Well, it appears that my new thing about trying not to doomsay when the slightest roadblock falls into my path is working. I've been writing, I've had a ton of stress lift off me re: the homebuying situation, and even though there have been setbacks too I am going to stay relentlessly positive, because god fucking dammit, I deserve a little relief after freaking out for two months straight about EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD.
Apropos of freaking out, here's the latest wordcount for the novella:
"The Curse of Four"
So the astute among you might notice that the wordcount has backslid a bit. That's because I've now restarted this novella record four times. You read that correctly. Not one or two or three but FOUR times. Four. Times.
However, this time I have nailed it, largely thanks to a revelation I got while watching
Touching Evil (the USANetwork version, which I recommend) and a further revelation while I was making breakfast a few days ago. This isn't a Pete-free story, but it does lean heavily toward Jack, since it's about his past and his past sins catching up with him, and the fallout from the mistakes we make while we're young and foolish that come back much larger and darker when we're old enough to know better.
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Demon Bound and
Street Magic have both been garnering a lot of reader love lately, for which I thank each and every one of you who's bought, borrowed or stolen a copy (okay, not those of you who steal--and you know who you are, you pustulent torrent pirates who lurk in the bowels of the internet, stealing my royalties. And I won't hear any arguments--pirating my books is like stealing a royalty, every time. So either pay me my .75 USD or fucking stop it, you bastards.)
Oh! And if you've posted your thoughts on either of the Black London novels, feel free to link them here, in comments.
My steampunkiest pal
Cherie Priest got the
War Rocket Ajax treatment this week, and it's a great episode.
We also attended the Steampunk Ball at the Seattle Museum of Industry a few nights ago, which was an excellent party at an excellent venue. I was a 1930s noir-punk femme fatale, and I got to show off the top half of my vintage 1930s lady's suit along with my red Switchblade-Stiletto pencil skirt and a variety of steampunk jewelery I've accumulated over the last few years. I also managed to stand on heels for a good four hours without my feet crying mutiny. This might have something to do with the fact that the ball was serving absinthe. Lots of it.
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And because I'm lazy and preoccupied, and will be until at least Wednesday, here's a writing "meme" a reader tagged me with. Normally I abhor memes in all their forms but I think this one actually contains useful information, so here we go. I've deleted a few questions I didn't find relevant.
Whats the last thing you wrote? Whats the first thing you wrote that you still have?The last thing I wrote was a bit of my novella, "The Curse of Four". I think I probably still have my horrible SF novel that I wrote when I was 13, somewhere. In fact, I know I do. It lives with my X-Men fanfiction. Shhhh.
Write poetry?Hell no. I have no aptitude for it and I leave it to those who do.
Favorite genre of writing?Whatever genre I'm writing in at the moment, or conversely, whatever genre I'm not writing in but want to be. My work tends to fall into the dark fantasy/horror vein but I'd really love to try my hand at a straight mystery novel some day.
Most annoying character youve ever created?Hmm. Probably Shelby O'Halloran, one of the characters in
Pure Blood, because she's so willfully blind to the world around her. People like that are my personal bugaboo.
Best plot youve ever created?I don't think I've found my best one yet. But I am partial to
Street Magic and
The Witch's Alphabet.
Coolest plot twist youve ever created?I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you.
How often do you get writers block?All the damn time. The cure is usually to go read for a while, either something really excellent that fires me up again or something really terrible that makes me think "Dammit, I can do better!"
But sometimes the only cure is time.
Write fan fiction?I used to, in high school. It's a fine tool for learning how to write on a technical level and how to take criticism, but it's a shitty tool for developing a voice of your own or a work ethic to meet a deadline. Eventually I got bored being constrained by other people's ideas and started to write original novels.
Do you type or write by hand?I outline my projects in notebooks, write out the basic beats of stories, and scribble down random ideas by hand, but I type out drafts on the computer because handwriting takes too long, and also I recently developed tendinitis in my left hand and have a bad wrist on my right from an old martial arts injury, so typing is less hazardous for everyone involved.
Do you save everything you write?Yup, everything. I tend to recycle ideas that don't fly the first time around, and I've incorporate vasts swaths of old stuff into new books--I tend to think of my process as very multi-layered, with a lot of versions before the final idea that actually turns into a story.
Whats your favorite thing youve written?Again, it's a tie between
Street Magic and
The Witch's AlphabetWhats everyone elses favourite story that youve written?It varies. Some people love the Nocturne City books, some love the Black London books, and the first readers on my YA pretty much seem to be fans of that.
Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?Not on purpose.
Whats your favorite setting for your characters?Whatever the story demands.
How many writing projects are you working on right now?One. I can usually only juggle one or two at a time.
What are your five favorite words?Ubiquitous, eldritch, shenanigans, fuck, automaton
What character have you created that is most like yourself?None of my characters are reflections of me. They are themselves.
Do you ever write based on your dreams?Yes. I once had a dream about Hitler building a corps of vampires to resurrect Vlad the Impaler and win WWII. I am totally using that one some day.
Do you favor happy endings, sad endings or cliff-hangers?I favor the ending the story wants. That sounds fluffy and pretentious, but when you've stuck with a story for 80-90,000 words, you know how it's supposed to end, even if it's not the way you planned. That said, I do like endings with a note of hope. And I just wrote my first cliffhanger in my newst release,
Demon Bound.Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?I'm just concerned with being basically readable. I go back and fix my egregious errors when the draft is done.
Does music help you write?Absolutely. I have novel and character playlists, or I just put my iTunes on shuffle, but I need some kind of background music when I'm writing or I tend to get a little batty.
Quote something youve written. Whatever pops into your head.The first line of the novella:
There are plenty of ghosts in London, if you know where to look. ---
And now it is time for me to go make props for my burlesque recital. And keep being positive until my face hurts.
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