tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79163403744489925062024-03-12T17:22:44.021-07:00Willow ScarlettWillow Scarlett is a queer romance writer from New Zealand.
<a href="http://goo.gl/ZF3t4">Amazon</a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6584836.Willow_Scarlett">Goodreads</a>
Twitter @Willow_WritesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-34214696124826503652017-01-23T15:49:00.000-08:002017-01-23T15:49:04.150-08:00Serial Fiction is a Darned Sock<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I always thought I'd love writing a serial. But let me just tell you, it sucks. It sucks in the way that eating right and exercising sucks. You know how great it is and you're proud of the results, but it takes such a long time and it's too easy to slip off track.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I love the novel and I doubt I'd have been able to finish it without the pressure of the serial format, but editing a chapter every week<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">—</span></span>and often, writing and rewriting several chapters, frantically trying to get everything polished and coherent ahead of schedule while editing that week's chapter<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">—</span></span>gets uncomfortable. And the more I dragged my feet and avoided it, the more my workload built up, the more pressure I was under, the more I wanted to avoid it...</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I won't say it's like having teeth pulled. But it may be like the discomfort of telling the dentist that I've flossed, when we all know I haven't flossed.</span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=224" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HEKiDzrGdK0/WIaS7a9NEMI/AAAAAAAAATo/7FFQHb4s0XIQfl4kRHY61fxfnZf2ZIZ5wCLcB/s400/serial%2Bdinosaur.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan North and Dinosaur Comics on the subject of flossing.<br />
http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=224</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I know what I wrote while out of town at a gig, while editing and writing my other novellas <i>Integrity </i>and <i>Day Drunk</i>, while getting caught up on what we call bits of chair… and in the last couple of weeks I've been scrambling to rewrite and chapters 30 and 31 while recording and filming with my band.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPa6hMYDvgA/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">My fantastic bandmates after filming our first video. Such cool kids!</a></div>
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A photo posted by Billy Ammonite (@billyammonite) on <time datetime="2017-01-18T21:18:45+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 18, 2017 at 1:18pm PST</time></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Most of novel-writing is a blur, one day bleeding into the other, and it's impossible to remember where you were at when you were writing or rewriting a certain part. I remember writing Wire's first visit to Sid's dreary house while sitting on a sun-soaked bench in a public park as gardeners pulled flowers and tossed them aside for the new season's colors. </span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5cm;">I remember huddling in a blanket at 2am, my keyboard the only sound in the isolated cabin I was renting, rewriting Jordie meeting Luke's friends. When the sun rose I found my first now had fallen outside.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">So sometimes memories can stand out, but mostly novels take so long to write, and are such a crisscross of rewrites and edits and new scenes that they get to be like a darned sock. Or something sexier<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">—</span></span>a tapestry maybe; or that kind of intimidating 20-layers-thick patchwork quilt that you think will win embroidery competitions but instead takes out second place. All anyone sees is that finished tapestry<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">—</span></span>or that finished sock<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">—</span></span>and even as the creator it's impossible to keep track of individual stitches.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As a writer, that's what a serial story has done for me: slowed my stitching down until I can see every stitch and am aware and focused on every one. Every individual chapter, I know where I was, what I was doing and what I was thinking. And that's a special experience.</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-21811466189831652092016-08-18T17:23:00.001-07:002016-08-18T17:23:10.601-07:00The math we use to make ourselves feel better<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday my dyslexic flatmate was frustrated that she spent 5
hours writing an essay outline (850 words).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd say 850 words in 5 hours
isn't a failure. The essay outline is finished and says everything it
was meant to. That makes it a successful piece of writing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spent 5 hours yesterday
watching the first season of <i>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.</i>
and I produced exactly 0 words during that time. The way I see it,
any time spent on writing is better than none, any work produced is
better than none, and any finished piece is a totally badass success
of which to be proud.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Ok9t3nMzkk/V7ZQzRMNTfI/AAAAAAAAAS0/OKnBNDBAA9oUA945wrWKtIl5dHz2ivP9gCLcB/s1600/Firefly%2BJane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Ok9t3nMzkk/V7ZQzRMNTfI/AAAAAAAAAS0/OKnBNDBAA9oUA945wrWKtIl5dHz2ivP9gCLcB/s320/Firefly%2BJane.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ten percent of nothin' is, let me do the math here... Nothin' into nothin', carry the nothin'...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But of course the frustration
isn't the finished work, it's the time taken to get there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">850 words in 5 hours is 170 words in an hour, which doesn’t seem
like many. Until you consider that it's 170 <i>finished </i>words
an hour, so 170 words of polished, edited, shiny-happy writing. There
were hundreds of other words which she threw out along the way, from
outlines to practice sentences or excess trimmed out to keep the
outline within ideal parameters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first <i>Harry Potter
</i>is just shy of 77,000 words. If
my flatmate kept producing
170 shiny words per hour for 5 hours a day, that's <i>Harry
Potter </i>in 90 days. From 0 to
<i>Harry Potter </i>in
roughly 3 months.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJ55kATkyTw/V7ZQ0FhgKDI/AAAAAAAAAS4/uKDEdpP9F682AxlID6SqBAljAxEoMw3ZQCEw/s1600/Harry%2BPotter%2B5%2Byear%2Bplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJ55kATkyTw/V7ZQ0FhgKDI/AAAAAAAAAS4/uKDEdpP9F682AxlID6SqBAljAxEoMw3ZQCEw/s320/Harry%2BPotter%2B5%2Byear%2Bplan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course that's not exactly how
it works. In my experience, longer novels need exponentially more
editing and reworking than shorter novellas. There's an incredible
amount of variation from book to book and author to author, and I
would never devalue the effort of creating a finished short story.
And yet, on top of my
anecdotal evidence, there's the simple maths that if any chunk of
writing needs X amount of reworking, the more chunks there are then
the more editing and reworking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I realized that I, a writer with
a love of spreadsheets, am so used to calculating word count averages
that I take them for granted. I love numbers and stats and goals. And
sometimes, when you're feeling down about your writing, you have to
do the quick and dirty math that will make you feel better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The easiest example is what I did
at the start of this post: think of the time you spent writing and
compare it what you achieved in the same space of time not spent on
writing. Maybe you got an hour of writing in today and your story
didn't move far, but compare that to the eight or so hours at work in
which your story didn't move at <i>all</i>.
Congratulations, from a
writing perspective you're more productive in your spare time than at
work!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can think of your writing as
chunks of a finished work, or estimate how many books you'd be able
to create if you kept this pace up every day for the rest of your
life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's so easy to feel low
comparing ourselves to prolific authors or even our own personal
bests. We can take a step back and remind ourselves that any writing
is a success and, if not a step toward a goal, then at least
practice. But sometimes dirty math is the only cure to the writing
blues.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-71231082116219785662016-08-08T14:54:00.000-07:002016-08-08T14:54:59.185-07:00I've officially watched Twin Peaks!<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
recently watched <i>Twin Peaks </i>for
the first time. If you're not familiar with it, <i>Twin Peaks
</i>is a murder mystery TV show.
Unlike most
murder-of-the-week mysteries, it follows one murder over 2 seasons.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7GfcKz6boYo/V6j-acoXVDI/AAAAAAAAASc/hjdGB9LHBpkJdTNG6EMXthgt41k35Zr-gCLcB/s1600/Laura%2BPalmer%2BMichaele%2BKelly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7GfcKz6boYo/V6j-acoXVDI/AAAAAAAAASc/hjdGB9LHBpkJdTNG6EMXthgt41k35Zr-gCLcB/s320/Laura%2BPalmer%2BMichaele%2BKelly.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork by <a href="https://michaelekellyart.com/watercolor-portraits/who-killed-laura-palmer/">Michael E. Kelly</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">(If
you haven't seen the show, don't search 'who killed Laura Palmer'
unless you want spoilers)</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Partway
through the second season, the murderer was revealed, and the show
had to see if it could survive without the unifying mystery.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The fact
that everyone I know is excited to see season 3 when it comes out
next year proves this show has enduring appeal.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQyFQS76Sts/V6j-afdTmGI/AAAAAAAAASk/6bFpztQrZZsCSxPdqNU6xTIvpscjbHEuACEw/s1600/Laura%2BPalmer%2BDavid%2BLynch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQyFQS76Sts/V6j-afdTmGI/AAAAAAAAASk/6bFpztQrZZsCSxPdqNU6xTIvpscjbHEuACEw/s320/Laura%2BPalmer%2BDavid%2BLynch.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Why
am I mentioning <i>Twin Peaks</i>?
Three reasons:</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<h3>
<span style="line-height: 100%;">1. So
I can show off about finally joining this cult phenomenon</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="line-height: 100%;">25 years
late but moving fast.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><div lang="en-US" style="display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%;">
2. To
share my favorite quotation from the show.</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8OzmixSiKQg/V6j-aVsM-lI/AAAAAAAAASg/fmHK--Gti4YS0S2dwNftI1z2DFjpL7RjACEw/s1600/Twin%2BPeaks%2Bchocolate%2Bbunnies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8OzmixSiKQg/V6j-aVsM-lI/AAAAAAAAASg/fmHK--Gti4YS0S2dwNftI1z2DFjpL7RjACEw/s320/Twin%2BPeaks%2Bchocolate%2Bbunnies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="line-height: 16px;">3. </span><span style="line-height: 100%;">Because
it relates back to my weekly Wattpad serial, </span><i style="line-height: 100%;"><a href="https://www.wattpad.com/295512656-omega-blues-chapter-twenty-three-the-bite">Omega Blues</a></i><span style="line-height: 100%;">.</span></h3>
<br />
<br />
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
premise of the novel so far—you want to be a werewolf and the one
werewolf you love the most is the one keeping you from becoming a
werewolf, only you don't realize it—has been resolved. Now it's
time to see how the novel will stand when it only deals with little
things like, you know, becoming a werewolf and having
everything go wrong.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-19716670009316899682016-07-09T19:29:00.000-07:002016-07-09T19:29:17.996-07:00Five Awesome Non-romance Novels<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Like
most writers, I love to read. Of course I read in my genre, but I
also read a lot outside of it.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This
year I joined a reading challenge, as a way to make myself prioritize
reading and because I enjoy working through lists. I'm just over
halfway through the
<a href="http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2016-39126431">Popsugar Reading Challenge</a>, <span style="line-height: 100%;">a
series of 40 prompts ranging from vague—a book with a blue cover, a
book that's guaranteed to bring you joy—to more specific—a book
from Oprah's Book Club, a YA bestseller.</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here
are five books I've read and loved as part of
this challenge.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_2rl5qmF-DE/V4Gu4pfy7hI/AAAAAAAAAR4/18J76hrWz44nMBxr0xcxjo4P28kdmAK3gCKgB/s1600/reading%2Bchallenge%2BGet%2Bin%2BTrouble.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_2rl5qmF-DE/V4Gu4pfy7hI/AAAAAAAAAR4/18J76hrWz44nMBxr0xcxjo4P28kdmAK3gCKgB/s320/reading%2Bchallenge%2BGet%2Bin%2BTrouble.png" width="207" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h3>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24727571-get-in-trouble" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;"><i>Get in Trouble</i> by Kelly Link</a><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Prompt:
A book published in 2016</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Kelly
Link is the </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Doctor
Who </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">of
the literary world. Most people who read her get obsessed and talk
about it non-stop, but there are a fair share of reviewers saying, “I
just don't get it, what's everyone so excited about?”</span></span></span></div>
</div>
</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Either
you love it, or you don't. And I do. Kelly Link's been my favorite
writer since I first read her in 2008.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I've
tried to wrap other people up in my excitement but I've had mixed
results. Many people say she's too whimsical—which, in turn, is
what I feel about David Tennant, one of the most popular Doctors.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Get
in Trouble </i>is a short story collection with Link's award-winning
control of language and all the classic Link themes—doubling, ghost
stories, unreliable narrators tapping at the border between dream and
reality—but with some of the whimsy honed down to leave precise and
beautiful weirdness.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kellylink.net/wp-content/uploads/Kelly-Link-final-print-6423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://kellylink.net/wp-content/uploads/Kelly-Link-final-print-6423.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly Link, courtesy of her website</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="en-US">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
personal favorite was the story <i>Two Houses</i>, with the crew of
an isolated space ship telling ghost stories that spiral into each
other.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*</span></span></div>
</div>
<div lang="en-US">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6CwglMx3LaI/V4Gu4_NCvXI/AAAAAAAAASM/u7wMlKAKvJQSU1n9Ge6S83w2e9byKhfLQCKgB/s1600/reading%2Bchallenge%2BI%2BCalled%2BHim%2BNecktie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6CwglMx3LaI/V4Gu4_NCvXI/AAAAAAAAASM/u7wMlKAKvJQSU1n9Ge6S83w2e9byKhfLQCKgB/s320/reading%2Bchallenge%2BI%2BCalled%2BHim%2BNecktie.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20702599-i-called-him-necktie" style="line-height: 100%;"><i>I Called Him Necktie</i> by Minea Michiko Flašar</a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Prompt:
A book that takes place during Summer</span></div>
</span></h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>I
Called Him Necktie </i>is a German novel set in Tokyo (the incredibly
talented author, Minea Michiko Flašar, is half-Japanese and
half-Austrian.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
shut-in and an unemployed salaryman meet on a park bench every day,
sharing their stories in a slow-building and heart-breaking short
novel. It discusses the pressure to work every day and balance work
stress with the rest of life.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It's one
of those rare, exquisite novels that I read at exactly the right time
in my life. Sometimes the perfect book arrives just when you're in a
place to need it. You and the book sync up and create a perfect
resonance, which seems too unique even to justify recommending the
book to anyone else. This was such a book, but I'm still confident
that the theme and tone are universal.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*</span></span></div>
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXXkvCa8FcY/V4Gu5LGPSrI/AAAAAAAAASM/7DTKVqrCAa8Uc9nzKA60HYJngGqmJGf6gCKgB/s1600/reading%2Bchallenge%2BRiver%2BMonsters.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXXkvCa8FcY/V4Gu5LGPSrI/AAAAAAAAASM/7DTKVqrCAa8Uc9nzKA60HYJngGqmJGf6gCKgB/s320/reading%2Bchallenge%2BRiver%2BMonsters.png" width="210" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16675144-river-monsters" style="line-height: 100%;"><i>River Monsters </i>by Jeremy Wade</a><span style="line-height: 18.72px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Prompt:
A book written by a celebrity</span></h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black;">“</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">With
time now revealed as something finite, I was struck by how little I'd
achieved, in any conventional sense, in my life. The weight of the
things I had done was inconsequential when divided into the years.”</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">was
aware of the TV show </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>River
Monsters </i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">but
ha</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">d</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
never watched it—I love sea monsters but I have no interest in
fishing—so at first I suspected </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ghostwriting
in </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">th</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">e
host's autobiography.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Apparently though, it's quite common for him to refer to fish as
“eldri</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">t</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ch
abominations” </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">live
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">on
camera, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">disproving
my prejudice that no one who wears cargo shorts could have access to
a broad vocabulary.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">R</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">iver
Monsters </span></span></i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is
more than a book about fishing (which, I agree, sounds like a very
boring book anyway). </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It's
a story of struggle, failure and obsession, with a dose of biology
and some fascinating philosophy.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cFQ1TX9ZyUw/V4GveyTopTI/AAAAAAAAASI/MX48y444xVEzcn9AhWPeshelRBCu-ccbwCKgB/s1600/pokemon%2BI%2Bcan%2Bspend%2Bhours%2Bstaring%2Bat%2Ba%2Bnice%2Brock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cFQ1TX9ZyUw/V4GveyTopTI/AAAAAAAAASI/MX48y444xVEzcn9AhWPeshelRBCu-ccbwCKgB/s320/pokemon%2BI%2Bcan%2Bspend%2Bhours%2Bstaring%2Bat%2Ba%2Bnice%2Brock.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is a <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 100%;">Pok</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">émon</span> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">screenshot</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Turns
out when you spend hours—or days—sitting by a river and waiting
for </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a
fish to bite, it gives you time to form deep opinions. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rock
on, you shorts-wearing philosopher.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*</span></span></div>
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GxMQPE7a650/V4Gu4JZ-2nI/AAAAAAAAASM/ifdGiA-ejhcbHNY0N4f3GjRZCKncqwOTwCKgB/s1600/reading%2Bchallenge%2BAn%2BUnrestored%2BWoman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GxMQPE7a650/V4Gu4JZ-2nI/AAAAAAAAASM/ifdGiA-ejhcbHNY0N4f3GjRZCKncqwOTwCKgB/s320/reading%2Bchallenge%2BAn%2BUnrestored%2BWoman.png" width="211" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25659444-an-unrestored-woman" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;"><i>An Unrestored Woman</i> by Shobha Rao</a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Prompt:
A book about a culture you're unfamiliar with</span></div>
</span></h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Shobha
Rao's debut collection is emotionally heavy, but worth the
commitment. The stories center around the 1947 partition of the
Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan. The stories are often
devastating and brutal, but always incredibly well-crafted.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I
usually find short story collections easy to space out over a long
period of time, but once I started reading <i>An Unrestored Woman</i>
I couldn't stop. The collection took me through tears and anger and,
finally, to joy.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If you can handle the subject matter, the beauty in this collection is 100% worth the discomfort. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*</span></span></div>
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tzSy0e_bJLE/V4Gu5h6jJ3I/AAAAAAAAASM/uIMIdSJW1rY6CdGdxoCIvS8CN8ROhaRuwCKgB/s1600/reading%2Bchallenge%2BRoadside%2BPicnic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tzSy0e_bJLE/V4Gu5h6jJ3I/AAAAAAAAASM/uIMIdSJW1rY6CdGdxoCIvS8CN8ROhaRuwCKgB/s320/reading%2Bchallenge%2BRoadside%2BPicnic.png" width="208" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12851913-roadside-picnic" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky</a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">Prompt:
A science-fiction novel</span></div>
</span></h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
inspiration for the <i>S.T.A.L.K.E.R. </i>game, this modern
translation of a 1970's USSR novel came with a foreword by Ursula K.
Le Guin. If that isn't a recommendation, what is?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Roadside
Picnic </i>is perfect
sci-fi
from start to finish. The world—Earth after a
brief alien invasion—is
built realistically, with few
awkward infodumps.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It
reminds me of Jeff VanderMeer's
<i>Southern Reach </i>trilogy
which rocked my world a while back. Lots
of exploration of weird phenomena and
unsolved mysteries, laced
with death and crime.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Even
the title—<i>Roadside Picnic—</i>is
weird and cool.
When I read the blurb,
I asked the friend who
recommend the book if the title referred to aliens using earth as a
picnic destination and leaving stuff behind.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-foBiQwza4TY/V4Gu4aIhuoI/AAAAAAAAAR0/VGMs-bLf1kon0_XAEfNfGcqibT0mOjYjgCLcB/s1600/Gary%2BLarson%2527s%2Bfar%2Bside.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-foBiQwza4TY/V4Gu4aIhuoI/AAAAAAAAAR0/VGMs-bLf1kon0_XAEfNfGcqibT0mOjYjgCLcB/s320/Gary%2BLarson%2527s%2Bfar%2Bside.png" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Gary Larson's <i>Far Side</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%;">My
friend said no. But, spoiler alert, it totally is.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-40449226463822549272016-06-15T16:45:00.002-07:002016-06-15T16:45:32.421-07:00Omega Blues: Chapter 15My free serial novel, <i><a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/65049440-omega-blues">Omega Blues</a></i>, is moving along steadily and is now <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/271058912-omega-blues-chapter-fifteen-the-whole-band-back">up to chapter 15</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTPjvB32M4/Vtt6Brf2rmI/AAAAAAAAAOc/7wFVo_oQ68gjacPun8LVBdTxEhqDBP2cACKgB/s1600/Omega%2BBlues%2Bnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTPjvB32M4/Vtt6Brf2rmI/AAAAAAAAAOc/7wFVo_oQ68gjacPun8LVBdTxEhqDBP2cACKgB/s320/Omega%2BBlues%2Bnew.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The story is at just over 30,000 words, with a chapter added every week.<br />
<br />
The last few weeks I've been getting behind then catching back up, so we've seen chapters updated within a couple of days of each other instead of once a week. I've been juggling work and band practice with moving house<i>. </i>Unfortunately I've been dealing with work stress by slipping back into depressive sleep patterns, sleeping 12 to 15 hours a night, which leaves very little time for anything else.<br />
<br />
But, despite setbacks, we're still up-to-date with <i>Omega Blues </i>and I'm proud of that. I have a completed chapter every week, and I'm confident I wouldn't have gotten this far in the editing of this novel if I'd just had it as a side project.<br />
<br />
Since I'm back on track with a new chapter not due until Sunday, I have a couple of days to focus on editing my next novel, <i>Skin and Edge</i>; a story which is dear to my heart as it's a reworking of my first ever romance novel. Stay tuned, because I think you're going to love it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-84744415246932526432016-05-30T16:31:00.001-07:002016-05-30T16:31:44.908-07:00Coin Tricks review copiesIf you'd like a free copy of <i>Coin Tricks </i>in exchange for a review, there are still a couple slots in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18117234-don-t-buy-my-love-coming-soon-5-26-2016-coin-tricks-by-willow-sc">Goodreads MM Romance Group's </a><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18117234-don-t-buy-my-love-coming-soon-5-26-2016-coin-tricks-by-willow-sc">Don't Buy My Love</a> </i>program!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z2eeaYnOwqA/VuXgDrMEbAI/AAAAAAAAAO0/4RuNPDspgBcCBUWXK1vtr-nTsjKzntolwCKgB/s1600/Coin%2BTricks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z2eeaYnOwqA/VuXgDrMEbAI/AAAAAAAAAO0/4RuNPDspgBcCBUWXK1vtr-nTsjKzntolwCKgB/s320/Coin%2BTricks.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
You have to be a member of the group, but it is a great group :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-49085142606090517602016-05-15T14:08:00.000-07:002016-05-15T14:18:52.547-07:00Integrity giveaway!To celebrate the release of my new mm romance novella, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FN1YIKI">Integrity</a></i>, I'm giving away 2 free copies!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nk-pYIlUyvQ/VzeOBOPPblI/AAAAAAAAARE/ftGrGAYz7Twnxv8_VyNZc0MwvqDxdRS_QCKgB/s1600/Integrity%2B600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nk-pYIlUyvQ/VzeOBOPPblI/AAAAAAAAARE/ftGrGAYz7Twnxv8_VyNZc0MwvqDxdRS_QCKgB/s320/Integrity%2B600.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Integrity </i>is a rock star romance set on tour, so to win your free ebook copy all you have to do is post here (or on my <a href="http://willowscarlett.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/Willow_Writes/status/731955936152014848">Twitter</a>) with your preferred ebook format and the answer to this question:<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Which band would you love to see live?</h2>
<div>
It can be a current or defunct band, or even a band you've already seen!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'll use a random number generator to pick <b>2 winners</b> on <b>Friday</b> the<b> 20</b>th, then send you out your copies :)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Tyler Kostritch is famous for his honesty and straight-talking. It’s just a pity he’s lying to everyone. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Ty gave up a promising MMA career to focus on his band. As the frontman of Proletarian Yell, he’s as aggressive and confrontational as he ever was as a fighter. He’s famous for the brutal honesty of his live performances—all the while hiding in the closet, never risking relationships so no one will ever find out. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">After years of hard work, the band finally have their big break: a tour with the hottest metal band around. It’s the best thing to ever happen to Ty. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Until he meets Hale. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Hale Tahmid, vocalist of the staggeringly-popular Funeral Kiss, is everything Ty’s not: Showy, flirty, openly gay. Hale’s the quintessential rock star from his staggering good looks to his attention-craving love of social media. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The two bands couldn’t be more different, and their vocalists are opposites. They clash from the moment they meet, a constant verbal sparring and battle of personalities. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Yet Ty can’t help noticing his extreme attraction to Hale. Worse still, Hale knows it and taunts Ty with his bad boy charm, every chance he gets. Ty’s hooked on the beautiful rock star and it’s inevitable that he’ll give into temptation. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Hale’s not just a pretty face. He’s passionate and ruthlessly dedicated, and may just be the perfect partner for Ty. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">But Hale won’t accept half-measures. If Ty’s not fully in, he’ll walk away. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Ty lives in a castle of lies that would come crashing down if he came out. He’d risk losing his band, his family, and everything he’s worked for. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">How can Ty choose between his love and the music he’s built his world around?</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FN1YIKI">Amazon</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/636343">Smashwords</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-integrity-2039761-149.html">All Romance</a> </div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-76456149772207075252016-05-14T14:01:00.000-07:002016-05-14T14:01:25.309-07:00New release: Integrity<div class="tr_bq">
My new rock star m/m romance novella is live! <i>Integrity </i>is a tense and steamy clash of will between two vocalists on tour.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nk-pYIlUyvQ/VzeOBOPPblI/AAAAAAAAARA/_QKdwCj7mGkpjFARuw95iK_gL1ArYNG3QCLcB/s1600/Integrity%2B600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nk-pYIlUyvQ/VzeOBOPPblI/AAAAAAAAARA/_QKdwCj7mGkpjFARuw95iK_gL1ArYNG3QCLcB/s320/Integrity%2B600.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover illustration by <a href="http://kazimo.tumblr.com/">Kazi</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FN1YIKI">Amazon</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/636343">Smashwords</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-integrity-2039761-149.html">All Romance</a></div>
<blockquote>
<em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Sparks fly whenever they're together.</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Tyler Kostritch is famous for his honesty and straight-talking. It’s just a pity he’s lying to everyone. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Ty gave up a promising MMA career to focus on his band. As the frontman of Proletarian Yell, he’s as aggressive and confrontational as he ever was as a fighter. He’s famous for the brutal honesty of his live performances—all the while hiding in the closet, never risking relationships so no one will ever find out. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">After years of hard work, the band finally have their big break: a tour with the hottest metal band around. It’s the best thing to ever happen to Ty. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Until he meets Hale. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">“We’re real. We’re part of a movement. You’re just a boy band playing dress-up.”</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Hale Tahmid, vocalist of the staggeringly-popular Funeral Kiss, is everything Ty’s not: Showy, flirty, openly gay. Hale’s the quintessential rock star from his staggering good looks to his attention-craving love of social media. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The two bands couldn’t be more different, and their vocalists are opposites. They clash from the moment they meet, a constant verbal sparring and battle of personalities. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Yet Ty can’t help noticing his extreme attraction to Hale. Worse still, Hale knows it and taunts Ty with his bad boy charm, every chance he gets. Ty’s hooked on the beautiful rock star and it’s inevitable that he’ll give into temptation. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">“I’m nobody’s dirty secret.”</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Hale’s not just a pretty face. He’s passionate and ruthlessly dedicated, and may just be the perfect partner for Ty. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">But Hale won’t accept half-measures. If Ty’s not fully in, he’ll walk away. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Ty lives in a castle of lies that would come crashing down if he came out. He’d risk losing his band, his family, and everything he’s worked for. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">How can Ty choose between his love and the music he’s built his world around?</span></blockquote>
The original title was <i>Prima Donna Boy</i>, a reference to Ty's mocking nickname for Hale. But I didn't want all those words to clash with <a href="http://kazimo.tumblr.com/">Kazi</a>'s gorgeous illustration! The new title, <i>Integrity</i>, is one of Ty's core defining values<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">—</span>one that he contradicts by being in the closet and in denial of his feelings for Hale.<br />
<br />
<i>Integrity </i>is a rock star enemies-to-lovers story built around the massive tension of two huge and competing egos forced to travel and perform together day after day after day. Under that kind of strain, people snap and secrets bubble to the surface...<br />
<br />
Here are the links, I hope you love it!!<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FN1YIKI">Amazon</a><br />
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/636343">Smashwords</a><br />
<a href="https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-integrity-2039761-149.html">All Romance </a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-78670648818672324002016-04-24T17:36:00.000-07:002016-04-24T17:36:43.556-07:00This is your brain on two months of serial fictionI'm working on a serial story, a m/m werewolf romance novel uploaded free to the internet chapter by chapter. I've just uploaded <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/249137723-omega-blues-chapter-eight-tattoos-and-markings">chapter eight</a> which brings the story so far to just under 20k, so it's impressive to see how a little bit every week adds up over time.<br />
<br />
My idea with <i>Omega Blues</i> was to complete a draft then edit and upload it in chapters, but of course a first draft is often little more than a vague outline that shows you what you want to write for your actual story. This and the next two chapters are completely fresh and not in the original draft.<br />
<br />
When I started uploading <i>Omega Blues</i> at the start of March, I had a 50k-or-so manuscript to work from. In the last couple of weeks I've been re-imagining the story to make it more dramatic<span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span>cutting something into 2k chunks really makes you realize where the dull, infodumpy sections are! I've tossed aside well over half of the original writing. The fresh draft couldn't have existed without the first draft, and it definitely wouldn't be shaping up the way it is if I hadn't worked chapter-by-chapter to focus in on the best story I can possibly craft.<br />
<br />
I've wanted to write a weekly serial for years, but all the blog posts I'd read couldn't prepare me for the experience. Like with any novel, it's an experience unique to the writer and the novel. Between work stress and band practice, I've been drained this month, and I'm confident that I wouldn't have been able to achieve as much as I have if I hadn't put in place weekly deadlines.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, editing <i>Omega Blues </i>each week takes days of writing time away from my next novella, <i>Prima Donna Boy</i>. In the past I've seen that multi-tasking on writing projects makes them all go slower so the time between publishing drags out longer and longer. While I think this is true here<span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span>I defnitely would be further through edits on <i>Prima Donna </i>if I didn't keep switching to <i>Omega Blues</i><span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span>the weekly chapter uploads are proof that I am getting something done.<br />
<br />
With writing there's a war between wanting to write fast and furiously, creating 'in the moment' with no breaks and no distractions, and wanting to take a break to plan and think about the story. Handling these two stories at once has forced me into the latter mindset, but I figure as writers we should always be experimenting and trialing, in our writing practice as well as in the writing itself.<br />
<br />
There are plenty of anecdotes about famous writers and their routines and superstitions. They can be terrifying for a new writer because they're told from the perspective of full-time writers with established careers. Those writers always seem so definite: <i>the only way to get any writing done is to do it exactly like this</i> and yet there's so much conflicting advice.<br />
<br />
The thing is, every writer is different and there isn't a one-size-fits-all writing habit. Before we know what's going to work for us, we have to experiment. From the time of day when we write to the level of distraction we can handle (music, a cafe, silence?) to the way the story itself is created<span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span>intricate planning or broad brushstrokes? Write from the start to the end, or from a key scene outwards? How much can and should a story change while it's being written?<span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span>every writer and every book will be different.<br />
<br />
I've lived in isolation, writing in a cabin in the woods with no internet or phone reception, and I have <i>Boganettes</i>,<i> Hot Blood Punk </i>and <i>Mr Wonderful </i>to show for it. Now I'm living in a city and writing in stolen moments between irregular work hours, a reading challenge and intense band practices. I have <i>Omega Blues </i>to show for it and, whatever else I can produce, I know I'll be learning more about myself and my writing from the different experience.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;">The latest chapter of my free werewolf m/m romance, </span><a href="https://www.wattpad.com/249137723-omega-blues-chapter-eight-tattoos-and-markings" style="text-align: start;"><i>Omega Blues</i>, is now live on Wattpad</a><span style="text-align: start;">!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-45094296909607502632016-04-05T14:24:00.000-07:002016-04-07T00:32:26.460-07:00The Only Rule for Writing Paranormal<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whenever we write, we're creating within a framework of existing stories</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">all the fiction that came before us and that influences and shapes our writing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even if you want to create the most fresh and original story possible, you still want to create a story that people enjoy, so that means obeying basic laws of writing: narrative flow, conflict, dialogue, the story building up and increasing in tension before reaching a resolution, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The vast majority of writers know the genre they're writing in, and that means expectations you need to take into account. I</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">t's hard to satisfy readers with a crime novel if the crime's not solved by the end of the book, people will be disappointed in a horror that's not scary, and so forth.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qC6uSnWaBfY/VwFqKpCpzUI/AAAAAAAAAQA/E82v6X3Ua_ogbRYv19k-uP9PVqCkPugFA/s1600/writing%2Bwerewolves%2BAnother%2BEarth.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qC6uSnWaBfY/VwFqKpCpzUI/AAAAAAAAAQA/E82v6X3Ua_ogbRYv19k-uP9PVqCkPugFA/s320/writing%2Bwerewolves%2BAnother%2BEarth.png" width="214" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Another Earth</i>, 2011, is rare for a successful science fiction film in that it deliberately breaks the expectations of science fiction and steps away from the fantastic.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we write stories about the paranormal, we're not just working within story structure and genre conventions, we're also working with what people know and expect from our paranormal creatures. Because vampires and shapeshifters don't exist, there's no set definition of how they <i>actually </i>work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Readers would be confused if you wrote about talking cats in a book that wasn't labelled as 'fantasy', because we've all experienced cats and never seen them talk. But with non-existing creatures, we get to decide how they'll function in our story.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FvOdRw6Q1nY/VwFtPlvKxNI/AAAAAAAAAQM/Stol8szLgXgR3hoTr4nQGA4mwmWUgzaAg/s1600/writing%2Bwerewolves%2BTalking%2BCat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FvOdRw6Q1nY/VwFtPlvKxNI/AAAAAAAAAQM/Stol8szLgXgR3hoTr4nQGA4mwmWUgzaAg/s320/writing%2Bwerewolves%2BTalking%2BCat.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Drunk </i>is still my favorite Ed Sheeran song.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that doesn't mean we can completely ignore reader expectations. If we're stepping too far from the accepted parameters of our paranormal creature, it can be better to call them something else. T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he zombies in <i>28 Days Later</i> or <i>I Am Legend </i>are called 'virals' because they're not true zombies</span><span style="line-height: 16px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">re-animated corpses</span><span style="line-height: 16px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but also because they don't fit the slow, shambling, totally mindless expectation of zombies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've heard more than one person complaining that Stephenie Meyer's <i>Twilight</i> series featured vampires too far out of expectations, then praising <i>The Vampire Chronicles </i>without caring that Anne Rice's vampires are far from Bram Stoker's or even the vampires from folklore. You don't have to like <i>Twilight</i> (I'm personally uncomfortable seeing abusive relationships romanticized, I dream of a world where healthy and fulfilling relationships are romanticized and I try to create my own romance novels accordingly), but it seems contradictory to criticize one book for changing vampire myths then praising another one which also breaks vampire myths.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ArOSMVeyO2o/VwFw5lC_cII/AAAAAAAAAQY/eMjMLbhI1MUrOhZelNl3ZKdDVc_UBP-hg/s1600/writing%2Bwerewolves%2BWhat%2Bwe%2Bdo%2Bin%2Bthe%2BShadz.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ArOSMVeyO2o/VwFw5lC_cII/AAAAAAAAAQY/eMjMLbhI1MUrOhZelNl3ZKdDVc_UBP-hg/s320/writing%2Bwerewolves%2BWhat%2Bwe%2Bdo%2Bin%2Bthe%2BShadz.png" width="216" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>What We Do in the Shadows</i>, 2014, as a comedy can get away with featuring many different and conflicting kinds of vampires.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
you might have noticed from the Meyers rant, I don't like people
policing what's 'real' or 'true' with non-real creatures. As long as
your story stays true to itself, I don't care how you deal with the
paranormal. The whole point of paranormal creatures is that they're
not normal – they're not something we can see every day, like a
cat, so there is no one set of rules for how they should behave.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
we write paranormal, just like when we write genre or any narrative
story, we get to decide which expected elements we'll pay attention
to and which we'll ignore. And that means being aware of the
conventions of paranormal in the genre we write. Meyers vampires
aren't horror vampires, but they fit within the expectations of
romance vampires</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">like the </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vampire
Diaries </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">series of YA romance novels by L. J. Smith.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n6oP8OpKqaE/VwQnros0VsI/AAAAAAAAAQo/KtQ9DcQP3Gsj8JP0tIumoOHpV6uAkLmCQ/s1600/vamp%2Bdiaries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n6oP8OpKqaE/VwQnros0VsI/AAAAAAAAAQo/KtQ9DcQP3Gsj8JP0tIumoOHpV6uAkLmCQ/s400/vamp%2Bdiaries.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can tell they're romantic leads because they all look gorgeous.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've
never written vampires, but I do write werewolves in my </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jagged
Rock</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> series. They're romance novels so the werewolves are romance
werewolves</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">all about strength and power and beauty, rather than
the terror and mystery associated with horror werewolves.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
thing is, I've often heard fans of horror werewolves saying what a
shame it is that werewolves never got turned into romantic leads the
way vampires have. And I want to tell them, <i>they have! You're just
reading the wrong genre!</i></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-la0AEnT_KNI/VwQo5IG8xYI/AAAAAAAAAQw/28gIN-IDYI8vGXQydbGUIg-HfVp6NUHVQ/s1600/wolfen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-la0AEnT_KNI/VwQo5IG8xYI/AAAAAAAAAQw/28gIN-IDYI8vGXQydbGUIg-HfVp6NUHVQ/s320/wolfen.jpg" width="224" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.12px; text-align: left;">Whitley Strieber's <i>The Wolfen</i>. Not a romance.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You
could write a horror werewolf as a romantic lead, but it would be
quite a different story than most werewolf/shifter romance readers
are expecting. As with any kind of reversal of expectations</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">like
a sci-fi that drags the camera away from its sci-fi elements</span><span style="line-height: 16px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you
need to be aware of the expectations so you know when you're subverting
them. Because, at the end of the day, you can write anything you
want; but if you want to satisfy your readers then you need to be
honest with them and know what they'll expect from your genre and
paranormal creatures.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PtgmHBFK4S0/VwFmcyFfbNI/AAAAAAAAAP0/pAbrgJIa6-AW-idfpBTJ59m_DdYUcVj0w/s1600/Omega%2BBlues%2Bheader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PtgmHBFK4S0/VwFmcyFfbNI/AAAAAAAAAP0/pAbrgJIa6-AW-idfpBTJ59m_DdYUcVj0w/s400/Omega%2BBlues%2Bheader.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I've
never written vampires, but I do have a series of free werewolf
romances called </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Jagged
Rock</i></span><span style="color: black;">.
The second one, </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Omega
Blues</i></span><span style="color: black;">,
is a weekly serial on Wattpad and you can find the fifth chapter <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/240543802-omega-blues-chapter-five-wolf-burritos">here</a>.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PtgmHBFK4S0/VwFmcyFfbNI/AAAAAAAAAP0/pAbrgJIa6-AW-idfpBTJ59m_DdYUcVj0w/s1600/Omega%2BBlues%2Bheader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-63892960661505998522016-03-26T13:28:00.001-07:002016-03-26T13:28:41.611-07:00Kitchen Wolves, and what do we call chairs?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">While editing <i>Omega Blues </i>this week, I got caught up on a tiny detail: What do I call the bar that joins chair legs? In the story, </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have a wolf climbing onto a chair slowly. I described the wolf standing on the chair's 'rung' and then wondered... ladders have rungs, but what do chairs have?</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://visual.merriam-webster.com/images/house/house-furniture/side-chair/parts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://visual.merriam-webster.com/images/house/house-furniture/side-chair/parts.jpg" height="278" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Image from Visual Dictionary Online</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this picture, Visual Dictionary Online call the 'rung' part a spindle. Other places on the internet label it as a stretcher or spacer or, on circular chairs, a foot ring. My woodworking experience makes me lean towards 'spacer,' but what does it matter if no one's going to understand what I'm talking about?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With words like this, there's a balance to strike between what's technically accurate and what readers will understand. N</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">one of these words turn up in the Wikipedia article on chairs, and chairs aren't high on the search results when you google them, so I have to assume they're not in common usage and, even worse, they might confuse readers and drag them out of the flow of the story.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the sake of making the story easy to read (in a tense moment with a wolf in the kitchen and climbing closer, every sentence is precious!) I defaulted to 'foot rest' which I think is a happy medium between accurate and easy to understand.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, now that I've crawled this far down the rabbit hole of furniture names, I should talk to a carpenter about the (American) technical term and drop a reference to it earlier in the chapter: "I'd seen Will making these chairs, shaping the legs on a lathe and fitting the whojiwhatsit bar between them," to lead seamlessly to "The wolf put a paw on the whojiwhatsit of my chair." Sort of a Chekhov's spacer bar. Or perhaps I could run a quiz for my readers and see what the average <i>Omega Blues</i> fan calls that part of a </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">chair</span>—not necessarily technically accurate, but at least most people would know what I'm talking about.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this is the sort of small detail that I get caught up in, and the reason it took me two and a half years to edit my last novel. The whole point of making <i>Omega Blues</i> a serial story was to hold myself accountable: I have to get a chapter edited every week, whether or not I know the correct or common word for a chair's rung.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that out of the way, <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/65049440-omega-blues">here's the link to the new chapter of my m/m werewolf romance, <i>Omega Blues </i>on free serial-fiction site Wattpad</a>! This </span>chapter is called Kitchen Wolves and has—whoa!—wolves turning up in the kitchen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Omega Blues </i>is a free serial story, with a new chapter uploaded every week. So you can read it as it's uploaded and enjoy the thrill of waiting (like with oldschool TV shows) or you can wait until it's finished and read the whole novel at once!</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-11905559349844336122016-03-19T14:06:00.000-07:002016-03-19T14:06:08.778-07:00New werewolf m/m romance chapter!The third chapter of my <i><a href="http://www.mmromancegroup.com/jagged-rock-by-willow-scarlett/">Jagged Rock</a> </i>spin-off novel, <i>Omega Blues</i>, is now <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/233953002-omega-blues-chapter-three-matt">up on Wattpad</a>!<div>
<br /><div>
<i>Omega Blues </i>is a full-length novel that I update with a chapter every week. So you can read it weekly if you like the excitement of seeing new chapters every week, or you can wait until it's all finished and read it in one binge.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I wrote the draft for <i>Jagged Rock </i>a little over a year ago, but I'm editing the chapters weekly. This is my first time writing a serial story and one of the cool things I'm seeing is all the distinct memories with each edited chapter, instead of the vague mass of memories that jumble up after editing a whole novel over months.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Work was full-on this week and I traveled out of town for a punk festival, so I ended up editing the chapter while sitting on the door between bands. Now I have a double set of great memories: all the fantastic bands and people, and finishing a fresh chapter of <i>Omega Blues</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I hope you enjoy the new chapter and are looking forward to fresh story and fresh memories in weeks to come!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-71477274428338557732016-03-18T19:54:00.002-07:002016-03-18T19:54:27.002-07:00The Best Magicians<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“Ninety percent of most magic merely consists of knowing one extra
fact.”<br />
― Terry Pratchett, <i>Night
Watch</i></blockquote>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
What is it about magic that makes it so addictive?</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Sure, we'd all love superpowers. But real-world magicians are
fascinating for the way they can make the impossible seem possible. I
love movies about magicians in the same way that I love heist movies
or a great crime TV show (my favorites are the <i>Ocean's Trilogy</i>,
Guy Ritchie's blockbusters and TV show <i>Elementary</i>): The thrill
of seeing a problem that can't be solved, then watching it get solved
anyway.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While writing <i>Coin Tricks</i>, my novel with a street magician
romantic lead, I had a great excuse to delve into stories about
magicians. Here are my three favorites, and what I think makes them
so great.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://hellblazer.wikia.com/wiki/Hellblazer_Wiki">Hellblazer</a></i><span style="line-height: 100%;">Comic book series</span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/hellblazer/images/7/79/Hellblazer_(1).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130718051421" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/hellblazer/images/7/79/Hellblazer_(1).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130718051421" height="320" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the <i>Hellblazer </i>wiki</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
What makes John Constantine a stand-out magician is how seldom he
uses magic.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Each volume of the comics follows an arc: John gets into trouble, he
wise-cracks as the mystery deepens and he digs himself further into
trouble as you start to think his enemies are stronger/better/smarter
than him, then finally (usually in
the last few pages of the comic) he delivers a scathing come-back and
a simple piece of magic that bring him out victorious.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_uVOYQ_rWc/Vuy6bZMzzUI/AAAAAAAAAPI/q3JWRpktfssYWKC0qbKIOdz-bVIrny6aQ/s1600/magicians%2BKeanu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_uVOYQ_rWc/Vuy6bZMzzUI/AAAAAAAAAPI/q3JWRpktfssYWKC0qbKIOdz-bVIrny6aQ/s320/magicians%2BKeanu.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still of Keanu Reeves from the 2005 movie <i>Constantine</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Hellblazer</i> hasn't translated
to the screen well. First <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360486/">Keanu Reeves played JohnConstantine</a> deadpan and
skilled at fisticuffs with a comic-relief sidekick. Nearly 10 years
later <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3489184/?ref_=nv_sr_2">the TV show</a> cast Matt Ryan as closer to the Sting-inspired
comic book John Constantine. Unfortunately that decade delay between
the movie and the show saw 10 years of <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460681/?ref_=nm_knf_i1">Supernatural</a></i>,
a show with similar themes and a character (Castiel) dressed to look
like Constantine. The sad fact is that by the time <i>Constantine</i>
hit the screens, Constantine's image was already familiar and all the
angel-and-demon themes had been done to death.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jV482qNicrI/Vuy8ytBsMSI/AAAAAAAAAPY/fW-UdX6rKFEEKR4hG1EhtSbgTq4Cq1jnQ/s1600/magicians%2BConstantine.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jV482qNicrI/Vuy8ytBsMSI/AAAAAAAAAPY/fW-UdX6rKFEEKR4hG1EhtSbgTq4Cq1jnQ/s320/magicians%2BConstantine.png" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Ryan as magician John Constantine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WMXskL4BsR4/Vuy8yTcP2yI/AAAAAAAAAPU/yr0ewAl_MhkChvufrNzczpcgIKsZMbC5g/s1600/magicians%2BCastiel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WMXskL4BsR4/Vuy8yTcP2yI/AAAAAAAAAPU/yr0ewAl_MhkChvufrNzczpcgIKsZMbC5g/s320/magicians%2BCastiel.png" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Misha Collins as angel Castiel in <i>Supernatural</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But<span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">like how I prefer the
monster-of-the-week early format of </span><i style="line-height: 100%;">Supernatural</i><span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">I think the best </span><i style="line-height: 100%;">Hellblazer </i><span style="line-height: 100%;">comics
aren't about a grand war between angels and demons, they're
about a dirty magician just trying to get by.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Highlights include the time
Constantine embarrassed a whole group of white supremacists, the time
he tricked a monstrous talking dog not to attack him by rolling on
his back in a posture of submission, or that time a demon melded a
gang of hooligans into one ferocious monster which Constantine
destroyed by pointing out that different parts of it supported
different football teams (so
it tore itself apart).</div>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 18.72px;"><br /></span></div>
<i style="line-height: 100%;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="line-height: 100%;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/">The Prestige</a></i></div>
</i><span style="line-height: 100%;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">Film</span></div>
</span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7Y-ZcSlopWg/Vuy98de8ZgI/AAAAAAAAAPg/jOeLP81ie2sC1P46JajLqQ53IBsn5WVCg/s1600/magicians%2BPrestige.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7Y-ZcSlopWg/Vuy98de8ZgI/AAAAAAAAAPg/jOeLP81ie2sC1P46JajLqQ53IBsn5WVCg/s320/magicians%2BPrestige.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman in <i>The Prestige</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>The Prestige </i>is brilliant
even if you don't frame it as a Batman vs Wolverine movie with
illusion and sleight-of-hand in the place of superpowers. With an
all-star cast and writer/director Christopher Nolan (of <i>Inception,
The Dark Knight </i>and <i>Memento</i>
fame, the latter two and <i>The Prestige</i>
were also written with his Jonathan Nolan), it's no surprise that <i>The
Prestige </i>is a complex and
psychologically thrilling tale that's beautiful to look at.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But what makes it the best magic
film is the contrast between the different magicians<span style="line-height: 100%;">—</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">the two
stars and their fabricators/mentors and assistants all have their own
perspectives on magic and we're shown these different views
seamlessly as part of the plot and character development. It's
especially satisfying to see the difference in a successful magician
who wants to be famous and out-do his rivals, contrasted with a
successful magician who just wants to surprise and satisfy people and
to hear their applause.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3985.The_Amazing_Adventures_of_Kavalier_Clay" style="line-height: 100%;">The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">Novel</span></div>
</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1353586285l/6408987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1353586285l/6408987.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Michael Chabon's Pulitzer-winning
novel is a brilliant blend of the pulp and the literary, showing that
an intricate and emotionally-driven plot dealing with death, war,
race and sexuality can still fit beside pop culture elements like
comic books and superheroes.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
All too often we're told that
anything fun is frivolous and superheroes only belong in
popcorn-selling blockbuster movies, and that if a novel isn't serious
and difficult to read then it can't be edifying so isn't worth
reading.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I never understood the appeal of the
Golden Age of Comics until I read <i>Kavalier and Clay. </i>The
plot focuses on two comic book creators in 1940's New York City and
their struggles to create art (while getting paid) in the midst of
war and turmoil. Their most famous creation, The Escapist, is
inspired by Houdini, and both comic creators are passionate about
performance magic. There's so much passion and joy in this novel (as
well as plenty of misery and heartbreak), and it's so vividly written
that you feel exactly what it was like to be a young comics creator
in the boom of comics and superheroes.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Magic and magicians weave their way
through a twisting tale which also features superheroes, comic books,
a massive clay golem and exquisite prose. What's not to love?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-65283547103748663402016-03-13T14:45:00.000-07:002016-03-13T14:45:26.154-07:00Omega Blues: chapter 2<a href="https://www.wattpad.com/231693901-omega-blues-chapter-2-bren">Chapter two</a> of my Wattpad serial m/m romance is now live!<br />
<br />
<i>Omega Blues </i>is the spin-off sequel to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22819048-jagged-rock"><i>Jagged Rock</i></a>. Both stories are completely free to read.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTPjvB32M4/Vtt6Brf2rmI/AAAAAAAAAOc/vzQhvVl4HIQEqdN2HmIuNQV8czyyuwwCQ/s1600/Omega%2BBlues%2Bnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTPjvB32M4/Vtt6Brf2rmI/AAAAAAAAAOc/vzQhvVl4HIQEqdN2HmIuNQV8czyyuwwCQ/s320/Omega%2BBlues%2Bnew.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being a werewolf has always felt like a curse to Bren, even after he's let into a friendly pack of mostly-humans led by his alpha nephew Will. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Jagged Rock Pack are friends and members of a rock band, standing together even after their vocalist came out as a werewolf. It's Will's plan to turn all the members of the band into werewolves, and that sounds like a great plan... except for Matt.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matt is funny and kind and endlessly helpful, the sort of guy anyone would want for a friend. Unfortunately, as a werewolf he's marked out to be an omega which comes with its load of weaknesses and agonies.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's Bren's job to look after Matt and help him with the transformation. He didn't plan on falling for him, especially because Bren's never felt anything like love or attraction before. It's another complication in his already difficult life.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matt's had a crush on Bren from the moment they met, and he loves teasing and flirting. He's delighted to think he might have a chance.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matt would do anything to become a werewolf, and Bren would do anything to stop him. How can the two have a chance at happiness or a life together?</span></blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-23144950822354365672016-03-05T16:37:00.000-08:002016-03-05T16:37:16.701-08:00First chapter of my free Wattpad story!Nearly two years ago I wrote a free novel called <i>Jagged Rock </i>for the <a href="http://www.mmromancegroup.com/jagged-rock-by-willow-scarlett/">M/M Romance Group on Goodreads</a>. It featured a college rock band with a werewolf for a vocalist, and enough characters that I've always wanted to write spin-off sequels about them finding their happy endings.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTPjvB32M4/Vtt6Brf2rmI/AAAAAAAAAOU/T0KSOXSDnmQ/s1600/Omega%2BBlues%2Bnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTPjvB32M4/Vtt6Brf2rmI/AAAAAAAAAOU/T0KSOXSDnmQ/s320/Omega%2BBlues%2Bnew.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Introducing <i><a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/65049440-omega-blues">Omega Blues</a></i>!<br />
<br />
<i>Omega Blues</i> is the story of omega werewolf Bren and human bass-player Matt. I wanted to make it free and as I've always loved the thrill of serial stories, I decided to write one and give readers the experience that I've always loved.<br />
<br />
<i>Omega Blues </i>is available free on <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/user/WillowScarlett">Wattpad</a>, a site for sharing free serial fiction. I'll upload a new chapter each week so you can follow the story weekly, or wait until it's finished to read the whole thing.<br />
<br />
If you're worried about reading something that won't get finished: don't! I have a complete first draft and, while it needs extensive revision, I have at least the total framework for the novel.<br />
<br />
I am thoroughly looking forward to the serial writing experience, and I hope you're looking forward to reading it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-14704955235870459042016-02-27T14:59:00.002-08:002016-02-27T14:59:28.433-08:00New release: Coin TricksMy new novel <i>Coin Tricks </i>is available now!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7uGXKBQ3sA/VtIoPXl3v7I/AAAAAAAAANU/i1nUXVSeJHA/s1600/Coin%2BTricks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7uGXKBQ3sA/VtIoPXl3v7I/AAAAAAAAANU/i1nUXVSeJHA/s320/Coin%2BTricks.jpg" title="Coin Tricks illustration by Kazi" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover illustration by <a href="http://kazimo.tumblr.com/">Kazi</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Wire's too huge and intimidating to find love… but that doesn't stop him dreaming.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
His size has defined his whole life, from his jobs as a bouncer and store security to his brief and unsatisfying relationships. But beneath his scary appearance, Wire's kind and loving. He cares for his family and his dog and imagines a future with a goat at his side.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then he catches Sid stealing soap.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sid's a cute librarian and aspiring magician, raising his sister alone and stealing when he can't make ends meet. Wire should report the theft to the cops, but instead he takes food parcels to Sid, and an unlikely friendship forms. Sid is shy and scared at first, but with time he reveals his inner strength and the burning ambition that makes him the opposite of Wire's laid-back aimlessness.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Wire falls hard but can't bring himself to do anything about it. He's never been anything more than disposable to goats, and he can't bear to have his heart broken by his only friend. And years of trying to be different can't hide the fact that Wire was raised to be rough, to think with his fists and ask questions later. He keeps making a bad impression on Sid without meaning to, running the risk of losing Sid before they even have the chance of finding something more together.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
They have to struggle with work and their families and the weight of the past, trying to unite their very separate lives to create something new and beautiful. Wire knows his dreams of love are just that: Dreams. Sweet but impossible. But that doesn't stop him dreaming…</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Coin Tricks</i> is a standalone M/M romance novel with a HEA and no cliffhangers.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
This is a very exciting day for me because I've been editing this novel since early 2014 and I am so glad that I get to share it with everyone!<br />
<br />
The cover is illustrated by the incredibly talented <a href="http://kazimo.tumblr.com/">Kazi</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>Coin Tricks </i>is available through these links:<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coin-Tricks-Willow-Scarlett-ebook/dp/B01CAVI2F6/">Amazon</a><br />
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/618844">Smashwords</a><br />
<a href="https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-cointricks-1992398-149.html">All Romance eBooks</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-53999201746024585632016-01-31T18:16:00.001-08:002016-01-31T18:16:43.636-08:00No Heterosexuals and Jokes<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span lang="en-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earlier
this week, the New Zealand internet world was <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/76238827/trade-me-listing-for-wellington-flat-specifies-no-heterosexuals">rocked by an ad on the auction site Trade Me</a>. Tenants were looking for a new flatmate and
specified:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">"We don't want to live with a couple, a heterosexual person, or someone who is loud at night, or drinks/does drugs/party a lot."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;"><span lang="en-US">First
off, this is legal. The <a href="https://www.hrc.co.nz/enquiries-and-complaints/faqs/accommodation-property-landlords-and-human-rights/">Human Rights Commission</a> makes exceptions for
cohabiting – you're allowed to discriminate about who you live
with.</span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 100%;"><span lang="en-US">Last
year, <a href="http://m.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11538141">a flatmate ad specifying "no Indians or Asians"</a> was published on the same
site. There was less press surrounding that ad, probably
because the Indian and Asian population is smaller than the heterosexual
population, or because the latter is less used to being discriminated
against.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 100%;">It's essential to have a safe space, a
place where you feel accepted and understood, where you can escape
the constant pressures and micro</span><span style="line-height: 16px;">aggressions</span><span style="line-height: 100%;"> of the outside world.
It's terrible to not feel comfortable in your own home. But 'no
heterosexuals' is exclusionary language that offends, even though
it's legal.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 100%;"><span lang="en-US">There
wouldn't be any controversy if the ad had </span><span lang="en-US">just
stuck with the politely worded:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">"We want to live with someone who is relaxed, motivated, grown up, reliable, considerate, child friendly, LGBTQIA+, pays the board on time with no stress, vegetarian or vegan."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;">This
<span lang="en-US">convey</span><span lang="en-US">s </span><span lang="en-US">the
same information without sounding </span><span lang="en-US">as</span><span lang="en-US">
exclusionary. </span></span><span style="line-height: 100%;">I agree with the sentiment of the ad,
but not the wording.</span></span><div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;">There's a time to be impolite. There's a time
and place to wield aggression as a weapon and fight to be
acknowledged. But Trade Me isn't that place.</span></div>
<div>
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;">Reading
responses around this ad, one comment in particular grabbed my
attention. It was part of a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/424p52/no_heterosexual_people_allowed/">Reddit discussion</a>, where one user
</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;">took issue with the flatmates not wanting to live with a person who was:</span><div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;">"racist,
sexist, homophobic, transphobic, fatphobic, hates sex workers,
hates migrants or is otherwise a jerk."</span></blockquote>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;"><br />The Reddit user said it would be a challenge to make any jokes that
didn't incorporate the above. There were rebuffs, which is awesome, but there's still this unusually pervasive opinion that humor can't exist without causing offense.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 100%;">Posting
to Reddit saying, essentially,
'there are no jokes that aren't racist, sexist or sizeist' is like
posting to Goodreads with the question 'who wrote <i>To Kill a
Mockingbird?</i>' You're right there
on the site,
you could just go ahead and check!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;"><br />A while ago I got hooked on reading jokes in an askreddit thread, and I was sure they mostly weren't offensive. So I did the math</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 100%;">I
just scanned the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/top/?sort=top&t=all">all time top list of r/jokes</a>, the joke subreddit. Of the top 50,
21 directly considered race, gender, gay or transgender people,
weight, sex work, or migrants.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H2kTgsdCbTA/Vq6512nHGwI/AAAAAAAAAMw/2LCEeK5Qyo0/s1600/Reddit%2BJokes%2Btop%2B50.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H2kTgsdCbTA/Vq6512nHGwI/AAAAAAAAAMw/2LCEeK5Qyo0/s400/Reddit%2BJokes%2Btop%2B50.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 100%;"><span lang="en-US">Note
that this includes jokes which poke fun at the dominant group (e.g. a
joke about 'friend zoned' guys and</span> a joke saying the LAPD are eager to shoot black
people). If we remove jokes against the dominant group (and the pun 'boy ant' which isn't really about gender), we're down to 13 of the top 50 jokes being offensive against a minority group (I'm including Irish,
Texans and Italians here). Bringing this into account makes our graph look a lot more like Pac Man taking a bite:</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ECcnn2bIKRg/Vq68MimdMiI/AAAAAAAAANE/tCL1L6MR3as/s1600/Reddit%2BJokes%2Btop%2B50%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ECcnn2bIKRg/Vq68MimdMiI/AAAAAAAAANE/tCL1L6MR3as/s400/Reddit%2BJokes%2Btop%2B50%2B2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 100%;">It's
not me saying these jokes are funny, it's the Reddit community
choosing them through upvotes.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.4cm;"><span style="line-height: 100%;"><br />I've always thought it was easy to make a joke that wasn't directly offensive, but it's nice to have proof. And, as a critic ending on this positive note, </span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/3ou7nr/a_young_artist_exhibits_his_work_for_the_first/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;">here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.4cm;">'s
my favorite joke from r/jokes:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
young artist exhibits his work for the first time and a well-known art critic is in attendance.<br />The
critic says to the young artist, "Would you like my opinion on
your work?"<br />"Yes," says the artist.<br />"It's
worthless," says the critic<br />The
artist replies, "I know, but tell me anyway."</span></blockquote>
<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-80869231037037360702016-01-30T15:12:00.001-08:002016-01-30T15:47:07.922-08:00MM romance book release and giveaway: Happy Valley!My new short story, <i>Happy Valley</i>, is now available from <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/611652" style="text-align: center;">Smashwords</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Valley-Snowboarding-Willow-Scarlett-ebook/dp/B01B8V16VG/" style="text-align: center;">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-happyvalley-1974437-168.html" style="text-align: center;">All Romance</a>!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jNur4JIoYkA/Vq1Aj98grHI/AAAAAAAAAKw/iqUe47GEo1E/s1600/Happy%2BValley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jNur4JIoYkA/Vq1Aj98grHI/AAAAAAAAAKw/iqUe47GEo1E/s320/Happy%2BValley.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/611652">Smashwords link</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Valley-Snowboarding-Willow-Scarlett-ebook/dp/B01B8V16VG/">Amazon link</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-happyvalley-1974437-168.html">All Romance link</a></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Las
is too pretty and glamorous for work on a ski field, where all the
tempting man-candy is hidden under layers and layers of protective
clothing. He wanted some steamy homo love stories to show for a
season spent in the snow, but instead all he gets is cold.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Then
Las steps off the chair lift and straight into the arms of the new
lift attendant, Ben. Las has never met a person he couldn't learn to
like, and Ben's easy to love. He's flirty, fun, and as bubbly as a
pot left on the stove. To top it all off, he's into Las… At least
until he realizes Las is a guy!</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-US">But
that doesn't stop Las and Ben becoming good friends as they work,
snowboard and flirt. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-US">Ben
would be perfect, if he wasn't straight. His</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-US">
boundless energy is a great match for Las's casual charm, and he
doesn't let the fact that Las is a guy keep him from bouncing around
like a puppy whenever they meet.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It's
just a pity that no-one else sees Ben's puppy playfulness as
adorable. Staff and bosses alike turn on him until he's so miserable
that even snowboarding can't cheer him up.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It's
up to Las to win back Ben's smile, with stolen food and road cones
and a dangerous sled ride to a picnic. If he plays his cards just
right, he can make Ben happy, stop the coworker drama… and make Ben
fall for him! No boy who dances and flirts like Ben could truly be
straight, right?</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Happy
Valley </i></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-US">is
a standalone M/M romance short story at just under 8000 words. It's fast-paced fluffy fun with a side order of snowboarding and quad biking.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 0; text-indent: 0.6cm; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-US">If you want to save a dollar and read <i>Happy Valley </i>for free, I'm giving away two copies! All you have to do to enter the draw is comment here, and in 48 hours I'll randomly pick two winners :)</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-22587498168004149892016-01-27T15:07:00.001-08:002016-01-27T15:07:29.266-08:00Upcoming release: Happy Valley<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm delighted to
announce <i>Happy Valley, </i>a new m/m romance short story coming
out on the 30th!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qgbDQApThTo/VqlIc-o4RxI/AAAAAAAAAKg/lwtuPJuORbw/s1600/Happy%2BValley%2Bblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qgbDQApThTo/VqlIc-o4RxI/AAAAAAAAAKg/lwtuPJuORbw/s320/Happy%2BValley%2Bblog.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Happy Valley </i>is
a romance between two ski field employees on the slopes of Mt
Ruapehu, New Zealand. It's super cute and sweet, a totally adorable
fluff of love with a gorgeous backdrop!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
wrote <i>Happy Valley </i>while
I was working at the ski field, as a special request from one of my
friends who'd read some of my stories and wanted me to write one for
him. Romance meets snowboarding? Yes please! I added in some quad
biking, another hobby I developed while working on the ski field, to
blend a cocktail of extreme sport and sweet love.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">I'll
post an announcement when it goes live, so keep an eye out!</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Also coming out soon: <i>Coin Tricks</i> - my m/m romance novel in which a security guard catches a cute guy stealing soap.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The release of <i>Coin Tricks</i> is extra exciting for fans of <i>Jagged Rock</i>, because when it's out I'll be able to focus on uploading <i>Omega Blues</i>, the sequel to <i>Jagged Rock</i> (about a werewolf rock band at college). <i>Jagged Rock </i>is free and <i>Omega Blues</i> will be, too: I'll be releasing it as a weekly serial on Wattpad. I've never worked on a serial before and I predict it's going to be an awesomely fun experience!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There are plenty of delicious treats for your eyes and hearts on their way, so stay tuned!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-44112303923597950712016-01-19T15:56:00.000-08:002016-01-19T15:56:36.934-08:00What I learned from living in isolation<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A year ago I was so overwhelmed by
stress and anxiety that I chucked it all in and moved to the
wilderness. I rented a cottage alone in the New Zealand bush with
spectacular views, no internet or cell reception, and a five-hour
bicycle ride through the mountains to the nearest shop.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was the best year ever.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Here's what I learned...</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I'm exactly who I thought I was.</span></h3>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I've always suspected that I'm the
kind of introvert who would flourish in complete isolation, but I
never knew for sure. Turns out I am, and living alone is awesome.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br />
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.5cm;">My stress is from people.</span></h3>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I can't talk for anyone else at all,
but it turns out my stress
and anxiety come entirely from social interactions.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When
I moved into the wilderness I went abruptly from being an anxious and
stressed-out wreck to a sedate blob in a constant state of low-level
contentment. Suddenly my only concern in the whole world was whether
I cleaned my cottage too much to damage the balance of bacteria in the septic tank.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br />
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">What I care about.</span></h3>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was important to me that I didn't
force myself to do anything. I told myself that if I wanted then I
could just spend my days reading books and looking at trees.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Yet I didn't go a day without writing.
Maybe that's force of habit after years of daily writing, but even
that's awesome. I needed to write to feel happy.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Turns out writing is definitely what I
care about and an essential part of my life.</span></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 0.5cm;">What you do with your day changes how you think.</span></h3>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This sounds obvious but I've never
seen it as clearly as I did when I lived in isolation. My mind got
slow and relaxed and I'd only think book thoughts.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But when I cycled into town and got
phone reception, suddenly I'd be back to thinking about people and
social concerns or whatever I read on the internet. It was like a
stain that seeped into my way of thinking for hours afterward.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If I know about gigs that I'm not
going to, I feel bad for missing out. But when I didn't know anything
that was going on I never felt lonely or like I was missing
something. You truly can't miss what you don't know you're missing.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br />
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">You get used to things quickly.</span></h3>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I know plenty of people who say they
couldn't live without the internet, but after a few weeks you don't
even think about it anymore. Habits are easy to break when there's no
opportunity.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Not talking to anyone? Not a problem
when it's your choice and you're used to it. Weekly cycle ride to buy
supplies? Goes from a big deal to taken for granted.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Who we are and what we care about is
shaped so much by what we're exposed to every day. I was incredibly
fortunate to get this chance and I found out who I am for real and
what's important to me<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">—and
I like that person.</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately
it's not financially viable to keep living in the bush and reading
books full-time, otherwise I would still be there today. But even
though my year's up and I'm returning to the world of social stress
and job stress, I'm glad that I got this chance to look at beautiful
scenery every day and worry about nothing deeper than cleaning
supplies.</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-64931779063643154322016-01-09T13:20:00.000-08:002016-01-09T13:20:51.513-08:00Writing is like being in a band<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
I recently started drumming with an original band, as opposed to the
cover bands I've been in before. It got me thinking about all the
parallels we can draw between creating music and writing fiction.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br />
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
It's crucial to understand your influences.</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
When I auditioned for my band, right off the bat I was asked about my
influences. The guitarist and main songwriter loves Black Sabbath
while I come from the Slayer branch of metal titans, though we both
have Megadeath and Pantera in common. What do I mostly listen to?
What do I practice to? How does my jazz training alter my approach?
And so on.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Bands are music crowdsourced. Each member brings in their own string
of influences and, to make unity, you have to agree on who the key
influences are.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
This involves being fully aware of your own influences, which is
harder than it sounds. And it's just as crucial with writing as with
being in a band. What genres do you love, which specific writers?
Even if they're outside your genre, the writers that you absorb and
think about every day will change your approach to storytelling.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
It would be cool to say that you're completely original and spinning
pure fiction out of the air. But in the real world that doesn't work.
As a writer you're a reader and everything you read influences you.
All your passions and hobbies, your friends and family (and the kind
of things they talk about and stories they tell) will influence your
writing.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
It's vital to know your influences so you don't accidentally
plagiarize, but also so you're aware of the kind of novel you want to
create – and to understand where the heck your novel came from once you've created it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FLvOadlUVpU/VpF3aTCQiWI/AAAAAAAAAKM/PmeDQKCi8v0/s1600/cool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FLvOadlUVpU/VpF3aTCQiWI/AAAAAAAAAKM/PmeDQKCi8v0/s320/cool.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Some people have more talent than others but practice matters.</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
If you start off great, you'll get better with practice. If you start
off rubbish, you'll still get better with practice (provided you're
not just repeating the same mistakes again and again, which is easier
to spot in music than in writing).</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
The thing that I have to remind myself a lot is that your output
matters. You can be the best band in the world and no one will know
if you don't leave the garage. If you never finish that beloved
manuscript, no one else can ever enjoy it.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
This sounds obvious but I have to remind myself of it every day when
I want to keep doing rewrite after rewrite on a romance novel that's
taken me years.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fqqihDPV3AI/VpF1cjjJ3oI/AAAAAAAAAKA/zHSxJuNvNGc/s1600/practice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fqqihDPV3AI/VpF1cjjJ3oI/AAAAAAAAAKA/zHSxJuNvNGc/s320/practice.jpg" width="236" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
When it's done right, it looks effortless.</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
I've always wanted to read a first draft of my favorite authors
because I find it impossible to even imagine how their novels could
have been different, they are so superbly well-crafted and complete.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Of course there were many decisions made along the way, many possible
ways the story could have gone, countless drafts and revisions and
edits.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
With stories you work it through on your own then get input from
friends and beta readers and eventually editors. With a band, quite
often you're composing your songs as a team so you get the input
right up front.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
But either way, you're looking at an immense amount of work and
complex decisions which boil down to one finished product. If you've
created that story or that track correctly, it's going to sound
natural and completely effortless.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Which sounds depressing, until you consider the alternative...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n37kjug1LGY/VpFy99DSHjI/AAAAAAAAAJs/YrSfA4ySW_A/s1600/I%2Bcould%2Bdo%2Bthat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n37kjug1LGY/VpFy99DSHjI/AAAAAAAAAJs/YrSfA4ySW_A/s320/I%2Bcould%2Bdo%2Bthat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /> If you get it wrong, everyone's a critic.</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Doesn't matter that they're not a musician or a writer, just like it
doesn't matter that most people yelling at sports teams would get
steamrollered if they walked onto that field. Whether you're in a
band or writing a book, you'll meet plenty of criticism.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vintageprintable.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Entertainment-Sports-Evolution-of-a-Pitcher-1889-Baseball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://vintageprintable.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Entertainment-Sports-Evolution-of-a-Pitcher-1889-Baseball.jpg" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
No one can see the hours you put in to get there.
</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Other writers can acknowledge the effort it takes and can understand
the months or years put into something that might be read in a few
hours or a day. But a lot of non-writers have trouble seeing it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0zFN6Jbk9UU/VpFveT0VBzI/AAAAAAAAAJU/EgixrvQBGoM/s1600/writing%2Bis%2Beasy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0zFN6Jbk9UU/VpFveT0VBzI/AAAAAAAAAJU/EgixrvQBGoM/s320/writing%2Bis%2Beasy.jpg" width="278" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
In a band, nothing matters but the minutes on stage. That's all the
audience can see: your finished product, a few minutes to show for
the hours of practice, not to mention the years of learning your
instrument.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
It's the same with a book. Unless you wow the reader with the book they pick up (or the first pages of the book, or the blurb...) then they won't know or care how long it took you to write it. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
It doesn't matter how much work you put in if it's not someone's cup
of tea.</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
People won't be fans of your band just because you practice all the
time. People probably aren't going to like your novel any better just
because it took a long time to write.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
And, like anything else, even if you love it then it's no guarantee
anyone else will. Everybody's different. I think my band are awesome,
but if you don't like 80's heavy metal then you probably won't like
us. I think <i>Pride And Prejudice</i>
is pretty near perfect but that
doesn't mean my thriller-loving neighbor will.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8qFYiOax1Lo/VpFxfh2TVmI/AAAAAAAAAJg/DaA_qfNUPmM/s1600/ping%2Bpong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8qFYiOax1Lo/VpFxfh2TVmI/AAAAAAAAAJg/DaA_qfNUPmM/s320/ping%2Bpong.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
We do it because we love it.</h3>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Sure, it's possible my band will be the new Metallica. It's possible
your novel will be a bestseller. It's possible we'll get recognition
and money.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Possible, but not probable.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Luckily that's not why we do it. We don't join garage bands or write
novels solely because we want to get rich. Maybe some people do, and
that's cool for them. But the problem with money as a motive is
that when there isn't money, there's no motivation. Statistically
your first novel won't be a success – it won't get published, and
if you self-publish it won't make more than $500. Your band won't get
talent spotted and signed on the first night.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
It takes work to keep writing books and keep practicing music. If
you're lucky then that work might lead to financial success, but
that's a lot of what if's and slim chances.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
For most of us, we're doing this
because we love it. Not <i>every minute </i>of
it, sure. There are days I have to force my hands onto my computer
keyboard and days I struggle not to just drop my drum sticks and walk
away.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
Often, if I push through it, those
bad days will get better when I let go of the world and get invested
in the flow of story or rhythm. But still, it's not easy to keep at
it day after day after day. A lot of kids learn instruments, but how
many keep playing as adults? That's because it's <i>hard</i> to keep at it.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
But what gets us through is the end goal. All of this practicing and
writing will mean that the song or the novel will slot together as a
finished whole, something of which to be proud.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
And, sure, we'd all like to be famous and successful. Not necessarily
for the money, but because we believe in the product. Our novel will
add something to literature, our band has good songs that might get stuck in your head and, at the least,
will contribute to the local scene.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 0.5cm;">
What we're creating is something we believe in. It's worth the
effort.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-62171192987495574452015-12-31T14:42:00.000-08:002015-12-31T14:42:36.025-08:00The 5 Best Internet Things I Found This Year<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In the hopes of starting some sort of annual traditions, I want to
end this year with a list of cool things I found online. From text-delayed gifs to cigarette-smoking insects, these are things that made me happy online in 2015.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-US">This
is not a list of things </span><span lang="en-US"><i>released </i></span><span lang="en-US">this
year</span><span lang="en-US">, just what I discovered
in 2015.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In case it's worth mentioning, no one is giving me money or free
stuff for this. That's because my blog's unimportant, not because
I've taken a moral stance. I am 100% open to the idea of free
shoelaces.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Without further filibuster, here we go!
<br />
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/">1: Ian's Shoelace Site</a></b></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fieggen.com/Dont_Link/pics11/Ack006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fieggen.com/Dont_Link/pics11/Ack006.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diagonal checkerboard shoelaces featured on the site</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
First place has to go Ian the shoelace savant and his site so
remarkable that when you Google 'shoelace', this site beats out
Wikipedia.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's an instruction site for different ways of tying shoelaces. Some
are practical, like ways to keep your boots staying tighter for
longer or to make shoes easier to remove, but some are purely
decorative.
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ePI2pDyilUc/VoWCKm3QJbI/AAAAAAAAAH8/EAp0ITLZRz4/s1600/Ian%2527s%2BShoelace%2Bsite%2Blacing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ePI2pDyilUc/VoWCKm3QJbI/AAAAAAAAAH8/EAp0ITLZRz4/s320/Ian%2527s%2BShoelace%2Bsite%2Blacing.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still from an instructional gif on the site</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On Halloween I completed my outfit with inverted pentagram shoelaces
and I have a pair laced in the filigree-like <a href="http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/spiderweblacing.htm">spider web method</a> to
compliment my favorite black metal t-shirt. Novel shoelaces reel in
compliments completely disproportionately to the time spent in tying
them.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://gratisography.com/">2: Gratisography, the weird free stock site</a></h3>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrgRZewXPuU/VoWlceJtdJI/AAAAAAAAAIM/3BbM40vfpSo/s1600/123H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrgRZewXPuU/VoWlceJtdJI/AAAAAAAAAIM/3BbM40vfpSo/s320/123H.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is an actual Gratisography stock photo of a smoking mantis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Stock sites are usually only of interest to designers (and the
geniuses behind memes) but this one's worth a look for all of the
original and unusual content.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y7joW9Wvass/VoWlhg5-27I/AAAAAAAAAIU/3mjug4KSQxk/s1600/188H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y7joW9Wvass/VoWlhg5-27I/AAAAAAAAAIU/3mjug4KSQxk/s320/188H.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We've all wanted to do this to Furbys</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Who masterminded this photo shoot?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gratisography.com/pictures/256_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://gratisography.com/pictures/256_1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How I envision the protagonist of <i>Neverwhere</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
What's the target audience for this?</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
3: The Devil Wears Prada fanfic portal on <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/">Archive Of Our Own</a>.</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4awT5SoksgM/VoWmZ-KBcnI/AAAAAAAAAIk/M-oJLRPJCCY/s1600/devil%2Bwears%2Bprada%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="45" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4awT5SoksgM/VoWmZ-KBcnI/AAAAAAAAAIk/M-oJLRPJCCY/s320/devil%2Bwears%2Bprada%2B2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">666 Devil Wears Prada fics!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Enough said.</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="en-US">4: <a href="http://jennytrout.com/">Jenny Trout</a></span></h3>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
My favorite blogger of the year (almost the only blogger I've read regularly), Jenny Trout blogs often and candidly about romance, pop culture and feminism.<br />
<br />
I like her recaps, especially her <a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=6978">recap of a series of coffee commercials</a> which I believe I've linked here although I can't be entirely certain because her blog is blocked here for some reason.<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<br />5: The best gif-making sites, <a href="https://giphy.com/create/gifmaker" style="line-height: 100%;">Giphy</a><span style="line-height: 100%;"> and </span><a href="https://imgflip.com/gifgenerator" style="line-height: 100%;">Imgflip</a></h3>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I've seen a fair few gifs in my time.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0polA_hkpE/VoWsf6d7moI/AAAAAAAAAJE/-L0ayBg238w/s1600/i%2527ve%2Bseen%2Ba%2Blot%2Bof%2Bdinosaur%2Bmovies%2Bin%2Bmy%2Bday.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0polA_hkpE/VoWsf6d7moI/AAAAAAAAAJE/-L0ayBg238w/s320/i%2527ve%2Bseen%2Ba%2Blot%2Bof%2Bdinosaur%2Bmovies%2Bin%2Bmy%2Bday.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't make this gif</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of the many online gif makers
I've toyed with, <a href="https://imgflip.com/gifgenerator">Imgflip</a> is my favorite for the option to time and
position text.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7t0qyF1_X7w/VoWsSn6AzWI/AAAAAAAAAI0/KR1D4NgSgXE/s1600/key%2Band%2Bpeele%2Byou%2Bain%2527t%2Bas%2Bfunny%2Bas%2Byou%2Bthink%2Bcropped.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7t0qyF1_X7w/VoWsSn6AzWI/AAAAAAAAAI0/KR1D4NgSgXE/s320/key%2Band%2Bpeele%2Byou%2Bain%2527t%2Bas%2Bfunny%2Bas%2Byou%2Bthink%2Bcropped.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a gif I made from Key and Peele</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
I think Giphy rose to the top of casual gif sharing hosts, and their gif maker is worth mentioning because it lets you add glitter text and animated stickers. If you want to make glittering pizza cat gifs, <a href="https://giphy.com/create/gifcaption">this is your site</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SYtSx1NodQc/VoWsTMvDmcI/AAAAAAAAAI4/t5AEHCWxmt0/s1600/I%2Bcan%2Bbefriend%2Ba%2Bvacuum%2Bcleaner.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SYtSx1NodQc/VoWsTMvDmcI/AAAAAAAAAI4/t5AEHCWxmt0/s320/I%2Bcan%2Bbefriend%2Ba%2Bvacuum%2Bcleaner.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a gif I made from Fringe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As you can see, this year I made a lot of gifs, read a lot of fanfic,
and tied several shoelaces. If we treat beloved internet sites as a
modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test">Rorschach inkblot test</a>, ultimately the result for all of us
would probably be 'wastes too much time on the internet'.
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm always open to wasting more, though, so please feel free to
comment with your favorite internet finds of the year!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-75674220676752522142015-10-24T16:44:00.002-07:002015-10-24T16:44:38.573-07:00Free story: Mr WonderfulI wrote a m/m romance novella as part of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/20149-m-m-romance">Goodreads MM Romance Group</a>'s annual free story event, and it's available free online!<br />
<br />
You can read it online or download it to your computer or ereader.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mmromancegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Mr-Wonderful-Jutoh-225x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.mmromancegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Mr-Wonderful-Jutoh-225x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26217437-mr-wonderful">Goodreads link</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mmromancegroup.com/mr-wonderful-by-willow-scarlett/">ePub, Mobi or PDF link</a></div>
<br />
Mr Wonderful is a romance between a tattooed ex-army artist and a flamboyant Kiwi-Nigerian fashion designer who has a bull terrier named after <a href="http://www.viviennewestwood.com/">Vivienne Westwood</a>. They have to learn to make peace with their family's - and their own - expectations of masculinity, before they can forge an awesome life together. Zines are involved.<br />
<br />
It's a fun and sweet novella (roughly 96 pages) and I'm happy with it, so I hope you will be too!<br />
<br />
If you want more free fiction, you can check out all the <a href="http://www.mmromancegroup.com/lor-stories-by-date/">other amazing stories</a> from this year's event, or my own novel from last year's event, <a href="http://www.mmromancegroup.com/jagged-rock-by-willow-scarlett/">Jagged Rock</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-79046450003270227212015-05-18T17:56:00.000-07:002015-05-18T17:56:43.555-07:00My first ZinefestA few days ago I had my first stall at Hamilton Zinefest! It's not New Zealand's largest zinefest, which quite frankly is a good thing because Auckland Zinefest is so crowded that I was afraid of even entering the building last year.<br />
<br />
A zinefest is a place to sell and swap zines (self-published books/comics/diaries/art etc). I have been attending zinefests every year for as long as New Zealand has had them, and I grew up reading library books about zines and dreaming of making my own. So it was greatly exciting to have my own stall!<br />
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I displayed five novellas/short story collections under two pen names, as well as cloth patches. All my zines had handmade custom covers which was really fun, but <i>omg printing is expensive</i>. I was nowhere near covering printing costs, let alone the buses to and from the fest. But no one is into zines for money, and I got to meet a lot of incredible people and have some great conversations. Plus I went home with about four billion new zines and posters. I count that as a successful day.<br />
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One of the highlights of the fest was bonding with my queer socialist punk stall neighbors. They had Socialist Review, I had a stack of <a href="http://www.unite.org.nz/join_end_zero_hours">End Zero Hours</a> stickers and glitter. It was a match made in heaven. </div>
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Excitingly, my most popular item was the patch that says 'punks respect pronouns' in my handwriting which looks deliciously like the One Direction font. I made a 'zines are awesome' patch specifically for the fest, but I guess the crowd know when they're being pandered to because no one even picked it up.<br />
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I'm planning to attend at least one more zinefest this year - Auckland Zinefest, the terrifyingly popular one. The ideal zine would be priced under the cost of printing a novella, so I'll never have much commercial success. But I love getting to talk to zine folks. I especially enjoy talking about romance novels and their place in culture, and the detrimental effects of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambivalent_sexism">benevolent sexism</a>. It's an important conversation and one that I think most people who don't read romance have never thought about.<br />
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Plus, I love finding new zines!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7916340374448992506.post-28252744401597614942015-04-30T16:53:00.000-07:002015-04-30T16:53:32.908-07:00Hot Blood Punk and exciting changesA few years ago I wrote an erotica novella called Exhibitionist Punk. A year or so later, I decided that the pairing had potential that I hadn't fully explored in the novella. Rather than writing a sequel, I took advantage of one of the coolest features of self-published ebooks - the chance to rewrite an existing story.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o14F7-fypK0/VUK4rPXFlzI/AAAAAAAAAF8/ts3kJMVWQxI/s1600/Sipmpsons%2BMarge%2Bsuit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o14F7-fypK0/VUK4rPXFlzI/AAAAAAAAAF8/ts3kJMVWQxI/s1600/Sipmpsons%2BMarge%2Bsuit.png" height="306" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like a Chanel suit, novellas love to be reworked</td></tr>
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Exhibitionist Punk (16.5k words) became <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Blood-Punk-Willow-Scarlett-ebook/dp/B009937LEW/ref=la_B00981IJUU_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1430434893&sr=1-3">Hot Blood Punk </a>(41.2k words).</div>
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It was a great experience and I enjoyed it a lot, and I know that fans of the original story are going to enjoy the rewrite. It has the same characters and core conflict but is much more fleshed-out. Radically more fleshed out, in fact - Hot Blood Punk is 250% the length of Exhibitionist Punk, and uses just under 35% of the original text. If you're super into numbers, those exact figures are 253.63% and 34.63%. Text from Exhibitionist Punk makes up 13.67% of Hot Blood Punk. That sounds like not much - and it isn't, this is a radical rewrite - but the main characters and key intent of the story is the same. What I'm saying is: It's the same story, only way better.</div>
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Another exciting change is the new cover to my novella <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Knockout-Andrew-ebook/dp/B00A6H0QQU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352796497&sr=1-1&keywords=knockout+andrew">Knockout Andrew</a>. Same great story, awesome new graphic!</div>
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Finally, I'm again participating in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/265247?group_id=20149">M/M Romance Goodreads Group's free story event</a>. My free novella will be out some time between June and September, so stay tuned!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10076949705658707457noreply@blogger.com0