I Haz Planz – wc 23/01 & Raven Rantz No.1

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Raven ShadowHawk

Good evening peeps. Hope you’re all well and stuff.

I… apparently… am doing very well despite all sorts of crazy (and sometimes irritating) happenings kicking off in my life.

Oh, I see. I can’t leave a hint like that and then not tell you about it? Fine.

Strap in.

You all know Slippers & Chains, right? If you don’t check out this page. It’s a novella I’m hoping to have out by the end of the year and I’m currently reading it to my lovely critique group. As it’s a longer piece, I want more feedback from writerly types. That way I can make it as good as it possibly can be.

I read some in October then had a break in favour of other projects Ileandra was working on. So far this month I’ve read one piece (which hasn’t already been read to camera) and got some very helpful and constructive feedback. I also got a comment which, at the time washed straight over me.

The comment was about porn.

Now… I make no apologies for the fact that I write smut. Hell, I call it smut because that’s a hell of a lot more fun and, in my cases accurate. ‘Vicki & Lara‘ is erotic lesbian romance but other pieces I’ve written come firmly under the banner of filth. And that’s fine by me. What caused contention after this comment was the fact that the piece I read had no sexual activity in it whatsoever. The characters talked about sex; Dan explained to his best friend Pete how his relationship with Karen actually worked. Since theirs is an established D/s coupling he wanted his best friend reassured that nobody was being harmed and that everything was consensual.

No sex. Certainly no porn.

At the time, I just brushed it to one side. This person is not my target demographic and they have previously stipulated that they don’t like ‘porn’. Yes, that is the word used over and over. I (thought I had) respected this person’s preferences by moderating what I took to read.

Apparently not.

And since then another member of the group who also writes erotica has become increasingly upset. Not that I’m surprised, since the last time this came up, some nasty and downright rude comments were directed at this second member.

I’m guessing I have a thicker skin because the issue didn’t upset me. What did eventually anger (and yes I mean anger, not upset or distress) me was the idea that our group might become censored because of the opinions of one person. Or worse yet, other people might feel nervous about what they bring in for fear of offending anybody.

Before I go into my goals for this week I have one thing to say and then that should, hopefully, be the end of it. It is this:

Not everyone will like what you write. End of. Not everybody will like you. End of. But those are two very different issues and should be dealt with as such.

As a writer it is your RESPONSIBILITY to report TRUTH. That is what gives all stories their flavour, their authenticity, their power. To do anything less than that is to CHEAT YOURSELF AND YOUR READERS.

Not everybody will like the truth. Fact of life. Not everybody wants to read the truth. But here is the beauty of it… THEY DON’T HAVE TO.

If you have a story to tell about people, emotions, relationships, history, politics, religion, whatever… TELL THAT STORY THE WAY YOU WANT TO. Write for you. Not for anybody else.

Don’t let ANYBODY dictate what you write and certainly DON’T FEEL GUILTY about what you choose to write about. The choice is yours and they should respect that. End of.

Right. That’s done. End rant.

Goals.

Last week
~Record at least one (new) Slippers & Chains segment
Nope. Not doing very well here. Wavering between recording as video and recording voice files. Both are hard work in different ways and distract from the actual writing. I need to pick one or the other but it’s hard. I might let you guys decided. Actually, yes! You lot decide.

You’ve got one month to vote. Go.

~Make more concrete plans on content of solo website
I’ve started. It looks lush. Just need to decide on colours and how much money I have to spend on making it really lush as opposed to just lush. I’ll soon have a launch date for you too.

~Finish next story I started writing (‘Simone & Mr Bradford’) rather naughtily
Done. God I freakin love it when I get my productive hat on. Makes me feel less guilty about sleeping and pooping, y’know?

~Pick (and at least start) this month’s indie book for review
Yep. I even picked one for Ileandra, because I’m nice like that. I’ll be reading Literal Fantasies by Alexandra Amalova and I’ll be reviewing it as soon as I’m done. If that blurb is anything to go by it won’t take me long. 😉

~Finalise when photoshoot will be
All being well it should be this Saturday. Hell. That means I have two days to learn how to put make up on. Great.

This Week
This should be a simple list!

  • Learn how to put make up on!

  • Start reading Literal Fantasies

  • Finish last story in Meeting Each Other series

  • Prepare last niggling bits for launch of ‘Carol, Niall & Lin’ (I have a present for you in that regard. Be sure to stop by on Saturday evening!)

  • Draft outline of next in Slippers & Chains series (Second Base)

That should keep me busy and out of trouble.

This is also the point to mention that I have a mailing this. Once I hit TEN subscribers I’ll start publishing a set of stories there ONLY AVAILABLE to those on the list. If you’d like access to these free stories just use this link to sign up.

Yep. That’s it. Enjoy your evening.Raven's Signature In Black

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Mah Goals – wc 20/01

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Ileandra Young

Monday again! The first day of my week. A day of assessment. Evaluation. Fluffy talk about grown up things that makes me feel smarter than I actually am. :p

Seems to me that separating my goals from Raven’s has been something of a double edged sword. Knowing what I need to do is nice since it is no longer clouded by other projects. But I have to say, I still look at her lists and feel like I’m lagging behind. That’s weird, right? That must be weird.

Anyway….

Last Week

Contact my lovely photographer about photoshoot for me and Raven
Yes! We’re booked in for Saturday and it’s going to be AWESOME! Looking forward to these shots soooo much!

Finalise decisions about the website to come; hosting options, colour schemes and exact content
I put that to one side in favour of writing, which is no bad thing. But I do need to kick things in gear pretty soon.

Gather together list of existing contacts and create a list for future projects
Fresh list is started and I’m now adding in details. Soon I’ll have a list of people ready to help me all in one place, including beta readers, cover artists, editors and proofreaders.

Start reading SORB (send to Kindle for portability) and dedicate a workbook to notes which will be made by chapter.
The workbook was a crap idea. Having it on the Kindle wasn’t bad, but I like to annotate directly onto the text. In light of that I’ve printed the whole thing. All 412 double spaced pages of it (!!!). I’ve nearly finished it too and identified at least three chapters that do crap-all for the plot and need to be wholly axed. I’ve also found several character holes and plot abysses (is that the plural) that need to be filled in order for the ending to work. At the moment it feels forced, with my characters doing a bunch of things that are against their nature. Which is dumb.
*sigh*
^_^ Despite that… I love editing! Something I never thought I’d say.

This Week

  • Finish my read of SORB and construct timeline/diagram to show series of events, as things are a little muddle din my head
  • Finalise what I plan to wear for the photoshoot
  • Start in depth research into aspects of ancient history relevant to SORB (no spoilers, but if you like Egyptians, you’ll like this!)
  • Draft in depth outline of WTRE (I know it’s FAR earlier than anticipated, but why wait if I can start writing sooner?)

I feel so good right now. So productive and keen. I’ve also had very little sleep but apparently that’s handy for keeping the creative juices flowing. I’ve had a brilliant week, a fantastic weekend and I’m ready to do it all over again.

BRING IT ON!
new ileandra signature,

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What Is My Genre?

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Ileandra Young

I’ve thought about this a great deal in recent weeks. Particularly since, right now, I’m thoroughly enjoying my read-through of Silk Over Razor Blades (Mach 3) in preparation for its last batch of edits.

I started reading having forgotten (almost completely) who my characters are and what the plot was. I felt as though I were coming to the story for the first time and that is a feeling I love. It makes editing so much simpler as I’m distanced enough from it that I can easily making chopping decisions which would have been hard had I started in December or even earlier this month.

But what about genre? Silk Over Razor Blades will be published this year, come hell or high water, so I need to know how to define it. Where does it lie on the general spectrum of genre fiction? What other authors would I expect to see alongside this piece in a bookshop?

Ugh. Horrible question.

fantasy button by algotruneman at open clipartWell… I read lots of Laurell K Hamilton, Charlaine Harris and Kelley Armstrong. So I would love for my books to fit amongst the ranks of these women; it would be a massive honour! The books by these women feature strong female characters, ongoing story lines and rich, fantasy worlds based in our own but different enough that you’re forced to call these books fantasy. And they are. These women write urban fantasy among other things.

But these books also contain a romantic element. Books like Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight blasted the lid off vampires and turn them into something new. I’m sure the mushroom-like sprouting of paranormal romance sections across all my favourite book shops is down to her sparkly, angsty series. So are they urban fantasies with a dash of paranormal romance? And where does the paranormal bit come from? Is that the vampires, or is that something else?

My writing buddy Maria is editing a novel right at the moment that I would call paranormal. But there is no romance in it (that I know of; I’ve not read the whole thing). So is there a separate pile for just plain paranormal? Is this where the other fantastic creatures of the night come in?

I used to think that what I wrote was horror. Mainly because, in my mind, vampires are scary. Watching Buffy when I was a teenager relieved me of that illusion pretty quickly (there is NOTHING scary about Angel; he was a wet blanket!). So I know it’s not horror that I write. The more observant of you may have noticed that I’ve already removed that from our shared tagline. *points to top of page*

lady vampire by OlKu from Openclipart.com

But Ileandra doesn’t look like this… honest…

But my vampires aren’t scary. No. Correction. They are scary, but the Silk Over Razor Blades story isn’t just about vampires. That Ileandra happens to be one is integral to the story, yes, but for the most part, the story is about her growth as a person. Learning that being selfish and material will cost you in the long run. She learns to care about others and put them and their needs first, not only because she can, but because it is her responsibility to do so.

So now what? Does that move my story right out of genre fiction completely and drop it back in the land of general fiction? I bloody hope not!

At the end of the day, pinning down genre is a sticky mess, but very much necessary. It helps people understand what they should expect from your book and, if you plan to publish traditionally, allows publishers to figure out where they should put you in stores. How they should market you. What sort of cover best suits the market you’re aiming for.

Thinking about the range of characters and the broad scope of the larger trilogy, I would have to say that Silk Over Razor Blades is an urban fantasy. It takes place in a city. It is contemporary. There are fantastic elements to the world and people that just aren’t real and therefore must be classed as fantasy. There are supernatural elements and weird creatures (less in the first book and more in the third) that cannot be explained through anything other than magic. So that must make it fantasy. Right…?

How have you guys come to the decision on what your genre is? Does it change across different stories that you write? Are you somewhere in the middle? Is it so difficult to define your genre that you’ve come up with a brand new one all for yourself?

I’d love to hear about it. ^_^
new ileandra signature,

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I Haz Planz – wc 16/01

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Raven ShadowHawk

Apparently I need to learn more of how to stick to the goals I set in the week rather than racing off into the sunset with a bunch of new stuff that just happened to sound cool. *shakes head* No discipline, that’s my problem. *snerk*

Though, even as I say that, I acknowledge that in excess of 3,000 words on my next story is nothing to be sniffed at. Particularly since I did that in an hour. So… you know….

Last week
~Come up with a better way to list these goals
Nah. I like this way. It’s efficient and neat. And, let’s face it, not a good use of my time playing with all the other options I have. I should be using that time to right stories for you people. So I’m going to do that instead.

~Contact my lovely photographer about photoshoot for me and Ileandra
Done. Getting there. Just a case of matching up schedules now. Which should be fun. Really looking forward to showing you these pics when they come out. It will be nice to have a (separate) face.

~Make some decisions about the website to come; hosting options, colour schemes and exact content
Decided on structure and bones of content. But the rest…? Not had time. Ah well.

~Re-record initial Slippers & Chains segments
Only got the camera on Saturday. Nice though. I’ve done a test run (looks niiiiiiiice) so hopefully I’ll have those ready by next week.

~Finalise front/back data for ‘Carol, Niall & Lin’
Done. In fact, I have the final files. Very exciting. I’ll have more news about that as time goes on.

This Week
I need to pay attention to the things I missed last week (and get used to MY week starting on a Thursday. Once I’m in that mindset I’ll be better off). And actually DO the goals rather than other stuff.

  • Record at least one (new) Slippers & Chains segment

  • Make more concrete plans on content of solo website

  • Finish next story I started writing (‘Simone & Mr Bradford’) rather naughtily

  • Pick (and at least start) this month’s indie book for review

  • Finalise when photoshoot will be

Better. And it seems like I’m getting ahead of the game. Which is nice.

NOW!
Fun stuff…
15 days to go until ‘Carol, Niall & Lin’ is available to you fine folk. That means it’s time to give you fun things! So, to whet your appetites I have some quote art for you. Hope you like. ^_^

Lin Quote (from Carol, Niall & Lin)

Quote art from Carol, Niall & Lin

Raven's Signature In Black

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Mah Goals – wc 13/01

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Ileandra Young

Feels like ages since my last entry. Raven really has a big mouth when you let her loose.

Last week the blog was populated entirely with plans for 2014 and assessments of 2013. I’m blaming that for the fact that I’ve done very little since 31 December. Seems like without this list, I really do struggle to centre myself and know exactly what needs to be done. Pity, because there were a few days in which I could have achieved a fair amount because everything else was slow. Ho hum. I guess a rest is just as good (and necessary at times). Certainly I do feel recharged and ready to tackle the new year with passion and enthusiasm. Which is what it’s all about really.
 

Last Week

As I mentioned… not much done. Though I have managed to lay out some pretty decent plans for what’s coming up.
 

Goals for 2014

Unlike Raven, most of my goals are long, unwieldy beasts. She is the queen of the short story (and novella for that matter) while I lean towards novels. Nothing wrong with that, it just means that our goal lists are going to look very different for quite some time. That should keep things interesting.

  • Publish ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ (SORB) through Little Vamp Press
  • Write first draft of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge (WTRE)
  • Write first draft of ‘On A Knife Point (OAKP) – NB: SORB, WTRE and OAKP are the novel which make a single trilogy, tentatively named ‘Saar’s Legacy’
  • Have Clash of the Animal Kings (CoTAK) ready for external editing
  • Create and populate a fresh solo website (with static content) to run alongside this blog

 

January 2014 Goals

  • Start building static solo site
  • Start read through of SORB, not to edit, but to make notes about what should be edited when the time comes

 

This Week

  • Contact my lovely photographer about photoshoot for me and Raven
  • Finalise decisions about the website to come; hosting options, colour schemes and exact content
  • Gather together list of existing contacts and create a list for future projects
  • Start reading SORB (send to Kindle for portability) and dedicate a workbook to notes which will be made by chapter.

After leaving SORB for so long it feels almost wrong to look at it again. I’m actually quite scared. NaNoWriMo is such a mad rush, I feel that it’s impossible anything I wrote during that time is salvageable, let alone good. I’m hoping to prove myself wrong, but I’m also bracing myself for the blow of realising that the entire novel is drivel. *fingers crossed*

custom signature for Ileandra's blog posts

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