Well. I kind of make stuff up for a living. I’m not actually making a living, actually.

Writing a serial novel is a crazy rollercoaster ride.

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Dinoland_Logo_1Chapter 7 of DinoLand is live! It went up yesterday, but I had some obligations and couldn’t post about it here. So I’m posting today

Whew. To tell the truth, I really didn’t think I was going to get the chapter live this month.

Working on a serial novel is insane. It isn’t like writing a novel that will be presented as a whole: I’m not concerned with buffing and polishing the language to a high shine, and I only have a basic idea of what I need to do each month.

I have some very rough drafts and an outline of where I want the story to go, but that’s it. I never know exactly what the next chapter is going to be until two weeks before it goes live. I’m working right up against the edge of my deadline and incorporating what feedback I get (I’m open to feedback guys – email me. Message me. What do you want to see happen?)  It’s an exhilarating way to write, but it’s also exhausting.

Today, I am sitting down and revisiting my outline. I’ve learned that because I’m working serially, my pacing has to be different than it would be if I were working on a traditional novel. For example, I would probably spend two or three chapters on one character if I were writing a regular novel, but because I’m only putting out one chapter a month, I need to focus on one major plot point a month so that the readers don’t forget that certain things are happening.

I also need to repeat myself more: I might have mentioned that a character got her start selling hot dogs in Chapter One, but I need to say it again in Chapter 7 because new readers won’t have read Chapter 1, and readers who’ve been with me might not remember that detail.

I’m also changing some of the future scenes to reflect the work that artist Max Farinato has been doing. He drew this awesome lab last month, with gigantic red tanks. I hadn’t imagined those before, but I loved his idea, so I’m going to work them into the story.

It’s an exciting way of working, but it’s completely new for me.

Head on over to Geek Eccentric and check out Chapter 7.

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Writing a serial novel is a crazy rollercoaster ride.

,

Dinoland_Logo_1Chapter 7 of DinoLand is live! It went up yesterday, but I had some obligations and couldn’t post about it here. So I’m posting today

Whew. To tell the truth, I really didn’t think I was going to get the chapter live this month.

Working on a serial novel is insane. It isn’t like writing a novel that will be presented as a whole: I’m not concerned with buffing and polishing the language to a high shine, and I only have a basic idea of what I need to do each month.

I have some very rough drafts and an outline of where I want the story to go, but that’s it. I never know exactly what the next chapter is going to be until two weeks before it goes live. I’m working right up against the edge of my deadline and incorporating what feedback I get (I’m open to feedback guys – email me. Message me. What do you want to see happen?)  It’s an exhilarating way to write, but it’s also exhausting.

Today, I am sitting down and revisiting my outline. I’ve learned that because I’m working serially, my pacing has to be different than it would be if I were working on a traditional novel. For example, I would probably spend two or three chapters on one character if I were writing a regular novel, but because I’m only putting out one chapter a month, I need to focus on one major plot point a month so that the readers don’t forget that certain things are happening.

I also need to repeat myself more: I might have mentioned that a character got her start selling hot dogs in Chapter One, but I need to say it again in Chapter 7 because new readers won’t have read Chapter 1, and readers who’ve been with me might not remember that detail.

I’m also changing some of the future scenes to reflect the work that artist Max Farinato has been doing. He drew this awesome lab last month, with gigantic red tanks. I hadn’t imagined those before, but I loved his idea, so I’m going to work them into the story.

It’s an exciting way of working, but it’s completely new for me.

Head on over to Geek Eccentric and check out Chapter 7.

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Leave George R. R. Martin alone!

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I love how his wife is just sitting there, laughing.

I love how the lady next to him (his wife, maybe?) is just sitting there, laughing.

Look, I cherish a deep and abiding love for Weird Al Yankovic, and I laughed when I saw his Emmy performance last night, but man, I felt bad for George R. R. Martin when Andy Samberg ambushed him with that typewriter at the end of the Game of Thrones song last night.

I’m as rabid to read The Winds of Winter as any other Thronie, but dude. I mean, it’s bad enough to be a writer and always be thinking “I should be writing.”  In fact, it’s bad enough to have writer friends who take you to task constantly for not writing. (“Why are you on Facebook/Twitter/outside/buying groceries? You should be writing.”)

But for Martin? The world has become his obnoxious writing group. He can’t even watch his creations win Emmys without being handed a typewriter.

I mean, I know he’s achieved a ridiculous amount of success and this is part of the price for that, but still, I don’t envy him this.

Maybe I’m a little sensitive to his plight because I also can’t finish my final book in the Resistance Cycle. More on that later.

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Rejection is awesome. Here’s why.

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Today I got such a nice rejection letter from a literary journal that it made my day.

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My wall of rejections. (It’s been my blog’s background for years.)

I know. If anyone had told me when I was starting out that a rejection letter would make my day someday, my eyes would have rolled so hard that they would have come loose.

But this rejection letter, from a journal I love and respect, was a thing of beauty. It included the words “very impressed by your writing” and suggested that I send something else in the future.

If it had been an actual letter rather than an email, I might have clutched it to my bosom.

I’m reasonably sure it was a form letter, but that doesn’t bother me. Not even a little.

The “Good” Rejection

I’ve heard from editors that journals have at least two form letters on file to send to rejected writers. One is the “encouragement” letter (dear X, we love your work but it’s not right for our journal) and then there is the other one (Thank you for sending your work to us. We cannot accept it at this time). I am always thrilled to get the first one.

Yet the second kind of letter isn’t so bad either. A teacher in my MFA program used to say that she was immune to rejection because she was always submitting. She’s right: if you submit enough, you do get used to rejection. You also get used to the idea that the rejection is not personal. Your work isn’t terrible; it really isn’t right for the journal, or there isn’t enough space in the journal for your piece this quarter. It’s not about you. It’s about the journal’s needs. If your piece doesn’t fill those needs, well, try again somewhere else. No harm. No foul.

Real Writers Get Rejected

I used to hate rejections. An old writing group of mine held rejection letter burning parties on Valentine’s Day. That sort of catharsis can be really helpful, but I found, after a while, that I no longer wanted to burn my letters (especially if I actually got a paper letter on real letterhead or even one of those little rejection slips). I started taping the letters to the wall in my office, not as a reminder that I had been rejected, but as a reminder that I’d actually sent short stories out.

Whenever I feel like I’m not actually living the writing life, when I envy someone else’s success, or when I doubt that I’m a “real writer,” all I have to do is look at those letters. They remind me  that not only am I producing work, I’ve also had the guts to send that work to journals. ,

And this is important, because although I don’t mind being rejected by journals, I still hate submitting to them. I hate it with a passion.

But that’s another blog post for another time.

I’m off to print out an email and hang it on the wall. Then I’ve got a short story to resubmit.

 

 

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My novel was my baby, but now my baby’s my baby, so how exactly do you write with a baby?

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There are two things I’ve heard/read about writing with a baby.

The first is from Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird: “I used to not be able to work if there were dishes in the sink. Then I had a child and now I can work if there is a corpse in the sink.”

The second is a column in the Guardian by Maggie O’Farrell, author of The Hand That First Held Mine. I will not pretend that I’ve managed to nail down O’Farrell’s writing-with-the-baby-sling approach (he squirms!), but I can now understand Lamott’s point about the corpse in the sink. The thing is, I can’t make that work yet. Let’s be honest: the novel might howl for my attention figuratively, but the howls of my son are literal. When he needs me, he needs me. The novel can always wait. His naps are still unpredictable enough that I can’t concentrate on what I’m writing. I’m only writing with part of my attention. The rest of my attention is on him, listening for that next cry.

So sometimes, if it’s me and him at home alone, I don’t write. Sometimes I choose to unload the dishwasher, or throw in laundry. The laundry is less complicated, and demands less of me than the latest chapter of my novel.

But I still have to write.

I have to produce a chapter a month for DinoLand. (Although I wrote a backlog of material for the serial, I am getting to the end of that now.) I have a freelance career. I have to write the final novella in the Resistance series. I have to finish the second draft of my drag queen novel.

And also, I don’t feel quite like myself if I’m not writing fiction. Some people go for a walk to clear their heads. I write stories.

So the writing has to happen. But sometimes it just doesn’t. And that can be pretty frustrating.

Right now, I’m dividing my time into Stay-At-Home-Mom Days, Work Days and Writing Days. On days when my husband is away, I just concentrate on being a mom. On days when he’s home, I work on my freelance career and what writing I can, and once a week, I pack up the child and my laptop and head to my parents’ house where my wonderful mother watches the baby while I go to my dad’s office and write.

It’s not a perfect arrangement, but for now, it works. I do worry that I’ll have to come up with something else when my son is walking and talking, but possibly by then I’ll be used to being a mother and able to write fiction more frequently again.

Parents who write, how do you make time for your work? Does it get easier or harder?

 

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Freelance & fiction & the third Resistance book, which is definitely being written.

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Just a quick post today: I’m working on freelance projects and prepping the fourth chapter of DinoLand for its publication on Sunday (there will be be big doings in Chapter Four, for those who have been following along. I promise you blood, my friends.)

That’s right, freelance projects! I love teaching as an adjunct, but I’ve been wanting to get back into the freelance world for a while, and I’ve finally had the opportunity to do that. It’s part of my long-term goal: freelance as a writer and editor until my books start earning me money and I can live the life of a full-time author. Then I can just sit in my office, eating bonbons and killing characters all day like George R.R. Martin. george-r-r-martin-meme-generator-have-a-favorite-character-not-anymore-cce918

Speaking of George R.R. Martin, it’s taking me a long time, but I am actually working on the final book in the Resistance series. No really, I am. The last book has a title and a new protagonist and everything. I know that my books are under 100 pages (as opposed to Martin’s 3,000 pages) and you’d think I’d be done by now, but as it turns out I have a lot of loose ends to tie up and I’d like to do that well, so it’s taking longer than I’d like.

What I can tell you is that the new protagonist is male, which is new for me in this series, and that we will finally find out what happened to the mysterious package in Beware the Hawk.

Also, the readers’ survey – I have not forgotten my “What Are You Reading” survey, which still needs a bigger sample size. (A lot of people read literary fiction, and almost no one reads philosophy. Descartes would be disappointed in you guys.)

And that’s it for me. I will post more later. I’ve been working on two posts for several weeks, but work and the baby have gotten in the way. Eventually both posts will see the light of day. At least, I hope so.

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A Writing Day. (Or, a Writing Couple Of Hours. Same thing, really.)

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Today is a writing day for me!

A good ol’ fiction-writing extravaganza day. Today, I do my favorite thing in the world: make stuff up.

w00t for a writing day!

Well. Actually, it’s not really a writing day. It’ s really a writing couple of hours. I’ve set the day aside, and my mother has agreed to watch the baby, but between feedings, packing the computer and the manuscript and the child in the car, travel time, catching up with my mother and lunch, it’s a writing couple of hours, not a writing day.

But that’s fine, because these couple of hours make it possible for me to have several stay-at-home-mom days and freelance writing days without losing my mind. Just knowing that these couple of hours are going to happen at least once a week enables me to spend days vacuuming, and washing diapers without feeling guilt about my work. Guilt is the worst.*

I’m planning to publish a lengthier post about writing with a baby and how I’m trying to make it work. (I’ve been drafting it, during naptimes, for something like three or four weeks. I’m not even kidding.)

But for now, I’m going to work on my fiction. Because I have the time.

*And my mother is the best.

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I’ve had a short story up on Amazon for a week and haven’t told anyone.

I call this “stealth marketing.”
(Pro tip: I just checked my metrics on Amazon. “Stealth marketing” doesn’t work.)

short story, fiction, horrorAnyhow, the story.

Final Statements is about a woman who is obsessed with reading the last words of executed prisoners online. (This is a real thing. Someone records the final words of death row inmates and then those words are posted on the Internet.) She has her reasons for this, but you’ll have to read the story to find out why she has such a creepy hobby.

Check it out here.

This is the second piece in my short story experiment over at Amazon. About a year ago I decided to post my previously-published stories as e-books on Amazon. My first story, Undertow, went up on the site in March and it’s been read a few times, which is cool, because as far as I know, no one’s read that since it was first published in 2003. (The first version of Final Statements was published more recently, in 2011.)

I never realized how much horror I’ve written until I started this project. I tend to write a lot of literary fiction on a day-to-day basis, but when I started combing through the stories I want to publish on Amazon, it turns out, they’re all horror.
Huh.
I’m too squeamish to watch a horror film, but I write horror stories. Go figure. This is probably what I get for being obsessed with Thomas Harris books in my 20s. (Clarice Starling, I still want to be you.)

Anyhow, that brings me to my next point. I have several unpublished genre (horror, of course) stories that I might include in this project. Rather than try to publish these pieces the old-fashioned way (send them to journals), I might just put them directly online. My reasoning: Amazon is where the horror readers are. Literary journals are where the lit-fic readers are.

Writers, what are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you.

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DinoLand news and even bigger news.

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Just a brief post to tell you that the second chapter of DinoLand goes live at Geek Eccentric tomorrow. (Update: Click here to read it.)

Quite frankly, I’m proud as can be to be posting the chapter as scheduled, especially because of my second piece of news: On Tuesday, my husband and I became parents to T.W., a little boy.

We know next to nothing about babies, so there’s been a big learning curve here. Fortunately, the baby knows nothing about human society, so for all he knows, we’re doing everything right. And bonus: he speaks no English, so he doesn’t understand us when we say things like “He’s been quiet for a long time. Is he still breathing?” or “Oh no. I just realized the last time I changed a diaper was in 1994.”

Not that I mind any of this.
As terrified as I’ve been of motherhood my whole life (and that terror is not entirely gone), T.W. is the most excellent, most natural addition to our household. I’m just really happy he’s here.

Mommy's little writers block.

Mommy’s little writer’s block.

 

 

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Undertow: the first piece in my short story experiment.

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undertowSome things take me a while.

More than a year ago, I decided to release some of my previously-published short stories electronically on Amazon. So I waited for an evening when my husband was out, then climbed into the bathtub with a handful of seashells, a tube of red food coloring and a camera, because that’s what committed authors do.

Then I asked people to vote on the bloody seashell photos on my Facebook page. And then I started working on the short story itself, which was published in 2003 by a journal, but which I wanted to tweak.

I ended up tweaking it a lot. It took me a good year, and I didn’t post much about it, but I’m happy to announce that it’s done, the cover art is complete and the story itself is finally posted on Amazon.

Thank you to everyone who voted on the images last year. I look forward to my next project, which will probably involve me taking photos of rusty tools in a dark basement with just a flashlight as a light source.

 

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