Thistledown Update: Sick but Writing!

Hey all!!

It sucks to be sick. And I mean the hacking up a lung type of sick not just some sniffles. I won't be able to do much with anyone this Christmas because I don't want to give this to anyone, especially the man's mother who's fighting cancer. So I'll probably be alone Christmas morning, though I am going to my parents and my friend's house to swap gifts and eat some food today. I just can't touch anything.

I really wasn't feeling up to writing the past few days but I sat down last night and wrote all of chapter 15 in about two hours! Whoot!! Now I only have two more chapters to go and Thistledown will be ready for review and editing.

I got online to pubit! and started the sign up process to publish a book! So exciting! This is going to be so satisfying when I finally get something published. I've been waiting far too long for this as I have a lot of stories either half done or finished but in script format. I haven't decided yet if I'll just jump into Thistletorn, the second book for Thistle Finley, or if I'll wrap up another story and get it published. I may just write Thistletorn and then write the Welkinbane or another story on the side. Ehhh we'll see how it goes at any rate.

But yes! Counting down the chapters! :D
And a Happy Christmas to all!! May you get loads of gifts and have a blast with your loved ones!!

~The Sick yet Hopeful

Thistledown Update: Chapter 14 Complete! + Deadline!

WHOOT! So happy to be able to say I have chapter 14 wrapped up and ready! All I need now is some gumption worked up to plow through chapter 15.

14 & 15, also known as the twins of evil, are making my life difficult. Mainly because I've written some stuff in other chapters that were originally going to be in the twins of evil or got confused between the two vicious little blokes. At least I know what I'll do for 15 as I ended up making some personal compromises in order to keep the two chapters separate instead of merging them into one big fugly of a chapter.

All in all, I'm glad 14 is done, it was lip-curling agony to plow through.


On another note! I have given myself deadlines and I am determined to see them through. I'm going to list them here for you to see so that way if I don't make it, I'll know that the world knows and I will crawl to my corner of shame and cry bitter tears of fail.

Sat. Dec. 29th...............Last day of writing
Sun. Jan. 6th.................Last day for proofreading
Sun. Jan. 13th...............Last day for editing
Sun. Jan. 27th...............Last day to format
Thur. Jan. 31st..............Project MUST be finalized

12:00am Pacific Time Fri. Feb. 1st..........................PUBLISH THISTLEDOWN via Smashwords

SO! Expect to see Thistledown available on every available format Smashwords supports on February 1st! It shall be there....it shall be there....

Reading Blog!!!!

Just so you all know, I started a reading blog to keep up with all of the books I've been reading and writing reviews. This blog had originally been for that purpose but slowly got eaten by the NaNo beast and became a writing blog instead.....

SO! I've created a blog just for my little bookiewookies [Thinking of a wookie made of books]. I have a link to it on the right bar but you can also find it HERE. I've taken off my reading list here on my writing blog and have instead plopped it onto my reading blog, just to keep things copasetic. It will be updated regularly and have a corresponding review for each new book I finish. BLAGH. I feel weird. Damn you vertigo, damn you.

~The Dizzy

Update: Bit by bit...

So, I've actually managed to get a little bit of writing done [though not much due to work] despite a very irritating writing block. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing with chapter 14, although it's sort of turning into a lecture/let's explain the crazy chapter to catch both the reader and Thistle up on everything. I've been having an argument with myself about what should be left in and what should be kept for another book so it's been a relatively slow process getting chapter 14 done. I feel like after I get this one done, the rest of the chapters are going to just fly by since they are laid out right and are pretty straight forward.

I hate to whine, but I feel so far behind and all I can seem to manage is like 300-600 words per every other day instead of 1,500-3,000 words per day like I was last month. Ah well, guess it's just part of the process and all. At least I didn't just stop. I know if I do that I won't pick the story back up for about a year. I keep telling myself to keep going, that February 1st is my deadline to e-publish and that I only have 3.5 chapters left to crank out. UGH. I'm a lazy bastard. Yes, yes I am.

Well, until I actually have something productive to tell you, I bid you adieu.

~The Lazy

Thistledown Sample Chapter Available on Wattpad!

Hey All!

So the past week has been pretty slow in terms of writing. I did print out a hard copy of what I had so far for Thistledown, but had it snatched from my claws by my voracious mother. I love her dearly, but eegads woman! I need to edit it first before it's worthy of consumption!

Despite all of my protestations, she still managed to read it and do a first rough edit of it for me. I've now started editing it myself, though honestly I feel weird about not being the first person to rip my story a new one. I did do a cursory once over of the first chapter and decided it was okay enough to publish as a sample chapter on Wattpad. I'd had the book up for about two minutes and I already had 14 reads! I'm so excited! I honestly have to give all of the credit to the cover art and Katherine C. Smith for doing such a good job.

I'm probably a little too excited by such news, but what can I say? I'm a noob at this sort of thing. And I am busting butt on editing and wrapping up the story [though not as hardcore as when it was NaNo time...] February is my deadline! FEBRUARY!! The word that makes me contort my face in order to say it!

Without further ado, here's the first chapter of Thistledown! Please comment and vote! :D

~The Easily Excited!

Thistledown Update: Cover!

Hey all!

Sorry for not posting in a while, I sorta needed a break from all that writing. I got a new cover that's going to work out for the e-book version of Thistledown! Whoot!

I made it extra large so you can see all the pretty detail. And nope, I am not ashamed to make it large and in charge of this post! It's freakin' fabulous! And it looks like Emily Browning! All hail Katherine C. Smith for this lovely image! Bitch you fantastic!

Now I have to get off of my dead ass and work on the damn story, lol. I've given myself till February at the very latest to have everything completed and ready for Smashwords. I'm printing out a hard copy to work on right now so that way I can actually read over what I wrote during NaNo and try to do some damage control. I hope I pleasantly surprise myself with something that's halfway descent and doesn't need a major makeover, but I'm not holding out. Have I mentioned I hate not editing as I go? Let me sing you the song of my grammatically correct people....

~Dreading The Re-Read

Day 25, 26, 27, 28: New job and little time for writing...

Hi all!

I just started my new job this week so I haven't had much energy/time to write. I did get to almost 54k over the weekend so that's good. I want to reach 60k by Friday, but I'm not sure if that's gonna fly. I'm currently almost done with chapter 13! Only 4 more chapters to go! I'm so excited, but I feel like things are sort of getting kinda weird. I haven't done any real read-throughs so I feel like my story is a little all over the place, unfortunately. Like I keep thinking I've had all of this character development and story development, but really, it's not ripe enough to really sell the story as a whole. Well, I guess that's what December is for right? I've got to go over everything, flesh it out, edit it, fix it, revise it, and then pass it on for others to do the same.

Anyway, I'm gonna go write now! I'll post when I get more done/upload my final total on NaNoWriMo. :)

~The Workin' Gal

Day 24: NaNoWriMo COMPLETE!

I have the great pleasure in telling you that as of 12:25am on Saturday November 24th I completed my NaNo goal of 50,000 words! WHOOT WHOOT!

Yeah that's pretty much all I had to say. I am gonna keep writing as I still have five chapters to go...and I just finished chapter 12. Yay! Anyway, I'll keep posting everyday-ish as I write more and try to get in at least another 15k before the month of November ends. Now it's time for me to go to sleep!

~The NaNoWriMo Winner

Day 22 & 23: Happy Material Debauchery Day! Aka Black Friday...

Hello all!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I've noticed more and more that Black Friday is slowly encroaching on our day of thanks. Initially, midnight door busters were the earliest you could get your grubby little hands on the newest deals. This year, though, it seemed like the party got started a lot earlier, like 8pm. Kiiiiiind of depressing to think that a day we're supposed to reserve for giving thanks for all that's good in our lives, we are instead being greedy and materialistic. That's why I'm gonna start calling Black Friday Material Debauchery Day! A little more apropos, I think.

What's hilarious is that this was my first Material Debauchery Day where I wasn't working and could go frolic and throw my money at people in exchange for crap. It was a pretty reserved expedition  all things considered and I ended up becoming exhausted within two hours. There is nothing more scary than being 6 feet tall, able to look over the heads of everyone around you, and then panic because you realize how vast the sea of people really is. It is mentally fucking exhausting. I did hit up Hot Topic for their $10 tshirt sale and Typo for some cool desk stuff for work before going to the Haight and looked around a bit. BTW nothing is creepier than a weird short guy wearing a My Little Pwny shirt, with more of said shirts in his hands, who begins following you around the store trying to pretend like he's part of your 'crew'. Stranger Danger!!! Stranger Danger!!!

Now I'm sitting at home, about to finish off my 50k words for NaNo and drinking a big mug of caffeinated tea! I'm gonna go off to write now, wish me luck!

~The Wary Shopper

Day 21: The final 5k...

Well, I'll be passing the 50k mark shortly and I just wanted to reflect a little on the past month. Against some pretty tough odds, including a breakup, quitting my job, getting a new one, taking my disabled mother to her doctors appointments, dealing with a broken water heater and the flooding that happened in the basement as well as some fun times with friends and family, I've managed to make it to within 5k of my goal.

Writing this month has been more of an escape than a duty or a job. I've learned a lot from the fabulously hilarious Gini Koch aka Captain Gini and got to watch my little fluff piece project grow and become something more substantial, something worth being proud of. This has been one of those rare times where I've been able to sit down and let the story write itself, almost as if I'm a medium, a bridge to the world I've managed to tap into. I don't want to get all metaphysical, but sometimes I wonder if all of the stories authors write that they just 'come up with' are really stories, tales and histories of alternate dimensions or alternate times. I really wouldn't be all that surprised if it were true.

All in all, I'm actually keeping a promise I made to myself, which is worth more than I can say. I'm so used to doing things for others that I was having a hard time making time for myself. I managed to kindly tell everyone to 'back the fuck off' this month and got to get some really good writing out of it. I know I won't be able to do this sort of a thing forever, though I wish I could. And when I say 'do this sort of thing' I mean give the world the bird and become glued to my computer. I know I've gotten myself into a good habit, meaning writing consistently and making time for myself, and I'm not going to give it up. But life is calling and I'm going to have to give in to demands sooner or later.

Ah well... I'm just hoping that when I finish Thistledown [probably not for another 30k after the NaNo goal] I'll have the time to edit it and get enough feedback so I can self publish it. It would be such a relief to be able to have a book under my belt. Being so close to finishing Thistledown has been revving me up for completing Jabberwocky, my big bad boy of a novel. I can't wait to turn my attention from Thistledown to Jabberwocky, though I won't be able to stay away from Thistledown for too long, I still have Thistletorn and Thistlebalm to write!

Anyway, I'm happy to have come so far and to see the goal right within my grasp. Thank you for reading through all of this and a big thank you goes out to everyone who encouraged me. It would have been near impossible without the shishboombangs!

~The Last-Stretch-Writer

Day 20: Shopping and Writing...

Yeah, not much going on today, though I did go shopping for some clothes! I'm not much of a shopper so when I go out to buy clothes I usually buy a lot and drop a wad in the process. I found some awesome cute/warm clothes for the winter and I'm a happy camper. Zoey went with me so I got lots of fashion advice from her!

I just got home and now I'm sitting down to write! I want to finish chapter 11 tonight and I think I may have to split chapter 11 into two separate chapters. That's fine for me because that just makes my story longer! Whoot! :)

Anyway, I'm off to write! Wish me luck!

~The Optimistic Wordsmith

Day 19: Introducing Mrs. Mendoza!...

I had a really tough time getting around to writing today. I haven't been feeling so hot and I felt like doing something, anything, other than writing. Zoey came by for a while and we crafted. And when I say crafted, I mean she did a lot of crafty things including cut out fabric patterns for a dress she's working on, and all I did was piddle around with yarn and then drift off to play Critter Crunch. It was really relaxing and soothing so eventually, after doing practically nothing, my inner doer kicked in and admonished me for not being productive. So that's when I got on my computer and, like usual, words just started pouring out of my fingertips.

I'm currently in Chapter 11 and this is where Mrs. Mendoza, the motherly curandera comes in! I wasn't sure if I'd like her so much as a character, but she's growing on me. I just started thinking of all of my Latina friends and their parents and BAM Mrs. Mendoza became a reality as her personality grew. There's also some tension going on between Alder and Thistle which I'll finally be able to explain in this chapter! Yay! Anyway, I should be writing more not blogging! Bad, Quinn!

~The Easily Distracted

PS. Kahlua is tasty unless you're allergic to rum. Then it sucks Rocky Mountain Oysters. I learned this the hard way at Chevy's, their Kahlua-chocolate mousse is delicious, until the food allergies kick in. Thank heaven for antihistamines!

Day 18: Margarita Time! + 35k words....

Hello!
I'm excited because today's going to be a girl's day and I'm gonna go hang out with my friends. We've all be hankering for Mexican food and margaritas and my stomach is growling in anticipation! I'm also going to take the books in to sell and everything.

I wrote about 3k words today and now I'm over 37k words! Woot! Getting closer and closer to the goal every day! I just finished chapter 10, so I have another 6 chapters to go. I'm a little worried about the length of the story as it's relatively short so far in comparison with what I'd imagined. But I know I can flesh things out more later or add more things in. I'm currently at about 60 pages in size 11 font, 67 in size 12, but that's also without formatting or editing. I'm hoping to get at least 150 pages out of this thing, if not 200. I've got a looooooonnngg way to go. But at least I'm halfway there!

I also just finished reading Kevin Hearne's Hexed! It was really good and I'm quickly becoming a fan/addict of his books. When I get the chance I'm going to buy the next book in his series The Iron Druid, Hammered. I love how he mixes mythology and spirituality with a hilarious twist.

~The Questing Quantity

Day 17: When your story has deviated from the outline...

Heyho everybody!

Another day, another few thousand words? Yep, I'm sure hoping so. I managed to churn out about 2k last night so I'm still above where I need to be for NaNo. One of my writing buddies nitesh is at 43k, say what! Go! :D Anyway, I'm happy because today I'm gonna go have another write-in at Zoey's! Yay!

Oh, the real reason why I wanted to write this blog today is that my story has kinda sorta definitely strayed off of the path and off into the forest to chase willo' the wisps. Before NaNo began I made an outline and vowed to stick to it. But like with every story I've ever written/began writing, the damn thing just took on a mind of its own and started writing itself. I've managed to keep my plot relatively on course but it's been weaving around a lot. Good news, though, is that I think most of what I wrote actually helps make the plot better, more interesting, and less blah than I originally intended. The consistency of it went from being like chicken broth to full on chowder in just a few chapters. But, of course, now that I've added so many little elements to make the plot thicker and juicier, I need to make sure I keep track of them all so I don't half-ass things. I've really only re-read the entire story once so far because I know I'm going to be tempted to edit, and I'm definitely saving that for next month. Consequently I'm going to face missing components and chunks of plot that could make it better that I'll have to add next month. But hey, this is supposed to only be a first draft right?

So I'm cool, I'm cool.

But I'm still irritated. Trying to change how you've been writing for years is difficult, mind you. It's no small task to go from the editor's dream where you do all the work for the editor by editing the shit out of your manuscript to just going with the flow like the hippies in Fairfax. Nothing against the hippies but it can be really tough to make such a drastic change in how you write. I'm still okay with doing it, but I'm really starting to get the itch to edit. So wish me luck as I dive back into writing today and hope I don't become the Editomegazoid. I'll make sure to try to keep Captain Gini's advice in mind while I write today.

~The Editomegazoid

Day 15 & 16: Because, alas, money calls....

Hello!

So I didn't write diddly yesterday for the very good reason of having a job interview! Yay! And while I'd love to sit around and write all day, frankly Christmas presents and bills just won't pay themselves. Not that I'm going to abandon Thistledown or NaNo, just sayin' that that was my reason for not writing yesterday. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Today is a new day! What's left of it anyway. I'm going to try to get some stuff done on Thistledown but really all I want to do is curl up with my nook and listen to the rain. I figure if I can at least get a thousand words in I'll be okay. I'm still ahead on the NaNo race and I figure I'll focus more on writing tomorrow since I'll probably be writing with Zoey.

Oh and the movie Lincoln is amazing. :)

~The Rain Lover

Day 14: Doing spring cleaning a little early....

So, because our water heater broke and I've been spending the past few days throwing things away, I decided to go at it with my room too. Between working, working on like thirty projects at once and not a lot of time for cleanup, my room essentially had a trail from my door to my bed and one to my computer desk. Now, thanks to some frabjous aid from Ehren, I can see my floor! [Le Gasp!] Mainly the mess is a mix of clothes and books. I got rid of a LOT of books [though there's still barely enough room for what I have, but hey, it's an improvement] and all of my clothes are going to be cleaned and then gone through. Goodwill is going to love me. Or hate me. Either way it's a win for me!!!

I've got a little cleaning left to do before I delve into writing for the evening, but I'm uber excited about Thistledown right now because I'm at a really juicy part in the story where Thistle finds out some really trippy shit about her world and about herself! Whoot! No spoilers for you! >:D Am I evil? Yes, a thousand times, yes!

Hopefully, I'll post another character profile for you guys tonight. I'll make sure to update you on if I can crank out 5,000 words in the next few days so I'll be at 30k! Anyway, off to continue cleaning like Cinderella sans the woodland creatures! Bibbity Bobbity Boop!

~The Industriously Clean Cleaner

Day 12 & 13: Sodden Books Depress Me + Write-In with Zoey!

So yesterday was kind of a drag during the day. I had to go through more sodden books which made me wanna change my name to Waterfall because I cried. I had some books I'd loved as a kid that, once drowned in rat-poop-soup, never really will be the same again. I discovered that old English books on their constitution were somehow bound in cloth that didn't have the dye set so once it's soaked, it smears blue inky stuff all over everything. It's not all bad though, I've been gathering an ever-growing mountain of books that I don't want and once my friends pick all the good ones out, I'll be taking them to sell. Some were saved from the Flood, some were just in my loft collecting dust behind and in some boxes.

I did get to go write with one of my besties, Zoey Gomes! We chilled at her place, ate Mt. Mikes and bullshitted the evening away. We both did get something done, lol. Today, I'm hoping to get a little writing done but I'll be off tonight playing board games with the man. All I have to say is, don't you judge me! Board games aren't just for old fogeys mind you, they're actually really fun and there are a lot more cooler games out there than D&D and Monopoly, trust me. Ever played Witch's Brew? No, you say? DO IT.

Good news! I'm just about half-way there, seriously living on a prayer, to finishing NaNo's goal of 50,000 words. That's right, I'm just about at 25,000 words! Woot! Now I have visions of 80's coiffed Bon Jovi dancing around in my head with Livin' on a Prayer stuck in my head...

Oh! And I found a really good book to read that has me seriously itching to buy sequels. Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne is really....very good. I stayed up till 4am reading it the other night and I rarely do that. So kudos Kevin for making me loose sleep! Your writing is superb!

Day 11: When water heaters go BOOM!...

Lucky for me I managed to churn out approximately 10,000 words yesterday [now at 20931 words] because not only did I catch up but I got ahead. Good thing too, because our water heater exploded downstairs and we've spent the entire day trying to do damage control. We got a new water heater put in [thanks bro!] and now we're staring at the tons of boxes that we'd managed to cram under there going "Well, we were talking about throwing things away..."

What's hilarious is that I'd already started doing that today. For some reason, I always start chucking unnecessary stuff on Sundays so I was already in the state of mind to toss sodden things. I've got a huge load of books that I don't want/need/will ever need to take to Half Price Books so I can sell them off. I've also found a ton of video games that I won't play either. Yay!

I also got one of my many cork boards cleared off in my room so I can dedicate it to Thistledown and Jabberwocky. Well, my hard copy of Jabberwocky will just sort of hang there until I'm done with Thistledown [I have a habit of losing things if they're not hung up on a wall....]. I may tack up my hard copy of The Welkinbane too, just to be safe.

I just hope I'll get to write a few hundred words tonight. :/ Boo!

And now there is a skunk stank permeating the house....great. 2012 when will you be over so we can greet 2013 with open arms and big smiles?

Thistledown Character: Thistle Finley

Here we are! I figured I'd promised I'd post character info and I thought I'd go ahead and do one. :)

Thistle Finley:


Age: 23
Height: 5'3"
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Platinum Blonde
Class: Witch
Type: Hedge Witch [True]
Home: A cottage in LaConner, Washington
Work: Owner of The Herbalist's Emporium shop and online store


I know it's not a lot of information, I'm still trying to figure out how much is okay to put here without giving anything away, but it's a start! If you'd like to make your own little cartoony thingies you can go to www.dreamself.me My cartoony picture on my blog is always a link to this site too. :)

Day 10: Catching up is good to do...

Even though I slept in till 1pm [I'd been averaging about 5-6 hours per night when I need 7-8 for the past few weeks] I managed to churn out about 7,000 words so far today and I'm currently at 17680 words total. Not a huge deal yet but it's the small things for me right now that mean the most. I feel really good about it and I'm right back on schedule for NaNoWriMo. I'm also now into chapter 4 of my book and I'm really excited about where it's going and how it's taking on a life of its own. I also got some really good advice from Gini Koch [Thank you Captain!] and I've been having second thoughts about using NaNo as a driving force for me to get stuff done. I've begun thinking of it more in terms of just a benchmark rather than an end goal. I can understand why NaNo was created and how it can be a good way to jump start someone into writing, but as a means to write an entire novel you can then send out to publishers in December? Hell no. I knew this all going into it but I got so excited about the community and how excited others have been that I haven't really taken that step back. I'm going to take Gini's advice and do the Club 100 thing, 100+ words per day for 100+ days with a couple of floater days per week and keep a log of what I'm writing each day. In this case, slow and steady does win the race.

It's not like I don't write as often as I can, but I have a tendency to let other things have more importance and  my writing, my happiness tends to get pushed off to the side. I also go through spells where I can't write or don't feel like it and I do other things like crochet or knit instead. It's always good to have those periods to relax and work on something else, but I'm realizing that too much time off is bad. I have another story, Jabberwocky, which is in the same universe as Thistledown, that I'm roughly halfway done with and I haven't worked on it in almost a year. I got lost the last time I'd tried to work on it, all the memories of what was going on in that story, all of the little nuances that I didn't write down, I have to re-come up with. I think I really need to sit down and open it up, take it out, and find a starting point where I can jump right back in.

For right now, though, I'm good with sticking with Thistledown. The plot and the characters are turning out much better than I expected, considering I thought it was going to end up a fluff piece. I'll have to drop in an excerpt at some point for you to read. :)

Days 8 & 9: Getting back on track....

Life's a bitch. She's my litter mate for life and she likes to mock me all the time. Sometime's I wish life was a slut because then she'd be easy. But alas, the gods do not smile upon me by making my life slutty...I mean easy. Moving on~! Today was my last day at my job and it was a good one. I'm glad I was able to leave on such a good note. Now if only I could wrangle the rest of my life into submission and make all the parts play nice I'll be set. Though really, doing all of that with a bleeding heart is hard.

Anyway. Time to be off and write something instead of getting wrapped up in whatever soupy mess my life is and get distracted by the internet.

Day 6 & 7: Elections, Birthday Blues and Not Really Gettin' 'er Done....

What can I say? I think I had all of my available creative time on Sunday. Since then things seem to be going to hell in a hand basket. Yeterday was my birthday and, as it happens more often than not, my birthday fell on election day. LAME is all I have to say to you. I don't like politics because, like religion and too much alcohol, it makes people mean and spiteful. It's MY party damnit, go snark elsewhere!

I did get some awesome presents though! Ehren got me a City and Colour music box that plays their song "Girl". I cried. I know I'm a baby. Zoey got me some awesome steampunk Tarot cards and I spent a good hour doing some Tarot readings! Plus I got Nook gift cards!!! Whoot! More books for me to reaaaad! My mom was sweet and bought me this really cool lap warmer that's USB powered so I can sit on it, with it around me, or use it to keep my tootsies warm while I write. It's probably [and I really mean definitely] going to end up being Bijoux's favorite spot and I'll never get to use it because she'll be so cute I won't have the heart to move her. I'll be sure to take pictures to post! Speaking of Bijoux, she tried to bring me a present [a live bird] but my dad told her no and she dropped it and it flew away. Thank you anyway my noodle kitty! Not that I wouldn't have released it later while she wasn't looking....lol.

I still need to do more editing for my friend's book but I also need to catch up on NaNo, so tonight is going to be jam packed once I make the long drive home from work. I am in chapter 4 though, so that's good. Just 12 more chapters! But I really plan on focusing on NaNo the next couple of nights so that way, when the weekend comes, I'll be able to get really far ahead!

Please root for me! I need it....[sigh of exhaustion]

~The Disgruntled Birthday Girl

Many thanks and much groveling for her kindness goes to Gini Koch for sharing this lovely picture on Facebook. Captain Canada! Oh the many fantastically delicious things that can be said about this image! I really want some bacon maple bars right about now....

Day 4 & Day 5: Write-Ins, Board Games and Editing Galore...

Yesterday was awesome as I'd been lucky enough to be invited to my friend and co-worker Richard's home. He and his boyfriend Scott laid out some wonderful snacks and we went around in a circle, telling each other about our respective stories. Then we dived into our tales and wrote for a good long while. Then we made lunch together, wrote some more, went for Mitchell's ice cream, gorged ourselves on pumpkin ice cream and played the board game Witch's Brew. All in all, I really hope they'll have more write-ins. Not only for the unsurpassed company and camaraderie, but also for the wide selection of ice cream shops in their vicinity! :D

Today was slow going on the writing front. I've been trying to do some editing for a friend's book while writing mine and trying to do work and my commute too. I actually had to put in my two weeks for various reasons [what can I say? Life's a drag...]. Good news? I get to do all of my side jobs and projects including NaNoWriMo. Bad news? I'll be missing that nice paycheck. Not to mention this economy is really tough right now. The world's depressed, tomorrow is voting day, tensions are high, stress is overflowing like sour milk and rotten honey, but through it all...I've got my NaNo!!!

People have been saying how hard it is to keep up with NaNo, that so many things get in the way. For me it's about how NaNo is my escape from it all. It's not hard for me, in fact, it's almost too easy to dive into it and forget everything else. It's been slowly becoming my one shining light in my day because the only person I have to please is myself and there's no one to tell me my characters are shit, my plot's been done before or that I'm 'wasting my time'. That'll all come later when I'm editing and people are wondering why the hell I'm even bothering to do that. But by that time I'll have a solid first draft and can give them the middle finger while I critique the hell out of my shit. Because whatever bad things others have to say, I tell myself worse.

By the by, I may not have anything written at all tomorrow as it is my BIRTHDAY!!! Yup! The day God got confused with his molds and sort of had a field day with them instead, saying "FUCK IT!"

~The Job Juggler

Day 3: For the love of....

Don't you hate it when you're excited about doing something constructive with someone and then it all falls to pieces over nothing more irritating than a spat? Yeah. I didn't get much writing done yesterday, which really irked me. I almost didn't get any done today either which was even worse. Drama for theater or novels is great, but not in real life. In real life it's a pain.

But I did write. Nothing helps get out stress and pain than writing and today is no exception. In the past hour I've managed to finish Chapter 1 despite a really hard plot point that left me snagging my tissue box. Prepare to hate me, lol. Not even one chapter in and things are heart-wrenching.

ANYWAY! No spoilers for you! Only suspense. I'm approximately 4,500 words in right now but I'm about to jump into Chapter 2 with abandon. Hopefully I'll catch back up and get ahead in the next few hours.

Good news is I'm going to be spending most of tomorrow at a write-in! I'm so excited! A friend of mine is hosting and we're going to be spending Sunday doing the best activity ever and maybe throw in some board games! Whoot!

I'm also going to plan on writing up some character profiles to post here on my blog so you can get a preview of who I'm writing about and their virtues and foibles. Maybe some samples? Meheheh. Tuesday is my birthday and I might, just might, do that!

Anyway, I may have to go make my oolong tea into an oolong island tea. And bad Google for trying to replace oolong with "Woolongong" my tea is not an Australian city.

~The Emotionally-Drained

Day 2: Spreading the love....

So, last night was surprisingly productive after all of the family shenanigans. I managed to churn out 2634 words instead of the 1667 required and chapter 1 of Thistledown is almost complete! :D Just a few more pages, and some high tension plot points and I'll be done with the chapter. I'm really looking forward to working on it at lunch today and tonight during pizza night with the man.

I've been talking to a lot of people around the office about NaNo and with my friends at home. Surprisingly, a lot of people in my department like to write so I've thrown out the NaNoWriMo website to as many people as were interested and I've gained a few writing buddies! Yay! :D Hopefully we can manage to do a write-in somewhere, sometime soon.

I've also been trying to get the man on the bandwagon as he has a short story he really wants to work on but has put off time and again. Maybe if I'm dedicated to this, he'll join me and we can conquer the 50k word mark together!

BTW....Safeway Select's tortellini frozen dinner....smells great....not so tasty.... :p And here I was going to go to McDonald's for lunch but declined because the frozen dinner was healthier. Bleh. Apple, it looks like you're my only friend now....because no way can I count on the Halloween candy bag at my feet to rid my mouth of this nasty flavor in a healthy fashion.

~The Frozen-Dinner Malcontent

Day 1: Because things never start like you plan....

Hey everyone!

It's Day 1 of NaNoWriMo! I started writing today at work during my breaks and was really looking forward to coming home and churning out the rest of my first day of work...But of course, every time you plan to do something for yourself, that's the day everyone and their mother want's a piece of you. I got home and was bombarded by family and lots of loud TV.

Good news is that I was able to swat back the crowd and the roaring action coming from the TV and I am currently ensconced in my room like the writing hermit I am. I've got my tea, my playlist of awesome tunes and dear, dear solitude.

Here's to the first day of the NaNo! Let the self-induced slave-labor begin!

And let's hope everyone else who's used to your company and sparkling conversation comes to understand that you're serious about being unavailable for anything more than the changing of tea bags and snacks.

~The Frazzled Hermit

Twas the Night Before NaNoWriMo....

And all through my house were stacks of reference books and pages of notes galore. Not a creature was stirring, not even my loyal lap-cat.

It's been a crazy day in the Bay Area, what with Halloween, work parties and crazy traffic due to the Giant's Victory Parade. The clouds outside are threatening rain and I can see the storm hitting far away. It's been an awesome day of crazy costume-and-candy-packed fun and I'm currently sitting with my dogs up [I never wear heels because I'm an Amazon so my feet are unused to the cruel and unusual treatment.], some tea and way too much sugar in my system.

I've got a few more chapters to outline in the next couple of hours before it's horror movie time with the man.  I really wanted to make sure I had my outline finished for Thistledown before tomorrow, because I really don't want to have to worry about getting lost in the story or going off on tangents.

Anyway, thought I'd post before churning out the next few chapter outlines and give you this!

http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/Thistledown/78886037

If you have the time or the inkling, this is a playlist I'll be listening to and adding to throughout the month of November to help me write Thistledown. Please subscribe! :)

Well, time to quit procrastinating and go finish those chapter outlines!

~The Sore-Footed

NaNoWriMo....say whaa?

Yup! The crazily titled "NaNoWriMo" or National Novel Writing Month is just a scant three days away! I'm super excited and anxious as this is my first year attempting the grueling 50,000 word writing marathon in 30 days that is NaNo. I've been spending the past few weeks preparing, and I've pretty much got a solid story going. I haven't started writing yet, that would be cheating, but I have been writing up a ton of notes and making outlines.

November is also my birth-month, so instead of having a party or traveling somewhere, I decided to spend the month on NaNo as a gift to myself. I haven't had the time or energy or the reason to sit down and crank out a first draft in a short span of time. I've decided to make the time and I'm hoping that I'll get a decent first draft out of it and then spend December editing it before publishing it as an e-book.

I know most people would be scrambling to send off queries to publishing houses instead of going for the old self-publishing route of hard knocks. But really, I'm not the kind of person to wait around for 6 months to a year to receive a rejection letter from a publishing house and then have to resubmit it to another publishing house. Kind of a waste of time if you ask me. Sure the editing, marketing and printing is all handled by publishers, but for right now, I like the option of publishing something myself and being accountable for my own work as it stands. One day I'd love to be picked up by a publishing house, but I figure I have to prove myself before that can happen. H.P. Mallory's success story is just that, she decided to go the self-publishing route, used her marketing skills like a ninja, got really popular and caught the notice of a publishing house. Plus self-publishing looks like it's going to make it easier to donate to a charity as I can set the amount per book myself instead of having it written into a contract.

Anyway, enough rambling about my reasoning behind doing NaNo and what I plan to do. I should actually tell you what the hell I'm going to be slaving over...

The story I'll be writing will be called Thistledown and it'll be a paranormal romance/urban fantasy novel. I've been sort of planning out the next two books and I can't say much yet except that the trilogy will have characters from the same universe as another book I've been working on. It'll be fun to see the cross-over when everything is finished, I think. :)

Summary:

Thistle Finley is an herbalist with a mighty green thumb. Many folk in town think her a witch for her remedies and ostracize her for her talent. When her dog is hit by a car, her green thumb takes on a whole new set of abilities and she fixes her dog with plantlife; the vines healing and becoming the damaged parts, creating a half flora half fauna being. Thistle’s world suddenly turns upside down as she’s chased by black hounds, wraiths, assassin witches and a warlock who takes a hit meant for her. His name is Alder and he is on a mission from a secret organization of witches to protect Thistle because she is the last true Hedge Witch. She is the only witch left with the ability to meld plant and animal life, to heal what is broken, to create new life. And everyone wants a piece of her.


I'll have posts on each of the characters later and maybe a cover soon! :)

I can't wait to share this story with you! I'll be posting on the process of NaNo, excerpts from my story, and just share whatever is helping or hindering me from winning!

Red & Grimm: Chapter 1 - Posted on Wattpad!

A few days ago I posted the first chapter in a new book I've let simmer in my brain for the last year or so called Red & Grimm. I went ahead and wrote the first chapter, even though I don't honestly know quite where the book will go.  It's October and I feel the need to write spooky stuffs! :)

Synopsis:
Carmine Dagwood isn't pretty, she has too many scars for that. She’s under a curse and she has a side job hunting monsters who prey on humans that doesn't exactly pay much. As if her life couldn't get any worse, she’s now being followed by Fabian Grimm, the son of Jacob one of the Brothers Grimm, who has decided the best way to gather tales for the second installment of the Grimm Fairy tales is to follow her from village to village as she hunts down the monsters who killed her family.

Link!:
Red & Grimm

The story is sort of dark and weird and I'm probably going to go over it later when I write more and layout more chapters.

Hope you enjoy the story so far!

Interesting afternoon with a bush cricket

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with writing, but today I noticed a bush cricket on the window side of our linen drapes. I'd noticed it the night before up near the ceiling over the stove and swore to take it outside when it got to a grab-able height with a cup and letter. I peeked behind the curtain and saw something really freaking strange. It was a female bush cricket and she had her abdomen curled up to her head and her ovipositor [egg laying organ] in her mouth. I wasn't sure, at first, if it was male or female and figured either it was eating it's own refuse, cleaning that particular area, about to lay eggs or was masturbating.

Never thought I'd say I was wondering if crickets could masturbate. Boggles the mind right?

Moving on...I did manage to glass it and move it outdoors, but really it didn't want to leave the glass, hell it was probably like walking on air for that little gal. I managed to entice her out by sticking some foliage inside which she latched onto and began devouring instantly. What's funny is that she was so preoccupied with her tidbit she forgot about her hind legs and just dangled there from her mandibles while she ate away.

Interested about what I saw I decided to Google it. I saw pictures similar to the cricket I found [it's green] and with a few clicks I discovered it was a female bush cricket of some kind, I didn't care enough to figure out which species, and no where did I read about crickets sticking their female parts in their mouths. I did see some rather disturbing variations on the cricket including my favorite as a kid, the Jerusalem cricket...AKA the potato bug and the mole cricket....I seriously thought the hand drawn picture was a joke until I saw a photograph....the powers that be must have wanted to egg on genetic experiments with this one.

Surprisingly there was little to no information on the critters in my green yuppy home of Marin with the exception of the Cricket teams. I had absolutely no idea there were cricket clubs here, talk about frou frou. But then again the nearby high school has an equestrian team...makes me wonder how many schools have such hobnob pastimes around here. Any kids I have are gonna go to weird and quirky alternative schools and be hippies, screw the rich kids.

October: What's in Store!

So it's only the second day of October, but I'm already getting the itch to not only crochet more warm fuzzy things but to write and not stop until I pass out. I've got some projects I'm currently working on and I'm really planing on finishing a story and publishing it through Smashwords by the end of the year. Here's what I've got planned over the next two months in terms of what I'll be writing. Each time I post something on Wattpad, I'll post a link here to it :)

October:

The Welkinbane - Chapter 4: Fallacious Names & the Acquisition of a Haunted Carriage House
Double Shot - A short novella/short story. Teen Romance. Ages 13+.
Red & Grimm - A horror novel that has to do with Grimm's fairy tales and werewolves. Horror Adventure. Ages 13+


November:

Thistledown - A paranormal romance novella written in the month of November which is national writing month.

Since November is National Writing month, I'm going to take November to focus on and write Thistledown and have it completed by the end of the month.

Welcome!

This will probably not come as a shock to you, dear reader, since I've entitled this blog "Bookophile" that I am a lover of books. If you've so happened to glance to the right of the page and seen my booklist for 2012, you'll probably panic at the sheer number of books I've devoured this year and come to the very reasonable conclusion that I must be insane.

I got myself a Nook this year and I have to tell you, it is the most singularly marvelous device I've ever had the pleasure to own. I'd fought purchasing an e-reader for a long time as I felt it a betrayal of the teetering towers of books that dominate my room. Unbeknownst to me, e-readers seem to facilitate speed-reading and reduce time spent flipping pages and driving to the book store to stock up. Consequently I've become a devourer of digital pages and that is why my reading list is so atrociously long.

Over the years, I've come up with various stories that I eventually wanted to publish, but the publishing world is ruthless and unless you snag the most amazing agent around, you'll never break in. I realized, after reading a few e-books that I could self publish through Smashwords...and though I dream of landing that big, tasty, thrilling contract with a large publishing house, I figure that self publishing is a great start! I've read H.P. Mallory [I love her books] book on self publishing and I'm currently in the process of getting a story finished to e-publish through Smashwords for the Nook and Kindle, maybe even for the Apple market!

The story I'm currently working on I've been posting the completed chapters on Wattpad for feedback before I finalize the book for e-printing. The book is called The Welkinbane and it's a Steampunk adventure novel. I've had the pleasure and great luck of working on this project with Ehren Jameson and Zoey Gomes and I've found a great cover artist named K.C. Smith to get my cover looking snazzy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the project and just doing it for fun.

The Welkinbane is going to be the first in at least a three book series called The Orichalcum Spur. 

Summary: The death of two seemingly unrelated fathers, one a peer of the realm and the other a scientist on the brink of a great discovery, spurs their daughters Kaiya and Rowena, with the aid of their friend Squints, to form an unlikely alliance in order to finish what their fathers started. The three girls find themselves entangled in a sprawling web of intrigue that spans to Queen Victoria herself as they fight the Queen's Men, enlist the aid of brigands and scourges, get involved with secret societies and generally get themselves trapped in various kerfuffles. Through all of their trials and tribulations, they have only one goal, to build the most advanced airship ever envisioned by the Royal Society and its collective genius, the one thing that would avenge their fathers' deaths, the Welkinbane