Sabrina's 2015 Writing Goals

I've never been much of a goal maker. And given how unorganized I am, maybe I should get in the habit, to help focus my thoughts and practice accountability. In that spirit, here are my writing goals for 2015. They are, other than #1, are rather limited. That's because I have a variety of stresses in my personal life to deal with before I can reroute all of my energy back to writing. A girl can only spend so many hours a day in front of a computer..

1. Finish and publish (?) Pyromancy 
I'm so excited to write this book, especially after reading reviews and comments and reader theories on Prophecy of the Six. This book is going to be amazing, people.

2. Finish and publish various short stories. 
The first draft of my 'Curse Story' is sooo close to being done. I've got to get that finished, polish it up, and send it to the first round of beta readers. Oh, and at some point I should give it a working title.

And then I want to get working on the other two short stories, the one with the firebirds, and the one with the house in the wastelands. Those are just little embryos of ideas right now though.

Really, I have to get back in the habit of writing. I took a break, had technology chaos (got the new laptop working now!), and took care of a wide variety of other things, but it's time to set up a schedule. It's weird for me to manage my own writing time, instead of working out a schedule with other people. I'm somehow more productive when I know others are depending on me, fancy that. :)

3. Do some research on my next solo novel. 
 As time allows, I want to do some more research for the next novel. I think I'd start with the setting - it's going to be alternate world fantasy, but set in an era equivalent to some time between 1900 and 1915. I should probably add figuring that out to my official list of goals. I'm sort of playing in the world already - both the curse story and the firebird story occur in the same world as the novel, though in slightly different time periods.

So I need to get myself back to the lovely UCSD library and look up fashion and culture, cars and farming equipment, economies and cityscapes. I can't wait. And in the meantime, I can think happy thoughts about Kate and Alex and Vivian and that guy I haven't named yet, along with Rhys and Ammalina and all the other supporting characters.

SPACESHIP LIBRARY

4. Educate myself on how to participate in the push for more diverse books. 
I've been rather passively following the campaigns for more diversity in fiction, but I want to do more. Being that I am white, I come from a place of incredible privilege, including that as a kid, I could find heroines like myself in books without any troubles. I want all kids to experience that sense of wonder, This article has a lot of wonderful and sad pictures from the We Need Diverse Books Campaign.
In any case, I want to do more. I want to learn how to write diverse characters, and I want to support the inclusion of diverse books in the publishing world.

So there we go - those are my goals as a writer for 2015. Here's to an amazing year for writing and everything else.

Why I Collaborate

I'm an independent person. I need to spend time alone every day. I like to do things my own way, and when it comes to my writing, my first drafts are stories I tell for me. Writing is an incredibly personal thing.

And yet, my favorite writing project to date, is this one of which I'm collaborating.

It's a hard project sometimes, especially when we're stressed, or when we're passionate about an idea that doesn't work for the other two, or when I'm passionate about an idea that doesn't work and then get frustrated because it doesn't work. Darn ideas. Or worse, when I change my mind about something that has major ripples across the course of several books, and Melanie and Sabrina had to adjust their plans, and then I switch my opinion again. It's the kind of thing in my own writing would be just a regular Thursday, but when you collaborate, it's a major catastrophe. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for Melanie and Sabrina to work with me. 

I'm so grateful that they do though. I've learned so much from the way they work, and from having an audience as I do something as private as writing. And above the work, they have both been amazing friends to me. They've been there when my life went crazy. They've been there to talk with on days I can't get out of bed. They've been there to cheer with me on days I have something to celebrate. And together, we've created something that makes me want to yell from rooftops.

I guess the easiest way to explain why I collaborate is, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." It's not a fast way to write, and it's not a slim book producing way to write. But I hope when you read it, (and I hope you do read it) that you see the love and the growth that we've had while working on these books. I hope the story breaks your heart, as it has broken mine. I hope that it makes you smile and laugh, and then close the book while wondering what happens next. That these characters of ours will keep living on in your imagination. I hope it haunts you, the way it has haunted us.

I do have more books on their way that I've written on my own. And I'm really thrilled to work on them again, to create worlds and stories completely of my own making, and share them with you.

But until then, I'm just grateful for the kismet that happened when we started this project. I'm grateful for my friend's patience and brilliance. I'm grateful for the nos. 

I hope it makes you fist bump the stars and say, "Yes!"

~Sheena

Work in Progress- Sheena

SO...

 Melanie, Sabrina, and I are in major crunch mode for erm... the second book of the Prophecy Breakers Series.

We have to get the finalized version to our copy editor as soon as possible, and we have our final Beta reading our ending, and we decided to add a major explosion type event to the middle of the story and need to now somehow get everything back on track plotwise, while showing the effect of said event, and then our cover designer had to go and design a gorgeous cover that made us realize the title we had didn't work, so now we are scrambling for a title, and on top of all of that, it's November 10, and I'm all out of Halloween Candy, so that means, NaNoWriMo has happened.

So this is my current work in progress.

That .gif is going to give me a seizure. Thanks, Bri!

SO 

LOOK

DOWN

HERE

So, an update... The Novel Formally Known as Pyromancy will be published on a specific day that we know, but I've currently forgotten if its the 8th or the 9th,  of a very fast approaching month.  It's awesome, and it's on it's way to actually awesome and in your hands and I'm excited, and also nervous, because my heart is literally on the pages of this book, and there's a lot of kissing, and I'm afraid people in my church might read it.

SEROO...

Also, NaNoWriMo...is a thing. I've written a lot, but not enough, of a really bad first draft to Funny Tragic Shadowed Magic. I thought it'd be fun and awesome if I could get a semi finished first draft out of November, but I'm seriously doubting my brain can take much more of this.

I have no reason for this .gif, but I'm out of Halloween candy.

SSSSOOOOO.....

In conclusion, to sum up, if you have title ideas, or Halloween candy, please leave them in the comments.

Fight on, warriors!

~Sheena

Research, meandering style

I've mentioned this before, but I used to hate doing research. Now it's one of my favorite things. Even when I'm looking up things that are possibly putting me on an FBI watch list somewhere. Anyway, the scene we're writing for Pyromancy is an action one (yay explosions!), and we decided that the attackers needed to conceal themselves from the good guys. Then, Juliette will then have to find a way to neutralize that smoke using her magic.

The next step for me was to figure out, okay, what is the smoke made out of, so that Juliette could maybe do some cool science thing with her magic to take out the smoke.  But I don't know anything about smoke, so off to Google I went! And here's what I learned:

1. There are lots and lots of different kinds of smoke screens.
2. I initially ditched tear gas in favor of a general smoke screen, thinking that whatever smoke was made out of, it was surely less toxic. Nope.  One kind of smoke, which is zinc chloride based, can cause "lesions of the mucous membranes of the upper airways… In high concentrations the smoke can be very dangerous when inhaled. Symptoms include dyspnea, retrosternal pain, hoarseness, stridor, lachrymation, cough, expectoration, and in some cases haemoptysis. Delayedpulmonary edema, cyanosis or bronchopneumonia may develop. The smoke and the spent canisters contain suspected carcinogens."
Since I didn't want the scene to finish with, "And then everyone died. The End.", I decided to go with a different substance.
3. I don't remember any of the two years of chemistry I took in college.
4. "In theory, every soluble pure solid compound can be crystallized to give single crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction studies."
5. I don't have kids, and I want to do this crystal-based project for Christmas.
6. I'm easily distracted.
7. Sheena found this amazing video:

Sheena: "That robber in a ninja outfit."
Me: "The sad life of a ninja in the modern world, turned to robbery, having their own ninja tricks turned against them…"

Bonus YouTube comment: "Well sir the robbers did manage to steal a couple of items. Let's just review the security footage so we can identify them..... oh wait"

8. There is no way I can find an easy answer on a chemical process to neutralize smoke in the way I'm envisioning.


Unfortunately, that's where my research ended. And it still kind of bothered me that I didn't have a scientifically sound answer for what to do. I mean,  I hate it when people get science things wrong. As a prime example, you know how every time you see a bald eagle in a movie, it makes this killer scream? Well, that's not an eagle. It's a red-tailed hawk sound.


Though I don't entirely blame them, given the actual sounds bald eagles make.



Anyway, I know that the whole point of magic is that it defies the laws of science, but I still wasn’t satisfied. But then I remembered the best kind of solution for a science project: ask an expert. So thank you again, MaryAnn, for patiently answering my silly chemistry question, and allowing my mind to be at ease. At least until the next research topic appears.

Spoilers Abound And I'm Not Even Sorry.

I've never written a sequel before, and I had no idea that the biggest trial of writing a sequel was not randomly shouting spoilers to anyone who has read the first one. Especially since right now I'm so giddy about a few particular spoilers my head might explode, (and that would be bad because I just fixed my hair.) Whenever anyone asks, I just look at people with my eyes open wide and my hands out to the side, and say between clenched teeth, "It's really good."

I can't write anything on my author page, or my facebook page, or any of it either, in fact, I can barely write anything on here. I started writing a post about writing a male POV and how that translates into my feminist head, and didn't get a paragraph into it before realizing that, nope can't say any of this. Even the word misogynistic is a spoiler. I started writing a different post about the very first story I ever fell for, and a paragraph into it, I was so bored I deleted the whole thing. It's the whole first love verses the current love thing. Whatchagonnatodo. I can't hardly read anything else either. I look at books and don't move. And my poor house. You can bet if I'm not motivated enough to read that I'm not motivated enough to clean.

All I can do is freaking write this book.

Hopefully that comes across in the text, and it makes everyone obsess the way it has us, but right now I'm like spoilers abound in everything I say.

But right now all I can say is... Holy crap, people. It's really good.

There's a chance I'm in First Draft Blindness stage. Anyone else suffer from this affliction? But I don't think so. (because Delusions of Awesomeness is the first sign of First Draft Blindness) 

And the cure to First Draft Blindness is a few awesome beta readers, (Shout out to the betas.) a clear headed second draft revision, and reaching the words... The End. Those beautiful/sad/heartbreaking words that I can't wait to reach so I can communicate with the real world and not have any spoilers I can't accidentally spill in casual conversation.

Also, hey look at the blog. It turned pretty.

But here are some spoilers that I'll share because you seem very interested. No. Just randomly surfing the internet? I don't care. Get interested. It's that awesome.

um...

Nope can share any of that. 

All I can really share is this. 

It's not enough, but it's also way too much.

~Sheena

Start the obsession. Alchemy (book one in the Prophecy Breakers series) is out now and only .99 cents.

Melanie's Brain on Writing

I am reading two of the most awesome books right now. I'm about two thirds of the way finished with The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and I'm about one third of the way done with The Dream Thieves. Both the books have main characters that I adore, a very interesting story line, and hints of humor and romance that make me smile. And yet, I keep forgetting I'm reading them.

I forced myself to watch my first television show in over a month yesterday while I folded my laundry. It was Chuck, which, if you've been around for a long time, you might remember is my favorite show ever. And yet finishing it felt like a chore.

If you were to ask my friends what it was like to be my friend these days, they would probably say, "Melanie Crouse? Does she still consider me her friend? I haven't seen her in ages." L And my family treats me like an amnesiac victim who wasn't too bright to begin with.

But I am writing a lot.

I'm wearing my poor cowriters out, I think, although lately Sheena's had to bear the brunt of my obsession. 

I need to know how Pyromancy ends.

It's like a huge cliffhanger every night when I go to bed, and the only thing I think about when I wake up.

I know my obsession is fueled by terror. Hidden Magic is coming out NEXT WEEK and I can't even think about that. When Alchemy came out the success or failure was very much a shared thing. With Hidden Magic I'm standing all by myself. While that thought might have been exhilarating a few weeks ago, lately all I feel is scared. So, instead of living in reality, each morning when I wake up I dive head first into Pyromancy, and each night I make a feeble attempt to come back to my real life, but frankly, I prefer Pyromancy at the moment. It's probably not the healthiest state to be in, but I can't possibly have been the only writer to get here. Someone else tell me they know what I'm talking about.

My brain is tired. I know Sheena already took that line, but I'm stealing it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? My brain is tired. I need to read a book whose ending has already been decided. I need to watch a movie. I need to play a game with my kids...

 You Can Help!

Anyway, I'll be back on Monday, January 20, for Hidden Magic's big cover reveal. We're doing this cool thing called a Social Media Blitz where people can sign up to put my cover on their facebook page. If you are interested in helping out with that, click this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1t_Ll3tSoR9Dugo_gSGweYEDuSTfWSzUOPdv-KLr_FiI/viewform

And if you want to help with the Release Day Blitz, you can click here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DpS08bHrX_6dzL-zGdhUBX5NBNOiHKCN9SUcpsx2dAk/viewform

I've never seen anything like this before, but apparently it’s the next big thing in indie advertising. I'll write a post at some point to let you know how it went. Thank you in advance for you help and support! I'm so grateful to have you all in my life.

Darkness and Light

Can we pretend it's Monday today? Kind of forgot about the whole day of posting thing. Sorry about that, Humans.

So last week in Pyromancy land, we wrote 5 chapters. We're kind of cruising through it, and it's exciting stuff, but it's also some of the most emotional and difficult writing I've ever done.

Sam goes through some stuff in this one, and I had the privilege of sitting behind his head, and it left me kind of depressed.

We started this as a game. And I love it. I LOVE this darn thing. I love our characters, and the staggering honesty that comes from such different characters in the same world.

But right now, I feel like I can barely write a sentence.

There are a thousand reasons why we write stories, but for me, one of the reasons is to teach that dragons are real, and that they can be defeated. But that means sometimes that we need to wade through an awful lot of dragon crap. We do it, because the darker it goes, the more powerful the light when it comes. I'm a big fan of painting with dark and light colors. It's necessary to paint a clear and honest picture.

But at the same time, how much darkness are we willing to create? How much darkness can we add to the real world just for the sake of telling a story?

I'm a super fan of Downton Abby, and I think Julian Fellowes is a brilliant master of his craft, but dang it, Dude. Why do you keep punishing the likable characters? It's like if he has a likable character you just know know that he will be killing or destroying that character. It makes for some beautiful drama, but it also creates darkness in a world that is sometimes just plain sucksville.

He balances it with kindness, wit, humor, beauty, and just sunshine. That's the reason why I keep watching, even when he keeps punching me in the emotional kidneys.

So today, I want to give you Prosers a challenge. Write light and hope into your current WIP. Add as much brightness as you can.

Because the world need to know what's on the other side of the storm. That's every bit as important.

Maybe more.
~Sheena

Sequel update!

You know how, when you're so involved in a particular writing project, it takes over your mind to such an extent that you can't think of anything else? Yeah, that's me and the sequel to Alchemy right now. On the way to work today, I kept trying to think of a blog post idea, but my mind kept drifting back to the next chapter I was supposed to be writing. So I talked to Sheena and Melanie, and they graciously said I could talk about what's happening with Pyromancy in my blog, as long as I didn't give away any spoilers.*

So! The sequel. In a way, it's been easier to write, because we all know our characters so well by now. But it's also harder, because there are so many opportunities and storylines to explore, and so many possible character interactions. We won't talk about how many words we're at right now, when we're - hopefully - at the halfway point of the novel. And none of us have been committed to an insane asylum yet, so that's a plus.

The really strange thing has been to have the book set in Carlsbad, California. The selection of the location was actually a random pick by Melanie, and so I got to say, "You know I work in Carlsbad, right?" I suppose that in my head, I consider fantasy books to be set in magic, romantic places.... not the annoying suburb-choked city that I associate with too-early mornings and endless fog. But hey, sometimes fantasy is about finding magic in the most ordinary of things.

Here are some exciting things that the sequel currently contains:

-magic, army style

-surfing

-fabulous hairstyles

-an international criminal consortium

-sledding

-spies

-awesome jazz

-pelicans

-eggs

-more angst than you can shake a stick at

-exploding jello

And, of course, some of this:

Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons. Taken by John McColgan, employed as a fire behavior analyst at the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

We can't wait to share it with you. 

*Soylent green is PEOPLE!!!!