Saturday, April 23, 2016

Update(said as one would say hump day on Wednesday!)

So much busy going on! I finished the first draft of my third short story about Jael. I immediately knew I got the ending wrong. I just picked one of the options I had been tossing about and within 12 hours I knew in my gut it was the wrong choice. The good news is this is just a first draft and I can fix it! But not now because now I'm getting down to business and preparing to publish my second short story! There is so much that goes into it , in fact so much that I'm going to do a post all about it! But for now, suffice it to say I have a good start! Besides all the nitty gritty I also need to start my third and hopefully final draft :)
Behind my short stories, I still have that pesky third draft for my WIP R, as well as a synopsis and query to do second drafts on!
In the wings I have another novel still in the middle of first draft which I need to and still want to finish. The wanting is how I know the story isn't a dead end.
Also I have a novel I've queried to about 50 agents(goal of 100 within 2016) and I am seriously contemplating self publishing it. Realisticly I need to keep self pubbing my shorts and building my readership to have a diving board to jump off of with that novel.
Also of note I've made the decision to go Select for 90 days with my second ss to see if it makes a difference with sales. There's a program just for short stories through Amazon and I'm hoping it will help. I will keep Secret Whisperer available everywhere it already is though and I eventually plan to publish more broadly with Jael 2(temporary title).
Over and out but not done keeping on!

Monday, April 18, 2016

Staggering

I prefer the word staggering to stuck mostly because it fits better to where I'm at and also because stuck is such a discouraging word.
I quit in the middle of a third draft of my WIP because my third short story was itching to be told. But I hit a snag midway through the short. I fought(like a warrior!) and now I'm stuck again. But where as before I had two options, now I have endless ideas. I'm honestly just not sure which is best. The biggest dilemma is I had always thought I knew where this short would end, but it is a cliffhanger of sorts and I'm having trouble pulling the trigger on that.
I need to shoot and write it because you can't fix a blank page.
Keep on!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Moments from Chronicles of Chora

  Before Jael's journey began in Secret Whisperer, a King was betrayed...

BETRAYING A KING

      The wind gusted beneath my wings, slowing my descent.  I closed my eyes, enjoying the sharp sting of ice against my skin.  It didn’t hurt my dragon hide.  No, it made me feel alive. Arching my neck at the last second, I bent my knees as the earth reached out to catch me.  Digging my claws into the frozen ground, I rumbled deep inside, the fire heating me.  
      In two steps I had shifted into another skin.  I ran on two legs instead of four, the ground cold under my bare feet.  I had been inside the castle walls too much and even Vadik’s presence could not stop my body from yearning for the freedom of my dragon skin.  But I loved Vadik like I had never loved before, and he could never accept me as anything other than human.  So I held on to these moments, knowing my elven legs would all to soon sneak me back inside the castle, back inside the cage I had created.
                The fire roared in front of me. I had stoked it myself because my maid was asleep for the night.  If I woke her, she would wonder where I had been.  I would not have hesitated to wake my previous maid, but she was gone.  Vadik had replaced her with this young girl who was an eery replica of me, from her thick raven hair to her cobalt colored eyes. 
                “Adalene.”  His voice was too quiet.
                Taking a deep breath, I turned.  Just the sight of him made me smile.  He towered over me, his broad shoulders blocking out the sun even in the dead of night.  His eyes were a soft brown, always gentle when he looked at me.  Tonight was different.  He was looking at me as if I were any other person in the castle.  It was the first time he had looked at me like this in a long time.  Not since we had first met had he looked at me with such coldness in his eyes.  But that first time, he immediately softened and I had felt a part of me soften in return. 
It should have never happened.  I should not have fallen in love because I was meant for other things.  I was not meant to rule his kingdom beside him.  I had my own I should be worried about. But there was one thing I would ever be grateful for and that was the fact that dragons would never force a leader to rule.  To rule the dragons, you had to want to. 
I reached out to touch his face, needing to feel his skin under mine.  He grabbed my wrist and lowered my arm to my side.
“I was here just a few minutes ago, looking for you.  I woke your maid. Even now, she is checking the kitchens for you,” he said.
I blinked slow and careful.  It was a dragon habit, one I had yet to break. “I did not pass her in the halls.”  It was a good thing I had come through the kitchen, making sure the boy who tended its fire, woke just enough to see me.
“It is a large castle,” he said.
“It is.”  He knew.  I knew he knew, but he could not prove it.  Yet.  I thought I had made my choice, living here with Vadik.  I thought I was okay with losing my dragon self and becoming fully elf, so that I could spend my years loving him.  I was wrong.  He would never forgive me, not when he found out what I was.



Sunday, April 10, 2016

A story in 10 words or less.

I sat by her bed, watching her breath.

This idea of a story in one sentence fascinates me. I think it is a fantastic writing exercise. I haven't mastered it by any means, but I still enjoy it.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Sneak Peak: Secret Whisperer


Here's a sneak peak of a my now published short story, Chronicles of Cora: Secret Whisperer.

“No.  I am sorry I have done nothing until now.  I don’t even know what to do, or how this could work.  To bring a unicorn into the city is to guarantee its death.” 

Fane slammed his hand against the door behind him.

“To do nothing is to guarantee our mother’s long suffering death.”

“Fine.  I will see what I can do.  But, it’s a magical beast.  I cannot control him.”

Fane frowned.  “But you are a whisperer.  Can you not control any animal you wish?”

“That’s not how it works Fane.  I know the King has said otherwise, but it is not so.”  I clenched my teeth together to keep from saying something else.  I was tired of all the lies.  I was tired of being told I would destroy our land by simply existing.  Fane frowned, but said nothing before he left, closing the door quietly behind him.

................And...................

“Where is it?” he asked.  He threw his hand out, waving at the forest.  “Where is the beast?”
            My teeth ground together.  He said it like a curse word.  No one had seen a beast in years, but still they were used to scare women and children into obeying.  I had no desire to be locked in a cage, and I knew Fane planned to exactly that. And he would say it was for my own good. 
            Shrugging, I answered him.  “I doubt he will come now.  He knows what would happen if he were captured.” 
            He stepped forward and grabbed my arm, yanking me to him.  “And yet here we are.  How exactly did you plan to bring him to my mother if you cannot control him?”
            My eyes watered as Fane tightened his grip.  The tender skin would be bruised tomorrow.
            “I was going to ask him to come.”  It sounded pitiful when I said it out loud, even to me.
            “Perhaps, I will make sure he will come,” he said.
            I heard the hiss and felt the cold blade against my cheek.