Category: The Writing

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Vicki for Christmas

Santa came early and brought me a Kindle!  Lookie what I’m reading on it….

Yes, that’s Vicki I’m reading on my new Kindle. I absolutely love that I can e-mail my own Word file and read it on the device. I’ve always liked to read outside of Word – often using view as html on Gmail. It helps me get a new perspective on the book and I see different errors. Plus it feels so much more like a finished project!

I’ve already made two revision passes through Vicki. The hard one, and then the easier one on the Kindle. She’s off to visit a few friends over Christmas. If you’re absolutely dying to have Miss Vicki stop over by your place, please e-mail me.

The hardest part of having a Kindle?  Keeping it away from the monsters!  All of them have already read a book on it, from Junie B. Jones to Black Beauty.  They LOVE it!

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Dom vs. Domme

There’s a general consensus in the “what sells best” gossip that I listen to that femdom books don’t sell as well as the male dominants.  Let me be quick to clarify that I’m still going to write the book I’m thinking about and then I’ll see if it’s accepted or not.  I won’t NOT write the book just because I don’t think it’ll sell as well as Conn.

To be specific, I’m talking about Mal’s book.  You first meet “the Mistress of Dallas” in Victor’s HURT ME SO GOOD and she ends up hurt and angry at the end.  I’ve known about her hero for awhile and they first meet in Vicki’s book.  The whole reason I’m talking about this now is because I’m working on a new scene where Mal first gets her hands on him, hopefully setting the stage for her book.  It’s seen through Jesse’s eyes–so you don’t get this hero’s feelings first hand.  Needless to say, Mal manages to scare the shit out of him, but…he can’t walk away.

I was talking about this scene to an author friend, and she said her publisher doesn’t even touch femdom books.  I was like, really?  According to personal reader taste, I know there are tons of ways any book could go that I personally wouldn’t like, including femdom.  But Mal’s story…  I think it’ll be hot. 

As I told my friend, it takes a very special sort of tough alpha male who’s actually willing to go on his knees for his lady.

Anyone who’s read Return to Shanhasson (early) knows what kind of hero I’m talking about.  Warriors who’d lay down their lives in a heartbeat just to see her smile, viciously capable and eager to kill in her defense.  If she points, they go, without question.  And if she ever points to her bed…

Laughs.  They’ll go before she can even open her mouth.

What do you think – have you read a story with a Domme that you really enjoyed?  Please recommend it in comments!

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Revision Hell: Vicki

I wasn’t going to work on Vicki until next year.  But I was listening to music on my iPhone last night and Need You Now by Lady Antebellum came on.  So I couldn’t help but pull up her file. 

That song speaks to me so loudly.  The back and forth angst is totally Vicki and Elias.  They need each other so badly, but they’ve screwed up, swore they weren’t going to call or get back together, but it’s late.  Cold.  Lonely.  I need you now.  Then Jesse comes along, and Elias has to be there, at first, to make sure she’s okay.  Then he can’t tear himself away, even though he’s uncomfortable.

Last night I got through the first 40 pages.  They’re pretty smooth because I’ve had them done the longest (and read those pages the most).  Latter sections will take much more work, and somewhere, I need to find room for 5-10K more words to make it a nice length.  I know I have several [fix] and [add] notes, so I’m not going to stress about adding too much right now.  Let me get a good, solid, polished meaty draft, and then I’ll see where I am on length.  I think expanding emotions during the steamy scenes and filling the known holes will be enough.

I adore the ending.  ADORE.  Absolutely love it.  It’s just the middle that needs work!

Goal:  be ready for beta readers by Christmas.  Synopsis and submit by end of the year!

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How to Fake a Death

Not just any death — but a spectacular one.  One that will be the talk of Town for years.

I did an insane amount of brainstorming tonight in Lady Wyre’s universe.  (I swear, there’s something magical about purple ink.)

All along, I’ve had several different story ideas in various stages with only a vague notion of how they connected.  Amazingly, all these pieces are starting to come together.  I know that after Lady Doctor Wyre, she instigates events on a Chinese-like planet that ties to Seven Crows (title will be changed). 

Even more frightening–because I didn’t deliberately plan any of this–the free prequel I’m working on is tied to Deathright.

One event sets up or explains another.  Awesome, right?  Except…

I have one major event that sets up her prequel, Lady Wyre’s Regret.  I know how she meets Lord Regret.  I can hear their dialogue in my head.  But her spectacular demise…leaves me scratching my head.  I know the whys and wherefores, but not the details.  It needs to be signficant and meaningful.  Preferably tied to her House or the history I’m warping so irrevererently.

I guess I need to do a little more research.

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Organized, Who Me?

I’m trying to get more organized NOW instead of waiting until Jan.  I always start out the year well, but then get busy and lazy.  I work best when I make myself state weekly goals, and then reassess each week to see how all that panned out.  I’ve got so much to do that if I don’t keep a list and read it regularly, I simply forget.  I really hate spinning my wheels, too, so I’m going to work harder on keeping up on my calendar and to-do this month.  I’d like to get a lot of baking done with the girls this month, which I never seem to have time to do because I’m running around last minute Xmas shopping, finishing the NaNo novel, etc. 

I printed out 4 months worth of a calendar and used sticky notes to move projects around.  I’m sure it’ll change another time or ten before Jan (which is why I used sticky notes!) but at least I have a plan for now.

So far, Dec has been pretty productive.  I made one submission and returned Lady Wyre revisions to my editor today.  I also made a trip to the post office (you know how much fun that can be, especially in Dec!), but I didn’t get all mailings out yet.  I ran out of padded envelopes, but a trip to Sam’s Club resolved that!  I’ve got just a few more to drop in the mail.

This week, I need to access where I am with the new novella (Phantom) and brainstorm a bunch of new stuff for Lady Wyre (one of my favorite things to do).  While running through her edits this weekend, I took notes of all place names, character elements, and “backstory” mentions that I might need to remember for the prequel.  I’ve got one major event to figure out — namely, a faked death! — and then I can move on to plotting a new Lady Wyre novella, which will set up events for Seven Crows quite nicely.

Ah, I love it when a plan comes together, and I didn’t even know there was a plan. :shock:

After that….Vicki revisions!

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Lady Wyre Acknowledgements

Lady Wyre wants to make sure she thanks everyone who helped make her sparkle before she went to visit my editor.  If you were kind enough to read an early version of Lady Doctor Wyre, please comment here or e-mail me with how you’d like your name to show in the final book.

I have Sherri, Shannon, and Sharon listed already, but it was long enough ago I can’t remember if anyone else beta read and I do NOT want to forget anyone.  You guys make it possible for me to submit with confidence!

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December Goals

I’ve got a lot of work to do in the next four months.  I’ve loosely mapped out my schedule through the end of March, and it’s going to be a crazy fun time!

First up, my number one priority was to finish expanding the short story I mentioned back in Sept. into a short novella.  I was aiming for 20K and hit it right on the nose!  This is one of the projects I worked on for NaNoWriMo.  I spent this week on revisions, and tonight I wrote a very short synopsis.  (Hey, the whole story is only 20K so it doesn’t need more than a page or two of synopsis.)  I really like this story, but we shall see.  It’s risky.

Now on my list for Dec, I need to decide what to do about the other novella I’m working on.  It’s not coming together like I want, so either I need to do more plotting or I don’t have a solid enough character.  Something.  I’ll read what I have for the next few days and make a decision about what to do.

This next week, I’ll also be working on editor revisions to Lady Doctor Wyre, and since I’ll be working in that world, I’ll make notes and plot out what I want to do for the freebie prequel I’ll be giving away in March.  Can’t get started too early on that.  I’ll also be making some notes about another possible Lady Wyre novella, which oddly enough, has some research material in common with the short novella I just finished.

I love happy coincidences.

I won’t share the rest of my to-do list right now.  It’s pretty scary.  🙂  Just know that Vicki revisions are on the horizon too.  I’m itching to get it out to a few readers to see what you think!  Dec/Jan will include lots of revisions and submissions!  Yay!  (Which is exactly why I needed to finish those projects for NaNoWriMo instead of starting a brand new one.)

So what are you hoping to work on this month?  Don’t wait until the New Year to make some goals!

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My Beloved

After finishing up the third project this month, surviving Thanksgiving, and coming down with a cold, I did nothing all weekend except read.  My comfort reads, the books I can always turn to and fall in love all over again.  This time, I was able to read all three books back to back to back, the whole saga, tears and joy, love and sacrifice together.

Yes, I read the Shanhasson series.  My own series.  Self-indulgent?  Perhaps.  But oh, how I love these characters and their story.  My first dream.  My first love as a writer.  Na’lanna, my beloved.

I can’t explain what I feel when I read these books.  My heart… sings.  Then it feels sore and swollen, too full like the Grinch’s heart at the end.  I can hear one of the theme songs (Everything I Do by Bryan Adams) and bawl, because it reminds me of a certain moment in Rose.   Reading the last book (which will hopefully be available soon) and seeing how it all comes full circle—it’s magic. 

Everything has a purpose, even if I had no idea what was I doing.

Oh, there are a few things I’d change now, years later, but very few.  Even how things tie into the Keldari world gives me chills.  In Return to Shanhasson, everything comes together.  Worlds collide.  Some loves die and new love is born, but in the end…the same dream shines in the full moon above.

From Rose:  Run toward the Moon that shines in your eyes.  Run to your beloved Evening Stars.  Run!

to the last line of Return to Shanhasson:  Now, my heart, I run to you.

*wipes tears away*

With the release of Return coming soon, I’m going to give away several copies of both The Rose of Shanhasson and The Road to Shanhasson to get as many of you hooked as possible.  I hope you love this series as much as I do.

If you haven’t yet read Rose and would like a print copy, please drop me an e-mail at joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com with your snail mail addy.  As long as I have copies and postage funds on hand, I’ll send out copies to anyone who wants one and is willing to talk about the books in some way, whether with friends or online, simple ratings at GoodReads or Amazon or a full-fledged review, good or bad. 

In a few weeks, I’ll do the same for Road (although I only have electronic copies).

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

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NaNoWriMo: In Which I Finish #3

I may not hit 50K for NaNoWriMo this year, but I can’t call it a failure.  Not when I’ve now finished THREE PROJECTS.

At long last, I finished expanding the short Gregar prequel I started a long time ago.  It’s about 8.5K and I plan to get it up on Amazon to help promote the release of Return to Shanhasson.  Unfortunately, Return is still delayed.  At this point I don’t know when it’ll be released but I’ll update my page as soon as I know something.

Thanksgiving yesterday was a success with just a few disasters.  Someone ripped the toilet paper holder off the wall (sheetrock and al) in the master bath, but That Man was able to fix it.  The turkey sprung a leak (it was too big for my heavy duty foil to completely enclose).  Broth bubbled over when I tried to lift it out and smoked in the oven.  (Of course I still had all the other sides to bake.)  I sprinkled it with baking soda twice and that helped a lot.  The turkey was still very juicy.  I had a hard time getting the rolls done, but thankfully my Dad and That Man enjoy gummy rolls!  We still had plenty of edge rolls that were done.  My fault — trying to get them in and out of the oven quickly to heat up all the other dishes.

We made waaaaaay too many mashed potatoes (again).  I used the last of the white meat last night for traditional (on my side of the family) carcass soup with the leftover homemade noodles.  Unfortunately, we oinked out on it (we still had 6 guests for “dinner”) and now nearly all the noodles are gone.  We have dark meat and ham left, a little dressing, and a buttload of mashed potatoes.  I even saved 5 qts of broth off the carcass, so with a little chicken breast, I can make more noodles tonight.

Few leftovers means everything was good!! 

Unfortunately, I’ve had a major relapse today from the cold or bug I had last week.  I’ve totally lost my voice and have terrible chest congestion.  I’m sure staying up half the night watching horror movies and then cooking and writing all day this week didn’t help!  So today’s a lazy “baby Mom day” with lots of hot tea and honey.

And more noodles!

NaNoWriMo count: 34,709

Snippet:  (This is actually the beginning of the “old” freebie short story — revised to fit in with the new stuff I’ve written)

I stood on a smoldering black ledge above a lake of fire in the heart of the Mountain and wept.  “Great Wind Stallion, hear my prayer. Lift Your Shadow of Death from me. I can’t bear it. I can’t bear to hurt her…to kill her.”

Shivering despite the roaring furnace of the earth, I fell to my knees.  The hem of my memsha began to smoke, my flesh blistering, but I did not rise. 

Dream after dream haunted me.  I couldn’t close my eyes without seeing her brilliant blue eyes flaring with pain, the last breath escaping her lips as I ended her life.  We fought.  We bleed.  We loved.  But in the end, she always died, even if she tried to kill me first.

“Not her!”  I threw back my head and shook my fists toward the heavens.  “I have killed in Your name countless times! I have heeded Your Call and sacrificed blood as You demanded, but I shall not sacrifice hers! Deliver me from this Shadow, Vulkar, or let me die. ”

Hands trembling, I unsheathed the ivory rahke on my hip and laid it on the ledge. I untied the braids at my temples, pulled each kae’al from my hair, and tossed the beads one by one into the burning lake. I ripped off my memsha, my heart squeezing painfully at the memory of her eyes, and tossed it into the fires as well.

In vain, I searched for a vision, some sign of forgiveness.

Smoke and steam wheeled above the heartfires of the earth, but no magnificent Stallion reared up out of the molten lake as before. No bone-crushing voice thundered in my skull.

My throat burned from the fumes of charred minerals and melted rock. “I’ve killed her a dozen times in my dreams, and I don’t even know her name.”

Shoulders slumped, I glared at the ivory rahke, my gift from Vulkar when I became a Death Rider. The blade glinted as pure as snow, untouched by the smoldering rock and the numerous marks I’d terminated.

How many have I killed? Dozens?  Hundreds?

Why wasn’t the ivory darkened by the Shadow I carried in my heart? Why wasn’t the pristine blade stained with blood?

At the thought of her blood dripping from the rahke, my mouth watered.

My prayers had not been heard.

Picking up the knife, I stood and faced the lake of fire. “So be it.”

I gripped the ivory rahke in my teeth and leaped into the flames.

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NaNoWriMo: In Which We Give Thanks

I’m up alone in the quiet house.  The massive turkey is in the oven.  All the cooking is prepped and ready to go in the fridges (it took two – I’m very grateful for the spare fridge in the garage!).  In a matter of minutes last night, my company helped me peel and mash about 15 pounds of potatoes.  The only thing I have left to do (until the turkey comes out of the oven) is make the roll dough today.  I was supposed to do it last night and let it rise in the fridge overnight, but I was too tired.  I’d been on my feet constantly since about 2:00 pm yesterday.

But I did have time to continue Gregar’s story.  I’m moving into the part that I wrote a year or two ago, deleting sections and adding new parts, but the end of this short is in sight.

Happy Thanksgiving!

NaNoWriMo count:  32,676

Snippet:

I jerked awake screaming.  Shaido reared and neighed beside me, a hand’s breadth from my skull, and I wanted to throw myself beneath his hooves and let him break my body into a thousand pieces.

Kae’Shaman placed a hand on my shoulder, drawing my gaze to him.  He sat beside me, his ageless dark eyes gleaming in the moonlight.  Sympathy and regret shone in his eyes, but not recrimination.  Not like I deserved.

“You were right,” I whispered, my voice ragged and rough as though I’d been screaming in torment for days.  “I killed her.”

“It was only a Dream, Gregar.”

“A Dream.”  I laughed, a wild, pained sound of an animal.  “I killed in a Dream at your beckoning just nights ago.  She’s dead.”  My voice broke and tears poured down my face.  “She was na’lanna.  My heart knew her.  Yet I still killed her.”

“She is not dead.”  His voice echoed with surety, his gnarled hand fierce on my shoulder.  He shook me, making me look back into his face.  “I know it, Gregar.  The last light of this world still lives.” 

Bewildered, I searched his gaze, afraid to hope.  If I had not killed her…then I would ride to Vulkar’s Mountain this very day and throw myself into the Three Hells.  I refused to live another night if I could end my life and save hers.

“She is very strong in the Dream.  It will take more than your rahke to kill her there.”

“But…”  My head throbbed in agony and desperate hope.  “My rahke killed my mark.  The danger he presented was great enough that you sent me through the Dream to eliminate him.  As soon as I awoke, I felt that Vulkar’s Call had been completed.”

“Aye.  You killed that Death Rider according to Vulkar’s will.  But you did not kill her.  It was not Vulkar’s will for her to die, let alone by your hand, because He knows your heart.  She knows your heart, too, Gregar, and her power in the Dream will protect her.  Your love will help shield her for a time, though not forever.  Other Death Riders will not have their love to keep her safe.”

“I can’t bear it.  I can’t dream about killing her every single time I close my eyes, even if you say she’s unharmed.  That dream…changed me.”

With my eyes closed, I could feel her, faint and far to the north, but I knew I could find her.  I felt her Call, that irresistible urge to ride straight to her and drag her into my shadowy embrace.  And then what?  Would I kill her as I’d done in the dream?

In the darkest, most shameful secret place in my heart, I acknowledged the truth.  Aye.

Shuddering, I pulled away from Kae’Shaman and leaped on Shaido’s back without halter or saddle.  “I’m Shadowed.”  Corrupted.  Tainted.  Murderer.  Not just a killer for Vulkar any longer, I would kill an innocent woman–whom I loved!–as well.

“Aye,” Kae’Shaman replied, sadness lining his face.  “But not Shadowed enough to abandon Vulkar’s will.”

“Not yet.”  Grimly, I signaled Shaido with the tightening of my knees.  He galloped through Camp without need of reins.  He knew exactly where to take me.

Straight to the Three Hells, may my soul burn in eternity.