The last two Saturdays I neglected to do the Reading Radar. That hasn't happened in... years, I think.
A lot has been going on. If you haven't heard, my publisher, LT3 Press, is shutting down. You can see the announcement here. So I've been a bit preoccupied.
I will be working to get my books back out on the market as soon as I can. One or two I will be holding onto for a round of edits before it goes back up. I'll be reviewing them in my downtime. I can think of one that I will be holding onto so that I can add more content at the end of the book, but most will go back up after a review.
With these changes, I will be postponing contracting Dreams of the Forgotten (Sumeria's Sons, 3) for audio. This will be put on the back burner until probably the end of the year.
In the meantime, my main project will be finishing writing Constant (The Valespian Pact, 3). I'm at the last part with 5-7 chapters to go, and I need to stay focused. I will feel so much better once it is completed. The editing will take forever because it is a BEAST of a book, but it will be off my writing table and freeing me up for other things.
If you have any questions, don't be shy. I will answer them to the best of my ability. See you next Saturday. I will have a Reading Radar for you.
All My Best,
Lexi
Showing posts with label Writing Conundrums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing Conundrums. Show all posts
Monday, July 22, 2019
Monday, December 31, 2018
2019 Writing Agenda #amwriting #lookingforward
Looking forward to the new year and the goals I want to set is always exciting. Part of looking forward requires that I look back and I will admit that sometimes I cringe when I do.
2017 was a crap year for me. Grief and depression did its best to swallow me whole. I barely got any work done. I did work on getting Sūnder published, but for the most part, writing new words was not in me that year. However, I did do a ton of world building on a couple of projects. By the end of the year, I had started the blog story, Assassin's Retirement and the next book in the Valespian Pact, Constant.
I had been excited for 2018 because I was crawling out of depression, and I thought I was ready to publish something, Constant, to be specific. But after the beta review, I realized that I still had a lot of work to do. I wasn't where I thought I was mentally. Writing while depressed is hard. It's like depression sucked the life out of my creativity and put my memory in a blender--demonic little turd. Unfortunately, it showed in Constant. The story went from 35k to 67k to I'm-still-working-on-it-135k. LOL!
I did a lot of things wrong with Constant that all boil down to I didn't allow it to be the story it wanted to be. I was trying to force it to be something else from word count size to content to how the romance played out. It just didn't work which resulted in me rewriting much of it and adding what should have been there to begin with. I've been pushing to get it finished, blowing by both the deadlines I set for myself. LOL! But it will get there.
This year I did accomplish getting Caledonia Destiny published. Twin Flames and Songs of the Earth were also released on audiobook.
I went to GRL and had fun, plus I gave away books and stuff.
For 2019's planning, I am going to attempt to be... conservative.
If you noticed, my 2018 goals were very... enthusiastic. It is a ton of fun putting projects on the writing list, but it's the pits when I keep looking at it, realizing in June that there is no way any of that is going to come off the list. It's like having 'eyes too big for your stomach'. Everything looks soooo good and you want to eat it all, only to be stuffed 1/4 way through, leaving you staring forlornly at all the wonderful food you cannot eat and will go to waste. The only difference, instead of me noting that the projects aren't going anywhere--they won't spoil and will wait for me when I get to them--I sort beat myself up about not being able to do it ALL.
So, for this coming year I'm going to outsmart myself... LOL! I am only adding two main projects to the project list. This will also allow me time to work on other things, such as expanding an existing story. It will also allow me to work on what I want to work on instead of what I feel obligated to (even though I'm not feeling the story-line). The planning for next year goes something like this:
Akira (Darksoul, 2) - estimated word count 90k
Legacy (Nathan's Story) - a Sumeria's Sons standalone - 120k
Salvaging Toby's Heart - expanding from current word count, 33k to 60k
Assassin's Retirement (Scion of Beowulf, 1) (an I.O.N. universe story) - finish the blog story and self-publish it. Current word count 70k. Estimated 100k at completion.
Republish the Unshakable series since Gentleman's origins begins there.
Publish a Valespian Pact flash fiction anthology.
Send Sūnder to audiobook
Send Dreams of the Forgotten (Sumeria's Sons, 3) to audiobook
And finally,
Wingless (a Valespian Pact universe standalone) - replacement blog story set on the GyrFalconi's homeworld after the Twenty Year War.
Basically, that is what this coming year will look like. I'm really excited to dig into my project list. I should add another category at the bottom of the whiteboard for finished projects since I'm still working on Constant and it will be finished in 2019. And if I finish everything on the board, then I pick from stories waiting in the wings. :)
2017 was a crap year for me. Grief and depression did its best to swallow me whole. I barely got any work done. I did work on getting Sūnder published, but for the most part, writing new words was not in me that year. However, I did do a ton of world building on a couple of projects. By the end of the year, I had started the blog story, Assassin's Retirement and the next book in the Valespian Pact, Constant.
I had been excited for 2018 because I was crawling out of depression, and I thought I was ready to publish something, Constant, to be specific. But after the beta review, I realized that I still had a lot of work to do. I wasn't where I thought I was mentally. Writing while depressed is hard. It's like depression sucked the life out of my creativity and put my memory in a blender--demonic little turd. Unfortunately, it showed in Constant. The story went from 35k to 67k to I'm-still-working-on-it-135k. LOL!
 |
| 2018 Writing Agenda |
I did a lot of things wrong with Constant that all boil down to I didn't allow it to be the story it wanted to be. I was trying to force it to be something else from word count size to content to how the romance played out. It just didn't work which resulted in me rewriting much of it and adding what should have been there to begin with. I've been pushing to get it finished, blowing by both the deadlines I set for myself. LOL! But it will get there.
 |
| And more of the board |
This year I did accomplish getting Caledonia Destiny published. Twin Flames and Songs of the Earth were also released on audiobook.
I went to GRL and had fun, plus I gave away books and stuff.
For 2019's planning, I am going to attempt to be... conservative.
If you noticed, my 2018 goals were very... enthusiastic. It is a ton of fun putting projects on the writing list, but it's the pits when I keep looking at it, realizing in June that there is no way any of that is going to come off the list. It's like having 'eyes too big for your stomach'. Everything looks soooo good and you want to eat it all, only to be stuffed 1/4 way through, leaving you staring forlornly at all the wonderful food you cannot eat and will go to waste. The only difference, instead of me noting that the projects aren't going anywhere--they won't spoil and will wait for me when I get to them--I sort beat myself up about not being able to do it ALL.
So, for this coming year I'm going to outsmart myself... LOL! I am only adding two main projects to the project list. This will also allow me time to work on other things, such as expanding an existing story. It will also allow me to work on what I want to work on instead of what I feel obligated to (even though I'm not feeling the story-line). The planning for next year goes something like this:
Writing Projects
Akira (Darksoul, 2) - estimated word count 90k
Legacy (Nathan's Story) - a Sumeria's Sons standalone - 120k
Salvaging Toby's Heart - expanding from current word count, 33k to 60k
Assassin's Retirement (Scion of Beowulf, 1) (an I.O.N. universe story) - finish the blog story and self-publish it. Current word count 70k. Estimated 100k at completion.
Republish the Unshakable series since Gentleman's origins begins there.
Publish a Valespian Pact flash fiction anthology.
Send Sūnder to audiobook
Send Dreams of the Forgotten (Sumeria's Sons, 3) to audiobook
And finally,
Wingless (a Valespian Pact universe standalone) - replacement blog story set on the GyrFalconi's homeworld after the Twenty Year War.
Basically, that is what this coming year will look like. I'm really excited to dig into my project list. I should add another category at the bottom of the whiteboard for finished projects since I'm still working on Constant and it will be finished in 2019. And if I finish everything on the board, then I pick from stories waiting in the wings. :)
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Sunday, January 1, 2017
2016 Year End Review #publishing #writing #planning
The year 2016 looks very different from 2015, publishing-wise. 2015 was full and hectic with releases of one kind or another every couple of months. 2016 wasn't too bad. I had three releases: Ruby Red Booty Shorts and a Louisville Slugger, Werewolf's Tale and a Druid's Sword, and Death Mask. I wanted more. I hoped for more but I just didn't produce as many stories.
My writing "wishlist" looked like this. I wanted to at least complete 6 manuscripts. Instead, I finished 3 (Death Mask, Releasing Chaos, and Devil's Dawn) and started a 4th one (Bespoken).
I thought 6 was a good number because it allowed time to do editing for upcoming releases, but the number was also contingent upon the manuscript's word count sticking to 40-50k. Death Mask was around that number, but Releasing Chaos turned out to be a whopping 130+k. Devil's Dawn was supposed to be 60k but was closer to 90k. And Bespoken is only about a quarter done, sitting at 40k right now.
Why has the number of finished books dropped? Because of the word count is going up. I had to stop and remind myself of that fact time and again. There were moments when I felt as if I was standing still in 2016. But the facts are I can write 40 thousand words a month, on average, and 50k in good months. When the stories I write end up being three times 40 then it takes three months at the very least to finish writing. That doesn't include the false starts, the rewrites of scrapped sections, or the editing and betaing that needs to be done after I type THE END. I really hate that I can't go faster, but it is what it is and I have to work with my capabilities, not flog myself for things I can't do. That takes time and energy that I don't have. But every once in a while, the "you shoulds" slaps me in the face.
My 2017 writing "Wish List" looks like this and so far I'm on schedule, although Bespoken is going to be at least 50k longer than the 100k I estimated for it.
Even though this looks all neat, tidy, and set, there are some very hard decisions I need to make this year that has to do with the next book in the the I.O.N. series.
Back in August I seriously contemplated not finishing the ION series. There are several reasons. Even though Ruby Red was a re-release, I expected it to sell better than it did. Then those who loved the original version didn't like how I slowed the pace down of the revised version, so it received several mediocre reviews. That was to be expected, but even those who hadn't read Ruby Red before thought the story was lacking and added more mediocre reviews. So low sales and so-so reviews had me rethinking writing anymore
more books in the series. I've heard that Urban Fantasy is a hard sell but so is Sci-Fi and my Sci-Fi does well.
In August, I spent some time with Kenzie Kade and she helped me to do some world building on the 3rd book of ION. At that time, I planned on five books total. After paying more attention to my sales reports than I normally do, I condensed the plot and narrowed the series down to four books. Because really, why spend time writing a series that only a few like and will read?
I decided to wait until Werewolf's Tale released to decide the fate of series. Here in the next couple of months I will decide what to do with the series. It is heartening that readers loved Werewolf's Tale. If the numbers are decent, I'll write the last two books back to back so that I don't get disheartened again if book 3 isn't liked. Besides, leaving a series partially finished irks me personally. I don't want to be that author.
Darksoul is the book that has made me rethink any future self-publishing. I looked like an idiot last year as I attempted and failed to forecast its completion and release. Now it's a year later and it's "almost" finished and still not quite. I didn't put it on the 2017 schedule because I just might take this out back for target practice before burning it. There are times I imagine a huge bonfire fire, explosions, fireworks, and maybe some strangled screams. Darksoul is work of love, it has to be or I'd have given up on it by now. I have this reoccurring nightmare that by the time it comes out, anyone who was interested won't be any more. Ha! But I don't give up (Never give up! Never surrender!) and Darksoul will be published in 2017 sometime.
So that's it in a nutshell, the look back, the glance forward sprinkled with hope and perseverance. I hope y'all like longer stories because that's looks like it'll be a trend with me.
I thought 6 was a good number because it allowed time to do editing for upcoming releases, but the number was also contingent upon the manuscript's word count sticking to 40-50k. Death Mask was around that number, but Releasing Chaos turned out to be a whopping 130+k. Devil's Dawn was supposed to be 60k but was closer to 90k. And Bespoken is only about a quarter done, sitting at 40k right now.
Why has the number of finished books dropped? Because of the word count is going up. I had to stop and remind myself of that fact time and again. There were moments when I felt as if I was standing still in 2016. But the facts are I can write 40 thousand words a month, on average, and 50k in good months. When the stories I write end up being three times 40 then it takes three months at the very least to finish writing. That doesn't include the false starts, the rewrites of scrapped sections, or the editing and betaing that needs to be done after I type THE END. I really hate that I can't go faster, but it is what it is and I have to work with my capabilities, not flog myself for things I can't do. That takes time and energy that I don't have. But every once in a while, the "you shoulds" slaps me in the face.
Even though this looks all neat, tidy, and set, there are some very hard decisions I need to make this year that has to do with the next book in the the I.O.N. series.
Back in August I seriously contemplated not finishing the ION series. There are several reasons. Even though Ruby Red was a re-release, I expected it to sell better than it did. Then those who loved the original version didn't like how I slowed the pace down of the revised version, so it received several mediocre reviews. That was to be expected, but even those who hadn't read Ruby Red before thought the story was lacking and added more mediocre reviews. So low sales and so-so reviews had me rethinking writing anymore
In August, I spent some time with Kenzie Kade and she helped me to do some world building on the 3rd book of ION. At that time, I planned on five books total. After paying more attention to my sales reports than I normally do, I condensed the plot and narrowed the series down to four books. Because really, why spend time writing a series that only a few like and will read?
I decided to wait until Werewolf's Tale released to decide the fate of series. Here in the next couple of months I will decide what to do with the series. It is heartening that readers loved Werewolf's Tale. If the numbers are decent, I'll write the last two books back to back so that I don't get disheartened again if book 3 isn't liked. Besides, leaving a series partially finished irks me personally. I don't want to be that author.
Darksoul is the book that has made me rethink any future self-publishing. I looked like an idiot last year as I attempted and failed to forecast its completion and release. Now it's a year later and it's "almost" finished and still not quite. I didn't put it on the 2017 schedule because I just might take this out back for target practice before burning it. There are times I imagine a huge bonfire fire, explosions, fireworks, and maybe some strangled screams. Darksoul is work of love, it has to be or I'd have given up on it by now. I have this reoccurring nightmare that by the time it comes out, anyone who was interested won't be any more. Ha! But I don't give up (Never give up! Never surrender!) and Darksoul will be published in 2017 sometime.
So that's it in a nutshell, the look back, the glance forward sprinkled with hope and perseverance. I hope y'all like longer stories because that's looks like it'll be a trend with me.
Hope y'all have a Happy New Year!!
Friday, June 3, 2016
Disappointment, Celebration, and Self Expectations
June is a big month in my house. The first two weeks there are either a birthday or anniversary most everyday. It also marks the first half of the year gone and I can't help but look at what I've accomplished because it affects the second half of the year. The produce garden has been planted. We started on some landscaping for the front of the house that had to be put off on one side because a robin decided to nest in the clematis.
Our 23rd anniversary is this coming weekend and a couple days afterwards is Jason's birthday. He'll be 48 and he's already worried about turning fifty.
The last couple of days I've been lamenting my inability to write shorter standalone stories. I think I have a plot that would fit well into a 25k story and low and behold it's turned into a 175k trilogy. Not what I was looking for. I wanted something where I could get in and get out in a couple of weeks, and I wouldn't have people waiting on me.
Normally, I'm pretty cool with writing longer stories that need more than a couple of installments to tell the whole story. But I've been feeling guilty since people are still waiting for Prometheus to be found or they want the last book for Sumeria's Sons or "wait, is that another series called ION?". It's like I can't help myself.
Writing series can be daunting and being in those character's head space all of the time can burn me a bit. I have to take a break from the characters and worlds because I can't read another word.
On the other hand, there are these bits of advice that eat a me. Like, you should only write trilogy because you lose your audience after book three. Or, you should have the release of the series in quick order while the buzz is still hot and you have people's attention.
By some professional's estimation, I'm doing this all wrong. I have to remind myself that it might be wrong by their standards but right for my wellbeing. I don't write well on schedules. I have to switch it up or I'm throwing away all the words I'm writing because I'm dissatisfied and hate it. There are times in the middle of a manuscript when I crave writing a marriage of convenience between an human and alien. And I can't. I can't stop what I'm doing to go off on a tangent (even though I'm positive that tangent would be yummy good). Then I get upset because I'm not writing fast enough because, you know, tangent is breathing its fiery breath down my neck. There are a dozen stories I want to explore and I have to make myself wait or nothing would get done.
That's what everyone wants... to get to the end and see how things are resolved, right?
Well, I'm really close with coming to that ending with the final book in the Sumeria's Sons series. I had hoped to have Releasing Chaos wrapped up by the end of May. That date flew right on by. But definitely sometime this month I will have the first draft finished. I just might cry my eyes out. Partly because of the story, and partly because everything but 40k is hand written. I'll have to type up somewhere between 60k-90k (estimating right now. I might be lowballing it). I'm such a mediocre typist that I dread it even though I console myself with editing while transcribing.
Some of my other accomplishments in the first half of the year, Kenzie Cade and I have completed Devil's Heart. Now we're working our way through it (slowly) between our other commitments. Death Mask and the 2nd ION book are coming out sometime later this year. I don't have any details yet.
What is still yet to come. Darksoul... I had planned to have the book out before now. There have been complications out of my control. Even though I'm unsure at this moment, I'll be making some decisions soon to get this back on some kind of schedule. Fate & Destinies is being self-edited. I'm not sure if I'm going to self-pub or if I'm subbing it somewhere. Bespoken is my next writing project. I also anticipate starting on the second book in the Devil's Dawn series with Kenzie. Somewhere in there I want to insert time for writing the tangent story. :)
That's it. The disappointment in my limitations. The celebration of not only anniversaries and Jason's birthday, but of what I've accomplished so far this year. Last but not least, what I expect I can complete before the end of the year. :)
Our 23rd anniversary is this coming weekend and a couple days afterwards is Jason's birthday. He'll be 48 and he's already worried about turning fifty.
Normally, I'm pretty cool with writing longer stories that need more than a couple of installments to tell the whole story. But I've been feeling guilty since people are still waiting for Prometheus to be found or they want the last book for Sumeria's Sons or "wait, is that another series called ION?". It's like I can't help myself.
On the other hand, there are these bits of advice that eat a me. Like, you should only write trilogy because you lose your audience after book three. Or, you should have the release of the series in quick order while the buzz is still hot and you have people's attention.
By some professional's estimation, I'm doing this all wrong. I have to remind myself that it might be wrong by their standards but right for my wellbeing. I don't write well on schedules. I have to switch it up or I'm throwing away all the words I'm writing because I'm dissatisfied and hate it. There are times in the middle of a manuscript when I crave writing a marriage of convenience between an human and alien. And I can't. I can't stop what I'm doing to go off on a tangent (even though I'm positive that tangent would be yummy good). Then I get upset because I'm not writing fast enough because, you know, tangent is breathing its fiery breath down my neck. There are a dozen stories I want to explore and I have to make myself wait or nothing would get done.
Well, I'm really close with coming to that ending with the final book in the Sumeria's Sons series. I had hoped to have Releasing Chaos wrapped up by the end of May. That date flew right on by. But definitely sometime this month I will have the first draft finished. I just might cry my eyes out. Partly because of the story, and partly because everything but 40k is hand written. I'll have to type up somewhere between 60k-90k (estimating right now. I might be lowballing it). I'm such a mediocre typist that I dread it even though I console myself with editing while transcribing.
Some of my other accomplishments in the first half of the year, Kenzie Cade and I have completed Devil's Heart. Now we're working our way through it (slowly) between our other commitments. Death Mask and the 2nd ION book are coming out sometime later this year. I don't have any details yet.
What is still yet to come. Darksoul... I had planned to have the book out before now. There have been complications out of my control. Even though I'm unsure at this moment, I'll be making some decisions soon to get this back on some kind of schedule. Fate & Destinies is being self-edited. I'm not sure if I'm going to self-pub or if I'm subbing it somewhere. Bespoken is my next writing project. I also anticipate starting on the second book in the Devil's Dawn series with Kenzie. Somewhere in there I want to insert time for writing the tangent story. :)
That's it. The disappointment in my limitations. The celebration of not only anniversaries and Jason's birthday, but of what I've accomplished so far this year. Last but not least, what I expect I can complete before the end of the year. :)
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Anthropomorphic Characters: Sexy? Yes or No? Do I care?
Do I go full out and write a scorching erotic romantic scene?
Should it fade to black?
Do I gloss over the finer details and write an emotional sex scene that isn't graphic?
Will any or all of these offend someone enough that the book gets banned from Amazon?
And really, that is the crux of the matter. There I said it. Amazon has me afraid that my book will be banned, and damn it, it's a good story.
So. Do I write the story that needs to be written and then cut it from the book? That would keep someone from getting icked out by the alien sex and reporting me. But should that be a reason I hide the scene?
I don't want the book to get reported and kicked off of Amazon but this story wants to be told in a certain way and every time I try to curtail the details the writing flow comes to a screeching halt. (There are times that I hate being a linear writer.) I'm a complete failure at that whole 4k a day writing quota but I don't want to fall too far behind. I want Darksoul complete by the end of the month, and I only have about 35k to go. >.<
Regardless of my fear, I'm going to write the scene and it will be a combination of semi-graphic and emotional content. Once I let go of my concern, the flow will come back. I just wish it wasn't an issue that I have to worry about.
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
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