about me · Author · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · writing

New experiences.

Just a quick post on Saturday. This whole writing thing keeps bringing new rewards. I wrote a particularly satisfying chapter today. As I feel I am still new to the writing thing, I know that the struggle is real, but I think that those feelings of futility and creative struggles have a tendency to overshadow some of the personal revelations and rewards that one can get from writing. One thing is that I write because of the compulsion to let out my creative impulse. But that sounds sterile and somewhat clinical, I find genuine enjoyment in writing. While it is not really a new experience, today I felt a profound enjoyment as the words flowed, and there was a full circle moment in the plot and a definite connection to the first book that was quite gratifying. Thanks for visiting!

Audible · Author · Emergence Collective · writing

Friday, what took you so long?

Wow, this week seemed to last forever. Im looking forward to recharging my mental batteries. I have a D&D session tonight, Im excited about (going to hunt some rust monsters that are currently plaguing the town). Its fun to play make-believe, and I think it keeps one creative. I plan on getting a lot of writing tomorrow, since I haven’t had the chance to write all week. Not a bad thing though. Ive been “writing” in my head the whole time, going over the overall story and planning how to connect some storylines together. The Audible project is full steam ahead. I have recording equipment picked out, and I have lots of notes to go over with the narrator.

Thanks for stopping by!

about me · Audible · Author · Emergence Collective

A new adventure

As if I don’t have enough to do, I am starting on the path of Audible. On my bucket list is to publish my book on Audible. So, where to start? A good voice is the place to start I suppose. The idea solidified during a D&D session last Friday. Of course, I have been thinking about Audible even before I published the print version, so it is always on my mind. The dungeon master mentioned offhandedly that he always wanted to be a voice actor, and I immediately said to myself, “You need a voice actor for your book.” I like Zack’s DM’n skills, and he always does fun voices for the non-player characters so I figured I’d give him a shot. Since he truly wants to start a career in this field, I figured that both our goals are aligned and, since I am going to have to shell out money, it should benefit someone I know rather than a random actor I choose out of a line-up. I crunched the numbers, and it is reasonable to buy the recording equipment for him (as compensation). Of course I have no idea (haven’t started researching that yet) how much it is going to cost to have my audio edited, but I will cross that bridge when I have something to edit. I’ll take any advice anyone has on this subject! feel free to leave a comment! (You can just say hi as well) Thanks for visiting!

Author · Emergence Ascended · magic · spiritualism · writing

Emergence Ascended Sneak peak…

Here is an excerpt from Emergence Ascended. The sequel to Emergence collective.

Barney materialized right in front of her, making her nearly jump out of her chair backward. She skittered back, wheeling the chair until it collided with her desk, knocking her laptop onto the floor as she toppled over. Serenity scrambled to her feet, never taking her eyes off of Barney while she frantically searched for anything that could be used as a weapon, but all she could find was a pair of scissors. Not completely satisfied, but it was all she had; she waved the scissors around and jabbed them at Barney. “Who the fuck are you, and how did you get in here?” she screamed. Still jabbing the scissors at him. Barney just chuckled at her; it was funny to him how she nearly flipped backward. And now with the scissors.

Seeing Barney laugh at her pissed her off, overtaking any fear she had just felt. “I’m gonna fucking gut you mother fucker!” she screamed as she lunged toward him.  He barely moved; with a twitch of his wrist, he blocked the scissors, knocking them out of her hand and sending them sliding across the floor, then grabbing her wrist in the same motion.

Serenity yanked her arm, trying to pull free from Barney’s iron grip but only managed to pull herself closer to him. Not missing an opportunity, she raised her knee with a grunt connecting solidly with his crotch. With an “oof!’ Barney dropped to a knee doubling over in excruciating pain that made him suddenly nauseous. “Enough!” he bellowed as he pushed her away, sending her off balance, and stood up. She backpedaled, landing on her sofa. She frantically looked around, eyes darting this way and that, searching for another weapon.

about me · Author · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · spiritualism · writing

Progress is progress

I took a step back and really looked at what I had written so far In “Emergence Ascended” (The sequel to “Emergence Collective.”  You really have to read, trust me it’s worth it.). I wasn’t satisfied with my character, as I wanted to add more character to the character. I have a specific idea of how this character is supposed to read. So, I took some time from adding new content to the story and dug a bit deeper into the character, and reinforced some of the more important character traits that I wanted to express. It is hard for me to show, not tell how you are supposed to perceive the character. But I gave it my best shot. I am somewhat happier with how it reads and even though I am blinded by the fact that I already know how the character is supposed to be perceived, (I have to pretend that I don’t, as I write it).

I think it is very important to the story overall, how the character is initially perceived since later in the story it explains a lot. (things that are not plot specific, but add important elements or subtext to the story.  

art · Author · Emergence Ascended · magic · spiritualism · writing

Eat that Frog

One of my favorite Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens for those who know) quotes. “Eat a Live Frog Every Morning, and Nothing Worse Will Happen to You the Rest of the Day.” I am only mentioning this because its Monday. Monday is my frog, so after this, it’s all downhill. I had a relaxing weekend. Got some writing done, and I am getting excited about the story (Emergence Ascended) I spent some time working with my laser. Doing some fun side projects and managed to make 3 pendulum boards (Scrying boards). I upgraded my laser and I am very happy with it. My projects burn faster and I can do more with it. My next project it to burn some more Ouija boards, which usually sell (Etsy) out during the Halloween season so I am getting ahead of that, making sure I have the inventory to support demand.

I have another exciting bit of news, hopefully I will get the expected email today, and once that happens I will post all about it! Thank you for taking the time to visit! Don’t be shy, say hi in the comments!

about me · Author · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · writing

Salvageable

Not all was lost. That chapter that I repeated,(Here is where I talked about that) or I wrote two separate chapters that said the same thing, was salvageable. Only had to delete a thousand or so words and the rest was organized to lead back in the direction I was intending. Whew!

Now I am back at it. I had been thinking hard about my current progress and adding things here and took some stuff out there. Not that I was unhappy with the progress but I felt there were some subtle things that add to the feeling of the story that I think were missing. Not completely there yet but I have more writing to do so I have time.

I am still having slight anxiety about making the sequel to Emergence collective as good, if not better but I am trying to push those negative thoughts out of my head. Can’t let those silly ideas grow. I just need to trust that I can be consistent with my writing and the rest will follow.

about me · Author · Emergence Collective · writing

This might surprise you

There are some surprises in Emergence Collective that I have been careful not to mention in my blog. Although I have been tempted to spill those beans. When I was writing it (the secret surprise) I was constantly thinking “Is this way out there? Are the readers going to enjoy this?” When I asked the editor what she thought of the book (as she was the first person to actually read it), she mentioned it right off, and that was something that she really enjoyed. So all my waffling over it was at least for one person, enjoyable.

It’s more than you think it is….
about me · Author · poetry · writing

Yee olde Correspondences

I grew up in rural Alaska. It is a beautiful, brutal, vast, and sometimes boring place to grow up. Boring for a kid at least. Living on a homestead at the end of a homemade road in a cabin, there are not really many things to do. Of course, I did the usual kid things, made forts in the woods, climbed trees, and did some fishing, but at the end of the day, all these activities were done solitarily. I have a sister, but when she is your only company to play with it can get kind of dull. Our tiny town of Wasilla Had a decent library so books became a thing. I discovered, that you can travel to faraway places with adventures and mysteries to uncover. I started reading a lot. I discovered H.P Lovecraft (Specifically “the strange case of Charles Dexter Ward” and He blew my mind, I was instantly a horror fan. My Dad encouraged Isaac Asimov, and that threw me into the Science Fiction rabbit hole.

My First Favorite Author was H.P. Lovecraft however and I read everything I could get my hands on. I learned about how he would correspond with other authors, pen-pals as it were. Long conversations, that took months and years to have. But as a reader, I, of course, could not have conversations with the authors I read, (Obviously the dead ones were the hardest to reach) But in those days there were very few resources to tap into to even get the conversation started.  So I only could dream of talking to an author about the books I was reading, asking questions, and getting insight into the stories that I may have not picked up on.  Ah the days before the internet. Thank you, Arpanet (the first internet for you youngins).

Fast forward to the future. I grew up, trying my hand at writing, to realize that writing is for the soul, not the pocketbook (or google wallet (again for the youngins)). Make an Author page/blog, get your name out there and see if that works. Not so much yet, but its still new.

The Blog. The point of starting the blog was to promote me, my books, and my writing.  One side effect of writing a blog is that suddenly you are in a community.  Gone are the days of isolation in the Alaskan bush. I have started having great conversations with other authors, trading insights, asking questions, and just getting to know others that are afflicted with the same obsessive need to express our insanity to the world.  I look forward to more conversations, with other authors, and especially if you are a fan of my work, I would very much like to hear from you.

Author · Emergence Ascended · writing

Go with the flow?

Alright! Saturday morning, I’m up early, got some good coffee in my mug and I pull out my laptop. Im feeling good, feeling inspired. It’s been way to long since I wrote anything substantial in my WIP but I am inspired and ready to go. When I am not smashing keys and making words, I’m thinking about the next scene or character development. Saturday I was gonna write a pretty important scene that I have been ruminating about.

I start writing. the clacking of the keyboard is near-constant, except for the occasional breaks to sip more coffee and keep the flow state rolling. Wow, the words are pouring out of me in a fluid stream of consciousness. I write the chapter in one go. Wish I could write like this all the time. I finish the chapter, and by that time, my quiet solitude is coming to an end (as my family is now getting up. I write in the morning before every in the house gets up and starts expecting me to acknowledge their existence).

Before I close the laptop I give a quick skim over the chapters to make sure that everything is lining up and the story is going where I want. I start reading chapter 5, and it’s very familiar, I keep going and as it turns out, It was almost identical to the chapter I just wrote. Really? Of course, I have been thinking hard about this part of the story, cause it’s an important plot thingy, but how could I have actually forgot that I already added it in? Maybe I should read my own stuff more often. Really, more to the point, I shouldn’t allow myself to get so distracted that I forget where I am at. Sheesh. Have any of you ever done something that silly?