Goosebump Time!

The first email back from a friend saying she just bought my book gave me goosebumps! It's a wild ride! I'm keeping my nose to the ground for any possible publicity opportunities. And playing around with my third novel while procrastinating on the rewrites on the second. I'm writing short stories in the universe of my third novel to get some ideas of where I want to take it. It has oodles of possibilities. And a universe that can be recycled again and again. :)

What a treat the episode before last of the Sarah Connor Chronicles was. I just watched it, having been out of town for a week and playing catch up since. She's quite a dancer. She trained as a ballerina before she started acting.

I'm really enjoying her character. Completely emotionless, yet able to dance in such a way as to bring out emotion, even in her dissenters. It's always interesting when we have an AI next to humans to show us how fickle we are. :)

Sometimes Backward Is the Way Forward or What's Up With the Wimpy Protagonist?

I was going to begin with a philosophical question, but I think I need to work up to it. In my novel, Under the Suns of Sarshan, my heroine is always, as my brother would put it, "landing in the soup." More to the point, she's always breaking bones, blacking out and laying in a hospital bed away from the crew and passengers she's meant to protect. I'm in the process of righting these wrongs. I'm having her make every entrance on her feet, fighting for her people.

I just rewrote chapter 14 --again, rather than moving on to the revision of chapter 17, where I left off. Like I said, sometimes, backward is forward. It was a major plot problem that was easier to fix before finishing later chapter revisions. Or is it just that I couldn't stand it when I realized that my second half was falling flat and lacking tension and risk? My epiphany demanded action. My novel demanded action.

So, why did I write my heroine like that? Was I feeling vulnerable at the time? Feeling that life was happening to me rather than the reverse? Hmmmm....

Well, onward and upward. I'm running out of people to kill. I've made for closer quarters to provide for more interpersonal tension. I'm also delaying the news of their ultimate fate, inserting more information about the mysterious saboteur and will reuse the xenoterrorists in conjunction with said saboteur.

The really funny thing? One of the subjects I suggested that I could present for BayCon was "Keeping Your Character's Feet to the Fire". Certainly I didn't mean by knocking them down physically every chance you get.

Speaking Engagement and New Project

If you live in the North Bay (CA): I'm the speaker for the next meeting of my local branch of the California Writers' Club, March 2nd at Marvin's Restaurant in Cotati. These meetings have been packed for months. In fact they're looking for a larger venue. The Redwood Writer's Club has been very active in the literary community, hosting readings, contests, workshops and excellent speakers. To find out more, check out their website.

I'll be speaking on speaking. Or rather, public reading, mostly. If you heard about it here and come, say hi and let me know. I'll be updating the RWC calendar this week, as well.

Now for the non-local readers:
I'm very excited about my new project and have found new gusto for the one held up in rewrites. I'm going to print the whole thing out and read it from the beginning again. It's been such a long haul that I tend to lose touch with the story arc and developments and aspects of previous chapters. And I just plain got sick to death of it. I decided that rather than toss it in a draw, it's time to reread the whole novel to remind myself why it's worth finishing.

My new project has telepathy, sentient whales, population control, plague, romance and intrigue. I'll post an excerpt of Under the Suns of Sarshan soon on my website, followed by one of the new project (not yet titled). I have also just sent out a fantasy story that may end up becoming a novel later on. Everyone who has read or heard it wants more. I'll tell you more about that when the story finds a home.

New Star Trek Movie, "Dear Jane" Letter, writing, revising and peddling my wares

The good news: JJ Abrams, directing! The bad news: We have to wait till Christmas. In the meantime, here's the teaser trailer. Not much, but it does whet the appetite a little. http://www.paramount.com/startrek

I just got a "Dear Jane" letter this week. But it was a glowing one. ALL the editors liked the story, but they didn't have room for it. I'm trying to get more organized about sending stuff out. I'm developing a database so that I can know at a glance who accepts reprints, who pays what, what their word limits are, etc. Especially for the ones I've already scoped out, and know what they like. Market research is time consuming. I'm hoping this will help. It's time I stopped repeating my efforts every time I bat a story back into play. Of course, this exercise made something all too clear. Almost no one takes reprints! Ugh!

Meantime, I'm sick of my novel. It's been here too long, stinking up the place like last night's fish. I have to make myself finish the rewrites. I think I need to start the next one at the same time, so I can be writing again, instead of just revising. Much more satisfying. And the next one should be great to write. I can't wait any more. Maybe I'll do the Revision in a Month thing in March on the old one. >sigh<

I'm still waiting for the new issue at Nanobison, featuring my story, "Jolaneering". I'll let you know when it's up. I just sent another story out to make the rounds. I hope you'll see it this year. My fingers are crossed.

Building Worlds with Words OR My Fifteen Minutes of Fame

I made it into the local paper today. I'm in the "Magnified" section of the Community Voice: Building Worlds With Words. I'm reading from my new novel, Awesome Lavratt, on Saturday in Santa Rosa. It's at Mysterious Future Bookstore on 5th St. near the mall for those who are local and available from 2-4PM.

And to make my week complete, the local rock station played my "perfect 10 (songs)" last night. Want to know what they were? I tried not to pick the overplayed ones. Here's the list I came up with:

1 Crossroads by Eric Clapton
2 Summer in the City by Lovin' Spoonful
3 Aja by Steely Dan
4 Love in an Elevator by Aerosmith
5 All Right Now by Free
6 Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
7 Framed by Burton Cummings
8 Fat Bottom Girls by Queen
9 Load Out/Stay by Jackson Brown
10 Superstition by Stevie Ray Vaughn

I also have another one of my babies (stories) ready to leave the nest. I'm hoping to give it the final once-over this afternoon, and send it out to a print magazine. Fingers crossed. The story is about tiny thieving aliens who travel to Earth for a special heist. This story morphed so much that its original title, although cute (Short People Have More Reason), no longer provides an accurate glimpse into the story. Maybe "The Grasshopper Caper"? I don't know. I have to mull it. Feel free to provide suggestions. :)

Writer's and Reader's Resources

Everyone needs a hand up to succeed in the arts. Well, unless you have some kind of magic you're not telling us about. I'm inviting speculative fiction writers to check out one of the places where I'm still getting a hand up. Other World's Writers' Workshop. I've been in lots of critique groups. They come and go. They help, they don't. This one is the one that I have consistently benefited from over the years. They have lots of helpful resources on the main page and the workshop is great. The rules are tough, but that's why it works and it's still around after at least five years.

Now, if you write ANYTHING (minus grocery lists, letters, emails and to-do lists) and live in California, here's the place to be: California Writers' Club. They have about 17 branches throughout the state. Tons of help and resources. I highly recommend checking them out. Go to their website to find a branch near you.

Not to forget you readers out there, if you haven't discover Fantastic Fiction, today's the day. Don't you hate it when you pick up a used paperback or a book in the library that's part of series, and it doesn't tell you the order of them on the flap? Problem solved.