Oh, come on! Seriously?

A day early (for a joke) we have right now, down-pillow-sized snow falling rapidly and unceasingly. Ugg! Why does this happen when I've already been eyeing the summer clothes and wondering when I can unpack them? When I've pushed my winter coat to the back of the closet. When I actually BELIEVE the notation on the calendar about it being Spring. Why?

I'm waiting for the big punch tomorrow. It'll likely be my computer. For over a week now the thing has been 'not nice'. I fear it's on its last legs (or motherboard). The thing takes an hour to warm up and then the screen is all pixelated. It's very frustrating. I got it in '05, so it's four years old. A long, good life, according to The Boy, who is the computer expert. Why can't computers last a reasonable time, like ten years?

So I've been pricing computers on my zero budget. It's not easy, but it is a very necessary thing for my job, so well...fingers crossed I can make it to summer with this machine!

M

So...what do you think?

M

SciFi Guy put up a nice review for Midnight Cravings at his blog.  Have you been there yet?  It's an awesome review sight.  He also keeps tabs on new and upcoming paranormal and sci/fi releases.  It's a must-add to your blog-crawl in the mornings.

M

Toast highly recommends MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS. (I think he likes the part in my story with the little white kitty cat.) ;-)

M

Okay, funny line for today. I'm typing in edits on Moon Kissed. Sometimes when you read single sentences on a page, out of context, they make you laugh. Here goes:

She was surprised only because it was so huge, not because he had one.

I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm talking about the hero's arsenal behind his garage. What did you think I was writing about? ;-)

I'm guest blogging over at Lori Devoti's blog today as she kicks off her cool Full Moon of Werewolves. Different bloggers every day for a month, talking about werewolves. And prizes! I think my post goes up at noon today.

M

angels and demon hunters

Okay, a few reactions about last night's episode of Supernatural. I didn't want to watch it because the story I hope to sell (soon!) is about angels and demons and I didn't want to influence my thinking while I'm still in the plotting stage. Well, I didn't have to worry after all. Although, at one point I did turn to my hubby and say 'they stole my twist!'. Not exactly. But close. But then, anyone researching angel lore will eventually come to some pretty similar conclusions anyway. So there is that.

I said this right after the first episode of the season, and I stand by it: it's going to come down to Sam against Dean, Sam and the demons against Dean and the angels. I can just feel it. And it's going to rock. I see Misha Collins signed on for season five, so you know this isn't going to get resolved this season, that's for sure. I wish Castiel had a bit more balls though. Alastair defeated him pretty easily. Shouldn't an angel be near omnipotent? I don't know. But I did like Sam's blood-sucking new strength. I still hate the new Ruby though. Ugg. She just doesn't have a grasp on that character.

Still waiting to hear about my synopsis. And I hope it does sell, because man, angels and demons are hot right now.

M

midnight ramblings

No word yet on the synopsis I sent in last week. I move forward though. I'm doing on-paper edits for my RA. And on Mon and Tues I got about 45 pages of the angel story written. A lot of that may eventually get cut because I just haven't tapped into the hero and heroine yet, but I like the opening action scene. And the prologue rocks. I like it when stories end where they start, and this one should do that just swell. Because today I'm going to write the end. It came to me last night, so I scrambled to the bathroom with a notepad and pen and scribbled out a page of notes so I wouldn't forget by morning. Of course, once I got back in bed I was bummed because I knew I had forgotten to write the part where he 'asks for a .....', but I didn't want to get up again since I was cozy and tucked in, so for the rest of the night I just played that sentence over in my brain so I wouldn't forget it.

I am tired now. Heck, if I wouldn't have thought about that stupid sentence all night, I wouldn't have it now. So there. The sacrifices we authors make. Anyway, I have a few end chapters to write, and that'll bring it right back to the beginning. Cool. So that's for this morning, then I'll get back to RA this afternoon. And I know copyedits for Moon Kissed should arrive today as well, so I'm busy. But I still want to hear about the synopsis. It's called 'hurry up and wait' in this business. Frustrating, but probably necessary.

Probably not.

Who knows?

Have a great day. Stand outside a while. Let the sunshine ooze into your pores. And if there is no sun, go outside and pretend.
M

[update: I just, literally, stumbled over the Moon Kissed edits lying on my front step. I must have completely missed the 'thunk' of delivery as the UPS guy slowed his vehicle only enough to get a good thrust and tossed the package to the step just hard enough to make a thunking noise against my front door. This is how I know I have a package. Thunk. THey've long stopped actually ringing the doorbell to make you aware that maybe you should go see if there's someone or something waiting out there for you. Fine. So maybe now, besides crossing out 'ring the doorbell' from their list of rules, they've added 'be stealthy'. The publisher sends out these edits to be delivered before noon. Presumably because they want an author to rip them open and start working on them right away, and still have a bit of the work day to do it. And I just may have to do that, because these are due next Wednesday. But it defeats the whole 'deliver by noon' purpose if no one knows there's a package on their step! Am I right?]

Sigh...

Just cruising iTunes today (every Tuesday; natch) and started downloading multiple copies of The Parting Glass, one of my fave Irish tunes. (I have a tendency to 'collect' some songs in all their variations.) Some of the best versions are by: The Waterboys, The Wailin' Jennies, and The High Kings.

Joining

I'm not a joiner.  I just don't do 'communities'.  Especially online.  I've avoided MySpace and FaceBook and the word 'twitter' makes me shudder.  But I was surfing yesterday and happened upon the Faeries and Vampires community and it just seemed like my kind of place, so I joined.  :-)  My badge is on the sidebar if you want to click it and check out my page.  And if you're on the community, be my friend.  

To continue...

If you've been following the last few posts, I've detailed my rushed efforts to concoct a new story idea and submit a proposal to my editor. But I should clarify, this is not a normal situation. The method for coming up with a new story is, but I usually don't do it all in two days. Though I don't spend too much longer on it usually. What all this results in is a very basic outline and beginning to the story.

I'm a pantser. There's the pantsers and the plotters. Plotters plan in advance and know exactly where their story is going before even setting word to the page. We pantsers just sit down and write. We have a glimmer of what our characters are in our minds as we start, but I never really know my character until I've made it to the end of the first draft. Then I go back and fill in backstory and quirks and even alter plot lines to fit what I've learned about my people.

Does that sound like a wonky way to go about writing? It works for me. But that doesn't mean I don't incorporate some pre-planning in when the mood strikes me. Just because I do stream-of-thought writing doesn't mean I can't go to the keyboard and write out a carefully pre-planned scene.

Yesterday at our local RWA chapter meeting Candice Hern spoke on creating backstory for your characters. She's a plotter and never goes into a story without knowing EVERYTHING about her characters. She said her characters never do anything to surprise her because she tells them exactly what to do. I love listening to other writers' methods. She gave us a handout, and mine is currently scribbled on with tons of notes on my characters. See, when I'm listening to method I start thinking about my own people, and ideas come to me. Cool! So I start writing stuff down, and sometimes I forget to listen, so have to pull myself back up, but then fall into a mad scribble again. This may be another method to my writing; gleaning vibes from other writers' methods. Maybe? It was great because I now have a sketchy background for my heroine and I wasn't too sure about her at all before I even sent in the proposal. So this helps a lot.

By the way, tried to watch ONCE last night to glean the Irish accent into my brain but the video was so damaged we had to keep fast-forwarding and re-select scenes that we finally gave up. The music was awesome, so I think I'm heading to iTunes right now to download some.
M

Proposal: Sending it out

By the end of day two I've got a pretty snifty proposal in hand. It's four pages, and I think it sounds exciting. I really want to write this story now! I hope my editor likes it. So after incorporating the changes suggested by my friend, I polished one final time, then emailed it off to my editor. She'll take it home over the weekend and maybe I'll even hear from her about it next week. I'll keep everyone posted.

But in the mean time, now that these characters have invaded my brain I want to start playing with them. Yet I resist. I can start plotting the whole story in my head, taking notes and beginning to write, but what if the proposal is ultimately rejected? So I have to hold off the urge to just start doing some stream of thought writing until I get the a-ok. Although...okay, I admit it, I wrote chapter one already. Hey! It was just there, in my brain, and I didn't want to lose the energy of it, so I put it to paper. Ten pages. Action scene featuring the heroine. The villain is chasing her for reasons she isn't aware of. And the end of the chapter? So sweet. The beginning of chapter two will introduce the hero as he reaches in to save her from sure death. I love action. But I promise myself not to write any more on this! I must resist!

Seriously, I have a Rogue Angel story to finish, and I'm going to focus on that today and the rest of the month. I won't even look at the Angel book on my shelf and wonder if I should reread it for research. But aggh! I watched Supernatural last night. I'm thinking I probably shouldn't even watch that right now because I don't want it to influence me. Next week is about someone killing angels. And my story...well...I can't say...but...just aggh!

Anyway, I think the theme of angels and demons is a good one, and obviously popular since Supernatural is featuring it. It didn't even occur to me (the show) as I was plotting this story, seriously. Good thing too. Okay, so from here on out it's finger-crossing time. If this story sells, it may seem like a fast sale to anyone whose been reading about the last few days for me. But it's a loooong time coming. Remember, I submitted a proposal back in October, which was rejected, and then got a request to send in new material in two days. So I've actually been waiting since October.

Happy Friday the 13th! Hey, that was like two months in a row. I remember last month I was on an airplane on the 13th. Yikes, that didn't freak me much. (I'm so lying.)

M

Proposal: Day Two

Yesterday I posted about coming up with a story proposal in two days. So start there if you have an interest in following me.

So I've got a desktop full of pictures that have sparked my imagination. I know what my main characters are going to be, and have matched them to a picture. Now I need names, so I tug out my trusty baby name book. And not just any baby name book. THE book. I love this book because it lists names by country. I picked it up at a library sale a decade ago for twenty-five cents, and the poor thing is curled and faded and the spine is cracked and the cat puked on it once, and well, it's a mess. And then, just the other day, I killed it. That wasn't my intention. I picked the thing up and it broke in two, tearing six or seven pages in the middle in half. I was crushed. So I rushed to Amazon and found a replacement. You see, every time I use a name for a hero and heroine I highlight it in this book. Then I know what names I've used (trust me, I forget). Naturally, the France section is most highlighted. Now I'll have to transfer all my highlights to the new book once it arrives. I know, I'm a little obsessed with this darn book!

Anyway, I'll comb through the book and write a list of names that pop out at me for my characters. I ended up with Eden for the heroine (sort of a play on the Garden of Eden) and Ashur for the hero. (Though he was almost Ares). The villain is Zaqiel, but I didn't find that name in the book, that came from my research.

After the story starts to fall into places and I have names and pictures then I do some fast and furious research online. My topic? Angels and demons. So I just start randomly reading about them. I found a few articles at Wikipedia about a certain sect of angels I really want to work with, and so I print up the info and start to piece together the story.

By now I'm able to begin a synopsis. I know who my hero is and his basic reason for being on earth, same for the villain. I'm not really positive about the heroine, but she'll become more clear as I actually begin to write the story. For now, I know why I need to use her, and how she relates to both villain and hero. And can she be a good relationship match for the hero? Well, yes and no, and that's the way it should be in romance, right?

I begin the synopsis by briefly describing the hero and his 'breed', and then the villain and his 'people'. Then I start with the action, the changing event that sets the story into motion. I throw in a bit about how the hero feels about the heroine and vice versa, and be sure to intimate that sex will occur. ;-) (I'm just not sure how or when right now, but sometimes you just gotta wing it.) Then I get to the ending, and I have no earthly idea how this thing should end. Seriously. I can have a vague idea, but until I've worked with the characters a few months and learned more about them, I don't know how they'll come together in the end. So I make up something that sounds reasonable, and workable. Workable is important. It's got to be something I can actually write, and sound believable. And again, that's a real brain twister trying to figure something like that out. But I think I have it!

The synopsis clocks in at 4 pages instead of the requested 2. Sue me. Next step? Send it to a friend for a quick read and comments. When you're this close to a work, and have a short deadline, you really can't see the mistakes and distorted logic. But someone else can pick it up and go 'whoa, what the heck does that mean?'. I have a great friend who does this for me, and I do the same for her in return. Whenever we're plotting stuff out, or even need scene ideas, we IM each other and brain storm a while. I'm not looking for nit-pickies, I'm just looking for overall 'do you understand this?' stuff. She caught some great stuff, and some real 'duh' things as well. Like why would the hero even be motivated to continue if he got the easy button like I had written it? So thanks, P! (P's my friend.)

All right, so I've got comments from a friend to look over, and polishing to do. Tune in tomorrow for the next episode in 'fast plotting fun and games'.

M

Giving birth...to words

Yesterday I was asked for a story proposal. Quickly. A proposal I had handed in previously was rejected, but the editor wanted to see something else. Great. But I've got two days to do it all. That means create a whole freakin' world. Populate it. Decorate it. Give it emotion, depth and energy. Give everyone involved reasons to be there and reasons to not want to be there.

So how do I do that? I thought I'd log the process at this blog because it helps me to organize things and putting down in print might also get the creative juices moving in directions I hadn't anticipated. So how does a writer cobble together a story in a short time? First I have to know what I'm writing. The genre? Paranormal romance, of course. I've decided I'm not too sure I want to do vampires or werewolves again. I want to do something different, yet I've been cautioned not to go too 'far out'. Tried and true, yet different.

Well then.

I don't have any idea where to go with that. So, to get the brain cogs moving I head online. I always work with pictures. Visuals get my imagination boiling. I always like to know what my hero/heroine looks like before I even begin plotting. So I head to cghub.com, by favorite place to view amazing fantasy CG artwork. One of the first pictures I view is this one:

Cool, huh? I have to stare at it a while to figure the whole thing out. It could be two angels. It could just be one, and then what is the guy? I'm instantly excited about doing a story with angels and demons. I've done them before in SERAPHIM, and I love matching good against evil. But wait? Which side is good, and which is evil? :-)
Here's a few more pics that caught my eye and I knew could somehow influence the tendrils of plot ideas that had begun to simmer:

Is this guy angel or demon? And wouldn't it be twisty cool if he were an angel?

This one struck me as potential heroine. Maybe? I just like the long dress and the exposed thigh-highs. Hmm, sexy is good in Nocturnes.
I gathered a few more pictures and spent a while just staring at them on my monitor. Yep, for sure I'm doing angels and demons. I'm not going into plot details, but suffice that my gears were working quickly now. But who could I put in my brain for the hero? Then I remembered this picture I'd found of Chris Cornell recently. Dark and foreboding, yet with a glint of kindness.

And you will all laugh that my heroines always tend to resemble Angelina, but sue me. I like my heroines to have dark hair, but strong and independent, and she fits the bill every time. But it was this pic that sparked a few more plotting ideas...

The pearls scream 'rich', and that's cool, maybe my heroine could be a trustfund baby? But that tattoo on her arm...I stared at that a while. Hmm, interesting. That is most certainly going to be a major plot point.

So with some visuals in my head and ideas popping like well, popcorn, I open up a blank Word document and just begin typing sentence fragments, terms, character motives, and other stuff.

More tomorrow. Will she be able to cobble together a short but succinct synopsis that will interest an editor? Tune in!
M

Dancin' again

Another season of Dancing With The Stars has started. And for anyone who doesn't know, I'm addicted to the show. 90% of my addiction is Maks, the other 10% must be watching the dancers challenge themselves and grow as dancers over the season. So here's my picks and comments for this year's competitors:

Belinda Carlisle: she's the 'woman of a certain age' this year, and thank heavens they didn't go as old as Cloris Leachman again. She'll do fine, maybe make it half way.

David Alan Grier: I give him three episodes

Shawn Johnson: She'll get close to the finals. She does have a great dance partner, so that will help a lot

Lil' Kim: I just don't know what to think. I think she'll make it about half way too

Holly Madison: I said to my hubby "why is it the sexy ones never have any rhythm?" I give her a couple episodes, but then, I'm sure her fan-base is huge, so she may hang on by popularity alone.

Gilles Marini: for a man whose only claim to fame is that 'we almost got to see it' nude shower scene in Sex and the City, he was impressive. I think he'll be a finalist, if his lack of fan base doesn't knock him out earlier. Go, sexy guy!

Ty Murray: Erm...it's a tie between him and Steve W for first one out

Steve-O: This guy seems to be giving it a very serious try, and while he doesn't look comfortable at all on the dance floor, he just may surprise us all

Denise Richards: Another pretty girl with very little rhythm.

Melissa Rycroft: For only having two days to practice...wow! She'll be a contender.

Lawrence Taylor: Won't even make it half way through

Chuck Wicks: he has the advantage of being Julianne Hough's boyfriend, and I suppose they'll be practicing all the time, but I predict he'll make it about three-quarters of the way through.

Steve Wozniak: Oy.

Gilles and Melissa are my picks!

Found out FROM THE DARK was published in Indonesia last year. Here's the cover. Very pretty and atmospheric. Does anyone know how much 44,000Rp translates to in US dollars? I didn't get copies but would love to order one. Not sure I could navigate the sights that sell them though.

M

Read more at Women For Women.

Winners!

I was going to post winners yesterday but forgot. I drew four names, and here they are:

Emily L
Kim R
Lou G
Calisa S


Please send me your snailmail address and I'll get a copy or MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS in the mail to you all!

thanks,
M

toastfaery@gmail.com

I think I'm happy with the above header for this blog. I started this blog in the summer of 2004. I've been blogging for five freakin' years. Hmm... Anyway, it originally started as a means to give readers a glimpse into my life as a writer, mom, housewife. I choose the title DUSTED because I deal with dust-bunnies on a daily basis, and it implies my love for faeries.

Remember you can still enter the contest to get a copy of MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS. The info is two posts down. Also in April all 6 authors will be doing a blog week to promote each other's works. And we'll be guesting at Romance B(u)y The Book sometime that month as well.

April starts what will be a busy year for me. I'll have books out at least every other month. Cool. Do you think that's too much? Maybe readers who enjoy my stories will be overwhelmed? I'm not sure. I know I think it'll be nice that my Wicked Games series is coming out almost back-to-back. The Bewitch The Dark series was stretched over three years. Too long for series-followers to wait, I think. But with the economy at such a low I wonder if many can even afford to keep up with series nowadays?
M

Yes, I know I've been tending to go a bit 'environmental' at the blog here lately.  Sue me.  Enviroblog has a great post today that you really can't miss.  It's about mercury in high fructose corn syrup.  Who'd a thought?

M

Keep entering the below contest through Friday!

M

Werewolves, oh my!

Whoohoo!  Just got some boxes of my April release, MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS.  Man, do I love this cover.  It's so pretty and sexy.   I can't wait to read the other authors' stories, too.  

To celebrate getting all my pretties, I suppose I should give a few away, yes?  But I think I want something back this time.  ;-)  I promise it won't be difficult.  Only enter if you plan to read the anthology and then will post a review either at Amazon or your personal blog, or some other review site.  Does that sound fair?  I think so!

Send me an email (toastfaery @ gmail.com) telling me why you love werewolves, and where you'd post a review if you had a chance to read this book.  I'll pick a couple winners and post their names on...Friday!

M

Archaeologists and vampires

I don't really buy into the writer's block thing. But I do know that writer's frustration is very real and well...very frustrating. I'm currently quite frustrated with the story I'm working on. It's not that I don't know what to do with it or where to take it. I think the plot is pretty solid. I've got all the players in all the right places, and overall, it works. It's just that I've gotten to 55K words, and suddenly this story wants to be done. That's not going to work when my contract asks for 80K words. Anyone got some extra words they can send my way? I'll take anything. :-)

I have to set this story aside. Maybe for a week, because it's due in two months, so I can't afford to let it sit too long. But I think to put it out of my head, and come back to it fresh will help. It may allow me to see the forest for the trees (or however that little saying goes).

Meanwhile I've dug out a delicious project I've been tooling around with off and on since last summer. It's not sold to any publisher, but I certainly would like to send it out there some day. I decided this one needs to be completely written before I send it anywhere. It's paranormal, and not much different from my Nocturne stuff, though it is bigger and combines modern-day and historical stuff, along with romance, mystery and hopefully, thrills and suspense. It's epic on a small scale, if that makes sense. It's vampire and werewolves and faeries. But it's not fantasy; I think it's plainly paranormal. I had the whole story plotted and almost completely drafted out when just last week I woke one morning and knew that the title character was not who I thought she was. Wow. That was a revelation. Really? So this main character I'd been focusing on, because she's who the title claims, is not really that person? Yep. And how cool is that? So now I'm adding in this new character that's been around a lot longer than the previous title character, and yet she won't have a huge role. But so neat, this new addition. I'm having a great time with it.

I love this pic of Angelina Jolie. She is inspiration for the title (well, now former title) character, Viviane LaMourette, though she remains the focus and star of the story.

I love it when stuff like that happens. Unexpected surprises. New paths that wend within an established structure. A tricky extra puzzle stuffed inside the whole.

That'll keep me busy this week. And I think I'm going to do some polishing on a novella I've drafted out. It about a vampire and a faery, and I hope to sell that as well. Soon!

So that's what's up. Everyone cross your fingers that March does not come in like a lion, but stays rather lamb-ish all month. I'm so sick of winter! I need Spring!
M