Okay, folks, I just got off the metaphorical phone with Barb from P.D. Publishing, and I gots an update with you. Literally, just off the phone. Had it been an actual phone, the receiver would still be warm. Gemini is still running just a touch behind schedule, but World on Fire is right on track. What with the holidays coming up, and awards season beginning in January, P.D. decided to wait to release Gemini in January of ’09. World on Fire, on the other hand, is going along swimmingly, and should be out in March, or very soon after that.

So, after a year of being very, very patient (and thank you all for your patience) you will be getting two releases from me in the first half of 2009! Hopefully Tilting at Windmills will be just as speedy and get moved up, too. I just can’t wait to get Claire Lance out into the world. <g>

So save your Christmas money! Start saving pennies. Because I’m counting on all of you ~points finger Uncle-Sam-wise~ to buy my books! Not for me. Do it for the economy. Spend a little money and that economy will bulk right up. And if not, well, hey, you have a nice couple of books to read in the soup line. <g>



1. Do you write in the evening? Morning? Mid day? When do you usually write? – I usually write from about noon until… I hit my word count goal. <g> Usually by nine or ten I’m done for the day.

2. What do you usually write with and/or on? – Computer. It’s easier to organize my thoughts. I tend to scribble if I write longhand. Computer files better fit the way my mind works, with revising and rewriting and sticking in entirely new scenes… yeah.

3. What is your writing pattern? Do you plot with an outline? Do you use milestones and set up chapter titles? Do you do it organically? Do you go by story? – I tend to get the idea for the story and then just let it flow. I used to outline, but I found myself flailing and helpless when something unexpected happened. Now I know what the basic plot is, I know where everything needs to end up (like the big important scenes that hold up the rest of the plot) but the rest needs to happen organically.

4. What’s your favorite part of writing? Characters, plot, world building (don’t lie… all genres need some world building… even if it’s already there), research? editing? - I love everything about it. Getting to know the characters, watching the story evolve and take on a life of it’s own… I even enjoy the revising, when you get to go in to a finished plot and fiddle with things until they’re perfect. <g>

5. Do you tend to set up character first, or by plot? Or by both? – It depends on the novel. Sometimes I’ll take a character and try to think of a place to put them, other times I’ll come up with a plot and create a character to live in that world.

6. Do you write laying down, at a desk, at your computer? A mix? – At the computer. I don’t think I can function lying down. At all. Or, well, I mean… well, let’s not get into that. <g>

7. Do you write as a hobby or because it’s a profession? - Both. I have writing I’m paid for (or hope to get paid for ;-D) and writing I do just because it’s fun. Mainly because I HAVE to write. If I didn’t write, I would just be babbling to myself in other people’s voices. And that’s only fun for, like, fifteen minutes. Twenty tops.

8. Besides the mechanics of story-telling what’s your favorite thing about writing? – Creating a world and seeing it come to life. Watching characters I created become real. And seeing people who really enjoy the places/people I create.

9. Why do you write? - Like I said above, I have to. All the stories I have, all the characters that live in my mind, I don’t know what I would do with them if I didn’t write.

10. For or against fan fiction on your stories? Only certain stories? If so which ones? – Considering I started out in fan fiction and cut my teeth there, I would be kind of hypocritical if I said no. I think fan fiction is flattering, a sign that people love your world enough to play there. So yes, if you’re so inspired, send your characters to Squire’s Isle for a bit! They have a booming tourism trade, I hear… <wink>



I finished my NaNo novel yesterday, and my final word count was 92,018 words. Not a bad first draft, if I do say so myself! <g> Good luck to all of you out there still chipping away at your word counts. I salute you and will be cheering you on from the finish line.

Oddly enough, I spent the past 11 days writing like a madman, take a day off today, and all day I felt like I should be writing. Odd how that happens. <g>

Currently reading: “Dreams of My Father,” by Barack Obama

Currently listening to: For Him and the Girls, Hawksley Workman



I could barely get to sleep last night. I just kept watching the news coverage with an insane smile on my face. I have never felt so proud of my country, and so utterly disappointed in one part of it (California). How can the same state that cinched the election for Barack Obama write discrimination into its constitution? Could someone please explain that to me?

Moving on. I live in a heavily McCain household, so I couldn’t really celebrate the way I wanted to last night. This morning, I can’t stop dancing. An overweight white guy dancing in his Oklahoma kitchen because a black man got elected. It’s an unusual day. <g> And the song I was dancing to was very, very appropriate, I think. It’s Josh Ritter’s “Good Man,” and I think the chorus sums up how I feel about Obama.

“Babe, we both had dry spells,

Hard times in bad lands

But I’m a good man for ya.

I’m a good man.”

Cheers, President Obama.

ETA: Oh, I also wanted to add… last night while I was checking the blog’s stats, I saw that someone had searched for a story called “Too Many ‘Once Upon a Times’”. You will be happy to know that I saw this search and my webmistress (the amazing Morgan, give her a hand, ladies and gentlemen) popped it right up. I hope whoever was looking for it finds it and enjoys. <g>

If anyone else is looking for a story I wrote and can’t find it, let me know!



I know, two posts in two hours. It won’t happen very often, trust me. <g>

I just wanted to be sure I told people to get out there and vote. If you live in the US, you have a chance to make a difference today. Go out there and mark your ballot for the guy you like, whichever candidate that might be, and get your little sticker. My polling place also had candy in a little wicker basket.

Go vote. Four years is a long time to say “I’m definitely not going to mess it up NEXT time.”



My repeated phrase for this novel seems to be “Don’t worry about it.” I counted it three times in Chapter Seven, so I went back and changed a whole bunch of them. I’ve done this in other novels, but with other things like rubbing a neck or using the same word over and over. Very strange how you can latch on to a certain phrase or word or action and just keep using it.

Also in this novel, I had a fairly unusual experience. I was aware of a musician, but I had none of his CDs and had only heard one song. But I felt like he would fit one of my characters. So I got one of his CDs so I would know what the songs sounded like (I didn’t want to say she was depressed and listening to “Bullets” if “Bullets” turned out to be a hard rock song). The CD was okay, but I wasn’t overly into it. But once I started writing the character (Jodie), I started to like the CD. I don’t know if I got into Jodie’s head, or if the CD just requires a few more listens that I was willing to give it, but it’s very odd.

It’s creepy when characters take the wheel. I hope they keep doing it, though. <g>



Well, it looks like a visitor to my blog from the great country of Spain has given me my best day ever! 95 page views! Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you found it to your liking. :D

In other news, NaNoWriMo is in full swing. Day 3, and I am currently at – does a recount – 16,197 words in Chapter Six. My goal for the day is 19,000.

Good luck to everyone out there racing for 50k along with me! I will keep you updated through the month. <g>



 
 
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