.

I have struggled with the self-promotion aspect of writing because of this reason. I don’t like trying to “show” people who I am in a way that is meant to “sell” myself. I want to just be who I am. I blog about all kinds of weirdness that pops into my head—like faux-hawks on guys in restaurants—but I’ve never written a blog post for the sole purpose of gaining attention. (At least that I’m aware. If you remember any that came across that way, let me know!) And if you go on Facebook, you’re going to just see little ole me. I may not post everything on there, because I consider my private life private, and my kids too young to be splattered across the internet. Nor do I post about politics and certain controversies because I think they have been debated to death and don’t like to argue for the sake of arguing. But for the most part I welcome people right into my head. Enter at your own risk, of course—you might not like what you find here.

That brings me to another point. Saying that not everyone liked me in high school would be an understatement. Most people outside of my two cliques thought I was bizarre—and they let me know in no uncertain terms. I got even more extreme after high school, and so did the reactions. I once had a mom drag her kid off the sidewalk to avoid walking past me. I got called names by passing cars. The thing is, it didn’t bother me.

And it still doesn’t bother me. I don’t have half my head buzzed anymore, nor do I still wear black combat boots, thick black eyeliner, and Goth clothes. But apparently there are ghosts of that in me, which people have noticed and commented on. Some seem to think it is cool, while others see those things as flaws. That’s fine. I figure I want people to like me for who I am, and if they don’t, then maybe they’re not people I’m going to like.

Same goes for my writing. I have “fans” already for my short stories and my unpublished novel, but not everyone gets my writing. Some think it’s too weird, too dark, depressing. And that’s fine. I don’t expect the whole world to love my writing, much less all of me. I won’t pretend, either, that I’m beloved for all that I am either. I will not “brand” myself by posing, by creating a fake appearance, by making it look as though I’m accepted into a clique of writers or a particular genre. I open up my heart and mind in my writing. You may like it or not. You can take it or leave it. You can tell me you hate it or keep it to yourself. I’m not just standing here, looking like this, so you won’t be breaking a shell. No faux-hawks here. This is the real me.

Invaded by Sparkly Vamps

2011-04-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

What have I done? My kids now like the Twilight movie.

I checked out the DVD from the library. Why? Well, because I never could finish the book (but you know that), and I wanted to be fair, to see the story to the end, and see the other aspect of this (ridiculous) phenomenon. I read nonfiction books by people with opposing viewpoints so I can be educated on both sides of a debate, and I consider this something along those lines. In other words, I can't justifiably say the movie is stupid if I've never seen it. (And, I thought it'd be fun to heckle.)

Now I've seen it. Now I'm justified. I am also horrified because my kids do not share my disdain.

I will admit, the movie wasn't *quite* as awful as I expected. There were even a few scenes I enjoyed. The one in the ballet studio was pretty cool, and the very end in the gazebo at the prom. Those were the only places in the whole movie, though, where I bought the characters. The rest of the time I kept thinking that the vamps looked like pretty mimes, and Edward in particular looked like a tortured James Dean wanna be. And the expressions Bella kept making--what is with all the erratic blinking and facial twitches? Yes, I found her just as annoying in the movie as I did in the book.

Also, the whole scene where Bella wakes up with Edward in her bedroom--can you say stalker? That scene made me want to scream out to every girl on the planet. You see, it looks all romantic I guess on screen like that--I personally found it creepy--but in real life if a guy were to do that he's probably a psycho.

The only thing that truly surprised me was the Cullen family. I didn't get far enough into the book to realize the "parents" and "siblings" were actually nice. (Well, except for the one blond, who seemed to have a serious attitude problem.) I knew from the book that they only ate animal blood, but I had no idea that the father was such a genuine guy, and that the whole family accepted Bella and even risked their "lives" to save her. (Well, blondie was a little resistant :P.) That bit did soften my heart just a tad.

It did not, however, make me want to run out and get the other movies. My kids, on the other hand...I guess I'll just have to hope they forget. At least they only asked to "rent" the next movie--they know better than to think I'd consider buying it!

The Sand is Always Whiter on the Other Side

2011-04-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know--the saying is technically "The grass is always greener on the other side." But I live in Florida. And for the last week I was camping with my family at Fort Desoto, which is right on the water. We also spent a good amount of time at St. Pete beach and Clearwater beach. I had fun, but I'm not really a beach person. I thought today, while I'm completely wiped out from the trip, I'd share why:

Sunscreen. It is sticky and greasy. Yes, some is less so, but none is completely not so. It's expensive, too. And no matter how you slice it, it's chock-full of chemicals. And it burns when it drips into your eyes. Which brings me to...

Sweat. Yep, you go to the beach in Florida any time other than February and you will sweat. And it just coats your skin because Florida is so humid. So, now you're sticky and sweaty...time for....

Sand. It's so white and pretty to look at. But when it's stuck to your sticky, sweaty skin it's not so pretty. When it's worming its way into every crack and crevice it's no fun either. And when the sun beats down on it, it gets hot. Burn the bottom of your feet hot. And so does....

Pavement. However hot the sand is, the pavement is at least twice as hot. And in Florida, it's everywhere. If there's room, someone will come along and pave every bit of land they can. Yet there is an extreme....

Lack of parking. I think there must be a law on the books somewhere that says no shop or restaurant is allowed more than two parking spaces in St. Pete, and in Clearwater they're allowed none. Everything is metered, so you get to walk for miles on that hot pavement, sticky and sweaty and covered in sand, in order to get to your car. And while you're walking, watch out for....

Tourists who have no clue where they're going. Seriously, it sometimes seems that every state in the US is determined to send their worst drivers to Florida. Although, in their defense, we have to consider.....

Florida roads, and thereby their planners, which make it impossible for anyone, including native Floridians, to find their way around. Can you say no common sense? How about pointless round-abouts? And speaking of pointless....

Palm trees. They provide no shade. They provide no food (not here, anyway). They are not, technically, even trees. Yep, they are in the grass family. They are really overgrown weeds. Which brings me to the wildlife....

Jellyfish and sharks. They scare the life out of me. The beach is pretty safe when it comes to sharks, although I have seen them myself right there by the water--watched a friend of mine dash into the waves to snatch his five-year-old son out of the way of one. And jellyfish are just creepy. Not quite as creepy as...

Speedos. Why is it that those suits are only ever worn by the people who have the farthest thing in the world from a swimmer's body? This is not a matter for political correctness--it's simple math: the more surface area you have, the more material you need to cover the same percentage of skin.

OK....I guess that's probably enough, eh? I could list a few more things, like dirty beach restrooms with no soap, overpriced shops filled with obscene t-shirts, and the fact that high-rise condos and hotels are taking over so you can no longer even see the beach unless you pay $200 a night to do so.

*BUT*

What makes up for all of the above:

Eating grouper sandwiches and gator nuggets, and sipping a pina colada, on an outside deck, while listening to cover bands who play eighties music and Jimmy Buffet as the sun sets.

A Weird, Writerly, Winterly Week

2011-04-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

This week has been kinda weird. The days have both drifted and zipped by at the same time. I got *some* writing done, but have focused more of my writerly energy on copy-editing a manuscript for someone else.

Oh, no. Hand-slap, Kat. This is not a "manuscript." It has earned the status of full-fledged BOOK, and will be released on June 1st through Splashdown Books' new imprint Darkwater.

"What book is it?" you ask. It's called Winter, and the author is Keven Newsome, founder of New Authors' Fellowship (you know, that group blog of which I'm a member--and if you are not, you *should* be following!).

I read the manuscript--back when that's what it was, before Grace Bridges from Splashdown got her hands on it. I knew--let me repeat--I knew--she'd fall in love with it. It took all my restraint to not rave and insist she publish it--she needed to make her own decision, of course, and I wanted no accusations of trying to influence. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and simply told her I had a feeling I knew what she'd think.

I was right, of course!

I've had to keep my mouth shut about the contract, the book cover design (amazing work by Holly Heisey!)...all of it, because Keven wanted a big reveal. He had plans...including an awesome trailer. Which you can view at the end of this post.

What I want to say really quickly before that, though, is how excited I am about this. The book rocks. It is close to home for me because the main character is Goth. I was never full-fledged Goth, but I teetered on the edge for some time. I can really relate to her. And the story itself is good. Dark, suspenseful. Perfect for a premier release at Darkwater.

Also, props to the editor who is combing through Winter before me--Kristen Stieffel, who is not leaving much for me to actually edit :P. She's doing an amazing job! I'm just more brutal when it comes to "chop, chop, kill your darlings." I've had another crit partner dub me "The Hacker." What I say to that--MY writing wouldn't be what it is if I hadn't had a "hacker" of my own go after it. I chop-chop out of love, because I have full faith in Winter.

OK, the time has come. We are at the end of my post, and I leave you with the trailer for Winter, by Keven Newsome: