Tag: writing

on by

Shhhh! Hey, whoa, wait just a second. Put the tin foil hat back on. THEY might be able to read our thoughts.

No, Stop. Too much eye contact with your screen. I need you to read this but not actually look like you’re reading this. THEY might see you.

Who’s THEY? Are you kidding? Only the most powerful group in the entire writing world during the month of November.

Ugh, do I have to spell it out for you? Fine, I’m talking about the Sacred Order of NaNoWriMo.

Shhh! Do not repeat that name.

 

What? Yeah, sure, I hear you. “But NaNoWriMo is a great thing,” you say. “It gets people everywhere to give their stories to the world. It helps new writers get serious and finally produce that novel they’ve been dying to write.”

Does it? Does it really?

 

Let’s look at the facts.

Fact: NaNoWriMo demands that its participants complete a 50,000 word manuscript in one months time.

Fact: 50,000 words is a barely passable word count for YA novels. It’s not even in the ball park for adult fiction unless the book is absolutely brilliant. (Your’s is most likely not.)

 

Don’t you see? NaNoWriMo is a global conspiracy to flood the literary world with short, unsellable novels in an attempt to stifle competition. This ensures that their own efforts will stand out as superior and will garner all sales. THEY need you out of the way so THEY can maintain their domination over all things ink and paper. Even E Ink!

What? What’s that you say? “NaNoWriMo doesn’t state that 50,000 words is the limit. It’s actually just the minimum. You can make your book as long as you like. It’s also just a rough draft which is sure to grow and change.”

No, but THEY…What about… Fine don’t believe me.

Where’s my foil hat.

 

{Disclaimer: This is of course a work of fiction and I would never seriously imply that my statements are at all true. THEY absolutely did not threaten to erase all of my manuscripts and control my mind if I didn’t add this disclaimer. Nope, THEY never said that.}

on by

So, you’re deep into planning your nine book epic space fantasy focusing on twelve equally important families from different planets. What’s that you say? There are divorces and adoptions, and bastards? Oh My!

How are you going to keep all that straight? How much graph paper will you burn through trying to lay out this tangled web of genetics?

The answer could be “a lot” or “none.” I swear. Here, check this thing out.

I get jazzed about ancestry both in my books and real life. It’s like a scavenger/treasure/easter egg hunt all in one. I got deep into a search of my own heritage a few months ago and found a simple, streamlined family tree website called Family Echo. It’s easy to use and does a great job of organizing your info. I’ve managed to trace one of my family lines back to the 1500’s and the program handled the volume of data just fine. It would let me go on forever if I was able to do so.

The best part is, none of the people you add have to be real. Zorkblat born on Bleetnar Prime in 6743 P.C. can fit just as nicely as Bob Jones born in Akron, OH, in 1974 A.D. There are no restrictions to the data you enter and if you sign up (free, no spam) then you can save your progress and edit as you go. Here’s a quick mock-up to give you a taste of some of the features.

 

Family Echo Demo

 

If you’re a planner or more likely an over-planner, then you need to put this baby in your digital tool belt. Check it out, have fun, and you know, if you want to write me in as the grandparent of the mistress of the cousin of the main character, I’d be okay with that.

on by

Believe it or not, I actually write things other than inane blog posts. I’ve realized that I haven’t been very good about discussing my writing work and how it’s going. Not exactly good practice for a writing blog. Then I was struck again (more forcefully) by the fact that I haven’t even included details about any of my projects on my Works in Progress page. For all you know I might be some creeper who just likes to put on glasses, self-doubt, and a rough wool cardigan in order to play writer for a while.

I assure you, I do write. I really do. Honest. Here, I’ll prove it. Let me clue you in to what I’ve been up to.

 

The Coals – Novel

Life is learning. For fifteen year old Syd, her first supply run into the Now, the corpse of a world that died when she was two, is no different. Guided by her Uncle Will, Syd learns the hard reality of how the world and it’s survivors fell into decay. She learns how most were driven to their breaking point and that some (now the most dangerous) had finally snapped. As Syd and Will find themselves stalked by these “snappers”, the survival of themselves and their family hangs on every decision they make. Some decisions are better than others.

Hey at least I didn’t start off with “In a world…”

The Stable – Novel

The Stable is in its early stages of development. By that I mean I have a ton of planning completed but only a few chapters written. It’s a sci-fi novel set hundreds of year into our future and based around an isolated colony in the walled city of Domus. A virus that leads to shifting mutations has been terrorizing the Base class of Domus for over a century but there is rumor that one man’s mutations have become stable. The catch? He’s in hiding beyond the territories of Domus. The ruling Prime class wants the Stable found to produce a cure for their poor, hard-working Base class. Reva, an Immune and the Tracer Corps’ newest and most promising Tracer is sent to find him. Of course, nothing is as it seems. (more…)