Today's EarWorm:
Today's Date: January 31, 2017
Next Update: February 28, 2017
This is the first round of my Monthly Writing Up. This will happen on the last day of every month. That means if there is 28 days in a month, it will be on the 28th. If there are 30 days in a month, it will be on the 30th. If there is 31 days in a month, it will be on the 31st.
I'm sure that you get the idea yes?
Anyways, this is the first round and I'm still figuring out how I'm doing this, so work with me and comment if you find this easy to read.
Thank you.
I'm not really sure on how I will end up with the lay out but this is the first try. I'm pretty much going to do a day by day hit of what words I got.
So, let's start this round.
January 1: 1,579
January 2 to 5: No words. Busy
January 6: 250
January 7: 1,679
January 8 to January 11: No words
January 12: 1,868
January 13: 1,404, Edited
January 14 to January 16: No words
January 17: Edited, 203
January 18: No words
January 19: 1,596
January 20: 2.030
January 21:
January 22
January 23
January 24
January 25
January 26
January 27
January 28
January 29
January 30
January 31
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
Let's Talk...Image and your Writing
Today's EarWorm:
Today's Date: January 30, 2017
First and foremost I must apologize for language but there isn't really many ways of saying some of what I have to say guys. There isn't enough OOMPH in them.
My my, has it come to the end of the month? Yes, yes it has. While you're reading this, I am most likely at my doctors, talking to her and doing my thing. That is, as long as you're reading this the day that it goes up.
To move away from my doctors appointment, let's talk about the image that a writer projects and how they can differentiate from what a reader may think they are.
Okay, say you find a writer who writes the creepiest, spookiest, mind bending horror that you've ever seen. Your first thought, most likely, will be of a person who is Gothic. They must wear all black, forsake the sun, and live in a world of darkness and horror. They're sarcastic and have the driest, darkest humor in the world and hate everyone who doesn't share their thoughts and opinions.
Right?
Wrong.
They don't?
Not to toot my own horn, but no. Okay, yes, I'm Gothic, but I can't really do the whole Gothic look since my skin hates daily makeup. But I try whenever I can really. I am actually a very nice person. Yes, I can have biting humor but that comes more from the way that I was raised and the fact that I have a bunch of male cousins who hated the fact that I could insult them in all sorts of ways without them realizing that I was.
I have so many cousins. Like...2 first cousins are girls okay? I had to learn how to smack down egos after all. But my family is also full of sarcastic, and you'll have to excuse my language here, assholes, so it's also a kind of learned behavior.
But outside of family and close friends, I'm really rather nice. Or I can fake nice if I don't like them for whatever reason. It's called "Social Politeness" and "Manners".
See what I mean about me having a sarcastic streak running through me?
But truthfully, thinking something of a writer is kind of a stereotyping.
Another example: a fantasy writer. Your first thought is D and D, Magic the Gathering, and a house filled with fairies, dragons, and wizards in books, statues, and clothes.
A mystery writer tends to be someone who is forever reading case files and talking to cops about how their jobs work.
A sci-fi writer must be a massive geek writing in their basement rooms while their mom's make them dinner, right?!
Nope. All of that is wrong. On so many levels.
I actually don't just write either blood filled horror stories, or mind-fucks that can leave you shuddering for days (and I have done that before), but I also write Dystopia Post- and Pre-Apocaylptic, Erotica, Paranormal Romance, and, for shits and giggles, mystery with a splash of romance.
I'm not a one-trick pony and most writers aren't. Not fully. Yes, they stick mostly to their chosen genre, but other genre's slink into their stories or occasionally
So how do writers work against stereotyping?
We network. We socialize. We utilize all of the possible platforms available to us. At least when we have time and we're not slaving away for your enjoyment.
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Snapchat, Youtube...the list goes on and on and on! We have so many options of interacting with our fans in a fast way outside of e-mails, blogs and websites.
But we also go to writing conventions, various other kinds of conventions where our writings would be welcomed (genre conventions like YaoiCon for those who write homosexual based stories, Sci-fi and horror conventions, and others). It's a matter of what we write and what we do.
What we, as writers, do have to project is an image of professionalism. Our writing, our novels, our works are our business after all. We have to be professional. We have to have a certain attitude that we show to the rest of the world, especially if we're just starting out and don't have many readers.
After all, honey draws more than vinegar. And I'm not talking bees.
But if a writer has a shit attitude, then it's going to come out in a variety of ways. A tweet that shouldn't have been tweeted. A facebook rant that is just the wrong idea to put up. A bad timed social hissy fit.
In this day and age? This follows a person around and for a writer, who needs to be able to interact with their readers on, at the very least, a polite level, it hurts their business, new or old.
Cause really? No one wants to deal with a writer who is an asshole of the highest caliber okay?
I know I certainly don't, and I have dropped writers like a fresh out of the oven and still in the aluminum foil hot potato for their bad attitudes. There are somethings that I can forgive. Liking a bad candidate for the current political season, liking a horrible book, having a bad opinion, that's all fine.
The moment you treat a fellow human being like shit? Or you do some mud-slinging? We have issues. And I'm less likely to read you.
Doing anything that's just wrong? And I ditch you without saying goodbye. Your books are gone from all of my platforms. Your twitter/facebook/whathaveyou are unfollowed/unliked and blocked. Your name becomes a fuzzy memory for the rest of my life: It's there, but only enough to remember that no, I don't want to spend my good money on your stuff.
And that's the same thing with a lot of readers.
So a writer needs to project a face of being polite and, if at all possible, and of being well educated. Especially in this day and age.
Because it's the writers who see the way things are and we're the ones to offer an escape to those who need it by offering worlds in their chosen genres.
So, writers, Image is everything to your readers. And remember that your opinions are just that: yours. Don't fall into the "my opinion is right and you should all agree with me" kind of image. That will just be screwing yourself after all.
Readers, you can disagree with a writers opinions. That's fine. And if you don't agree with them but you still enjoy their reading, feel free to stop following them on social media but keep up with their writers facebook pages (which are usually free of anything but writing related things, or at least I hope so) and their websites.
Just remember: Image. Is. Everything. To both the writer and to the reader.
Today's Date: January 30, 2017
First and foremost I must apologize for language but there isn't really many ways of saying some of what I have to say guys. There isn't enough OOMPH in them.
My my, has it come to the end of the month? Yes, yes it has. While you're reading this, I am most likely at my doctors, talking to her and doing my thing. That is, as long as you're reading this the day that it goes up.
To move away from my doctors appointment, let's talk about the image that a writer projects and how they can differentiate from what a reader may think they are.
Okay, say you find a writer who writes the creepiest, spookiest, mind bending horror that you've ever seen. Your first thought, most likely, will be of a person who is Gothic. They must wear all black, forsake the sun, and live in a world of darkness and horror. They're sarcastic and have the driest, darkest humor in the world and hate everyone who doesn't share their thoughts and opinions.
Right?
Wrong.
They don't?
Not to toot my own horn, but no. Okay, yes, I'm Gothic, but I can't really do the whole Gothic look since my skin hates daily makeup. But I try whenever I can really. I am actually a very nice person. Yes, I can have biting humor but that comes more from the way that I was raised and the fact that I have a bunch of male cousins who hated the fact that I could insult them in all sorts of ways without them realizing that I was.
I have so many cousins. Like...2 first cousins are girls okay? I had to learn how to smack down egos after all. But my family is also full of sarcastic, and you'll have to excuse my language here, assholes, so it's also a kind of learned behavior.
But outside of family and close friends, I'm really rather nice. Or I can fake nice if I don't like them for whatever reason. It's called "Social Politeness" and "Manners".
See what I mean about me having a sarcastic streak running through me?
But truthfully, thinking something of a writer is kind of a stereotyping.
Another example: a fantasy writer. Your first thought is D and D, Magic the Gathering, and a house filled with fairies, dragons, and wizards in books, statues, and clothes.
A mystery writer tends to be someone who is forever reading case files and talking to cops about how their jobs work.
A sci-fi writer must be a massive geek writing in their basement rooms while their mom's make them dinner, right?!
Nope. All of that is wrong. On so many levels.
I actually don't just write either blood filled horror stories, or mind-fucks that can leave you shuddering for days (and I have done that before), but I also write Dystopia Post- and Pre-Apocaylptic, Erotica, Paranormal Romance, and, for shits and giggles, mystery with a splash of romance.
I'm not a one-trick pony and most writers aren't. Not fully. Yes, they stick mostly to their chosen genre, but other genre's slink into their stories or occasionally
So how do writers work against stereotyping?
We network. We socialize. We utilize all of the possible platforms available to us. At least when we have time and we're not slaving away for your enjoyment.
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Snapchat, Youtube...the list goes on and on and on! We have so many options of interacting with our fans in a fast way outside of e-mails, blogs and websites.
But we also go to writing conventions, various other kinds of conventions where our writings would be welcomed (genre conventions like YaoiCon for those who write homosexual based stories, Sci-fi and horror conventions, and others). It's a matter of what we write and what we do.
What we, as writers, do have to project is an image of professionalism. Our writing, our novels, our works are our business after all. We have to be professional. We have to have a certain attitude that we show to the rest of the world, especially if we're just starting out and don't have many readers.
After all, honey draws more than vinegar. And I'm not talking bees.
But if a writer has a shit attitude, then it's going to come out in a variety of ways. A tweet that shouldn't have been tweeted. A facebook rant that is just the wrong idea to put up. A bad timed social hissy fit.
In this day and age? This follows a person around and for a writer, who needs to be able to interact with their readers on, at the very least, a polite level, it hurts their business, new or old.
Cause really? No one wants to deal with a writer who is an asshole of the highest caliber okay?
I know I certainly don't, and I have dropped writers like a fresh out of the oven and still in the aluminum foil hot potato for their bad attitudes. There are somethings that I can forgive. Liking a bad candidate for the current political season, liking a horrible book, having a bad opinion, that's all fine.
The moment you treat a fellow human being like shit? Or you do some mud-slinging? We have issues. And I'm less likely to read you.
Doing anything that's just wrong? And I ditch you without saying goodbye. Your books are gone from all of my platforms. Your twitter/facebook/whathaveyou are unfollowed/unliked and blocked. Your name becomes a fuzzy memory for the rest of my life: It's there, but only enough to remember that no, I don't want to spend my good money on your stuff.
And that's the same thing with a lot of readers.
So a writer needs to project a face of being polite and, if at all possible, and of being well educated. Especially in this day and age.
Because it's the writers who see the way things are and we're the ones to offer an escape to those who need it by offering worlds in their chosen genres.
So, writers, Image is everything to your readers. And remember that your opinions are just that: yours. Don't fall into the "my opinion is right and you should all agree with me" kind of image. That will just be screwing yourself after all.
Readers, you can disagree with a writers opinions. That's fine. And if you don't agree with them but you still enjoy their reading, feel free to stop following them on social media but keep up with their writers facebook pages (which are usually free of anything but writing related things, or at least I hope so) and their websites.
Just remember: Image. Is. Everything. To both the writer and to the reader.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Let's Talk...Free Writing
Today's Earworm: Picture Me Rollin' by 2Pac
Today's Date: January 23, 2017
So today, we're gonna talk about free writing. And I'm not talking about what writers do when they have no idea what they want to write, and just open a new file and let the words go.
No, I'm talking about all the little goodies that you get randomly from some authors on their blogs, or on their sites.
I'm talking about flash stories, drabbles, and bits that you get for free to entice you into buying their books from them.
For that matter, I have some free writing that I'm working on creating for all of you, but it's taking me a bit of time. Mostly because I lost my little booklet with the drabble ideas in it for a while there. I have it again, and I'm back at writing the darn things. And editing them to death.
To move on, why do writers have free writing on their blogs or sites?
Well, now days, sites like Amazon have a nice little feature where you can get a sample of a book. But really? That's not a firm way of knowing the writer's style and ability. That's a good way of seeing if the book interests you and is what you want, but does the style of the writer make you want to come back for more? Who knows.
So most writers have started to create free bits on their sites and blogs, allowing the reader, you, to check things out. To read and see if their style is something that you would be interested in.
Most free writings that I've seen usually range from just under a thousand words (for a flash fiction) up to nearly 2 thousand (for shorter pieces). And they may even be a part of an interconnected story line which can show you just how they can weave a tale.
We do this to draw in new readers in the hope that they'll buy our books. That they'll tell their friend about this great new writer that they just found and want to share! That our blogs and sites will be shared all over the place and introduced to new people. We put things out there like that to help grow our small corner of the community.
It's a way to show off our skills. It's like we're saying "Hey! Look! I can write really good! Check out this story that I wrote and tell me what you think". Even these short pieces of fiction take time. Not as much as novels or novelettes or novella's take. Or even a short piece for an anthology. Because yes, those take time to write and edit and the such.
The free writings, we're usually writing, editing, letting sit, editing again and posting within a week's time since most of us do post such things weekly. It doesn't truly take much time for most of us to have a nice polished short bit. Longer pieces, yes, it takes time. A lot of time. But not so much the shorter pieces.
And again, we do this to show off our writing skills, as a way of thanking those who have taken the time to buy our stories, our books, and to draw in new readers.
Free writing is another way for us to draw attention to ourselves. Simple as that.
Today's Date: January 23, 2017
So today, we're gonna talk about free writing. And I'm not talking about what writers do when they have no idea what they want to write, and just open a new file and let the words go.
No, I'm talking about all the little goodies that you get randomly from some authors on their blogs, or on their sites.
I'm talking about flash stories, drabbles, and bits that you get for free to entice you into buying their books from them.
For that matter, I have some free writing that I'm working on creating for all of you, but it's taking me a bit of time. Mostly because I lost my little booklet with the drabble ideas in it for a while there. I have it again, and I'm back at writing the darn things. And editing them to death.
To move on, why do writers have free writing on their blogs or sites?
Well, now days, sites like Amazon have a nice little feature where you can get a sample of a book. But really? That's not a firm way of knowing the writer's style and ability. That's a good way of seeing if the book interests you and is what you want, but does the style of the writer make you want to come back for more? Who knows.
So most writers have started to create free bits on their sites and blogs, allowing the reader, you, to check things out. To read and see if their style is something that you would be interested in.
Most free writings that I've seen usually range from just under a thousand words (for a flash fiction) up to nearly 2 thousand (for shorter pieces). And they may even be a part of an interconnected story line which can show you just how they can weave a tale.
We do this to draw in new readers in the hope that they'll buy our books. That they'll tell their friend about this great new writer that they just found and want to share! That our blogs and sites will be shared all over the place and introduced to new people. We put things out there like that to help grow our small corner of the community.
It's a way to show off our skills. It's like we're saying "Hey! Look! I can write really good! Check out this story that I wrote and tell me what you think". Even these short pieces of fiction take time. Not as much as novels or novelettes or novella's take. Or even a short piece for an anthology. Because yes, those take time to write and edit and the such.
The free writings, we're usually writing, editing, letting sit, editing again and posting within a week's time since most of us do post such things weekly. It doesn't truly take much time for most of us to have a nice polished short bit. Longer pieces, yes, it takes time. A lot of time. But not so much the shorter pieces.
And again, we do this to show off our writing skills, as a way of thanking those who have taken the time to buy our stories, our books, and to draw in new readers.
Free writing is another way for us to draw attention to ourselves. Simple as that.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Let's Talk...Hate Sex!
Today's Earworm: I Cry by Flo Rida
Today's Date: January 16, 2017
I bet you're sitting there and going "Hate sex? The fuck?". Yeah, because I haven't touched on sex in books yet, in any form.
Okay, look, this came about from a DM (direct message) on Twitter about the fact that I was thinking about writing a scene where the two characters are having hate sex.
Right. So what did the DM say?
It called hate sex "rape".
It's not?
No. For f's sake...
To all those who don't know what hate sex is, it is not rape. Yes, it can come across as rapey depending on how it is written, but it's not that hard to move away from that.
But we'll get to that in a moment.
What is hate sex though?
Ah, it's a bit of an interesting thing to define really.
Let's talk about what it's not real fast first.
It is not rape. Rape is defined by Merriam-Webster (for this purpose) as:
I don't like rape but I do use it in various stories for various reasons, and I'm always respectful to the victims and survivors of rape.
So hate sex is not rape.
Hate sex is also not makeup sex, or even sex that one has within a loving relationship. Rough sex happens in a loving relationship, but not hate sex.
Okay, so hate sex isn't rape, makeup sex or just even rough sex. What is it?
Well, hate sex is just that.
Sex that happens between two people who hate or intensely dislike each other. For them, the heat of their hate takes a turn into lust and they have sex. It's not about a relationship, love, or even respect.
Let me state something: When hate sex happens, the two (or more) involved have given consent in some form or another. As long as they are not drunk (I've written characters with alcohol in their system having hate sex but not drunk enough to not know what they're doing, let's be clear on this), they can consent.
Consent is key.
Hell consent is key in any sex scene, be it for fanfiction or original stories. Especially in this day and age.
For example: In the story that I was planning on writing, the two characters hate each other. Absolutely despise each other.
That doesn't mean that they don't want to screw each other silly. For them, there is a fine line between absolute hatred and lust, but it's a very interesting line that is defined by the state of their relationship.
To break it down:
Today's Date: January 16, 2017
I bet you're sitting there and going "Hate sex? The fuck?". Yeah, because I haven't touched on sex in books yet, in any form.
Okay, look, this came about from a DM (direct message) on Twitter about the fact that I was thinking about writing a scene where the two characters are having hate sex.
Right. So what did the DM say?
It called hate sex "rape".
It's not?
No. For f's sake...
To all those who don't know what hate sex is, it is not rape. Yes, it can come across as rapey depending on how it is written, but it's not that hard to move away from that.
But we'll get to that in a moment.
What is hate sex though?
Ah, it's a bit of an interesting thing to define really.
Let's talk about what it's not real fast first.
It is not rape. Rape is defined by Merriam-Webster (for this purpose) as:
unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent.And:
archaic : to seize and take away by force.What does this mean? It means that it's about power on one persons part. There is no consent wanted, nor needed for it to happen.
I don't like rape but I do use it in various stories for various reasons, and I'm always respectful to the victims and survivors of rape.
So hate sex is not rape.
Hate sex is also not makeup sex, or even sex that one has within a loving relationship. Rough sex happens in a loving relationship, but not hate sex.
Okay, so hate sex isn't rape, makeup sex or just even rough sex. What is it?
Well, hate sex is just that.
Sex that happens between two people who hate or intensely dislike each other. For them, the heat of their hate takes a turn into lust and they have sex. It's not about a relationship, love, or even respect.
Let me state something: When hate sex happens, the two (or more) involved have given consent in some form or another. As long as they are not drunk (I've written characters with alcohol in their system having hate sex but not drunk enough to not know what they're doing, let's be clear on this), they can consent.
Consent is key.
Hell consent is key in any sex scene, be it for fanfiction or original stories. Especially in this day and age.
For example: In the story that I was planning on writing, the two characters hate each other. Absolutely despise each other.
That doesn't mean that they don't want to screw each other silly. For them, there is a fine line between absolute hatred and lust, but it's a very interesting line that is defined by the state of their relationship.
To break it down:
- Person A hates Person B for a specific reason.
- Person B hates Person A just because of circumstances.
- Person A and Person B have a mutual hate on for each other.
- There is no real way for them to act on that hate because they share a life and Person C would kick both of their asses.
- Then one day are snarling and the anger is growing and growing and growing.
- In a fit of trying to get rid of the anger, they somehow find themselves pulling at clothes, pouring all of it into kissing and pushing and shoving.
- They screw and find it's a great way to let loose and relax before the next time.
That's their relationship. They play nice in public, and to each other, they screw when it's just to much, and then they move on.
That is hate sex. It's a release for these two characters. For other it's just sex with an ex that they hate, a rival, or someone that they hate.
Okay, so hate sex is just sex between two people who hate each other, right?
Bingo.
Then how does one stop it from coming across as rapey?
Ah, now that's a bit of a hard one isn't it?
Remember when I said that consent is key? Yeah, it's key in real life and in a story. Consent is sexy, even in hate sex.
If they participate and the know just what is going on and what is to happen, and they don't stop it from happening, that's consent. They may hate what they did, but it still happened and some walk away from hate sex with a sore body and content with what happened.
You need to, somehow, work that consent in without disrupting the flow of the scene. It's not that hard to if you're good enough, and if your not...
That's what editing is for after all. And editors. And readers. Seriously. You don't need to do a whole lot.
Me? I'm planning on having Person A go "wait...do I want this?" and decide that yes, yes he does. For his own reasons and he has no doubt that the other is interested in doing it to since Person B was the one who jumped him.
So, let's go over the points.
1) Hate sex is not rape.
2) Consent is sexy, even when it's between two enemies.
3) Consent is even more sexy when it's done right.
4) You need that consent to not come off rapey with a story or chapter.
5) Editing will be your friend. If it seems off, it's off. Edit it again. Let it sit. Re-read a month later.
I think that's all I have to say.
If you have questions or comments or suggestions on what I should talk about next, leave me a comment.
Monday, January 9, 2017
The Holidays and The Writer
Today's EarWorm: This is Gonna Hurt by Sixx A.M.
Today's Date: January 9, 2017
So I'm sure that you noticed that there was no blog for the day of December 26, 2016. The reason for that is...
Well, I forgot.
I have a rather interesting list of reasons why I forgot, but some of them might come off as excuses.
1) Christmas. Yes, I was busy ALL day on December 25th. I was cooking a ham, fighting off a cold, teaching a dog with terrier and chihuahua blood not to go to the bathroom on my brand new carpeting (we're getting there), and my friend who spends Christmas with us was dealing with her jaw.
She went to the ER by the way. She's fine, just sore and grumpy.
2) Christmas Baking. Yes, I was baking for the rest of the month. I had most of the month's blogs all written out but wasn't sure as to what to write for that blog post. I was baking further into the month. And this leads us to reason number 3.
3) Flooring. We FINALLY got our flooring in. We got our carpet done on December 19th, two rooms, my bedroom and my mom's bedroom. And then they came in on the 23ed to do the rest of the flooring.
No. I will not deal with the company that made us wait 3 months to get our new flooring down. Yes, 3 months. Not cool and it stressed out both myself and my mom.
So we got it down, finally.
4) Just plain feeling like hell. Excuse the language but it's true. Between trying to get the flooring done so we could unpack our home and get it back to normal, and trying to cook, and write, and do all sorts of other things, life was not happy making.
I'm actually recovering still from all of that and drinking a lot of hot tea and eat good soup to help beat off the last of the ick.
It doesn't help that it has been scarily cold lately.
So what does this have to do with the holidays?
Well a lot. Especially if you're a writer who has a busy life going on. Or when life decides to smack you up side the head. Which kind of sucks really because it can kill your want to write.
Which isn't fun.
Yes, I hit my goal of an average of 5K a week for the 2016 year and I got things done, but I should have gotten more done. But life kind of sucks somedays.
And the holidays are a busy, busy time.
Today's Date: January 9, 2017
So I'm sure that you noticed that there was no blog for the day of December 26, 2016. The reason for that is...
Well, I forgot.
I have a rather interesting list of reasons why I forgot, but some of them might come off as excuses.
1) Christmas. Yes, I was busy ALL day on December 25th. I was cooking a ham, fighting off a cold, teaching a dog with terrier and chihuahua blood not to go to the bathroom on my brand new carpeting (we're getting there), and my friend who spends Christmas with us was dealing with her jaw.
She went to the ER by the way. She's fine, just sore and grumpy.
2) Christmas Baking. Yes, I was baking for the rest of the month. I had most of the month's blogs all written out but wasn't sure as to what to write for that blog post. I was baking further into the month. And this leads us to reason number 3.
3) Flooring. We FINALLY got our flooring in. We got our carpet done on December 19th, two rooms, my bedroom and my mom's bedroom. And then they came in on the 23ed to do the rest of the flooring.
No. I will not deal with the company that made us wait 3 months to get our new flooring down. Yes, 3 months. Not cool and it stressed out both myself and my mom.
So we got it down, finally.
4) Just plain feeling like hell. Excuse the language but it's true. Between trying to get the flooring done so we could unpack our home and get it back to normal, and trying to cook, and write, and do all sorts of other things, life was not happy making.
I'm actually recovering still from all of that and drinking a lot of hot tea and eat good soup to help beat off the last of the ick.
It doesn't help that it has been scarily cold lately.
So what does this have to do with the holidays?
Well a lot. Especially if you're a writer who has a busy life going on. Or when life decides to smack you up side the head. Which kind of sucks really because it can kill your want to write.
Which isn't fun.
Yes, I hit my goal of an average of 5K a week for the 2016 year and I got things done, but I should have gotten more done. But life kind of sucks somedays.
And the holidays are a busy, busy time.
Monday, January 2, 2017
A New Year and a New List
Today's Earworm: Fear Not This Night by Freya Catherine
Today's Date: January 2, 2017
If you want to compare this list with the last list (2/1/2016) go here. There really isn't much change outside of me going more into details as to what the stories/series are going into and the state of each book.
Now that I've said that, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that you are warm and cozy at this time and that life is treating you semi-well.
And that you're staying safe. Seriously you guys.
Me, I'm trying to get something done this year. I have a list, which will be at the end, of the books I'm hoping to work on right now.
So let's go over what I have going on shall we?
And once again, the setup is this:
Title:
Genre:
Pairing styles: (M/M, Poly, F/F, M/F, none)
Books in the series (if a series):
Today's Date: January 2, 2017
If you want to compare this list with the last list (2/1/2016) go here. There really isn't much change outside of me going more into details as to what the stories/series are going into and the state of each book.
Now that I've said that, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that you are warm and cozy at this time and that life is treating you semi-well.
And that you're staying safe. Seriously you guys.
Me, I'm trying to get something done this year. I have a list, which will be at the end, of the books I'm hoping to work on right now.
So let's go over what I have going on shall we?
And once again, the setup is this:
Title:
Genre:
Pairing styles: (M/M, Poly, F/F, M/F, none)
Books in the series (if a series):
Status
Minimum words planned for:
Notes on the story:
Title: Untitled
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: Male/Male (M/M)
Books in the series (if a series): 1
Notes on the story:
Rewriting/Editing/Note Taking
Title: Untitled
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: Male/Male (M/M)
Books in the series (if a series): 1
Status: Rewriting
Minimum words planned for: 24,000 (1,100 words per chapter)
Notes on the story: This is still my Lex/Rose story and no I don't have any kind of title for it. But I have gotten through the note taking and have written out a new outline for it. It's somewhere around 24 chapters planned out.
Notes on the story: This is still my Lex/Rose story and no I don't have any kind of title for it. But I have gotten through the note taking and have written out a new outline for it. It's somewhere around 24 chapters planned out.
This story was originally 11 chapters in length and when I'm done with this first rewrite, I plan on printing it out to go through it and tear it apart. I do this because it allows me to get away from the computer to edit it without worry. So it's going to be very interesting.
Title: All You Need
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): None
Title: Untitled
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): None
Title: All You Need
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): None
Status: Note taking/Outlining
Minimum words planned for: 11,000 to 22,000 (1,100 words per)
Notes on the story: In the current version of this story, there is 5 chapters. I want to expand it into something like 10 to 20 chapters in length.
Notes on the story: In the current version of this story, there is 5 chapters. I want to expand it into something like 10 to 20 chapters in length.
I want to expand on the world and change the names of the characters and build up the history for a few chapters before I introduce the main characters. I have 5 chapters planned out already but I don't know if I'm going to keep them or replot those first chapters out. But I do know that I'll be rewriting and writing quite a bit when it comes to this story.
Title: Untitled
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): None
Status: Noting
Minimum words planned for: No idea.
Notes on the story: This one I'm still making notes on because it's so old. I think I might have to print this one out and work from there. It's going to drive me up a wall, I can tell you that.
Notes on the story: This one I'm still making notes on because it's so old. I think I might have to print this one out and work from there. It's going to drive me up a wall, I can tell you that.
Cause it's doing that to me now.
Title: Shades of Red series
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Horror
Pairing styles: M/M, F/M,
Books in the series (if a series): Planned so far is 3
Series Already in the Works
Title: Shades of Red series
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Horror
Pairing styles: M/M, F/M,
Books in the series (if a series): Planned so far is 3
Status: Book 1 in rewrite/writing
Minimum words planned for: 50K (1,100 words min per chapter)
Notes on the story: Yes this series is still in the works, but I'm having quite a bit of fun with this story since my original story is printed out and I'm working from that along with the original file that I did find after the great Flashdrive Reformat.
I am working on what book 2 is doing but outside of that, this particular story is coming along rather nicely.
Book 1: Crimson Shadows - WIP
Book 2: Drips of ?
Book 3: ??
Title: Honey Drops Series
Genre: Romance/Sci-fi/Fantasy
Pairing styles: M/M, F/M, Poly, F/F
Books in the series (if a series): 6 books planned plus a book filled with bits and stories that didn't make it into the main story line
Status: Book 1 - WIP
Notes on the story: This series is being a pain in the ass but I'm working on planning it out. It is still a total of six books plus another book that fills in stories that didn't make it into the main book series for whatever reason. Mostly stories that came to me as I wrote the story that fill in some history. Or gives you interesting bits of interactions between characters.
Bk 1: Nix's Story - In progress
Bk ?: Cho's Story
Bk ?: Kain's Story
Bk ?: ?? Story
Bk ?: ?? Story
Bk 6: Final Book
Title: A Living Zombie series
Genre: Dark Comedy/horror
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: WIP
Minimum Words Planned For: 50K
Notes on the story: Big Bertha Rides Again!
Okay, inside joke if you don't hang out with us in the Forward Motion chat room or the Writing Groove chat room and J.A. Marlow is around.
But I have reintroduced myself to this story and I am going to work on this story. It's a lot of fun considering that this is pretty much "A zombie keeps his mind" kind of story. Which I've seen a few times out there (but I've never actually watched/read any of them seeing as I'm picky about my zombie movies/shows/stories).
I'm going to have fun with this though.
Book 1: WIP
Book 2: Planning
Title: Don't Look Series
Genre: Paranormal Horror
Pairing styles: Various (but not really a focus)
Books in the series (if a series): 4+ books
Status: Writing
Notes on the story: I actually started a new first book for this series called "Thread the Needle" which builds up the world into what it is in the main story. It will be going into the family's history and the cities history and all of the good things. So that's going to be a lot of fun to do because it's...going to get kind of sexual for this first book since a lot of the magic in the first book is sex magic.
But there will be other types so don't go thinking that this is a poor excuse to write smut you guys.
Bk 1: Thread the Needle - WIP
Bk 2: A Delicate Thread - WIP - On hold
Bk 3: Twine the Soul
Bk 4: Spin a Yarn
Title: The Ages Series
Genre: ...superheros?
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): 8 books
Status: Writing
Minimum words planned for: 50K Per book
Notes on the story: I'm actually on chapter 32 of book 1. I have 36 chapters planned for this story and once it is done I'll be putting it to the side to let it sit and gather some dust before I work on getting it edited and rewritten.
Because this needs a lot of work.
So very much. But it's going to be worth it.
Bk 1: WIP
Bk 2: Planning
Bk 3:
Bk 4
Bk 5
Bk 6
Bk 7 - Final
Title: Untitled Story
Genre: Horror/Paranormal/Supernatural
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: Writing
Minimum words planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I'm quite a bit into the first book and I still don't have a good name for it, but that's about normal for me. I have an idea of what it's going to do and I'm still calling it my Mean Bunny story.
Go figure.
Bk 1: WIP
Bk 2: Bellamy's Story - Planning
Title: (Working title) Retail and Supernatural
Genre: Comedy-Horror
Pairing styles: M/M, M/F (not really focused on them though)
Books in the series: 4 planned for, more on the way
Status: Bk 1 WIP
Minimum words planned for: 35K per
Note: This is my brand new baby and I started it for NaNo 2016 but other stories came to be the focus of my month. Such as my Ages bk 1. I have no idea just how long it's going to be but I know just what I want to do with the series and how it will go.
I can tell you right now it starts pretty light hearted, but as the series goes along, things get really dark.
I love it.
Bk 1: Bad Dog - WIP
Bk 2:
Bk 3:
Bk ??
Final Book
Title: Untitled
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Title: "Magical Girl" Series
Genre: Fantasy/
Pairing styles: F/F, M/F
Books in the series (if a series): 2 books
Status: World Building
Minimum Words Planned for: 40K
Notes on the story: Yes, I am still working on this world. It's taking me time because I want to have something of a world going for this.
Bk 1: Planning
Bk 2: Planning
Title: A Magical Taste Series
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Pairing styles: Various
Books in the series (if a series): 2 to 10 books
Status: World Building
Minimum Words Planned for: 50K per book
Notes on the story: I still so very much want to do this series but I need to finish off a couple of my other stories before I dive into this rich and diversified world. Because it's going to span all sorts of characters and the such.
I shall have fun.
Bk 1: Forensic/witch
Bk 2: Artist/seer witch
Title: A Family Pack
Genre: Romance/Supernatural
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): ??
Statu: World building/plot building
Words minimum planned for: 50K per book
Notes on the story: Actually I need to figure out my notes for this and get is figured out how I want to tackle this series but it's kind of sitting there for the most part since I'm not wanting to do something typical but I still want to do something interesting with this series.
It's just going to take time.
Title: A Twist of Fate series
Genre: action/adventure/survivalist/romance
Pairing styles: various but not the focus
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: World building/plot building
Words minimum planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I had to actually put this to the side. Not because I wanted to but because things go really busy and it's going to take some time in getting around to actually do some research on virus and the such.
But I am working out the plot. Slowly, but surely.
Title: Follow Me Down
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): just the 1
Status: WIP
Words Minimum planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: Ah, my baby. I do plan on working on this story come 2017, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it.
The history behind how this story came to be kind of messes with me but I love the story line. So it's going to be fun trying to cut that history away from this book.
Title: Black Veiled Saviour
Genre: Mystery
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 1
Status: WIP
Minimum Words planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I'm working on this and I think I know where I'm going with it, so this is going to be fun to write on once more!
I'm so happy to have an idea on how to get things going.
Title: Untitled Prompt Story
Genre: Horror/Paranormal
Pairing styles: nothing truly important
Books in the series (if a series): stand alone
Status: WIP
Minimum Words Planned For: 30K
Notes on the story: Ah, so what to say about this. I'm going to work on this story as I go along because I need to recreate the outline and fill out the story line itself otherwise this is going to drive me up a wall. So I'll be doing that this year.
Fun times.
Title: Untitled
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 1 (for Now)
Genre: Romance/Sci-fi/Fantasy
Pairing styles: M/M, F/M, Poly, F/F
Books in the series (if a series): 6 books planned plus a book filled with bits and stories that didn't make it into the main story line
Status: Book 1 - WIP
Notes on the story: This series is being a pain in the ass but I'm working on planning it out. It is still a total of six books plus another book that fills in stories that didn't make it into the main book series for whatever reason. Mostly stories that came to me as I wrote the story that fill in some history. Or gives you interesting bits of interactions between characters.
Bk 1: Nix's Story - In progress
Bk ?: Cho's Story
Bk ?: Kain's Story
Bk ?: ?? Story
Bk ?: ?? Story
Bk 6: Final Book
Title: A Living Zombie series
Genre: Dark Comedy/horror
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: WIP
Minimum Words Planned For: 50K
Notes on the story: Big Bertha Rides Again!
Okay, inside joke if you don't hang out with us in the Forward Motion chat room or the Writing Groove chat room and J.A. Marlow is around.
But I have reintroduced myself to this story and I am going to work on this story. It's a lot of fun considering that this is pretty much "A zombie keeps his mind" kind of story. Which I've seen a few times out there (but I've never actually watched/read any of them seeing as I'm picky about my zombie movies/shows/stories).
I'm going to have fun with this though.
Book 1: WIP
Book 2: Planning
Title: Don't Look Series
Genre: Paranormal Horror
Pairing styles: Various (but not really a focus)
Books in the series (if a series): 4+ books
Status: Writing
Notes on the story: I actually started a new first book for this series called "Thread the Needle" which builds up the world into what it is in the main story. It will be going into the family's history and the cities history and all of the good things. So that's going to be a lot of fun to do because it's...going to get kind of sexual for this first book since a lot of the magic in the first book is sex magic.
But there will be other types so don't go thinking that this is a poor excuse to write smut you guys.
Bk 1: Thread the Needle - WIP
Bk 2: A Delicate Thread - WIP - On hold
Bk 3: Twine the Soul
Bk 4: Spin a Yarn
Title: The Ages Series
Genre: ...superheros?
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): 8 books
Status: Writing
Minimum words planned for: 50K Per book
Notes on the story: I'm actually on chapter 32 of book 1. I have 36 chapters planned for this story and once it is done I'll be putting it to the side to let it sit and gather some dust before I work on getting it edited and rewritten.
Because this needs a lot of work.
So very much. But it's going to be worth it.
Bk 1: WIP
Bk 2: Planning
Bk 3:
Bk 4
Bk 5
Bk 6
Bk 7 - Final
Title: Untitled Story
Genre: Horror/Paranormal/Supernatural
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: Writing
Minimum words planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I'm quite a bit into the first book and I still don't have a good name for it, but that's about normal for me. I have an idea of what it's going to do and I'm still calling it my Mean Bunny story.
Go figure.
Bk 1: WIP
Bk 2: Bellamy's Story - Planning
Title: (Working title) Retail and Supernatural
Genre: Comedy-Horror
Pairing styles: M/M, M/F (not really focused on them though)
Books in the series: 4 planned for, more on the way
Status: Bk 1 WIP
Minimum words planned for: 35K per
Note: This is my brand new baby and I started it for NaNo 2016 but other stories came to be the focus of my month. Such as my Ages bk 1. I have no idea just how long it's going to be but I know just what I want to do with the series and how it will go.
I can tell you right now it starts pretty light hearted, but as the series goes along, things get really dark.
I love it.
Bk 1: Bad Dog - WIP
Bk 2:
Bk 3:
Bk ??
Final Book
Title: Untitled
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: WIP
Minimum words planned for: No idea
Notes on the story: This one was dumped on me by the beautiful and lovely Jennifer Amriss while we were chatting in her Facebook fan page. And of course she knows that I have this thing for writing naughty things going on, so she handed it to me.
And then ran away.
Claiming she didn't need another damn PNR on her plate. So there's that.
It's going to be a Vampire/Half-Angel pairing and despite how much I've talked about the first sex scene, it's not going to turn into an erotica. Why? Because there will be, I'm thinking, one or two actual on-screen sex scenes. And those are kind of needed due to plans and plots.
Now if I could choose which starting scene I'm going with, I would be happy.
Stories That I'm Not Working on Actively Right Now
Title: "Magical Girl" Series
Genre: Fantasy/
Pairing styles: F/F, M/F
Books in the series (if a series): 2 books
Status: World Building
Minimum Words Planned for: 40K
Notes on the story: Yes, I am still working on this world. It's taking me time because I want to have something of a world going for this.
Bk 1: Planning
Bk 2: Planning
Title: A Magical Taste Series
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Pairing styles: Various
Books in the series (if a series): 2 to 10 books
Status: World Building
Minimum Words Planned for: 50K per book
Notes on the story: I still so very much want to do this series but I need to finish off a couple of my other stories before I dive into this rich and diversified world. Because it's going to span all sorts of characters and the such.
I shall have fun.
Bk 1: Forensic/witch
Bk 2: Artist/seer witch
Title: A Family Pack
Genre: Romance/Supernatural
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): ??
Statu: World building/plot building
Words minimum planned for: 50K per book
Notes on the story: Actually I need to figure out my notes for this and get is figured out how I want to tackle this series but it's kind of sitting there for the most part since I'm not wanting to do something typical but I still want to do something interesting with this series.
It's just going to take time.
Title: A Twist of Fate series
Genre: action/adventure/survivalist/romance
Pairing styles: various but not the focus
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: World building/plot building
Words minimum planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I had to actually put this to the side. Not because I wanted to but because things go really busy and it's going to take some time in getting around to actually do some research on virus and the such.
But I am working out the plot. Slowly, but surely.
Stand-Alone Stories
Title: Follow Me Down
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): just the 1
Status: WIP
Words Minimum planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: Ah, my baby. I do plan on working on this story come 2017, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it.
The history behind how this story came to be kind of messes with me but I love the story line. So it's going to be fun trying to cut that history away from this book.
Title: Black Veiled Saviour
Genre: Mystery
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 1
Status: WIP
Minimum Words planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I'm working on this and I think I know where I'm going with it, so this is going to be fun to write on once more!
I'm so happy to have an idea on how to get things going.
Title: Untitled Prompt Story
Genre: Horror/Paranormal
Pairing styles: nothing truly important
Books in the series (if a series): stand alone
Status: WIP
Minimum Words Planned For: 30K
Notes on the story: Ah, so what to say about this. I'm going to work on this story as I go along because I need to recreate the outline and fill out the story line itself otherwise this is going to drive me up a wall. So I'll be doing that this year.
Fun times.
Title: Untitled
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 1 (for Now)
Status: Planning
Minimum words planned for: Not a clue
Notes on the story: This is a holiday themed one where I wanted to tackle the whole "Santa needs a wife before becoming Santa Troupe". It's actually really interesting and I know who the love interest is, I just have to figure out a few other bits and pieces. Yes, joy. This pounced me near the end of 2016 okay? It was NOT happy making.
Nope. But I'll write it.
Notes on the story: This is a holiday themed one where I wanted to tackle the whole "Santa needs a wife before becoming Santa Troupe". It's actually really interesting and I know who the love interest is, I just have to figure out a few other bits and pieces. Yes, joy. This pounced me near the end of 2016 okay? It was NOT happy making.
Nope. But I'll write it.
What Am I Focusing on in 2017?
I have a couple of lists actually, so how about I give you those lists?
My lists have changed so often in the last month that I've given up having just several lists and narrowed them down to a few of the stories that I am going to really focus on.
Rewriting/Notes/Ect:
Ages Book 1 (I'm hoping by the time this goes up I'll have the last 3 chapters done)
Lex/Rose
All You Need
A Butterfly's Dream
Focusing on:
Bad Dog
Mean Bunny
Half-Angel/Vampire PNR
"Alive" Zombie story
Honey Drops bk 1
Crimson Shadows
Santa Claus PNR
Follow Me Down
Thread the Needle
Black Veiled Saviour
Untitled Prompt Story
Not that long of a list and it helps me to narrow my thoughts down to what I want to finish. So here's hoping that I get at least a few of these off of my list as 2017 progresses.
Rewriting/Notes/Ect:
Ages Book 1 (I'm hoping by the time this goes up I'll have the last 3 chapters done)
Lex/Rose
All You Need
A Butterfly's Dream
Focusing on:
Bad Dog
Mean Bunny
Half-Angel/Vampire PNR
"Alive" Zombie story
Honey Drops bk 1
Crimson Shadows
Santa Claus PNR
Follow Me Down
Thread the Needle
Black Veiled Saviour
Untitled Prompt Story
Not that long of a list and it helps me to narrow my thoughts down to what I want to finish. So here's hoping that I get at least a few of these off of my list as 2017 progresses.
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