tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74299636587975897532024-02-19T09:13:16.410-08:00Leasspell Writers GroupJax Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632652207276503589noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-14187227783427287402014-07-31T15:39:00.002-07:002014-11-19T19:28:40.509-08:00WE'VE MOVED!Please <a href="http://leasspell.net/blog/">click here</a> to visit our new site at http://leasspell.net/blog/<br />
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The current blog is<br />
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Teresa Edgerton on the Magical World View.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif;">Teresa Edgerton began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk; she began scribbling them down as soon as a teacher put a pencil in her hand; and luckily for us fantasy readers, sixty years later she is still inventing them. Teresa has published many short stories and novels full of wit and charm and intriguing creatures and characters. Her latest releases are Goblin Moon (being rereleased by Tickety Boo Press), and The Queen’s Necklace (being released by Harper Voyager on Kindle for the first time and currently available for preorder on Amazon). Also look for her work under the pseudonym of Madeline Howard. </span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13121549910138349495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-56233908506859428362014-07-13T16:07:00.000-07:002014-07-13T16:53:09.336-07:00Schrödinger’s Manuscript: The Uncertain State of a Novel<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">
As we write our first novel, we can’t help thinking about its future. I day dream about DAW, Roc, and Tor. I hear stories about indie published works like J.L. Doty’s Gods Within series that I learned at a con sold over 30,000—and who hasn’t heard about the success of Shades of Grey? As I get closer to finishing my manuscript, I have to do more than daydream: I have to really think about what I want. If it’s traditional publishing, how do I optimize my manuscript’s chances with the most likely fit for it? Daydreaming is fun. This is work…and scary work at that, because every choice I make, every avenue I go down, every street I bypass, could be the difference between finding a publisher…</div>
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Or not.</div>
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As I near finishing my novel, I have started researching cover letters, query letters, synopses, publishers, and statistics on rejections. The numbers are downright scary. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in my manuscript with all my heart…but when I read that Rowlings’s <i style="border: none;">Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone</i> got rejected 12 times, that Herbert’s <i style="border: none;">Dune</i> got rejected 23 times, that L’engle’s <i style="border: none;">A Wrinkle in Time</i> got rejected 26 times, and that King’s <i style="border: none;">Carrie</i> nearly didn’t see publication because after <i style="border: none;">30</i> rejections, Steven King threw it out (his wife rescued the manuscript…thank you Mrs. King. I like that one!)…well, when I read those numbers, I think, what chance have I? This is why, in my head, my novel is both publishable and unpublishable all at the same time; it is my Schrödinger’s manuscript.</div>
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But I have one task to do before I try to take my novel from Schrödinger’s sealed manuscript box…and that is finish it. But <i style="border: none;">how?</i> I’ve been stuck on the Chapter 49 for a very long time.</div>
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Enter Clarion West.</div>
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I was at a writer’s retreat trying to claw my way through chapter 49 sentence by sentence, when Carolyn, the host of our mini retreat, spotted a post about the Clarion West Write-a-thon.</div>
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For those who haven’t heard, Clarion West Writers Workshop is an intensive writer’s training event where you stay on site for <i style="border: none;">six weeks</i> and (according to a friend of mine who’s been through it) you live, eat, and breath writing. Sounds AWESOME—but who has six weeks to just take off from his or her life? Sadly, not me. That’s why the write-a-thon caught my attention.</div>
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To help fund this pricy writers workshop program, during the same six weeks, Clarion West holds a write-a-thon online where anyone can join. You set your goal. You can get sponsors. Or you procrastinators out there can “unsponsor” yourself; I’ve seen folk pledge to pay if they <i style="border: none;">didn’t</i> meet their goals: “Every day I don’t write I will donate $5.” Don’t like to bug people for money? Join next year anyway! Clarion West gets funds based on the number of participants.</div>
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So when Carolyn said, “Let’s join the Write-a-thon,” well, it didn’t take much arm twisting. I put together a <a data-mce-href="http://www.clarionwest.org/members/keesey/" href="http://www.clarionwest.org/members/keesey/" style="color: #333333;"><span data-mce-style="color: #0060ff;" style="color: #0060ff;">page on the Clarion West</span></a> site, inserted my excerpt of my novel, blurbed it, and set my goals, which read: To finish writing the rough draft of my novel…especially that #$#%$ chapter 49!</div>
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This means I have six weeks to finish my novel. If ever I am going to document the process as I said I would in my first blog, now is the time to start. Groan…blogging…often…it would interfere with my accomplishing my goals.</div>
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Or would it? During our writers retreat, I discovered that Carolyn is keeping a diary of her writing on her blog (her "<a data-mce-href="http://carolynhill.wordpress.com/" href="http://carolynhill.wordpress.com/" style="color: #333333;"><span data-mce-style="color: #0060ff;" style="color: #0060ff;">Progrep</span></a>" series). I loved the idea…and by the end of the weekend, I knew I wanted to do it, too. Today, for the six weeks of the Clarion West Write-a-thon, I share <a data-mce-href="http://leasspell.net/blog/jennifer-at-leasspell/" href="http://leasspell.net/blog/jennifer-at-leasspell/" style="color: #333333;"><span data-mce-style="color: #0060ff;" style="color: #0060ff;">my diary</span></a> with you to fulfill my promise of tracking the progress of a manuscript in the days when my novel, <em style="border: none;">In a Mortal Shadow,</em> is still Schrödinger’s manuscript.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13121549910138349495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-77972152624367950502014-06-29T00:15:00.000-07:002014-07-08T22:00:33.671-07:00Meet the Member—Laura Of Lurking: Reviewer, Writer, and My Inspiration<div style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 11px; margin-top: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">By Jennifer L. Carson</span><br />
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<i>I’m the only one in the group on the sane side of the pond—Go UK! I’ve had a penchant for telling stories as far back as I can remember. I always wanted to lead the “Let’s Pretend” games when I was a kid, which my mother documented on some horrifying cassette tapes of me around age three. I apparently gathered all my teddies around and told them stories and jokes and sang songs to them. If spontaneous combustion ever happens in my home, please let it be in those tapes!</i></div>
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<i>~Laura</i></div>
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In the last three years, Leasspell has become an important part of my life. I had all but abandoned real efforts to finish my novel. Yesterday, I wrote the final chapter. Without this group, I wouldn’t have had the deadlines I needed. Without this group, I wouldn’t have made some fundamental changes that I knew the moment I wrote them were so much better. Without this group, I wouldn’t have found the support my mind and heart needed to be sitting here today, telling you that I finished the last chapter of my novel.</div>
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I’m not the only one whose life Leasspell has touched. Our newest member, Carolyn, is a longtime friend, but she stopped writing for a while. Since joining the group a couple of months ago, she’s gotten together with me twice for writers retreat weekends. I hope Leasspell does for her what it is doing for me: keeping me at the keyboard. Denise and Jax finished in first and second place in a publishing contest for Assent Publishing’s fantasy imprint, Phantasm Books. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that out of eighty-four submissions, first and second place went to members of our writers group. It is an outstanding group. And I know Jason is using the deadlines to spur his writing. I think everyone of us is learning more about the whirlwind changes in the formerly staid old publishing industry because of our pooling together and sharing our experiences, our research and knowledge, and our contacts.</div>
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This is all to say: Leasspell has changed my life.</div>
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So what does this have to do with Laura? Everything. Without her, Leasspell wouldn’t exist. I had been in writers groups at various times with Carolyn, Denise, and Jax. Jax had been prodding me to get our last group back together, but this time online since she had moved. I dragged my feet. Technology issues, time, lack of motivation on my own writing—all things in my head that kept me waving her off with a “yeah, yeah, good idea…sometime.”</div>
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Then I met Laura online. She was young when I met her, seventeen, I think. We met through a social media game. Must have been preordained ’cause I hate playing social media games. But my husband had an interview with this company and needed accounts to play with. So I started one and got a bit hooked for three months. But in that time, Laura helped me out with the game, which lead to us talking and some very long emails. </div>
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I found out she is a smart funny young lady who has a talent for writing. She was raw, but had splashes of crisp clear writing that really surprised me, and she had the passion to go with it. I saw some of myself in her. Then I found out Laura is disabled. Very, very disabled and sick much of the time, too. The world comes to her through books and her computer. She lives much of her life in the fantasy worlds in her head and she wanted to put them into books. I wanted to help her do that, and I wanted to help her do it well, as I knew she could with a little guidance and practice.<br />
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I called Jax, and I said let’s do this. Thus was Leasspell born—all thanks to a bright young woman I met through a video game.</div>
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Today, Laura’s illness and disability have progressed to the point that she cannot spend a lot of time at the keyboard, so she is no longer submitting her own manuscripts to our group. She reads more now than ever before—125 books last year! Blew my mind! Her voracious reading is likely the reason she was one of the best commenters on fantasy that I’ve met. I have lots of writer friends giving me writerly advice, but Laura has a reader’s eye and an amazing understanding of genre conventions. That is a rare and valuable thing to a writer. Now Laura has made that keen insight available to all on her reviewers Web site. This is what she has to say about choosing that path:</div>
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<i>For a long time, I was just a lurker hidden in the shadows of online reviewing. I would read these great, often indie published, books and have opinions. I often disagreed with other reviewers but never stated my mind. Then I thought, "You know what? I've read voraciously since I was seven, I think I have the right to validate my points."</i></div>
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And so she did. She started reviewing on Amazon and then last year started her own blog—a very busy one at that! When asked what she likes to read, she says:</div>
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<i>Anything and everything really, including the contents of the bathroom cupboard on those days you, well… just get stuck there! My favourite genres are science fiction and fantasy. I enjoy a good biography of somebody who has overcome great obstacles. I also read historical fiction and horror. That’s pretty much my order of preference.</i></div>
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So if you have a small-press or indie-published book (or one about to be published) and are looking for a good reviewer, today is your lucky day. Hop on over to Laura’s Web site, <a href="http://lauraoflurkng.blogspot.com/">Laura of Lurking</a>, and check out the more detailed submission guidelines. If she’s not accepting books for review, you can always email her to find out what her timeframe is till she opens up again. Like I said, she reads fast! Or if you just want to know what’s good out there in the indie and small-press community, she’s put up quite a list of candidates this past year and so her reviews can help you find a good book that suits you.</div>
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Laura has been an inspiration to me. She has every reason to be down most of the time. Instead she always greets me with wit and humor and the same voraciousness for life that she has for her reading. I sometimes wonder how she does it, and one day I finally asked. I will leave you with her answer to that, for it is good advice for us all:</div>
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<i>What the future holds—who knows? Who really wants to? If you study the future, you'll miss those little gems passing by right now.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13121549910138349495noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-33890402970114440542014-06-15T01:00:00.001-07:002014-06-29T00:22:43.933-07:00Metaphors — Add Color to Your Writing<b style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18px;">What the Heck's a Metaphor?</b><br />
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Metaphors are figures of speech that bring drama, color, texture, vision, history, action, or thrill to your work. For example:</div>
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<i>But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">~William Shakespeare</span></div>
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<i>Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">~Mark Twain</span></div>
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<i>Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. </i><i>Up above the world to so high, like a diamond in the sky.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">~Jane Taylor</span></div>
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Hmmmm...anyone see a theme?<br />
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Wikipedia starts with this definition:</div>
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<i>A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story, or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea (e.g., Her eyes were glistening jewels). </i></div>
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In Greek, the term metaphor meant “carry something across” or “transfer.” Aristotle defined it as “the act of giving a thing a name that belongs to something else.” Perhaps the most well-known type of metaphor is the simile. A simile uses the words <i>as</i> or <i>like </i>to give a much more comparative effect that transfers meaning from one element to another.</div>
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<i>She hopped out of here quick as a bunny.</i></div>
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<i>Life is like a box of chocolates.</i></div>
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In more subtle uses, however, a reader may not even recognize a metaphor, since no comparative words make it obvious a comparison has happened.</div>
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<i>As the sun set, night slowly spread its black wings against the clouded sky.</i></div>
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Obviously the night has no wings, but it is still being compare to something with black wings, perhaps a bat or raven—just without the use of <i>like </i>or <i>as</i>. Moreover, either creature brings more ominous images to the mind, gently leading the reader into a darker mood and setting.</div>
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<i>His temper boiled over.</i></div>
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In this example, the verb is the metaphor, connecting a new property that isn’t inherent in the noun. For example, one's temper is a state of mind or a feeling. But hot water boils. We've gone beyond merely informing the reader about his state of emotion ("he's mad") into suggesting a state of danger ("he's hot—don't touch him").</div>
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<b>Writing and Using Metaphors</b></div>
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Consider the following.</div>
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<i>Her eyes were like the sea.</i></div>
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Readers might think color; blue-green, maybe gray. But they may also think calm and peaceful or deep and vast. By suggesting the sea you've invited your reader to imagine more about the character than simply the color of their eyes. Jennifer, the editor in our group, loves the word <i>connotation</i>. It's critical in metaphors, as you can see in this example:</div>
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She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.</div>
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What is this saying about the sound, really? About the character making it? About the situation? About, well, the writer? When creating a metaphor you'll want to consider both the reader and the world you're writing about. For example:</div>
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<i>Watching the monitor, Mary's fingers flew over the keyboard as she quickly typed in the dBase query. She was faster than a one-hundred megabit per second download.</i></div>
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Okay, you may happen to know that's pretty frickin' fast. However, the reader may not. This techy metaphor may have missed him or her. By using such techno-jargon, I've targeted a thin audience. That may be fine, if the book is about high-tech hackers. Now consider this:</div>
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<i>In only one afternoon, Andrea milked the cows, fed the chickens, mucked the stalls, and churned her aunt's butter. She was faster than a one-hundred megabit per second download.</i></div>
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Even if the readers are going to be a bunch of computer geeks (for some reason), we've lost touch with the setting and scene of the story. Yes, the reader knows that's fast, but we’ve essentially kicked them out of this world.</div>
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So maybe something like...</div>
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<i>She was faster than slicked lightning.</i></div>
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Ok, that's a bit more acceptable. But since we started on farm, how about staying on the farm?</div>
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<i>She was faster than her uncle's prized mare on the Beaufort County racetrack</i>.</div>
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Interesting. Not only do we get the point, but we learned she lives in or near Beaufort County, and her uncle races horses.</div>
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<b>HOMEWORK (?!)</b></div>
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Want to try your hand? Here are three starts to metaphors, including similes. For each, write a serious metaphor and a humorous one. Post your work in the comments, if you'd like. Show off your creative side!</div>
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1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The mountains were __________.</div>
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2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The parchment was like __________.</div>
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3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The TARDIS looked as if __________.</div>
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<b>The Top Ten Worst of the Worst</b></div>
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10. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.</div>
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9. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.</div>
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8. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.</div>
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7. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.</div>
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6. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.</div>
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5. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.</div>
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4. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.</div>
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3. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.</div>
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2. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law George. But unlike George, this plan just might work.</div>
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And my personal favorite—it's either really bad or really good…</div>
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1. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.</div>
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<i>About Jax Daniels</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Leasspell is proud to announce that two of our members, Jax and Denise, won first and second place in the</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> 2013 Assent publishing contest for their fantasy </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><i style="font-weight: normal;">imprint, Phantasm Books. Jax's debut nov</i><i style="font-weight: normal;">el takes place </i><i style="font-weight: normal;">in her (now) home of New Orleans, and for all I know, she could live next door to Winki Witherspoon and Gateway Manor! Her book is full of fun characters, adventure, and imagination. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><b>Dead Man's Deal:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> When Winki Witherspoon inherits a New Orleans Mansion, she also inherits her own Magical talent. Can she master it and discover her late husband's traitor </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>before she, too, is destroyed?</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Available from Amazon in August, 2014.</i></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13121549910138349495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-76669716462703005022014-06-01T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-15T10:41:17.676-07:00Appropriating Inspiration at BayCon 2014<br />
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Confession: I've let
writing lapse lately and that feels BAD.
Maybe that's happened to you, too.
Life gets in the way, and it's hard enough to put one foot in front of
the other, let alone put your fingers on the keyboard.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Seeking inspiration and writerly motivation, I spent this
past Saturday and Sunday at Baycon 2014, one of the larger science fiction and
fantasy conventions held annually in the San Francisco Bay Area. Along with
Denise Tanaka and Jennifer Carson, I happily threw myself into the open arms of my fellow
fen and found inspiration and motivation aplenty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now here I am, writing, my fingers feeling
fine as they tap the keys.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I woke at 5:00 in the morning, and the first song of the day
on shuffle was Laura Line's "Dreams."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good omen!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dreams inspire (several
of my short stories have come from dreams that I've remembered upon waking),
and the con would be filled with fellow dreamers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjwcsHnExs3Stf0CRuu673X-8KWF7ufUKg8vuE7PkZNXkzJUvsWT9cod-RrX4SFtCOB6lXaiKmWGLOvErbq6vgnQsWn4OwHWGQ3TDY-sjbcgmsDhB9tBkcs2CZPwMHKUsxanHSgWi-zE/s1600/baycon2014-jewelry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjwcsHnExs3Stf0CRuu673X-8KWF7ufUKg8vuE7PkZNXkzJUvsWT9cod-RrX4SFtCOB6lXaiKmWGLOvErbq6vgnQsWn4OwHWGQ3TDY-sjbcgmsDhB9tBkcs2CZPwMHKUsxanHSgWi-zE/s1600/baycon2014-jewelry.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer Carson looking at jewelry</td></tr>
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By 10:00 a.m., I was in the dealer's room with Jennifer,
drooling over jewelry from Angelwear Creations. Jennifer (and, later, Denise)
were drawn to the fantasy-inspired necklaces, but I was drawn to the science
fiction pieces:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>silver rocket earrings,
necklaces of silver shuttles in orbit around gemstones that look like planets, pins
shaped like spiral-armed galaxies studded with pearls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Motivational?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You bet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's often hard to find beautiful
jewelry inspired by science fiction; at the typical SFF convention, jewelry
inspired by fantasy<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">—</span>Celtic designs, dragons, and (lately) steampunk gears--far
outnumbers science fiction pieces, a state of affairs that reflects the
relative popularity of the two genres in ways that I find depressing, given
that I primarily write science fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I bought a spaceship-circling-a-darkling-moon necklace and wore it during
the rest of the con!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wearing that
necklace, I could defy the oft-repeated, demotivational claim that "most
women don't read science fiction."<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Andrew Murphy being inspired by the menu</td></tr>
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On Saturday, Denise, Jennifer, and I ate lunch alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Sunday, we were joined by
several people from former writers groups whom I hadn't seen in years, including Kevin Andrew Murphy and Wanda Kurtcu. (I had a chance to say howdy and thank you to Carrie Sessarego for her perceptive review of <i>Skin Deep</i>, my latest paranormal romance.) Sharing
food and face-to-face conversations with these like-minded, long-lost friends, hearing
how life and writing have treated them, helps put my own life and writing in
perspective. Writing is a joy we can
turn to when life isn't. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAtjY50j6QZkoy5izTvJ5erB-QVhuQVrBGs1ZAT7B90nCgNnUpFXBNjTUKnZmXDsgM_Fx9zzBZYBw3FLqNcB4WRZxVu2wHCdt751OF4yXzGGpefVj3p51Nmb6sdYjbXWpMfnIChYHx-k/s1600/baycon2014-denise-elanor-businesscard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAtjY50j6QZkoy5izTvJ5erB-QVhuQVrBGs1ZAT7B90nCgNnUpFXBNjTUKnZmXDsgM_Fx9zzBZYBw3FLqNcB4WRZxVu2wHCdt751OF4yXzGGpefVj3p51Nmb6sdYjbXWpMfnIChYHx-k/s1600/baycon2014-denise-elanor-businesscard.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Denise Tanaka giving her business card to Elanor Finster</td></tr>
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Friends who aren't long-lost can also inspire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Denise is shy, but at the con, she made a
conscious effort to stand out and market her work. In her wizard's robe and
hat, staff in hand, she asked at least one question at every panel, handed out
her business cards, struck dramatic poses, and furthered her brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her example inspires me, motivates me, to
look for ways to make marketing what I write as enjoyable as the writing is
itself.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPn5lSbtLFW0jZN4_aT7FWgeyvn260PMts_9VDfLu3CsmKkA0BxBF-dAB7WDh4_XUniEAoZrxYfvXWXKw3z_Tv7lruWcRHj2H_SsOUoKrGbqLaNDYlw3wfYn1dcjlt2JUK11BO7VjlrVU/s1600/baycon2014-denise-dramaticpose1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPn5lSbtLFW0jZN4_aT7FWgeyvn260PMts_9VDfLu3CsmKkA0BxBF-dAB7WDh4_XUniEAoZrxYfvXWXKw3z_Tv7lruWcRHj2H_SsOUoKrGbqLaNDYlw3wfYn1dcjlt2JUK11BO7VjlrVU/s1600/baycon2014-denise-dramaticpose1.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Denise Tanaka in full wizard robes with staff</td></tr>
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Strangers, too, can inspire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Strangers in clever costumes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Strangers with smiles on their faces, complimenting my Firefly T-shirt
or striking up a short conversation in line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just being "of the Body" with the SFF community, being
physically present in a place where so many others are, refreshes the spirit.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Jennifer Carson, and Kyle Aisteach speaking at the panel on "Listening to That Critique"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Certainly I was motivated by the topics for panel discussion
(designing an effective book cover, marketing your work, using a pen name,
making use of critiques, avoiding cultural appropriation, etc.) and by listening
to what the panelists (authors, editors, artists, independent publishers) had
to say about writing and creativity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I found equal value in observing the panelists' behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching how they made fans comfortable at
signings, in the hallways, or in the Q&As after the panels gave me ideas
about what to do and say (and not to do or say). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqg_HgokC9xDWPUzIk5kPmpRMm3OaBSNznL1Xky7C-smhgYyhWCIOLUroMtstcMtuIbQfQpgQcNFrP7xylliP4dqpGWEheb4iURYarflQXJkRv89H-kra0TnxvBQ0KhsA2Aog_KZU4ik4/s1600/baycon2014-sign2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqg_HgokC9xDWPUzIk5kPmpRMm3OaBSNznL1Xky7C-smhgYyhWCIOLUroMtstcMtuIbQfQpgQcNFrP7xylliP4dqpGWEheb4iURYarflQXJkRv89H-kra0TnxvBQ0KhsA2Aog_KZU4ik4/s1600/baycon2014-sign2.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Random signs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">And the art: a</span>rt in
the dealers' room, art in the artists' room, random convention signage on the
walls of the hotel--all inspirational.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wish I could show you images of the gorgeous, clever, thought-provoking artwork
I saw, but I won't infringe the copyrights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Looking at various paintings in the artists' room, I thought about what
would be inside a book if that painting were its cover, and although ideas for plot
and characters came to mind, I found I was most inspired by the mood of the
painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made a mental note to
consider mood more consciously as I write.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brad Lyau, Margaret McGaffrey Fisk, Leslie Anne Moore, and Wanda Kurtcu at the panel on "Cultural Appropriation in SFF Media and Costuming"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When it was all over and I was back home, sitting on the
couch in the dark while the cats roamed the room, I found myself pondering one
panel in particular, the panel on cultural appropriation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The panel considered possible problems that
can occur when a writer writes of a culture not his or her own, warning that
such use can be offensive and harmful. In light of all the inspiration and
motivation I'd been seeking at the con, I took this as a particularly apt
caution. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apt cautionary sign on convention wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As writers, we step outside ourselves to step inside
ourselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We take on the viewpoint of
others in order to see ourselves more clearly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We create characters, we build worlds, we devise histories, we
extrapolate or fantasize or faithfully recreate, all in words on a page outside
of ourselves, all to better understand, explain, reflect, memorialize, realize
something about ourselves. In writing about others, I come to know more about
myself and am inevitably on some level writing about myself<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">—</span>myself among
others, perhaps, but still myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I
see others only from my own perspective, I see wrongly<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">—</span>not only those others,
but also myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Hah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's rolling
prose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm ready to write.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxo79WDZ9x-6KItucRdZpz3soz-4DUVmq69HcgVafqzr98iFcwaFrnXfPfSCNiuyKUeCtgVPIG6USfqD_iNsnuDaZTlzqMZQcipT6WgUmphwXWUaaL37mYYpCC-z2O5urDfv1FuSNip0/s1600/carolyn-avatar-tree-100-tightcrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxo79WDZ9x-6KItucRdZpz3soz-4DUVmq69HcgVafqzr98iFcwaFrnXfPfSCNiuyKUeCtgVPIG6USfqD_iNsnuDaZTlzqMZQcipT6WgUmphwXWUaaL37mYYpCC-z2O5urDfv1FuSNip0/s1600/carolyn-avatar-tree-100-tightcrop.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>About Carolyn Hill</i><br />
<br />
<i>Carolyn received her doctorate in rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley, studying the argumentative artistry of Sir James Frazer's <b>The Golden Bough</b></i>. <i>She has taught writing, both general and genre, for over thirty years. She is a gifted writer of short stories, which are available in her short story collection, <b>Liminal Eyes.</b> Those who like longer works should check out her two novels, <b>Bead's Pickle</b> and <b>Skin Deep</b>. When Carolyn is not writing, she is hurling heavy objects into the air above her head.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-72850436393590729992014-05-19T16:14:00.000-07:002014-06-02T17:49:18.566-07:00Characters in Search of a Plot<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I got invited to join my first SF/F writer's group after attending a workshop at a Baycon many years ago. I was so excited! I had taken creative writing classes in college, and I had been part of a mixed-genre writer's critique group for a couple of years. This was the first group dedicated to speculative fiction. They would understand me, at last! It had a couple of professionally published authors, along with novices like me. I had high hopes, back then, that with a little spit and polish my manuscript would be rescued from the slush pile, and I'd be the next Marion Zimmer Bradley. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Well...My manuscript needed a little more than spit and polish. It had some serious problems. It wasn't so much the writing itself. I had a pretty good handle on all the mechanical things like pacing, description, dialogue, and so forth. Some tweaks to world building, okay. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Where the whole thing fell apart was my grasp of the main characters' emotions. Writer's group became more like therapy sessions for me. I sat and listened to everything that was wrong with my character's behavior week after week. It was hard not to take it personally. To hear them read aloud excerpts and laugh, I cringed and could not believe I wrote that badly. My heroine was a bitch. My hero was an asshole, a creep, and a stalker. My villain was ridiculous. Clearly my intentions were not coming across on the page. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Like many novice writers, I started to get defensive. I went to the Number One Cop-Out position, which is to say, "That's just my character's personality. There's nothing I can do about it." And week after week, my characters got dragged through the ringer as my writer's group got more and more frustrated.<br />One day, a pro writer in the group sent out a global email to me and cc: to everybody. (I shall refer to this fellow as K. for anonymity's sake.) It was a very long message in very strong language with lots of F words and such. But it was not a rambling attack like most of what you see on the internet. It was a detailed, well-constructed essay with lots of specific examples and analysis. It made total sense. I read it and somehow a light bulb went on in my head. I wish I had saved it, because that was the kick in the pants I needed. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Of what I recall, K. informed me that my characters come from my own mind. They are not independent entities acting in a dream world where I am merely the spectator. I realized at that moment that all the advice in writing books was wrong. It was a mistake to let the characters behave according to their own will, for the sake of making them seem real. My characters are not real. They are created in my head, and I have control of them. It is my job to keep track of inconsistency and the flow of action/reaction. As the author, every word on the page is my responsibility. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />After K. sent out that email, the others in the group got very worried about me. One woman (I shall refer to her as B.) called me on the phone and asked, "Are you okay? Are you going to quit writing?" I just laughed, no. I surprised everyone by being glad for the tough love. Maybe I didn't know how to fix the problem right away, but for the first time I understood the problem.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Moral of the story? Critique groups helped me grow as a writer but only when I moved beyond simply taking the punches and listened to the message. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><i>About Denise Robarge Tanaka </i></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Denise is a lifelong writer of magical beings and creator of fantastic worlds. Her debut novel, <b>Touch, </b>is being published by Phantasm Books of Assent Publishing towards the end of the year.</span></i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13121549910138349495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-6559391574664274352014-05-03T18:29:00.001-07:002014-06-02T17:48:20.219-07:00Meet the Members: Jason A.D. MacDonald<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Welcome to the blog! You are now here: some aspiring fantasy guy's bio! If you were looking for the bathroom, take a right at the shambling mound bobble-head dispenser and proceed past the basilisk den (avoid direct eye contact—you have been warned).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Nothing grandiose where I'm concerned, folks. I'm your average undiscovered Shakespeare who needs a decade plus to finish his debut novel. My first loves in fantastic reading were DC Comics and Asterix, which my parents dug out from bargain bins (I'm still half convinced some dying alien will bequeath me a power ring SOMEDAY and am just amusing myself until then). </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Then our cousin introduced my brother and I to a red box set of nerd crack called Basic Dungeons & Dragons. Huzzah! I found my destiny in the Caves of Chaos and the Palace of the Silver Princess. My brother was the best DM ever and led me through 1001 nights of adventure with a vast cast of characters culled from our sordid imaginations. He also introduced me to the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, the Rift War Saga, etc... Practically crafted my geek membership badge for me. Thanks, bro!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Still here? I admire a person with strong bowel control and a lead stomach! Okay, so, once I'd fooled everyone into thinking I had grown up, I moved to sunny Ottawa, capital of Canada (I think that's on the northern border of Gondor, isn't it?), and tried to do something good and practical with my life, i.e., studying Journalism, until I realized how much I HATED being told what to write about. Shouted from a high mountain peak: gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Ditched that. Moved over into studying English Literature. Much happier! Four years of DWEM later, I emerged with a master’s degree and no idea what the frig I was going to do to make money. Oh, by the by, I was Editor-in-Chief on the Carleton Arts Review for a short time, so if you submitted a poem or short story between 1999 and 2000 that got shafted, now you know where to target your righteous ire.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Not too much more to say. I thought I was going to be the youngest fantasy writer on the New York Times Bestseller List by 17 and do a victory lap on the late night talk shows but, you know, that kind of didn't materialize in this lifetime. Hasn't diminished my naïve optimism, though! Karma is a bitch and I've paid for my stepping on other literary dreams in my share of rejections. I did manage to hoodwink one bunch of editors in Salt Lake City into publishing my only short story called "Neighbor" in Shimmer Magazine #2, Winter 2006 (in the category of, Holy crap, has it really been almost eight years since my last brush with immortality? Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!). I once had a smattering of sick poems published in a little chapbook series called Yield (try finding that one in a bargain bin! Double dare you!). Umm, that's my resume of publishing credits! Moving along...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So what am I working on, now? Glad I put those words in your mouth! Contrary to what a goof I seem, I'm working on a really, really dark and grim (and moving!) novel set in a theocratic society that follows the lives of some very hard luck characters as they are dogged by demons and spirits! Yes, it is a bit of a non sequitur from what you're reading, I get that, but, hey, do I got range or what? Those poor saps I torment might even crack a smile between blood and tragedy, you never know. This is the manuscript I mentioned earlier that has, shall we say, languished in the dungeons of my perfectionism but the nice folks at Leasspell are helping me with my OCD in that regard and it should see the light of day by at least 2020! There's that patented MacDonald optimism!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Anyway, show's over! Don't forget the complimentary Kool-Aid on the way out and donations are always accepted (that's a joke, people). See you in the blog (and watch out for that lizard, it's looking your way)!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13121549910138349495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429963658797589753.post-36318275860482109722014-04-21T11:03:00.003-07:002014-06-02T17:47:22.816-07:00Leasspell Writers Group—Finding our People<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing is
lonely. It’s in a room with a closed
door. It’s in your head. It’s in another
world. That world is wonderful, because
in it, everything you ever dreamed of happens, but it’s yours and yours alone.
When I play games or sports, I have my team or my opponent. When I make stained glass, I can share the
process with others in the studio. But
writing…I close my door, I put on headphones,
and I disappear. </span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At some
point, you want your characters to walk outside of your head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You want to share your vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s not easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sports we can invite others to participate in
through spectating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Art we can show all
of our friends because it takes only a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But a book, that takes time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
can’t just show off your latest chapter to every relative or friend who comes
around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I have shared, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more often than not I have to ask for feedback
and a minute of generic conversation follows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These are not people who can share in my passion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are not people who can understand what
it is to have a world trapped inside you trying to get out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For that, a writer needs to find others who
share a love of the written word.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is why
Leasspell was created in 2011 as an online writer’s group for fantasy and
science fiction. Leasspell is an Old English word that means a story or
fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a place to weave our
spells with our tales and immerse ourselves in writing with others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leasspell was started as a place to teach each
other what we knew and to learn the strengths others shared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gives a sense of community and the
all-important deadline to keep us writing. It shares our unique individual
visions. And of course, it shows us the cracks in our work through critique and
girds us with the armor of praise when we need to get up and try again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I near
the end of writing my book, I have begun to think about the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read a favorite author’s blog that started
when he got published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read other
blogs of authors remembering their days before publication. I thought, what if
I started blogging about my experience in real time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shared my triumphs and my failures as I tried
to find my avenue to publishing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
that is as far as I went…until two members of our group won a contest and a
publishing contract with a small press.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I thought, what better time to start a blog about the journey we take as
writer’s seeking to unloose our worlds on the real one?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This blog is
about encouraging that sense of community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We at Leasspell hope in the days ahead to talk about how to create an
online writers group and how to (and not to) critique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want to share with you the knowledge we’ve
given each other and discuss the process of writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hope to celebrate our successes and bare
our failures as they unfold in real time and to talk about how to find, as one
of our members puts it, your own people.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About Jennifer L. Carson</span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have dreamed about my characters
and my worlds since before I was eight.
I wrote my first story before I read my first novel. Writing is my life, from my career as an
editor to my leisure time as a writer, amateur teacher, and occasional guest
speaker on this subject so near and dear to my heart. If you can’t find me, look no further than
the world of Indirian where I am crafting my epic fantasy novel, <b>In a Mortal Shadow</b>.</span></span></i><br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13121549910138349495noreply@blogger.com2