Down to Brass Tacks

I have just one New Year's resolution this year: quit wasting so much time on the internet.

You know that saying about how when the going gets tough, the tough get going (or go shopping, or make lemonade, or whatever it is they do)? When I'm supposed to be working, my brain seems to interpret that phrase as, "When the going gets tough, the tough go online."

Regrettably, this doesn't get much writing done. And unfortunately, if I'm reading author blogs or scouring Goodreads for my next read, my brain is perfectly capable of justifying this as writing... or research... or market analysis.

Therein lies the problem. As long as I can justify it, it isn't going to stop. So what needs to happen is that internet use needs to become Uncomfortable and Awkward so that I will avoid it with the same fervor with which I avoid other Uncomfortable and Awkward things. Like exercise. And housework. And my in-laws.

To that end, I have unplugged my writing computer from the internet and set up the decrepit, ancient, snail-paced laptop in the other room. I have equipped it with a mushy, unresponsive keyboard, a mouse that is far too small for comfort, and an extremely uncomfortable chair.

Now if I want to go online, I have to sit on a horrible chair and use equipment I hate, and wait ten seconds between page loads... hardly worth the effort, right?

And what's even better? In order to get the writing computer back online, I have to crawl under the desk to plug the cable in. With my back the way it is right now, that is just not happening. (Well... it could happen, but then I would be stuck under the desk until someone took pity on me and rescued me, and I shudder to contemplate the logistics of that.)

Eventually, I'll be able to crawl under desks again, at which point I'll have to come up with a different way to outwit myself.

Or maybe I'll just have Husband Beast set a few mousetraps back there.

Another Roadtrip!

Today I'm over at Adrian J. Smith's blog for an interview. We've been conversing via email for a while now, getting to know each other. She had lots of great questions, and we talked about writing and publishing in general, and a little bit about the process of turning the novella, Human Frailties, into a novel. Stop over and check it out! And while you're there, the giveaway is still running through January 16th. Enter for a chance to win a copy of Human Frailties, Human Strengths.

Cover Reveal and Excerpt... Right This Way, Folks...

Today is the day I get to show off the awesome cover art that Chinchbug did for Psi Hunter. Brandon Shire is graciously hosting a cover reveal and an exclusive excerpt on his blog! If you'd like to see the gorgeous cover and get a little taste of the story, head on over there!

More Bloggy Roadtrips and a Giveaway!

I have a couple of cool things to tell you about. First is that I'll be visiting Brandon Shire's blog on Friday, January 10th, and you'll finally get to the see the awesome cover art Chinchbug has done for Psi Hunter and get to read an excerpt!

Then on Monday, January 13th, I'll be over at Adrian J. Smith's blog for an interview. Adrian is doing a giveaway on her blog right now, and you can win a copy of Human Frailties, Human Strengths or one of two books by Francis James Franklin by logging in here. The giveaway runs through January 16th.

A Sneak Peek at '14

A couple of weeks ago, I worked up the 2014 Master Plan... which is a (probably too ambitious) list of what projects I plan to work on and what kind of release dates I'm looking at for the next year. All of which is subject to the whims of Fate, Real Life, Kids, Dogs, the Universe, and Everything Annoying that Comes Between Me and My Writing (which is, you know, everything).

At any rate, here is the (definitely too ambitious) list of stuff I'd like to get out the door this year:

Psi Hunter: Book 1 of the Guardians of the Pattern M/M sci fi series. Working on the edits for this one. I'm looking at late February/early March for the release. If you want a sneak peek, I'll be doing the cover reveal on Brandon Shire's blog on the tenth of January, and there'll be an overview of the series and an excerpt and everything. (Except I don't think there will be confetti... I'm afraid I go a bit mad when there's confetti, so it's probably safest to avoid it altogether.)

The Deep Dark: Book 1.5 of the Guardians of the Pattern series, a not-yet-written short/novella that will introduce Rhys, one of the main characters in Gremlin's Last Run. I've got a solid idea for this one, just need time to get it down. I'm hoping to release this in the spring.

Gremlin's Last Run: Book 2 of Guardians of the Pattern. First draft of this one is written and has been torn apart, ready for the rewrite. I'll be working on the rewrite as soon as Psi Hunter is out the door. Hoping to have this one out in the summer.

Facing the Music: Book 2.5 of Guardians of the Pattern, a not-yet-written short/novella. This story will be the sequel to Facing the Mirror. It will focus on the events that occur directly after the events in Facing the Mirror, and gives a bit more background on Miko, who is a main character in book 3. I want to have this one out in the fall.

Book 3: Book 3 of Guardians of the Pattern is thus far untitled. First draft is done, and I'll be starting the rewrite over the summer. This may be out at the end of '14, but given my apparent lack of control over Fate and the Universe, more realistically, it'll be early '15 for this one.

Looking Even Further Ahead: I'd like to have the entire Guardians of the Pattern series done and released by the end of '15. Five books are already drafted and just need rewriting/tidying up. But I've got an idea for another Big Problem for my intrepid band of heroes to deal with, which may just require a second series. I've also got a M/M dragon shifter novel I'm playing with, and an epic (book 1 is in the second draft and sitting at a whopping 250K) M/M fantasy series that is mostly drafted.

What I really need is ten more hours of consciousness a day... I had it on my xmas list, but Father Christmas did not leave it under the tree for me. Not that I'm ungrateful, or anything... I mean, he would have been well within his rights to leave me a sock full of reindeer poo, and he didn't do that, either, so I guess I shouldn't be too bitter about it...

Anyway, a very Happy New Year to all of you! I'm all ready for '14... are you?

Nominated... Me???

I was really excited to see that my free Love Has No Boundaries novella, Human Frailties, and the full length novel that grew out of it, Human Frailties, Human Strengths, have both received nominations in the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's 2013 Members' Choice Awards! Dudes, I'm kind of stunned (but not, as Husband Beast is quick to point out, speechless). In fact, I've been trying to come up with a blog post to announce this, and I'm still not even sure what to say except, "Thank you!"

Human Frailties has been nominated for Best Debut Book, Best Free Story, and Best Title, and Human Frailties, Human Strengths has been nominated for Best Fantasy and Best Cover!

I don't know that I would have had the courage to put anything else out there if it wasn't for the wonderful, encouraging reception that Human Frailties received in the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's Love Has No Boundaries Event this past summer.

Thank you so much to the folks who nominated my stories, and thank you to everyone who has taken a chance on a new author and taken the time to read my books! Your support and your overwhelmingly positive comments mean a lot to me.

And 2014? It's gonna be great...

Clouds and Glass

My brain does not play well with medications of any type. A lot of medications make me experience odd side effects, so I'm very careful about what I take and how much of it I take, and I really hate being forced to take anything. One of the allergy meds my doc suggested I try last summer worked wonderfully, but it also made me hear music. Annoying brass band music. In my head. All. The. Time.

So when I hurt my back last month, I resisted going to the doctor because I knew he'd just give me medication that would make it impossible for me to work. Predictably, the pain got bad enough that I couldn't work anyway, and Husband Beast scraped me up off the floor and dragged me off to the doc (amazing what a week of "I hurt too much to cook dinner" will do for a man's powers of persuasion...). Several prescriptions for muscle relaxants, pain pills, and steroids later, things are looking (and feeling) a lot better, but the last three weeks have been rough in terms of getting any writing done, or even being able to think straight.

Struggling to work through a narcotic cloud for the past three weeks, while frustrating, has given me an interesting insight into my own creative process. (Yeah, I know, I'm groping about for the silver lining here, dudes... there has to be one. By my reckoning, three weeks of lost work is hardly worth one interesting insight, but I'll take what I can get at this point!)

Back in the Stone Age, when I was a starving graduate student, I was doing research on glass structure. Glass is an interesting material in that it doesn't have a fixed crystal structure like a lot of solids do. It's more like a flash-frozen liquid. There are identifiable structures you can find, but these structures only exist in the short range. There is no ordered, repeating pattern like you would find in a crystal. It has become apparent to me that my creative process organizes story-things in a similar manner, and writing a story for me is a bit like trying to figure out a structure where none is apparent.

When I have mental clarity, I can see the subtle signs of long range order in the chaos of my thoughts. I can see layer upon layer of ever deeper connections between the characters, motivations, and events of the series I'm working on. I can see far beyond the obvious, ordered, short-range structures, and get a sense of the underlying connections and how they fit together and what sorts of things they might turn into. Pain meds completely shut down my ability to sense any of that. They trap my mind in a place where all I can see is the obvious, structured short-range stuff that's right in front of me. I know all those layers and connections exist out there, but I'm unable to follow the threads of them or even see them.

Interesting as all that is, the real take-away from this experience is a lot more practical: Women of a certain age should gracefully concede that lugging around forty-pound bags of softener salt is a Bad Idea.