I tell myself adding WIP word counts and upcoming appearances to the sidebar here is a way to keep myself more accountable.
Truth is, it’s just another way to procrastinate.
Sigh.
Comments Off
Posted in appearances, musings, writing
A couple of discussions recently have centered around fanfiction writers who’ve moved into the original publishing world. That in itself isn’t frowned upon—unless they bring any stories along with them. Taking a story that was originally written as fanfiction and converting it into a story that stands on its own is… cheating, I guess?
I say “I guess” because I don’t get it. I understand it if the resulting story doesn’t stand alone. When copyrighted source material is reused, that’s not okay. The vast majority of fanfiction, assuming it’s well done at all, is much too closely tied to the source material for the author to have any prayer of prying it loose completely. It’s a bad idea to even try. And if you do, you piss people off, and you make other fanfiction authors look bad. And that’s also not okay.
But if the source material is completely left behind, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with converting a fanfiction story into original fiction. If you take only the original parts of the story, parts that did not come from the source material, and rebuild the rest of it from scratch, then you can end up with something that’s totally original and completely yours. (And if the original source isn’t copyrighted, you’ve got even more latitude. Derivative fiction is a time-honored literary tradition. How many different variations on Romeo and Juliet are floating around out there by now?)
The disclaimer here, of course, is that I’ve converted fanfiction into original fiction. The fanfiction stories in question were “alternate universe,” so they had little in common with the source material to start with. I stripped out the parts that came from the original source and used the remaining shell to rebuild a completely original story. And trust me: that involved a hell of a lot more than just changing names. Imagine those house-flipping shows where they tear a house down to the bare frame and rebuild it from there. That’s what it’s like.
To be perfectly clear: everything I’ve published is my original work, and I stand by it. If admitting that I’ve reused parts of a few of my fanfiction stories loses me readers, well, so be it. You can’t please everyone.
My day job is editing. A totally different type of editing from fiction, but editing nonetheless. So when I read Theresa Stevens’ post at Romance University, it was all I could do to keep from standing up and cheering. (If I didn’t have a lapdesk and laptop in my, well, lap, I might have done it anyway.)
In particular, this passage:
Here’s a sad truth. When I evaluated a submission, the first question in my mind was not, Is this story good enough to publish? My first question was, How many hours of my life will it take to get this manuscript ready? If every other paragraph contains a grammar or usage error, that translates into time that I could be spending on other tasks.
This is why it’s easy for an editor to equate bad grammar with other flaws: arrogance, lack of self-respect, lack of respect for us, disdain for the product you’re creating. If you don’t care enough to distinguish possessives from plurals, then we’re not going to care enough to give you anything more than a form rejection.
In other words, if you don’t worry about your grammar, neither will I.
I have never understood the lack of regard many professional authors appear to have for proper grammar and usage. I’m not talking about off-the-cuff tweets and such (although I still cringe sometimes). I’m not even talking about errors and typos; everyone makes those (me included). I’m talking about failure to take the time to make actual manuscripts as clean and error-free as you can possibly make it, before you submit.
Sure, there are many great storytellers who are terrible spellers or can never remember when to use its vs. it’s. Everyone has foibles. But authors need to recognize their weak spots and do what they can to overcome them, whether it’s studying up on grammar or finding a personal editor who’s a whiz at it to fix things before submission. (Relying on spellcheck and grammar check won’t cut it.) Heck, I’m the one people I know come to for grammar questions, and I almost never submit anything without having at least two other people read it first.
Editors can’t fix everything. Give them a hand, and everyone (including your readers!) will be much happier for it.
Pen image via http://www.sxc.hu
I know I’ve been quieter than usual lately. I had two writing goals for January: finishing a set of commissioned short stories, and getting an older story revised and off to beta.
Goal #1 is complete, and goal #2 is nearly there. I put myself on editing lockdown over the weekend (no reading! no writing! just editing!) and ended up slashing and burning huge swaths of the story, from around 64k to 50k. The machete work is done, so now I have to fix a few spots and give it one last good edit before shipping it to beta. With a week left in the month, I should hit the deadline just fine. 
After that? Well, I’m still still deciding. I have several WIPs to choose from:
And some others that I’ve got in the pipeline in various stages of completion.
Decisions, decisions…
Posted in editing, goals, nano, works in progress, writing
I’m spending the long weekend (through Monday) in a rental house at Folly Beach, South Carolina. It is gorgeous here, with an ocean view from the front porch and a marsh view from the back deck. I’m here with another writer friend, and we spent part of today in Charleston, where I’d never been before. It reminds me so much of New Orleans! I was expecting it to feel more like Savannah.
My goal for the weekend may not be feasible, but I’m doing the best I can to hit 25,000 words. I’d like to write that many just this weekend, but the more I can do, the better, because I’m wayyyyyyyyyyyyy behind on word count.
My boys are cooperating at the moment, so I’m going to get back to it. Hope your weekend is going as well as mine is!
Without even realizing it at first, I reached one of my writing goals for the year this week. Well, they were more “general guidelines of what I’d like to do,” but one was to publish six stories, of any length. My August novel release will be my fifth, and I’m still hopeful that I’ll have at least one holiday-season story. (If ever finish writing them.)
Then Dreamspinner put out a call to current authors for a special promotional event, and my submission was accepted. It’ll be a freebie, but that’s fine; it’s still going to be published. So that’s six! Go me!
(As an aside, that also gives me at least one publication every other month this year through October. And if one of the Christmas stories is accepted, it’ll be every other month all year. Maybe next year my goal should be to get published in at least one “odd” month.)
Comments Off
Posted in adult, dreamspinner, fiction, goals, m/m, sales, short story, submissions, writing
I see a lot of writerly advice links floating around, mainly via the Twittersphere. Never do this! they say. That doesn’t work! Do this instead! And a heck of a lot of the YOU MUST DO THIS advice is contradictory.
My advice? Read it, sure, but take all of it with a nice, big grain of salt. Spend your time and effort figuring out what works for you.
Every writer is different, and every story is different. What another author does may not fit your schedule or your style. A short story isn’t a novel. Plots and characters can run away from you. Nothing is 100% for anyone.
Unfortunately, there’s no blood test for this. No one’s going to be able to look you over and tell you what you should do. Sure, there are clues here and there—How organized are you? Are you a computerphile or a technophobe? What’s your home life like?—but what it comes down to is trial and error.
Experiment. Try writing early in the morning or late at night. Challenge yourself to write for a certain length of time or certain number of words. Write in your living room, in bed, outside, longhand. Listen to different types of music while you write, or try silence. Write out character bios or build the world of your story before you write the story itself. Outline, or write a detailed summary, or just start writing and see what happens.* Write in present tense or omniscient or whatever your characters want from you.
[*Okay, one specific piece of advice: pantsing generally works better for short stories than long!]
In conclusion: go on already! Quit reading this and get busy writing! Sheesh. 
Missed last week because I was traveling and internet-less, but back for this week’s Six Sentence Sunday with a paragraph from my upcoming first novel, Sand & Water.
Bryan’s fingers brushed over the light stubble along John’s jaw, and his thumb rubbed the edge of John’s chin. The light touches sent tingles across John’s skin, raising goosebumps like a cool breeze on a warm day. His body wanted more, the desire and arousal inside him begging to be set free, but he tamped it down. Slow and steady, he told himself. This feels amazing. Enjoy every moment.
Posted in fiction, m/m, novel, sand & water, six sentence sunday, snippet, works in progress, writing
My weekend away turned out to be a bit of a rollercoaster, starting with traffic backups and the wifi at the lodge working only intermittently (and never in my room). But I slept and rested a lot, did some reading and writing, and ate hand-dipped chocolate-covered fruit, so all is right with the world.
I got home on Monday to find galleys for Sand and Water waiting for me, so I’ll be going over those for the next few days. So excited! Cover art should be ready soon too. Of course I’ll share that as soon as I can.
I had a plotbunny (he gave his name as Andrew) attack over the weekend, and it seems to be growing into a whole universe. A trilogy, perhaps. Maybe more. It’d be nice if the world-building part kept rolling out but the actual story-writing part would hold off until I get some more done on the other main projects!
Comments Off
Posted in real life, sand & water, works in progress, writing
I’m excited about the progress of the cover art for my upcoming novel release, Sand and Water. The drafts have been gorgeous, and I think we’ve settled on a final design. As soon as I get the go-ahead, I’ll be sharing, of course!!
I’m also lucky to have a long weekend coming up. I’m off Monday for Independence Day, plus we get an early release tomorrow. I’m driving up to north Georgia to play tourist a little and spend a couple of nights at a state park lodge. (And eat chocolate! There’s a great local candy store up there.)
My plan is to rest, read, and write. I have a fanfic bigbang project to finish revising, and multiple original stories in various stages of completion, as usual. I’m also judging a writing competition, so I’ll be diving in those stories, and I have several new books to read, including the latest from my friend Barbara Wallace.
And yes, I will have internet access! No idea how reliable it’ll be, but even a rustic lodge at a small state park has wifi. Heck, I bet the primitive campsites have it!
Comments Off
Posted in cover art, novel, real life, sand & water, works in progress, writing
MLR Press
Amazon: Kindle || Paperback
Barnes & Noble: Nook/Paperback
All Romance Ebooks
