Friggin' February

December is always the month that I expect to get nothing done, and I meet that expectation.

February is always the month where I think, "well, LAST February sucked, but THIS February I'm going to get my act together"... and then I don't.

So, really just brief updates for you this month.

I feel like maybe I'm starting to round the curve of wanting to get back into things. Still don't know WHAT I feel like working on, just that I feel like I want to do something.

As to my goals for February:

-Goal: Submit three stories (or one story to three publications)

Actual result: I didn't submit any. I've been struggling with finding the right markets, and questioning myself with what's truly ready.

(Related to that, if any of you who are not already beta readers for me would like to be, please PM me your email through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or by using the email form on this site. No writing or editing experience necessary! Sometimes I want the opinion of "the average Joe on the street.")

-Goal: Increase Facebook following from 99 to 109

Actual result: no change.

-Goal: Increase LinkedIn following from 69 to 76

Actual result: 72 connections, an increase of about 4%

-Goal: Increase Twitter following from 16 to 20

Actual result: 37 followers, an increase of about 57%

Y'all. Y'ALL. I met my follower goal the night I posted my previous goals. I thought about going back and updating the blog post... but then I also said, I could go through and do that every week and drive myself crazy.

I went into starting a Twitter account with the caveat that it might be the hardest to grow an audience on, because it's the one that requires the most interaction, but I've increased my following by over 50% each month since I've been keeping track. (Granted, when your following is 10 or 30, an increase of 50% isn't a lot. I don't expect to keep gaining by 50% or more each month for much longer.)

Next month's goals: Pretty much the same as this months, honestly.

-Submit three stories, or to three publications. Yes, I know I should do more than three a month, but I think trying to increase my goal when I didn't submit this month is shooting myself in the foot, as far as motivation, anxiety, and guilt go.

-Increase online following as follows:

Facebook - break 100 (change of 1% - yay, easy math! ; )

LinkedIn - increase to 75 (change of about 4%)

Twitter - increase to 50 (change of about 35%)

I will also be switching up the contents of my My Works page this month, so keep an eye out for that.

Want to help me meet my goals? Here's how you can help! Make sure to like, share, and especially to follow me on social media!

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for several small snippets each week.

Or, if you're looking for more professional content (less frequent, but more closely related to writing, publishing, or libraries), connect with me on LinkedIn. (I do ask that if you request a connection on LinkedIn that you mention this blog so that I know how you heard of me.)

Oh-well-tober

The downside to the timing of Banned Books Week is that since it's always the last week of September (and often a couple days into October), I don't have a good opportunity to post about my October plans and goals in the time frame I normally do. Oh, well.

I've been working on-again off again on updating my platform since March, yet, somehow, it feels like I haven't gotten much done on that. I have fantastic new pictures I need to switch out on all my sites - here, Facebook, and LinkedIn - and somehow have not gotten around to it. I've been dragging my feet on getting a Twitter account up and running.

Additionally, because I've been focusing on the above (have I, though?) I haven't been doing much writing. I have an idea for a cosmic horror short story that's been tickling the back of my brain for a month or two now. I have pieces that are done that I need to be submitting. And, of course there are those three unfinished novels always looking over my shoulder...

In fact, I think what I'd really like to do the next couple months is focus on one of those.

I've been working off and on (very off sometimes) on finishing The Wolf and the Sheath for the last couple years and... while I'm not saying I can't or don't want to work on that one, I also wonder if maybe working on a different one might give me a little freshness and inspiration.

I still don't know what I'm doing with BrightFire. It needs a massive rewrite.

But I do think that I will go back and reread Brinyor. Depending on how it sparks as I reread it, I might do what I did for W and S for NaNoWriMo a couple months ago - go through and make a list of what scenes and transitions I still need, and then spend time each day in November adding a little. No, most likely not the 50,000 words in 30 days/1,700-some-odd words per day - but something.

I'm not saying it will be easy, and it will be the first time trying something like this since Elianna was born. But she's very good at playing on her own, looking at books, even going potty on her own now. In fact, I've been strongly leaning toward converting the downstairs diaper changing station back into a desk. It's in the room that she mostly plays in, so it would be a good place for me to work while she plays, rather than coming up to my office (which is a MESS*) and either trying to keep her from messing with stuff, or keeping an ear out for her while she's across the hall in her room. (Though, honestly, we could probably try her hanging out in her room - she can keep herself occupied with books for quite a while, like someone else I know.)

*Yes, I could clean it. But right now my time limitations are "clean OR write" and I really need to get back to the latter.

July? You Lie...

What, July already? How?

So the last couple months I have been working on my platform and, as so often happens when I'm working on something aside from simply creating, it's taking longer than I thought it would. But I've gotten a lot done and I'm pleased with what all I've accomplished. I also realize that "working on my platform" is less something that will have an end point, and more something that will always, to some extent, be a work in progress.

But, to date, I have made an extensive list of goals, and have been working with a graphic designer on new imagery for my website and social media. I'm hoping to unveil that soon, but we're still working on some of it. I have also revamped my social media posting schedule (if you also follow me on Facebook, you will have seen that page being more active lately).

So with a good amount of my platform work either done or under way, I'm shifting gears slightly... or adding gears. I don't know much about gears - I don't write steampunk ; )

For July (and the next few months as well, probably) I'll be splitting time between the platform work and getting back into creative work. I'll re-examine what I'm working on in August or September - July is shaping up to be busy, and Elianna's preschool starts back up in mid-August. For now, I'm going to plan to spend part of my writing time each week working on either submitting (which is what I'm working on after I post this actually), getting my brain back into The Wolf and the Sheath, or creating new material.

So keep an eye out - hopefully I will continue filling your feed with fun and interesting stuff!

Changing Gears for April

Hello, readers - it's update time!

As of today, I met my goal of three submissions before the end of the month. Yay! I have actually already received one rejection (boo) - but it was a good rejection - one of those that invited me to submit more, in a non-cookie cutter feeling way.

I went to a virtual class last weekend on the importance of having an author's platform. While I (obviously) already have a website and Facebook page, I also discovered both that what I already have needs some work, and there are some other parts of my potential platform that need to be fleshed out. Since I still don't really have a good grasp on which large project I want to work on next, I have decided that I will change gears for April and work on my platform.

This actually works out because Elianna will be out of school for the next week and a half, and I'm experimenting with redoing my writing schedule now that she's out of physical therapy. Working on my platform isn't going to require the same kind of focus that a large scale writing or editing project would (not that it doesn't need focus, just not the same sort of long stretches of uninterrupted flow).

During this time, I also may be posting here or on social media with questions specifically regarding my platform (what do you think of this photo? this color scheme? etc.) so be on the lookout for opportunities for feedback!

What's in a Name, Act IV - Title Changes

A few days ago, I saw a little thing circulating around Facebook about how, 22 years after its release, people are still arguing about the title change of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the American version of the book.

As a writer, having been to various classes and workshops about publishing, I understand that to a certain extent you have to be concerned about whether a title is marketable.  For example, the film version of a certain Stephen King story was changed from Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, to The Shawshank Redemption (which, admittedly, is still a mouthful).  Likewise, the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe became simply Fried Green Tomatoes for the the film version.  However, these changes were made so that the title was shorter, more easily accessible - someone walks up to the ticket counter and asks for two tickets for Shawshank.

In the case of the Harry Potter example above, it wasn't just the title that was changed. On several occasions, British words were switched for American words; the quaffle is described as being the size of a soccer ball rather than a football, and at one of Harry's quidditch matches he's cheered on by a banner that says "Potter for President."  The mentality, in the late 90's when the book came out, was that kids weren't going to read a book with unfamiliar British terms, that the word "philosopher" was boring, and kids would be more likely to read a book with "sorcerer" in the title*.  

*This leads me to ponder if the book would have received less challenges had the title been "philosopher."

I find it particularly intriguing that the title was changed from "philosopher" to "sorcerer" because the Philosopher's Stone was a "real" thing.  In the middle ages, during alchemy's heyday, it was thought that it was possible to create a substance, an item, that would transform any metal into gold, and that a side effect of this process created an elixir to prolong your life or make you immortal.  (Not sure who came up with this idea - "hey, if I tinker around with a bunch of metals and salts and things I'll just randomly come up with this magic stone that does all this cool stuff.")  This led to a large chunk of students in my college humanities class suddenly gasping amongst themselves during a lecture, "What?  It's real?  She didn't make it up?"

I can see why some titles are changed for sake of brevity, or to inject a recognizable character - Indiana Jones's name was added to Raiders of the Lost Ark when the second film was released.  Harley Quinn's name was added to some listings of the recent film Birds of Prey out of a concern that the poor opening weekend meant that people weren't aware who the movie was about.  

But in Harry Potter's case, I honestly feel that this is a case where changing the title was not needed at best, and possibly detrimental.  J. K. Rowling built this world balanced firmly on western mythology and canon.  The books are peppered with well-known (and lesser known) characters, creatures, and plants from mythology and literature.  Why dumb down the title for kids?  Kids are smart.  They'll pick it up.  They'll eat it up.  As Robin Williams said in Mrs. Doubtfire, "You don't have to play dumb to them."

The Dog Days of February

Well, guys, I somehow missed making my beginning of the month project update for February - by the time I realized this, I figured I might as well wait for March!

My goals for January were to "get my head back in the game" after Christmas, and to do better about sticking to my new schedule. I was very good about sticking to only writing "business" on Mondays - writing-related social media, researching places to submit, etc. Wednesdays and Fridays, without the distraction of "ooh, I wonder if anyone has clicked on my last post," I was able to get a good chunk of things done. Jason and I had a few occasions where we went out and did things on Wednesday or Friday nights and I was very good about making up the time I missed some other evening.

I also submitted two different stories over the past month and a half. That actually doesn't sound like much, but I've been more judicious about making sure the places I'm submitting to are good fits, looking for places that offer payment without also having to shell out a lot of money to enter a contest, etc.

I wrote a lot of new material for The Wolf and the Sheath in the first couple weeks of February - some of this was to go complete or transition between recent material that I wrote in November, and some of it was completely new. The main document now stands at over 60,000 words, and that's not including probably 10,000 words from the secondary document that I (mostly) wrote in November that still need to be copy/pasted in, and maybe 2,000-5,000 more little snippets in various other places.

But that was all before mid-February. The last thing I worked on that was writing related was to submit a story on Feb. 18. That was the night that we realized that Baldur was more than just "under the weather," and I have not had either the time or the emotional energy to work on anything since then. (For more on what's been going on with my boy, see my previous post: https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2019/2/24/baldurs-saga ).

As of the typing of this, we are still waiting on his biopsy results and I am just physically and emotionally exhausted.

But with that said, I have probably been more productive this February than last February. I don't remember getting a lot done early last February (for some reason last year, it took me a long time to get back into the swing of things after Christmas). Then, again in mid-February, we adopted Athena. The first month or so that we had her, she needed near-constant supervision and also had some separation anxiety, meaning that Jason and I pretty much alternated nights of who had a trembling doggy on their lap. (She has improved so much you guys, I can't even tell you.)

As of the 18th, my plans for March were to stay the course. I was starting to think I might actually be able to have a complete rough draft of Wolf and Sheath before Jason and I have our first (human) baby in August. But, depending on what happens with Baldur, I may dial back writing time in order to spend more time with him. There's a lot that is very much up in the air right now.

How is it that the shortest month always has so much crammed into it?

New Year, New Goals

It's that time of year again - time to look back on the goals I set last year, and re-examine what I can do in the coming year.

First we'll take a look at what goals I set myself last year and how well I accomplished them. Below is my actual list from last year's blog (linked here if you're interested https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2017/12/30/2017-summary-2018-aims ):

1. Prep and submit my latest short story, "The Cause of the Disturbance." This will actually require some research as it is a decidedly different genre and style than my three other published stories, and may need to be submitted to different places than I have been submitting to.

2. Make measurable progress on The Wolf and the Sheath. Don't ask me what "measurable" means right now - this may end up being the amount of new material written, amount of editing/rewriting, etc.

3. Attend my writing critique group semi-regularly.

4. Manage my time better in the evenings.

So, how did I do?

1. I have submitted "The Cause of the Disturbance" to several contests and publications. No luck to date, though one of my "rejections" noted that I made it to the final round of considerations in their contest.

2. For The Wolf and the Sheath I have:

• Finalized all place and character names.

• Neatened up and edited some scenes.

• Started work on a map and costume research (both really for myself - I doubt that either a map or costume illustrations will make it into the final version).

• Written 31 pages of new material in November. Not all of this will go straight into the book as is. Some of it is to replace really clunky introductory scenes, some of it still needs to be fleshed out, and some of it is for a character and pronunciation guide, as opposed to actually being part of the story.

3. Ha. Oops. I think I went three times this year - and one of those times was to a guest speaker, not a critique meeting.

4. This one is kind of up in the air as to whether it was successful.

In February, Jason and I adopted a new dog and she took a lot of hands-on time those first couple months that ate into writing time. But Jason and I also realized that since he works from home on Wednesday and Friday that it makes more sense for me to use those nights for writing (I had been using Tuesday and Thursday) - he can start dinner on those nights so that it can be ready when I get home or slightly thereafter so that I can start writing earlier. I also discovered recently that I am not giving writing the same priority that we currently give to other things - scheduled gaming time, groceries, or even preparing my lunch for the next day. This needs to change. If I'm ever going to "do something" with my writing (and by do something, I mean something other than publish a couple stories every 2 years), I need to stop treating it as a hobby.

So my goals for the coming year are:

1. Better commit to my writing time on my writing evenings.

My new schedule will be:

• Monday - writing business. Submissions, looking into paid writing opportunities, articles and research not related to my current project, etc. Also some writing social media (currently I post my "writerly quote of the week" on Mondays).

• Wednesday and Friday - work on current project (whatever novel or story I'm working on) and just that - no writing social media, no articles, just pure writing, editing, or research for that project.

• Sometime over the weekend - write and post my weekly blog.

If we do something on a Friday (or on one of my other writing nights, but Friday is the most frequent offender), I need to make sure that I set aside time on some other evening to make up for the time lost. If I'm not done making lunch, putting laundry away, etc. by the time I'm supposed to start writing, it doesn't get done. (I've been trying to eat healthier, which means not buying lunch or just throwing a frozen lunch in a bag, but we'll see.)

2. Finish the story line of Wolf and Sheath.

I say this with hesitation. I usually get to a point after working on something for a few months where I just don't want to do it anymore. But in November I made big progress with adding new scenes that needed to be done - filling in backstory, exposition, transitions, etc. I still have a lot of transitions that need to be written, in addition to a climactic battle, but I think I could get at least the bones of those laid out in the next year, even if I don't work on W and S the full year. That won't mean the book will be publishing-ready at the end of the year. I mean, it potentially could be, but I don't want to back myself into that corner just yet.

3. Prepare some nearly-finished short stories for submission.

These stories (working titles) are "Olivia's Luck," "Certain," and possibly "The New Inventory." (I say "possibly" on the 3rd because it's something I wrote a few years ago and it's not as good as the others.) I will also work on submitting "24 December 1944," but that won't be 'til summer - it's a Christmas piece and no one will be looking for those now.

4. My 4th goal is a little more vague, a little more dependent on luck and whether the right things present themselves at the right time - receive payment for my work.

This could be winning a paid competition, successful submission to a paid publication, or finding something like a little side free-lance job. I need to look into these possibilities more, but like I said above, I need to stop treating my writing as a hobby.

OK, well this post is a lot longer than I thought it would be when I sat down to write it - if you're still with me, I appreciate it!

October Already

August gone, September over, now on to October. Gosh the last few months have really flown by!

Just a quick little update tonight:

-One of my projects for September was to post a blog every day of Banned Books Week - and this year I was able to succeed!

-Another project for September was to keep a travel journal while Jason and I were on our trip.

My goals for October include:

-Sharing some of the anecdotes from my travel journal.

-Submitting a Christmas story for publication.

-Figuring out what I want to do for November/NaNoWriMo.

Look for my regular blog schedule of on blog post every weekend from here on out.

Autumn Announcement

Good morning, readers - I'm back!

I have lots of fun news and updates in store for you:

-Jason and I just returned from our delayed honeymoon/first anniversary trip. I will have fun stories to post for you, as I kept a travel journal during the trip. Those may still be a few weeks out - we have tons of pictures to sort through, and I have a special project I'll be doing for you all this week.

-Tomorrow is the first day of Banned Books Week* and I'll be blogging every day. This is something I first did for Banned Books Week the first year that this blog was active. The following 2 years, I was too busy to do a post every day, so I just reposted what I had done in years past. This year, I planned ahead and wrote 5 of 7 posts ahead of time, so things are good to go!

-I also have 1 story out for submission, another that I'm going to be sending out for submission shortly, and several others that are close to submission-ready. I hope to have updates on one or more of those sometime in the next few months, so "watch this space." (Apparently "watch this space" is something everyone in the UK says... : )

*For more info on Banned Books Week, check this out: https://bannedbooksweek.org/

See You in September

As some of you will remember from my last monthly update (https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2018/8/1/august-update), and my July update (https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2018/6/30/oh-say-can-you-see-my-plans-for-july), I intentionally set the bar low for August.  I knew that I was going to be visiting my sister in St. Louis the first week of the month, and that the middle of month was going to be crazy with the University starting back on the 20th.  I didn't count on coming down with a sinus infection in the midst of all that, too.  So I'm actually pretty glad that I didn't have any major goals this month.  

I did get a little bit done: I wrote a "new" story that is now publication ready.  (I say "new" because I've needed to put it down on the page for years.)  I have also decided on the next story after that that I am going to workshop, and have narrowed down the title to a couple options.  I also have identified the next couple stories I'll be workshopping after these two and decided on their titles.  

It will probably be another month before I start working on submission for the above; I have some stuff going on the next few weeks that just won't allow me to work on this any.  I also plan to write a blog post for each day of Banned Books Week* (September 23-29 this year).  That will be my major project for September, though I do have another project I'll be able to tell you about in a few weeks.

This will also be my last blog post for about 3-4 weeks, so don't worry if you don't see anything from me online for a while - I'll have cool stuff to share with you this fall.

*For more info on Banned Books Week, check this out: https://bannedbooksweek.org/

Better Late Than Never

If you follow my Facebook page, you might have seen a post I made a few days ago about how I had finally written down a story that I've had in my head since high school.

It's not very long - in fact I was surprised to find that it's just over 1,000 words, even with a few fleshed-out details that weren't part of the original idea.  I think that I had thought it would be long because I see it so cinematically - it's so richly visual in my head - that I thought it would take forever to describe everything.  But the written version doesn't have that much description, as it turns out.  

I decided to write quick, clipped sentences when possible; a telegram figures prominently in the story, and I wanted to give the story that feel of a short, urgent document that just has the most vital information you need to know.  I think that I actually did really well at achieving that while not sacrificing the emotion.  

You won't be seeing the story on here any time soon.  It's a holiday piece and I want to see if I can get it accepted for publication this Thanksgiving/Christmas.  As I've mentioned on here a few times before, most publications won't accepted a story that has already been published elsewhere, and many of them consider sharing a story on your website to be publication.

But I do have a favor to ask of you all: if you know of somewhere that accepts short holiday stories - magazines, websites, radio shows, whatever - please let me know.

August Update

Hello, readers!  I'm posting today, both because it's time for my monthly update, and because I won't have time this weekend.

As I mentioned in my July update, I'm going to be changing gears for a month or two.  Partly this is because I'm going to have a lot on my plate for the next month, and partly because I've gotten to a point with Wolf and Sheath where I just need to step away from it for a bit.

Late last week I wrapped up things with W and S, preparing to put it away for a while, and started rereading some of my short stories, partial stories, snippets, and ideas.  I had been thinking recently that after "The Cause of the Disturbance" and "The Wrong Kind of People," the two stories that I currently have out for submission, that I didn't really have anything else I could be submitting.  But after digging through and rereading a lot of my files, I've found that I have a lot more than I thought.

I've found that I have a lot of good quality, nearly complete stories - many of them from prompts and exercises - that it wouldn't take a whole lot of work to make them publishable.

So, while I may not have a lot of time in the upcoming month or so, I think I now have a good project that won't take as much direct focus as working on a single novel.  I am going to pick out a handful of those nearly-finished stories and figure out what needs to be done for them, where I might have good luck submitting, etc.  But, with that said, I won't be submitting all of them to 5,000 places at once.  

Instead, I will be taking the advice of Janisse Ray, an author who I recently heard speak, and chose five places to submit.  Then wait 'til I hear back.  And, honestly, doing it that way it'll be easier to keep track of what I have out, where I'm waiting to hear back from, etc.

And, of course, if and when I have success, I will share it here.

The Teenager's Bucket List

Last weekend I cleaned out a box that had various papers from college and late high school.  In addition to some VERY angsty poetry, I found a list entitled "Things to do before I get to old and/or too busy."  (The "too busy" part makes me think that I knew more then about my penchant for trying to do too much than I realized...)

Looking over this list, I was pleased to find that there were a decent amount of things on the list that I have done.  I don't recall exactly when this list was made, but the inclusion of "go swing dancing" at the end, in different pen, would likely put the majority of the list as having been written around the time I graduated from high school, or no later than early in my freshman year of college.  Prior to college I was unaware of swing dancing and got into it within a month of two of starting freshman year.

For kicks and giggles, here is the list in it's entirety (exactly as I originally worded it), with notes of what I've accomplished from it:

• Read a romance novel.  /I have read a few.  I was not impressed.
• Enter one of my really good love poems in a contest or publication. /Done better than that - I have published four stories, which are of way better quality than the above-mentioned angsty love poems.
• Make a Romeo and Juliet collage like Caitlin did. /I don't remember this collage or person at all : (  But I have done a whole bunch of other cool art projects, so we'll say this evens out.
• Walk around downtown or Little 5 and take pictures. /I've taken pictures of cooler, safer places ; )
• Attend or host a murder mystery dinner, preferably set in the 20's. /Not set in the 20's, sadly, but I performed in a murder mystery dinner show.
• Go all out for a costume party - complete with historically-accurate hair and costume (corset if the character calls for it).  ie, Marguerite, Ankhesunamun, etc*. /Maybe not truly historically accurate but I have now done this a boatload of times - often with corsets.  I'm also not sure why this was on the list, as I did a pretty accurate Egyptian costume in 9th grade and, as mentioned above, I'm fairly sure this list post-dates that party.
• Watch a classic horror movie. /I'm not sure what I meant by "classic" but I've now seen several that could qualify.
• Watch a movie you wanted to see as a kid but didn't - ie, Princess Bride.  /Done.
• Watch something Mommy wouldn't approve of - like South Park.  /Ha!  Done.
• Watch (live) all of the Broadway musicals I can - ie, Scarlet Pimpernel, Phantom of the Opera.  /Phantom twice, Rent, Lion King.  I'm sure there are more I'm not thinking of right now.
• Go to a nightclub, a karaoke bar, a drive in theatre, and a cafe where they do poetry readings.  /Nightclub: I'm not sure what I meant by a "nightclub."  I think I was picturing something out of I Love Lucy, though I did go to a discoteque at least once in Russia, so I'm counting that.  Karaoke bar: not specifically a karaoke bar, but I've done karaoke several times, so I'm counting it.  Drive in theatre: Not yet, sadly.  Cafe where they do poetry readings: Stirlings.  Amazing how much of this list was checked off at Sewanee : )
• Sit under a tree on a cool fall or spring day and read or just wonder.  /Probably.  I lived in Sewanee for 6 1/2 years.
• Go on a picnic and take your sketchbook and/or camera.  /Not precisely, I don't think.
• Eat a banana split.  /No.
• Eat an ice cream sundae with everything - nuts, chocolate, whipped cream, and cherry.  /Again, I don't think so.  
• Share a milkshake with your boyfriend** with 2 straws.  /Again, no.  Why I thought there was an age limit on these ice cream-related things is beyond me.  I mentioned this one specifically to Jason and he jokingly said, "Too late!  You're too old and you don't have a boyfriend."  Thanks, dear.
• Try out an outrageous hairdo or outfit you wouldn't normally wear out.  /I was a theatre major, so, yeah.
• Write someone a love letter or poem - anonymously, if you're afraid to do it otherwise - and send it to them.  /Yeah.  Those didn't work out so well...
• Go swing dancing.  /Been there, done that, got the shoes.

*Marguerite from The Scarlet Pimpernel.  Ankhesunamun was Tutankhamun's wife and I was kind of obsessed with her in high school.  
**I did not have a boyfriend at the time of writing this, and would not for several years.

(Also, it is an absolute travesty how good my handwriting was then and how bad it is now.)

The timing of finding this list is kind of odd.  If my assessment of when I wrote it is correct, it was the summer I was 18, and I found it in the summer, precisely 18 years later.  It's interesting to see what experiences I thought would be important or formative then, which of them I accomplished, and what I still feel is important of formative now.  (The fact that I had three "bad for you" food accomplishments listed says a lot about how I will never be thin! ; D )

In all seriousness, though, I think it's very telling to look back at these, see what I wanted to do at 18, and see how much of it was part of my college experience, without actually being something you learn in school.

Oh Say Can You See My Plans for July?

Can you?  'Cause I'm not sure what they are either.

I have spent the last month continuing to work on name research and replacement.  It's taking me longer than it should.  Partly, this is due to the depth of research that I'm doing due to some irrational fear that I will miss the "perfect" name for what are, at this point, important, but not the most major characters (having named all of the major characters already).  I actually am close to being done with this; I think I only have one left that requires the more in depth process I'm doing.  For the other minor characters that have yet to be named I can probably just pull something from the lists I've already created.  Until I write more and need more names, ha!

And that last part brings me to why, even though what I have been doing is important, it feels like I haven't done much.  The Wolf and the Sheath still stands at the 51,729 word mark, where it was in late April.  I have not written any new material since then.  (This doesn't mean I have writers block; I have plenty of scenes I need to write and know pretty much what I am going to do for them.  I just got to the point where I said, "I'm past 50,000 words; I need to finalize these names.")

It also occurred to me within the past couple days that I'm going to have a lot going on in September, and to a lesser extent, August.  I may very well not get much, if anything done, on W & S these months.  (I'm not saying I'm going to intentionally not work on it, just that I know my realistic limitations and I'm not going to set myself up to be disappointed at not meeting an unrealistic goal.)  

I keep thinking that these months are SO far away, SO down the road that I hadn't thought much about them.  But tomorrow, is July 1, meaning that August and September really are just around the corner.  Looking now at what I will have occupying my time during that period, I think I may take a break from W & S completely (aside from writing brilliant scenes that come to me in the shower, 'cause that's what I do) and work on some smaller projects.  

I actually have a couple projects in mind for September.  One of them is that I will return to something I did a few years ago and post a bog entry for each day of Banned Books Week (at the end of September); actual posts, not reposting the same thing I posted two years ago.  I will probably write them ahead of time; the whole reason why I was reposting BBW blog posts last year is that it actually takes a lot of work to write a blog post every day.  I have another project in mind, too, but y'all will have to wait a little while to hear more about that one.

I think for August I will work on small projects; polishing or finishing existing short stories, or creating new ones.  I've been thinking a lot recently about how I need to start working, really working, using my writing.  I need to start submitting my pieces to places where I will get paid more than a contributor's copy.  I do want to eventually be able to work "full time" as a writer (by "full time," I mean that that would be my primary source of income).  At the rate I'm going, that's some time in the far-flung future.  And, yes, I need to finish writing my books.  But with all but one of my complete short stories published, I also don't have anything to submit to paid publications right now.  I need to find a better balance on that front.

So, what does this have to do with July?  For July, I will finish my name research and replacing (that might even happen this week).  I will then do a full reread, making sure that all the names have switched out properly.  (I only trust find/replace so much.)  I will slot in names off my list I've been compiling as I research for those minor characters who need it, so Lady X and the cook can actually have a name.  We'll see where that gets me in July.  If I have time, I will commit all those brilliant shower scenes to the page.  But I will also prepare to put the story away for a while.  I've been "working" on Wolf and Sheath (some months more steadfastly than others) since November, and it may be that I just need to step away and refresh my creativity a bit.  I also have one more writing contest I definitely want to enter that opens tommorow.

So this July 4th I will be celebrating my independence from an indefinite timeline and "to do" list and see if maybe that helps jump start myself some.

The Fraud Effect

When can you say that you're a writer?  

I went to a doctor's appointment this week.  The physician's assistant, making small talk, asked me what I do for fun. I hesitated for a moment and said, "Well... I write."
"Really?  What do you write?"
Another hesitation.  "Young adult fantasy."
"Oh, wow!  Where were you when I was growing up?!"
She asked me how I had gotten into it and I told her about National Novel Writing Month, and how I had three partial novels.  I didn't bring up my published short stories, but she also didn't ask me what I had published.  And when I say that, what I mean is that she did not seek out my publishing credits to determine if I'm "really" a writer.

As we were having the conversation, especially the early part if it, I wondered if I had "the right" to call myself a writer.  Sure, I've published four stories.  Sure, I have three novels partly written.  But is that enough?  I don't write every day (even though EVERY successful writer says you must).  While I have been published, those publications have been by literary magazines with relatively small circulations.  It's not like people know who I am; it's not like I'm famous.

But I recall reading recently about the Fraud Affect.  It's when you feel like you don't belong to a certain group, you're not good enough for a certain honor, even though your peers DO feel that you qualify.

I remember reading an article by Neil Gaiman about this.  He recounts a story of how he was at an event, as a guest speaker I think, and was standing in the back of the theatre with "another Neil."  They got to chatting about how it still felt weird to Neil Gaiman to be invited places to speak, how he still doesn't quite believe his own celebrity.  The other Neil said he understood, that often when speaking in public would think, "but I didn't do anything special - I just went where the air force sent me."  In his story, Neil Gaiman counters this with, "but you went to the moon!" - revealing that "the other Neil" was Neil Armstrong.

So I guess it's OK, that maybe this is just something I have to get used to.  I am a writer.  I write.  I have published stories.  I am working on novels.  Therefore I can tell people, "I am a writer."

Know Your Audience

As some of you know, I recently had another story published - a piece of flash fiction called "Dying Flower."*  While this is a first for me, in that I've never had a flash fiction published before, all of my other published works are also quite short (under 2,000 words), and densely visual.  It also continues in my comfort zone of being vaguely historical (though this is my first about an actual historical event).

*This can be found on my My Works page, if you're interested: https://www.iveyink.com/myworks/

I actually wrote this story several years ago.  It was one of three or four that was in my very first round of submissions to contests and to a service that helps you determine, based on your style, what journals are best fits for you.  I wasn't sure what to do with it for a while, as I've only just recently started seeing "flash fiction" and "micro-short" or "short short stories" included in "we are currently accepting submissions of" lists.

About six months ago, I remembered this piece and took it, along with another flash fiction I wrote more recently, to my writer's critique group.  It was also the first time my group and our leader had been presented with flash fiction for critique and, while some of them were initially a little surprised at the premise (two complete stories, each in less than 500 words), the feedback was good.

My writing critique group is kind of a sounding board for me.  I write short, usually dark, literary pieces that generally straddle the history/fantasy line.  They all have rich sensory imagery - even the one that is much closer to a main stream humor piece.  In short, they're the kind of pieces I would enjoy reading myself.  

Because of that, it's helpful for me to have other people read my stuff and tell me if it makes sense, if they like it, if it's too wordy, too weird, too dark, etc.  I can read something and say, "gosh, this is cool/beautiful/awesome."  But having a children's author, a memoirist, a non-fiction humor columnist, a realistic/modern fiction writer, and others weigh in helps ground me as to whether my assessment of my on work is on point.  

Having a diverse group of reviewers also helps in that since I am so big on both history and symbolism, I often make vague allusions to stuff that make perfect sense to me, but are also perfectly likely to go over people's heads if they are not as well versed in history, cannon literature, and archetypes as I am.  

When I first wrote "Dying Flower," I asked my sister and my now-husband to read it.  Katrina, who, in addition to being very interested in history, like I am, also was particularly fascinated by the Titanic when she was in middle school (before the movie came out, before that was what all kids were into), said that it was TOO obvious that the story was about the Titanic.  Jason, on the other hand, is not a history buff, and asked, "is this supposed to be a reference to something?"

But Jason and I were discussing this this week, after I brought home my contributor's copy.  He pointed out that he's not my target audience.  He's into biographies, straight forward slash'n'hack adventures, and horror.  And that's OK.  But I do have to keep in mind my audience.  And I guess my audience is people like me - people who like fantasy, history, and literary works, with heavy imagery and rich allusions.

Never Say Never

I recall a scene in The Mists of Avalon where Morgaine balks at the suggestion that one day she might do a specific act.  I don't recall now exactly how it was worded, or what it was (and whether it was killing or betraying someone).  Her mentor said, "do not name the well from which you will not drink."  And it turned out that, many years later, she had to do the thing that she had considered to be so heinous because she was put in a position where if she didn't many people would die.

Likewise (but much less seriously!) sometimes you have an author who states that the book they've just written is a one-off story and they won't write a sequel.  Or the author of the best-selling, smash hit, movie-spawning series that defined a generation states that the story arc is finished, that they won't write another story about Stevie McStevenson, because Stevie McStevenson is done at the end of Stevie McStevenson Saves the World.  But then that first author says, "well, y'know, I think I might have another story about this character."  And the second author announces that, "whattaya know, I'm releasing another story about Stevie McStevenson that takes place several years later."

And a lot of people's reactions on an author going back on their "I'm not writing another story about these people" statement is to accuse them of selling out, of doing it for the money.  And I'm sure there are cases where that is exactly what happened (and you can usually tell, because the sequel is sub-par).  But there are also some, I'm sure, where the author who has publicly announced that there is nothing more to say, suddenly has a revelation while driving, or in the shower, or any of those other random moments where inspiration comes, and they say, "Oh, my god - there IS another story to tell!"

Why do I bring this up?  I'm currently working on my oldest partial novel.  I started it in November of 2009 with the very definite "knowledge" that it was one story.  "Only ONE novel-length story will be told about Reyala," I told myself.  And for a long time I actually worried that this might be a detriment when I go to pitch The Wolf and the Sheath to a potential publisher, as it's pretty clearly Young Adult, but Young Adult series are the money-makers that publishers want.  "But, whatever," I thought, "if the story's good enough, someone will take a chance on it."  

But a month or two ago, an idea came to me.  Just a little idea in the shower.  Sure, Reyala's story arc is done at the end of Wolf and Sheath, but what about her brothers?  And just like pushing a pebble down a snowy hill in a cartoon, this idea picked up speed and, lo and behold, I have a basic plot outline for not one but two "sequels."  

I use sequels in quotes because they are not continuations of Reyala's story.  Reyala is the main character in The Wolf and the Sheath, but the ideas I have for the next stories focus on each of her younger brothers in turn.  She would be in each of them, but she's not the central focus.  Plus there may be a few years between W & S and the next sequel, and there would definitely be several years between the second and third story.  So maybe they're not sequels so much as companion pieces.  But, again, for 8 years I thought, pretty strongly, that there was only 1 story to tell here and now... we'll see if I do stop at 3.

2017 Summary, 2018 Aims

As I went to look back on the year and plan for this post, I found my post from January 1 to see what I had written, what goals I had set for myself:

"In 2017 I will strive to be more productive.
I will aim to be more positive.
But I will also try to be better about giving myself some slack when I'm feeling overwhelmed."

And that's it.  Kind of vague, and hard to measure.  

I don't know that I was more productive in 2017.  I did get one short story written, publishing-ready, accepted for publication, and published within the year, so that's something.  I also was planning a wedding for a good portion of the year, and that takes a lot of time, so I feel I kind of get a pass on that.  I revamped my website, launching the new layout in March, and with very few exceptions, have met my goal of a post each week.  So I guess I have been productive.  It's hard to measure "more" productive, though, as I spent the majority of my free time in 2016 looking for a new job.

I have definitely made an effort to be more positive in 2017.  It helped that early in the year I got a new job with a very supportive supervisor, in a completely different environment.  I also made an attempt to find the positive in things rather than focus on the negative (and, yes, I know you can't always do this, but I did it when I could).  In an effort to help with this, I started a "good things jar" - each week you write something  positive that happened to you and put it in the jar.  Tomorrow, I will go back through and read all of them.  But this helped me with the way I think about things - even if you've had a bad week, you can usually find something good, even if it's just "I had really yummy macaroni and cheese on Wednesday" or "the dog snuggled with me tonight."

I think I was also better this year about recognizing when I needed a break - "I should be [insert activity here] but I really need to just chill and give my mind a rest."

So, now that I've decided that I reasonably met my goals for 2017, what for 2018?  (I don't make resolutions.  The word "resolution" has developed a connotation as being an unreasonable expectation that people give up on in a week.  I make goals.)

My writing goals* for 2018 will include:
1. Prep and submit my latest short story, "The Cause of the Disturbance."  This will actually require some research as it is a decidedly different genre and style than my three other published stories, and may need to be submitted to different places than I have been submitting to.
2. Make measurable progress on The Wolf and the Sheath.  Don't ask me what "measurable" means right now - this may end up being the amount of new material written, amount of editing/rewriting, etc.
3. Attend my writing critique group semi-regularly.  
4. Manage my time better in the evenings. 

At risk of boxing myself back in and giving myself grief about not meeting goals or schedules, #4 is probably the one that will be my biggest challenge this year, as I let it go a bit (especially toward the end of the year) this year. What I need to do is something like this:
-Monday: Use the time before Jason gets home for exercising and keeping up to date on the news.  Make my writerly quote of the week post.  Use the time after dinner for housekeeping and other non-writing business.
-Tuesday: Use the time before Jason gets home for exercising and keeping up to date on the news, see if I can squeeze in a walk for Baldur before dinner.  Use the time after dinner for only writing; I can give myself more time if I plan to buy my lunch the next day rather than taking time to prep it in the evening.
-Wednesday: Jason often works from home; use the time between when I get home and we make dinner to catch up on small tasks.  Check ads and coupons for groceries.
-Thursday: Same as Tuesday.
-Friday: Prepare to go to the grocery store, free evening.  Blogging to be done sometime between now and Sunday.
-Saturday: Be better about spending my time on productive things, including writing.  One potential day for writing critique group.
-Sunday: Same as Saturday, but the days can alternate depending on if Jason and I have plans.

*I have a couple other goals that are not writing related, and if I do post about them it will be on my personal Facebook page, not here.

Meet me back here in a year to see how I did.

"Ashes" Update

For those of you have may not have seen the announcement on my author's Facebook page, my short story "Ashes" has been accepted for publication by the James Dickey Review of Reinhardt University.

While this is not my first short story published (it will be my third), it is a first in its own way:
-This is the first time I've had a story accepted "close to home" - both of my previous stories having been published through New England Universities.
-This is the first time that I submitted a story to people I know.  While I don't know everyone on the James Dickey staff personally, I do know some of them.  Sending your story out into the ether to be read by strangers is one thing; sending it off to coworkers who you respect is another.  I am very pleased that they thought it good enough to represent our University.
-This will be my first published work after getting married.  As some of you who follow this blog may have noticed, I changed my name on my personal facebook account, but not here or on my author's facebook page.  Back a few months ago when I was figuring out various wedding and post-wedding logistics, I decided that I would keep Elizabeth Ivey as my "pen name" and go by my new married name in my personal and (non-writing) professional life.

While the formal notice that "Ashes" had been accepted came on Monday, I was actually kind of expecting it.  Last Friday, the head of Reinhardt's MFA in Creative Writing program came by my office to drop off something for one of my coworkers.  On his way, he stopped by my desk to say that he really enjoyed my story.  He had more praise to offer, but I won't share that until after the story is published, as it spoils the ending : )

The same night, I ran into the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities in the grocery store.  He told me congratulations; we are friends on Facebook, and this was the first time he'd seen me in person since I'd gotten married, so my initial instinct was that he was congratulating me on that.  But then thinking about it later, I wondered... Given that he is also involved in our MFA and literary magazine, was he referring to something I didn't know about yet?  (Equally curious, as he is actually the managing editor of the JDR and was the one who officially informed me of my acceptance on Monday.)

I also now have an update as to publishing.  The 2017 edition of the James Dickey Review goes to press in December and will likely be available to the general public in January.  I will update everyone once it's actually available, and I will also let everyone know once I am allowed to post it to my personal website.  In the meantime, since some of you have asked, the easiest way to obtain a printed copy is to subscribe to the James Dickey Review using the form below.  (Just as a security reminder, do not include a credit card number if you plan to email the form.  If you are emailing the subscription form, you can call the Reinhardt Business Office to make a secure credit card payment over the phone at 770-720-5520.)

In the meantime, if you would like to read my previously published works, and other pieces besides, you visit the "My Works" page on this website.

My Theatre Major Comes in Handy

It's funny how I look back on stuff now, stuff that I didn't realise years ago might be useful for more than just the reason I was doing it then.

As some of you reading this know, I was a theatre major.  As such, we did a lot of exercises about things like why a character does what he does, how to use your own memory (or imagination) of sensory detail to make your performance deeper and more meaningful.  At the time, I wasn't thinking about how I might ever use these sort of things other than in a performance.

But now I write.  And one of the things I've found is that a lot of what we worked on in theatre translates well to writing.  You have to know your character inside and out - things that the audience may never see or know about, you have to know about.  The audience might not ever have smelled freshly cut poplar wood, or heard the scream of steam escaping a boiling conch, or walked outside at night under a sky so far away from any lights that you feel like you can see to the end of the universe.  And maybe you never have, either.  But if it's a part of your character that's important for the audience to know, understand, or feel, you have to help them.  You have to deliver that sensation to them.

One of the things I've realized about my writing is that I am very good at this.  When I go to workshops and get feedback and critiques, one of the constant and pretty much universal observations is how good I am at folding rich, sensory details into my work.  One reader at a workshop once said that my level of description is cinematic; when she read the excerpt from my novel she could very clearly see the world I was describing.

I was reminded of this recently when I started going to a new writing group.  I took a story that I knew was good, knew in my bones that it was strong and well-written, but was also concerned about sharing it with a new group.  I was concerned that the details might be too strong, the emotions might be too much to throw at people who didn't know me.  And you know what?  When I asked the group, "Is it too much?" the overwhelming response was that it was just right.  "Don't change a word," one of the ladies said to me.  Another thanked me for being brave enough to "dare to go there."  Two women who I had never met got teary while I was reading it, because it resonnated with them so strongly.

The peice I talk about above is a short story called "Ashes."  It's going to be the next peice I work on for submission (and as evidenced by the feedback above, it's pretty much ready).  So you won't be seeing it on here for a while*, but I promise, someday I will share it with the world.

*Most literary magazines require that submissions be unpublished, even on personal websites.