Prince Ashini must choose between the love of the beautiful goddess, Sekra, and duty to his own people.
Osiren’s Tears is now up on Amazon.
It is priced at $2.99 at the moment.
I might put it up on sale this weekend for 99 cents. I still have to figure out about marketing before I do that.
However, I am going to be moving this to $4.99 next month. It’s a full length book, after all.
There is a sample available on Amazon. You can read most of the first chapter there. Try it before you buy it.
Three flash fiction stories. “Beware the Werewolf”, “Chimera” and “Griffins Flight”
Small Bites 1 is now up and available for 99 cents.
The first Small Bites is three short stories about creatures. A werewolf, chimera, and griffins.
I had a little bit of an unexpected set back with “Osiren’s Tears”. I had an extra crit that actually will make it so much better in the end. Since “OT” is more then just short stories, and something I’ve been working on for years, I want to get it right before I push that publish button.
I hope you enjoy “Small Bites”, and I can’t wait to put the others up.
I asked the question “How do you attack the blank white page” on The Story Telling Podcast and someone took that question and used it as his own podcast.
So share with us… How do you attack the dreaded white page?
I think I should make a video for this too…. hmmm…
The big news right now, or course, is the bombing in Boston. But I can’t add to the conversation on that except to say that I am glad the news is acknowledging that this is not just about us here in the states. It was an international marathon, one of several in the world. And while it was a sad tragedy, I hope that it is used to bring us closer together, not push us farther apart.
Now… some things from the writing side of life.
Amazon and Publishing Royalties (I love that Amazon is listening tot heir writers! Let’s hope they keep listening.)
27 Wacky Ways to Cure Writers Block (some interesting, and unusual ideas I’ve never come across before.)
Writers Club ultimate resource list…. Just.. ya, go look.
Interview with R.A. Salvatore at Comic Con
Perspectives…. Author vs Director
I have been so busy going over edits for “Osiren’s Tears” that I haven’t been actually writing much. I feel like I am slacking, it’s horrible.
It isn’t like I haven’t been doing anything. I have to reread every line of “OT” to be sure the editors edit agree with my style (most are grammar/spelling/punctuation, so it’s a gimmie, but a few are just a matter of style, and choice.)
I’ve also been redoing the cover to get it “perfect”, trying to get a good description blurb, and working on some formatting issues.
I’ve been spending hours on all the little things, but not actually writing.
So I am looking at my word count chart and there is this huge dip after I finished “OT”. Nearly a week with very little, and sometimes no writing. And I feel so guilty!
But this is a good thing… so I said to heck with it all and sat down and wrote a couple scenes for a “super secret surprise”.
It felt good to actually write again, and hopefully I can get it done in the next week.
I like parts of the first blurb, but it was pointed out that the real meat of the blurb was the last two sentences, and fewer people would get to those sentences. Also, Ashini is the main character of the story, not Grom.
So, a new blurb. What do you think?~
Ashini, prince of the menaids, is trapped between his love of the beautiful goddess, Sekra, and duty to his people. The goddess pleads for peace between the menaids and trolls, while his people demand that they stand their ground.
How can you stop tensions between two races that began upon creation? Water and earth. Fire and ice. Always at odds with one another. And now Grom, leader of the trolls, is charging towards Iklestal, his army of rock-skinned trolls at his back.
Ashini has one last option, but will the goddess survive the aftermath?
Imagine a person standing against a board. On the other side of the board is another person. As long as they both push against that board it doesn’t move.
The one on the nearside is just trying to hold the wall up. All they care about is keeping the normality at a steady level. Keep the wall strait. Hold on. Steady.
The guy on the other side of the wall… he’s an asshole. He keeps pushing on that wall. Pressing in, trying to demolish the house the first person made.
Sometime the ass gets tired, and he wanders away. Bored. Other times he pushes harder, or enlists help. Some days…. some days he has a tractor and he manages to knock the wall down.
The girl inside… she just wants to build her house. So she picks up the pieces and puts it back together, and guards the wall. Hoping to keep it up. Hoping to keep it steady the next time he attacks.
After a while she doesn’t leave the wall anymore. And when he stops pounding on the walls she gets nervous. Constantly waiting for the next blow.
The blows become normal. They become natural. They become her world.
So when you take down the wall and set her free… it’s so hard to just be normal.
And then something good happens. Someone actually pays attention, or god forbid, helps her build that wall. It’s shocking, even terrifying, because it isn’t normal. Not to her. Not to the life she’s lived for so many years, trapped inside those walls.
I realize these things. I know my brain is lying to me when a good thing happens and I start waiting for something horrible to happen. Nothing horrible has really happened in the last four years…
Like the Blogess says… Depression is a lying bastard.
The description for “Osiren’s Tears”. Would this make you want to read?
“The trolls are a noble, proud race, made from the very earth. In death they return to the earth, their blood and body becoming the precious metals and gemstones from which the mountains are made.
The menaids, lovers of beautiful things, found the stones and metals. They built their city, Iklestal,and laced it with magnificent works of art. Golden statues. Silver filigree. Gemstones and precious metals, all stripped from the last resting place of the trolls.
But how can Grom, the greatest among the trolls, live in peace knowing his ancestors are nothing but pretty baubles adorning the menaids? How did Osiren, his god, expect him to react when he found the lone menaid wearing his mothers eyes as earrings?”
Now that “Osiren’s Tears” is at the editors I realized that “Small Bites 1” is also ready to go up. SO! I will have two new books out by the end of the month.
I also have two fellow writers helping me iron out some kinks before I put out my next couple books. And my boyfriend who has been helping me when he can, mostly with encouragement, sometimes with editing and advice.
I went through everything I have ready, or near ready, and I actually have 15 books that I should have out by June! (Including the two already out.)
After such a slow start, and months between books, the fact that I will soon have 15 of them is amazing.
Couple things that helped me get this far:
1. Getting organized.
I literally had hundreds of story ideas, so many it was overwhelming. So I started by pairing it down to “What is a solid, complete, story idea”, then “what is almost finished” and was able to narrow it down to just a couple dozen stories. Much of easier to deal with.
So however your creative side isthe finding expression, narrow it down to what is most important now, finish those, then come back for more.
2. Track Yourself
I loved NaNoWriMo. Watching the little graphs go up as I wrote each day. Having a goal. Competing against friends to see who could finish first.
It took me a month in June of trial and error to finally find a system that worked best for me, but now I have it. It tracks all the important things. Words written, chapters finished, blog posts… everything at a glance with a running tally for each month. And because of it my word count is going up every day.
3. Annoying Friends
I have the guys over at SPP and STP, especially Garrett, that keep writing and publishing thousands of words every month. And I keep thinking… I’m going to catch up to you dang it! And by golly I am going to catch up eventually!
It’s the whole idea behind the competition part of NaNoWriMo. Comparing yourself to other people isn’t always a good thing… but for this I’m making an exception.
4. Don’t be Satisfied with the Status Quo
I want to do better. I want to write more, write better, edit more, and have TONS of books out there. That drive to push myself… in the end it’s really what keeps me at this.
So… GO CREATE SOMETHING! No more excuses.
Author Crissy Moss 