Born in the Mouth of an Angel

I've recently taken another look at a short story I published at the beginning of the year: Born in the Mouth of  an Angel. It spent some time on the blog up for free and it had been selling on sites for a while. But I wasn't happy with what it was. I've taken another look at the story idea and decided to develop it further.

It's become a four book series. I tried serializing the first book but it wasn't working out the way I'd intended so while you can find the first section of the first book free on some retailer sites, the series is published as four normal novels.

Complicated

I think we like to complicate things when really it's quite simple. Find what makes you happy and who makes you happy and you're set.


This is my thought of the week. When you boil it down to this, life really doesn't seem as complicated. Sure, all the goals and worries and milestones you're waiting for are still there but taking a quick snapshot of your life in black and white can help put things in perspective. It certainly brightened up my perspective!

The Swamp Witches

Left by parents she can't remember, Maga is given to the swamp witch to live a life of safe isolation. 

Maga's story is finished, or potentially just started. The Swamp Witches is a series of short stories featuring Maga as she grows up. The free short, Swamp Familiars is part of The Swamp Witches so if you aren't sure, go ahead and click on the tab at the top or head to one of the ebook stores for a free taster of Maga!

Publishing is Broken

Forbes has just published an interesting article on Publishing, both the Traditional side and the Indie side. You should definitely have a look. Essentially, David Vinjamuri is coming down on the side of Indie Publishing, seeing it as a positive growth in Publishing instead of a nasty phenomenon that's destroying books. With viewpoints from both traditional and indie authors, Vinjamuri notes the pros and cons of each and decides that Indie is only here to stay, and get better. He makes some interesting predictions for the future, some of which I can definitely see coming true.

What I really find interesting is how legitimate Indie Publishing is becoming in mainstream culture. Some Indie authors are leading the way, making it cool instead of pathetic and people have definitely noticed. While it isn't entirely respectable to some people, I can see it only growing more so, the way it did in music.

It was an interesting read at the very least and thanks to Dean Wesley Smith for pointing it out!

It's Not What You Say...

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. In life this can be so true. You don’t have to have lived much to know that an argument can start with someone just over the tone of their words. But I’m not sure how true that is for books.

Granted, a nonfiction book poorly written, doesn’t fill me with confidence in what they’re saying. They could be giving me the best advice of my life, but filled with spelling and grammatical errors, I probably won’t listen. But I think that while an author’s style and voice are important, but just as important is what they’re saying. One of my favorite authors just released a new book and I bought the 30$ hardcover, excited to read it. When I finished, however, I was disappointed. There was no story and she hadn’t had much to say.

So while how you say something might be important, equally, what you have to say needs to match. Voice is unique but it can’t carry a story that’s limping along behind it. Voice is just an element of the many things you need for a successful and interesting story.

That being said, for the first time ever, I’ve bought a book purely because of the author’s voice. Chuck Wendig posts hilarious lists that I read, no matter what he’s writing about, just because I know it will be funny.  Even though a lot of these lists (that I’ve already read) are also included in the book, I bought it anyway. I’m not sure if, by the end, I’ll even care what he told me. I just know that there has to be an exception to every rule and this one’s pretty great.

A Swamp of Souls: Published!

A Swamp of Souls

Jack's been back in the swamp for over a year with no sign of his siblings. Then, in one afternoon, that all changes when he learns Owen's been captured and taken to the citadel. His quest to reunite the family faces more obstacles than the King who seeks to collect them all as more questions are raised about the family they grew up in and the powers they possess.

The second book in the Swamp Children series has just been published online. I'll be working on the rest of Maga's shorts and then the third book 'A Swamp of Lies' so it should all be done before the new year comes back around. Enjoy!

The Mountain of Dreams

Sometimes decisions in life are hard. More often than they are easy, they are hard. Life seems to get grayer the older you get. More shades of rightness and wrongness and it is difficult to decide which is which.

For me, the decisions that revolve around writing are like this. Until recently. I've struggled to see what's right and what's wrong in each decision, each option I stand in front of but an amazing speech by Neil Gaiman gave me an idea of how to start.

In a commencement speech at an Art school, Gaiman tells a little of his own journey through the arts and some of the decisions he made that resulted in bringing him to where he is now. The biggest thing I took from it was a visual he described.

Imagine your goals and dreams as a mountain. Whenever you come to a crossroads in your life, and there always seems to be one after another, imagine that mountain. Imagine each option that you face. Whichever one brings you closer to that mountain is the road you need to take.

I can think of when decisions aren't even that easy but right now, for where I am and what I'm doing, that's enough. Am I walking towards it, or away from it? Which way are you going? Towards or away from your mountain of dreams?

Everything Happens for a Reason...

I'm a big believer in 'everything happens for a reason'. It's what gets me through some days and helps me look past things I might otherwise turn into regrets.

This last year has been decision after decision for me and not just what will I have for breakfast. I'm talking about big, life-changing decisions. I hate those kinds. I'm an indecisive person to start off with and putting these things in my path is pretty much a recipe for a nervous breakdown.

And just when I thought I'd finally figured it out (at least for the time being), another whopper of a decision makes itself known. My response: everything happens for a reason.

Whenever I say this to myself, it usually means I'm about to make a potentially bad decision that I'll regret and try to squirm out of later. But....everything happens for a reason! Then, I was scrolling through Pinterest, as is my wont when I'm feeling senseless and just want to see pretty pictures, and I found this saying.

Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes the reason is that you're stupid and you make bad decisions.

It sums up what I'm feeling about this decision. I'm on the verge of making a bad decision just because I think an option has opened up for a reason. But maybe it's just opened up because it has and going through with that option just because it's there would be more about my stupidity than anything else.

Reviews

I know reviews, good, honest reviews are hard to come by. I've heard a lot about how people work extremely hard to get those first reviews that can be so necessary. I've not been as proactive as I could be and it's something I'll have to look into in the future but having a promotional short story out for my Swamp Children series has proven a boon! I've received three reviews on Smashwords and while that may not sound like a lot, it's big for me. Not a single one was five stars and but I'm thrilled with all three! They're great for telling you what works and what doesn't and while they can be discouraging they can also provide a needed lift. Proof that the words aren't just written into a vacuum.

Novella: Published

I've finally gotten my act together and finished up the Swamp novella I've had sitting around. It feels like a big relief, one less thing I need to think about! Being on holiday for three weeks has drastically cut down my writing time but I've surprisingly pulled myself together for editing and redrafting. At least I've gotten something done!

On the run, not from the zombie heads that infest the swamp, but from the people who live there, Owen stumbles into the lives of a single mother and her child. Unused to human company, Owen is torn between delight and fear that they will discover his secret.

Life Collides

I'm in the middle of a short story collection and struggling to make the edits on the novella waiting in the wings. I hoped to have a lot more done than I've managed recently but life has stepped in. No longer can I manage the chunks of words I was powering through merely weeks ago! Now it's a happy day if I break into the hundreds! I have updated the free story you can find under the tab 'Free Story'. It's gone through some edits since I first posted it so it should be improved ;)

Free Short

I decided to make today focused on getting some editing done instead of trying for my word quota. I've gone through one of the promotional shorts for the 'Swamp Children' series that I'm working on. It's free up on the blog, under it's own little tab! All you have to do is click on 'Free Story' and it'll take you right to it. I'm also going to have it up on all the usual sites for free for anyone interested.

Friday the 13th

Happy Spooky Day!

I'd forgotten all about it until I got on the internet this morning so I thought I'd share the well-wishes. My day has actually been lucky so far. I've been chapters into the sequel of 'A Swamp of Bones' and really unhappy with it. I didn't manage many words on it yesterday at all despite deciding that was where I needed to focus my time. Instead I wrote another short story, letting the ideas run wild. This morning it's been a struggle to get even 500 words down on it. But then I scrapped it all and I've started it over. Normally I hate doing that but these first 400 words on the new book have been easier than any of the other thousands I'd had written for 'A Swamp of Blood'. Finally it's kicking off and maybe I'll actually manage my 5000 words today despite the glorious sunshine and the sadly frozen fingers. After a breakfast (brunch?) of champions (half a box of strawberries and some slices of turkey) what could go wrong on this unluckiest of days?

April 12th

Finally back on the horse after an extended Easter break. Managed my 5,000 words yesterday, a minor miracle since I finished 'A Swamp of Bones'. I've also managed to write the promotional short story for the series and started up the second book. So much going on but struggling to keep focused, the sun's finally out and it's so hard to resist! And there's always a mind melt over how much editing happened in the last novel. I can hardly face it so I haven't touched the novella I've been done with for almost a week. It's scary knowing that's waiting in the wings!

Also, went to Hunger Games movie over the weekend. I fully expected to dislike it and chose it only because everything else was an hour away. Loved it. Loved the movie and spent all of tuesday reading the second and third book. They were so amazing and most amazing of all, they didn't frighten me into stopping my writing. Everyone get intimidated by the amazing authors out there and sometimes that can really slow me down. Not this week though! Maybe sunshine has magical powers....maybe there's a story hidden in there...

A Swamp of Bones: Published!

A Swamp of Bones is now available online! It's taken a while but the first YA paranormal Swamp Children book is finally out.

Makani, 19, lives in the northern swamps, the last stronghold of humanity. Separated from her family, she wanders, searching for them. When a Seer warns her that her little brother and sister are being held ransom in the southern citadel, Makani’s desperate to get there before something happens to them. However, she’s never ventured that far and with her limitations she isn’t sure she’ll make it or what she’ll find when she gets there. 

In other news, I've started the sequel, A Swamp of Lies, but because that'll take a while to get through, I'm also writing a novella, Things in the Swamp, featuring one of the characters from A Swamp of Bones. I'm hoping that will be finished and ready to go in the next couple of weeks but no promises!

Social Media and a Novella

While my edits are being passed through the strainer for 'A Swamp of Bones,' I've taken a day off to look at my social media. Sadly, it's a struggle and I don't know why but I'm reluctant to put myself out there. I've only recently started being active on twitter and this blog is still so new! But if I'm serious about writing I know it's something I'm going to have to suck up and do.

Goodreads is a site I've heard bandied about, an addictive site where you can grade all the books you've read. It's been fun rediscovering some I'd forgotten about! I don't quite understand how the interfacing works yet but since I'm still trying to get my author page set up I've resigned myself to waiting this one out before it bears fruit!

Kindleboards, another one I've known about, though only vaguely. It's a great community though I know I've only scratched the surface of what everyone has to offer there! I was initially worried it was some big marketing spam site and there is that but there's much more going on as well.

CritiqueCircle. I came across this one purely by accident, clicking through someone's blog. It's not a social media group but I think it will potentially be even more valuable. It's a website dedicated to providing detailed critiques. It has a great system set up so that everyone participates equally. I'm looking forward to seeing what more can come of this site since I've already read and critiqued some absolute gems!

While this has all been going on, I've been planning my next stories. There are a few shorts on the go and another novel but I've been most interested in a novella I've just thought up. There are characters in 'A Swamp of Bones' who don't get as much time as I'd like them too. I know that must sound funny since I'm the one writing it but side characters are just that, on the side. And there's one who's story I really want to delve into so I'm hoping to get that written and out in another month or so, life willing!

A Swamp of Bones

Still working away on the first novel. I have the ending fixed in my head which is a big step closer to finishing it! It's taken so many twists and turns from its conception. Has also turned into a zombie novel... I've never been too big on zombies before but it's been fun mucking around with them, especially since they're more harmless than some other varieties I've read! Hoping to have the whole thing up before April 1st.

17th of March

In honor of my dad's birthday, I'm putting up a free story to celebrare someone with no Irish blood in him at all. It will only be free until the 18th of March. Essentially it's a St. Patrick's day freebie. Because it takes so long to get things going on Amazon, especially freebies, it will only be free on Smashwords. You can download it from there or just read it from the site. Clicking on my Smashwords link on the right side of the blog will take you there. It should be easy to spot!

A St. Patrick's story where one good coat and the revenge of a flower cause misery to a prankster in the hills of Ireland. The story is called Leipreachán and I hope you enjoy it!

Goals 2012

I know I've missed New Year's Resolutions by a couple of months but having goals is a concrete way of measuring my progress. There are two writing goals which I've been thinking a lot about recently. The 10,000 hour mastery and the 1,000,000 word wall. The first is simply impossible to do in the space of a year so I can't really set that goal and I'm not actually too certain how I'll measure it. I did think to try to measure it by word count per hour but I've just discovered my word count per hour is very fluid at the moment. So I've aimed for the latter as something that I hope is reasonable enough to be able to do but also challenging enough to make it a worthwhile goal.

50 short stories is a totally arbitrary number I've pulled from the sky. But it is roughly 1 short story a week which I would hope to be doing anyway. However, as I've been delving into the heart of 'Swamp of Bones', which is getting longer and longer and looking to end up being even longer still, short stories are a struggle. I've had to fit them around the chunk of my writing day almost like a hobby. It's a peculiar feeling but it means that less is getting done and I'm not 100% sure I can make 50 short stories this year. I've only got 7 up now and its the middle of March.

4 novels is also potentially a failure waiting to happen. While I'm doing well enough on that goal at the moment, life is an interesting and untamable beast. So much has changed in the last six months that I can't even hope to predict what might happen in the coming six. But having four novels out by the end of the year seems like a good thing to do. If only I could tear myself away from the internet to do it.

Nameless Characters

I'm trying a new writing style in short stories which has always fascinated me. Characters with no names. The next collection I put out will be made up of six stories where none of the characters have names. Can people connect with them if they don't have names? I think people can. It also adds something to the story, trying to create someone or something that the readers can empathize with or at least be interested in. I'm also surprised by the amount of interest readers are showing in these stories.

While I say I'm writing a 'new' style, when I look back over my work, I've realized it's something I've been doing for a while. This is just the first time I'm actively and consciously deciding to leave names out and it's an interesting challenge. And it's a lot of fun.