Just an end of the month round up today. At the start of January, I told you five things I wanted to get done. Here's how that went for me...
1. Write and edit a lust bite length story for Total-e-bound. I'd like to get that written by the end of this week and submitted around the middle of the month all going well. 10-15k. This one went well. Gaydar was submitted and accepted earlier this month. Release date 30th March.
2. Edit an anthology submission I've already written and get that sent off by the end of the month. It stands at 15k at the moment, I can go up to 20 if I need to. Checked the cut off date and moved the anthology sub back to next month. Decided to do Sealing the deal instead. That's undergoing a final edit and will go off early next month.
3. Write two more lust bite length stories and set them aside to be edited at a later date. The first drafts should be 10k each. Wrote one. Realised I don't need to write the other one until this one has gone off to the publishers. Used the time to extend Sealing the deal by 8k instead.
4. Write two anthology subs to be edited later in the year. One first draft needs to be 10k, the other needs to be 15k. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be doing these anthologies or not, the ideas I had seem to be growing into novels. I decided to write Fair Play instead. I should finish the first draft tomorrow.
5. Spend at least a little bit of time doing things that aren't writing. More about that next week. My energy levels crashed, so I spent a lot more time doing nothing but feeling a little bit sorry for myself than I planned. Does that count?
Not fantastic over all. Next month I'm working on setting better goals :)
Have a good weekend everyone!
Friday, 30 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Word of the week: Kink (and the One True Way)
Depending on your definition, kink can mean anything that isn't vanilla or it can mean anything related to BDSM.
I'm going to work on the theory that not everyone knows what all abbreviations stand for, so I'm going to put down the full versions as a starting point.
BDSM - Bondage and Disciple. Dominance and Submission. Sadism and Masochism. (All these words will get their own week in due course *Grin*.)
Other things that might be included under the kinky umbrella depending on where you draw your lines - voyeurism, exhibitionism, fetishes, role play, multiple partners, partners which aren't your usual gender of preference, (fill in your own kinky preference here)...
I can be a pretty long list. There's a reason why it needs to be a long list.
The One True Way - it doesn't exist.
There is no right way or wrong way to kink. The only limit I would put in place is that whatever happens has to be either SSC (Safe, sane and consensual) or RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink) depending on your abbreviation of choice. Basically, everyone involved has to have given their full and informed consent to whatever is going to take place. (Which also means they have to be over the age of consent, by the way.)
If everyone is enjoying it, whatever they want to do is fine with me. Unfortunately, a lot of people can't say the same. You'll find a lot of people believe that their way is the right way and that anyone who does things differently isn't doing it right - their way is the One True Way.
You're not a proper submissive unless you... You're not a true master if you don't...
I don't believe in that sort of idea, and you won't find that in my books. My characters are individuals, with their own tastes and kinks, they don't agree with each other on everything.
Here's a little example, with quotes taken from two of my stories - each is spoken by the dominant.
Character A - “The moment you put your name to this contract, you will call me sir whenever we are alone together – no exceptions.”
Character B - “No (you won't call me sir). I don’t need someone to pat me on the head and tell me I’m dominant. I know I am. My surname will do nicely. You’ll call me Quinn while you wear the collar.”
It's a little thing, I know, but there are people out there who really believe that if a dominant doesn't demand that his lover call him by a title, they aren't a real dominant.
Another common one (specifically for m/m stories) is that dominants don't bottom, submissives don't top. In my stories, it isn't always that simple. It's about the individual characters and not what someone else thinks.
I suppose this leads on quite nicely to what kink means in my books.
It's very simple.
I define my story as BDSM or Kink if the relationship between the two main characters is based on dominance and submission.
Sometimes it's a very formal arrangement - they live the whole lifestyle together and the submissive has agreed to submit to the dominant 24/7. Some times it's just about who calls the shots and who wears the handcuffs during sex. But it's the D/s dynamic that most important to me, what defines the story for me.
What else do I write about?
Bondage to a greater or lesser extend turns up in most of the books in one form or another, but not in all of them.
Discipline makes an appearance as and when it fits the story line.
S&M doesn't turn up quite so often, and (with one or two exceptions) it's usually very mild when it does. When it is more hard core, it's because that's what they both enjoy.
It's probably easier to take each thing one at a time when I go through the different words - or this post is going to turn into an epic.
So that's what I'm going to do next.
Tune in next Wednesday for an over view of Bondage and how it's used in my books. See you then.
...
Other news:
I've finished extending Sealing the Deal into a novella. I think it needs at least two edits through before I can print it out.
Fair play is turning into a nice little story, should finish it by the end of the month, maybe earlier if editing the other one doesn't take up all my time.
I'm going to work on the theory that not everyone knows what all abbreviations stand for, so I'm going to put down the full versions as a starting point.
BDSM - Bondage and Disciple. Dominance and Submission. Sadism and Masochism. (All these words will get their own week in due course *Grin*.)
Other things that might be included under the kinky umbrella depending on where you draw your lines - voyeurism, exhibitionism, fetishes, role play, multiple partners, partners which aren't your usual gender of preference, (fill in your own kinky preference here)...
I can be a pretty long list. There's a reason why it needs to be a long list.
The One True Way - it doesn't exist.
There is no right way or wrong way to kink. The only limit I would put in place is that whatever happens has to be either SSC (Safe, sane and consensual) or RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink) depending on your abbreviation of choice. Basically, everyone involved has to have given their full and informed consent to whatever is going to take place. (Which also means they have to be over the age of consent, by the way.)
If everyone is enjoying it, whatever they want to do is fine with me. Unfortunately, a lot of people can't say the same. You'll find a lot of people believe that their way is the right way and that anyone who does things differently isn't doing it right - their way is the One True Way.
You're not a proper submissive unless you... You're not a true master if you don't...
I don't believe in that sort of idea, and you won't find that in my books. My characters are individuals, with their own tastes and kinks, they don't agree with each other on everything.
Here's a little example, with quotes taken from two of my stories - each is spoken by the dominant.
Character A - “The moment you put your name to this contract, you will call me sir whenever we are alone together – no exceptions.”
Character B - “No (you won't call me sir). I don’t need someone to pat me on the head and tell me I’m dominant. I know I am. My surname will do nicely. You’ll call me Quinn while you wear the collar.”
It's a little thing, I know, but there are people out there who really believe that if a dominant doesn't demand that his lover call him by a title, they aren't a real dominant.
Another common one (specifically for m/m stories) is that dominants don't bottom, submissives don't top. In my stories, it isn't always that simple. It's about the individual characters and not what someone else thinks.
I suppose this leads on quite nicely to what kink means in my books.
It's very simple.
I define my story as BDSM or Kink if the relationship between the two main characters is based on dominance and submission.
Sometimes it's a very formal arrangement - they live the whole lifestyle together and the submissive has agreed to submit to the dominant 24/7. Some times it's just about who calls the shots and who wears the handcuffs during sex. But it's the D/s dynamic that most important to me, what defines the story for me.
What else do I write about?
Bondage to a greater or lesser extend turns up in most of the books in one form or another, but not in all of them.
Discipline makes an appearance as and when it fits the story line.
S&M doesn't turn up quite so often, and (with one or two exceptions) it's usually very mild when it does. When it is more hard core, it's because that's what they both enjoy.
It's probably easier to take each thing one at a time when I go through the different words - or this post is going to turn into an epic.
So that's what I'm going to do next.
Tune in next Wednesday for an over view of Bondage and how it's used in my books. See you then.
...
Other news:
I've finished extending Sealing the Deal into a novella. I think it needs at least two edits through before I can print it out.
Fair play is turning into a nice little story, should finish it by the end of the month, maybe earlier if editing the other one doesn't take up all my time.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Confessions of a rookie author + Kink, love and Valentine's Romance
My posts for the day are live on the respective sites.
Confessions of a Rookie Author on Writer's Evolution.
Kink, love and Valentine's Romance on Hitting the Hotspot.
Do drop by if you get the chance :)
Confessions of a Rookie Author on Writer's Evolution.
Kink, love and Valentine's Romance on Hitting the Hotspot.
Do drop by if you get the chance :)
Monday, 26 January 2009
Memo: Evolution, Hotspots and Grips
Hi everyone,
Straight in to news for the week.
Monday - Nothing happening for new releases on the TEB website - accept that The Gift fell off the bottom of the list of new releases :,-( lol. Next week Turquoise and Leather should be up there. Yay!
Tuesday - I'll be on the Writer's Evolution blog talking about useful books for writers. Andrea started us off today.
More Tuesday - I'll also be on TEB's Hitting the Hotspot blog talking about Secret Service, which will be out on Feb 9th with TEB, and sharing an excerpt of the story.
Wednesday - The word of the week is Kink. I'll be talking about what the word means in general, how I define it in my books. Part of the post will also be about the idea of the One True Way and why I think it's a load of rubbish.
Thursday - Will be the last Thursday that I'm not doing a post. Week Thursday I'll be taking over Thursdays on the Oh Get a Grip! blog. This week the current writers are saying their good byes - well worth looking in on if you get the chance.
Friday - I'll be back on this blog doing a round up of my month and looking back to the start of the month to see if I managed to do half of what I said I was aiming to do.
Saturday - Since it's the last day of the month, this is when I'm tentatively hoping to send Sealing the Deal off. Not sure if it's going to happen or not at this point. I've not been so good health wise, so it might be my first sub of February rather than my last one of January - especially since it's now a novella rather than the short I was aiming for.
Sunday - Is very much a topic for another month, lol. I can't believe it's so close to February already!
And that's it for the week :)
...
Other news:
Writing Project: I'm on the last chapter of Fair Play. It's progressing quite nicely. It's 14,000 at the moment and I'm aiming to keep this draft under 20,000 words.
Editing Project: I need to extend the story by about 2,000 words to make sure it falls well within the novella length. If my energy holds out, I'll do some of that tonight. Some editing has been done already - a few more goes through and I should be ready to print before too long.
Admin Project: I'm still toying with the idea of setting up a Yahoo group/Newsletter. Not sure if it would be worth it, or if anyone would join in/want to read it. A bit more thinking needed on this topic before I make any decisions...
Have a good Monday everyone :)
Straight in to news for the week.
Monday - Nothing happening for new releases on the TEB website - accept that The Gift fell off the bottom of the list of new releases :,-( lol. Next week Turquoise and Leather should be up there. Yay!
Tuesday - I'll be on the Writer's Evolution blog talking about useful books for writers. Andrea started us off today.
More Tuesday - I'll also be on TEB's Hitting the Hotspot blog talking about Secret Service, which will be out on Feb 9th with TEB, and sharing an excerpt of the story.
Wednesday - The word of the week is Kink. I'll be talking about what the word means in general, how I define it in my books. Part of the post will also be about the idea of the One True Way and why I think it's a load of rubbish.
Thursday - Will be the last Thursday that I'm not doing a post. Week Thursday I'll be taking over Thursdays on the Oh Get a Grip! blog. This week the current writers are saying their good byes - well worth looking in on if you get the chance.
Friday - I'll be back on this blog doing a round up of my month and looking back to the start of the month to see if I managed to do half of what I said I was aiming to do.
Saturday - Since it's the last day of the month, this is when I'm tentatively hoping to send Sealing the Deal off. Not sure if it's going to happen or not at this point. I've not been so good health wise, so it might be my first sub of February rather than my last one of January - especially since it's now a novella rather than the short I was aiming for.
Sunday - Is very much a topic for another month, lol. I can't believe it's so close to February already!
And that's it for the week :)
...
Other news:
Writing Project: I'm on the last chapter of Fair Play. It's progressing quite nicely. It's 14,000 at the moment and I'm aiming to keep this draft under 20,000 words.
Editing Project: I need to extend the story by about 2,000 words to make sure it falls well within the novella length. If my energy holds out, I'll do some of that tonight. Some editing has been done already - a few more goes through and I should be ready to print before too long.
Admin Project: I'm still toying with the idea of setting up a Yahoo group/Newsletter. Not sure if it would be worth it, or if anyone would join in/want to read it. A bit more thinking needed on this topic before I make any decisions...
Have a good Monday everyone :)
Friday, 23 January 2009
Friday's Five things it's good to know when you start a book.
I've always thought of myself as someone who just wrote without doing much planning first. But, lately I've noticed there are five things I've got into the habit of getting straight in my head before I start to actually write a story - in no particular order.
1. Word count of the first draft. If I don't have a word count in mind, I tend to go off on tangents. If I know I have 15,000 words in which all the things I want to happen need to happen, it keeps me on track and focused on the main points of the story. I often end up coming back to put in details, emotions, and whole scenes, but it's easier to write short and add later than it is to write long and have to cut and tighten all over the place.
2. Who's point of view. For shortish stories I like to pick a character and stick to their point of view all the way through. If it's longer or neccessary in a short, I like to have the point of views balanced about evenly. Ideally, it's great to know at which points in the story the pov switches are going to occur too.
3. How many chapters and what needs to happen in each one. Again, this is about keeping my focus. I also like to put a little mini hook at the end of each chapter - if I can't find an appropriate hook in close to the right place, I start to worry - something interesting should be happening at some point!
4. Character names. Characters don't gel until you give them the right name. I had this with a character recently - I went through two drafts with him being a Cody and he just wasn't right. I converted him to a Matt and snap - he clicked perfectly. (By the way, Matt is in Gaydar, Cody has been reincarnated into a character in another book - a character that suits the name much better.)
5. Title. I don't like to start a story without knowing what the title can be. I don't know what to call it in my to do lists, I don't know what to label the files and it messes with my whole system. I also find the title sets the tone, and I like to mention the title somewhere in the text. But yeah, the main thing in the admin one.
And there it is.
It all sounds very organised, but it's not actually like that. As often or not I miss out some or nearly all of the points on the list. But at least I have a theory I'm working on - that's something :)
(I may well expand this post tomorrow since it's almost midnight and this was a bit of a last minute rush.)
...
Other news:
Contracts were filed on Gaydar and In the Heat of the Moment. They are officially accepted. Gaydar has also been edited and submitted to final.
Still writing Fair Play - Getting towards the last chapter of that.
Still editing Sealing the Deal - It's grown from a short into a novella, but it's coming along nicely. Still keeping my fingers crossed that it will go off at the end of the month.
1. Word count of the first draft. If I don't have a word count in mind, I tend to go off on tangents. If I know I have 15,000 words in which all the things I want to happen need to happen, it keeps me on track and focused on the main points of the story. I often end up coming back to put in details, emotions, and whole scenes, but it's easier to write short and add later than it is to write long and have to cut and tighten all over the place.
2. Who's point of view. For shortish stories I like to pick a character and stick to their point of view all the way through. If it's longer or neccessary in a short, I like to have the point of views balanced about evenly. Ideally, it's great to know at which points in the story the pov switches are going to occur too.
3. How many chapters and what needs to happen in each one. Again, this is about keeping my focus. I also like to put a little mini hook at the end of each chapter - if I can't find an appropriate hook in close to the right place, I start to worry - something interesting should be happening at some point!
4. Character names. Characters don't gel until you give them the right name. I had this with a character recently - I went through two drafts with him being a Cody and he just wasn't right. I converted him to a Matt and snap - he clicked perfectly. (By the way, Matt is in Gaydar, Cody has been reincarnated into a character in another book - a character that suits the name much better.)
5. Title. I don't like to start a story without knowing what the title can be. I don't know what to call it in my to do lists, I don't know what to label the files and it messes with my whole system. I also find the title sets the tone, and I like to mention the title somewhere in the text. But yeah, the main thing in the admin one.
And there it is.
It all sounds very organised, but it's not actually like that. As often or not I miss out some or nearly all of the points on the list. But at least I have a theory I'm working on - that's something :)
(I may well expand this post tomorrow since it's almost midnight and this was a bit of a last minute rush.)
...
Other news:
Contracts were filed on Gaydar and In the Heat of the Moment. They are officially accepted. Gaydar has also been edited and submitted to final.
Still writing Fair Play - Getting towards the last chapter of that.
Still editing Sealing the Deal - It's grown from a short into a novella, but it's coming along nicely. Still keeping my fingers crossed that it will go off at the end of the month.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Word of the week: Vanilla
Okay, here's the theory, in case you missed it before. One word every week. What it is in general, followed by what it is in my books.
Basic definition -Vanilla: Conventional sex. (Taken from the ice cream flavour, if you're wondering. Meaning - plain, simple, no extra sprinkles or syrup involved)
That said, I think it's safe to say there are two versions of the word vanilla when you start to look at it in more depth.
Hardcore vanilla.
One man, one woman. Married (to each other!). In bed. At night. Lights out. Curtains closed. Covers pulled up to the neck. Missionary position. No oral/anal. No contraception. Foreplay optional. Female orgasm optional. Objective: to concieve a child.
It's pretty much the version of sex that a fair number of religons approve of. It's procreation, pure and simple. You don't, to my knowledge, find a great deal of this type of sex in erotic romance.
Softcore vanilla.
Sex that only contains activities that are considered sexually mainstream. Which makes things a little bit complicated when it comes to defining it. I've never spent a lot of time or energy working out what falls into that catagory. I'd guess that oral is acceptable, but anal isn't? You don't have to switch the light off, but you're not allowed to invite an audience?
I think everyone probably draws their own line in their own place, but it's pretty much safe to say vanilla sex doesn't contain - Bondage, dominance, submission, S&M, more than two people, fetishes, role play, voyerism, exhbitionism, etc.
It's sex that can be about pleasure, it can be a bit naughty, there may be a little bit of fun and games, but it's largely sex without kink. This is, to my mind, the sex you'll find in an erotic romance that isn't labelled as BDSM.
From my own point of view, there's one thing that I haven't covered in the definitions yet. Same sex relationships. They might not come under the first hard core definition of vanilla, but it really does wind me up when people treat them, or books about them, as kinky by default.
Unless there are whips / chains / some sort of obvious kink, two men or two women having sex is just as vanilla as a man and a woman having sex. A man having sex with another man is only inherently kinky if one or more the men involved is straight. Likewise for two women. Make sense?
Okay. That's the real world taken care of.
What is vanilla in my books?
Um... yeah, not really a lot to say here. I've never really got the hang of writing vanilla.There are some sex scenes in my books where the kinks are less obvious, but a bit of kink always creeps in.
I'll have more to say in the my books section of the discussion from next week on :)
That's it.If you have any thoughts, please do comment. This word of the week thing is still finding it's feet, so if you can see anything inherantly squif about it, now's the time to say :)
...
Other news:
Still writing Fair Play.
Still editng Sealing the Deal.
That's it, lol.
Basic definition -Vanilla: Conventional sex. (Taken from the ice cream flavour, if you're wondering. Meaning - plain, simple, no extra sprinkles or syrup involved)
That said, I think it's safe to say there are two versions of the word vanilla when you start to look at it in more depth.
Hardcore vanilla.
One man, one woman. Married (to each other!). In bed. At night. Lights out. Curtains closed. Covers pulled up to the neck. Missionary position. No oral/anal. No contraception. Foreplay optional. Female orgasm optional. Objective: to concieve a child.
It's pretty much the version of sex that a fair number of religons approve of. It's procreation, pure and simple. You don't, to my knowledge, find a great deal of this type of sex in erotic romance.
Softcore vanilla.
Sex that only contains activities that are considered sexually mainstream. Which makes things a little bit complicated when it comes to defining it. I've never spent a lot of time or energy working out what falls into that catagory. I'd guess that oral is acceptable, but anal isn't? You don't have to switch the light off, but you're not allowed to invite an audience?
I think everyone probably draws their own line in their own place, but it's pretty much safe to say vanilla sex doesn't contain - Bondage, dominance, submission, S&M, more than two people, fetishes, role play, voyerism, exhbitionism, etc.
It's sex that can be about pleasure, it can be a bit naughty, there may be a little bit of fun and games, but it's largely sex without kink. This is, to my mind, the sex you'll find in an erotic romance that isn't labelled as BDSM.
From my own point of view, there's one thing that I haven't covered in the definitions yet. Same sex relationships. They might not come under the first hard core definition of vanilla, but it really does wind me up when people treat them, or books about them, as kinky by default.
Unless there are whips / chains / some sort of obvious kink, two men or two women having sex is just as vanilla as a man and a woman having sex. A man having sex with another man is only inherently kinky if one or more the men involved is straight. Likewise for two women. Make sense?
Okay. That's the real world taken care of.
What is vanilla in my books?
Um... yeah, not really a lot to say here. I've never really got the hang of writing vanilla.There are some sex scenes in my books where the kinks are less obvious, but a bit of kink always creeps in.
I'll have more to say in the my books section of the discussion from next week on :)
That's it.If you have any thoughts, please do comment. This word of the week thing is still finding it's feet, so if you can see anything inherantly squif about it, now's the time to say :)
...
Other news:
Still writing Fair Play.
Still editng Sealing the Deal.
That's it, lol.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Writer's Evolution: A Writer's Life
Hi everyone,
I'm over on Writer's Evolution today. This week we're all talking about A Writer's Life.
If you've got a free minute, I'd love it if you'd drop in and say Hi.
The post is here.
I'm over on Writer's Evolution today. This week we're all talking about A Writer's Life.
If you've got a free minute, I'd love it if you'd drop in and say Hi.
The post is here.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Memo: Blogs, Booksellers and Congratulations
Hi everyone,
This week:
Things that have already happened -
I found out that The Gift is for sale through three different on line book sellers, which made me very excited.
Mobipocket books here.
All Romance e-books here.
Books on board here.
(Yep, I do know that they all show exactly the same info, but it's my first book - that means I'm allowed to be a bit geeky about it.)
Also:
Love Romances Cafe results came out. TEB placed 2nd for publishers, so that was excellent. Lots of TEB authors also won and placed in various catagories - so congratulations everyone!
Things that haven't happened yet:
Tuesday - I'll be over on Writer's Evolution. This week we are all talking about the Writer's life. Link in the right hand column.
Wednesday - I'm going to start a series of posts on this blog where I'll be talking about various kinks and what-not. I'll be taking one kink each week and working my way through what everything is and isn't about, along with how the various things show up in my writing.
This week I'm planning to get the ball rolling with the only Wednesday word that doesn't have anything to do with kink - Vanilla.
And that's it - a nice quiet week :)
Other news:
A bit quiet here too. (Note: This isn't a complaint! Come February I've got a string of release dates coming up, I'll be writting on an extra blog every week and I should have a yahoo group up and running, along with a few other projects. I'm enjoying being lazy while I have the chance, lol.)
I'm half way through my first draft of Fair Play.
I'm a third of the way through my first edit of Sealing the Deal.
Everything is ticking over quite nicely.
Have a good Monday everyone
This week:
Things that have already happened -
I found out that The Gift is for sale through three different on line book sellers, which made me very excited.
Mobipocket books here.
All Romance e-books here.
Books on board here.
(Yep, I do know that they all show exactly the same info, but it's my first book - that means I'm allowed to be a bit geeky about it.)
Also:
Love Romances Cafe results came out. TEB placed 2nd for publishers, so that was excellent. Lots of TEB authors also won and placed in various catagories - so congratulations everyone!
Things that haven't happened yet:
Tuesday - I'll be over on Writer's Evolution. This week we are all talking about the Writer's life. Link in the right hand column.
Wednesday - I'm going to start a series of posts on this blog where I'll be talking about various kinks and what-not. I'll be taking one kink each week and working my way through what everything is and isn't about, along with how the various things show up in my writing.
This week I'm planning to get the ball rolling with the only Wednesday word that doesn't have anything to do with kink - Vanilla.
And that's it - a nice quiet week :)
Other news:
A bit quiet here too. (Note: This isn't a complaint! Come February I've got a string of release dates coming up, I'll be writting on an extra blog every week and I should have a yahoo group up and running, along with a few other projects. I'm enjoying being lazy while I have the chance, lol.)
I'm half way through my first draft of Fair Play.
I'm a third of the way through my first edit of Sealing the Deal.
Everything is ticking over quite nicely.
Have a good Monday everyone
Friday, 16 January 2009
Friday's Five... steps to writing a book
When a lot of people think of the things you have to struggle with when writing a book, they talk a lot about finding time to write, getting the right idea, having learned your craft and a million other things.
They don't tend to talk about the things that really make a difference to if the book gets written or not. It's the little things that make a difference. In my experience here's how writing a book actually happens.
1. First, obtain a sugar high. The best way to do this is to get a cake. The most effective ones are iced fairy cakes with sprinkles on the top (in the US, you'll probably find a cup cake that's similiar enough for the purposes of this stage in the writing process). It's important not to waste time, so eat this cake while you start up your lap top.
2. Somehow manage to drop one of the sprinkles off the top of your cake. Watch the sprinkle disappear into the tiny gap between the space bar and the body of the lap top. Shrug. Open up a document and start typing.
3. Find out that the sprinke has somehow wedged itself under the space bar. Discover that while there are some keys you can live without while writing a book, the space bar isn't one of them. Turn the lap top upside down and shake it from side to side. Blow underneath the keys. Tap all available sides of the laptop and try to shake the sprinkle loose. Between each step (...each of which needs to be repeated at least half a dozen times, because obviously what didn't work last time is bound to work this time...) repeatedly press the space bar and find out that it is still stuck.
4. Dig the vacuum clear out from the cwtch under the stairs. Vacuum the keyboard on you're lap top. Pray that none of the keys are loose and none of them get sucked up into the machine. Mentally try to work out which keys you think you could live without if that did happen. At this stage in the process it's important to forget that you like to write in the middle of the night. Wake everyone else in the house with the noise of the vacuum cleaner.
5. Test the space bar. Find it's working. Offer up prayers of thanks. Put the vacuum cleaner away. Appologise for waking every else up. Retreat to a completely different room to eat the rest of your cake. Go back to your lap top. Make yourself comfortable. Press the space bar a few dozen times to reassure yourself that it is indeed working. Try very hard to remember what the hell it was you were going to write in the first place.
Like I said, it's the little things that have the ability to make or break a writing session, lol. And yep, I have followed these steps - embarrassingly enough, far more than once.
...
Other news...
The date for Gaydar is definite. March 30th 2009. Very excited about that. I'll be making a page for it on my website later.
I started a new first draft. Fair Play. Wrote 2000 words of it yesterday. Not entirely sure what length I'm aiming for. Probably somewhere between 15-20k for the first draft.
I'm also starting a new editing project today. Sealing the deal. I'd like to send that off to someone by the end of the month. It's currently 12k, but I think it might go up to about 20k during edits.
I've also got a story idea that I'm tentatively hoping might be something that will come in at a word count under 5k. Short stories aren't my strong point, but I might give this one a good when I get a free day or two.
Don't forget that introductions are still going on at Writer's Evolution - it's the editors day today. Link in the right hand side bar.
They don't tend to talk about the things that really make a difference to if the book gets written or not. It's the little things that make a difference. In my experience here's how writing a book actually happens.
1. First, obtain a sugar high. The best way to do this is to get a cake. The most effective ones are iced fairy cakes with sprinkles on the top (in the US, you'll probably find a cup cake that's similiar enough for the purposes of this stage in the writing process). It's important not to waste time, so eat this cake while you start up your lap top.
2. Somehow manage to drop one of the sprinkles off the top of your cake. Watch the sprinkle disappear into the tiny gap between the space bar and the body of the lap top. Shrug. Open up a document and start typing.
3. Find out that the sprinke has somehow wedged itself under the space bar. Discover that while there are some keys you can live without while writing a book, the space bar isn't one of them. Turn the lap top upside down and shake it from side to side. Blow underneath the keys. Tap all available sides of the laptop and try to shake the sprinkle loose. Between each step (...each of which needs to be repeated at least half a dozen times, because obviously what didn't work last time is bound to work this time...) repeatedly press the space bar and find out that it is still stuck.
4. Dig the vacuum clear out from the cwtch under the stairs. Vacuum the keyboard on you're lap top. Pray that none of the keys are loose and none of them get sucked up into the machine. Mentally try to work out which keys you think you could live without if that did happen. At this stage in the process it's important to forget that you like to write in the middle of the night. Wake everyone else in the house with the noise of the vacuum cleaner.
5. Test the space bar. Find it's working. Offer up prayers of thanks. Put the vacuum cleaner away. Appologise for waking every else up. Retreat to a completely different room to eat the rest of your cake. Go back to your lap top. Make yourself comfortable. Press the space bar a few dozen times to reassure yourself that it is indeed working. Try very hard to remember what the hell it was you were going to write in the first place.
Like I said, it's the little things that have the ability to make or break a writing session, lol. And yep, I have followed these steps - embarrassingly enough, far more than once.
...
Other news...
The date for Gaydar is definite. March 30th 2009. Very excited about that. I'll be making a page for it on my website later.
I started a new first draft. Fair Play. Wrote 2000 words of it yesterday. Not entirely sure what length I'm aiming for. Probably somewhere between 15-20k for the first draft.
I'm also starting a new editing project today. Sealing the deal. I'd like to send that off to someone by the end of the month. It's currently 12k, but I think it might go up to about 20k during edits.
I've also got a story idea that I'm tentatively hoping might be something that will come in at a word count under 5k. Short stories aren't my strong point, but I might give this one a good when I get a free day or two.
Don't forget that introductions are still going on at Writer's Evolution - it's the editors day today. Link in the right hand side bar.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Gaydar
The lust bite I told you I sent off on the weekend has just been accepted - my first acceptance of 2009, and a great way to start the new year :)
Gaydar is a M/m, BDSM, Lust bite length story. I don't know if the publication date that was mentioned is finalised yet, so I won't mention it. But if it does go into that slot, it's not too far away :D
Here's the blurb:
Find a gay man in a gay bar. Matt’s sure that should be a lot easier than it actually is.
Matt’s having a run of bad luck – one that’s lasted ever since he stepped out of the closet. An uncanny ability to home in on the only straight guy in a bar room full of gay men really isn’t doing his sex life any favours. A knack for picking complete jerks whenever he does stumble upon a genuinely gay man isn’t helping either.
But, this time everything is going to be different. This time Matt’s absolutely sure his gaydar has guided him towards a completely sane, entirely gay man – which is why he’s arranged to meet him in the gents’ room in five minutes.
What could possibly go wrong?
Gaydar is a M/m, BDSM, Lust bite length story. I don't know if the publication date that was mentioned is finalised yet, so I won't mention it. But if it does go into that slot, it's not too far away :D
I had a hell of a lot of fun writing this one. Matt turned into something of a star.
Here's the blurb:
Find a gay man in a gay bar. Matt’s sure that should be a lot easier than it actually is.
Matt’s having a run of bad luck – one that’s lasted ever since he stepped out of the closet. An uncanny ability to home in on the only straight guy in a bar room full of gay men really isn’t doing his sex life any favours. A knack for picking complete jerks whenever he does stumble upon a genuinely gay man isn’t helping either.
But, this time everything is going to be different. This time Matt’s absolutely sure his gaydar has guided him towards a completely sane, entirely gay man – which is why he’s arranged to meet him in the gents’ room in five minutes.
What could possibly go wrong?
Wondering about... backlogs
Hello everyone,
Backlogs.
I have no idea if that's even the right word for it, so I'll start by explaining what I'm on about.
Last year I wrote 52 drafts. (Nope, I wasn't actually trying to do one a week, no idea how that happened.) 26 of those drafts require no further action. That means they've either been re-written into a new draft, one that's different enough to be listed as a project in it's own right, or they were edited up and submitted for publication.
Therefore, I have still 26 stories from last year that require further action - either editing or re-writing or, in the case of one or two of them, burning to the ground and starting over again with nothing more than the title. (And I have another year before that with almost as many stories requiring attention in it's backlog, but I'm not going there at the moment.)
So, the obvious thing to do would be to work on those 26 before I start anything new. I should knuckle down to re-writes and editing and... Okay, it's not going to happen, so I should probably not even bother telling you what I should do. I need a certain number of first drafts in my life to stay even a little bit sane. Which leaves me wondering what is a realistic aim for dealing with the backlog.
Given a good run at it, I can edit up a finished draft of a novella into a submittable story 2 weeks. Technically that means I could submit 24 novellas in a year if none of them turned out to need complete re-writing and I didn't take any time off - probably not healthy to do that. Even if it was healthy, I'd still be two stories in the red.
Realistic? Well, the aim I've decided on isn't really realistic, but I'd really love to be able to half 2008's backlog during 2009.
Or maybe I should just concentrate on having less of a backlog for the stories I write this year when the next new year comes around?
Hell, the way I'm going. 2010 will be chiming it's way into my life before I've even set this years new years resolution, let alone done anything else!
Okay, enough moaning. I have some fantastic news to share with you. So fantastic I think it deserves a post of it's own.
See below. Hang on, on blogger it will be above, right? *Sigh* I'm sure you know what I mean.
...
Other news:
I finished the lust bite I was first drafting. I couldn't keep the draft down to 10k the way I planned - it turned out to be 14,500 words, which should make the editing interesting, since my stories usually grow a few thousand words during editing and the upper limit is 15k. I'm pretty sure I need to covert half of it to a different point of view, so with any luck that would help with the word count at the same time. Anyway, I'm setting that to one side to be edited at a later date.
So, tomorrow I will be starting a new first draft, and a new editing project.
For editing, I'm torn between working on my TEB anthology story and the first novella in a series that I'm intending to submit to another publisher. Not sure if I'll have time to do them both this month. They're both written, so I'll have to have a read through them and see where they stand.
For writing, a few different possibilities there too. Too many to actually list. I'll let you know when I've made a decision. Given my current ability to make a decision and stick to it, that may take some time.
Oh, and don't forget to check out Dakota's introductory post on Writer's Evolution. Link on the right hand side bar :)
Backlogs.
I have no idea if that's even the right word for it, so I'll start by explaining what I'm on about.
Last year I wrote 52 drafts. (Nope, I wasn't actually trying to do one a week, no idea how that happened.) 26 of those drafts require no further action. That means they've either been re-written into a new draft, one that's different enough to be listed as a project in it's own right, or they were edited up and submitted for publication.
Therefore, I have still 26 stories from last year that require further action - either editing or re-writing or, in the case of one or two of them, burning to the ground and starting over again with nothing more than the title. (And I have another year before that with almost as many stories requiring attention in it's backlog, but I'm not going there at the moment.)
So, the obvious thing to do would be to work on those 26 before I start anything new. I should knuckle down to re-writes and editing and... Okay, it's not going to happen, so I should probably not even bother telling you what I should do. I need a certain number of first drafts in my life to stay even a little bit sane. Which leaves me wondering what is a realistic aim for dealing with the backlog.
Given a good run at it, I can edit up a finished draft of a novella into a submittable story 2 weeks. Technically that means I could submit 24 novellas in a year if none of them turned out to need complete re-writing and I didn't take any time off - probably not healthy to do that. Even if it was healthy, I'd still be two stories in the red.
Realistic? Well, the aim I've decided on isn't really realistic, but I'd really love to be able to half 2008's backlog during 2009.
Or maybe I should just concentrate on having less of a backlog for the stories I write this year when the next new year comes around?
Hell, the way I'm going. 2010 will be chiming it's way into my life before I've even set this years new years resolution, let alone done anything else!
Okay, enough moaning. I have some fantastic news to share with you. So fantastic I think it deserves a post of it's own.
See below. Hang on, on blogger it will be above, right? *Sigh* I'm sure you know what I mean.
...
Other news:
I finished the lust bite I was first drafting. I couldn't keep the draft down to 10k the way I planned - it turned out to be 14,500 words, which should make the editing interesting, since my stories usually grow a few thousand words during editing and the upper limit is 15k. I'm pretty sure I need to covert half of it to a different point of view, so with any luck that would help with the word count at the same time. Anyway, I'm setting that to one side to be edited at a later date.
So, tomorrow I will be starting a new first draft, and a new editing project.
For editing, I'm torn between working on my TEB anthology story and the first novella in a series that I'm intending to submit to another publisher. Not sure if I'll have time to do them both this month. They're both written, so I'll have to have a read through them and see where they stand.
For writing, a few different possibilities there too. Too many to actually list. I'll let you know when I've made a decision. Given my current ability to make a decision and stick to it, that may take some time.
Oh, and don't forget to check out Dakota's introductory post on Writer's Evolution. Link on the right hand side bar :)
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Writer's Evolution
Hi everyone,
I'm introducing myself on Writer's Evolution today.
If you get a few moments to spare, please do drop by.
Have a good day everyone :)
I'm introducing myself on Writer's Evolution today.
If you get a few moments to spare, please do drop by.
Have a good day everyone :)
Monday, 12 January 2009
Memo: Behind the curve
Hi everyone,
I know it's a bit late for resolutions.
I'm a bit behind the curve, but this year I'm going to try to use the Monday Memos to tell you about whatever is going on that week. That's the theory.
So, chats, releases, blogs, everything else, should be listed here the Mondy before it happens... or the Monday after it happens if my organisation fails me.
It's a nice easy Monday to break me into the idea. No releases or any big news to share with you about books. I don't have to be too organised today, lol.
But, I do have some exciting news about a new blog. I'm the resident rookie on the Writers Evolution blog. Everyone is introducing themselves this week as the blog gets up and running. My day is Tuesday, so I'll be there tomorrow.
There's another blog I may be writing on once a week starting next month, more about that when I have more details on it.
And from there, on to the next thing that's putting me slightly behind the curve at the moment...
I don't know if other writers have the same problem, but I'm suffering from something of a backlog of stories. Since I'm having my own personal new years admin thing over a week later than the rest of the world, I've been looking at what I did last year and what I want to do this year. That's what I'll be wondering about on my blog this Wednesday. Tune in then for more on that.
This month I'm also planning to set up facebook/myspace/yahoo group/anywhere else I'm supposed to be accounts. Maybe I'll try to set up one a week. We shall see.
Okay, that's it.
*Goes off to try and catch up with that damn curve she's always behind*
I know it's a bit late for resolutions.
I'm a bit behind the curve, but this year I'm going to try to use the Monday Memos to tell you about whatever is going on that week. That's the theory.
So, chats, releases, blogs, everything else, should be listed here the Mondy before it happens... or the Monday after it happens if my organisation fails me.
It's a nice easy Monday to break me into the idea. No releases or any big news to share with you about books. I don't have to be too organised today, lol.
But, I do have some exciting news about a new blog. I'm the resident rookie on the Writers Evolution blog. Everyone is introducing themselves this week as the blog gets up and running. My day is Tuesday, so I'll be there tomorrow.
There's another blog I may be writing on once a week starting next month, more about that when I have more details on it.
And from there, on to the next thing that's putting me slightly behind the curve at the moment...
I don't know if other writers have the same problem, but I'm suffering from something of a backlog of stories. Since I'm having my own personal new years admin thing over a week later than the rest of the world, I've been looking at what I did last year and what I want to do this year. That's what I'll be wondering about on my blog this Wednesday. Tune in then for more on that.
This month I'm also planning to set up facebook/myspace/yahoo group/anywhere else I'm supposed to be accounts. Maybe I'll try to set up one a week. We shall see.
Okay, that's it.
*Goes off to try and catch up with that damn curve she's always behind*
Friday, 9 January 2009
Friday Forward
(Sorry that this one ended up getting posted in two halves, my computer had a funny five minutes last night and I could only get half of it done.)
Hi everyone,
I don't have kids, but I'll admit that I laugh as much as anyone at some of the things they do. Here are a few that came through to me in a forward, so I thought I would share.
1. A nursery school pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat, but itwas dead.
'How do you know that the cat was dead?' she asked her pupil.
'Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move,' answered the child innocently.
'You did WHAT?' the teacher exclaimed in surprise.
'You know,' explained the boy, 'I leaned over and went 'Pssst' and it didn't move'
2. A small boy is sent to bed by his father.
Five minutes later.....'Da-ad....'
'What?'
'I'm thirsty. Can you bring a drink of water?'
'No, You had your chance. Lights out.'
Five minutes later: 'Da-aaaad.....'
'WHAT?'
'I'm THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??'
' I told you NO! If you ask again, I'll have to smack you!!'
Five minutes later......'Daaaa-aaaad.....'
'WHAT!'
'When you come in to smack me, can you bring a drink of water?'
3. An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief,finally asked him 'How do you expect to get into Heaven?'
The boy thought it over and said, 'Well, I'll run in and out and inand out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, 'For Heaven'ssake, Dylan, come in or stay out!''
4. One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother wastucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when heasked with a tremor in his voice, 'Mummy, will you sleep with me tonight?'
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. 'I can't dear,' she said. 'I have to sleep in Daddy's room.'
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: 'The big sissy.'
5. It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for thechildren's sermon. All the children were invited to come forward. One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she satdown, the minister leaned over and said, 'That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter Dress?'
The little girl replied, directly into the minister's clip-onmicrophone, 'Yes, and my Mum says it's a bitch to iron..'
Hi everyone,
I don't have kids, but I'll admit that I laugh as much as anyone at some of the things they do. Here are a few that came through to me in a forward, so I thought I would share.
1. A nursery school pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat, but itwas dead.
'How do you know that the cat was dead?' she asked her pupil.
'Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move,' answered the child innocently.
'You did WHAT?' the teacher exclaimed in surprise.
'You know,' explained the boy, 'I leaned over and went 'Pssst' and it didn't move'
2. A small boy is sent to bed by his father.
Five minutes later.....'Da-ad....'
'What?'
'I'm thirsty. Can you bring a drink of water?'
'No, You had your chance. Lights out.'
Five minutes later: 'Da-aaaad.....'
'WHAT?'
'I'm THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??'
' I told you NO! If you ask again, I'll have to smack you!!'
Five minutes later......'Daaaa-aaaad.....'
'WHAT!'
'When you come in to smack me, can you bring a drink of water?'
3. An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief,finally asked him 'How do you expect to get into Heaven?'
The boy thought it over and said, 'Well, I'll run in and out and inand out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, 'For Heaven'ssake, Dylan, come in or stay out!''
4. One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother wastucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when heasked with a tremor in his voice, 'Mummy, will you sleep with me tonight?'
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. 'I can't dear,' she said. 'I have to sleep in Daddy's room.'
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: 'The big sissy.'
5. It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for thechildren's sermon. All the children were invited to come forward. One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she satdown, the minister leaned over and said, 'That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter Dress?'
The little girl replied, directly into the minister's clip-onmicrophone, 'Yes, and my Mum says it's a bitch to iron..'
6. When I was six months pregnant with my third child, my three year old came into the room when I was just getting ready to get into theshower. She said, 'Mummy, you are getting fat!' I replied, 'Yes, honey, remember Mummy has a baby growing in hertummy.''I know,' she replied, but what's growing in your bum?'
7. A little boy was doing his math homework.He said to himself, 'Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine.....'
His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, 'What are you doing?'
The little boy answered, 'I'm doing my math homework, Mum.'
'And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?' the mother asked
'Yes,' he answered.
Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, 'What are youteaching my son in math?'
The teacher replied, 'Right now, we are learning addition.'
The mother asked, 'And are you teaching them to say two plus two, thatson of a bitch is four?'
After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, 'What I taught themwas, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four.'
8. One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of ChickenLittle to her class. She came to the part of the story where ChickenLittle tried to warn the farmer. She read, '.... and so Chicken Littlewent up to the farmer and said, 'The sky is falling, the sky isfalling!'The teacher paused then asked the class, 'And what do you think thatfarmer said?'
One little girl raised her hand and said, 'I think he said:'Holy Shit! A talking chicken!''
The teacher was unable to teach for the next 10 minutes.
9. A certain little girl, when asked her name, would reply, I'm Mr.Sugarbrown's daughter. Her mother told her this was wrong, she must say, 'I'm Jane Sugarbrown.'
The Vicar spoke to her in Sunday School, and said, 'Aren't you Mr.Sugarbrown's daughter?' She replied, 'I thought I was, but mother says I'm not..'
10. A little girl asked her mother, 'Can I go outside and play with the boys?'Her mother replied, 'No, you can't play with the boys, they're too rough.'
The little girl thought about it for a few moments and asked, 'If I can find a smooth one, can I play with him?' (a potential erotic romance writer of the future, no doubt about it, lol)
...
Other news:
I just sent off my first lust bite length story. I'll let you know what happens with that.
That means, as of about five minutes ago, I don't have an editing project. I'm going to have a day or two off editing, and then I'll start on either another lust bite or an anthology submission.
Writing: I'm writing my second lust bite at the moment. It's going reasonably well at the moment, I might have to tweak the point of view at some point but otherwise, it's coming together nicely.
And that's it.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Wondering about... Templates, niceness and editing
Okay, I finally got on to my main computer for a few hours, the one with all the admin for my author website and what not on it. (I've been using my lap top and cwtching up in warmer rooms a lot lately.)
Therefore, I finally have got my three coloum thing worked out on here. If I've done it right, there will be pretty pictures down the left hand side of this blog. (Thanks Tina for the link!) It was the first time I've messed about with Html, so I'm quite pleased that it worked - even if all I did was copy and paste bits of code, lol.
My website has also had a brush up - I'm using a completly new template for that and I think it looks better than the last one I used, so that's good.
It wasn't done with a template, but I've also *touch wood* got the problem with AOL's server and my router worked out, so I am properly on line. I don't think anything got lost in the shuffle, but if you've sent me an e-mail recently and I haven't answered it, if you could give me a nudge to make sure I got it, that would be great.
I'm also involved in a new blog that will get properly up and running next week. It's called Writer's Evolution. Starting next Tuesday I'll be posting there as the resident rookie writer.
Okay, that's my wondering about templates done.
Another thing I've been wondering about is niceness. I know that all the advice is that every story has to have tension and conflict and everything else to make it exciting to read. But at the moment I'm wondering if there is room for something that's just a nice story.
Sometimes I want to be kept on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen to the characters, if and how they will get their happy ending and everything else. But sometimes I want to read, and to write, something that's just a nice story.
Boy meets girl, or boy meets boy. They have fun. They have lots of very nice sex. There's a bit of tension, angst or reality, but nothing that's going to keep anyone awake nights. The minor tension is resolved. They live happily ever after. I don't know if there is room on the market for a story like that.
For better or worse I may well be working on one at the moment...
That brings me on to the last thing I'm wondering about this Wednesday - Editing.
I use track changes on word as I work on each draft. That means whatever I change turns red. The progress from first draft to second draft generally sees a lot of red being applied to the page - some times there hardly a hint of black left, lol. Then each draft goes less red until I'm on draft X and down to correcting the formatting so I have the right type of dash in the right place.
I finished the first draft of one story on Monday. I started editing it yesterday. It's not going red. There are changes, but far fewer than I've ever had before, and that's got me a bit spooked. I have a few theories.
1. I wrote a first draft that's closer to a final draft than I've ever written before - meaning all this trying to improve my writing stuff is actually showing up in visible results all of a sudden.
2. I'm tired and just not seeing and correcting all the problems I usually pick up - meaning I'm dramatically increasing the risk of submitting a sub standard story.
3. Um... not sure there is a three.
Either the first draft was better than I expected, or the edited draft is turning out worse than expected. Those are the only options.
The bugger of it is, I don't know which.
Okay, I'm going to go back and have a go at it again to see if I can get myself any closer to an answer.
Take care everyone, have a good Wednesday.
...
Other news:
I started a new story yesterday - another lust bite length one. Only done 1000 so far, so I'll have to wait until I've done more of it before I can tell you about it.
Therefore, I finally have got my three coloum thing worked out on here. If I've done it right, there will be pretty pictures down the left hand side of this blog. (Thanks Tina for the link!) It was the first time I've messed about with Html, so I'm quite pleased that it worked - even if all I did was copy and paste bits of code, lol.
My website has also had a brush up - I'm using a completly new template for that and I think it looks better than the last one I used, so that's good.
It wasn't done with a template, but I've also *touch wood* got the problem with AOL's server and my router worked out, so I am properly on line. I don't think anything got lost in the shuffle, but if you've sent me an e-mail recently and I haven't answered it, if you could give me a nudge to make sure I got it, that would be great.
I'm also involved in a new blog that will get properly up and running next week. It's called Writer's Evolution. Starting next Tuesday I'll be posting there as the resident rookie writer.
Okay, that's my wondering about templates done.
Another thing I've been wondering about is niceness. I know that all the advice is that every story has to have tension and conflict and everything else to make it exciting to read. But at the moment I'm wondering if there is room for something that's just a nice story.
Sometimes I want to be kept on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen to the characters, if and how they will get their happy ending and everything else. But sometimes I want to read, and to write, something that's just a nice story.
Boy meets girl, or boy meets boy. They have fun. They have lots of very nice sex. There's a bit of tension, angst or reality, but nothing that's going to keep anyone awake nights. The minor tension is resolved. They live happily ever after. I don't know if there is room on the market for a story like that.
For better or worse I may well be working on one at the moment...
That brings me on to the last thing I'm wondering about this Wednesday - Editing.
I use track changes on word as I work on each draft. That means whatever I change turns red. The progress from first draft to second draft generally sees a lot of red being applied to the page - some times there hardly a hint of black left, lol. Then each draft goes less red until I'm on draft X and down to correcting the formatting so I have the right type of dash in the right place.
I finished the first draft of one story on Monday. I started editing it yesterday. It's not going red. There are changes, but far fewer than I've ever had before, and that's got me a bit spooked. I have a few theories.
1. I wrote a first draft that's closer to a final draft than I've ever written before - meaning all this trying to improve my writing stuff is actually showing up in visible results all of a sudden.
2. I'm tired and just not seeing and correcting all the problems I usually pick up - meaning I'm dramatically increasing the risk of submitting a sub standard story.
3. Um... not sure there is a three.
Either the first draft was better than I expected, or the edited draft is turning out worse than expected. Those are the only options.
The bugger of it is, I don't know which.
Okay, I'm going to go back and have a go at it again to see if I can get myself any closer to an answer.
Take care everyone, have a good Wednesday.
...
Other news:
I started a new story yesterday - another lust bite length one. Only done 1000 so far, so I'll have to wait until I've done more of it before I can tell you about it.
Monday, 5 January 2009
Memo: Last day of Christmas
Memo: Christmas isn't over for another few hours!
Hi everyone,
Since it's the last day of Advent today, it is officially the last day to read holiday stories in the holiday season.
That means you still have time to read The Gift. Of course, I have no objection to anyone reading it in the middle of summer if that rocks your boat. Keeping the Spirit of Christmas all through the year is an admirable thing to do - even Dickins knew that, lol.
But if you like to read Christmas stories at Christmas time. You can do that here. (Click on the pic)
Just to warn you, my next release is out February 9th - Secret Service as part of the My Secret Valentines Collection, so I'll be babbling about that for the next month or so.
I also have news about Night of the Sense - the BDSM anthology that Whispers is going to be included in. It's live on the TEB coming soon page. If you go here you can read a bit about all the other stories that are included in the anthology. (Click on the pic)
What else am I supposed to tell you today?
I finished writing the first in an unofficial series of Lust bite length stories I'm working on. I'm hoping to edit that up to sub in the middle of the month.
Either today or tomorrow, I'll start writing the next in the series. I'm looking forward to that.
And I think that's it for today.
Have a good last day of Christmas everyone.
Hi everyone,
Since it's the last day of Advent today, it is officially the last day to read holiday stories in the holiday season.
That means you still have time to read The Gift. Of course, I have no objection to anyone reading it in the middle of summer if that rocks your boat. Keeping the Spirit of Christmas all through the year is an admirable thing to do - even Dickins knew that, lol.
But if you like to read Christmas stories at Christmas time. You can do that here. (Click on the pic)
Just to warn you, my next release is out February 9th - Secret Service as part of the My Secret Valentines Collection, so I'll be babbling about that for the next month or so.
I also have news about Night of the Sense - the BDSM anthology that Whispers is going to be included in. It's live on the TEB coming soon page. If you go here you can read a bit about all the other stories that are included in the anthology. (Click on the pic)
What else am I supposed to tell you today?
I finished writing the first in an unofficial series of Lust bite length stories I'm working on. I'm hoping to edit that up to sub in the middle of the month.
Either today or tomorrow, I'll start writing the next in the series. I'm looking forward to that.
And I think that's it for today.
Have a good last day of Christmas everyone.
Friday, 2 January 2009
Five things... I'd like to get done in January
As part of my whole, not planning to far in advance, I'm posting January goals rather than new years resolutions.
Here they are, if you're interested...
1. Write and edit a lust bite length story for Total-e-bound. I'd like to get that written by the end of this week and submitted around the middle of the month all going well. 10-15k.
2. Edit an anthology submission I've already written and get that sent off by the end of the month. It stands at 15k at the moment, I can go up to 20 if I need to.
3. Write two more lust bite length stories and set them aside to be edited at a later date. The first drafts should be 10k each.
4. Write two anthology subs to be edited later in the year. One first draft needs to be 10k, the other needs to be 15k.
5. Spend at least a little bit of time doing things that aren't writing. More about that next week.
Okay everyone, hope you had a great new years and you're raring to go for 2009.
Other news:
Not much, lol.
I'm editing my round robin submission. That will hopefully be gone by the end of the week.
I've written a bit of the first lust bite story I'm writing. Hope to finish the first draft of that by the end of the weekend too.
Here they are, if you're interested...
1. Write and edit a lust bite length story for Total-e-bound. I'd like to get that written by the end of this week and submitted around the middle of the month all going well. 10-15k.
2. Edit an anthology submission I've already written and get that sent off by the end of the month. It stands at 15k at the moment, I can go up to 20 if I need to.
3. Write two more lust bite length stories and set them aside to be edited at a later date. The first drafts should be 10k each.
4. Write two anthology subs to be edited later in the year. One first draft needs to be 10k, the other needs to be 15k.
5. Spend at least a little bit of time doing things that aren't writing. More about that next week.
Okay everyone, hope you had a great new years and you're raring to go for 2009.
Other news:
Not much, lol.
I'm editing my round robin submission. That will hopefully be gone by the end of the week.
I've written a bit of the first lust bite story I'm writing. Hope to finish the first draft of that by the end of the weekend too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)