IY: Mah Plans 02/11/15 & October Round Up

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Ileandra Young

Yes . . . In case you weren’t sure, I’ve decided to do NaNoWriMo this year. Since Raven is actually more than half way through with ‘Picking Out Curtains’ it seemed silly to cut her short when there’s no rush for that project. So we’re both drafting together. Not something that happens very often, but so long as I maintain 1,667 words a day and she writes 500 words a day, then we’re in a good position and should both be done by the end of the month. *fingers crossed*

But how did last month go? Let’s see . . .

Actions Last Week

~Complete another 20,000 words of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ via audio read.checking off feedback
Yep. I think it was more like 22,500 actually, but that’s no biggy. The more I get done per week, the closer I’ll be to done. It’s getting tight now, so really I need to keep pushing.

~Play with new concepts for ‘Episode Three’ cover design
Yep. I’m still not sure I like it. I think I’ll post the ideas here and let you ‘have at them’ to tell me what you think. That won’t be in this post, but another dedicated to it.

~Finish deep edits on ‘Episode Three’
Sorted. I’m not done—not by any stretch—but the bulk of notes that had to be addressed are now dealt with. DSB took the first section of the episode into PWG on Saturday too, so I have a good idea of what needs to be looked at now.

October Round Up

~Complete editing on ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ with a particular focus on Lenina’s character growth—show the transition!
All done. Much happier with Lenina’s arc and, if I’m honest the progression of at least two other characters as a result. Richard Trent is a hell of a lot stronger as a bad guy, with motivations that make sense and lead him away from daft decisions. He’s now called Jared, however, since Trent was just a little too close to Tristen for comfort. More than that, however, Kallisto’s arc is loads better too. She’s not just a bad guy any more, but a character with emotions and a real personal investment in what she’s trying to achieve. At times even I find myself rooting for her, even if she is a tyrannical sociopath.

~Format ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ ready for Kindle and CreateSpace (Kindle first)
Nope. Despite what I said above I’m not done with the edits. I’m happy I’ll be able to get the Kindle version out for the date I specified, but the paperback is definitely going to have to wait a little. I don’t want to rush it.

~Finalise ‘Dead And Alive, Episode Three’ cover art
No. As I said earlier, I’m not totally happy with the idea. It’s stronger than it was, but needs some reader feedback. I’ll sort that out this week.

~List ‘Dead And Alive, Episode Three’ as a pre-order
Again no. Oh dear. 😦 This is annoying because I could list it now. Hell, I could list all of them if I wanted to. But I like to make sure the listing at least has a cover and until I get that design finalised, I can’t put it up. *sigh* Darn my constant desire for perfection!

~Complete deep edits on ‘Dead And Alive, Episode Three’
Yep. Just working on the edits I’m getting through DSB’s journey’s to PWG to help me along.

Changes To My Plans

Completed tasks struck out, changes/clarifications in red and additional tasks in green:

  • Complete first draft of Clash of the Animal Kinds (Mach II) by end of November as per NaNoWriMo rules
  • Complete back end of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ by end of November (final proof and formatting)
    • List ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ for pre-order
  • Publish ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ through Little Vamp Press in digital form by December 29
  • Publish ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ through Little Vamp Press by end of January in paperback form
  • Start deep edits on ‘On A Knife Point’ on completion of Clash of the Animal Kings draft
  • Send one more newsletter to subscribers.
    • Include giveaway copy of ‘Episode Two’ and ‘Episode Three’ in next ad hoc newsletter
  • Publish Season One of ‘Dead And Alive’ episodically every two months (from August)

Heh, lots of changes this month. Mostly consisting of knocking things back. *sigh* Aaah well. I’d rather do that than rush and release something I don’t feel is ready.

Targets For November 2015

A lot of these are going to repeat last month, but what can I do? Needs must and all that.

  • Finalise ‘Dead And Alive, Episode Three’ cover art
  • List ‘Dead And Alive, Episode Three’ as a pre-order
  • Format ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ ready for Kindle and CreateSpace (Kindle first)
  • Write and send Autumn newsletter complete with Dead and Alive Teasers and freebies
  • Complete draft of Clash of the Animal Kinds (Mach II) . . . yes, that is what I’m calling it. Whuuuuut?

Activities For This Fortnight (by 16/11/15)

If you recall, DSB talked about reducing posts from Raven and myself to ensure that we’re both able to get as much writing done as possible. To that end, my goals will now stretch across a fortnight rather that a single week

blank calendar from OpenClipArt

  • Complete audio read of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’
  • Finalise ‘Episode Three’ cover design
  • Write and send Autumn newsletter
  • Have a Clash of the Animal Kings (Mach II) word count of 27,000 words

Thoughts…

I don’t know how I’ll manage spread this over two weeks. I mean . . . really, all I need to do is split the jobs in half and then do them a week at a time, right? But it probably won’t be that easy. But that’s the point of changing things up here: to see what works,what doesn’t and then go from that. I think Raven and I will give this new method a period of three months and see what happens to our productivity and output then. After that we’ll have a better idea of how to proceed.

For now . . . wish me luck?

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IY: Fantasy Creatures – Werewolves – RAWR!

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Ileandra Young

I was just on the verge of writing a werewolf piece for NaNoWriMo. Right at the last moment I changed my mind and decided to go back to Clash of the Animal Kings, something I had outlined a few weeks back as a means to practise the techniques in Take Of Your Pants by Libbie Hawker.

I figured it made sense to work on the story while the revised version was fresh in my head and that I was fed up thinking about it (I also thought that it would be nice to start on my epic fantasy piece, but, frankly put, that is such a MEGA undertaking, that’d rather wait for a time outside of NaNoWriMo which, let’s be honest, is usually manic).

So . . . no werewolves in my latest WIP.

But that does mean I get to talk about them here instead! ^_^

What Are These Bad Boys?

In short, people who turn into wolves by the light of the full moon. There are all sorts of variations on this, but that is the jist of it. Men and women that, after a bite from another werewolf are able to change into one of two forms (or both!): a traditional quadrupedal wolf, or a bipedal, half man-half beast form. They are susceptible to silver and generally very fast, very strong and often bad-tempered.

I’ve read some great werewolf books and seen some great werewolf movies in my time (I’ll go over them in detail over the coming weeks) and they are a fantasy creature I’d love to do more with.

As this part of my ‘Fantasy Creatures’ series continues I’ll try to pin point the origin of the myth as well as discussing other recent incarnations (and yes, unfortunately, this will probably include those in Twilight -_-).

brown werewolf with yellow eyes

Credit: feraliminal

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Not entirely sure why I’m doing this (it’s not like I don’t have enough on my plate!) but I want to keep you guys abreast of how I’m getting on with NaNo. Maybe part of me thinks that regular updates will keep me engaged. Maybe I want another way to procrastinate.

Who knows?!

All I’m saying is that it is my intent to post a quick note like this every day for the next 30 days, just letting you know how I’m doing.

Let’s see how that goes.

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Ileandra Young | 4 Comments

RS: eBook Review – Graveyard Games, Brantwijn Serrah

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Raven ShadowHawk

cover art for Graveyard Games

Credit: Brantwijn Serrah

Author: Brantwijn Serrah
Title: Graveyard Games
Genre: Paranormal F/F Erotica
ASIN: B00YIYTICU
Length: 24 ‘pages’

Kylie’s always believed something inside her was missing. Lonely, longing restlessness drives her out into the city every night, searching for the unseen treasure to make her feel. But a stranger awaits her in the underground club known as the Graveyard…a dangerous and sensual and unreal beauty, offering a promise beyond Kylie’s wildest desires.

 

line break, swirling graphics, from openclipart

Cover:

Now that I know what the book contains, I really like this cover. I’m guessing I didn’t look at it very hard when I first got the book, but I wish I had. Women of colour are so rare on these covers unless the fact that they are ‘of colour’ is an integral part of the story. I also missed the figure at the base of the image with the bloodied throat. That should have been a clue that I was going to love the piece, but I didn’t blood pay attention. Ho hum. 😉

Story:

Kylie is on a search for meaning. For feeling. She has spent great lengths of time not feeling anything at all until she hears of a club (The Graveyard!) in which people there can be made ‘to feel’ through encounters with some of the locals that frequent the place.

It was . . . interesting. I’ve read something of this kind before, written by a friend of mine, actually and I was prepared to be bored and annoyed by the trope of a woman desperate to ‘feel’ and ‘be seen’.

But reading this . . . it wasn’t like that at all. The woman trapped in her own mind, unable to get out, unable to feel or connect to others . . . that resonated.

Characters:


Kylie: Unable to feel. She came into her own once she reached the club. Before this point I felt concerned that all I was going to learn was of her daily misery, but even that was tastefully handled. But when she got to the club and had the chance to interact with Tessa she blossomed and became something/one new.
Tessa: The sultry dark mistress. First off, I was stunned (and pleasantly so) to realise this woman wasn’t white. Dunno why, but when I imagined her, to start with, she was white, just like every other image in my head—that’s a whole other post for another time!—but then to learn that she wasn’t . . . for some reason that made me sit up straighter. Then to watch this character unfold and to hear the way she spoke; it was a delicious treat. Hell, I’d fall for this woman. She could do anything she wanted to me!

Eroticism:

It’s gentle. But not. There’s actually something quite raw and animal about the interactions between these two and I loved every second of it. It is only a short story, so the encounter, be default, cannot be a long one, but I think that aids to the mysterious nature of Tessa’s hold over Kylie and the change that follows. I also love the fact that it’s a seduction . . . without being creepy and gross.

Overall experience:

Great little short story. The fact that it ends in an open, yet satisfying manner, is also one that made me keen to rush onto the next of Ms Brantwijn’s books. Something I’ll be reviewing in a couple of weeks. Even better: no niggling formatting issues, typos or other immersion stealers. A great read from start to finish.

Final score:

Average across all scores is 4.4, which rounds out to 4.5 fireballs.

Not surprised at this score at all. I think the only reason it wasn’t a five is because it wasn’t longer, haha! Great story, wonderful idea, skilfully executed and so, so sensual.

A real pleasure to read.

Raven's Signature In Black

 

 

 

 

 

 

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RS: I Haz Planz 29/10/15

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Raven ShadowHawk

Ack, October is nearly done! How did that happen? -_-

Actions Last Week

blank calendar from OpenClipArt~Write another 10,000 words of ‘Slippers & Chains: Picking Out Curtains’
Eeeyep! As at the time of writing, I’ve added another a 11,243 words. Hopefully by the time this goes live there will be a few more. I’m also quite pleased as the piece itself has leapt forward and additional 6k words (taking the whole thing to 32,434 words) because I was able to use some of what I wrote before making my outline. I’m now much further along and, dare I say it, beyond the half way point.

~Complete the first draft of my second Smexxy Snippet
Done. Hmm. Thought this would be harder, but once I put myself successfully (hopefully!) into the headspace of a Domme, it was easy to finish the piece off. It’s longer than the first and has a bit more depth to it. Apparently, despite the desire to write PWP, sometimes character development and emotion can’t help but creep in! 😉 Aaah well. It’s still a good, hard hit, which is what I want from these snippets. Lets see how I do when I start editing.

~Outline/plan the next eight Smexxy Snippets
Sorted. I know now what the first ten Smexxy Snippets are going to be and I have two of them written. When I have the third one done I’m going to start sending them in batches to alpha readers and then lining them up for release. I’d like to do one a month and keep that rolling over and while I work on other smaller projects, but we’ll see how it goes. Let’s not get too far ahead of myself, eh? 🙂

 Activities For This Week

  1. Write another 10,000 words of ‘Slippers & Chains: Picking Out Curtains’
  2. Draft half of my third Smexxy Snippet

Thoughts . . .

checking off feedbackConsidering my goals for this month I’ve got a hell of a lot more done than I thought I would. I can afford to relax now insofar as staying on top of the promises I made to myself for the month, but I really would like to get as far as possible through ‘Picking Out Curtains’ before November starts. I realise that’s on Sunday (!) and that DSB really needs to make a decision about NaNoWriMo, but for now I’ll just plod along doing what I do.

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