Getting stuck

Every writer goes through times when we get stuck. Some call it writer’s block and stop writing. Others move on to something different. We are all different and all have ways to cope.

Generally I move back and forth between things when I get stuck. If one character won’t tell me where the story is supposed to go I move onto another. Problem is that for the past month I seem to be stuck period.

I am hoping that things will loosen up again. I have some story things moving around in my head. A set of two different new characters and stories that might go somewhere but just not sure where.

Now this tiny bit is part of a post end of the world tale. Most of the stuff I have been watching seems to take place right after the world crashes. This is obviously from much later.

***

It’s been ten years since everything collapsed. The old world ended pretty messily.
There were monsters of mankind’s making, both living and dead. Things were pretty bad for a long time, but nothing can last forever.

While the big cities had turned into wastelands or war zones, there were still places out in the world that were barely touched by the madness that had descended. Places that had been hidden so well that they looked like a part of the natural world around them.

***

Now this one I actually have six pages of but here is the first two paragraphs of a new urban fantasy tale with an elder protagonist.

***

They say that the talent for magic appears at puberty. That the strongest practitioners would show signs from birth that they will be great and powerful. They tell you that if you have not shown ability by the time you graduate high school that you might as well just become an accountant.

I showed no sign of that gift. At puberty I was too busy helping to care for my younger siblings to even take the tests. When I graduated high school it was decided that I should marry and pass on my genes to another generation. So I started having babies, one every two years till I had six children to care for, all girls. A regular stay at home wife and mother and expected to stay that way.

***

Just two little bits from my most current WIPs.  Now hopefully I can get them to move on.

Getting close to releases

Yup more stuff to be added to my list of titles. As I have blogged before I have been submitting stories to a few various anthologies that are seasonal…sorta. Well I have been accepted for all three as of this morning. Now I don’t have the titles for all three but they should be out soon.

So for a recap on the anthologies. The first one I submitted to was to be a collection of Halloween drabbles. Yup a whole book filled with 100 word stories that have to do with Halloween. That one was a perfect fit for me at this time of the year. I tossed off a fun little story and submitted Walk With the Pumpkins. When I have the title and link for that anthology I will put it up so my readers can pick it up if they wish.

The second anthology was to be stories about clowns, yup clowns. They could be any type of story as long as it had a clown in there somewhere. I wrote basically a flash fiction, a short short. The title for the tale, Behind the Red Nose. I wanted to do something a bit different than the other stories and I was glad when it got accepted. Again I will put up the link soon.

The final anthology is Ode to Autumn – Season of Change. This is the anthology from my friends over on the Wordsymth. Great group of writers who all write very different things. This is obviously a collection of stories dealing with autumn..everything up to and including Halloween of course. My story will be How I became a Legend.

Now I got asked so very nicely to make the cover for Ode and I of course said YES *chuckle* Once we have the link for it I plan on setting up a website for our little group. It should be a nice thing for everyone to link their other works too.

short story collections and why you don’t need 50K in words to make one

Lately there has been so much focus on length that authors and readers are getting all tangled up in the wrong thing. Yes that 50K limit is the starting point for something called a Novel…not a collection, a novel. It is a shorter novel, not a door stop that most people seem to think makes a book worth reading but when talking short stories there is and should be a much different level that should be looked at.

In the modern age of ereaders we no longer have to put out the door stop thickness of any work. Expecting a short story author to hold off publishing their work till they get to some arbitrary length is both silly and stupid.  Short stories by their very definition are SHORT. Most writers in this field tend for a 3k – 5k story but some do shorter still. Waiting until you have a minimum of 50K words that might or might not fit together in a collection would have these writers never publishing.

Now i am sure a lot of writers out there would have no problem with this. They do not understand nor appreciate the amount of work that goes into writing well crafted short stories. Of being able to write a story that is concise and limited in scope, without all the fluff and filler that they use to make their masterpieces of fiction that span upwards of 100K or more at times.

As a writer of short stories, this annoys me in so many ways. I will not go into the arguments I have had with authors about length, about filler and fluff and about style. I have been and will always be a great fan of the shorter forms of fiction. From the hint fictions and micro fictions that I have been experimenting with to the drabbles, dribbles and flash fictions that i have been working on collecting together, to the short stories series that I have all ready published, it is quite obvious to my readers that I write mostly short fiction.

But in all honesty I have been an avid reader of short fiction since I was young. I find a real joy in picking up a collection of one author or an anthology of many. I love discovering short tales that fill my mind with wonder, or introduces me to a new writer. My books shelves over the years have groaned under the weight of the anthologies i have collected. While I lost most of them when I moved to Canada I still have many in ebook format on my computer and I will go back to them between other, longer books on a rainy or snowy afternoon, curled up in a chair. Short stories are a wonderful throw back to older times.

Like I have up on my author page on Amazon:  Short stories are the modern fire side tales.  With a world so crowded with things that have to be done, they allow you a few minutes outside of your life.  Be they a bit of fantasy, science fiction, horror or of an erotic bent, each tale gives you a few minutes outside of your day to enjoy.

It is as true now as it was then. Short stories are well worth reading. By telling a short story writer that they must hold off offering their collections till they have 50K or 100K you are keeping yourself and others from wonderful finds. Yes i admit that my own collections vary in size. Where Guardians of the Gate city’s six stories clocked in at 96K, Death Walks Through 15 tales only clocked in at 42K, Gates: From One Reality to the Next was only 20K with six tales and Distance Means Little to Love had six stories and six poems at 15K. I do think that you cant charge $4.99 for the smaller collections but with the sweet spot for anthologies and collections averaging around $2.99, offering less in total wordage is fine.

If you have been reading my blogs for a while you know i am working on compiling my series into collections. While Echoes of Elders Times has only 24k words it has ten tales in it as it sits. Yes I plan on at least one more tale, an exclusive to the collection but I don’t plan on holding out releasing it and the other 14 collections I am working on till they reach the mythical 50K threshold. If that is wrong, well then I am wrong. And if it is wrong to enjoy collections of only two or three tales by talented indie authors that total less than 10K…well then I guess I am wrong but I will continue to enjoy short stories in every format they come in. Released singly, in collections or in anthologies. The short story is an established format and style of writing and writers who can’t dream of writing short should stop stifling those whose imagination can soar in the shorter forms.

Trying to get everything everywhere

With the newest update to Smashwords I decided to take a look over there again.  Now they have a series manager, which with my work is a great idea.  Most of what I write is of course in series and getting them together can be hard for the purchaser.

Now I have posted stuff all over as you readers know.  Between Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and D2D I have a lot of work to sort hrough.  While I adore D2D they only post to four of the major retailers right now.  Smashwords has a good six or eight they don’t.  So should i go through and post all my missing stories over there?  Am I up to the mess that Smashwords can be?  Is it worth the effort?  Well when I looked at the list of retailers and saw that I had sold two copies over on Sony.  So while the numbers aren’t big it is worth trying to do this.

The first hurdle is that two of the stories I have yet to put over there are some of the very first tales I published.  Before I learned much about making covers I had put up Night and Day, Passing the Torch and One More All Hallows Eve.  Now the latter has had a new cover made up but I never got to making the cover for the first two.

Working on those covers is a part of my game plan for the next few days.  They need updating anyways so why not?  Once I get those done I have to go back over all my tales and make a smashwords version of the file.  The reason I say this is smashwords is specific on where and how the copyright page is set and the links at the end of the story have to be a certain way.  This won’t be hard to do as I made a templet when I was posting there last year.  I can copy and paste it into the files I have but as I have around 60 titles and only 20 odd of them are on smashwords this will take time.

Of course I am still working on stories and other projects at the same time.  With subimissions for the next Writer’s stuff anthology not needed till November I have a little bit of time there and the third Author’s Choice Select anthology has no due date yet.  Both the stories for these collections have only been partially written.

I have been asked to write the forward for Behind the Door, the second ACS anthology and I need to get a bit more information from the authors before I do that plus we need to update the website for the group with the newer additions to the group.

All this along with blogging six blogs, raising a kid and feeding a family.  I am a busy busy writer…guess I really am the mad writer?

Working on more than writing

When are are a part of writers groups at times you will end up volunteering to help with things other than writing.  One this I have done is help with the websites for some of my groups.  With the second book in the editing process for the Authors Choice Select Anthologies group it is time to get myself in gear and update the website.

One of the things I realized is that the first time we did a book there was a lot of cut and pasting to the website to get everyone’s name and info up for the release.  With life and other projects I never got back to clean up things.  Like putting the links into buttons for a cleaner page.  Well I have been working on that all morning.

While I have to wait for updates from some of the new authors who are part of the next book I was able to get most of the links into button form but some of the links are not quite right.  This is when wrangling the contributors comes in.  When dealing with authors, poets, artists and editors from all over the planet you have to hope and pray that the emails you have are the right ones.  And that you remembered where the information you have all ready is.  While I prefer to get their info in an email some of them have tossed it to me via facebook messages..and that is fun to find.

I think I have most of the page updated and I can move onto putting the text onto the cover artwork that was donated by a very talented artist.  We have used the same artist for both books and she deserves to be on the cover.  Same thing with our editor.  Having a volunteer editor work on both books is having her go above and beyond.  I will make sure both Adele and Fatima get the credit they deserve!

If you are interested in seeing the website you can find it at this link

http://www.wattpad.com/user/vickyv

the first book was a fun mishmash of styles and stories.  I think the second book will be a bit more controlled.  We have less contributors but we have a lot of good work.

New anthology themes, new stories and more

Yup it is that time again.  My groups are deciding on new themes for new anthologies and I need to come up with new stories to add to said themes.  Not a big thing you say?  After all I write a ton of short stories right?  I have something like 80 short stories out there in some form or another right now.  It is true, I have been writing a lot of tales and putting them out in different ways for people to read.

But the thing is coming up with the right story for an anthology can be hard.  For the Secrets anthology (still waiting for the official name) I started six different stories before I completed one.  In the end I submitted two different tales to that collection but it took me over a month to write just those two short stories.  I am not as picky as some writers are, I don’t over think myself too much when writing.  This makes for a free flow style of writing that some have found enjoyable and others aren’t sure about.

But to go back to the new books.  The first is going to be from the Space station Amazon discussion group.  Last year we did a free collection of Halloween stories and my submission was one of the funnier ones.   This year I have something darker in the works.  Trying for odd of course but darker than the fun tale I did last year.

The next collection is for the Writer’s Stuff group.  This anthology is set around a winter theme.  A bit harder to come up with a great idea but I think i have something in mind.  After all I have all ready done two Snow Tales as I call them.  I used the first, Ice in my Echoes of Elder Times series and the second, From the Snow, is in the Reflections of the End anthology.  So I think I can pull off another After Ragnarok winter tale.

The Author’s Choice group is voting on a theme.  One of the themes is Death and well if you read my stuff you know I have a ton of Death stories.  I am pulling for this theme since I can come up with a great story but we will see how it goes.

There is another anthology looking for romance tales.  Now this one I am stumped if I should try.  I have just started doing my Mythos of Love tales and I have a few in the works.  I could finish up one of them and toss it over.  It would be a bit odd in the collection but they said i could send over one of my fantasy romances if I wanted to.  So we will see.

That is four anthologies to do tales for.  Should I or should I just finish up things I am working on and toss them out as singles?  I am just not sure?

So dern busy lately…

Yes i know I should do this every day but between my poetry collections, getting Harry’s book together and helping on getting Reflections up and out I lost track of time.   Thanks to all that work though I now have a number of new releasing showing up all over.

Twist of Fate is the most recent charity collection.  Stephen Wilson is the man behind this one and it came out really exceptional.  There are a lot of talented writers/poets/photographers and other people inside this book.  I am very proud that I have two poems inside.  The money from this book goes to those effected by the Tornadoes that destroyed so many homes in Oklahoma.

Reflections of the End is a facebook group anthology about what else?  The end of the world.  I submitted one piece to that one and hopefully it will be well received by the reading public.  It just went up life this morning after all lot of shuffling around.  I got added as an admin to this group so I could help push it through.  These folks are another group of highly talented indie authors.  We will now work on the second book..all kinds of stories about secrets.

The Writers stuff group is closing up submissions for their anthology and I have a tale in that one too.  Plus we have been doing a bunch of drabbles to help fill pages.  I have quite a few I have done but I am not sure if all of them will make it into the book.  Drabbles are a lot of fun.  Exactly 100 words written about an image.  Good practice for sure.

Guardians of the Gate City is live on Barnes and Nobel, Kobo and Apple but for some reason not yet on Amazon.  I put through the paperback version this morning on Createspace so it will be available to those who prefer a real book in their hands.   I really hope people will buy the collection.  That is a lot of Harry stories all in one place and I basically tossed in Sudden Disappearances for free!

The two poetry collections are out and available and I will work on finishing the third one next month.  I needed to step away from that one.  Just too intense.  I plan on finishing up a few short stories this month instead.  Blackbird is two thirds done and then I can dive into a few other projects.

My sales might have been slow in June but at least I had some.   Not as many as in May but I am told things go like that.  I got one review of my own work and a few of the anthologies.  Funny thing about anthologies some people just don’t get them.  I know we got dinged on one of the collections because of all things that the stories were not all set in the US by American authors…really?  I mean anthologies are so you can try out a new author, see if you want to read more of there work.  No where in the description did it say the book was US or American based.  Now I can understand wanting to read stuff like that but dont expect it to be there if it isn’t listed in the blurb…

It has happened again….

What you ask has happened again?  Well a song has demanded that I use it for a story.  The past month and some it seems that the music on my IPod is the channel for the muse who uses me to tell tales.  First it was Cheating the Hangman, then Let’s Make a Memory, then I Can’t Love you Anymore and now it is the Blackbird.  Damn me but that is a lot of tales inspired by music.

This little tale is sort of a fantasy romance.  What happens when the girl you married turns away from you to go to a sorcerer?  Not necessarily what the song is about but the chorus is there.  “If I were a blackbird, I would whistle and sing and flutter my wings o’er her lily white breast.”  Yeah I listen a lot to Silly Wizard.

I have done stories from songs before.  A Bargain Made with Fur, When Shadows Rise and Night and Day all came from music.  A good writer is inspired by the world around them.  Music, tv, movies, trees, flowers, animals, butterflies and people.  They all find a way to spark something inside those who use words to tell the world of what they see.

Sometimes the tales take longer than others for sure.  But some write themselves in hours or days.  I Can’t Love you wrote itself in under two days.  An odd first person tale for me because it keeps switching POV.  I try not to do that in first person stories but this one it made sense.  Submitted it for the Writer’s Stuff anthology.  Now if I can finish Blackbird  I just might submit it too.  It is different enough I think.  Me and my odd little tales.

 

Anthologies Galore

It seems like this season is filled with anthologies.  A number of my writers groups have decided to put together collections of stories and poetry.  Some for charity, some as a contest and some just as an experiment and a way to get out names out there.  Now I have done a lot of these over the past year.  What with the Angels Cried anthology to the April Rains, United We Stand and the newest Twist of Fate I am in four charity anthologies.  Then there are the non charity ones.  Reflections of the End should be out soon as will Dark Minds.  There in the Secrets anthology being worked on and now one from the Writer’s Stuff FB group.  It is a good thing I do a lot of short stuff.  I actually have three different ones coming out that I don’t have names for!

You might ask am I doing anything new that is just mine and of course I am.  I still need to actually edit Sudden Disappearances and hopefully find a beta reader before the Guardian of the Gate City can be compiled and put out.  Never mind there is that Rabbit Hole story I started on the Google group.  So much to do and so little time to focus.

Now if I can avoid migraines I will ge t a lot more writing done.  While sales are as slow as a snail I am still making a sale here or there.  This month it seems to be my older stuff and that is a nice thing of course.  The fact that I sold a copy of my poetry book on Apple was a nice shock yesterday.  I had not thought I would see any sales from over there at all.  Now if Kobo would pick back up and D2D.  Not that I am complaining that I have sales on Amazon this month.  Last month I had a whole one on Amazon and i have mostly sales there this month.  It is fun to figure out where is doing the best.

Now I need to see what I can finish in the next three weeks.  School will be out for the summer soon and as all you parents know that makes it hard to get anything done.  Kids in and out and demanding attention at the worse times.  I am not sure i will get a lot of writing done this summer.  All I can hope is she finds things more interesting than bugging mom for snacks every 20 minutes!

Finished the writing on Sudden Disappearances

Yup finished it up just now.  Yes it is rough, yes it will need editing and yes it leaves things open at the end but that was the idea.  I mean you can’t do a sequel without an opening right?  Harry has taken some nasty punches and will have to learn to ask for help.

Now the next stories in this cycle will be a bit of a back step.  Filling in the back stories for major characters so that the other guardians are better know is a good thing.  Jackson, Daniel, Maeve and even Sheldon will get their own tales.  In fact one story for Sheldon is done and will be out next month.  Of course I will need to come up with a back story for that little surprise that Harry was given.  That will be a lot of fun to write for sure.

I am going to let this marinate for a few days before I go back and work on the editing.  I need to obviously go through and make sure it is spelled right, that I didn’t mix up names or change important info by accident.  Spell check seems to shut itself off when I am writing some days and that annoys me.  Plus I need to make sure the grammar is as good as i can and hopefully find a beta reader to catch anything I miss.  Once it is cleaned up then I get to put all the shorts together with the now just shy of 40K word novella.  As this is a longer piece it will make selling it as only available in the collection a good deal.  My readers wont feel rooked by getting only one new story in the book.

As I let that sit I will move back to the Death Walks Through stories.  I have three more of those and once they are done I can combine them together for a collection also.  Hopefully the collections will move better than the stand alones have.  Now I know that the market is tight and sales are slow but this month I can honestly and truthfully say that almost every sale has been of my erotica.  Yes I am proud of most of those tales but I would rather see sales of my nonerotic work do better.

In other writing news both charity anthologies from the Independent Poets group on facebook are now live!  I am rather proud that we managed to get them together and out.  All the money raised goes to charities helping the victims.  I am proud that I helped get these out there and moving.  You can purchase a copy right now of both of these on Smashwords.  Here are the links

April Rains https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318496  For the victims of the West, Texas plant explosion

United We Stand https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/321005 is for the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing

also of course if you are still interested there is Angels Cried https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/268589 which is for the victims families of the Newtown shooting.

Work is progressing on another anthology called Twist of Fate, which will raise money to help those effected by the Moore, Okalhoma twisters.  Expect to see something next month.

And lastly Reflections of the End will be out soon.  That is a non charity anthology that has one of my stories in it.  As will Dark Minds, another anthology.

Once i have links for those two anthologies and one other I will put them up on my blog