Category: Writing

Free Fiction Friday: The Bargain

The Bargain was first published in issue #2 Spirit’s Tincture.

It’s a drabble, a story that is exactly 100 words long.

Mirabella stood tethered to the pole, throat clogged with sulfur. The cavern yawned before her. Behind her, villagers crouched, trembling with anticipation.

The yearly bargain was underway.

A roar. Earth-shattering footfalls. Talons scraped the earth. The dragon closed its wings about the pole; a stream of fire sent the villagers scampering.

In their wake, Mirabelle sighed.

A single talon sliced the ropes. She pulled a key from her bodice, worked it into the shackle around the dragon’s ankle. He bowed his head, in agreement, in gratitude.

She straddled his neck, clutched him tight, and together they rose into the air.

Weekly writing check-in: short stories, novellas, and Photoshop

Jasper and Poppy … maybe?

Checking in late today. I fell into a Photoshop black hole, and I’m just now crawling out of it.

I splurged on a couple of Photoshop actions, and let me tell you… that’s hours of fun right there. Worth every cent.

I’m still looking for the right stock photos for my covers. The models don’t need to look exactly how I see the characters in my mind, but it helps if the attitude is right.

Then you need a supply of poses, preferably on an isolated background (or one that’s fairly neutral), and, and, and … you get the idea.

In actual writing news, I finished the short story I was working on. I’m now letting it rest a bit before I revise and send it off.

I also started outlining the companion novella. The main challenge here is to keep it at novella length. I hope to start writing it soon, possibly as early as this coming week.

Weekly writing check-in: second draft … done!

And … it’s done! The second draft came in at 81,000 words. I added about 13,000 words during the revision, and I’m feeling good about that.

I still need to do a third draft. There are things I want to refine before I send this manuscript off to an editor. I will let it sit for about a week or two before I tackle that.

Because this is going to be a series, I’ll be setting up a series bible so I can keep all my world building information in one place. I’m thinking about using OneNote, but I’m open to suggestions.

I will also work on a few short stories–in fact, I started one yesterday. And I’m planning a companion novella for the series as well, and I will ponder that a bit while I work on building the series bible.

Weekly writing check-in: home stretch

Last week, I complained about how slowly the revision was moving along. This week? I’m up 25,000 words! I feel as if I’ve stolen Jo March’s writing hat.

This part of the manuscript is more straightforward. The events I moved around occur earlier in the story, and I suspect that’s the reason I’m moving much faster now.

I have about 15,000 original words left in the first draft. I have a few scenes I pulled from there and worked on using The Emotional Craft of Fiction, which I already revised. Granted, I will need to review them because when you revise, things … change.

But with a little time and a little luck, I hope that next week I get to report that the second draft is done.

Weekly writing check-in: 99 cent Geek Girl

So, I made a discovery this week that the e-book version of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading is at 99 cents in all the US stores. That was a surprise. I think it started around Wednesday, based on the rank shift over on Amazon.

As I said on Friday, now’s the time to grab a copy if you don’t already have one.

Kindle  Nook  Apple  Kobo  Google Play

Edited to add: looks like the price is going up on various retailers (Kobo, Google). Well, it was fun while it lasted.

In revision news, I’ve added ~8,000 words to the second draft. This is moving a little slower than I’d like. Or rather, I think I should be moving faster through the manuscript, but on reflection, I suspect this pace is just right. I’ve rearranged events and moved scenes around, and I simply can’t drop a scene into the manuscript as is. There’s emotional context to consider, story threads to weave in or tug out.

So, while part of me wants to zoom through this revision, another part of me is pleased with my progress so far.

Weekly writing check-in: a series without a name

Kitty has no suggestions for a series name

I’m 30,000 words into the revision. That’s almost halfway, or at least, it’s almost halfway through the original draft word count.

I’m still pondering not only a title for this particular book, but a name for the entire series as well. And I’m almost at my wit’s end and seriously considering Tea & Witches (as a complement to Coffee & Ghosts).

But, of course, Coffee & Ghosts started out as simply a shorthand way of referring to the stories I was writing. Then the whole thing bloomed into a serial/series, and by that time, the name was set. Because of this, I’ve had to explain what the heck Coffee and Ghosts actually is, with an essay here on my website and in all the books.

This is not a road I wish to travel with this series, even if it’s a spin-off. That being said, it would be very, very on brand. If you enjoy brainstorming, feel free to read the book’s description here and offer up suggestions.

Weekly writing check-in: family reunions and revisions

So, I took last week off and traveled all the way to North Carolina for a family reunion! It was fun, exhausting, and thankfully, I did not have to perform in the talent show (a reunion tradition). I didn’t get much writing done, but I lounged by the pool and did a lot of reading.

I was back at it this week, and I’m closing in on 25,000 words of revised, revamped, new words in the manuscript. I’m pleased with my progress, but I suspect it will need another (fairly quick–or so I hope) revision before I send it off to an editor.

In other news, the results are now official over on the Easy Street Magazine’s website for the Portal Prize.

I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that I’ll make even more progress on the revision this week. The first third needed … help. The next two thirds? Maybe not as much. I don’t know. We’ll see.

Weekly writing check-in: second draft

Sunrise at the lake

I’ve moved from working on the exercises in The Emotional Craft of Fiction and have jumped into the actual revision. I still highly recommend the book, especially if you’re looking for something to jumpstart your manuscript or revision process.

I’m about 9,000 words into the revision. This isn’t simply going over the scenes I’ve already written. True, there’s some of that, but a lot of it is moving things around, pondering what happens if events occur in a different order, some brand new writing, and so on.

In other news, I found out that my story In a Manner of Speaking was a finalist for Easy Street’s first annual Portal Prize for Speculative Fiction, and it will be published in their print anthology in 2019. For anyone who’s counting, this is the third time I’ve sold this story. The great thing about Easy Street is they accept both published and unpublished fiction.

And … that’s it for this week! I’m off to cook some dinner and maybe add to the revision.

Weekly writing check-in: The Potato Bug War

New short (very short) story release this week!

My flash fiction piece, The Potato Bug War, is now available in issue #19 of Pulp Literature.

This is my second historical fiction story, and like The Saint of Bright Red Things, it takes place in France during World War Two.

And it’s so short, that all I’ll say is it’s about insects, Nazis, and resistance.

Curious? You can order a copy from Amazon or Pulp Literature directly.

In other news, I’ve added about 10,000 more words to the revision exercises I’ve been doing, sketched out a few “big picture” ideas, and got knocked in the side of the head with yet another idea I might like to write. I’m resisting that mightily (for now).

Weekly writing check-in: Hello, July!

Kitty can’t believe the year is half over

A quick update from last week: I did successfully find some cupcakes. The girls demolished the strawberry ones so quickly it was almost frightening.

In writing news, I have somehow managed ~12,000 words of revised/new content while using the exercises in The Emotional Craft of Fiction. This surprised me since I feel as if I’m plodding along and not making a lot of progress. Additionally, I revamped the opening scenes as well.

Sometimes, you have to stop and take stock of where you’ve been.

This week, I’m looking forward to getting some more work done on the exercises in the book as well as some additional brainstorming for the rest of the series. I have several high-level story threads that I want to keep track of as I move through not only this revision but the rest of the series.

I also might follow kitty’s lead and schedule some time for a nap.