Tag Archives: Fantasy

Rainy NaNoWriMo

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I have a hot cup of tea, the steam wafting up in ribbons of creamy goodness, and the rain is falling just outside my windows. The slick black pavement, and vibrant fall leaves… all of it just makes me want to settle down with a good book, and read.

I love the rain. It’s a calming force that washes the world clean. Everything smells fresh, and the world looks a little clearer after a good rain.

If only it wasn’t so cold.

For the last week I’ve been writing the plot for my NaNoWriMo book. I want it to be my first full length book. (Well, first finished, edited, and published.) That means I’m shooting for 80k, 50 of which I’ll write during November. Finish the rest, and a lot of editing, come December.

This is a major undertaking for me, and a big step in terms of publishing. Everything so far has been novellas and short stories. It’s time I did something full length.

I’m also going to keep working on some of my short stories, and hopefully publish a few more, but my main focus is going to be the NaNo project.

And what is my NaNo project this year? So glad you asked!

“The Mermaid’s Curse” is a paranormal romance. A young mermaid has been cursed by a powerful entity seeking a physical manifestation on land.

I’m still working out a few of the details, and a lot is going to change over time. I will probably share a few of those details, and maybe a first chapter here as NaNo continues.

And yes, this one also has a battle scene but the focus is more on the relationship between the mermaid and a young man who has vowed to protect her at any cost.

Should be fun.

Forgotten Ones- FINISHED!

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FO-sm“Forgotten Ones” is finally here!

It is on Amazon for $2.99 for the weekend. I will also have it on Kobo soon. A print book should be available by Nov.

The story of the goddesses of Fate in the modern day, fighting to save humanity from one of their kin.

This felt like it took a long time to me, but I realized this is actually the fastest I have ever completed something this long. Three months, 30,000 words. Not only written, but edited, formated, and covers done. Start to finish, less then three months.

I’ve done NaNoWriMo before. A hot sweltering mass of words tumbling out across the page. 50,000 word rough draft to show for it at the end. I’ve done it, several times.

But those are drafts. Incomplete. Unviewable by the general public. It took me another three months, after writing them, just to do the rewrites.

Once I completed “Forgotten Ones” my boyfriend showed up at my door with a dozen red roses, and a platter of sushi. If that’s what I get for finishing a short book, I can’t wait to see what I get when I publish a full length, 100,000 word epic novel!

As for the next book, I am hoping to get the two short stories I’ve been working on finished, and published, soon. One is a halloween story, and should have been up at the beginning of the month, so we’ll see.

For NaNoWriMo, starting Nov 1st, I will be working on two, or three, of my paranormal romances. They will probably be 30,000 words each, that’s why I’m doing two.

The best part about all of this is just finishing something, and being that much closer to a full time writing career… oh, and affording an editor to re-edit everything. That will be nice too.

Writing Backwards

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I had an unusual solution to an old problem today. I’m probably not the first person to come up with this, but I thought I’d share it anyway.

I was working on a chapter for “Forgotten Ones” in which the two fates, Maylin and Jadina, are walking down a tunnel in search of a particular creature that will hopefully lead them to the big bad guy. I knew how it began, and how I wanted it to end, but the middle… not so much.

So, I started writing it backwards. I read the last paragraph and thought “how do they get to this spot”, and add a paragraph describing that. Then write the paragraph, or mini scene right before that.

For example….

June is walking down a path, and knows that the monster under the bed is at the end of the path. She’s going to walk down the path, see some interesting things on the sidelines, and eventually end up at the monsters den. She goes in the den, there is a little fight, and June ends up sitting on top of the monster with the monsters feet tied up.

So, that is my beat. I write the first section with June walking through the woods, and entering the den, no problem. I am really good at that part. I write the ending with June sitting on the monster, and a little quip about the monster having too many hands and not enough brains. But in the center I just have “battle”.

Battle scenes are the hardest scenes for me to write, which is annoying since a lot of my books have them. But what are you going to do… unless I try and find myself a co-author I’m stuck for it.

So, with this particular story that I am just making up on the spur of the moment, if I try writing it backwards as I just did with “Forgotten Ones” I would think… How did she get on top of the monster? Well clearly she had to have all his hand already captured so the paragraph before would be her locking up the last hand, then swinging her leg over the beast and having a seat.

Then what happened just before that? Well, it has a lot of hands, so she is going to have to dodge them as she is tangling them up in a long ribbon. (This is where I just realize she has a ribbon to tie up the hands.)

Before that, there needs to be some tension. Maybe the monster grabs her ankle and drags her down, and she manages to get herself loose by tickling him.

And just keep going backwards until I have a full story. (On a side note, this sounds like a fun story to write as a children’s book with pictures. Maybe some day.)

In other news…..

I now have nine books available on Kobo. I have two more in queue to be on Kobo, but they are coming.

“Forgotten One” is now 25,000 words long, and I am a little half way through the final edits. Plus the two chapters with battle scenes that I have to finish… sigh.

“Potion Shop” is almost done, also. I really need to just get that out there. Perhaps this weekend.

A Trick (A free short story)

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There was a little contest today for a flash fiction story about this picture. So I wrote one. Hope you enjoy it. If you do, you can vote for me by adding a +1 to it.

A Trick

“Ha, ha, Dinah, I knew we could do it,” the little fairy said, leaning back in her saddle and tapping Dinah’s sides with her heels.

Dinah mewed, unmoving. It really didn’t matter if the commands came from fae or humans, cats rarely listened to anyone unless they wanted to.

“I can’t believe she fell for it,” the fairy said. “I mean really, chasing rabbits in the glade. She’s seven, isn’t she? That’s ancient in human years.”

She leaned back, watching a dragonfly buzz by over head, a smile widening across her face.

A frown furrowed her little brow. “You don’t think Chez would ruin it, do you? I mean, it’s so perfect, a human child in the fairy hill. We can torment her for ages. But you know Chez, she likes to meddle. “

She leaned forward, scratching the kitten between the ears. “No, she couldn’t possibly do that. I mean, the last time she interfered in someone’s mischief it started a war. We couldn’t leave the under-hill for a century. The humans forgot we existed. Surely she wouldn’t do that again.”

Dinah mewed, leaning into the scratch.

“Well, well, well. What have we here?”

The fairy looked up to see a perfect set of white teeth floating above a branch. From around the teeth a fairy materialized, her wings flickering in a purple glow.

“Oh, Chez, I was just thinking about you.”

“Red, I knew you wouldn’t waste any time getting out of the under-hill.”

“It’s a beautiful day,” Red said, laying back on Dinah. “The sun is shining, and the flowers are singing. Of course I’m out here enjoying it.”

Chez leaned against the tree trunk. “And the little girl?”

“Which little girl?” Red said, blinking big eyes up at her innocently.

“So many to choose from, it’s a pity you have so little time to play with them.”

“Exactly!” Red said, snapping up to attention. “I’m glad you understand.”

“Hmmm… You know, it’s been a very long time since I’ve been a cat,” Chez said, her shape fuzzing. “I think I might like to be a cat again.”

Chez’s shape changed around her perfectly grinning teeth, shifting into the form of a cat with purple stripes.

“A Cheshire cat?”

“But of course. We all need to be something, don’t we? Why not a cat?”

“Why not indeed. What are you up to, Chez?”

“Oh, about the height of a tree branch,” she said. Her tail started unraveling into thin air. “But that will soon be rectified,” she said as her body faded. “I’ve something to attend to within the hill.”

The grin grinned down at Red, then blinked out of existence.

“She would!” Red cried, and blinked back into the fairy hill.

Publishing, Gender and Genre

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Gender. It’s rarely as cut and dry as male and female in this century, but it still influences a lot of things, and people.

Right now the writers forums, blogs, and news sights are blowing up with articles and commentary about gender roles in SF and fantasy. Articles about women who hide their sex so they can break into the elite ranks of SF, and those that question if they are starved for great women authors, or just sexist. A Tor UK team member even weighed in on the matter, complete with graphs.

4SB4smI will be putting up “Small Bites 4” tomorrow which is Science Fiction. It is the first time I will be sharing my science fiction writing. I’m kind of nervous. I’ve done stories with horror, blood, torture, rape, abuse, and sex. I will never be as nervous about them as I am about something that delves into the science fiction (except maybe erotica).

Why? I chose to use my personal name on my books. “Crissy Moss” isn’t a pen name. It’s me. I kept it because I’m one of a very few people online with that particular name. And it is incredibly feminine. I can’t hide behind “Chris” and still be visible. I chose this.

It’s odd that the two genres that worry me are on complete opposite sides of the spectrum. I am afraid to publish in erotica because I don’t want people to judge me because I am a woman that likes sex. And I am nervous about publishing in SF because I know people will judge me for not being steeped in science enough.

Caring what other people think about us… man or woman, this simple foible is enough to keep people lost, alone, and unable to attain their dreams. This very simple fact is why I won’t sit back and let my stories sit on a hard drive collecting virtual dust. Accolades, comments, and compliments are nice, but being true to yourself is far more important. It’s worth risking one star reviews, flops, and hate mail.

I don’t pretend to know why women aren’t as prominent in the SF/F publishing ranks. I think it is a self perpetuating cycle. Fewer women try to publish in SF, so there are fewer SF books written by women. There are fewer SF books published by women, so fewer women see role models in the SF realm and don’t take the plunge.

I do know that it isn’t just about women. Male authors trying to break into erotica often have to use pseudonyms as well, and they usually have to be female, or non-gender names.

And it’s about readers, too. Readers sometimes wont get past the name on the book.

Gender is more fluid then we think it is. Anatomy doesn’t make us who we are. People can change sexes, or act in non-masculine and non-feminine ways, regardless of the equipment birth gave them. There are even those among us who have no affinity to either sex.

True equality… That’s going to take some time.

Some articles about the subject:

Is the book industry sexist or just starved for great women authors?

Women Who Pretended to Be Men to Publish Scifi Books

SEXISM IN GENRE PUBLISHING: A PUBLISHER’S PERSPECTIVE

The best women authors of science fiction and fantasy

The Greatest Female Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors of All Time

Expanding

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I’m going to be moving some of my books to Kobo, and possibly other platforms. That will make them available in a wider area, and give people more options.

It’s going to take a little while to get everything up and running, but hopefully I will have “Prophecy by Barlight” and “Small Bites 2” out by then.

“Twilight Tales” will be free until the 27th. Because I put it though KDP select that means I won’t be able to put it up on any other platform for a while. But… that’s okay. Eventually I may make it permanently free just to give people a taste of my writing. But that won’t be for at least three months.

BUT, that gives me time to work on some other projects.

I really like how “Footprints” is going. It is a first person story in which a man goes to his family’s cabin to deal with the death of his father. And while there something strange happens.

“Small Bites 2” should also be out soon. It has three more flash-fic stories. Each dealing with curiosity, and what happens when it bites back. “Scarecrow“, which is available in Twilight Tales, “Carmine” which is about a telepath and a vampire, and “Price of a Book” about a woman who finally fights back.

Look for each of these toward the end of the month.

Small Bites 1

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Three flash fiction stories. “Beware the Werewolf”, “Chimera” and “Griffins Flight”

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.

Around the Web

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A lot of things going on since the last time I posted one of these. A few articles, and several videos.

Jessica Blair, Author of 22 romance novels, is actually 89 year old war vet, Bill (Proof that pen names to hide your sex works both ways.)

Why the US internet is so slow and expensive (Vimeo)  (YouTube) This is important to anyone in the US. For writers and creative types who do a great volume of work online, it matters.

6 Publishing trends that will benefit readers and writers.

148 audio podcasts from Joanna Penn

4 ways to amplify your creativity.

Making your fantasy world more relate-able.

Secret anatomy of KDP select

Google+ communities for writers (Youtube) from Books and Beer

Ira Glass on Storytelling (Vimeo) (YouTube) (I might have posted this before, but I love it.)