Category: Writing

Accountability check-in: bread machine

This week, I unearthed my old bread machine from one of the lower cupboards in my kitchen. And when I say old bread machine, I do mean old. Not only could it vote, but it’s been around long enough to graduate college, complete med school, and residency before chucking it all to become a YouTube influencer.

My bread machine. She’s been around the block a few times.

I was wondering whether it would still work. Then I reasoned, why not? It’s only been napping there on the lower shelf, and there was no reason not to try it out.

So I bought a couple of bread machine mixes. Low stakes here. I decided not to go all in until I knew for certain.

What do you know?

It still works! And there’s nothing like the smell of baking bread for instant comfort. Unless it’s slicing into a warm loaf soon after.

So, my bread machine is very similar to my writing process. I’m not a fast writer. My stories need a lot of subconscious churning before they’re ready. So, this series I’m working on?

It’s been “in the works” for ten years.

Yep, you read that correctly. Ten. Whole. Years.

Granted, I’ve been doing any number of things during that time, including writing a whole other series (Coffee and Ghosts). In fact, I think I needed to write that first before writing this one.

It can be frustrating to be in this place, to have your process be the opposite of the current hustle and grind culture. But I’ve learned (often the hard way) that it’s so much better for me and my stories to write this way. In the long run, I actually get more words and more stories, have more fun, and end up with better stories.

And this week, I’m grateful that my bread machine reminded me of that.

Accountability check-in: Snow! Halloween! Chirp deal!

After a week of lovely autumn weather, we naturally ended up with snow (!) on Halloween. Even so, we had some good traffic, and the trick-or-treaters gobbled up at least half the candy I put out next to our Little Free Library. My daughter and I are making short work of the rest. I decided to opt out of taking a picture of our snow-covered lawn.

In writing news, it was a brainstorm kind of week, with progress on the story and word count front. Clearly, my subconscious has been working overtime (if maybe I haven’t been).

Also, this week, I have a Chirp Deal going on as well for the Coffee and Ghosts Books 1 – 3 bundle, narrated by the fabulous Amy McFadden. Book 4 also has a price drop.

And last, but certainly not least, if you’re in the US and you haven’t yet, please vote.

Accountability check-in: a series timeline

Late-blooming wildflower

So, I just took a peek at my series timeline, which is now five pages long. On it, I have dates that go all the way back to 1986.

Yes. The dark ages.

For this particular story, I need to know when people were born, when they (may have) died, when they … traveled through dimensions.

Yes. Complicated.

But I always recommend using a calendar of some sort when writing a longer story. Even jotting down the passing days in a notebook can be helpful. That way, you don’t end up with children going to school ten days in a row or making January six weeks long.

Weeding these things out can be difficult. Darcy and I actually ended up with the extra-long January in The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading. We knew something was off; our editor knew something was off. No one could say what, not until Darcy did the painstaking work of mapping out the timeline. Then we had to pull all those story threads and weave them back together again, minus those two weeks.

Yes. Painful.

So, this is my recommendation for the week, probably because I’ve spent some extra time in my series timeline, testing things out, revisiting what came before. And then heading outside to put the garden* to bed and ponder some more.

*This is actually why I garden; it gives me time to think.

Accountability check-in: so what about that cage match?

I mentioned way back in January that my manuscript, The Pansy Paradox, was in the quarter-finals of the First Page Cage contest over at Pulp Literature.

Then, of course, I never mentioned it again.

But as it turned out, the experience was beyond gratifying. The Pansy Paradox tied for first. I love this outcome, and I was so thrilled for Nikita, my co-winner. I love that Pulp Literature was so generous in awarding a double prize.

There’s another layer to this, beyond winning and the prize money. I entered the contest specifically because I wasn’t sure I could write anymore. Obviously, I can string sentences together (because here I am, stringing sentences together). But writing stories, in particular, this story?

I had no idea. After the past couple of years of … everything, I simply wasn’t sure.

So it’s gratifying to learn that I can still write stories that people want to read.

Here’s what one of the judges said about the story:

“The Pansy Paradox is a delightful New Adult romantasy set in the mythical rural town of King’s End, Minnesota. It deals with themes of grief, loss, and responsibility with humour, romance, and sentient umbrellas.”

Yes, you read that right. Sentient umbrellas. They’re a thing; well, at least in this story, they are.

You can read more about the final outcome on this post here. You can also read what’s going on with this year’s quarter-finalists here. It’s interesting to see where the editor judges agree and disagree.

Namedropped!

So last week, Pulp Literature namedropped me in their weekly email:

Cover art by S Ross Browne. Line art by Mel Anastasiou

Would you look at that gorgeous graphic?

I love Pulp Literature. And not just because they’ve published some of my stories and I’ve placed in or won a contest* or two. And not just because they have a cool tagline: Good books for the price of a beer.

I encourage you to take a look around and consider purchasing an issue to try them out. They publish in both print and digital.

*An update about my most recent content experience with them will be forthcoming. But for now, let’s just say it was grand.

Accountability check-in: maybe it’s not the marketing

So, I’ve nearly finished the marketing-for-introverts course, and I had a realization. I don’t necessarily dislike marketing. Some kinds of marketing really drain me, and the course covers why that is, depending on your type of introversion. I found that part extremely helpful.

But I don’t lack desire so much as time, energy, and headspace—literal headspace, as in how much space I have in my brain for thinking about things that relate to writing and publishing.

And … I know the culprit in all this. And … I have a … let’s call it an exit strategy, for now.

In the meantime, however, I’m going to do a little marketing and tell you that Coffee and Ghosts, Seasons 1 – 3 is on sale for 99 cents. And it has been on sale for a while because I had a BookBub Featured Deal last month.

I also scheduled some other newsletter promotions around my BookBub day. But honestly? Nothing performs quite like a featured deal, which did most of the heavy lifting. I’m in the black in terms of ROI, so I’m very pleased. The bundle will be available for 99 cents through the end of the month.

Accountability check-in: start slow to restart

Hummingbird at my camera feeder, enjoying an evening snack.

So after the big software release at work, I’m getting back to the writing and everything else that goes along with the writing—and some things that don’t, like bringing in my hummingbird feeders for the season.

This weekend I restarted MTBs (Manuscript Time Blocks). These work better for me than word count goals. I’m reacquainting myself with the manuscript, checking in with all my characters, and starting to make some progress.

Also, this week, I began taking a self-paced marketing-for-introverts class, which I’m enjoying so far.

This coming week, I plan to claw back my morning writing time. I was logging on an hour earlier because of the release. No. More. Also, I’m looking forward to an actual lunch break.

Hope everyone made a little progress on something for themselves this week as well.

Starting 2024 with a cage match

I—somewhat foolishly, I admit—entered Pulp Literature’s First Page Cage contest. At the time, I used the deadline to spur me to the end of the manuscript, and I was pleased to make the long list. But I figured things wouldn’t go beyond that.

I was wrong.

I’m in the quarter-finals. In addition to the editor judges, there’s a readers’ choice component of the contest. I’m not sure why this surprises me since the contest is a cage match. This sort of thing is implied.

However, it did, and does. But if you’d like to read more and play along, you can do so here. Or, if you’re ready to head straight to the entries and voting, you can do that here.

And if you’re curious about what I’ve been working on these past several months (and why I’ve been so quiet), you can see that below.

The Pansy Paradox

A woman with nothing to hide—except the truth—meets a man with nothing to lose—except his heart. And he’s just arrived in town to fire her.

Meet Pansy Little …

Since her mother vanished, Apprentice Field Agent Pansy Little is the sole guardian of King’s End, protecting it from a supernatural force only a select few can see. The arrival of an agent from headquarters doesn’t bring relief. Instead, it means Pansy’s well-crafted charade is about to collapse.

Meet Henry Darnelle …

Principal Field Agent Henry Darnelle doesn’t want to be in King’s End, but he’s been blackmailed into performing Pansy’s field agent evaluation—with explicit instructions to fail her.

Distractedly handsome and unfailingly correct, he surprises Pansy—and himself—by defying orders to fire her. Instead, his curiosity is piqued by both Pansy and King’s End.

Together, they investigate, unearthing the intricate ties that bind their families. Together, they might even be falling in love.

But someone with a decades-old obsession is watching, maneuvering behind the scenes. This someone won’t rest until blood is spilled.

Welcome to King’s End, where discord falls from the sky and an eccentric twenty-something patrols the streets with her pink polka-dotted umbrella. Where one misstep won’t merely bring disaster—it might spark the end of the world.

Moon launch!

So, way back in the dark ages of 2021 (nearly three years ago now), I mentioned I was going to the moon. Or rather, my writing was. Now, the Peregrine Mission One with Astrobotic is about to launch, barring any delays. (Hey, it’s space travel; delays happen.)

To celebrate, Susan Kaye Quinn has published all the stories behind the stories headed to the moon. I’m #95 on the manifest, and you can read my story behind the story here.

I probably won’t be awake for the launch. Even so, I’m excited to head to the moon.

Edited to add: By all accounts, the launch was spectacular, but Peregrine developed a fuel leak and won’t be making it to the moon. My heart goes out to Astrobotic and the Peregrine team. However, as true scientists, they’re making the most of this situation. You can read the updates here.

Autumn Story Round-up

It’s autumn story round-up time! I had a few stories come out, both new and reprints, during August and September, but clearly have been remiss in actually mentioning them.

Oddly enough, they’re all military-themed to some degree. I don’t often write about the military, so it’s weird these three stories hit all at once.

Steadfast in Does it Have Pockets

This is a reprint that first appeared in Flash Fiction Online. It is also a modern retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier, complete with a gender flip and unapologetic happy ending.

Rules of Engagement, second place prose (veteran) in the 2023 Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards from Line of Advance

New story alert! I won’t say much about this one, except the title is a play on words.

Field Manual for Waiting in Women on Writing 3rd Quarter 2023 Creative Nonfiction Contest

A reprint, but the first time you can read it online. Fair warning: this is a piece of creative nonfiction that involves grief. You can also read an interview I did with the editors at WOW, where we discuss, among other things, current writing projects and ghosts.