For lack of a better idea, I'm
returning to doing these things once a month. I do have quite a bit
planned for each month, and the accountability will help.
January in Review
Words Written: 18,623/20,000
Books Read: 2/4
WIP-Of-The-Month: Priscilla Sum
I was trying my best to get as much of
this series written as possible, because I knew I was going to swap
over to working on The Last Inkweaver as
soon as February hit, and I wanted to be able to at least finish this
by March so I could submit it for an anthology in April...
So...
that's not going to happen. I'm
still writing this one, though, for sure! I stretched and scraped my
way up to the really
exciting
part where a character almost dies and Pris unwittingly uses an
amulet with "healing" properties... but it actually
releases a demon who is intent on gaining control of the divine
essences of her "gods-in-hiding" adoptive parents... but
now we're back to the "boring" bits and it's kind of slow
going unless I can figure out how to make it more exciting. There are
a few things I can do, so let's hope it works! I'd really like to see
if the ending I have planned is one that I can still pull
off--there's no telling if my imagination exceeds my ability at this
point!
Anthology
Announcement: Myths
And Monsters up
for pre-order!
>Pre-order link< |
Speaking
of the anthology, though, I'm going to take this moment to announce
that the anthology in question is available for pre-order! Just
looking at the lineup of participating authors makes me really
excited!
Instead
of Priscilla Sum,
I'll
be submitting a previously-written story, The
Water-Man.
It's one that I've talked about before, that I reserved exclusively
for posting on Wattpad (so check out the Wattpad Works page in the
tab bar above if you're curious!) and while it may not deal with
mythology per se,
the way I see it is:
-the
main character/focal point is a shapeshifting aquatic cryptid--so
although he takes a human form for this story, he's not naturally
human;
-I
took inspiration from Celtic mythology, particularly the lore behind
selkies, kelpies, and undines, to come up with my own variety--a
"leonie" (from the Gaelic "Lìon-Aos"
or "tide people"), so there's a bit of that involved;
The
only thing I don't know is how much editing it actually needs--so the
more eyes I have on it in the next month or so, the better!
Meanwhile, be sure and hit the link under the cover image, to reserve
your copy in advance!
February's
Challenge: Editing The
Last Inkweaver!
The
main thing that she recommended was re-tooling the beginning, to
avoid info-dumping and to get right into the heart of the story--to
which I heartily agree! The problem that arises, though, is where
to
begin? She's recommended starting at a particular point, but there
are things that happen before that point that wouldn't work as well
in flashback form... unless I made sure to start at that point... It
gives me a lot to think about, for certain! Meanwhile, I've been able
to re-tool some segues into smoother transitions, leave myself a
couple paragraphs of scenes that need to be included, and all in all,
these first two weeks of editing have been pretty productive!
Another Day, Another Blog Hop!
Reading
As
I mentioned above, I've finished only ONE ebook out of the two I
wanted to read over January, and ONE of the two library books I
wanted to finish. Of course, there at the VERY end of the month, I
suddenly found my lacking wherewithal and blazed through the other
library book, and a few short ebooks in the last couple weeks,
bringing my total to 5 titles read this year (6 if you count Lethal
White, which
I finally marked as "Finished" on January 1).
Prey
by
Michael Crichton was every
bit as
disturbing and fascinatingly detailed as I expected it to be. Saving
Faith was
a rollercoaster of political machinations and double-dealing
government officials and agents, typical of David Baldacci's style.
(What was not so typical was the graphic rutting--to put it
mildly--that went on... so it falls unfortunately into the same bin
as Absolute
Power...
I guess maybe he must have had a phase in his writing life where
someone tried to convince him that his books needed to be more steamy
to be accepted? Luckily, those are few and far between... He sure
knows how to write a good one, without dithering over smut!)
The
ebook I managed to finish last month was one that's been on my TBR for a while,
Hugo by
Pamela Poole. She's one of a handful of Christian authors I still
read regularly, and feature on my "Reader's Reviews" (Along
with the likes of Pauline Creeden and more recently Lisa Rae Morris)
and her series is definitely the caliber of a "novice Jan
Karon", and though it's not quite the typical style of novel I
enjoy (I'm less "Hallmark", more "SyFy"), it's
pretty good in its own right, and does it's duty to satisfy the
reader. Check out my review here: Reader's Review: "Hugo"by Pamela Poole
In
these first couple weeks of February, on the other hand, I've managed
to finish a few more titles: the Halloween-themed short story "Head
Over Heels" by S. E. Anderson, which ties into her Starstruck
Saga series (the characters are still as delightful as ever!), and
the prequel novella to the Judah Black series, Fortunate
Son by
E. A. Copen. I also recently finished One Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster--so that review is coming tomorrow! Stay tuned!
On
my nightstand for the next month are five titles, four came from the
library and one borrowed: Spinning
Silver by
Naomi Novik, Veiled
Rose by
Anne Elizabeth Stengl, Magnus
Chase and The Ship of the Dead by
Rick Riordan, The
Stars Below by
David Baldacci (that one I'm especially intrigued, because I had
assumed the Vega Jane series was a trilogy, so when Book 3 ended with
so many questions unanswered I was disappointed--here's hoping Book 4
can redeem it all!), and Until
We Meet Again,
by Michael Korenblit (the one I'm borrowing.) Tune in next month to
see how many of those I've read, and what I thought of them!
<<<<<>>>>>
All in all, I'd say it was a pretty rough start to the year... but
I'm still hopeful that I find more of a rhythm in the next few
months! Wish me luck! As always...
Catch You Further Upstream!
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