Here. In case you needed some Saturday inspiration from the spam-bin:
“hello!,I really like your writing so a lot! proportion we
be in contact extra approximately your post on AOL?
I require an expert on this house to resolve my problem.
May be that is you! Taking a look forward to peer you.”
Cracks me up. Thanks, spammer, for the giggles. Now, please step away from Google translator before you hurt yourself.
Happy weekend, all!
Hi, fellow readers and writers! And assorted peeps!
I’ve been on the road for a few days. When I travel, I take books. Actual paperbacks. OMG, like, I must be some kind of antique! Don’t worry, I also take my Kindle, but I generally have at least 1 paperback, usually 2. This time, I had 5, because I was going to be on the road for a few days.
Anyway, I had a couple of thrillers by a writer I enjoy reading, an urban fantasy by another writer I enjoy reading, and two novels by urban fantasy authors new to me. All of these paperbacks are published by mainstream houses, big imprints.
One of my writing colleagues says that when you read a novel and all of its parts are working as they should (plot, characterization, dialogue, narrative style), then you don’t stop reading. You flow with the text from beginning to end (maybe stopping to re-read something because it was really cool or really struck you). But if the parts aren’t working, you’ll know because it’s like hitting a pothole when you’re driving. Or coming to a traffic light where you sit for a while.
And that’s exactly what happened while reading one of the books by an urban fantasy author whose work I didn’t know.
The things that interrupt my reading flow are the dreaded “telling and not showing,” stilted dialogue, plot holes, and misspellings. Typos I can understand because I’m an editor, and I get that not everything will be caught. We do the best we can, but a few get through. I can forgive a typo here and there in a book. However, misspellings are another matter. An editor needs to know how to spell and which form of a word is correct. In one of these books, editors dropped the ball. In the other, they let a couple things slip through. Editing is, in some ways, an art. But like any art, it requires extensive knowledge of writing and grammatical mechanics. Editors need to be painstaking in their work. They need to be detail-oriented. And sometimes, that just doesn’t happen. Even at the big houses.
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Hi, peeps–
Hope the new year is treating you well thus far. I know, I know. It’s just begun, but regardless. I hope it rocks for you.
I was thinking today (I do that sometimes) about websites. Specifically, sites that authors put up to provide info about themselves and their work.
Now, I do not pretend to be an expert on what the hell you’re supposed to have on your website or how it’s supposed to look. Please do not think that I’m sitting here all high n’ mighty with my fan-freaking-tastic website sipping wine with my pinkie out looking down my nose at all the rest of you. I do not pretend to have the end-all be-all awesomest website ever in the writing biz. What I have tried to do is make it relatively easy to find things on my site. Like, say, information about what I write and how to get in touch with me.
I say this because I was recently on a couple of author websites and both of them ended up frustrating me to the point that I actually had to go find images of their book covers on other sites. That is, these authors’ sites had no designated pages that clearly said: BOOKS or PUBLISHED WORKS or something that would indicate that if I clicked the link, I’d be treated to another page that would display the author’s fine wares.
So here’s what I’ve learned in my journeys through publishing and book land about author websites.
Well. Happy New Year, everyone! I wrote some longer and perhaps more provocative thoughts HERE, if you’re interested.
Here’s what I’m up to, in the coming year:
Book 3 of the Far Seek Chronicles is at the publisher. I expect I’ll be going through proofs of it around the end of January or perhaps February. At that point, I’ll post an excerpt here on my site. I’m hoping for a publication date come March/April, if the stars align correctly.
I am hammering away at NM 4 (book 4 in my mystery series). I’m probably 2/3 through, but some of the scenes at the beginning I’m re-working. I’m hoping to send that off to the publisher this spring, for a possible fall/winter publication date.
I’m also finishing up a romance. What’s that, you say? Andi is writing a novel-length romance? WTF? It’s true. You can catch some excerpts from it here, in this order: ONE, TWO, THREE
I’m also re-tooling a romance novella that I hope to make available on Kindle this spring. Stay tuned for that, friends. 😀
I also have a couple other genres up my sleeve that I’ve been working on. MUAH HA HA. Hope you stick around.
And yes, I know. It’s been a while since I published a novel. Well, life happens, and sometimes you have to put some things aside in order to deal with what’s thrown at you. Since about May of 2011 life has thrown me quite a lot, but that’s just how things go. I think I’m saddled up again.
Having said that, I want to wish all of you a happy, happy new year and may you have a year filled with good works and good times with friends and family.
Cheers! And remember, The Walking Dead starts up again February 10th. . .
Hi, all —
just a quick note to say hope this holiday season treats you well, and that the new year starts off and continues right for you all.
I’ll be a little scarce for a week or two, but no worries! I’ll be checking in.
Take care, and peace to you and yours.
These have been terrible, bleak days for many, many people.
Like all of you, I’ve spent the weekend trying to make sense of senselessness. Our fellow Americans are hurting, once again, in the wake of horrific violence. Last Wednesday, a young man went to a mall in Portland, Oregon, and shot two people to death before he killed himself. On Thursday, a man walked into a federal courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama, and shot himself to death. And on Friday, another young man forced his way into an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and killed 20 children aged 6-7, and 6 school staffers, including the principal, the psychologist, and 4 teachers. He then shot himself to death in a classroom. Later, it was revealed that he had also shot his mother to death at the home where they both lived.
For these events, I simply do not have the words to express what I know many of us are feeling. I can’t possibly begin to understand the level of grief that friends and families of those who died are experiencing and will continue to experience in the coming days. I have no answers, and can only offer what comfort I can, and try to help the various funds that have been set up.
Here’s HuffPo’s how to help link. And here’s another, through the Newtown Patch.
This is the Newtown Memorial Fund, to help cover the costs of funerals and, long-term, to help cover costs for a memorial. Newtown Youth and Family Services is available for emergency counseling, as well as to offer support services to local families. You can donate to them, as well. And here’s the Sandy Hook School Support Fund, through the United Way of western Connecticut.
But you can help in other ways, too.
Take care of each other. Tell your friends and family you love them. Be vigilant about the people around you, and if you think they’re having some kind of emotional or psychological issue, try to get help for them. Offer support to the families of those who deal with someone who is having those kinds of issues. Talk to each other. Build community and support it. Look out for each other. Participate. Endure. Love.
Peace and comfort to all of those affected by these awful events, and let us honor those who were torn from this life so violently by working together to prevent such from happening again.
We are all we have. Change starts with each of us.
Hey, kids —
So there’s this thing going on where if you’re tagged by another writer, then you do a blog that answers the questions they did on theirs. Then you tag somebody to keep it going. So it’s kind of like a chain letter, only not. Because if you choose not to do a blog, well, you’re not going to cause somebody to lose a million bucks and you won’t break the mysterious ju-ju of the chain letter and cause small animals to cry or whatever the hell. Instead, you might miss out on an opportunity to chit-chat about yourself and your work.
Anyway, I was tagged by author Cheyne Curry (you can see her answers on her blog). So let’s go check out these questions, which I may or may not answer correctly. And I’ve re-worded a few questions for ease of grammatical flow.
So clickie on to see.
Hey, peeps —
‘Scuse my absence. I’ve been mondo busy because we are putting on another Hootenanny at Women and Words this year.
For those of you not in the know, we did a Hootenanny in 2010. That is, for 12 days, we did nothing but give books away to spread holiday luuuuuv and cheer. Probably 5-8 books every single day for 12 days.
We’re doing it again this year, and we’re giving away even MORE books. Hit the link above for the list of authors and how it works. So I’ve been working with my colleague Jove Belle on that, and coordinating with authors and getting the stuff ready because we launch that pup next week. December 12th, my friends. Go git yew some.
Also, just so you know, I finished the manuscript for the third Far Seek book. It’ll be off to the publisher this weekend. I’m hard at work on New Mexico 4 (which features Chris Gutierrez), and hope to have that finished in the next 3-4 months. And then I’ve got some romances in the pipeline, including another novella for Kindle. 😀
And, in case you wanted to get in on a discussion about erotica as a genre, I posted “Respect the Sex!” today over at Women and Words.
I know. Things are crazy this time of year. Here. Have a reminder about things I’ve learned to help get through the holidays.
All right, all. Happy reading, happy writing, happy Friday!
Happy December!
Things I’ve learned about surviving the holidays/this time of year:
1. Eggnog has at least 9 million calories per glass, and other holiday goodies have at least 7 million per bite. So I try not to eat or drink very many of them.
2. The office party can be fun and might even provide alcohol. Careful with that. Do you really want these people to watch you pole dance — sans pole — next to the dessert table? Somebody no doubt will post it on Facebook or Pinterest. Or, worse, upload it to YouTube. Save your sexy-time for the homefront, Flashdance.
3. If you work out regularly, keep doing that. Especially if you have an impending visit with holiday regulars that has the potential to end up like Die Hard 2.
4. You don’t need to eat ten pieces of Christmas fudge at a time, no matter how small they are. See number 1, above.
5. Is buying crap really what this holiday is about? How about starting a new tradition, like having get-togethers with your friends and/or family and all of you selecting a charitable organization to donate to? Share the love rather than the shopping. Might be a good tradition to start with kids, too, if you have them.
6. Caroling can seriously be fun, especially if you do it at a place like a nursing home or maybe a veterans’ or children’s hospital (check with the officials at said places first, before you show up with your Lady Gaga-infused rendition of “Silent Night”).
7. Rather than do a gift exchange with work colleagues, why not find a local organization that’s collecting things for families in need and do a drive for it?
8. Get some rest. You can’t be present for anybody during this time if you’re exhausted and cranky. Plus, not taking care of yourself means you might run yourself down, which puts you at greater risk for catching cooties. And it sucks to be sick, whether it’s the holidays or not.
9. You don’t have to decorate to feel like it’s the holidays. If you don’t feel like doing it, don’t, unless you have kids and they really look forward to it. Otherwise, it doesn’t make you a grinch or scrooge-y if you would rather look appreciatively at displays that are not your own. Get together with friends for a festive “other-people’s lights” tour. And be glad you don’t live next door to this guy. Though I’m sure he won’t mind a little horse-step dance in his driveway.
10. This time of year can be really stressful and depressing for some people. If you know people like that, check in with them. A “hey, how are you?” goes a long way.
And one of my other tips: I’m a year-round donor to various organizations, and I try to give extra this time of year. Suggestions: no-kill animal shelters; local organizations that help local families; larger organizations like the Red Cross and Heifer International. So check around. There are lots of people in your local community that could use some help, especially this time of year, imbued with all the symbolism and baggage we’ve loaded onto it.
Share your tips below, if you’ve got ’em. Happy Saturday!
OMG, peeps. I’ve been working like a fiend at my day job so I could take a couple extra days at Thanksgiving and in between my X-Files overdose and assorted other things, I managed to finish the manuscript for book 3 in my Far Seek Chronicles. Which, in case you were wondering, is space opera.
Long story short, the past 18 months have not been conducive to finishing up projects, for a variety of reasons. So I was really glad to be done with this one, though I’m enjoying the series immensely.
The way my writing process works is that generally, I’ll do the linear thing. From start to finish, and the story kind of morphs organically during that process. I’ll take stuff out, add stuff, move stuff around, but always be headed forward. I knew last week that I needed to take some stuff out of this version, and sure enough I think I axed 10K-15K words (it’s okay–I had plenty of room to spare), re-tooled a few scenes, and finally got the ending. Whew.
Of course, it’s not finished. It’ll never really be finished, because six months down the line, I’ll think, “Oh, man. I wish I’d done that one scene a little differently.” Or, “Why did that character say that?” There’s an angsty kind of thing that I get when I finish a manuscript. A sort of, “Did I get it? Will this work? Or will it be a giant bowl of suck?” That’s part of the fun (ha ha) of being a writer. Anyone who does any kind of art (or inventing or whatever in any field) knows that feeling. You finish something, but you wonder whether you did it “right.” Whether it’s any good, and whether anyone else will enjoy it.
So I like to think of each manuscript I finish as another document of a particular time and place in my writing life. And, in some ways, in my own life. I’ll re-read something months later and I’ll remember what was going on in my life at the time I was writing it, and how I felt when I was working on a particular section. I like to see, too, how my writing has changed from project to project. What makes it “mine”? What makes it MY style and nobody else’s? Yes, in case you were wondering. I have a bitchy inner editor.
Anyhoo, I have to get the manuscript ready for the publisher, and then it’ll go into editing. So even though it’s done, it’s not really done. And then it’ll go into print/ebook format and start its journey beyond my laptop. And I’ll start working on the next installment in this series. And when that one’s done. . .well, you see how this goes.
Writers are never “done.” I suspect many people who have artistic pursuits or livelihoods understand that. I’m not particularly weirded out about it, since I’m excited to get on with the next story. But I like the idea that I finished this one up, and that it’s ready for the next stage. So to all of you out there who’ve finished something up that you’ve been trying to get out of your hair for a while, CHEERS! Take a little time to revel in that. Because as you and I both know, we’ll get right back on the horse in the morning.
Happy Monday.
Andi Marquette 