Category: Writing

Work(s) in Progress! A stop on the Ylva Blog Hop

Hiya, kids!

So Ylva Publishing, one of my houses, is kicking off 2016 with a blog hop. Which means a whole bunch of Ylva authors are posting blogs on set days during the month and each author alerts readers to upcoming blogs in the hop (see below for the list of authors who have already participated and to see who’s next in the hop).

Since I’m up in here hoppin’ for Ylva, I’ll mention the book I just released with them over the holidays called The Bureau of Holiday Affairs, which is a reboot of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday story. I think, though, I’d like to chat about what’s coming down the pike for me, but if you want to know the backstory behind Bureau, you can read it HERE.
The-Bureau-of-Holiday-Affairs-800 Cover reveal and Promotional

Anyway, I thought rather than telling you stories about my sordid past (ha ha) or whatever else sordid, I’d chat a bit about some works-in-progress that I’m doing for Ylva, since readers might be a bit interested in what I’m doing now (and not the past), especially with the holidays all behind us n’ stuff.

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by Categories: Blog Hop, Stuff going on, Super cool blogs, Things you might like, Works in Progress, WritingTags: , , 4 Comments

Powers of Observation

Well, hello there, peeps!

I hope your holidays were wonderful and that you had some fun and got some rest. As you know, I was outta control over at Women and Words with our giant 12-day giveaway we call the Hootenanny. And things get CRAY CRAY over there. This year we also did a concurrent Rafflecopter giveaway that included a couple of Kindle Fires and…well, it was insane and fun but kind of exhausting.

At any rate, let’s get back to work!

Today I wanted to talk about observation. I bring this up because a huge part of writing is (or should be) observation. Think about it. How your characters speak and act. The quirks they have. Their surroundings. The settings of your stories. And, going a bit meta, the things your characters actually observe during the course of your plot, how they filter it, how they relate it to others.

So let’s chat further about this.

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by Categories: Inspiration, Writing, Writing tipsTags: , , 11 Comments

Link round-up: helpful posts for writing

Hi, all! I just finished up a short (for me) novel and I’m getting it ready to send to a potential publisher. While I’m pondering that, I thought I’d do a round-up of hopefully helpful posts I’ve done that will provide some helpful info for those of you racing around writing.

HERE!

10 things to do when you finish a manuscript.

On point-of-view.

On headhopping.

On dialogue.

On why craft is important.

On maintaining effective plotlines and arcs.

On participial phrases.

On creating characters.

On info-dumping and “As you know, Bob.”

And if you’ve got links to help with specifics about writing, post ’em in the comments. Share the luv!

Thanks, all!

Happy Monday.

by Categories: Writing, Writing Process, Writing tipsTags: ,

Identity, politic

Hi, all!

Geez, WTF, Andi? It’s been, like, forever and a day and all kinds of THE THINGS happened and where the hell were you and just what are you doing?

I know. Straight up, I’ve been FB’ing incessantly about the Women’s World Cup (OMG YAY TEAM USA) and writing for deadlines and then there was the amazing historical BOOM when marriage equality was ruled the law of this great land and then there was a horrific tragedy and then all kinds of crazy over certain flags. I decided much wiser heads than I can address those two latter issues, and I still haven’t quite been able to wrap my head around the whole marriage equality thing.

At some point, I will blog that, because I’m coming from a perspective of believing that I probably wouldn’t see it in my lifetime or if I did, I’d be in my 60s or 70s. This perspective, I think, causes a fatalistic outlook on relationships. Marriage was something I thought I could never have, so I never planned for it. I educated myself about the issues, worked to advance them as I could, but I never thought it would be something that I myself could enjoy.

And that leaves its own kinds of scars. Which I will discuss later, as I ponder more.

In the meantime, I wanted to discuss something else. Specifically, what repercussions marriage equality may have on genre fiction.

I wonder this because yesterday at Women and Words, we posted a blog by New York Times bestselling romance author Melissa Foster, who just released a new book in her Harborside Nights series that features a lesbian main character and this character’s love for another woman.

Foster predominantly writes heterosexual romance, and this is her first F/F. As she notes in the blog she did at WaW, she got a little bit of blowback from her writer colleagues.

Why?

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by Categories: Random WTF stuff, The Writing Crazy, Things that might make you think, WritingTags: , , 4 Comments

On writing (or not) religion

Hi, peeps!

I heard that George Michael song the other day during a throwback radio show. You know the one. “Faith.”

And I got to thinking about that. There are many kinds of “faith.” Faith in yourself. Faith in your friends. Faith in your family. Faith that you’ll get that big promotion. Faith that things will work out. And, of course, the kind of faith that too often gets grafted onto religion.

I say this because a few days back, someone asked me if I go to church. I immediately froze, because I’m not comfortable with questions like that. The person proceeded to tell me that I’d probably feel better if I prayed. Which only made me even more uncomfortable.

Why? Because it’s presumptuous to think that everybody thinks like you do. And it’s presumptuous to think that your way of coping with something (i.e. religion) is for everybody. I try to be mellow about statements like this, because I’m sure the statements come from good intent. But nonetheless, it comes off as patronizing and, honestly, proselytizing. And yes, I have an uneasy relationship with organized religion, given my current go ’round on this planet as a woman and as someone who identifies as not straight.

And before you ask, I’m one of THOSE people who tends not to discuss religion publicly. I will occasionally discuss politics, but when it comes to religion, I just don’t go there. Why? Well, because I consider religious and spiritual beliefs to be a personal matter, so I don’t ever ask people what theirs are nor do I offer anything about mine. If someone asks, we can discuss it privately. Otherwise, it’s not something I address and it’s never something I ask people.

Why am I thinking about this?

Go see!

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by Categories: Inspiration, Things that might make you think, Writing, Writing ProcessTags: , , 4 Comments

Why you need to care about craft

Hi, peeps!

Hope the weekend treated you well. Writer and editor Nann Dunne posted this link on a Yahoo discussion list a couple days ago and I’m sharing it here because Larry Brooks knows whereof he speaks.

In this particular blog, Larry points out 7 things that will make you a better novelist (and, by extension, writer).

Guess what?

It involves WORK.

So let’s have a think about this.

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by Categories: The Writing Crazy, Things that might make you think, Writing, Writing Process, Writing tipsTags: , 2 Comments

Happy holidays…wait, what? Get your short stories ready!

Hi, peeps!

Hope everything and everybody are treating you well. April has been a whirlwind of crazy bizzy, but it’s all good.

Anyway, I bring up the holidays, friends, because there are usually many opportunities to submit short stories to holiday anthologies at many different publishers. Now, I’m not going to delve into whether or not said anthologies make money, but they remain pretty dang popular every year. And some publishers turn them into really cool fundraising opportunities for good causes, like Ylva did last year with their anthology, Unwrap These Presents. ALL profits go to organizations that help homeless LGBTQ youth. (full disclosure — I have a story published in this anthology)

At any rate, so what, Andi? It’s NOT EVEN FREAKING MAY AND HERE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT DECEMBER HOLIDAY CRAZY.

Indeed. But I do this because if you want to get your stories in said anthologies, you need to start writing NOW. That’s one of the issues with holiday anthologies. You have to start thinking about it at least 6-7 months in advance and get that story hammered out and submitted. I personally enjoy writing for holiday anthologies because of a bit of personal baggage.

That is, I am so not a fan of the November-December holidays. Christmas is a particular drag for me, but I realized some years back that I get to decide my holiday fate, so I make it a point not to get involved in the absolute nuttiness and rampant commercialism of the season. My friends and family all agreed that instead of doing that, we’d engage in good works and fun and relaxed party things and we all discovered that we are way happier and less stressed at that time of year than in the past.

So I’ve decided that part of my holiday therapy, if you will, is to make it a regular thing to write a story or novella or something comparable that deals with some aspect of the November-December holidays and either get it published or post it somewhere. I particularly like romance/romantic comedies that time of year, so that’s probably going to be a recurring theme.

Having said that, I actually just started writing a holiday novella a couple of nights ago. The idea hit me the day I started writing it. I went home after work and BOOM. Writing crazy. Most likely it’ll be done toward the end of May and then all my critique peeps will rip it apart and I’ll rewrite is 32 times and then see what kind of publishing venue is out there for it. If nobody wants it, I may make it available on Kindle. We’ll see…

So for now, friends, start thinking about holiday anthologies as possible venues for your work. Ylva loves holiday anthologies, and they’re doing one this year, too. F/F romance and/or erotica.

CHECK IT. Deadline is July 15. Get crackin’.

Or perhaps you feel more comfie writing creepy Halloween stories this time of year. GREAT. Ylva loves Halloween anthologies, too.

CLICK. Deadline is May 31. Get creepin’.

Or, if you totally don’t want to do holidays in that vein at all, consider submitting to me and my co-editor R.G. Emanuelle for a second round of F/F FOOD and ROMANCE/EROTICA. FOR REALS! We’d love to consider your work.

CLICK RIGHT HERE BECAUSE OMG YOU SO WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR FORTHCOMING ORDER UP ANTHOLOGY OMG I KNOW YOU DO.

Anyway, if you know of any other holiday anthologies, please feel free to share in the comments. Other readers will totally appreciate that. And for now, start thinking about getting stories ready. After all, you don’t need snow to feel festive.

Happy writing, happy Thursday!

by Categories: Calls for submissions, Inspiration, Things you might like, WritingTags: , 1 Comment

10 things not to say (or do) to your editor

Hi, kids! Hope this past week has treated you well. The usual crazy going on here, but let’s take a moment and chat about something else writing-related.

EDITING.

OMG your blood is pumping, your juices are flowing and you’re just salivating at the mention of the word EDITING. It’s okay. I totally understand.

Anyway, yes, I am a writer but I started professionally editing way back in the early 1990s, during the Dark Ages when starving peasants tilled the soil outside the castle and if you wanted to talk to somebody you had to walk to the other side of the village before dark, because that was when the wolves came out to gnaw on hapless villagers who didn’t fall under the purview of the manor lord’s protection. If not wolves, then witches, werewolves, and vampires.

Shit was scary back in the day.

But now, thanks to technology, we know all that scary shit isn’t on the edge of the village. IT’S ON THE INTERWEBZ. Whew.

Anyway, I worked in publishing for about 15 years, either managing in-house or freelance editing out-of-house. I’m still an editor, and I still keep up with the publishing industry, but I’m a writer, too. Which means I have been on both sides of the fence and I have a certain amount of empathy for both perspectives.

I know what it feels like to be working with an editor who you think is missing the point of your vision, who is crushing your writing dreams by saying a scene doesn’t work, who just might be a cross between a werewolf and a vampire and is merely toying with your emotions before stomping on your ego. I get that. But I also know what it’s like to help a writer realize her vision in clearer, stronger prose so that she goes on to write better prose later and she remains a colleague and works with you many times after that because she trusts you.

That is the essence of an editor-writer relationship. Trust. It’s important to trust that an editor has the professional background and training to work with a writer on craft as well as narrative. On the other side of that, it’s important that an editor trust that a writer is open to edits, is open to realizing that sometimes, a writer is much too close to a project to see clearly, and that a writer wants to improve her craft.

That’s the ideal. So with that in mind, what should you NOT say to an editor with whom you are working?

Let’s go see…

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by Categories: Editing, Things that might make you think, Writing, Writing tipsTags: 11 Comments

“It was a dark and stormy night”: on openers

Howdy, peeps!

So a couple of folks expressed interest in how to write an effective opener for a novel.

To which I say, “good luck.”

Heh.

And then I supply links LIKE THIS, which have the alleged “100 best first lines from novels”, posted by the American Book Review site. I must say, Iain M. Banks’ line from The Crow Road is a grabber: “It was the day my grandmother exploded.”

Hit that link at Amazon and you’ll be able to read the first few pages to determine what that’s about.

At any rate, what makes a great opening line? Well, I’d say that’s a topic up for debate, depending on a reader’s taste. But overall, let’s try to dissect what makes a great first line in terms of writing craft. Here are five things to think about.

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by Categories: Inspiration, The Writing Crazy, Things that might make you think, Writing, Writing Process, Writing tipsTags: , , 4 Comments

Some publishing tips

HI, peeps!

Behold! The Ides of March!

I threw my Facebook page open to the winds and asked people what topics they would like me to blog on. It seems the top answers are “publishing” and “how-to.”

I’ve already blogged on those topics (I’ll post the links here so you can go see), but I can do a relatively quick overview here.

So. Let us begin!

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by Categories: Indie publishing, Publishing, Publishing bizness, WritingTags: , , , 2 Comments