writing life

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Posts and Prompts

April 19, 2011 in April A-to-Z Challenge 2011 | 10 comments

In that order. Every day, I post whatever I’m going to post, then I make up a prompt based on the post. Some people have been kind enough to tell me they like it; they say it inspires them to realize that everything contains the germ of a story.

My cat is by my shoulder, purring loudly. Current cat theory is that cats purr 1) when happy 2) when secure 3) when having needs/desires fulfilled 4) when uncertain, in order to reassure themselves 5) in order to reassure the animal/person they’re with.

WRITING PROMPT: A human being suddenly gains the ability–indeed, the compulsion–to purr under any or all of the above circumstances.

MA
p.s. It’s Tuesday, so I’m posting at Fatal Foodies on the subject of Man Bites Fish! It’s about piranha.

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Judging, Glad I Didn’t Have To

April 12, 2011 in April A-to-Z Challenge 2011 | 4 comments

I was privileged to be invited to give some remarks at a Young Author’s Red Carpet Ceremony at the local intermediate school last night. Before the ceremony, I had a chance to read some of the stories, which had been bound into books.

Earlier in the year, I had been invited to be one of the judges, an honor I declined.

As a writer who has submitted many stories, suffered the agony of rejections (which I now call “returns”) and acceptances (which I now call “when can I expect the check”), I didn’t have the heart to sit in judgment on the work of aspiring young writers.

But I could do the speech I was requested to give: five minutes or so about how I got started, what the writing life is like, and encouragement. I told them:

  1. When I was very little, I thought all the books had already been written. When my mother told me people still wrote books all the time and got paid for it, that was all I ever wanted to do.
  2. Writing is always hard: You make the book the best you can and, when you believe it’s perfect, you submit it. Most of the time, it gets sent back and you never know why. Most of the time, the reason is NOT that it’s a bad book; there are lots of reason any particular judge or editor passes on any particular story. And being asked to do edits doesn’t mean the story isn’t good, just that it can be made even better.
  3. Writing is always fun. Writing the story is a joy. Seeing your work, with your name on it, out in the world where other people can read it and enjoy it never gets old.

The speech seemed to strike home. The kids and parents all listened, and I saw a lot of nods and smiles.

Joy. It’s what writing is all about.

WRITING PROMPT: Outline a brief speech about what writing has meant and does mean to you.

MA
p.s. I’m posting today at Fatal Foodies on the subject of jum-jills, with recipe.

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Four Happy Things

March 5, 2011 in FORCE OF HABIT, Grab bag, Sparks o' Joy, Writing | 8 comments

MomGoth is singing happy little songs today because of four happy things that happened yesterday.

  • I got my first royalty check from Amazon for the short story collections I self-published for Kindle (and at Smashwords, but Smashwords hasn’t sent me a check so NO DANCE FOR YOU, SMASHWORDS! It wasn’t a big check, unless you think $10.41 is big, but I’m being all Four Yorkshiremen about it and saying, “Boot it were a check to oos.” And here’s the original sketch o’ that, for all you yoong people:

  • The fabulous, fabulous Amanda Borenstadt, steampunk queen supreme, reminded me of word clouds at Wordle, and I did one for EEL’S REVERENCE:

Wordle: Eel's Reverence

  • I got a call inviting me to present awards at a local middle school’s Young Authors Celebration. Not only is it an honor, it’s a pleasure to get to encourage young people toward rewarding and enriching careers as authors, so that they, too, can go to the mailbox some day and find they have received checks for $10.41 for six months’ sales.
  • My editor at Echelon Press tells me she’s within hours of getting my edits on FORCE OF HABIT to me, and that she thinks they’ll be easy ones. :) On the same subject (FORCE OF HABIT), I’m having tons of fun writing “By the Book”, the short story accompanying it. I told my 10-year-old grandson the premise and he was most amused.

Busy day today, working the concession stand for my church at an auction (that’s conCession, not conFession–I’m Disciples of Christ, not Catholic), then going to the Presbyterian Church for a Mardi Gras feast. They give away beads, but you don’t have to show anything but money for charity.

WRITING PROMPT: List four happenings that made your main character happy.

MA

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Free For Nothing

February 28, 2011 in Writing | 2 comments

Gots another free story for you. Had one up yesterday for Sample Sunday and there’s one up today at Dark Valentine Magazine. Called “Dry As Dust”, it’s a creepy one.

I’m also guest ranting… er, posting on Karen Syed’s Life As A Publisher. The topic is bad literary fiction, but it goes for bad fiction of all sorts and styles, as well.

And another thing: I was doing my rainbow edits–where one highlights problem words and then goes through and rewrites to eliminate them where one can–and came across some places in which I left out an open quote or close quote. More important was the place in which I had left out a big chunk of text. Yes.

This was a book WHICH HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED. I took the manuscript I sent to Echelon from the one sent to me as published by a previous publisher. Looks like SOMEONE didn’t look at her proofs very carefully before. Fortunately, I had backup files so old they’re on little old floppy disks in txt format, so I was able to recover the lost bit.

When you get your proofs, read them. Carefully. It isn’t that you don’t trust your editor or typesetter. It’s that the quality of the proof you turn in as ready to go is YOUR responsibility. Don’t embarrass yourself the way I did.

WRITING PROMPT: If you have a finished story, read it again as if someone else had written it.

MA

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Lonnie Rides Again

February 12, 2011 in Writing | 4 comments

I finished the first draft of “Lonnie, Me and the Battle of St. Crispin’s Day” and took it to the Southern Indiana Writers Group critique meeting last week. Got some great ideas of ways to make it better, so Imma do that today and email the repaired version around. I’m submitting it for the SIW upcoming HOLIDAY BIZARRE anthology, which will include most or all of the stories from our out-of-print CHRISTMAS BIZARRE and some new ones featuring other holidays.

In “Lonnie, Me and the Battle of St. Crispin’s Day”, Lonnie and Tiny return to the neighborhood where they lived as boys and attend the parish church’s Saint’s Day Festival, October 25, Saints Crispin and Crispinian. There is alcohol present. There is dancing. There are games of chance. And Lonnie is married to a hard-shell Baptist. Things get…interesting.

I was worried about this story, because “Lonnie, Me and the Hound of Hell” went over so well; I was afraid this story wouldn’t be very funny by comparison, but the SIW members present assured me that they were sufficiently amused. I am content.

Now Imma go work on the rewrites. Happy!

WRITING PROMPT: Where did you grow up? Or any of your characters? Would you/he/she go back? Why or why not? What is one strong positive memory of that place and time?

MA

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Postcard from Muncie

October 30, 2010 in Food, Writing | 2 comments

I’m here in Muncie, Indiana, at Magna cum Murder mystery convention. We drove up with no problem until I passed the exit–er, I mean until I decided to drive past the exit and stop for lunch just beyond it.

We stopped at a Skyline Chili, which is all about Cincinnati style chili. The waitress offered us a free sample. We were like, “No, thank you.” She was all like, “Are you SURE? It’s FREE.” Well, some had had it before and some hadn’t, and it’s something you usually like or you don’t. The others gave the whole thing a pass and bought salads and wraps, but I took the plunge.

I researched Cincinnati style chili when I wrote the culinary chronicles for World Wide Recipes, so I knew, theoretically, what I was in for. The Wikipedia article says it is “characterized by the use of unusual ingredients such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice or chocolate, and by the absence of chili peppers or chili powder.” Sound nasty? Well, some people think so, but I was anxious to try it. Guess what? I love it!

At one of the book sale tables, I ran into a woman who looked at my name and said, “I’ve read your stuff!” The sweetest words to any writer’s ear! It turns out she subscribes to World Wide Recipes and remembers when I wrote the chronicles. FOOL that I am, I didn’t write down her name. I hope I run into her again this weekend and that she doesn’t mind my writing her name in my little book.

WRITING PROMPT: Write about somebody who goes to a convention and meets someone he/she knows from a venue or occupation unconnected with the convention’s focus.

MA

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Daily Means Every Day

October 15, 2010 in Grab bag, Writing | 2 comments

I post every day. Unless I don’t. I mean, sometimes I set up a post ahead of time and then I’m like, “Neener, neener!” and then I get all, “I gotta post! I GOT TO POST!” Isn’t that kind of sad? Anyway, I post at least once every day, always here (even if it’s only a writing prompt) and sometimes elsewhere, as well.

How do I do it? Well, it isn’t by providing content, that’s for sure. –Um, I mean, I do it by thinking up lots of things to post about when I’m not actually posting.

Seriously, I’ve often said (Yes, Mother, we know you have) that EVERYTHING is about writing, and it is. Today, for instance, I was at the hospital visiting Mom (disappointed not to be coming home today, but generally in good spirits) and passed the woman on the Zamboni polishing the floor. I said, “I’d love that job!” She said, “Well, I’d let you have it, because it gets boring.” And I thought, “No way!” I mean, you could:

  1. listen to music on an MP3 player
  2. listen to an audio book
  3. dictate letters or story ideas into a little recorder
  4. eavesdrop on loud conversations or read lips or invent stuff based on body language
  5. pretend you were on a real Zamboni and imagine what kind of ice extravaganza you were preparing for

I am totally going to put a lady who polishes the hospital floor into a story sometime. I may give her her own book. She might live in one of the Storybook Style houses in my Spadena Street series (planning stages, but one short story done and published in THE GIFT OF MURDER).

WRITING PROMPT: Stop and talk to somebody you see working. Imagine a character working that job.

MA

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Writing Schedules

September 29, 2010 in Writing | 2 comments

Someone in one of the email lists I frequent asked how to schedule writing time. Here is what I said:

Here’s Little Miss Echo, chiming in with the others: Have you tried writing yet, or are you just looking over the possibility? I don’t mean that to sound snotty, so I have to make that clear, because you can’t see the good will and eagerness on my face as I ask. :)

The reason for asking is, if you’ve tried writing already and are frustrated with an inability to get anything done or to get anything started, what times/methods have you used? and, if you haven’t tried already, go ahead and try.

A voice recorder or even a notebook and pen are great for jotting down notes before and during a project. You can do that in any snatch of free time: waiting for a bus, at a stop light, alone at a lunch table, between homework assignments.

When you start putting things together, and if you need chunks of time, try different times: set your alarm and get up earlier than usual, if you’re a morning person. Try between classes. Try after classes. Try staying up later than usual. Whenever that creative energy flows, that’s your writing time. Some people really CAN write in 15-minute bursts! I can, though I prefer longer chunks.

One thing I’ve found immensely helpful is to set a goal. The person who suggested this suggested a short goal, and it works beautifully for me. When I’m working, I set a goal of 250 words a day. I mean, I can write 250 words in no time! If I can do 250 words a day, I’ve met my writing goal for the day, and I get rights to feel virtuous and productive. If I write more than 250 words in a day, I get to feel triumphant and All That. If I fail to write 250 words, well, that’s not much of a failure, and I can live with that. lol!

WRITING PROMPT: Write a character who is frustrated with not enough time for a project he/she wants to at least work on, preferably to complete. How does he/she deal with the frustration? Does he/she find a solution, or come to terms with an impossibility or what?

MA

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The Return of Laura Bickle

August 30, 2010 in Guest Posters, Writing | No comments

In May, Laura Bickle appeared at my now-defunct blog to talk about writing and to promote her urban fantasy novels, particularly EMBERS and SPARKS. I read EMBERS and loved it, and I scored a copy of SPARKS this weekend and have irritated my TBR pile by putting the new book on top.

I met Laura again this weekend at Context and asked if she minded if I reprinted the interview here. She said it would be fine, so here it is:

My guest today is Laura Bickle who, if I were prone to puns, I would call a hot new author. I never make puns, though, so I won’t say that. Laura has written you a post called

Writing Life – Taming the Day Job

By Laura Bickle

Most creative folks have a love-hate relationship with their “Day Jobs.” These are the jobs that pay the bills, the jobs that soak up the majority of our waking hours. Our writing gets squeezed into whatever scraps of time that are left, minutes that are stolen from sleep and personal lives.

The Day Job is a shadow. A necessary evil. A time suck. I freely admit to having an adversarial relationship with my day job. I inwardly grumble about all the writing that I could get done if I weren’t chained to the desk or the phone. I know that wouldn’t happen in reality, though. If I didn’t have the day job, I’d be spending all my free time trying to get another and worrying about money. If I didn’t have one, there would be absolutely NO writing happening at all – I’d be a ball of frazzled energy.

But my Surly Muse still gets cranky. She feels as if she’s stuck in the shadow the Day Job casts, relegated to second fiddle. The Day Job runs the show, and she gets the leftovers.

But I’ve been trying to reframe the Day Job, to view it not as the enemy, but as sustenance. As food for the Surly Muse. They’re small efforts, but I’m trying not to let my Surly Muse get lost in the hustle-bustle of the Day Job’s inflexible routine:

-Once a week, I make sure to buy my Surly Muse something pretty, a journal or a pen or a book about writing. My Surly Muse is a little shallow. She likes shiny things, and I can tell her that it’s an offering from the Day Job. That seems to placate her a bit.

-I’ve made a space in my home for writing, a shrine to the Surly Muse. It’s a desk in the corner of a guest room, a real space for writing with candles, computer, clippings, and images that inspire me. Every so often, I pick a flower from the garden and put it in a vase there. It’s a small thing, but creating physical space for writing has really resulted in more writing for me. It’s probably the guilt that I experience when I walk past the desk. I can feel my Surly Muse tugging at my sleeve when I walk by.

-I decided that some things just weren’t as important as I thought. I was habitually putting a number of petty domestic chores ahead of my Surly Muse. Like organizing my closets. I don’t know how having my shoes lined up became more important than putting pen to paper, but I’ve got to learn to loosen my standards and let go of things that really don’t matter. Cleaning out the fridge can wait another day (as long as there isn’t a science project on the verge of developing sentience).

-Making a date with my Surly Muse. My Surly Muse likes to be fussed over. We have a standing date after dinner for an hour a day. After the dishes are cleared and laundry’s in the washer, I take a hot bath and think about the next scene I’m going to write. I try to let go of all the job worries for tomorrow morning. When I’m all warm and woozy, I retreat to my desk, light a candle, and start tapping out the words.

They’re small things, really. But they convince my Surly Muse that she’s every bit as important as the Day Job.

How do you keep your Day Job caged?

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Laura Bickle has worked in the unholy trinity of politics, criminology, and technology for several years. She and her chief muse live in the Midwest, owned by four mostly-reformed feral cats. EMBERS, her debut novel, is first in an exciting new urban fantasy series that continues with her forthcoming second novel, SPARKS. More information on her work can be found at www.salamanderstales.com.

Laura also writes as Alayna Williams. Alayna’s “debut” will be DARK ORACLE, Pocket Juno’s June 2010 release. More information on the Oracle series can be found at www.alaynawilliams.com.

WRITING PROMPT: Just answer Laura’s question.

MA

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Cataloged!

August 12, 2010 in Sparks o' Joy, Writing | 2 comments

I wasn’t planning on posting today. Dani Greer, she of the Blood-Red Pencil and the Blog Book Tour, says she’s going to issue a blog-post-a-day-for-a-month challenge, and it’s hardly a challenge if I already do it, is it? So I was going to stick my hands in my pocketses, gaze at the ceiling and whistle nonchalantly while I let the day pass without posting.

HOWEVER, I got an email from Karen Syed at Echelon Press (my–ahem–publisher), instructing all her authors to check their names in the catalog and make sure all their links were there and active.  So I went, and I was like–OMG! (Oh, my goodness, you know.) OMG OMG OMG! I’m in a freakin’ publisher’s catalog again! I love selling short stories–LOVE it, do you understand? (clink, clink), and being in LOCUS is a trip–but there’s something so heart-warming about seeing one’s name in a publisher’s catalog.

Lalala-lalalala! Doin’ a happy little dance!

WRITING PROMPT: Write a character who intends to refrain from doing something but does it anyway. It can be a bad thing or a good thing.

MA

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