2009 has come and gone and I wanted to do a nice wrap up post on all that I accomplished. While I didn’t post goals I had for the year publicly, I did have a few of them. Click on the link below to read what I was able to track through the year.
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Perpetual
Perpetual was written in 2009 as my NaNoWriMo entry. I used to publish the entire drafts of my works to the site but as I’m editing to get them published, I’ve pulled the stories down. Instead I am offering downloads of the first drafts as ebooks. Once I edit them for publication, you can return here to download and Purchase the finished volume.
Download the first, unedited draft here
Purchase a copy of the book here
Download a copy of the desktop graphic
NaNo 2009 Novel Notes
Genre: Urban Fantasy
WORKING TITLE: Perpetual
ONE SENTENCE IDEA: Knowing her life is running out, a mechanical figures out how to stay alive.
TAGLINE: What would you do if time was running out?
Original Idea: Xep is a mechanical with limited time left on the watch. She has no idea how long she’s been awake and who created her. She’s using the rest of this time to explore the world she is in and maybe try and find alternative fuel sources. On top of it, the world she awakens in faces a catastrophe and she wants to save it. Can she find a way to extend her life? Who can she trust to help her?
Special Item: One of my friends was offering up custom sketches of characters this year. So I donated some monies to NaNoWriMo and asked her to draw Xep. I think this turned out great.
Improved Idea: Faeries have departed this plane of reality. But since the planes are linked, when they learn that our plane is about to go bye-bye, they send something to witness this phenomenon (think 2012). A small observer, who looks like a will-o-wisp. This creature falls through a portal to the world “unconscious”, and instinctively attaches herself to the nearest suitable object—which happens to be some sort of cataloging mechanical.
The mechanical wakes up, and has this urge to explore, examine, and catalogue everything. However, deep down there’s this sense of urgency, that her time is coming to and end. The wisp cannot break free of the machine, because the mesh worked too well. But the mechanical’s power source IS running down. When it stops working, the trapped wisp will die. Somewhere in between she finds things to be amazing, and wonderful, falls in love with things she finds and catalogues. All this knowledge makes her go rogue. She decides that she wants to save this reality from destruction. So… she’s got to find a new power source and save the world.
Women’s Voices Anthology now out
I have a few cool things to announce this month. On a whim, I submitted Touched to a Young Adult Novel Discovery Contest offered by the Gotham Writers’ Workshop. The contest asks for the first 250 words and the title of your novel; but the grand prize gives the winner the opportunity to submit their manuscript to a YA literary agent and a free writing course. It was mostly a spur of the moment thing, but I have just as much of a shot any one else. They’ll announce winners in February 2010.
I received news today that the Women’s Voices in Magic anthology is now in print! Order a copy of the book online through either amazon.com or the publisher. Please note that Immanion’s US fulfillment team won’t have copies in hand until the latter half of December, but they’ll keep track of pending orders.
Making art
Apparently writing a 50,000 word novel this month wasn’t enough for me or my creative muse. Last night I finally got around to finishing up a project that I had been slacking on for a few months now. During the summer I discovered a site that makes and sells stone and beaded bracelet-pendulums and thought it was a nifty idea. Even better was the fact that I already had many stones and beads laying around at home, like they were waiting for me to stumble upon this idea.
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Ravens in the Library Going Out of Print
Haven’t snagged your copy of Ravens in the Library yet? It may already be too late!
Ravens in the Library will be going OUT OF PRINT this month. The current print run is the last. Thank you all so VERY much for helping us make RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY a success, helping Ms. Tucker and – in the process – creating and supporting a kick-ass collection. Thanks, folks!
Thanks to everyone who bought a copy, read the works inside and supported this endeavor. I’m glad to have been a part of the cause.
In the Studio
Kender spent some time in his studio yesterday. He’s been rather melodious lately and it’s been great to hear what’s been rolling around in his head. The new tune was great but he really wanted to add vocals. So, I turn to him and told him the words that the song sorta kicked up in my head. He tried to run with it but it didn’t sound right.
Instead, I told him to let me give it a shot. So, we recorded a bunch of snippets of me singing and the result is “Make Me Bleed”. Go listen and be gentle please. This is my first attempt at singing since womens’ choir in college.
Good Advice from R.A. Salvatore
Kender’s read more Salvatore than I have; he was recently interviewed by the Willamette Week. I read the interview and really liked what he had to say about writer’s block and writing (click “read more” to see the passage I liked best). These are things I should try and remember when I’m in my own writing funks.
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