Secrets of writing, unlocked!

Today in my search keywords: “finish a fantasy novel”.  Why yes, seeker, I did.  Twice.  (I’m awesome that way.) How?  I will let you in on my secret.  Writer + laptop + chair + time = novel.  (I left out a few of the nonessential ingredients such as coffee, music and cats… if you are following the basic recipe though, and still having trouble, consider adding one of these.) If you are short of the basics, it is very hard to finish a novel.  If you have a laptop, chair, and time, and are still having trouble finishing, it is possible, as Grady Hendrix suggests in a recent post, that you are not actually a writer. It is also possible, in my experience, that instead of writing a novel of fun escapism, you’re writing a novel about hard stuff you have experienced: loss, ill health, depression, abuse, that kind of thing.  When I procrastinate, it is not because I’m not a writer.  It is because I’m afraid. Once I push past this fear, and take a hard look at whatever is in my path, I make my best work.  It doesn’t have to be literally about my experience–in fact, it […]

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Unveiled!

Tenea D. Johnson and Steve Berman have announced the table of contents for Heiresses of Russ 2013, and guess what…I’m in it. “Harrowing Emily” by Megan Arkenberg“Reality Girl” by Richard Bowes“The Witch Sea” by Sara Diemer“Saint Louis 1990” by Jewelle Gomez“Narrative Only” by Kate Harrad“Nightfall in the Scent Garden” by Claire Humphrey“Elm” by Jamie Killen“Beneath Impossible Circumstances” by Andrea Kneeland“One True Love” by Malinda Lo“Winter Scheming” by Brit Mandelo“Feed Me the Bones of Our Saints” by Alex Dally McFarlane“Nine Days Seven Tears” by JL Merrow“Oracle Gretel” by Julia Rios“Otherwise” by Nisi Shawl“Chang’e Dashes from the Moon” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew“Astrophilia” by Carrie Vaughn“Barnstormers” by Wendy Wagner I was also really happy to note that last one, Wendy Wagner’s “Barnstormers”, which first appeared in Ideomancer.  (I was the slush reader who caught that one–for some reason this always makes me feel extra-pleased when the story goes on to do well!) Strange Horizons makes a great showing, too: several of these stories first appeared there, including mine, plus work by editors Brit Mandelo and Julia Rios made the list.  I’m proud to appear in this company. Go here to look at the cover! […]

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So, this Kickstarter I’m backing…

Long Hidden is an anthology of “speculative fiction from the margins of history”, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older and to be published by Crossed Genres.  It’s already funded, but I’m really hoping it will reach its stretch goal to be able to include even more stories. In the words of the mission statement, this anthology is participating in a tradition of “literary resistance to erasure”.  I love this statement, I love the list of authors already lined up, and I love that there are more spots open for submissions from those of us not yet big enough names to have been asked in advance. Most of all, though, I love seeing the enthusiasm around this project.  680 people, as of this writing, are so into this idea that they’re supporting it sight unseen.  That tells me there’s a really enthusiastic market for SF that isn’t just about royalty or spaceship captains. I’ve always liked to learn history from fiction.  Oh, I’m fully aware that fiction can’t always be relied upon for facts–we writers are prone to moving cities, marrying off people who lived decades apart, and other such conveniences in service of a more enjoyable story.  But […]

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Novel Enduro: The Finish Line

Done.  Wait, let me say that again: DONE. 80,000 words of PURE GENIUS.  Yeah: 80,000… despite word counts of more than 2k new stuff per day yesterday and today.  I took out a lot of faffing about, especially from the beginning.  And here we see the problem with the Pantsing Method: when I started writing this book I had no clue at all where it was going.  I wrote a lot of scenes that ended up being character background–worthwhile work for me, but not stuff that really needs to be in the final version, as it has the effect of slowing down the action. So I actually have a 20-item list of things to fix in the next draft, but they feel like next-draft things: strengthening certain thematic threads, punching up some of the action scenes, reading through the dialogue to improve the voices (something I seem to have a problem getting right out of the gate).  It’s possible there are continuity issues, because I haven’t done a proper date-map yet.  And it’s even possible there will be a character streamlining–I have a few secondary people who all seem to be doing the same job. But the important thing is […]

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Novel Enduro: Day VIII

79,000 words.  Two new scenes left to write, maybe three.  Not with a bang, but a whimper (from the author, who’s continually surprised at how fucking emotionally draining it is to end a book!) Horrible things: how hard it is to write romantic scenes without slipping into Hollywood tropes.  I haven’t had much practice, I guess… in my previous novel, there wasn’t a central love relationship, just a bit of dating. Beautiful things: getting one of those scenes right, I think!  Also, some more bits with magic, always fun. Tonight’s homework: going through a year’s worth of notes from my writing group because I’m almost positive there’s a great suggestion in there about a specific missing scene I should write, and I can’t remember what it is.  And being a very orderly person, I’d like to write that missing scene before I write the two final scenes, because once those are done I’d like to go celebrate, instead of messing around some more. Also, today’s win: Beyond Binary is nominated for a Lambda Literary Award! […]

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Novel Enduro, Days VI & VII

I didn’t have time to post Monday because I had an urgent need for a pint with my husband at Bar Volo at day’s end.  I did, however, hammer in another 2000 words, bringing that day’s total to just over 77,000. Sadly, it’s still there as of today.  I put in hours of work to keep it there, too.  I deleted several vestigial, useless or outdated scenes, and the new words I added were just barely enough to keep the total count on track. I don’t think this novel is going to be quite 90k, but it is still going to be done by the end of the week: I have about five scenes left to write, and none of them contain land mines as far as I can tell. I’ve also had a flurry of other writing-related activity, including both success and failure, which I can’t share at this time, and only mention in order to provide context for why today was another low-count day.  I can see this being quite a time-sink for a full-time writer.  As my own publishing history grows, and my involvement with the SF community with it, I find myself with a lot of […]

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Novel Enduro: Day V

In the spirit of public accountability, I’m posting even though this day has NOT gone as well as the others. Today’s word count: 1263.Total word count: 75,250 of 90,000.Percent completion: 83.6%. Beautiful things: bike couriers, hand-pulled noodles at Pacific Mall. Horrible things: everyone wants you to talk about things and you just want to whack-a-mole every single thought that surfaces in your brain. Favourite sentence:  “It was the voice he used on both Gavin and Asta, when they were sleepy or sick and had to be coaxed.” What went wrong with this day: Late start due to unavoidable obligation; rewrote the same scene four or five times before getting it even close; deleted another scene entirely, cancelling out a bunch of word count. Interesting note: judging by where I am right now, this novel isn’t actually going to hit 90k.  I think I’m closer to the end of the action than that.  Which is fine.  I’ll just throw in some more sex 😉 […]

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Novel Enduro: Day IV

Today’s word count: 3832.  Can I just say how awesome I feel about this?Total word count: 73,987 of 90,000.Percent completion: 82%. Beautiful things: Martin, who is still hot; um, that’s all, the rest was pretty ugly Horrible things: zombie raccoon!  Which explodes!  I was so pleased with this I immediately put it on Twitter.  So if there’s a rash of exploding zombie raccoons in your slush, you’ll know who to blame. Favourite sentence:  “Gavin’s spirit mantled like a hawk, ready to rend.” Reason for stopping: eggplant. Fetishes: wooden ring on index finger: Bellwoods bottlecap necklace. Sustenance: soy maple lattes, a god-awesome sandwich with tempeh, kimchee and Baconnaise, a pint of Bellwoods’ Roman Candle IPA. Playlist highlights: Matt Mays, “Take It On Faith”; Cat Power, “Ruin”; Esthero, “Walking On Eggshells”. Warnings That Must Go On the Tin: Mum, you can’t read this book.  Even if I forget and try to give it to you.  It has too many zombie things which you would not like, plus bad driving, and ‘fuck’ at least once in every chapter. […]

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Novel Enduro: Day III

Today’s word count: 3001. I really know how to nail that, apparently.Total word count: 70,126 of 90,000.Percent completion: 78%. Beautiful things: heartbeats; the Bentley Continental GT Horrible things: zombie sedan! Favourite sentence:  “Painkillers didn’t kill the pain so much as put it on a nearby shelf, where it sat glowering over him until it could come close again.” Reason for stopping: Lapdogs pub night. Fetishes: South African bead bracelets, and pink shirt, because it’s Pink Shirt Day. Sustenance: white peach tea, olive bread, olive oil. Playlist highlights: Airmech.  Again. […]

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Novel Enduro: Day II

Today’s word count: 4295!Total word count: 67,175 of 90,000.Percent completion: 74.6%. Beautiful things: stair-spindles, winter grass, bright scraps, wallpaper flowers. Horrible things: Terrence’s people in hospitals, Terrence’s poor lungs. Favourite sentence:  “His spirit saw it too: Chicago in all of itself, under the sun.” Reason for stopping: to write this blog post, because that’s what I felt like doing. Fetishes: South African bead bracelets. Sustenance: the rest of the corn chips, more grilled cheese, more Picholine olives, little tomatoes, soy maple latte. Playlist highlights: Airmech by Front Line Assembly.  (Why does my novel about urban magicians require its soundtrack to be a concept album about mecha?  I don’t know!  The mysteries of creativity!) Bonus: although Tybalt mostly prefers the cat tree, he also napped on my copy of The Waste Land.  Cute and literary! […]

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