IY: New Project – Podcasting! ^_^

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Ileandra Young

So… I don’t have enough to do. Clearly. That or I’m actually a poorly disguised masochist. 😉

Introducing The Next Blog (hehee) Thing

I want to say I was talked into this but that’s just not the case. No, no. I was already considering my radio show and the pros and cons of kicking that back into gear. However this makes far more sense.

A podcast.
On writing.
For writers (and those who love them).
In cohorts with another writer.
^_^

Yes, in collaboration with Wayne Kelly we’ll be producing a podcast under the name Joined Up Writing. joined up writing podcast bannerExpect to see (well, hear, I guess) episodes from us twice a month, each around 30mins long. We’ll feature discussions on general writing, self publishing, traditional publishing, editing, critiques, the publishing industry and anything else we can think of, as well as regular guest spots from folk you may well like to hear from. Every now and then we’ll also have short story readings (not read by us, by actors – we’re multi talented by not that multi talented!) and the occasional live episode.

A little like my radio show, a big part of the podcast will be audience participation. I think I’m right in assuming that Wayne agrees with me when I say there’s little fun to be had in producing something just for yourself. So you’ll be able to connect with us and have your views/questions/thoughts heard during our podcasts.

Connect With Us

There are quite a few ways you can do this:
Our Twitter: @JUPodcast
Our Facebook: JUWriP Facebook
Our Blog: The Joined Up Writing Podcast
Wayne’s Blog: Kelly’s Eye
Ileandra’s Blog: You’re already here!

All of these places will allow you to see when episodes are coming up or what the next topic of conversation is. Send us questions or just chat back to us to get a shout out in the next episode.

We’ll be recording episode one later this week (Wednesday, I believe) so if you want to be involved, talk with us or express a thought, our topic this week will be critique groups. Seems fitting since that’s how Wayne and I met! Comment below or use any of the other methods above to have your say and we’ll mention you during the show.

Until then lovelies!

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IY: High/Traditional Fantasy

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Ileandra Young

I was talking about fantasy, wasn’t I? Before a bunch of stuff happened? I made plans to talk about why I love fantasy in all it’s forms and take you though some of the bits I love most.

So today, quite late, I want to talk about traditional fantasy. Or high fantasy. Whatever you want call it.

little green dragonThis is the sort of fantasy that involves distant lands, crazy races/species and often make believe languages. Think elves, dwarves, dragons, goblins and orcs. Think The Lord of the Rings, Eragon, Dungeons and Dragons (the films, not the game) and Fab Fables. Think low technology, horses, and hand made clothing of mostly leather and cotton. All sorts of fun stuff.

I haven’t read as much of this stuff as I thought I had. I’ve spent the year gathering more fantasy to me but there are gaps. Lots of things that I feel I should have read and yet no managed to. Anything by Anne McCaffrey for instance. More of the Forgotten Realms books by RA Salvatore.  Pretty much anything by Brandon Sanderson.

There are lots of holes in my knowledge that I intend to fill. And there’s plenty of reason to do it because once Saar’s Legacy is complete it will be time to turn towards high fantasy. I want to explore the world I created almost ten years ago. I want to touch of the characters spawned from my RPGs and tell their stories in full. Why to daemons have the gift of magic? Why are elves so aloof and scornful of humans? Why is the human king so paranoid about the vampire threat and why does his pet mage refuse to meet with outside the daytime hours? 😉

elf with bow an darrowThere is something so beautiful about a world that is made up, utterly fake and yet brought to life by the skill of a good writer. About foods, animals, flowers and countries that exist nowhere but on the page. But most of all, the people who populate these stories are a special brand of hero in my opinion. There’s something almost soft and tender about them and yet so strong. Solid. I suppose the same could be said for heroes of any urban fantasy, but the setting makes all the difference. I relate to them far more strongly because their lives, wants, needs and desires are so much like mine at their core, even though their worlds are vastly different. Most of all, traditional fantasy allows me to see more of myself in different peoples and creatures and dream of ‘what if’. Something all good stories should be able to do, wouldn’t you say?

More next week. 😉

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RS: I Haz Planz 04/12 and November Round Up

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Raven ShadowHawk

goal shooting goals from open clip artI was hoping the cold would ease off a bit. Normally it doesn’t get quite this chilly until January, but on Tuesday while out with The Sprogs, they tucked their hands into their snuggly blanket things and didn’t move. THAT’S how cold it is around here. Brr.

Lots of soup, porridge breakfasts and hot tea in my future, that’s for sure.

Last Week
~Finish NaNoWriMo
What… you didn’t see my shiny? 😉

~Contact Angie re Simone & Mr Bradford cover so she can make a start
Done. Should have a lovely cover soon by the middle of next week. ^_^

November 2014 Goal Recap
Not a bad month all things considered. The Funk Master is taking me out tomororw; dinner and a movie. I think we both deserve it after the busy month we’ve had.

~Complete any and all additional tasks assigned by Breathless Press
Done. I think that’s it now. Nothing more to do for them… for this story. 😉

~Send ‘Simone & Mr Bradford’ to Karen for editing
Nope. As I mentioned a few weeks back, the £££ is gone. I now need to explore other avenues of editing, ensuring I produce the best possible product without forking out. It’s one of those things where you have to pick what gives and in this case I can edit alone, but I can’t design a cover. So it was pretty obvious which way to swing. But, I’ve had one excellent beta reader already so I’m very positive about the next few steps. Now I need to run it past some of the Phoenix Writers.

~Complete draft of Slippers & Chains: Second Base
Yep. That was NaNoWriMo. All done.

Goals for December 2014
Looking at my goals for the year, the only thing left to do is complete the Meeting Each Other series. I think that’s a bloody good idea, because it’s stopping me focusing on some of the larger projects. So here’s want I want to do.

  1. Publish ‘Simone & Mr Bradford’
  2. Edit ‘Malcolm’ in preparation for a late January release

It sounds rushed when put like that, but all these stories are less than 10k. It isn’t difficult for me to do and without other tasks to complete for ‘Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust’, this should be easy.

Ah, but there’s two more things I need to add.

  1. Ensure newsletter is prepped with all latest news
  2. Look into video trailer options (for Sugar Dust) and start production

Yes, I got some more great news from Breathless Press at the start of the week. I don’t want to disrupt my series of posts on editing so subscribers will get that news first – for instance, they’ve seen the cover already! :-p If you want to join the rush at the head of the crowd, be sure to sign up before December 15.

This Week

  1. Print ‘Malcolm’ ready for quick-read and deep edits
  2. Set up background for ‘Simone & Mr Bradford’ release by prepping Amazon pages
  3. Chat with The Funk Master about video trailer options for ‘Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust’

That’s plenty to tide me over for now. See you next week!

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RS: Learning From Editing pt4 – The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS)

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Raven ShadowHawk

‘How Does A Brit Write ‘US English?’

By using CMoS of course. If you’re unfamiliar, this is the Chicago Manual of Style. According to Wikipedia (yeah, I know, but that’s where everyone goes and I want to keep it easy for you) it has been a style guide for American English since 1906. You can get this little beauty online, but I’ll be getting a hard copy as soon as possible. (you know me, I like my physical books!). It updates pretty regularly, but the style rules don’t change a great deal unless there has been some massive change in writing styles and speech.

If you’re unable to fork out for either version, you can use the website and trawl through the Q&A section. It’s rammed with questions from other folk just like you who need grammar assistance. I’ve spent an enjoyable hour or so just reading through some of the questions and answers. It is searchable too, so you may be able to find what you need without paying for anything.

However, if you are flush, then you can subscribe to the site, giving you access to all the fun stuff within, like submitting questions to the Q&A or getting direct help within the forums.

I was directed to this nifty document right at the start of my experience with Breathless Press and used as much of it as I could editing with them.

It helped a great deal with style, those things that differ between here and the states. It gave me the ‘proper’ rules with regards to dashes, em-dashes and hyphens for instance. Something I still mix up if I’m not paying attention. It guided me on awkward pieces of punctuation at the end of quotes, or quotes within dialogue. Even nicknames and petnames are treated differently.

Many different bodies use this style guide to help keep their publications uniform. Not only are their own publications structured using the same rules, but everyone else’s is too, meaning that you’ll get a consistent read across any document you read.

I must admit, I don’t know if there is a similar guide for UK English. That’s something I want to look into.

commas save lives meme

Created on imgflip.com

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IY: Mah Plans – 01/12 and November Round Up

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Ileandra Young

goal shooting goals from open clip artAnother cold.
*snerk*
You guys must be sick to death of hearing about how sniffly and snotty I am. That’s pretty much a feature in every post I write between June and February. Ah well. I’m ill. I’ll deal with it. I always do.

Last week

Today marks the first day of the last month of 2014. I always feel a little strange around this time of year. Today is no exception. Kinda excited, kinda frightened, on/off disappointed and giddy with pride.

cute cartoon penguine at a computer from OpenClipArtNobody ever said being a writer was easy! 😉 We are incredibly complex creatures, y’know!

Chase up final wrap around cover in correct dimensions and upload to CreateSpace
Done. Proof is on the way. I don’t care about the Angry Robot outcome, I can’t wait to hold that thing in my hands. It’s been nearly 17 years. I want to hold it!

Order proof copies of book
Yup. See above.

Design bookmark for prize winners and be ready to order (do NOT order until status is confirmed)
I made an active decision not to do this somewhere around Wednesday. It was the right choice. The giveaway is null and void, entrants have been contacted and apologised to. There was no need to pursue this goal. Maybe later, eh? Maybe.

November 2014 Goal Recap

I’m actually very pleased at how many of these goals I managed to achieve, even if I haven’t done what I was hoping to do with the results.

Produce all content for blog tour hosts
Done. Some good posts out there, a few of which may still be available to view. I’ll let you guys know as and when they pop up.

Finalise media kit for blog tour hosts and distribute
Sorted. First time I’ve ever written a press release (massive thanks to Richard Cox and Carol Leeming for their help with it). Who knows, I may still use it one day.

Ensure bookmark designs are ready for printing
Nope. As I said above, not necessary.

Ensure Silk Over Razor Blades file is ready for sale through Amazon
Yep. Could have hit ‘go’ a fortnight ago. *sigh*

Write one of my two stories for Fab Fables*
Not only have I written it, but I’ve started editing too. It will be ready soon. No doubt.

Goals for December 2014

Well… looking back at what I wanted to achieve this year the only thing left is the draft of On A Knife Point. Huh. Back in June that seemed like a great idea but since Raven did NaNoWriMo rather than me, that’s not going to happen now. I don’t want to spend December furiously drafting a novel. No way.

  1. Prepare to respond to emails from Angry Robot (send them the full MS if they want it or reschedule self publishing plans if they don’t)
  2. Coordinate editing for the authors of Caladria (ten stories to edit)
  3. Ensure my story for Fab Fables is ready to upload

That’s it. It’s going to be an easy, gentle month. I think I deserve it. There are sooo many things I’ve done this year and so much to be proud of, but I won’t be taking my foot off the pedal. Just easing up a smidge.

This Week

  1. Contact all authors involved with issues one and two of Fab Fables to remind them of the deadline for all stories (Dec 15)
  2. Finish first read of my story for Fab Fables in preparation for deep edits
  3. Outline second story for Fab Fables in preparation for drafting
  4. Pick my indie fantasy book for December and begin reading

Aaaaaaaaaah.

I actually feel better. Calmer. Knowing what I want to do and how I intend to make sure I do it is a wonderful treat. It means I can rest up this evening, probably with a book, and know that, in a gentle way, I’m still working.new ileandra signature,

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