A tiny taste of my story.... Enjoy!

Excerpt from Dance of the Goblin

That night the music returned. It roused Caryn, who wasn’t sure if it was a dream. It seemed so real. This time the violin was joined in harmony with a woman’s voice. High and lilting, the woman sang of starlight and marble halls hidden from mortals. Her voice was fluid and in perfect pitch with the violin, but the inflection of her tone was pierced by sorrow. Unable to resist the lure of the music, Caryn left the house. A cool breeze pressed the thin fabric of her nightgown against her and tickled the ends of her hair across her shoulders and arms. At the edge of the trees she thought she glimpsed a woman’s figure moving ahead of her down the path leading into the woods. Following, she struggled to listen to the words of the song. Sometimes it seemed as if the woman was singing in another language. One she’d never heard before.

Entranced and consumed by curiosity, Caryn continued down the path. It was blanketed in mist. She barely noticed the cold, wet grass beneath her feet. The violin played, its sound reaching a feverish crescendo. Then it stopped. The woman paused for just a moment and Caryn remained near the edge of the trail.

In faith I followed him,

In sorrow he concealed you.

His deception born of kindness…

The words were spoken, not sung.

“Who are you?” Caryn called.

“Find me,” the woman answered. She moved around a bend in the trail.

The wind blew harder and the mist rose and curled as Caryn moved faster to catch up. She stumbled, stubbing her toe against a rock. Pain shot through her leg and she sat for a moment cradling her foot. The music and singing had stopped. When she was able to hobble around the bend the woman she’d seen on the path had vanished. The dull throbbing ache in her toe made her wonder if she’d been sleepwalking all along.

“Caryn!” another voice cried.

You can still read it here on Swoon Reads.

A Few Character Images for DANCE OF THE GOBLIN

When I was going through hundreds of images to come up with my cover design for my novel, I came across a few images that really captured my attention in terms of how they compared to what I saw in my mind's eye for some of the characters. Unfortunately, I am still searching for a good image for Caryn or Ben. I think an image of Old Batty would have to rendered as a sketch by a true visual artist. I am not one of those people. I could post a picture of what my most accomplished drawing of a pixie looks like, but I don't want to scare anyone. I hope you enjoy these and for anyone who has a really good image of an old farmhouse with a wide front porch and white siding with shutters on the windows, don't hesitate to share them with me. That is how I picture Caryn's house in my mind. But the image of this porch below could fit I suppose. Enjoy!

How I pictured Bear
Photo by Shane Kell on Pexels site

Possibly Caryn from behind
Photo by Max Lakutin on Unsplash site

Front porch to Caryn's house
Photo by Avi Werde on Unsplash site

   

Aside from the eye color
this is very much how I
envisioned Prudence

 

For anyone interested in checking out my contemporary young adult fantasy novel you can read it and rate it for free for another couple of months on Swoon Reads.

The Novel Where They All Live

Stepping Into the Story Through Pictures

As I announced earlier this week, I recently uploaded a novel manuscript to the Swoon Reads site to be considered for publication. The creation of this story has taken years of writing and revising to get it to where it is today. But all along that journey images of where several of the events of the story took place stayed firmly in mind as I wrote, helping me to evoke that scene and setting. Like my main character I grew up in a very rural area on a small farm where the fields and pastures were often surrounded by woods and forests. Here are just a few images of the real places that inspired some of the scenes in my novel.

Fire pit near where Caryn wakes up the first time in the woods

Drive from Caryn's house leading out to the pastures and farm

The paths in the woods Caryn ventures down

Pasture gate near where the cattle carcasses are found

My Book is Available to Read on Swoon Reads

Exciting news! My latest young adult fantasy is available to read on Swoon Reads. If you would like to read the ebook copy just click the link below. Swoon Reads is free to subscribe to and has tons of great young adult content for readers. The more readers and ratings a novel manuscript gets the better chances it will be considered for publication by the editorial staff on Swoon Reads. I appreciate support from any of you who are interested in reading my work. Thank you!

https://www.swoonreads.com/m/dance-of-the-goblin/

How is Walking Like Writing?

When I ask a question like this one, it might sound like a silly riddle alla Lewis Carroll's "How is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?" But trust me this isn't a silly question or riddle meant to confuse you. In fact, this question about walking being like writing came to mind while I was taking my own walk recently. It occurred to me that walking for your health everyday, or most days anyway, is very much like writing. Some days all the conditions are right for a perfect day out. The sun is shining, the temperature is neither too hot nor too cold, but just right, and maybe you even start out going downhill. Other days, life is hectic, and the idea of squeezing in that daily walk just seems to add to your stress. But you know that if you don't get moving you'll feel bad later. Especially when you have that big bowl of ice cream at the end of the day to unwind, knowing you've done nothing to keep those calories from being added to your fat rolls.

Does any of this sound familiar in terms of trying to keep to a daily writing routine? Writing, whether it is something you aspire to do or something you must do for your own mental well-being, (those imaginary people in your head won't let you sleep otherwise) is something that only gets better if you do it as much as possible. Unfortunately, most days the stars don't align perfectly, and the inspiration you need isn't always readily at hand when you need it. Like the conditions for outdoor walking, the desire to write can feel like an uphill slog or on the hardest days, up mountain climb. Emerging writers often ask if they need to write everyday to be successful. The general wisdom is, "Yes." A writer should write every single day, especially if they ever hope to get published. But the truth of the matter is, this isn't always possible all the time or even for every writer. While most do stick to a schedule, they don't all stick to the same one or even follow the same tenants of conventional wisdom. In fact, I have heard most authors answer this question by outlining what works for them, but then honestly urging that hopeful writer to develop their own unique routine. The only way to do this is by trial and error. Sort of like the only way to find your favorite walking route, is to try many different ones until you stumble across the trek that fits your level in terms of stamina and agility. 

But what if you write and write and write, but never feel like you're getting anywhere? Or you find yourself staring at a blank screen and the words won't come? Should you give up? In the same way you must try to do things to stay healthy, if you want to be a writer you have to find ways to motivate yourself to keep at it. When I find myself procrastinating or talking myself out of going for a walk, I usually know it's because I need to change things up to keep myself motivated. So, instead of walking I think of other ways to get some exercise. Maybe that day I'll do pilates or yoga instead. 

The same strategy can work for tackling you're writing projects. Perhaps a change of routine or a different point of view might help. Often, I find ideas and inspiration come to me in the unlikeliest moments. I can be reading a book that is in no way related to what I am working on, and find a solution to a problem I've been having with my own work by reading a single passage that somehow gives me that "Eureka!" moment. Or some days I give myself a free pass on writing and do something else. Coloring, watching Netflix, or even playing a video game can often give my brain the rest it needs and while I'm doing these other activities, give it the chance to work through the issue that's been keeping me stuck. The trick is to know yourself well enough to know when you are doing these other things because you actually need some respite, and you're not just procrastinating. Sometimes that distinction can be hard. It's easier if you compare it to something else you've talked yourself out of doing, like say going for that daily walk, or working out at the gym. Staying in shape is hard work, and it gets even harder when you let your routine slide or stop altogether. Keeping in good writing shape can be just as difficult, but is no less important. So, I guess the take home message for both is, keep at it even when it seems hard. Don't be afraid to change up your routine occasionally to help motivate yourself, and know when you need a break to refresh and rejuvenate. 

So long as that break doesn't last too long. After all, you never know what breathtaking view might be waiting for you just around the corner. 

Now I guess I'd better take my own advice and get walking--errr...writing.

Delving into Adolescent Literature

In the past few months I've been very much at loose ends. Not just in my writing, but also in what to submit for publication, what to do next in terms of career choices, everything. Don't get me wrong. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. All of us have days, even moments, when we wonder if we're going in the right direction. It can be unsettling, though, to feel unfocused or directionless.

A friend of mine recommended a class to me that I could take with him at the same university where my husband teaches. Since I still work from home and have a pretty flexible schedule, and could take the class for free as the spouse of a faculty member, I thought, why not. I'd considered doing this before, but hesitated, uncertain how I'd feel about taking a class where the other students were only a few years older than my daughter. Taking a class with my book club friend, however, didn't seem so scary. Then the class I wanted to sign up for with my friend was cancelled. Fortunately, while I was perusing the class catalog I came upon another class that sounded intriguing. It was a course geared toward both English and education majors, a study of adolescent literature. Curiosity won out over my trepidation at not having someone I knew in the class with me, and I signed up for it. I figured I could learn about some of the adolescent literature that might be taught in schools, and hopefully read some literature I might not have read before and talk about it. I love reading and analyzing and talking about what I read.

A small selection of my adolescent reads

Within the first week of class we were asked to write an essay about what we read as an adolescent ourselves. This was a bit daunting for me. I haven't been an actual adolescent myself for, well, never mind. The point is, I was a voracious reader then, just as I am now. Talking about what I read back then, and why, was going to be hard to narrow down. However, our professor was helpful in the specifications she gave us for our assignment. She gave us a list of questions to consider as we wrote our essay. I think the reason she wanted us to think about what we read or didn't read as an adolescent was so we could remember our mindset at that period. For this course, adolescence spans not just the young adult spectrum, but ranges from 10 to 18 or even 21 years of age. As we read the books and short stories she's assigned us for this class we are being asked to read it as if we were still adolescents ourselves. It turns out taking this class might have been one of the best almost spontaneous things I could have done.


In the past, I've always been asked to think about books I read as a young person. But from the perspective of a writer, and how those books shaped and influenced me and my art. With this essay I was asked to delve into memories of what I read and why. There is, I think, an important distinction there. I've always known one of the reasons I loved reading certain things was because it appealed to my imagination. As I wrote my essay, though, I remembered that another reason I loved reading was because it gave me a safe and sometimes better world to live in for a while. I read to escape.

Part of my assignment also asked me to consider what my adolescent contemporaries read, or if any of them even liked reading at all, and what I remembered feeling about their choices in terms of reading. This again, was not something I'd been asked to consider before. It gave me another perspective on what shaped me as a reader and how I perceived others for their choices in what they read or didn't read.

You might be wondering why any of this is important or why it's so great that I decided to take this class. Taking this class has given me a whole new set of things to consider. As writers we have to consider our audience at some point, which for me falls in the adolescent spectrum. But how can I truly do this if I don't consider why the stories I write appeal to me in the first place? I guess I've just never thought about this from my own adolescent perspective before. But since I write for an adolescent audience I need to remember who I was at that age and what I liked to read and why I liked it, if I hope to engage readers in my own stories. Plus it is also helpful to consider what my friends and cohorts considered cool to read back then and why. Or why some of my friends never liked reading, and as far as I know, still don't. If I can remember these things on a personal level it might help me deepen the perspectives of my imaginary characters, make the worlds I create more appealing. Maybe it can even help me create a story for someone who might have never enjoyed reading before because they couldn't find anything or anyone to identify with in a book.

In order to better understand my craft as a writer, I need to first understand myself as a reader. Going back in time was kind of fun, and it's given me a new focus as I continue my reading and writing journey in 2018.

My assigned reading for this semester

Now, I have to get back to it. All those dystopian novels we're focusing on for this class aren't going to read themselves.

What Now???

A little over a month ago I was asked the dreaded question almost every graduate faces, "What are you going to do now?"

The obvious answer to this was, "Find a job." Isn't that what most graduates say as they complete their degree? And it wasn't a glib statement. I have financial responsibilities which mean I do need to work to earn a regular salary of some kind. But as I've contemplated what I want to do next, the scariest thing I've faced is how to go on writing and being productive without the deadlines and expectations that I had to meet as I was working toward my Master in Fine Arts (MFA) degree.

It is an odd thing to feel adrift after two years of intense reading and writing. I miss the support and the deadlines to some degree. But I also feel like a kid again, free from school with weeks and weeks of summer vacation stretching out before me.

It hasn't been all goofing off. Not two weeks after I graduated I was recommended for freelance work as a transcriber. PAID WORK!!! A great thing, even better, paid work that I could do from home. But it was a job, which meant deadlines, and a regular committed schedule. That was followed closely by an email from another fellow graduate asking if I'd like to do a joint venture with her for the fall residency. "Yes!" I said. "Of course I'd love an opportunity to return "home" to Spalding a semester after graduating." With this, the work won't be direct income based, but there will be compensation for it. If the venture goes as we hope, it will mean more working, not alone this time, thankfully, but it will be a commitment. So in terms of earning income, things are looking fairly positive.

But in terms of writing, things aren't as clear cut. Yes, I have projects I'm working on. Yes, I've been trying to write some each week, if not everyday. Yes, I've been sending out queries for my work to be published or to find an agent to represent me. Still . . . it isn't quite the same. I don't have a mentor anymore. If I do go back to residency, it won't be with the classmates I graduated with or as a student.

How to get beyond that fear and embrace the skills I learned from Spalding? First by reading. I've been reading lots and lots of books. Mostly for pleasure, but a lot of what I've been reading has been in the young adult genre. It's been nice to read and be as narrow or broad in the scope of what I read as I want. I learned in my MFA program that while it's important to read in the genre you write in, which for me is fantasy, it's also important to be open to other genres and areas of writing. I've gotten great ideas in the past for plot or characterization from unexpected sources. So while I've been reading a lot of fiction it hasn't all been fantasy based fiction. I've thrown in mysteries and some magical realism into the mix. I've also been reading some nonfiction about ancient civilizations as well as some analyses of folklore and fairy tales.

Nori outfit for traveling to Gran's

The other thing I've been doing a lot of is exploring. Whenever I go someplace new or different from the norm I take lots of pictures, because you never know when an image might spark an idea. For instance I took time to go to the KY Renaissance Faire for the first time in several years and I got some great pictures of costumes that one of my characters could wear in one of my current works-in-progress, The Red Hood. Don't want to give too much away here, but this looks like a real kick-butt outfit for my Celtic influenced Red Ridinghood character.

Asian carving of the Virgin Mary

Another place I visited recently gave me a great idea for an artifact for my middle grade mystery. At the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio, which by the way has free admission to the public for most of their exhibits year-round, I found this interesting figure, and it got me thinking. Anybody can think of obvious magical artifacts for stories, like the Spear of Destiny, or Excalibur. But what if the artifact was just as powerful, but far less obvious to the untrained eye? Perhaps a small sculpted figurine like this?

To that end I've also been re-watching a lot of old episodes of Warehouse 13 and some Lara Croft Tomb Raider. I might also have to take up playing  Tomb Raider the video game. I think it could really help me figure out the aunt in my mystery better and think of some ways for her to train my main character, Josh, without him being fully aware of it. I also need to think up some creative ways for her to go on some secret missions without him knowing, at least at first. Hmmmm.

The point is, I'm learning to cope with being more independent as a writer, by allowing myself to enjoy the process. That's the biggest "what now" I've had to navigate. If I learned anything at Spalding, it was that every writer's path is unique. In order to keep doing this writing thing you must never stop embracing the endless wonder of the imagination. I still love what I do, writing. I also love that being a writer for young people means that a lot of my research involves exploring, playing, and reading stacks and stacks of books, continuing to live out my childhood, essentially. Embracing that endless and optimistic sense of wonder nurtures my soul and my imagination. Hopefully if I can continue doing that, no matter what happens on the practical job front, and I continue to write and get published I can open up worlds of wonder for others and nurture their souls and imaginations. How cool will that be in terms of what I do next?