Happy (very belated) New Year!

I haven't posted on here in ages, I'm fairly certain. My how the time flies and all that.

So let's see...updates. I finished my rough draft of "Mother of Creation" and am now reluctantly dragging myself into the editing process. Numerous ideas kicking around in my head for book two, so I suppose I'm a little divided about whether to edit or not, but I don't feel that I can continue to advance without streamlining the setting/characters. As my brother (the only person who's read it so far) so aptly pointed out, I've at times run a little vague in my world creation. I suspect that's true of a lot of my work, so my goal for this round is to make if feel a bit more real, and to make the characters a little more distinct. Clarifying, as it were, more than a real rewrite.

Also, since it's New Year's, I've made some goals for this year. These include:

1) A mostly final draft of "Mother of Creation"
2) At least part of the rough for the next one (tenatively titled "Daughter of Chaos" or something to that effect)
3) Being generally more into cleanliness and taking care of myself. I'm proud to report that I've made significant advances in this regard. I've even eaten dinner every night since the first! Cleanliness of course refers to my apartment/desk. I already shower all the time, so that's not the issue.
4) Chopping off all of my hair. Also done.
5) Figuring out how to get out of Roanoke. It's lovely but the dating pool is limited. My goals include: Madrid, Japan, London....you get the idea.
6) Learning at least a modicum of German.
and last but not least, 7) Creating a new mini-goal of awesome every month. Some current ideas include, but are not limited to: planning vacations, registering for the GREs, taking the GREs, determining what graduate school I would like to one day apply to, having a plant that lives, etc.

In short, 2011 promises to be an exciting, excruciating, mind-bogglingly awesome year.

Hiatus

In other words, sorry for dropping off the face of the earth as I have been doing. I've been an irresponsible writer, I fear. Probably because I'm frustrated with my current project. Also, work picked up. But enough excuses, it's time to be productive.

So Cathi asked me a while ago about maybe seeing one of my query letters to get an idea about how that works. Unfortunately, I'm kind of in agreement with Anne's assessment that if you just copy someone's query letter it's not going to be what you need. So I shall create my Handy Guideline of What to Do to Write a Query (the condensed version). I will be borrowing heavily from Anne's blogs but also adding some of my own personal opinions.

1) Research.

I wish querying were easy - heavens knows, I'm the worst querier ever. The logistics I've got down, but the actual practical aspect of getting that letter out and in circulation? Complete failure. The fact is that each letter is going to require research, and if you want it to be successful you might should spend some time on that research. There are a couple of ways to find agents to query. I am a fan of the internet search. There are several sites online that keep databases on literary agents, including such pertinent information as the agent's name, website, and whether or not they are taking submissions (as well as, if you're lucky, submissions requirements, though you should defer to the website on this). Once you get those, you can begin the second level of research (checking out the website, for example) and look for other authors that this agent has represented. Often those authors will have blogs or websites of their own in which they make mention of their agent.

The more espoused method is of course to look at the agents of your favorite authors, or the authors whose style that of your own work most closely resembles. I think this is a wonderful idea, but do suggest you follow the necessary steps to discover if this agent is still taking submissions, in your genre or otherwise.

Now, beyond knowing who to submit to, this glut of information gives you a chance to make a connection with the agent, which is what this whole thing is about. Your first paragraph, after all, should contain two major elements: your hook, or the single sentence that provides a tantalizing glimpse at what your story is about; and something to connect you with the agent - after all, you want to show that you've done your research.

2. The Meat.

Now, once you've done your research and condensed that into something intriguing and professional (remember, professional is your most favorite adjective of these two, though you need both) you follow with what is essentially an oh-so-brief sales pitch for your manuscript. This, I believe, was the main preoccupation of Cathi in her comment. Of course, the problem with this is that what this paragraph looks like is essentially going to depend on your book. The important thing to take away from this is that you're not summarizing. Far from it: the purpose of this segment is much like that of your hook. In other words, you are attempting to showcase your novel. Anne advises that you should use at least one sentence that contains good imagery, something that will stick with the reader. I think of this as giving the reader something solid to stand on in the floating vagueries that this paragraph, no matter how you strive, will inevitably contain. After all, how are you supposed to successfully describe a 90,000 word book within the confines of a single, tiny paragraph?

It's important to note that this is probably the spot in your letter with which you can be the most creative. After all, you know your work better than anyone. For The Last Disciple, for example, I used a descriptive sentence to provide a sense of the alieness my character felt at being forced to make her new home in a city landscape, which unveiled a key element of the plot while providing the reader with the echo of an emotional connection.

One way you could practice this is by looking at some of your favorite books. For example, many of you have read Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, which I wrote about last post. Distill this book. What is the key turning point, the moment when exposition because rising action? If, like me, you see this as the moment in which Briar finds her son missing and follows him into the ruins of the abandoned Seattle, your short paragraph about this book might focus on that point as the central image the paragraph is built around. Before that, there would be a few brief sentences introducing Briar and her son as characters, and afterwords there would be a sort of teaser sentence. Unfortunately, since I'm at work and my muse is on vacation, I will not be crafting this example for you. I trust that you can use the description as a reference, however.

3. Closing Up

Alright, wrapping up quickly now. If you've made it this far kudos.

You have your lead-in, telling why you picked the agent. You have your hook, which makes them want to read more. You have, somewhere in there, the
title, word count, and genre of your book, so they know how to place it. And of course, you have your brief pitch in which you let the book speak for itself. Now what?

The final paragraph contains the things that may help you to get published, such as: Have you been published before? Do you have any prior experience that might make you stand out from other writers? What about your book, how is it different? Anything (reasonable) that makes you stand out should be thrown in here, along with contact information and large amounts of copious thanks for taking the time to read the letter - you worked hard on it after all, you should thank the reader who makes it to the end for recognizing that.


And that's all, folks!

Oops...

I didn't realize it had been a week since I posted. My life got a bit busier over the past couple of days, which is in some ways nice, and of course leaves me less time for other things.

However, one thing I did get to this past week was to finish Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, a steampunk adventure set in Civil War Seattle. It is, fortunately, a book filled with the notable steampunk elements, such as warring airships and almost magical permutations of technology, based primarily on steam as a generator of electricity; but luckily, Ms. Priest does not stop there. The book also contains such exciting things as zombies (personal favorite), shotguns, mechanical arms, subterranean tunnels, and mysterious ravens which I'm hoping will be an important part of the next book. Also of note is Ms. Priest's lovely use of unsettling details. At times, she will randomly insert a moment of what could almost be poetry in an eery fashion, which is definitely in keeping with the almost surreal nature of some of the book's events.

My only critiques of the book are that the characters were, occasionally, unapproachable, and the plot was at times filled with almost unbelievable coincidences that went thoroughly unremarked by the characters themselves. Perhaps owing to the stoicness of the main character, it was at times difficult to understand exactly what the character was feeling, or, if not to understand, to feel the same. This is perhaps a result of the author's voice itself, which is both casual and drily engaging. In general, however, it was a good read, and one I would recommend. Since I don't have a lot of steampunk experience, it doesn't get a grade (that certainly wouldn't be fair to anyone) so that assessment will have to do until I rectify that little problem.

1 Month Friendiversary

Well, it's still cold outside. I suppose that's to be expected in December though. And who would have thought December could come so quickly?

As David noted yesterday, it has been just a smidgen over one month since I met many of you lovely people at the World Fantasy Convention! I can't say just how wonderful it is to know that we still talk at least occasionally, and with how much anticipation I look forward to next year's convention, where I hope to meet up with many of you again as the fates allow. Not to mention the prospect of meeting new friends at that most illustrious of gatherings. Indeed, I am quite excited.

Something about Christmas carols and other such songs of the holidays, combined with long and chaotic visits with the family, that make me really happy to be alive. With that in mind, I would like to address something which I read recently in David Farland's writing newsletter, entitled "Your Daily Kick in the Pants." I receive this newsletter, as it's name suggests, daily, and in it I often find tiny grains of wisdom, some of which I agree with and others with which I choose to also consume the proverbial grain of salt. After all, there is no foolproof method to write a great work. What works for one author might not work for another, and what appeals to one reader may leave another yawning and toddling off to watch Glee or something. It's all about our sensibilities.

Something that I received recently on this lovely newsletter (which you can subscribe to through David Farland's website, if such an action catches your fancy) was about the concept of gratitude. Mr. Farland was discussing making a character likable, and emphasized that a good way to do this was to make the character grateful for things that he or she was given. Now, for me, the forthright description of gratitude is often trumped by the oblique. It's easy to say thank you, and harder to mean it. However, I think that there is a grain of truth here that is worth exploring, and that is this: sometimes, likable characters are what make the story.

Take, for example, Harry Potter. Now, I don't know about you, but there were times when I thought Harry needed to go jump off a bridge. He was snotty and rude and angsty for pretty much the entirety of the fifth book, and large parts of the sixth. If I had been his friend I would have dropkicked him or whacked him with a tire iron. Instead, I was forced to grind my teeth whenever he had a mood swing, and keep reading. What made this experience bearable was not J.K. Rowling's wonderful writing or even the lure of finding out what was going to happen next, though both of those kept me reading. It was the existence of Fred and George Weasely. When Harry was lacking in the appropriate levels of mischief and foresight, the Weasely twins set him straight, with, among other things, their general good humor. Never did a Weasely twin mope or wallow in negative emotion; no, Fred and George at their maddest set off fireworks and other such magical wonders to delight and uplift their fellow students, then flew off into the sunset. Wonderful.

In any case, it occurs to me that no matter how dark a novel gets, or how misguided your main character might become, it's important to keep a balance within the text that allows the reader to feel, at least for a moment, uplifted. The contrast not only makes the characters themselves more endearing, but makes the eventual tragedy, when it comes, that much more horrible. And that, too, is quite wonderful.

Winter and the Holidays, aka: Why is NaNoWriMo in November exactly?

First of all, thanks to Rob and Cathi for the feedback! I tried to leave you a friendly comment but apparently me and Blogger.com are fighting, so instead you get a shoutout! Way better, right?

To answer both of you on the subject of Liana, she is indeed very protective of herself, especially at this point in the story. She is the crown princess, and has been raised to be very conscious of herself and her position. My goal is to write her as a person who, while she is very devoted to her duty, will only really go out of her way on a personal level for Liander. And what you don't know here is that she's actually quite young, so she still has much of the self-interest of youth, and the self-doubt. Being pregnant in this scene probably doesn't help her ability to engage in the sort of mental stillness and flirtation with death that to me make a good warrior. All of this would be way more apparent with some context, so I apologize for just kind of throwing you under the bus there.

In any case, moving on. The subject of my post is one near and dear to my heart. That is, of course, finding time to write for relatively extended periods of time (instead of just jotting down a few sentences in between other activities, which all too often happens to me and leads to longer rewrites). I'm sure the lovely people at the Office of Letters and Light thought they were positively clever to pick November as the month for the national writing of novels, for many reasons not least of which is the natural alliteration inherent, not to mention the sudden deepening of cold in the temperate climbs of our own northern hemisphere. However, as was so correctly pointed out to me at the beginning of my attempt at this illustrious and unctuous activity, November is an unnaturally short month for writers who aren't residents of a small hut on the edge of the Arctic Circle or somewhere else equally reclusive. Why, you may ask? Because the end of November is the start of the holidays.

For me, holidays mean going home, spending a whole lot of time sleeping, talking, and eating food, only to realize suddenly that I haven't done anything I said I was going to get done that week, including writing that chapter I was hoping to finish, or submitting that short story. Much less completing the last leg of a 50,000 unit lexicological demonstration of skill. (For entertainment this morning I am reading a thesaurus. Pardon me if I stretch the usage of some words, I like to experiment.) Ultimately, you're left having gained about twenty pounds and having written about five words, which you will probably scrap as products of food-induced dilusions. But I digress.

The worst part about holidays is that once you have hit November, you're often, whether you like it or not, on a rollercoaster ride straight through to New Year's. So how do you find time to write between all of the magical activities that surely crop up? It's a sticky situation, and I think all of us run into it at some point or another. There is a divide, after all, between who we would like to be and who we are currently that can often only be bridged by sleeplessness. But I say to you, fellow writers, that there is a silver lining in all of this madness! At least, there is one for me.

I find that my greatest inspiration for projects often comes when I am encountering something new. There is a fine line to walk, of course, but after being exposed to new ideas, scenery, and people, I often find myself better able to communicate the reality of my story in a more visceral way. It is not necessarily that I didn't know where the story was going before, but that I had lost touch with reality. After all, a good story only truly exists when you have brought it far enough into reality to be felt by the reader (though you must make sure not to bring it too far.) In essence, living life fully brings you closer to your art.

"Mother of Creation" Excerpt

As per request from Rob, I will now post a portion of the sword fight bit I wrote a few days ago. This part is written from the perspective of the sort of main character Liana, who is a princess in exile following a coup organized by her uncle, and also, as per her station, the scion of their sun god, Herkun.

In any case, here goes. I will consider commenting on this later, depending on what anyone may deign to say. I am, of course, always interested in critique. Thanks in advance!

P.S. One of my friends read this and was basically like: "What the hell is going on and who are all these people?" In the book obviously there is all sorts of explanation, and you have to keep in mind as well that this scene is also about at third of the way through the as-yet-incomplete manuscript. However, brief character bios follow.

Liana is the crown princess of Herkunsland, scion of the sun god.
Liander is her twin brother, who escaped exile with her following a coup conducted by their uncle.
Jei is their half-brother, who was conceived when their father was seduced by the moon goddess Herka, who he knows as Ma'alu. He is the one who helped the twins escape Herkunsland.

At the beginning of this scene, Jei's village is being invaded by a neighboring village, the Quet'le-Ma. I would provide more information than this but it might just get confusing. This is an epic fantasy piece, and while Liana is the catalyst of all that happens, there are five viewpoint characters in total.

Liana stepped from house to house, and at each flaming roof she reached to the answering fire within her and pulled. The energy of the flame rushed into her, flushing her with heat she sorely needed, for in her haste she had not donned nearly enough clothing, though the night was warm with burning. The strange grief that emanated from somewhere within her had left her eyes weeping since first she had struck with her blade, killing a youth with only a handful of bells in his hair. She fought to overcome it, but the best that she could manage was to shove it to one side while she continued from house to house, even as it grew stronger and stronger, threatening to drown her.

"Liana," her twin said, his hand on her shoulder as she waivered slightly before a house which was already lost, "leave this one." She stared at him for a moment through blurring eyes, blinking to clear her vision as sudden fatigue filled her. She shook it off, straightening.

"It's too dangerous," she told him, though her voice sounded thin even to her. "The fire will spread." As if to mark her words, a great ember caught on the wind, striking the dry winter grass nearby and began to smolder. Liana reached down and out, and the fire rushed into her, filling her. She turned back to Liander, and as if in a dream saw a blade rising behind him.

Without thinking, she grabbed his forearm and pivoted, pulling from her hip. Off balance, he swung behind her, and she caught the falling blade on her own, feeling her knees begin to buckle even as Liander used their mutual grip to pull her backwards. A knife blade flashed where her stomach would have been and she felt fear well up with the grief for the first time as she tumbled to the ground. A strange thought filled her in that moment of weightlessness that perhaps these feelings were not hers. Impact with the earth shook it from her, even as a shape stepped in front of her. She started backward awkwardly as Jei's form came into focus. Such was her fatigue that despite her adrenaline, she could barely force herself to stand. It was as if she had run for miles, or had not slept for days. Blackness tugged at the edges of her vision, and her head spun before she righted herself, breathing in a deep lungful of the smoke-laden air to regain her focus. Her fingers were numb about her sword, the light saber her father had given her. The women of Perlen trained in this sort of sword-work, he had told her, and her grip tightened beneath the guard. If that was the case, she had a whole line of ancestors that she could not fail now. The honor of her mother's family was at stake.

"So you're the one swallowing the fires," came an unfamiliar voice behind her, and an unfamiliar tongue as well, though it sounded somewhat like that of the villagers. Both Jei and Liander were already fighting, and she whirled, bringing her blade up against the attack she knew was coming. The strike, a slow sweep, caught on her blade and knocked her back. She staggered, blinking her eyes to clear them. It seemed that the tears had at last stopped, at least, though the fatigue of her body was now being offset by a fear that seemed somehow separate from her, returning clarity to the moment even as she fought to control it. She didn't waste energy trying to reply to him, trying to ask him anything. There wasn't any point. She simply braced herself, waiting for his next attack, and when it came she turned it aside with a smooth motion, feeling his sword slide from the guard as she stepped past his reach. He retreated sharply, and she advanced, thrusting. He knocked her blade aside, leaving her open, and she danced out of his way, feeling her movements drag. The edge of his short sword passed so close to her face that she could feel the breath of its passage, cold as death. She sliced across, her movements sloppy, and it was his turn to retreat, a grin twisting his features. His bells flickered in the last of the flames, and she wondered if she would die this time. The fear inside her grew stronger, threatening to overcome her. Unthinking, she pressed her palm to her womb, willing safety and love to the child that might soon die with her. The warrior’s eyes widened, and for the first time, he seemed to truly look at her eyes. A sudden snarl twisted his features.

“Sun-mother,” he growled, striking forward with renewed ferocity, knocking her blade from her hands. She watched it skitter away in despair as the man backed her towards the gutted frame of the building she had just put out. The clanging of swords still sounded from somewhere nearby, and she thought she heard someone shout her name. The cool, tacky-wet flat of the advancing man’s blade pressed to the side of her throat, and to her surprise he sheathed his dagger, grabbing her wrist.

“You will come with me. With you, Ma’le will accept us once more.” His words meant nothing to her, but it did not matter. A small form appeared from the smoke and shadows behind him, and he stiffened, his sword tangling in her shirt for a moment before cutting free and clattering to the ground beside him.

When your plot becomes boring and you don't know what to do...

IT'S SWORD FIGHT TIME!!! That's right, folks, yesterday/today I called upon my incredibly nerdly knowledge of these weapons (which I acumulate all of the time because swords are absolutely fabulous) and killed some random people in my book! Why? Because I was bored.

I feel that a good rule of thumb is that if I'm am just bloody bored writing it, my reader is probably going to get tired of reading it. Admittedly, reading often goes a bit faster than writing, at least in my experience (after all, I read most books in one day if I'm really into them) but I think that this is still a good rule of thumb, especially as you get further into the book. It's important to keep good pacing in the plot, and to build up to some sort of final climax. I personally hate it when I get to the end of a book and feel that nothing has really been resolved, so I definitely wouldn't want to do that to my readers.

Don't get me wrong, sword fights aren't the only thing that you can throw into a story to liven up the plot (in fact, in some stories a sword fight might kill your whole premise, and no one wants that.) Some other things I've occasionally thrown in as added spice include: romantic encounters, murders or other similar unfortunateness, and humorous instances. My first book, being a little lighter, emphasized a lot of humorous dialogue and romantic tension - though I did dip into a fight in a back alley for fun.

Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that I wrote a sword fight, and whenever that happens life feels better. Or, in a more general and writerly context - and no, writerly is not, in fact, a word; you can, however, steal it - these are some things you could try if your story is eddying around in circles, as, unfortunately, happens from time to time. Now, assuming I've used quite enough commas in this post, I will be signing out after the following brief plug.

Anyone interested in reading a swordfight? Sorry, I'm stuck on this for right now. Let me know if so, and I'll post one!