Tea And Tomes: An Introduction

Who doesn't love curling up with a good book and hot tea? Obviously, everyone does. My favorite times are when I can lose myself in a novel, come up for air, and then be inspired for my own work. I know I've found an excellent book when I finish it with a sense of awe and a new drive for my own writing. I tell myself, keep working and you can join your heroes one day!

Today, I want to share a little bit about one such hero. As I'm sure the entire world knows by now, I love Middle Earth. So, when I say that I have read Gail Carriger's work almost as many times as Lord of the Rings, you should get an idea of how much I adore her.

In all honesty, I wouldn't be the same writer without her. In college, I was stuck in a bit of a hole with my writing. I wanted it to be a fantastical mystery, but the words weren't complying. It didn't help that I was receiving critiques that said it was "too much genre". I decided to put my random ramblings aside and focus on the core mystery that would eventually turn into Our Fathers. Through my research, I stumbled upon steampunk. This genre had everything I ever wanted. I was in heaven.

A blog was running a promotion for a new book, Soulless. I was captivated by the description, and the interview with its illustrious author. As fate would have it, I actually won a copy of Soulless in that blog's raffle. I waited with bated breath for it to arrive. I read it in less than a week and proceeded to lend it to my friends.

Since then, she's written three incredible and successful series, and is now self-publishing novellas. Miss Gail is, as one of my favorite Hamilton songs says, NON STOP. Each novel is incredibly fun, and deeply touching. While I have been praising her here and on every other form of social media, I want to take the next few entries to delve deeper into these incredible stories.

 For today, I am settling in with a big cup of English Breakfast and her first novella, Poison or Protect. This will be my fourth (maybe fifth) re-read of it. I'll be back with my thoughts once the cup is empty.

So Much To Be Written!

For the past month, the Muse has been pumping out new ideas at top speed. She works faster than I can write. I need to keep up with her, and I'm trying my best!

We have new additions to Fae & Fog, Esther's prequel, which may or may not be a serial. A standalone novella in 1870s Russia featuring characters seen in Unbound Specter. Three or more connected novelettes that might become a serial featuring new characters. Inklings of ideas for novels set in Asia. And of course dozens of short stories with familiar and new characters. That's just what is new in the Gaslight world!

I've also started a few other epic fantasy novels. The standalone I mentioned in earlier posts has become a trilogy. I also am dabbling with two standalone fantasy novellas. Who knows how that will expand.

I have so many works in progress due to the overactive Muse. It's getting harder for me to just settle down with one new book and write. I want to write all of them all at the same time. Maybe I should just draw titles from a hat and go from there...

Rejections and Revisions

Despite the constant onslaught of migraines, I've been chugging away. While writing new chapters, I've also been spending some time editing older short stories. I want to keep sending out submissions, hoping to get more interest and publications. Editing is faster than writing something new, so I can focus most of my time writing the novels.

But editing some of the first short stories I wrote has been eye opening. Naturally, when I wrote them I felt each one was brilliant. Now, the flaws in the stories seem so obvious to me. I won't lie that I still think the plots and characters are amazing. But the writing itself needs improvement.

I never would have been able to pick out these issues without all the rejections I've gotten over the years. I've since learned that I need to work on rising tension, along with compelling and emotional beginnings. As I edit these shorts, I can clearly see how every beginning needs to be rewritten, but the endings are satisfying.

 I'm working on the first story I wrote about Bryan, and the novella is a bit of a mess. The beginning is slow and clunky. I used the trope of a character waking up! It needs a great deal of work, but I'm happy to do it. Writing is the most important thing to me. I want to keep learning and bettering my work. If that takes a few more rejections, then so be it.

I know we'll get there soon.

How about, No?

I'm deep into writing my new fantasy, currently titled The Ladies of Bryne Park. Edits for Resurrected Thief are still going on between submissions, but I wanted to write something entirely new. And I'm so incredibly excited about this book.

The ideas were originally a jumble of little snippets and characters I couldn't quite place yet. But it all came together with the unifying thought of "No". Simply put, I was tired of being told what should be in a good fantasy. Tired of all the same examples over and over again. I started saying no to all those ideas, and this book came out of it.

It follows two young women escaping horrifying lives and trying to find freedom. Along the way, they encounter all sorts of magic and mayhem. Any dashing romance? NO! That was the first thing I said no to when I began writing this.

Another fine example came after a little conversation I had while trying to outline one character's motivations and their story arc. It was for the main dragon, and I couldn't quite get their reasons for helping our main characters down. I knew they were supposed to be defensive, but that was it. The person I was talking to immediately said I should have the dragon be a mother defending her eggs.

NO!

Why should that be the only thing a female dragon would defend? Why is that the first thing everyone comes up with when talking about women? Defending their lovers and children? Women can want plenty more than that. So no mother dragons in this book.

In the end, I decided that the dragon would have no gender. It is an inter-dimensional creature after all. This is leading to some interesting scenes and plots. Who knows where else saying no will lead me?

Life gets in the way

Someone recently reminded me that life is never easy. It's insane,  stressful,  and does what it can to toss you around.  Lately, it's been getting in the way of my writing. 

Not that I've stopped.  It's just hard to juggle deadlines with emergencies popping up at every corner and stress wracking your body. Writing time interrupted by trips to doctors or when you physically can't stand to reach your notebook. A peaceful day interrupted when you start bleeding all over the place.

But I'm trying to keep going.  My daily word counts are smaller but at least I've written something.  Right now, the struggle is keeping my mind from staying in one place. My thoughts and ideas are frazzled and all over the place. Which I then stress about and feel worse.

Stress is the enemy.  I need to figure a way to combat it.

Pressing On

Thankfully, the Muse has not abandoned me. She's just decided to plague me with more ideas. While I wanted to dedicate all my time to submitting The Resurrected Thief and writing Fae & Fog, she feels I should be doing a bit more than that.

Both are still happening. But I've also started on the beginnings of two new fantasy books. I have little more than openings and outlines for each one. Working on multiple projects at once isn't too bad when there are no solid deadlines in sight. It just causes issues when the deadlines do appear on the horizon. And who knows when publishers will want to open the doors.

I am trying to avoid stressing myself too much with those thoughts. For now, I just want to keep writing. If I stay on schedule, I can have two new novels finished by the end of the year. The goal was to finish Fae & Fog by June, but that's flexible now. It's looking like I'll have the first half of two books completed by then instead. Which isn't really a bad thing, now is it?

WIP Wednesday!

It's always exciting to see how a project comes along. I've been working hard at Fae & Fog while submitting The Resurrected Thief. It was supposed to be a serial of about ten parts detailing Esther's time in Eastern Europe. Here's a little snippet of the scene I'm working on now:

“Why did you come to the graveyard? What did you see?” she questioned him. Keeping her voice level proved difficult. 

 “I have an interest in the more unique aspects of the fae. Earlier, I detected a strange magic and pursed it without delay. It brought me to the church, where I saw you,” Arthur replied in a crisp voice.

Into the second part, I started getting some new ideas. In a lot of my work, characters spend a good deal of their time researching. They have to read and investigate clues and records. Sometimes, this can slow down the action. This was getting more than problematic in Fae & Fog. But! The Muse and I came up with a little fix. 

The plot and mystery has not changed at all. Only the structure. It won't be a serial anymore, but a full length novel. I don't want to give too much of the twists away at this point. But I'm a lot more excited about it now. 

Since I love the serial format, I am a little let down it won't be published that way anymore. I do intend on writing more serials in the future. Ebooks are really expanding this new format, and I love it. Though, just in case, Fae & Fog can always be reverted into a serial. Just in case the publishers aren't as excited about my new ideas as I am. Or maybe they prefer serials! 

Coming to the End

I both love and hate coming to the end of a project. Doesn't matter if it's finishing editing, writing, plotting, whatever. I get all twitchy at the end.

It's a combination of excitement and nerves. I'm happy to be done, and happy to start something new. Then the nerves about what will happen with the finished project. We're working on the nerves, slowly but surely.

The Muse is currently flittering between three different ideas. Since my first solid deadline is in two months, I'm indulging her a bit. All three are for shorter fiction with rather large gaps in the outline. In the next few weeks, I'll try to control her a bit more. She's just struggling to settle into one plot line. Poor Esther is going through three different tribulations at the same time as a result.

Most of the time, I work better with solid deadlines. I have one set for myself at the end of February. But 10,000 words by then should be easy. Once the Muse settles down. Outlining is helping quite a lot. I used to never outline more than a few half formed ideas scribbled in margins. Now I have outlines for most everything. It helps me when the Muse decides to bounce ahead in the story. I can outline it now and then finishing writing the rest when she returns.

But I'm happy with how my projects are coming along. Lots of high hopes for 2016!

Something Slightly New

For the new year, I thought I might try and new way of organizing my schedule. I tried it a few years ago, and it sorta work. I'm sure it would have worked better if I stuck to it. Which I will this time!

As ever, I have my year long calendar hanging from the wall with deadlines highlighted. Some are real, some are self imposed. I then mark off each day with the color corresponding to each series. Green for the Gaslight Hunters, Red for Black and Redd, Blue for the unnamed fantasy, and purple for the shorter works. This is more for my own curiosity. I want to see how much time each project requires. I also want to keep track of when I write the most and when I edit the most.

Next, is a blank notebook with one purpose only. Outlining my time. It might sound rather simple, but it helps me tremendously. The first page is the list of all the projects I want to finish this year, which are then ranked by "importance". Not that any story isn't important, but some are better along than others. I told myself I'd finish a totally new novel by the end of the year. This will help me when I finally am ready to start that. Right now, I'm guessing it will be in the late spring or early summer.

As discussed before, submitting to agents is the top priority right now. I have list of top agents and am working through it. I'm also trying to fit in a few shorts for new markets. And all that time waiting for responses means time to keep writing.

The list helps me pick what to write next. Book 2 of both the Hunters and Redd and Black are fully outlined and have the first chapter written. I keep stalling on doing more because I simply don't know which one will get picked by agents first. Then of course, what if neither do? That's why I'm trying to outline the fantasy series in my down time.

As of right now, I think I have everything fairly well balanced. We all know that could change at any second. This time, I have contingency plans for both successes and failures. I'm so excited for 2016, despite the rather bumpy start.

Non-Stop

How do you write like you're running out of time? Write day and night like you're running out of time. How do you write like tomorrow won't arrive? How do you write like you need it to survive? How do you write every second you're alive?

Like the vast majority of the Internet, I have been drawn into the incredible musical HAMILTON. I'm not normally one for hip hop and rap, but I love it. The above passage comes from the song "Non-Stop", where the ensemble remarks on how Hamilton can't stop himself from writing and writing.

For obvious reasons, it really struck me. Especially "How do you write like you need it to survive". Because that's why I do this. I need my writing to stay alive. (Another fun Hamilton reference!) I've seen a lot of writers reference this line, most notably Kameron Hurley. I really admire how much she has done in her writing. Lately I find myself looking to her blog for some reassurance that anything is possible in publishing.

Because I once again am setting high goals of myself. I'm seizing every opportunity that comes my way. While I'm still working on the balance between wild submissions and my sanity, I don't want to miss out on anything again. I really feel both my books are at their best right now. I'm proud of them and proud of myself. So I'm spending the first half of 2016 on agent submissions while building up the supporting books, shorts, and novellas.

But I'm no stranger to rejection. If I can't get any further, I'm going to try and switch gears. Not abandon the novels. Never! Simply start a new one and then push that on agents. I'll still send out the Victoriana when I can after that, but it won't be as wild as it is right now.

I just need a way to get my foot in the door. I know where I want to be at the end of this year. It's a feasible goal, but requires non-stop work. I'm ready for it. Honestly, I can almost taste it.