1/30/08

Well, folks, it’s here! And it’s beeeyoootiful! The cover is very shiny, nice high gloss. The cover art is crisp and clear. Inside typefont, nice and readable. And a bonus–at the end, there’s short bios of all the authors! I didn’t know that would be included.

I’ll let you know how the stories turn out. Of course.

1/28/08

It’s been about 2 weeks since I planted and most of the snap peas and snow peas are up! I had to replant a couple of “missing” plants, but most have unfurled their first leaves. By the end of the week, they’ll be climbing the trellis!

The green onions are doing quite well also, peeking up and looking rather wispy.

I put the cantaloupe, zucchini and cucumber seeds in the ground yesterday. Yes, I’m probably three weeks early, but if they come up and freeze, well, I’ll just try again.

I found some new sort of maggoty looking worm thing–orange to brown in color–that I spent a lot of time digging up and killing. No idea what it is, but it definitely looked unsavory and likely to eat the roots of my plants.

Jalepeno seeds will probably go in sometime this week. I may just buy the plants because they really should be started indoors. There just wasn’t room on the windowsill what with the 11 tomato plants that are growing there…

DJ over at her blog tagged me with a bunch of writing questions. So here are the answers:

What’s the last thing you wrote? Working on my WIP–the second book in the “Under Witch Moon” series. Here’s a brief description of the first book.

Was it any good? Nah, the stuff I’m writing now is just draft level. I throw out paragraphs–maybe some dialogue, description, etc, but it is far from finished prose and will need editing several times. As the book takes form, it may get moved and lots will change as I fit it into other events and the overall timeline.

What’s the first thing you ever wrote that you still have? Wow. I probably have some old starts to novels on my hard drive…no, I think they are actually on diskette. I think one of them is actually in txt format, pre-Word days!

Write poetry? Never. Wrote a few greeting cards for friends that might have had some loosely-related poetry form.

Angsty poetry? Nope. Angst, whiny writing for sure, but not poetry.

Favourite genre of writing? This is tough. I’d say cross-genre; mystery/fantasy, but I write cozies that have no paranormal elements, and I have written fantasy that has no relation to the real world.

Most fun character you ever created? Another tough question. I really like Sedona (link to excerpt) but I also like Max Killian (star of the short story over at www.TheTownDrunk.org –has moved to www.towndrunkmag.com ). Then there’s Adriel, the star of “Under Witch Moon.” She’s a really great kick-ass character. I guess I love them all!

Best plot you ever created? I’m hoping that is yet to come, just an ever-improving cleverness…

How often do you get writer’s block? Never, really. I get writer’s laziness, I get stuck on plot details, but ideas aren’t usually the bottleneck in my writing.

Write fan fiction? Nope.

Do you type or write by hand? All computer, although when I started, I wrote by hand and typed it in. I liked sitting outside and writing or writing curled up in a chair (this was eons ago). I’m slightly more disiplined these days.

Do you save everything you write? No. I delete entire paragraphs and have been known to delete a few very early versions of a novel. But keep in mind that as I get close to “finishing” the novel, I’m usually on about version 19 or so. The earlier versions don’t contain all the chapters. I don’t houseclean often either, so most of what I write is on the hard drive.

Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it? Yes. Especially short stories. I’ll get an idea, jot it into the computer, maybe even write a few paragraphs–a scene or two. For various reasons, I may put it down for months. I may end up using the idea with different characters or sometimes, I just don’t know where I want that particular character to go with the idea, so I let it sit.

Do you ever show people your work? Yes, but I’d probably rather not. Showing my work is work also. I’m also impatient. Sometimes it takes weeks for a friend to finally get around to reading and letting me know what they think.

Did you ever write a novel? Sure. Six or so.

What’s your favourite setting for your characters? Move them around. But I do tend to set things in the mountains.

How many writing projects are you working on right now? Really only one novel. During the coming months I may take a break from it and write a short story or two.

Have you ever won an award for your writing? “Secrets in the Sand” was fourth place in a Writer’s Digest contest in 2003, and “Soul of the Desert” placed in the Crime Writer’s Associate Dagger Debut also in 2003. My Palo Duro story received honorable mention in the Writer’s Work Contest.

Ever written something in script or play format? Nope.

What are your five favourite words? I’m not sure I have favorite words, but if I had to pick, I’d probably say, hope, love and faith.

Do you ever write based on yourself? I’m not quite sure what this means…of course my experiences color my writing, so in that sense, yes, but the characters are obviously not me. As I write, their personalities take on a life of their own, growing and changing. I’ve written male characters, animal characters, and female characters.

What character have you created that most resembles yourself? Probably Sedona (Executive Lunch) and Adriel (Under Witch Moon). But then there’s the little old lady in “Toil, Trouble and Rot” coming out at www.CoyoteWildMag.com this year…she’s a wizard and a gardener…and I’m definitely a gardener!!!

Where do you get ideas for your other characters? Out of the blue.

Do you ever write based on your dreams? Nope. My dreams are like wisps of smoke. Even if I wake up thinking I have an idea from a vaguely remembered dream…I can’t ever really pull it together into a story. In the daylight, it loses its power and turns into the mist of remembered emotions.

Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers? I completely favor happy endings, although I have written a cliff-hanger or two.

Have you ever written based on an artwork you’ve seen? No. I’m not a visual person that way. I can and do write based on places I’ve been, especially if I’ve hiked an area and breathed it, lived it, and heard the sounds–experienced it. I love art for the emotions it brings, but that doesn’t translate to an idea for me.

Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write? Yes. I didn’t use to be, but I’ve found it saves me time if I just try to do it correctly the first time.

Ever write something entirely in chatspeak? Nope.

Does music help you write? I love music and it helps me with ideas. I like to ride in the car with loud music on a country road, just thinking and letting thoughts pop about. But when I write, silence is my best friend.

Quote something you’ve written. From my short story, Around the Bend, over at www.CoyoteWildMag.com:

I hadn’t driven the road after dark, because it was so small. The first night I tried it, I realized that maybe it still wasn’t all that safe. In a spot about halfway to the new intersection, a milky-pale presence flashed across my rear-view mirror.

I hit the brakes.

1/25/08

My anthology–a mere 3 days after ordering–has shipped! It should be here in a week or so (media mail.)

Clues, Haunts and Mystical Madness

The cover art is by Caroline Yoachim.

I included my own story, “Haunting Clues,” of course, but notice that I also found a story by Jim Hines. I spent a lot of time trying to make sure I didn’t end up with any horror–and that I did end up with lots of humor. The book does have some “straight” or mundane mysteries–like the story written by Abraham Lincoln! Yes, that Lincoln. I also think I found some excellent fantasy adventure stories.

There’s a story by David de Beer–I’ve seen him around the web and always wondered what he wrote. Now I get the chance to see. As I asked around about authors, I received some good feedback on Martha Wells and Melissa Mead so I included those also. Of course I picked up one of Nancy Fulda’s stories–she’s one of Baen’s magazine’s slush readers–and the fantastic lady putting this anthology builder page all together.

All in all, the anthology is coming together. I’ve included “Clues, Haunts and Mystical Madness” in the public anthologybuilder library. This means that anyone can order the exact anthology that I have built (or they can start with it and customize it.) I will also be able to order another copy if I want to give it as a gift.

I’ll post a review of it after I read all the stories!

My most recent short story has just been published over at www.CoyoteWildMag.com: Around the Bend

In this story, look carefully into the shadows, but beware what lurks there.

Psst: It’s a free read–enjoy!

Around the Bend is also available at Dunesteef.com as a podcast production! At the end of the story, there is discussion from Rish and Big and three songs from Jonathan Coulton.

 
Around the Bend is also available over at www.AnthologyBuilder.com!!! I’ve created two different anthologies with this story in it–you can order the exact anthologies from their library or you can pick and choose your own stories. Check out the artwork on these two!!

I just love them both. The Dragon Wings cover art was done by Jacquelyne Drainville and the Escape cover art was done by Kevin Wasden. Both are just fabulous.

Here are links to the books along with cost and shipping information:

Dragon Wings
Escape

Time to plant beans in Texas! It’s going to be a warm week, which will heat the soil enough for the seeds to germinate. Any type of bean can go in now–soy, snap peas, snow peas or green beans. I soak my seeds and put them directly into the soil Most beans don’t like to be transplanted. Look over at the gardening menu on the left if you are looking for more information about pests or mildew.

I also finished putting in my lillies and dalhias. It’s the first year I’ve tried these. It might be early for the dalhias, but any freezes that we have coming aren’t likely to be more than a few hours during a night, and I mulched over the bulbs pretty heavily.

The daffodils are coming up and I’m just starting to see the hyacinths peeking through the soil. I just love the signs of spring! I can’t wait for the smell of those flowers. They are my favorite!

Of course, with spring comes some additional work. I also had to trim back bushes, including the crepe myrtles. I haven’t tackled the oleander yet. That thing looks like some sort of monster out of a movie. I’m afraid to walk by it. If it grabs me, I could disappear inside that bush forever!

The onions are in! Watch for pink onion roots when you buy your plants! I noticed some on several of the ones I had–this gets in the soil and is impossible to get rid of (takes 5 or 6 years). I believe I infected some of my soil last year, although I’m still not certain pink was the problem.

If you soak the onion starters in water before you plant them, it’s much easier to see whether the roots are pink or otherwise discolored. Discard any that look suspicious (or get another bundle from a different vendor!) Apparently it’s pretty easy to transfer via soil or water or tools.

I planted snap peas and snow peas, my favorite beans. They are a little hard to grow in Texas because they can only be grown in the early spring. I’ve planted these in Oct and November before–as long as I kept them covered during freezes, they did fine. This year, I waited until this weekend to plant them so that the soil could rest (and more importantly, I could rest!)

Tomorrow I’ll get flower bulbs in the ground. Next week…well, next week I’ll watch to see if the green onions come up and look for the beans!

I won’t put the tomatoes out until around February 15th.

Go on, go Grow Something!