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Introducing Wothwood, a Broken Cities Novella
I’m sick as a dog here, but a little good news goes a long way. Last summer, I was busy at work writing Wothwood, a weird fantasy novella for Falstaff Books. The idea came about in conversation with two members of my writing group (and dear friends) Jaym Gates and Michelle Muenzler. What about a shared world novella series? We liked the idea of “broken cities” — abandoned, forgotten, sundered cities — with a good dash of the Weird thrown in. Wothwood is the product of that idea. Michelle’s novella, The Hills of Meat, the Forest of Bone, just released last week. And while, on first glance, you’d think these novels couldn’t possibly…
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Introducing Two Brain Space
So, in what’s probably not a surprise, I’m going to be doing NaNoWriMo again this year. I’m in an even-year pattern, as it goes. But what is a surprise is that I’m doing it with Jonathan Wood, my good friend and fellow writer. It’s, in a word, spiderpunk. If you want to follow what we’re doing, head on over to the new blog.
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Winner of the Flashy Things and Other Updates
Leave it to me to spend a week overhauling my entire website, and then stop posting. It’s been a busy few months, and after February’s Pilgrim of the Sky marathon, I took a bit of a break (and I’d like to think deservedly so). But I haven’t been absent from writing entirely! I’ve been thinking a good deal about a book called Bone Dust, and wrote about it rather extensively over at GeekMom. Then there was a thing! A thing I won! With words! My lovely friend Jaym Gates roped me in to this flash fiction contest, and somehow I managed to edge out some pretty amazing writers and get crowned…
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Behold! The Book Trailer for Pilgrim of the Sky (and Audio Coming Soon!)
I’d wanted to do a book trailer for Pilgrim for quite some time, but when the book came out I was pregnant and a total mess. Personal life aside, it may be a few years after the fact but hey! It’s still my book. I’m still totally proud of it. And I have this live reading I’m doing, so it’s still good timing. I had a blast putting it together, and the fact that I was able to incorporate Brigid’s amazing artwork and my sister’s phenomenal music… even better. And don’t forget, you can catch the whole playlist, too. That’s five chapters! Keep an eye out for the audio files, too! For…
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How Pinterest and Process Saved My Novel (And Can Save Yours, Too)
Writing a book, as the old adage goes, isn’t the hard part. I mean, yeah, it’s hard. It’s a butt-ton of work. For me, writing books isn’t the hard part. It’s something I do, more or less, whether or not I want to. But while the writing part isn’t exactly a mystery to me, there have been some real challenges over the past few years that have challenged everything I thought about writing. First thing? In 2008/2009, I was learning to write novels. Like, write them and finish them. I wrote a lot between 08-10, until my hands gave out. Yup, literally my hands stopped allowing me to write, and…
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Running Away Toward Myself
Running has become my escape of choice lately. I’ve mentioned before that, well, running has never been A Thing for me. I’m not exactly built to the ideal running form. Between my Eastern European, First Nation, and French-Canadian roots (the Swedish part is just entirely overwritten), tall and lithe I ain’t. I’m built closer to the earth: compact, strong, and bendy (I like to think I might be good at using a bow–haven’t tried that yet…). Until now, I’ve used that as an excuse not to run. In spite of recurring dreams where I’m running, I’d resisted. “I will never be a runner,” I said, on many occasions. “Never ever.”…
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Over and under and round about; thoughts on villains
Well, the book is almost done. It’s nearing the end. The body count is high. There was a scene with monsters made of quicksilver, and then ignited mercury vapor and lightning and flayed people hanging from the ceiling of a decrepit Roman bath. But while that’s all very interesting, I’m thinking about villains. I’ve never liked simple villains. Being evil for evil’s sake just doesn’t do much for me. And especially in this book, I had a deep and abiding desire to make villains that aren’t always villains. Friends who turn. People who go mad. Deals done wrong. Because while harm is a choice, circumstance is a great catalyst. No…
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O For a Life of Sensations
Indeed, I’ve been busy. I started the new job a month ago, and it’s been honestly quite awesome. There hasn’t been much in the way of writing, but I’m okay with that. I’ve found that it’s best to be realistic about these things. I had a brief moment of insanity where I thought that it might be a good idea to try and finish Watcher of the Skies in time for my daughter’s first birthday (marking two books since she was born) and then I laughed a while and poured myself another glass of wine. I had a visit from my best friend, Karen, all the way from Arizona. And she,…
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The Art of the Matter
Since beginning the journey of writing Watcher of the Skies, I’ve spent a great deal of time looking at things. Yes, I did the same for the previous book, especially considering that the main character herself was something of an aesthete. But because this novel takes place over decades, and the first was just a few weeks (depending on your particular perception of time, of course) it takes a different approach. Not to mention it stays in the secondary world the entire time (well, mostly, ha)–and so, where with Pilgrim I was describing the world from her eyes, as a visitor, I’m steeping myself in Regency/Romantic stuff. One of the pathways I’ve…
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Lightning Strikes: From Whence Inspiration?
Sure, sure. You make your own inspiration and all that. You sit, you write, you create. I get that. It’s 90% of the equation. But what about those moments that are unplanned? I know I’m not the only writer out there that’s found profundity in hot showers or strains of music (in fact, most of the WIP fell into my brain during a shower). There seem to be situations where my brain is prone to wander unseen pathways, where I make connections in stories that, on normal writing days, just don’t seem to happen. No, I don’t believe in Muses, but there is some curious power in the workings…
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And now for something completely… ugh!
I was going to write a very interesting and witty and delightful bit on Illogicon II, but then I got the norovirus. I spent the better part of Monday wishing for death and whimpering on the floor of my bathroom. Now that things have turned around, I find that I’m pretty much incapable of stringing words together. Nothing like forced caffeine withdrawal. Still haven’t managed coffee yet (which explains the incoherence). (It’s not all bad, though. There is cause to celebrate! My husband is employed as of next week. So the long, horrid month of December fades into the distance and we can breathe again.) If you’re looking for some…
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Welcoming Winter, Gravely
It was in the 70s today here in North Carolina. After a few weeks of absolutely amazing weather–chilly and in the 50s during the day, scooping down into the 20s at night–we’re in a bit of a mini heatwave. The flannel sheets seem rather preemptive. But I guess that makes sense. This week has been a study of contrasts, and not just seasonal ones. My husband was laid off on Monday last, his entire department vanishing into “we’ll give you some contractor hours” and that’s that. I’m trying to stave off the panic and dread (and fury; I assure you there is plenty of fury, considering everything we’ve been going…
