Category Archives: Revisions

RoW80 Check-In: What Happened to the Weekend?

“     ‘We’re paying you to care about rescuing the girl,’ Estialog stated simply. ‘What happens afterwards is categorically none of your business.’
     ‘And if we have a moral concern?’
     Tayahyla snorted again, but held back comment. ‘An odd bunch of brigands,’ Estialog murmured, ‘to be concerned with morality.’
     ‘We never claimed to be typical.’”

As I was writing the title of this Wednesday’s Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, I’m thinking to myself, “But, L, it’s Wednesday. You’re halfway to the next weekend already.” And that just really highlights how busy last weekend has felt, in the fact that my brain is still back there on Sunday or something, while time rushes on through to the next weekend.

I’m used to the weekends being busy and a little crazy; it’s par for the course when you work in retail, and it’s usually the weekdays that mean relaxation, especially the earlier, mid-week days that aren’t so hot for shopping. There’s a lot of crazy, exciting things going on where I work, so everything’s in a whirlwind, things are really crazy, and I was really looking forward to spend today getting back in touch with my writing, and then a coworker asks if I can cover for her tonight. Sigh. This means working six days this week, including one day for 9 hours in an 11 hour span (I got a 2 hour break in between, half of which was driving between locations). I want to shake my fists and just yell “ARRRGGGH,” but I know that this is just the start. There’s a good chance things will get crazier, so I’m bracing myself.

And using all the wonderful writing and reading to keep myself centered and Zen. Everyone’s been noting how I really seem in control of my shit lately, and I intend to keep in control and ride through the chaos like an unfappable breeze of serenity. And I think it’s my writing and the fact that, no matter what happens with my Day Job, things are happening with my Dream Job, too, and that’s just incredible.

The print proof for Bowlful of Bunnies arrived the other day, which is such a trip. I took it to work and showed it off to everyone, too, but I think I want a much smaller size, so today I’m reformatting and resubmitting it for review. Part of my brain wanted to just go with what I have now, but then I had to remind myself that patience is a virtue. While it would be exciting to start shilling this print version now, it’s much better to make sure it’s exactly what I want it to be before I let it out in the world. CreateSpace was incredibly fast…much quicker than they had projected…so I doubt I’d have to wait too long again. Plus, the excitement gets me in a fabulous mood, and, whenever I start to get irritated, all I have to do is think about how, in a few days, I’ll have a print proof of my potential book that people without Kindles can actually buy, whaaaaaat?

I’ve been plugging along with Serpent in a Cage, too, finally getting to the point where I think the dragging middle expositionary section gets back into the action again, which should pick things up. I played around with the idea of bringing in Tayahyla as a narrator again, but I think three is enough for now. Her story can be told better in the next book. I’m also poking at Soulless, the haunted house, and the western with dragons a little bit, too, and wondering if I should skip NaNoWriMo this year or go for it. There’s still time, I must remind myself. People are already talking about it, though, which gets me flailing slightly. I have trouble refusing a challenge when it’s presented, yet maybe I should force myself to show some restraint. We shall have to see.

I’ve still got those book reviews to do (I’ve realized that I’ve been putting them off because I don’t particularly like doing negative reviews, and these ones are not glowing, no), but, other than that, all my attention has been mostly on BoB and SiaC and this craziness that is my life lately. Next week, I might be taking what I’m going to call a brief “writer’s retreat” for a few days, and that should definitely help me anchor my center through the chaos…and allow me some uninterrupted, undistracted chunks of time for writing!

How everyone else doing? Did you get a chance to check out any other RoWers today? (If not, you can find them here!) I’m off to do more formatting and reading and scribbling.

Happy writing!

RoW80 Check-In: June 10th/June 11th.

“…’It’s such a pitiful waste, keeping you here,’ Tenenshe’ean sighed. ‘Or killing you, for that matter. My offer still stands, Auferrix. It’s not too late. At a single word, I could break these bonds. All it takes is a promise and, together, we can get rid of the fat pig, and we can rule A’aefar together.’”

I had fully intended to get this posted yesterday, and I was kind of thinking of skipping yet another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, but I thought I would be good and try to muscle my way through it, even if it means posting this on Monday instead. Some really stupid stuff at work has left me in a little bit of a funk I can’t shake (I hate that), so I’m feeling an overall sense of blahness and wondering what I can do to cheer myself up. It’s like an itch you just can’t scratch, lingering there out of your reach. You try to ignore it, but it just sets everyone else off its usual balance. Today, things are better, especially with the prospect of a day off tomorrow, but I think I’m all Worked Out and I just want to take a nice day for myself and my writing!

Ah, well. All I can do is keep on moving forward, and this, too, shall pass. As far as my goals go, things are coming along nicely. I’ve downloaded Sigil and Calibre and am taking an absolute delight in following Cameron Chapman’s easy and engaging formatting guide for Bowlful of Bunnies. My cover artist got back to me with some sketches, too, and so I’m hoping to see progress on that front, too. My goal is to finish one more edit of the manuscript and then probably spend my rare Saturday off formatting things. This will be done by the end of June!! I am determined. It must happen.

I’ve reached that really dark part of Serpent in a Cage now, too, the part that always makes me wonder if it’s too dark…and then I go and make it even darker than it already was. I like it dark; it’s probably one of my favorite sections of the book, and that worries me a little. I also hope that it doesn’t turn a lot of readers off, but I’ve been using George R.R. Martin as my spirit guide in this part.

Speaking of George R.R. Martin, the reading is going well, too. Finished one book the other day, and a few more won’t be far behind. I always seem to finish books in packs.

The other works are plugging along; I’m really enjoying the way some of them are going, others are probably going to fall off my radar for a little bit. I do have a new Featured Story posted, “Machine,” which is inspired by the Regina Spektor song of the same time. It’s a little more “telling” than I had wanted it to be, but the other story I wanted to produce for this week isn’t panning out, so I brushed this one up a little. I want to develop it into something a little more fleshed out, but, for now, it works okay as is. There’s so much I want to do with this story, but nothing has quite been working with it, so maybe some feedback might help inspire me.

That’s all the news for this week. If you get the chance, try to check out the other RoWers here. Tomorrow is hopefully a bright and positive day off, so, until then, Happy Writing!

RoW80 Check-In: June 3rd.

“She remembered everything. But she was starting to forget what the sun felt like and her favorite stars in the night sky, and she was starting to wonder why they hadn’t just killed her then, why they hadn’t killed her yet. She had been more valuable to them alive, that was it; if they had killed her, they would have been down one plaything. They thought a swift death would be too good for the likes of her.”

I’ve been complete rubbish about keeping up with my Round of Words in 80 Days updates, and I realized that it was because I’m sort of in limbo for the next step of Bowlful of Bunnies‘s journey toward being published. And that waiting game is necessary, but throwing me off of everything else. So I’ve really got to sit my butt down, refocus my goals, or at least chat a little bit on what I’ve been doing to keep myself occupied while I wait just a wee tiny bit longer on edits and my cover.

I’ve been productive, just not to my usual level and it’s been a little scattered. Little pieces here and there. But I’m going through these truly fantastic spurts of inspiration. I even got out some of my drawings last night and did a little sketching. If I can figure out how, I might try to include some of the sketches into BoB, but that’s a bridge to cross once I get into the thick of formatting this thing.

I’m not going to break things down the way I usually do today. I’m just going to give a general overview. I’m still plugging along with Serpent in a Cage and the various other projects I have right now. I started a new short story, but I doubt I’ll be able to finish it before next Sunday, so I started another one I hope will be quicker. That said, I’ve returned to updating the Featured Story, and will thrive to keep doing so every Sunday, which means writing a new short story every week since I’ve dried out my BoB pool. It’s a good challenge, but one I’ll have to make sure I stay on top of, because I’ve been slacking off these last few weeks.

The new Featured Story, “A Song for the Underworld,” was the only thing that really came out of my now-defunct Closing Lines challenge. It’s a modern Orpheus story, and I kind of like it, but I worry that it’s too melodramatic. Please let me know what you think, what could be improved, or anything else that comes to mind. Once it’s switched out with a new story, I’m going to start sending it out.

The readings is going well, as always, finishing up more books, starting new ones, getting inspired and feeling encouraged. As I mentioned, I’ve been sketching more, which is great, because my drawings always inspire me, remind me of things I wanted to do, and help me to express my creativity through channels other than my writing. I’m hoping to either get the chance to use a scanner at my roommate’s parents’ place or get my own scanner fixed soon so that I might share some of these sketches.

That’s mostly all for today. The posting was a little delayed for a case of “there’s a cat sitting in my writing chair again.” If you get the chance, be sure to check in on my other RoWers here. Until then, happy writing!

RoW80 Update: May 23rd.

“         Taluin gave him a wan, indulgent smile. ‘That is how they are best known, yes. Such an act truly leads on to infamy. But they are also the First Six of Humankind, and they are also the Six Who Shall Return. It’s the latter part that concerns us so; it is a prophesy. And the Codex is the only key we have to crack through the Ancient language and lead us on the right path to finding the reincarnated Asyentai to bring Aryneth to the glory of the Gods once again.’
         ‘Is that something we want to even mess with?’ Jaxson asked, though there seemed to be genuine curiosity underneath the sarcasm. ‘Maybe the Asyentai sealed the Gods for a reason.’”

So, I’ve been taking it a little easy lately, and I think that’s been a fairly good idea. The last few days have been great for reconnecting with my work and my writing and setting me on the right track. I’m not exactly sure what set things off-kilter; it might not have been anything at all, but merely the fact that sometimes, even the straightest courses will curve a little bit. I skipped Sunday’s Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, and so I’m making sure I get today’s up. As usual, it’s probably not the most exciting check-in, as things are just continuing along at a steady, somewhat leisurely pace, but things are still moving along.

Let’s have a look:

Bowlful of Bunnies: I’m sort of sitting on this one for a little bit, and I think that was what set things off for me. Ideally, I wanted to release this sucker on May 31st, but I haven’t heard back from two beta readers yet, though I know they’re working on them. I considered just asking for what they’ve finished so far, but then I thought, no. Let’s not rush this. If I can make improvements and make it just a little bit better by waiting an extra week or so, I want to do that. As much as I want to get this ball rolling, I definitely want it to be the best it can be before I give it that nudge into the actual world, so I’m going to be patient and wait. Then one more revision, chatting with my cover artist, and then the fun world of formatting. A week or so into June, it should definitely be ready. I don’t mind waiting a little longer, especially if some valuable information might come out of it, but, if you are one of my betas, if you can get that to me soon, that would be awesome. I’m going to wait a little bit longer before I start pestering you all by email. Thankfully, I have other projects that are keeping me delightfully distracted.

Serpent in a Cage: Continues to go along nicely into the CHAPTER OF EXPOSITION. I think I’m doing well with it and not making it so much of a big fat INFODUMP. I’ve missed a few days of writing the page before bed like I’m supposed to, but I keep kicking myself back into gear with it, too. I’m not writing as much on it as I used to, as I’m giving other projects precedence for a little bit, but anyone who reads this will know I always love working on SiaC. Page count: 80/141.

Soulless: Most of my writing attention has been channeled into Soulless, which is shaping up really nicely. The plot seems to blossom more and more by day, and I think it’s a really strong contender for the second book to publish this year, so I’m trying to just fly through a rough draft. It’s been really great so far, and I’ve even started thinking a little bit about the second and third books, since I definitely want this to be a trilogy. It just has a trilogy feel, and I could do something like Heartless or Mindless or Whateverless in the titles, though part of me wonders if that’s too contrite. But, like Elliot pointed out last week, I do like my titles….I don’t think I can work on a book for too long without needing to have a title for it. Usually, the titles even come first.

The 100 Books Project: I’m nearing the end of at least two books and making progress on others, though at the moment I don’t have anything finished. I definitely feel like I’m dragging my butt on reading this year, but hopefully, that just means I’ve been doing much more writing instead. Books read: 16/100. (5/38 for this round)

Other Books: When I say my writing has really picked up, I definitely mean it. I’ve been also picking at To Cross a River of Blood and I’ve dug up my circus book, too, so things are continuing with those pieces. I’m working on typing up my modern Orpheus myth, too, so that’ll be ready to be posted by SUnday and then after that, I’m brushing it up for submission, and onto another short story. I want to try to do a new short story a week. I’ve tried in the past and failed, so let’s see how this more recent attempt goes.

There you have it! Like I said, a lot of writing being done, I’m out of my funk and back into the groove and it’s lovely. I think it was just the distress I had over Bowlful of Bunnies, and that’s been alleviated once I let myself be okay if it takes just a week or two longer. Flexibility is the key to these sorts of things, I think. Most people might tout the importance of a hard and fast deadline, but it if means something will be better in the long run, is it really so bad giving it a little bit of an extension? I think not.

And, on a completely unrelated note, Ben and Jerry’s Volun-tiramisu ice cream? Amazing. I got it because it was on sale at Target and I am in looooooove.

RoW80 Update: May 16th.

“     ‘Anything you were going to say to him, you can say to me. Sorry if you were hoping to make an appeal to his cock, but brains have to factor into this, too.’
     Something flashed in her eyes as she narrowed them. ‘I was actually hoping to appeal to someone with heart,’ she said. ‘I wish to come with you.’
     ‘Come with us?’ Locke balked at the woman. ‘Why? Why barely know you.’
     ‘It is true that I don’t know what you are all about,’ Awngel admitted, ‘but I do know one thing. Everything I had here in Kassir was tied to that naked man you saw leaving my room, and now that he is gone, I have nothing left.’
     ‘Oh, and we have so much more?’
     ‘You have each other,’ Awngel said simply, ‘and that is infinitely more than what I have.’”

I swear, Wednesday check-ins for A Round of Words in 80 Days always seem to come up so quickly; it’s probably the fact that I don’t have a long weekend of a lot of working to suffer through before I get to it like I do on Sundays! Things have been going really well for my goals; I’m getting a decent amount of writing done, I’ve got some good milestones marked ahead, and I’m just putzing along and getting stuff done. It feels awesome to be on top of things like this! Now if only I can think of better blog topics and stop skipping days where I don’t have a review or a check-in to post. I forgive myself these trespasses, though, because I know I’m using that time to finish editing and keep plugging away at my other projects.

Let’s see what I’ve got for this Wednesday:

Bowlful of Bunnies: Good lord, editing without a printer and with a faulty mouse is freakin’ tedious. But it’s getting done. I know I haven’t heard back from all my betas yet, and a huge, big fat thank you! to the betas who have gotten back to me. I’m going through the edits now, and they’re really insightful and helpful and super exciting. This is really shaping up to be a good, solid collection, and I have you to thank for it. I’m going to pester my cover artist here in a few days, and hopefully, next week can be dedicated to formatting and getting everything ready to finally be put up!

One question that has come up as I’m editing that I thought to open up to a little discussion: when you have people proof your work, how much of their input do you tend to use? I used to run a workshopping group in college, so I feel I have a pretty good grasp on how to delineate between constructive criticism, really good advice, and just little stylistic variations, so I don’t use all the advice given to me (especially since not everyone’s going to agree…one reader might love the way you structured that sentence, another reader will completely hate it). Do you tend to follow most of what your betas suggest, or do you go mostly by your own judgment with a consideration of the suggestions? A little bit of both? How do you feel if you make a suggestion to someone, but they decide to stick with what they have (or, in my case, go with something completely different)? I always feel a little bad when I have a note, and I consider it, and I’m left with, “You know, I see their point, but I still like my way better,” but….I like my way better! I still have this feeling, though, that, by denying a reader’s suggestion, I’m basically telling them that their suggestion sucks. Which isn’t the case, but I still feel bad. Ah, well. Editing>

I guess this just proves that I’ll have to elbow my way through it and get it done so I don’t have to deal with it anymore, right?

Serpent in a Cage: I’m going to be a slight dork about this because I actually wrote two pages yesterday instead of one, which is very exciting for me, even though I cut the last chapter off a little short because it wasn’t working in the moment and I decided I’d hop to the next one and expand on the last later. So it’s going well and we’re going into a BIG EXPOSITIONARY CHAPTER, which I both love and hate. It feels lazy, but I know it’s necessary and I’ll be honest, I love the interactions with the characters as they’re catching up on what’s happening and the reader gets a good scope for the plot. It’s a necessary and sometimes delightful evil. Page count: 78/134.

By the way, since I’ve breached page 77 since posting the meme, here are 7 lines from page 77 of Serpent in a Cage:

worn by the bear were hung to dry, partitioning the
room off to create privacy with the washbasin and
the chamber pot. Shoes were lined neatly by the door,
books littered the beds.
     “If anyone could predict such company,” she had
complained apologetically, “I’d have cleaned up the place.”
     Gilferen sat down awkwardly on the edge of one

Book No. 0002: I was thisclose to changing the title of this heading to Soulless, since I’m pretty sure that’s going to be the next book I try to publish and I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m going to call it, but I’m not entirely sure, so we keep the vague title for now. I’ve gotten all the stuff that’s been written already on it (about 8000 words) typed up, and so now it’s a matter of writing more of it. Since I’ve decided I do write better long-hand, I’m going to try to do that, and then get whatever is new typed up every day to keep up with it. I’m poking at an outline before I get too far, too, so that’ll provide a nice guideline. Once BoB is published, I’ll hopefully construct some more specific goals for this particular project.

The 100 Books Project: Nothing to stellar or exciting here; fairly close to finishing one of the many books I’ve been juggling, but it’ll probably be a week or so before another finished book review pops up. It all seems to come in waves, so it feels like I’m a good deal away from finishing many books, but I’ll probably finish them all relatively close to each other, as these things tend to go. books read: 16/100 (5/38 for this round).

So, you see, it’s been a good week, my brain is buzzing with creativity, and I really look forward to the days when I can just work and get things done…and still fit in time for other things, too. Yesterday, I even took the dog for a walk, which was fantastic, and I’m hoping it gets a little warmer so I can do the same today. If not, oh, well, guess I’ll just have to keep reading and writing and getting things done. What a tough life, right?

Happy writing!

RoW80 Update: Sunday, May 13th.

“Locke jumped in his skin a little with surprise when Taluin stepped forward, close to him with her hands raised to take his face between her surprisingly rough hands. These were definitely not the hands of the noblewoman he expected her to be, and he was too surprised to pull away. ‘I though I’d seen those eyes somewhere before,’ she gushed quietly, staring up into his face. ‘And you look so much like your father.’”

Happy Mother’s Day out there to all the mothers, including my own, theoneonlyjeanne. I’m not a mother myself, and I’m never quite sure if I ever will be, but a mother always has a place of inspiration and love in her children’s hearts, and I’m always astounded by the weight of a title like that. I hope the day is a special one and that the mothers of the world feel the love that they deserve.

It’s kind of an emotional time for me, and I’ve never been one to want to dwell on my more powerful emotions in this particular platform, so I’ll just leave it at that. I’ve spent the morning with a lot of tears and writing a lot of letters. It’s Sunday, after all, and there’s a Round of Words in 80 Days check-in to be had, so I will shift gears on over to that for now. Let’s have a look at what I’ve been up to:

Bowlful of Bunnies: Bowlful of Bunnies has now been moved up to the top priority spot, as I’m starting to get some of my edits back from my beta readers, so I want to spend this week brushing it up, and next week getting it formatted so that by the end of next week or so and finishing up with my cover artist, and it should be ready to publish. Whoo ! I want to shoot for May 31st as a release date.

Serpent in a Cage: Things are picking up now that the fight is over and I’ve dedicated myself to making sure a page-a-day (at least) is written before I crash for the night. Part of me is wondering if this new approach is too well put-together, if the coincidences are too convenient, and therefor unlikely or realistic, but I figure I can worry about that later. I personally like how all the pieces fit together and build up to this giant wallop of destiny and fate. So we forge ahead and I think it keeps getting better. Page count: 74/131.

Book No. 0002: In typing up the current prospect for my second book, I’ve realized that I write so much better in long-hand than I do by simply typing something up, and, for this reason, I will probably never be a very fast writer. I’ll have to write it first, then type it, but that’s kind of good because it allows for me to edit and improve as I type up the first draft. I like where this is going, though, so I’m really eager to continue on in pen once I reach the end of what’s already written and go from there.

The 100 Books Project: I cleared out a few books, moving onto some others, though I think there will be a decent hiccup before I get another batch cleared. That’s okay, though, because I’m thoroughly enjoying most of the books I’ve got on my roster right now. That always helps. I’m still behind, but I’m trying to publish a book here. I’m so not stressing out it. Books read: 16/100 (5/38 for this Round).

Featured Story: This week’s Featured Story is another that will appear in Bowlful of Bunnies, written up thanks to a contest run by Morgan Dragonwillow a little while back. In a few weeks here, I’m going to start putting up new material…hopefully! Running out of BoB stories is hopefully going to give me the push to finish more new stories, start sending those out, and/or stockpiling them for the next collection.

Nothing too extravagant; I’m been a little off, but I’m picking up some momentum and keeping it going strong. This week will be all about the fine-tuning. And I also want to take a second to thank Abra Alani for following the blog! She always posts lovely photographs, so I like following her, too!

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! And, as always, happy writing!

RoW80 Update: May 2nd!

“‘A misunderstanding?’ the man barked with disdain. A rough laugh exploded from his mouth. ‘Ha! Because there are so many sticky-fingered pale Northerners in this city to confuse you with. You took the stone, and I want it back.’”

Things are starting to settle slightly back into order for me, though I know it’s going to be short lived. Tomorrow, I’ll be traipsing off to a midnight showing of The Avengers, which should be interesting considering I usually go to bed at ten. Thankfully, the showing is at Hollywood Boulevard, and so there will be booze. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of state I’m in on Friday…

But today, I settle in for my Round of Words in 80 Days update, things are going well. The extra time I’ve been taking to clean up this apartment has been well worth it and much needed, but I’m also doing a great job with my writerly and reading goals as well. Let’s have a look:

Serpent in a Cage: The fighty scene continues to make me wonder if I’m any good at fighty scenes. Probably not. Still forging forward, especially since I got the idea to write myself notes of things I’d like to see in SiaC once I get to typing it, and then I can work on developing those things that I feel would make the book a lot better, but that I usually don’t have the time or energy to add to the story “just right now.” Still, it’s coming along and doing okay. Page count: 67/120.

Bowlful of Bunnies:

I’ve got Betas reading through it, my cover artist sketching, and so it’s mostly a waiting game at this point. I considered going through with more edits, but I want to refresh my brain with a little bit of new stuff before one last go-through.

Book No. 0002: Okay, so….I have come up with an idea that might be a little bit crazy. A lot bit crazy, anyway, and I’m sure a lot of you are going to read this and stamp it as official L.S. Engler insanity. But I mentioned that I wanted to do a sort of NaNoWriMo thing for Book No. 0002 this year, and that I’ll just plug away at words for the month of May and see what I’ve got at the end of it. The problem was that I didn’t know what I wanted to write about yet. A few ideas were floating around in my head, but nothing really solidified itself. So I’ve decided….why not try to write around 1667 words per day on several different books and the one that sticks and develops the most will clearly be the winner? Now, I’m not going to be religious about this. This is mostly an “if I have time” pursuit, but I will be poking at at least one story a day for at least 1667 words. But I figure it could be a great way to test the waters on a lot of different potential books. Right now, I’m working on two, so, by the of the day, I know I’ll be happy with them each at 3334 word each.

I’m….pretty far at the moment on one, but the first one I started a couple of days ago is actually pretty good for the moment. I decided to “officially” start it yesterday, because it’s easier to track where I should be on any given story by just multiplying 1667 by whatever day of the month it is. I still think this is vaguely crazy. I’m not even sure it makes any sense. But I’m really excited to see if I pull it off, or if it just sort of falls to the wayside. Just think of all the new, rich material I’ll have composed if it does work!

The 100 Books Project: I’ve got one book finished in the wings, ready for review, and I’m 100 pages away from finishing the 700+ book for April. So this is going very, very well. I’m getting back into the habit of reading before bed, and that’s getting quite a lot of pages done! Books read: 15/100. (4/38 for this round)

Other Novels: Chapter One of To Cross a River of Blood opens with my main character tossing his cookies over the side of a ship. Awesome. I also found an old copy of a start to the book that follows TCaRoB, too, so I might start poking at that. Part of my brain is all, “FINISH JUST ONE BOOK OF THIS SERIES FIRST!” but most of my brain resoundingly answers it with, “AHAHA, NO.”

So, there you have it. A quick little look-see into how my goals are going. I talked to my dad on the phone today, and I mentioned Bowlful of Bunnies (we got on the topic of his broken Kindle and his new iPad for work), and he jokingly threw out that he’d have fifty bucks in it for me if I had it out by the end of June. I told him I planned on having it ready at the end of May, so I guess I’ll find out then if he’s going to let me hold it to him! Ha! Anyway, be sure to check out my fellow RoWers here and happy writing!

RoW80 Update: April 29th!

“‘Where is it?’ the man growled, hissing through clenched teeth. He brought Locke’s face roughly up to his own. ‘What have you done with it?’”

Man, it’s hard to believe it’s Sunday already, time for another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in. My schedule for this week was altered from its usual course, which has me feeling out of alignment with how I usually do things. Thankfully, this hasn’t lead to a cease in productivity, but rather a shifting around of it. I’m still getting the usual stuff done, but it’s passing by in a little bit of a mechanical, almost mindless blur as I juggle work and writing. This coming week will be about the same, schedule wise, so maybe it’ll smooth out and clarify a little, but, I’ll bet that, as soon as it starts to get in a rhythm, it’ll change again.

Ah, well. Such is life. We change, we adapt, we grow. Lather, rinse, repeat. Still, it’s been a pretty productive week on both accounts. I’ve had probably my best week at work in a while, and it’s been a milestone writing week for me, too. Perhaps the little shake-up in the system was just what I needed to nudge me closer to the edge. Let’s have a look and break down the specifics:

Serpent in a Cage: Trudging through the tricksy part of the current scene, I’ve finally managed to break through and get a better flow going. Also, my attention on what I’m writing in my notebooks was on a short story I was trying to get done for Bowlful of Bunnies, but I decided not to include it, and so I’m able to spend that energy on SiaC once again. It’s slow getting back into it again, but I’m sure with all the BoB stuff trudging along, things will pick up again this next week. Page Count: 66/118.

Bowlful of Bunnies: I’ve moved BoB down to the second priority spot right now because this is, mostly, a waiting game. I’ve got my cover artist working on the cover, I’ve got a few betas working on looking it over (and a few more betas I’ll be sending stuff to soon). I suppose I could go through it again, edit some more, edit, edit, edit, but I’m going to give myself a breather from it before bothering to look at it again. Freshen up the eyes, get a few other projects started. Once I hear back from the artist and the betas, then it’s going to be onto formatting, and, lastly, getting it out there. So this week…we wait.

The 100 Books Project: I’ve just finished a book yesterday and I have about ten pages to go in another, so that one should be finished by the end of the day, if not tomorrow. Which is good, because I haven’t finished any in a while, and my numbers are looking pretty sad. But I continue reading, and I’ll continue knocking them out. Books read: 14/100. (3/38 for this round).

Novel No. 0002: With BoB sort of waiting in the wings at the moment, I’ve gone ahead and started up on a potential for the second book I’d like to publish this year. I’m going to start with The Reaping and see where that gets me, and I’ve decided that I’m going to treat these rough drafts much like I was participating in NaNoWriMo: I’m going to try to spew out 1,667 words a day, going back and working on the previous day’s words if I have the time, and see where that gets me. Knowing me, I can see myself potentially trying to juggle more than one rough draft for this, until I know for sure which one I want to stick with. I’m slowly working on outlining The Reaping right now, so I’ll stick with that until I have some other outlines started. I am not going to let myself get too eager about writing that I forget rough outlines. That is always my failing, because I get to a certain point without a plan and it just fades away. Even just this morning, though, I’ve got 647 words on The Reaping, and plan to do the other 1000 when I get home from work. Off to a good start!

Other Novels: The first chapter of To Cross a River of Blood is opening beautifully; it makes me want to go back and revisit the book that falls in between TCaRoB and SiaC so that I can pick at the trilogy all together! It’s a slow picking, but I’ve been having fun with it, too, and I think it helps me to keep the inspiration for SiaC as well.

Featured Story: Last, but not least, a new Featured Story is up! “Dragon Rising” was the first of a handful of stories I submitted to a contest run by Morgan Dragonwillow a little bit ago and, as I sorted through those stories to see which ones I wanted to include in Bowlful of Bunnies, I realized that it’s probably my favorite. Thoughts on it would be greatly appreciated! I wouldn’t be surprised if this develops into a book at some point, too.

There you have it! Things are going well, I’m excited about one project being nearly finished and getting to expend some energy on other projects as well. I have to flee off to work now, but why don’t you check out some of my fellow RoWers here while you’re at it? And, of course, as always, happy writing!

Calling All Beta Readers!

The time has come (the walrus said…) to send up the call for beta readers! By the end of the day today, I should have the complete rough draft of Bowlful of Bunnies, my short story collection, ready for review. It should be just under 100 single-spaced typed pages on Microsoft Word, and I’ve lost track of how many stories will be in there, but I believe it’s about fifteen. If you’re interested in beta reading it, please let me know! The more the merrier, and here’s what I had beta readers in mind to help with:

1. Proofreading from grammatical and typographical errors
2. Suggestions on tightening prose and/or picking out wonky language
3. Perspective on the choice of stories in the collection
4. Thoughts on the order of the stories
5. Recommendations on what’s working, what’s not, and what there could be more or less of

If you’re already a frequent follower of the blog (and, to be honest, those are the people I’d feel most comfortable beta-reading), you’re probably already familiar with a lot of the stories, as they’ve appeared as featured stories, but I’m also curious as to how the stories flow into each other, if the variety is good, if I should lump similarly themed stories together or switch out between types of stories regularly, all those technical little things that take a collection of stories to being a complete, cohesive work rather than just a hodge-podge of this or that.

Interested? Leave me a message here or hit me up on email (ellis.engler@gmail.com), and we’ll get things started. I want to give ALL the thank yous (the first of many, to be sure) in advance, as well as just thank everyone for their general support and encouragement. I’m thisclose to getting this thing published, and I have everyone here to thank for it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you times a gazillion.

RoW80 Check-In: April 22nd!

“…’Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if he’s down there, waiting for you? He wasn’t exactly in a pleasant mood when he stormed off, naked and booted out of bed, you know.’”

This RoW80 update is going up much later than usual today, thanks to a variety of factors. The biggest one is simply that I’ve been a little lazy. I’m not used to having Sunday off and I’ve been reveling in that. Also, there was grocery shopping. And there was also finishing a last minute app for Fandom High (there’s still time to join the insanity!). And there’s also feeling incredibly off because my Kindle’s charge cord has not been working very well and I’ve been fighting with it all morning. Has anyone else had problems with their charge cords? Essentially, it doesn’t seem to fit into the plug anymore. If anyone has encountered this or has suggestions other than Maguivering a hold on it with pens and sundries, I’d appreciate it.

To boot, I don’t really have an exciting update in store for today, anyway. Things have been a little off all week, I think in anticipation for the new schedule coming up this week, but let’s have a peek at what did get set into motion these last few days:

Bowlful of Bunnies: Got things sorted out with my cover artist; she’s pretty busy, but I should have something from her before the end of next week, and so that’s really excited. Still waiting to hear back on a couple of stories sent out, but I’m thinking I might forge ahead without them (or retract a specific one or two) and get things ready to be sent out to beta readers. And then it’s figuring out formatting and getting everything done to get it published and ready to go. How exciting is that? This is almost ready to happen, guys. It’s both thrilling and nerve-wracking. Wish me luck on these next few weeks. I’ll have a book published in May! Holy canolli, Batman! I can almost taste it!

Serpent in a Cage: Managed to write all of one paragraph of SiaC lately. Hey! At least I’m finally on page 64? Page count: 64/111.

The 100 Books Project: I managed to get my Pharmacology review up! And I’m almost finished with at least two books! So there’s at least some progress there. So help me, though, if I wind up finishing the next Song of Ice and Fire book before March’s 700+ book…that’s going to just be sad. Books read: 13/100. (2/38 for this Round).

Novel No. 002: I started working on an outline for my Battle Royale-esque survival book, tentatively titled The Reaping. Not sure if this is the sort of book I want to tackle, but I’m thinking of doing a poll soon to get an idea of what people might like to see from me as a second book.

Other Novels: I actually finished the Prologue to To Cross a River of Blood, which was a little unexpected, but very cool. It’s been making me want to go back to what I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year, since that’s the book that comes between TCaRoB and SiaC.

Featured Story: Earlier last week, I went scrambling through all the papers in my library and bedroom, looking for my W-2s because, as a recent resident of Illinois without an Illinois ID, I still have to file my state taxes the old fashioned way and, irritated when I remembered only after I paid to have them done online, I had put them aside until later. This was stupid and forced me to do my state taxes (blissfully simple as they are) at the last minute, but a good thing did come out of it. In my search, I came across the one printed copy I had of the two flash fictions I had published in Temenos, the ones that have long since disappeared from their website. And so I’m glad to have “9 September 1979″ and “Bridge Over the River Yuanfen” included in Bowlful of Bunnies now, and as this week’s Featured Story. I was reading a lot of Da Chen and Dai Sijie at the time, and I still feel that “Bridge” is a personal favorite out of anything I’ve ever written. Feedback and thoughts on the stories will always be appreciated.

Pretty short and sweet because my brain is so totally elsewhere right now. For a little more excitement, check out the other RoWers here! And, as always, happy writing!