Tag Archives: Writing

Has it been so long?

26 Friday Jan 2018

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Yeah, I guess so. Thanks to the world’s longest-running respiratory crap, the death of our beloved dachshund, Riley, and a generally bad attitude, I’ve left you all unburdened by my jaundiced point of view for far too many months.

DCIM100SPORT Riley the WonderDog

“Self,” I said to the blurry shape in the mirror this morning, “it’s time to climb back onto the horse.”

“Trite,” whispered Self.

“Self-righteous, critical bitch,” I muttered.

“I’m more of a pedant.” Self wrinkled her nose at me as I switched off the bathroom light.

Here’s the problem: My imagination has been lying in a bone-dry arroyo at the edge of a desert for a while now. Not even vultures fly over the spot anymore. But, I keep having these bizarre dreams and my long-suffering husband has described some of the things I’ve been saying while I sleep. The least embarrassing was my rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” at about three in the morning. (I got all the words right.) You can take the creativity out of the writer but you can’t take the patriotism–oh, never mind.

The upshot of this situation is, I have to write whatever comes to mind, as sparse as that might be, until I stop these serenades. It’s too unsettling to think of some of the things I might say while under the influence of sleep. Hmmm, there’s the germ of a plot idea in that. Okay, I might give that some thought.

I hope all of you–the eight regulars who breathlessly await my ponderous insights–have launched upon a shiny new year. Really, I do. I’ve been in a funk long enough not to expect that for myself, but I genuinely hope you are finding life fruitful and absorbing. I hope the writers among you are producing vast quantities of clever words and compelling ideas. I hope kindness and reason fill the spaces among our thoughts so we might foster creative ideas.

My sentiments may be overdue, but they are, nonetheless, heartfelt: Happy New Year.

 

 

 

 

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Happy New Year, Readers !

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Ghosts, Hauntings, Wisdom Court

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So I’m a little late. What are a few days among friends?

I’m trying to get my fingers moving, get my brain tumbling, get some words on the page. It’s snowy today, and very cold, so my primary impulse is to wrap up in a blanket and sip cocoa while I read what someone else has written. But what about my characters? The ones I set up a few weeks ago and left looking around, wondering what was to happen to them next. They sit there still, no voices, no ideas, no nothin’.

What I had in mind is to follow a thread about what occurs at Wisdom Court now. The three books containing the story arc I began with are now sitting on the bookshelf. (And available as e-books and trade paperbacks at Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Google, and God knows where else.)

What happens at a women’s institute when everyone there admits the place is thoroughly haunted? Sure, they found out why so many terrifying events happened, and how it all got started, but now what?

Don’t you think there would be a long line of spirits wanting their stories told? After all, the way ghosts are usually laid to rest is to find out why they’re ghosts–what evil in their lives made them hang around after they died. Who cares if that creates problems for Wisdom Court as a place where women can come spend a year working on whatever they want to do–have always wanted to do–completely supported financially and emotionally? Ghosts have rights! They deserve to have their stories told.

So the plan: provide a forum for the ghosts, pay attention to them, aid them on their way to the Other Side. Surely the women of Wisdom Court wouldn’t mind helping in their spare time. It’s true that being surprised by entities not totally in control of their abilities to communicate might be a little off-putting. Suddenly seeing an image in the mirror not belonging to the person looking at herself would cause some upset. There are worse things.

I would write the details of these encounters and perhaps collect them in an anthology at the end of the year. A noble goal, right? Well, sure, if I can get my brain functioning, my fingers typing, my will cranked up and humming.

Brrr.  It’s cold up here in my garret. I’m assuming that’s because of the snowstorm. I’m alone here except for my noble cat, Oreo. She hasn’t given any indication of other…persons…being present.

I’m going downstairs to put the kettle on for some cocoa.

A moment of geese

04 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by in Life, Random Thoughts, Writing

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This morning I returned from the drive to school and got out of the car. A choir of sparrows and chickadees was rehearsing in a nearby tree, nearly drowning out the city-sounds filling my corner of Capitol Hill. Cars grumbled and a truck roared; a motorcycle spewed a raspberry at the skateboarders dodging potholes. A saw whined from a construction site down the street.

A flick of motion overhead caught my eye. Three gray geese skimmed the roofs across the alley as they headed south. Silent, swift, gone before I could do more than let out a breath of appreciation. Their wings sliced through cacophony with synchronized grace, leaving behind the discord.

Three Greylag Geese coming in for landing over a field in formation

I wanted to be like those geese: fast, focused, fully engaged in flight. Following where ideas led, turning aside for no interruption, stopping for nothing. For a moment that yearning cut as sharply through me as their wings had cut through the noise.

And then the day went on.

 

You know those words I was talking about…?

06 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by in Ghosts, Gothic, Hauntings, Mysteries, Wisdom Court, Writing

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Gentle readers, today I’ve been in a swirl of words, not all of them having to do with NaNoWriMo. Not only am I writing Wisdom Court Book 3, All In Bad Time, but I’m also marketing and publicizing the first two Wisdom Court Books: Edge of the Shadow, and A Signal Shown. (This while falling short in the promotion of my two mysteries, Scavenger Hunt, and Obstacle Course. My bad.)

This is the day Edge of the Shadow has been featured on EReader News Today, and I’ve been sharing that fact through Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin. Once again I’ve noted that my Wisdom Court books carry a lot of labels. There are a lot of different elements in my books and they come from different genres.

All of the books I’ve written have been categorized as cross-genre. That means several things, some complimentary, some not. Historically books have been sold by genre, meaning bookshelf space given to them is ideally in a specific bookstore location. Mysteries with mysteries, romances with romances, paranormal with paranormal, etc. It gets murkier with mainstream novels, which get away with including various aspects under the umbrella of mainstream. Whatever that means.

The stories I like to tell myself involve more than one template. In the case of the Wisdom Court books the two things that intrigued me in the initial phases were first, the idea of a woman getting what she’d always wanted most, the chance to be totally supported for a year while she worked to make her biggest dream come true. Second, to observe the relationship among the five or six women living at Wisdom Court while they all got to be stars. The protagonist meets a lovely man. So, women’s fiction with an element of romance.

But then I began to wonder about paranormal events getting in the way of such an idyllic set-up. A problem that must be solved. Mystery, right? My belief that our memories and regrets are like ghosts haunting us as we age had me wanting those women forced to deal with scary supernatural stuff while they were supposed to be setting the world on fire during their year at Wisdom Court. Paranormal, supernatural, Gothic, horror, ghost story.

Thanks to the rise of independent publishing, I’ve been able to get the Wisdom Court books into print (POD) and on-line as ebooks. But as for promoting them, the old rules apply, because readers want to read what they like. So here’s my challenge to those of you who’ve read Edge of the Shadow and/or A Signal Shown. How would you describe them? How many genres would you have to mention to let readers know what they’re getting? I’d really be interested in having you weigh in. Thanks.

 

Days 4 and 5, NaNoWriMo

05 Wednesday Nov 2014

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I got words and more words and…Day 4, 1506 words; Day 5, 966. Big falloff today, a jumbled, humbling day. That’s okay, because once I got going, the story took a turn that surprised and pleased me. I’m just too tired to keep going. Remember what Scarlett said: Tomorrow is another day. With more words!

AND: tomorrow November 6, eReader News Today will have Edge of the Shadow at a discount. I’ll post the link on Twitter and Facebook tomorrow in the a.m.

My eyes are falling out of my head, so I think it’s time to consider my bed. But first I need dinner, some leftover chile. Lost the rhyme.

Toodles!

My first NaNoWriMo Adventure, and an Announcement

04 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in e-books, Gothic, Writing

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9781614176459First the announcement: Nook has my two creepy/Gothic novels on sale Nov. 3 – Nov. 6 !!

http://bit.ly/1tUB5Ns  Edge of the Shadow

 

9781614176473

http://bit.ly/1x2KoyA   A Signal Shown

 

 

 

I’m on the fourth day of NaNoWriMo  (National Novel Writing Month).

I’ve never done it before, but I’m behind on my work in progress (All In Bad Time, Wisdom Court Book 3).

Do you want me to tell you the word totals so far? Sure you do.

Day 1, 2288 words   Day 2, 1621 words   Day 3, 2633 words.

Now, off to write the words for today. Send me some energy & inspiration, please.

Here are the latest fruits of my labor

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in e-books, Ghosts, Hauntings, Wisdom Court

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9781614176459                        9781614176473

Edge of the Shadow, Wisdom Court Book One http://amzn.to/1tCmzcj and A Signal Shown, Wisdom Court Book Two, http://amzn.to/VKSbAc are available in ebook form at Amazon.com.

B&N Nook  has paperback editions of both:  http://bit.ly/1ouI35u for Edge of the Shadow, and http://bit.ly/1lBUn9v for A Signal Shown. The Nook ebook editions of both are available, http://bit.ly/1tUB5Ns for Book One, http://bit.ly/1x2KoyA for Book Two.

The rollout will continue over the next few weeks, and will include Kobo, iBooks, and others.

I’ve been working on publicizing the books, promoting wherever I can think to do so. There’s always a lot of work generated when books are launched. And, I’m writing Wisdom Court Book Three, All in Bad Time, which will be launched in the spring of 2015.

I’m thrilled and happy that the characters of Wisdom Court, who have populated my brain for a long time, are now free to mingle with readers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have and continue to do.

Happy Labor Day!

Not done yet, but I’m thankful…

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

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I said out loud I was aiming to complete A Signal Shown by the end of November. It’s not going to happen, but I’ve written a lot so all is not lost. Here goes another challenge: I’m aiming to finish it by the end of December, holidays or no holidaImageys.

As for the random viruses, crises, and have-tos of the season: can we coexist peacefully?

Congratulations to all the NaNoWriMo participants. I hope  you met your goals.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I’m grateful to family and friends who not only support my endeavors, but also accept my disappearing for weeks (months!) at a time to tell myself stories.

Cheers!