Author: Joely

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Revision Xibalba

So today, it’s back to Revision Hell, or more appropriately, Xibalba, since this is the Mayan fantasy.  I didn’t plan to do a full “dark & early” schedule this week, but That Man had to be up early for work, so I’m up too.  Unfortunately, we both had a really bad night of sleeping.  Yes, I’m still coughing.  The monsters were up way too late, dreading the return to school, I suppose.  All in all, I’m feeling pretty much like death warmed over, but I did get a little writing done.

I’m still frantic about that notebook.  It had all my character diagrams in it.  For the newer characters, like Dr. Tara Portman and Special Agent Quinn Salazar, those were the only notes I had about their dark secrets.  I think I remember most of what I need, but what if I don’t?  It also held the original timeline paradigm for each act with my notes about each character thread.  I never fully translated those sheets into my Excel doc.  Again, I think I remember most of what I need…but I might not, either.

I must find that notebook.  The problem is, I can’t remember how long ago I had it.  I’m pretty sure I took it in the car with me on a recent trip.  Perhaps over Christmas?  But I can’t remember why I would have done that, unless I thought I might work on the Mayan story in the car.  I knew I wouldn’t really start on it until January, though, so that doesn’t quite make sense.  I guess I’ll start calling people and see if I left it at their house, but surely they would have called if they’d found it.  I already looked in the car, but I’ll check again, under the seats, everywhere.  I’ve been through all my usual places to stash things in the house, and bribed the monsters with a reward if they can find it.

Yet it’s still gone.  :cry:

ETA:  I FOUND IT!  And I can’t even blame the monsters for misplacing it.  It was downstairs on the wrong side of my recliner, underneath a small plastic container of art supplies. 

This morning, I started the next scene.  It should eventually connect with the first draft where I can cut and paste, but so far, it’s all new words.

Words:  920

NSR second draft:  35,077

Snippet:   

“He was a fool to tamper with magic of which he had no understanding.”  The arch of his eyebrow asked whether she was as big a fool.  He leaned forward, his eyes glowing brighter.  “Don’t you understand, lady?  Fresh from Xibalba where they’ve been imprisoned an eternity, they were still powerful enough to kill me.  Meanwhile, each moment they’re free, they’re killing and gaining power with every drop of blood.  I have no magic strong enough to force them back.  They’ll spread rot, disease, death, and torture, from sea to sea, people to people, as quickly as possible.  I can’t stop them.  Yet I must if I’m to save any of our people at all.”

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Prepping

While the New Year has come and gone, it still feels like a vacation/holiday to me until the monsters go back to school.  Tomorrow.  Thank the Lord!  Today is Princess Monster’s 10th birthday, so I took this day off, probably my last vacation day for quite a while.  Basketball starts up this week, and with all three playing, our weekends are shot for the next 8 weeks.

Meanwhile, I’ve been reading (4 books since I finished Return) and watching movies (Hellboy, Princess Mononoke, Seven Samurai).  I’ve also been clearing the slate, so to speak.  Getting Gregar, Mykal, and Dharman out of my head has proven more difficult than I expected, but slowly I’ve been switching gears to the Mayan fantasy. 

Unfortunately, I’ve misplaced my orange folder that has some of my notes in it (e.g. the monsters probably cut it up to make artwork).  I have my index cards and spreadsheets, but now my mind is mourning that folder (even though I can’t remember what’s in there).  I’ve read the nearly 120 pages I’ve polished, but I’m mentally stuck.  I can’t remember how this scene was going to end (note to self:  never leave a work in the middle of a scene without notes.  But what if I made notes and now just can’t find them??)  So I might have to skip ahead or something.

I plan on using this week to slowly work myself back to a Dark & Early schedule, stretching those writer muscles and freeing up those brain cells, building momentum day by day until I’m back to full speed.

I really want to finish Revision Xibalba this month, but after seeing how many scenes I still have to go (some of which haven’t been drafted yet), I may need another month.  We’ll see.  I have the query written and the list of agents I want to target.  I have a bad synopsis that I’ll need to throw out and rewrite, but the proposal package is just about ready.  I don’t have high hopes with the market in turmoil.  Plus, this idea isn’t as fresh as it was when I first came up with it.  I’ve minimized some of the “common” elements and highlighted what I think makes this story unique.  We’ll see if I get any nibbles.

I’m also going to use this slower time to get back into a regular exercise routine.  Nothing too strenuous to start, but after killing myself through NaNoWriMo, my back and knees need to get back to work!  The bright side of two hours of basketball practice every week (two of the monsters have practice at the same time) is more time to walk on the track.  It gets really boring since the track is so small, but it’s better than sitting on that uncomfortable bench.

How’s your new year going?

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Mistakes that Shatter the Illusion

The trick to fantastic storytelling is to let the characters make mistakes that are meaningful and significant to the arc, not merely stupidity elements to advance the plot.  The latter shatters the illusion.

It’s like when Zorro fell off Toronado in the first Antonio Banderas version.  Or when the Batcave was so easily destroyed by Jim Carrey’s Enigma.  Or was it Penguin?  I can’t remember (I blocked it from my memory.)  Or Lord help me, when Scarlett turned her back on Tara IMMEDIATELY in that horrible sequel to Gone With the Wind.  It’s those moments that make you scratch your head and roll your eyes.  No one with true understanding of the character would ever allow that to happen.  Right?  Surely Batman would have had SOME security on the Batcave!  RIGHT?

What does this have to do with the Night Angels trilogy I devoured this week?

I finished up book 3 tonight and in my most humble opinion, it was the weakest of the trilogy.  Instead of finishing at a crashing crescendo, it shattered the illusion.  Kylar did something really dumb and it bugged the hell out of me.  His great weapon/gift, the black ka’kari that made him the immortal Night Angel, failed him.  Or he failed it, I’m not sure.  Surely this incredibly powerful artifact that enabled the previous Night Angel to live nearly 700 years would have a few security alarms in it.  Surely the great wetboy I’ve come to admire after well over 1000 pages would notice if someone stole his SWORD?  (while he was wearing it, no less) And replaced it with a fake?  And by the way, his sword was another incredibly powerful artifact. 

It had to happen for the plot, but it shattered the awe-inspiring illusion the story had carried up to that point.  Until then, I would have said this trilogy ranked as one of my all-time favorite reads.  After that stupidity element, the magic was broken for me.  I finished the book and was pleased, but it wasn’t the same.  The veil had been pulled aside, ever so briefly, and I couldn’t forget.

I know.  I’m not a very forgiving reader.  I can’t help it.  Except for this one thing, it was a fantastic series.  Thereafter, a few other tricks/surprises were stretched too thinly.  Because my trust in the illusion had already been shaken?  Very likely.  The surprises just didn’t have that same oomph.  They weren’t as well supported and hinted at, more like TADAH! moments that I didn’t quite buy.

Still, a great trilogy.  I would definitely read more by this author.  But I ended the trilogy not as emotionally invested in the end as I hoped.  Guy Gavriel Kay’s Finovar Tapestry’s final book had me SOBBING.  I read that book at least a decade ago and still love it.  Just thinking about it can make me tear up, my heart aching with all the wonder and magic, agony and suffering, love and victory.  

Beyond the Shadows left me muttering if only…if only… if only.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Shadow’s Edge by Brent Weeks

Beware, I have entered the Reading Twilight Zone.  I will not come out until I’m finished.  Hence, the perils of letting myself read when I’m supposed to be writing.

I finished book 2 of the Night Angels trilogy last night and it was as good as the first book.  Third book is well underway already this morning.

I’ve always loved assassins (e.g. Gregar), and Kylar doesn’t disappoint.  In this world, assassins are something to be sneered at, and he’s much, much more than even the standard “killer for hire,” aka wetboy.  He struggles, he dies, only to return to life, and only now has he learned the cost of those lives.  The characters aren’t strictly white or black, but a blend of mistakes, honor, morals, beliefs, and confusion.  People die (although this isn’t as bad as a George R.R. Martin wedding, snicker), and there’s a cost for everything.

I think the third book is suffering just a bit because of the demise of the Godking at the end of book 2.  There’s more inter-character conflict than any single antagonist to fight, and characters are trying to work out some of their mistakes.  It’s still good, just not as bam slam thank you ma’am action and surprises as the first two books.  The surprises were excellent.  I mean, when a character isn’t afraid to die, the surprises have to be intense.  Now, Kylar knows the cost he has to pay if he dies and comes back, and now, he’s going to have to face that fear.

I should finish book 3 today and I’ll post my final thoughts.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Best Read of 2009

As for reading pleasure, 2009 is starting off with a bang.  I just finished The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks.  Note the time of this post.  No, I don’t have the day off tomorrow.  So I’ll be dragging myself up in a matter of hours for the Evil Day Job, but it was totally worth it.

The dang book was so good I had to read the bit of book 2 at the end even though it’s so late.

I’m too tired to wax poetic about the book’s qualities.  The book is dark.  It opens with children suffering, abusing each other in dismal poverty.  But Azoth took my heart and wouldn’t let me stop reading, and Logan, Jarl, Elene, Uly, Mamma K, and yes, even Master Durzo Blint, took another piece of me.  Azoth’s training as a wetboy was engrossing.  No blow was spared.  Even the terrifying Godking is an incredibly interesting character.

So if this is a sign of all the great stories I’ll be reading in 2009, my giddy reader’s heart shouts bring it on!  Book 2 in this series is next, and I have Stay the Night by Lynn Viehl winging its way to me, too.

Meanwhile, my writer’s heart is feeling rather guilty because all I finished today was a single chapter in the Mayan story.  But I did touch it, and I made some hard cuts.  I need to focus the story better and concentrate on the original concept that’s more unique than what seems to have become rather run of the mill. 

Now it’s an Advil for my eyestrain headache, and off to bed, with visions of lots of hot coffee in the morning while I plug away on my big project at work and steal lustful looks of longing at my stack of books and my waiting story.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Passionate Pen Anniversary

I’ve been a fan of Jenna Petersen and her Passionate Pen website for years.  Her Agent List is one of the first places I check before sending out a new query.  Celebrating ten years of providing all sorts of great articles and information to aspiring writers, Jenna is having an incredible year of contests.  This month, enter to win a three chapter critique by Jenna’s own agent, the fabulous Miriam Kriss!

Posted on by — 9 Comments

2009 Goals

I’m a strong believer in setting goals and regularly checking my progress throughout the year.  I do tend to list pie-in-the-sky big goals that are humanly impossible, although I am doing better at setting realistic and achievable goals.  Would I love to finish every project on my plate next year?  Absolutely.  But I also have to be realistic.  I can’t write like a maniac for months on end and think my sanity, family, job, and health won’t suffer.  I have to work at balance, and that’s really hard for me.

Instead of listing things in some “priority order” that I’ll throw out the door as soon as I make a new sale *crossing fingers* or a new Bright Shiny Story shows up, I’m going to separate my goals into a couple of different areas.

Contracted or Promised/Committed Projects

  • The Road to Shanhasson.  Status:  Submitted.  Goal: Complete editor revisions as assigned. Deadline: TBD.
  • Return to Shanhasson.  Status:  First draft complete.  Goal: revise and submit.  Deadline: TBD.
  • Given In Fire.  Status: planning, plotting.  Goal:  draft, revise, submit.  First Draft target:  20-30K. Deadline: TBD.
  • Charon’s story.  Status:  Not started.  Goal:  plot, build, complete first draft.  First Draft target:  70K.  Consider as a NaNoWriMo project.

Ongoing Submissions

  • Letters to An English Professor.  Status:  On submission.  Goal:  Agent and/or Sell.

 

Current WIPs

  • Night Sun Rising.  Status:  Revision Xibalba in progress.  Goal:  complete revision and query.  Deadline:  1st quarter 2009.  TOP PRIORITY for 2009.
  • Arcana.  Status: first rough draft complete, some revision planning complete.  Goal:  devise final revision plan I can actually do, or file for later.  This story may be “beyond” me for now.

Pipeline Projects (aka Bright Shinies on the horizon)

  • Rayne and Crow.  Status: Idea stage.  Goal:  develop, plot, worldbuild.  Deadline:  1st quarter 2009.  First draft:  2nd quarter 2009.  First draft target:  70K.  SECOND PRIORITY for 2009.  Explore this idea and see if it’s a go. 
  • ANTs.  Status:  <20K first draft, notes.  Goal:  be prepared to pull proposal together if Letters sells.
  • Vicky’s story:  Only a go if Letters and ANTs sell (Vicky is Conn’s sister).
  • Equus story:  From a dream, consider under the Letters “brand.”

 

Personal Development and Other

  • Increase reading, targeting 52 books this year.
  • Write another short story to give away
  • Utilize spreadsheets to keep better track of progress (I did this in 2007 but got lazy in 2008).
  • Continue the Great Agent Hunt.
Posted on by — 5 Comments

2008 in Review

Let’s see how I did on my 2008 goals originally posted Jan 2.

1. Write every day. This is tricky, because not every day is going to yield new words, even if I’m working really hard on a story. That’s okay. When I’m in draft mode, I want 1K a day. Otherwise, I’ll be doing some part of writing every day, whether it’s career related (updating the website, requesting reviews) or revisions.

This is pretty much a given.  Even when I was supposed to take a vacation, I ended up re-reading my own work and making revision notes. 

2. Write 300K. I didn’t keep a spreadsheet this year, so I’m not 100% sure of wordcounts, so this is estimated.

Road to Shanhasson:  113,500

Return to Shanhasson: 104,900

Letters Revision (from 49K to 72K):  23,000

Night Sun Rising (hard revisions): 39,000

Prometheus Unbound:  2,000

RHP Revisions (unfinished): 6,000

Total:  roughly 288,400 words.  Not bad.

3. Write another draft of Arcana (formerly RHP), polish in first quarter 2008, and query. Started in January, but it wasn’t going well at all.  More research and planning is needed.

4. Write another draft of Night Sun Rising (the NaNoWriMo novel), polish in second quarter 2008, and query. Planning is complete; Revision Xibalba was in progress in Oct but not yet finished.  My first priority in 2009 will be to finish this.

5. Editor revisions (completed the third pass 12/31/2007, so this one’s close!) and promotion on The Fire Within.  Done.

6. Editor revisions and promotion on The Rose of Shanhasson.  Done.

7. Editor revisions and promotion on Beautiful Death.  Done.

8. Develop a revision plan to extend Letters to An English Professor from long novella to single title length.  Done, revisions completed, project queries floating about and continuing into 2009.

9. Finish a first draft of ANTs (may get bumped to the bottom of the list, but it bugs me because this story is 75% finished).  Not started.  No sense in working on this unless I sell Letters.  (The hero of ANTs is Conn’s brother, Victor.)

10. Write The Road to Shanhasson (not sure of timing yet).  Done!

11. Write at least one short story to give away as a free read.  Done! 

12. Revise the website for quicker downloads and easier maintenance.  Done again, including transferring my domain off yahell.

13. Read 52 books.  Ugh, failed miserably on this.  I didn’t keep a careful list this year, but I’d be surprised if I hit 25 books.  Must read more next year.

14. Finished Return to Shanhasson as my NaNo project.

15. Continued the Great Agent Hunt near the end of 2008 with no luck yet.  My prey is proving rather ellusive, which only makes the hunt more thrilling.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

2008 Winds Down

The last Christmas presents have been opened.  We celebrated our last family dinner yesterday with Granny, my Beloved Sis, and my brother’s family.  The last Chiefs’ football game is on today.

2008 is almost over.

So this next week, I’ll be writing up formal goals for 2009.  I’ll look back to last year and see how I did on 2008’s goals.

Meanwhile, I’m reading.  Not from my reward stack, although this has been a very great reward.  I started with The Rose of Shanhasson, then The Road to Shanhasson, and finally, I’m reading the first draft of Return to Shanhasson that I just finished.  Oooooh, it’s so awesome to see the story all laid out and complete.  So much love.  So much blood.  So much Shadow.  The last book still needs work to bring it up where it needs to be, but the theme is definitely carried through to the end. 

Love, the greatest gift of all, and the greatest sacrifice.

2009 goals will be forthcoming.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

In Too Deep by Portia Da Costa

It’s back to the Evil Day Job for me today.  Christmas is over, and so is my vacation, and since the book is done, I settled down with my first pleasure read last night, In Too Deep by Portia Da Costa.

Now I’ve “known” Portia online for years, but I think this is the first full-length book I’ve read of hers.  A mistake I will correct immediately.  This book was sooooo good.  I read it in one sitting last night.  Now THIS is what an erotic romance should be like for me.  It was spicy, absolutely, but the characters were so real and deep.  I just loved Professor Hottie and his Queen of the Library.  The mystery about who Nemesis might be, the man who began leaving naughty letters for Gwendolyne in the suggestion box, was wonderful.  There were just enough clues to make me doubt myself and keep me eagerly reading.

Gwendolyne might be willing to experiment with dominance/submission play, but she’s no fainting weakling.  She pushes and challenges, never backing down, but she understands the game and what it means to him.  I don’t want to give away spoilers, but the last scene between them right before Daniel is forced to leave nearly moved me to tears.

…I recognize that, even though I’m on fire for him, this interlude is about Daniel, about him being in control, about him losing himself in the game and forgetting what lies ahead of him.  My intense frustration, the torment of temporary denial – these are sweet gifts I can give him to distract him.

I hope the rest of my reward stack of books proves to be so good!