Hello, everyone! Christmas break is over, and I am feeling much better now that my wisdom teeth are taken care of. (Yes, that's a hint to my embarrassingly young age, but at least I am several years older than the 18 years technically required to be able to read the smut I write)... Oh well, moving on. Four items of business today.


First of all, I should be hearing from L-book.com soon about The Second Sister. If they think it isn't right for their publishing house, I'll be disappointed, but I'll certainly keep looking for a home because that book is good, and it deserves to be shared.


Second item of business is this: Thank you to Brooke R. Busse. Check out the award lists she included me on!


Number three - I usually don't plead for reviews, but the third book in my Amendyr series got lost in a big glut of story releases on a wonderful site called The Athenaeum. If you all could go leave a review here on The Witch's Daughter (if you've read/will read it), that would make me feel all kinds of warm fuzzies! I don't usually ask for reviews, but on this particular site, more reviews means more people will see the recommendations on the updates page and maybe check it out.


Number four is slightly longer and different. Yes, I'm giving you a grammar lesson...

I've noticed a disturbing trend in Alex/Olivia fanfiction lately. No, it's not the torturotica. I just avoid that. No, it's not the lack of spanking stories. I cry about that at night, but I get over it because I know it's not everyone's kink. It is, in fact, the incorrect use of capitalization in dialogue after a comma!

Now, two of the BEST A/O fanfic writers I have ever encountered make this mistake, so if you do as well, don't fret. You're in good company. But technically, when you add dialogue to the end of a sentence, you should NOT capitalize the first letter of the clause. For example, let's examine this sentence.

To the surprise of both women, Christine actually grinned. “Hey, I know the effect of those glasses, Agent Hart,” she said, giving Tess’s reflection an appraising look, “They only add to her sex appeal.”

Do you spot the problem? Yes, the T in They should not be capitalized. When you are connecting two pieces or dialogue or adding a dialogue tag at the end of a sentence, you do NOT want to capitalize the first letter. Here are two other corrections for that sentence.

To the surprise of both women, Christine actually grinned. “Hey, I know the effect of those glasses, Agent Hart,” she said, giving Tess’s reflection an appraising look. “They only add to her sex appeal.”

Here, I used a period to separate the last piece of dialogue. Because I ended the sentence, I can now start the dialogue tag with a capital letter.

To the surprise of both women, Christine actually grinned. “Hey, I know the effect of those glasses, Agent Hart,” she said, giving Tess’s reflection an appraising look, “they only add to her sex appeal.”

I kept the comma this time, but used a lower case 't' in they. This sentence is also correct.

(Just for those who are curious, option 1 is the original sentence from my latest novel. I purposely wrote it incorrectly to demonstrate the problem, and the second correction, even though it is not actually used, is a perfectly acceptable option).

Back on the Horse

Well, it's been a while, eh?

Here are some things you should know:

1. I won NaNoWriMo!
2. No, I'm not ready to post it yet. The novel isn't done even though I hit 50K.
3. I am getting surgery soon so I will probably be grumpy.
4. I finished The Witch's Daughter! Congratulations to me.
5. I'm submitting The Second Sister to L-book.com

Wait, backtrack. WHAT?

Yes, it is time for me to get back on the horse. I decided to give it another go and submit my baby, the first full-length novel I ever completed, to a publishing house that I very much respect. I have purchased stories from L-book in the past and was very pleased with the content. Although I was originally leaning towards print media, since most of my fans are online anyway, I think this might be an even better option! I am sure they would give my story a good home and hope that they like what they see.

I would like to thank all of you for your continuing support and all the lovely feedback and e-mails I get. I save them all and read them when I feel depressed, and it just really brightens my life. You guys all rock so hard!

It's back into the big, bad, scary world of publishing for me.

By the way, in the event that L-book doesn't think The Second Sister is right for them (I really hope they do!), I might need some other good ideas for publishing houses. I am NOT giving up until I get this baby in print one way or the other. It's a damn good story and it's worth putting out there for people to read! It took me a while to overcome my shyness, but Rae is back, baby, and she really wants to make a go of this whole novelist thing.

By the way, here's the Bio I sent them, just in case you were curious:

********* **********, writing under the pen name Rae D. Magdon, is a music student at the *** ***** ****** ** ***** in ********, **, working towards her undergraduate degree in Flute Performance. During the past two years, she has chosen to share her writing on such websites as The Academy of Bards and The Athenaeum, where she has received recognition and several awards for her first novel, The Second Sister. Its two sequels, Wolf’s Eyes and The Witch’s Daughter, were also well received upon completion, and the last book in the series, Mirror, Mirror, is outlined and half-completed. She has also written several non-fantasy novels, including Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning, a modern-day romance; Death Wears Yellow Garters, a light, “tea-cozy” lesbian murder mystery; and My Name Is Brianna, a young-adult novel about the struggles of a MTF transsexual and her lesbian sister. In her spare time, she enjoys dabbling in Alex Cabot/Olivia Benson Law and Order fanfiction, spending quality time with her girlfriend of six years, and hiding from her best friend’s purebred Flatcoats so that they do not eat her.

Character Letters

Today, as an inspirational exercise (and also to vent my frustrations), I am going to write Dear Character letters. These can be fun to write from either point of view, Author or Characters. Hehe



Dear Tess,

You really need to trust Robin more. I know you just met, but she's an FBI agent and she'll help you find your blackmailer, I promise! Oh, and she's handy with a crop, if you're interested by the end of the book... *coughcough*

Love,

Rae


Dear Robin,

I promise Tess isn't really a jerk. Cross my heart. She doesn't mean to keep leading you on and then dumping you, she's just scared. Ignore everything she tells you! IGNOOORE.

Love,

Rae



Dear Samantha,

You are a fun character, but you are supposed to be a supportive friend, not a romantic lead. Please try to be in less scenes. And I know you are a former prostitute, but please stop sleeping with my FMC so she can hook up with the love of her life. Do it or I will come up with something horrible to happen to you!

Love,

Rae



Tomorrow, I am going to post some of the novel "framework" planning I have done for my NaNo so you can see how I did it using the Snowflake Method, a method I have never tried until this month. It is working great so far and I feel really prepared.

Down and Dirty Tricks for Word Count Padding

Since NaNoWriMo is coming up (hence why I have been so busy preparing instead of posting on this blog), I decided to post a few tricks I have used to pad my word count.

1. If you are stuck on a scene and feel like working on something else instead (like homework, eugh, who does HOMEWORK anyway?), skip ahead to a completely unrelated scene and write that first.

2. Find a random word generator or use lines in a famous poem as word prompts. You have to include one of the words you pick every few sentences. I like Christina Rossetti. =D Virginia Woolf or Emily Dickenson are also good choices. Or Poe, if you're feeling dreary.

3. Write sex scenes. Lots of sex scenes. This is absolutely the biggest word count padder I know of. It adds a good 1000 -5000 words depending on the level of detail, and it's the same basic actions and metaphors in a fresh, sexy new setting over and over again! You don't have to come up with something completely original... Insert Tab A into Slot B, you know? Of course, you want to make it sound original and fresh, but you can do that after November 30th when you edit.

4. Write dialogue. Lots of dialogue. Before characters do anything, have them whine about it. This will give you pages and pages of word count. Just a warning, it might make your readers want to bang their head against the wall, but you can tweak/cut/polish it later.

5. Steal ideas. Steal as many ideas as you can get your greedy hands on. Just don't let anyone know where you got them. If they still stick out a little after November 30th, you can always go back, remember? That's what December is for, after all.

6. Go to the NaNo boards and start WORD WARS with people. If any of you want to start a Word War with me, my AIM SN is RaeDMagdon and you can message me whenever I'm on or add me to your buddy list. I'd be more than happy to go nano -a -nano with you and pound out some 5, 10, or 15 minute sprints one on one or in a group chat. I absolutely love word wars.

7. Write out some planned scenes beforehand. It seems like common sense, but just writing out a one sentence descriptor for a few "chocolate bar" scenes - exciting scenes you reward yourself with after you have written a lot of 'filler' material - can be very inspiring and give you a place to start if you are stuck.


Note: Some of this advice might not produce GOOD writing, but it will definitely produce writing of some kind. The more you write, the more likely that when you start culling the horrible parts, you'll still have something good left over. Write even if it's bad. Write even if it's absolutely terrible. If you just keep typing words on the screen (or penning thoughtful verses in your handy dandy spiral notebook), at least some of it is bound to be good, right? Let's hope so...

NaNoWriMo Approaches!

NaNoWriMo is coming faster than you think!

*Snerk* Ha, that's what she said. But anyway, here are some ways to come up with great ideas (besides trolling the NaNo forums, which ALL OF YOU SHOULD BE DOING).


1. Write about what scares you.

I'm serious. Write about what scares you, haunts you, or fascinates you. At the risk of sounding like a vampire Harlequin, find the dark desires inside of you and bring them out, even if you think you can't do it. Too embarrassed to write about sex or romance? Write erotica for NaNo. Think you could never tackle fantasy? Write a fantasy novel. Drool over stories with a love triangle, betrayal, or character death? Get angsty. Do what you think you can't and you will probably find that you can.


2. Get out a pen and paper.

Again, I'm serious. I know most of us writers are glued to our computers, but there's just something about the feel of a pen in your hand as it marks up a crisp white sheet of notebook paper that cannot be replicated by the tapping of keys. You can always type up your thoughts later.


3. Grab a friend.

Discuss plot with a friend. Role play with a friend. Goof off with a friend after drinking way too many Red Bulls (or maybe something stronger if you are old enough). Save the conversations if they take place online. If they take place in real life, carry a notebook with you and do your best to remember what was said. For online writers to talk to, go to the NaNo forums! There are tons of people there.


4. Write some stream of consciousness warm-ups

You can write anything you want ahead of NaNo except the actual novel, so do a few pages of stream-of-consciousness type writing for your favorite characters. It's a great way to find out what motivates them, how they speak, how they act, and who they are. Besides, you might come up with an excellent plot that way.


5. Break out the spreadsheet

Use Excel, Word, or a plain old piece of paper to graph, chart, or just plain list the scenes in your novel in any way you like. I still prefer pen and paper or just a plain old Word document, but some people have tons of cool word processing software that can organize it all pretty-like.


6. Play around on BabyNameGenerator. Or any other generator.

There are so many writing generators and prompts on the internet that it's not even funny. For some help getting started, visit www.languageisavirus.com It has all kinds of cool writing games to play.

Sorry if this post is slightly crazy, it's really early in the morning and I'm hyper for no reason.



And just for me, here's my To-Do List:


Original Fiction:

The Witch's Daughter (2000 more words to go!!!)

All The Pretty Things (NaNoWriMo)

Mirror, Mirror (seq. to TSS, WE, and TWD)

Lilith's Redemption

Sonata Form (seq. to Chopin)



Fanfiction:

What Happens In Provincetown (L&O/R&I)

It Happened One Night (L&O)

Sequel to Magnetic Resistance (L&O)

By Courier (L&O/DWP)

Twi-hate: The Descent Into Madness (L&O/Legally Blonde/Twilight)

Desperation (R&I, seq. to Denial)



Random Pairings I want to write at some point...

Something Kim/Shego (Kim Possible anyone?)
Something Mirandy (Devil Wears Prada)
Something Harley/Ivy (Batman)


.... yes, I am a pervert and a dork. I don't care. I'm also sure I've forgotten some projects on the lists...

Rae's 10 Rules of Writing

Just because I felt like it.


1. Write Every Day - (even a little bit). The more you write, the better you'll get. You'll have a novel before you know it.

2. Write What Interests You - If you're bored, your reader will probably be bored, too.

3. Learn And Steal From The Greats, But Always Be Original - A bit of a contradiction, but most of writing is balancing tried and true techniques with your own unique voice.

4. Great Writers Are Avid Readers - A bit of a spin-off of number three. If you don't read, how will you ever learn how to write?

5. Worry About The Grammar Later - Don't get so obsessed with making each sentence perfect that you never write more than one paragraph. You'll have time to make every word sparkle later, during the editing process.

6. Stretch Yourself - Write something all in dialogue. Write only using questions. Switch between first person and third person... hell, use second person. Write from the point of view of a chair. Who has sat in it? Maybe Benjamin Franklin! =D

7. Make Friends - If you help other writers and form a writing community with your friends, your work will improve as a result.

8. Learn to Critique - Extension of number seven. Learn to read with a critical eye. It will improve your own writing dramatically.

9. Know Your Characters - Great writers have great characters. They will lead the way when you are feeling stuck or uninspired.

10. Have fun - If you aren't having fun, you aren't doing it right. But even when you're not having fun, keep writing until you start again and try to find new ways to stay engaged.

NaNoWriMo or How To Plan Your Novel

Everyone that reads this blog should GET EXCITED. It's the month of October now, and you all know what that means: it's only 1 more month until NaNoWriMo!

For those of you that don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a 30 day race to write 50,000 words during the month of November. It starts at 12:00 AM on November 1st and ends at 11:59 PM on November 30th. Check out the website at www.nanowrimo.org and get pumped! They have all sorts of cool forums, word counting devices, ways to procrastinate and build your world, and tons of different groups to join. During the month there are Word Wars to boost your word count, forum doctors that will help revitalize your sick and/or dying plot, adoptable characters and plots, and experts in just about any field imaginable. The forums are so much fun that they can distract you from actually getting any writing done!

Last year, I won NaNo (everyone wins as long as you complete 50,000 words in the space of 30 days) with my murder mystery: Death Wears Yellow Garters. All of you can go read it if you are so inclined. It has lesbian sex, crazy relatives, evil dogs, and, of course, a murder that has to be solved.

You can do as much planning as you want before November, but no actual writing. I am actually cheating, and I am going to finish my Senator's Daughter storyline that I started and stopped at 5,000 words (I'm still writing 50,000 words at least, so I'm not skimping on the word count, but I did start early. Shhhh, don't tell!)

Assuming you aren't like me and don't want to "bend the rules", per se, go ahead and start planning instead of beginning your actual novel. That can be a lot of work in and of itself. Write out some character names. Summarize your novel in ten words, three sentences, one paragraph, one page. Use an excel sheet to write a short summary for each chapter. Draw a fun graph with colors. Break out the crayons and put together a map if you are using a fantasy or sci-fi world. Draw your characters. Just draw rainbows if it inspires you. Write poems. Write short excerpts from the point of view of your characters. Just get planning. Hook up with other writers and discuss your ideas. Lurk on the NaNo boards. Visit the Adoptables threads to get some ideas.

Get pumped, because it's going to be a huge sprint to the finish.

What are you doing for NaNo? Tell me in comments, which I always read even if I occasionally get distracted and forget to respond.

New Website

I have certainly been a busy bee recently! I have a new website that catalogues all of my work. Nothing new, just all the old stuff posted in a clear, easy-to-read place with links and such. Yay me.


http://raedmagdon.wordpress.com/

To-Do List

Just in case you were interested, here is my writing To Do List. I'm mostly posting it here for my benefit, but perhaps some of you will find it interesting. In no fixed order (although priorities are generally near the top)...


Fanfiction:
- Last chapter of 'Magnetic Resistance' (Law and Order: SVU)
- Finish 'It Happened One Night' (Law and Order: SVU)
- Finish 'Exhibitionist' (Law and Order: SVU)
- Start sequel to 'Magnetic Resistance' (Law and Order: SVU)

///// Half-started ideas /////
- Twilight: The Descent Into Madness (Legally Blonde/L&O:SVU/Twilight crossover)
- By Courier (Devil Wears Prada/L&O: SVU crossover)
- Unnamed Devil Wears Prada fic
- Unnamed Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles smut (Rizzoli & Isles)
- Unnamed KIGO fic (Kim Possible/Shego... yes, I am a total dork)


Original Fiction:
- The Witch's Daughter (2 more chapters to go...)
- Senator's Daughter (needs a title!)

///// Half-Started Ideas/////
- Lilith's Redemption (new supernatural-themed original fiction novel)
- Murder, Lies, Statutory Rape, and Madison Rose (drama/romance)

///// Other Plans /////
- The two other books in the Chopin universe
- The last book in the Amendyr universe


That list probably makes very little sense to you, but it's good to have goals. Lots of goals. And NaNoWriMo is coming up, so that will be a splendid time to knock out some writing and hit some big word count numbers.

The Triumphant Return

Guess whose back with a brand new track (er, blog post)?

... Well, no one, if my Music History teacher and other professors had anything to say about it. They have been piling on the homework, and I have been practicing like the devil. I have been writing, since I figured you guys would rather have me spouting out more smut and fluff and action scenes than keeping up-to-date on my blog, but I've decided to give a quick update and then get to work on posting some writing tips and tricks.

Aside from my fanfiction obsession (Magnetic Resistance is almost done!), my new project, which I have temporarily dubbed 'The Senator's Daughter', is coming along nicely at about 15,000 words. I have 6,000 more words to go of The Witch's Daughter, but I'm seriously drained for that novel, and I'm trying my best to make the last 6,000 words as high-quality as the first 70,000 or so. I don't want to disappoint and rush to finish just so that novel is off my plate. The ending is the most important part of any work.

Yes, there have been arguments made for the beginnings of novels being the most important. If you don't have a good beginning, why would you bother reading to the end in the first place? But I still say that the ending of a novel is far more important, because that is the last, powerful punch that finishes off your grand adventure and (hopefully) leaves the reader with questions, an emotional reaction, or something. Stories with a great beginning and a bad ending leave the reader feeling cheated and disappointment, while stories with a so-so beginning and a slamming ending leave the reader feeling pleasantly surprised.

Of course, if you can have a good beginning and an equally good ending, that is even better. A double-attack from both sides, if you will. And if you can get a good middle thread connecting the two, then you're in the money. Or, well, you'll make people feel very, very happy while cutting out coupons from newspapers, unless you are supported by your parents/spouse (*coughcough*) or your name is Stephen King or JK Rowling.

In order to write a good ending, I tend to follow the Storyteller's Cardinal Rule: Always Have A Happy Ending (Unless A Sad, Poignant Ending Is Appropriate). This seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how many people kill off their characters or ruin everything at the end of a novel for no good reason. Unless you can lay out a sound argument for doing so, let them ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Your audience will appreciate it and they might decide not to come after you with torches and pitchforks.

Another tip - once the climax has happened (the climax of the action, not the sexual climaxes, of which there are many in my novels), wrap it up quickly. You need to get out of there pretty fast in order to keep the reader's interest. It's nice to add questions at the end that can continue to germinate in the audience's minds, but don't leave too many untied threads or you will leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. It is a balancing act, like many other writing tools.

Anyway, I have to close my laptop because my professor just walked in. I'll update later. Music Girl, Away!

Themes

All good novels have a few things in common. Strong characters, strong language, strong stories... but there is one ingredient that many aspiring writers do not try to incorporate into their work, and even if they do, many do it intrinsically, without thinking about it. The best novels have powerful, overarching themes that resonate within readers at a deep level. There are many different types of themes that you can write about, and there are many different ways to introduce these themes into your writing. Honestly, the topic of themes and their use in writing can fill a book all by itself - and has. This is just a brief introduction.

Many writers use some simple, tried-and-true themes already without realizing it. To start in a very general way, good triumphing over evil can be seen as a classic theme that countless stories and novels have made use of for centuries. It has stayed popular because it is a powerful theme, rooted to something deep within our psyche. Also, turning this theme on its head and exploring the shades of gray in between good and evil can be a good way to keep readers (and yourself) engaged. Another common theme is love. True love, sexual love, sacrificial love, romantic love, familial love, destructive love, relationships and how they change people... love has many different faces.

Themes can also become very specific. For example, 'The Wizard of Oz' is supposedly based (this is argued by different groups in literary circles) on the nineteenth century debate on government monetary policy, with the Wicked Witch of the West representing the railroads, the monkeys representing the Native Americans, the scarecrow representing farmers, the tin man representing factory workers, and the Cowardly Lion representing William Jennings Bryan. James Joyce used Ireland, its relationship with England and the Church, and its self-destructive tendencies as the overarching theme for his entire body of work.

Themes can be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. They may be unique and original, or they may have already been used thousands of times because they speak to us as humans. They can be about characters, about death, about life, about a place or time, about the future, about apocalyptic societies, about money, about sex, about social customs and stigmas... basically, themes can be about anything.

How do you weave a theme in to your work? First, you have to find out what those themes are. Writing them out before you start a project, in the middle of the project, and after a project can be useful and insightful. Themes might change as your story grows and develops, and that's okay, but having a list to refer back to can help remind you what you were thinking of before you clacked out those opening lines on your keyboard.

You can introduce themes with a character's thoughts, speech, or mere presence, with an image, with a setting, with an object, with plot... If you look for opportunities to include your theme, you will find them.

Pick themes that are meaningful to you. For example, some of the themes I have used are very general: the idea of soul-mates and love, LGBT themes, themes of self-hatred, the transition from adolescence to adulthood, good conquering evil. Some of my other themes are highly specific: questioning God's existence and His actions as a gay teenager; exploring futuristic dystopias; mirrors, dance classes, and their relationship with body image and self confidence; the future of the human race and their tendency to alienate anyone physically or mentally dissimilar; white suburbia and its tendency to hold young people from means to a ridiculously high standard while completely blocking out people from other cultures... the list goes on and on.

The point is, there are tons of themes out there. They can be anything from "LotR has a theme about heroes struggling to beat the bad guys" (a vast oversimplification) to "Joyce's use of the silver bracelet on the wrist of the unnamed female character on page three draws to mind the image of handcuffs, because the female represents Ireland and her current imprisonment and destitution."

... I suggest starting with something a little simpler before using numerology, Biblical references, and animology to build on your theme, but if you feel up to it, go ahead and try. It can be very fun, almost like using a secret code. Even my Law and Order: SVU fanfic has some color symbolism in it to add a dash of, well, color. But maybe that is because my brain is always on overdrive...

PS: Random fact - color symbolism is my favorite type of symbolism to use when developing a theme! =D

Editing

Editing is something that some writers very much enjoy and that other writers absolutely hate. There are as many ways to edit your work as there are writers, and there is no one-size-fits-all editing bonanza package that you can use to polish your novel or short story. However, that does not mean that there aren't some hard and fast tools that I have found useful in my editing and beta-ing experience.


1. Strike a balance

You have to let the pendulum hang in the middle, somewhere between 'tweak the first chapter until I have memorized every word of every sentence' and 'oh screw it, I refuse to go back and correct spelling mistakes'. Rereading and re-writing rough patches is necessary, and it can even be enjoyable, but if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again while lamenting that it isn't the prose of the Gods, you need to open up a blank word document and work on a different part of your project.


2. Have someone else read it

Get a beta-reader. I don't care how you do it, but just do it. I generally force my work on three people before sharing it. The first one is my girlfriend, who has put up with a huge amount of romance, drama, smut, fluff, battle scenes, monologues, and even the occasional poem. I even force the poor thing to read my Law and Order fanfics, which she hates, and she does it anyway because she loves me THAT much. The second is my friend Richard, who I usually look to for gut reactions and snippets. He is more of a testing board than a nitty gritty critic, but that's exactly what I need from him. The third part of my little group does most of the heavy lifting, and that's Lee, my beta. I shove huge files at her and somehow she fixes all of my extraneous commas and sometimes writes little notes in the margins. I don't know what I'd do without these people.


3. Listen to it out loud

Read to yourself out loud (hope no one is home, or at least not in the room, or you will embarrass yourself... trust me...) Download or purchase a text-to-speech program from somewhere. There are tons of free options, although my Mac has it for free. I have started doing this over the past several months, and trust me, it helps. Even though there's no great voice acting, the ear is able to pick out a misspelled word or a gap in phrasing much more accurately than the tired eye. Plus, you can listen to free stuff online while you're falling asleep! You DO get used to the robot voice, I promise. Mine's named 'Victoria' and I have actually started to enjoy her. Kinda scary, isn't it?


4. Do at least one large, huge, ginormous edit and then put it away and start something new

When you have finished a project (or a section of a project), take it out, dust it off, sit your butt down in the chair, and go through it with a fine-tooth comb. Then, forget about it. Don't go back and mess with it anymore, at least not for a while. You can pull it out again in a few weeks and look at it with fresh eyes, but if you work on the same stuff over and over again, it won't get any better. Do yourself a favor and choose something different to work on so that you won't go insane.


No novel will ever be "perfect". You have to get over that if you ever want to share with others. There is always going to be someone who could have done it better, there is always going to be a more fitting word choice or a better plot idea than the one you chose, there is always going to be at least one typo in a 75,000 word novel. But I do promise that the more you write and edit, the more your work will improve, and the more entertainment and joy you will be able to bring to yourself and others. Now stop being a slacker and go write something instead of reading this blog!

New Project

Well, never let it be said that Rae gives up without a fight. Since Bold Strokes does want to see more of my work (and they were actually very encouraging in their letter to me, which was personalized and not just a form letter), I am starting a new project. I'm not sure what title I will give it, but here's the gist and an excerpt.

Plot: Tess Daubney, the daughter of a prominent senator, is running on the Republican ticket in her first national election for one of Ohio's Congressional seats (2nd district). However, she has to make a choice when she gets entangled with Robin, the niece of her campaign manager. It's kind of ironic that, in this story, the Republican is the good guy and the Democrat is a total sleezebag. I usually vote Democrat (although I greatly admire Olympia Snowe), but I tend to judge individual politicians based on their moral fiber and their experience rather than their party.

Her legs still shaking, weak from what they had just done, Tess bent down to pick up Robin’s discarded clothes. Her jeans and underwear were slumped in a pile against one wall, and her shirt was on the other side of the room. The sleeve of her brown leather jacket peeked out from beneath the desk, but Tess was too distracted to notice it.

“Don’t do that yet,” Robin murmured, getting up from the chair and wandering over to wrap the smaller woman in her arms. She looked confused and a little hurt when Tess flinched, jerking out of the embrace. Looking uncomfortable, the blonde adjusted her skirt and began rebuttoning her blouse. She would have to find her bra and stockings later. They had to be somewhere underneath the furniture. “Tess, what ar-”

Tess shook her head, taking another step back to put more distance between them. She shoved the clothes into Robin’s outstretched arms, trying not to watch as the naked woman began to dress herself. “Love is for story books, Robin, not real people. I have a chance to do something great here, something bigger than just me or you... I – I can’t throw that away.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Robin’s wounded expression urged Tess to take back what she had said, to change her mind. It took every ounce of strength that the blonde possessed to turn her chair around and face the wall. She couldn’t do this if she had to look at Robin’s haunted brown eyes.

“I think you should leave,” she said. Her voice wavered, cracking slightly, but Robin was too angry to notice.

“I guess now that you got what you wanted, you’re done with me,” Robin said, the disgust in her voice piercing the blonde’s heart.

All of the color drained from Tess’s face. “You have to understand, my job–”

“Oh, I understand perfectly. You’re throwing away something wonderful, something I’ve never felt before, without even giving it a chance... just because you’re a coward.” Not caring about the messy state of her hair, she finished pulling her shirt over her head and reached under the desk for her jacket, almost forgetting to button and zip her jeans. They felt stiff and uncomfortable against her legs. She should have been holding Tess right now, savoring her warm skin, soaking in the afterglow... not running off into the night like a high school kid sneaking through their girlfriend’s bedroom window. Obviously, what they had done meant nothing to her. She rubbed at stinging eyes with the back of her hand, glad that she and Tess had their backs to each other so that the other woman couldn’t see her fighting back tears.

“Robin...”

For a moment, both women forgot to breathe.

“I’m sorry things aren’t... different.”

She expected another argument, shouting, curses, something – but Robin did not try and convince her to turn her chair back around. She did not speak at all. She simply stood in silence, numbing herself against the sting of Tess’s rejection.

Staring at the drawn window shades because she could not bear to watch Robin leave, she listened to the quiet click of the door and the melancholy sound of retreating footsteps. Words rose in her throat, words calling the younger woman back, but she clenched her teeth and swallowed them back down. Hadn’t Robin already taken enough of her soul?

When she was sure that she was alone again, Tess finally let her defenses fall, collapsing onto the desk and burying her face in her arms, crying into the sleeves of her crookedly buttoned blouse.

Anyway, I'm still going to try to get TSS published. It's a damn good novel, and I'll find a way to get it out there somehow. I'm not sure what route I will take yet, but there are other publishing companies out there. However, I'd still like to publish something with Bold Strokes someday. They're a great publishing house, and I'm not at all offended by their rejection. From the tone of the letter, I gather that they just don't have room for fantasy right now in their next set of releases. If you've got ideas, tell me what you think!

The Waiting Game

Now that I have returned from my vacation (it seems like I am hardly at home this summer) with no traveling left to do, I have time to relax, get some serious writing done... and bite my nails down to the skin while waiting for a response from Bold Strokes about my submission. It is nerve-wracking to send something in for publication. Even while you are busy working, having fun on the beach, or preparing to start your next writing project, it lingers in the back of your mind.

It has been roughly ten weeks since I sent in The Second Sister, and boy, hitting the 'submit' button was hard. Doing it electronically was probably easier than mailing it in, however (they prefer electronic submissions anyway). At least that way, I didn't have time to change my mind. Once I double clicked on the 'Send' button, there was no going back. I admit that it took me a few minutes to gather the courage to do it. Bold Strokes did confirm that they received my submission and that they are reviewing it, so at least I don't have to worry that it got lost somewhere in cyberspace. Their website says that submitters are usually contacted 12-14 weeks after the initial inquiry, so I still have more time to wait and worry.

Still, there are no regrets on this front. Maybe I could have edited the novel more (although I did a pretty thorough job the first two times). Maybe I could have scrapped the whole thing and done it better the second time. Maybe I'm not ready to be a published author. But if I sat around waiting until I had the perfect novel to submit, I would never be able to share anything with anyone. If Rembrandt spent years agonizing over the tiny, imperfect spot in one of his first paintings, who knows, maybe the masterpieces he painted later never would have been created. If Beethoven had been too self-conscious to write his first symphony because of Mozart's lingering shadow in Vienna, the others would never have been written. Writers are always growing and changing (and hopefully improving), but there is no such thing as a 'perfect' novel, just as there is no such thing as a 'perfect' piece of music or a 'perfect' painting.

It's important to suck it up and put yourself out there over and over again - even if someone does not like your work, even if you get rejected. You have to develop a thick skin and the ability to accept criticism graciously. If you never try, you are never giving anyone a chance to say 'yes'. And someday, I hope that the 'yes' will be for me. I know it will be worth the work it took to get there.

Coming Back To Yourself

First of all, I would like to apologize for the long break in updates. I was away at flute camp in the Adirondack Mountains, but I'm back home now and ready to continue my blog. This is kind of a personal post, but I hope that you will find something useful in it anyway.

Lately, I have been struggling with depression and my own personal demons. Many writers face them, as do musicians, artists, philosophers, scientists, and all of the other disciplines that require creativity and emotion. Being able to put feelings down into words requires insight into the human psyche that can be frightening, intense, and painful. We experience the full spectrum of emotions, and many writers do not know how to turn these off.

In my own struggles as a musician, a writer, and a lesbian, it has been difficult for me to come to terms with who I am and what I feel. The option of suicide has come up at various points in my life, but the support of my lover, my rock, kept me from choosing that path. Other writers, artists, and musicians have not been so lucky.

It is important that, while you are absorbed in other worlds and are trying to share the pent-up storm of emotions inside of you in the hopes of touching someone else somewhere in this bleak world, you can come back to yourself. Find a grounding point, a 'green light' (as Fitzgerald would say), something to reach out for, something to cling to. Something to come back for.

Build a support system. When you fail, when you cry, when you feel lost, you need something to hold on to. This can be a parent, a lover, a hobby, God, a friend, even a future goal or a 'purpose'. Do not lose yourself in the worlds you have created. Do not be tempted to use them as an escape from your feelings or your own life. If the creator dies, so do all of their creations.

Coming back to yourself can be difficult. It can be painful. It will burn and ache and you will have to face all of the twisted ugliness inside of you that you tried so hard to forget. But living is worth it. Not just breathing, not just existing, but living - feeling, experiencing. You will never forgive yourself if you abandon life - whether through suicide or through locking yourself up in a fantasy world that you have created. You only have one chance. Cling to it with both hands and do not let go.

Who Do You Write Like?

Apparently, I write like Shakespeare and Stephenie Meyer... I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or terrified. I am contemplating ritual suicide... (for Meyer, not Shakespeare).

Have no idea what I'm talking about? Check out: http://iwl.me/


It's a website that lets you input text that you have written so that it can compare your writing style to those of several different authors. Now, I know this is all a bunch of smoke and mirrors, but I figured it'd be fun. When I entered in 'The Witch's Daughter', my latest project, the website told me that I wrote like... *gasp*... Stephenie Meyer! THE HORROR

... So I inputted The Second Sister and got William Shakespeare.

In case you were wondering:

Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning got Chuck Palahniuk.

Death Wears Yellow Garters got Dan Brown

My Name Is Brianna got Stephen King

Wolf's Eyes got JK Rowling


I guess this means my writing style is versatile? Oh well... I just hope my newest novel isn't REALLY close to Stephenie Meyer's frightening body of work...

I write like
Stephenie Meyer

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Let's Talk About Sex

Sex is either extremely easy or extremely hard to write. I still have not figured out which. To some people, it comes naturally. I mean, there are only so many positions you can make love in, after all, and the general motions are usually the same. Writing them out isn't that difficult. On the other hand, in order to write a good sex scene, you have to be in the right mood, you have to have the right characters, the right location, the right words... you have to be inspired. Putting all that stuff together is hard work. Not to mention that we all feel embarrassment at some point when we imagine our mother reading what gets us going.

Here are the most common questions I get about sex scenes... *drum roll*


Qusetion: What word should I use for the female anatomy?

Short Answer: None.

Long Answer: It ALL depends on the scene and the characters. I can only tell you one way that I, as a reader, view certain words and their effect on me. Vagina completely turns me off. It reminds me of a trip to the gynecologist. Never, ever use this word or I will hit you. Pussy doesn't do it for me, either. Too cutesy. Try to use this word rarely or not at all. Cunt only turns my crank if used EXTREMELY sparingly, and only in BDSM scenes where dirty talk/control is one of the main elements. Once in a blue moon, I've seen it used well, but besides that... avoid that word, too.

Try describing specific parts of the landscape instead. It's a way to be more erotic! "Thrusting inside of the blonde/redhead/brunette" is better than "fucked her pussy/cunt/vagina". You might find that using a clever turn of phrase to AVOID a specific word will make your writing more erotic. Sorry if you are writing about a dude, but I have no suggestions for other words for 'penis'. They all make me giggle. I find penises highly amusing, but not erotic at all.


Question: When should I include my first sex scene?

Short Answer: Around the middle of the book.

Long Answer: Whenever you think it's right. Some romance novels start off with a sex scene. If you are writing a sequel, this will not seem strange at all (think Radclyffe and her webs of couples... the main couple usually bangs in the first chapter. The sexual tension is taken care of with whatever new couple she is hooking up, since she writes about multiple couples at once). Other romance novels don't add the sex scene until the very end. This can work, but building up to it is difficult, and you have less room to play. I advise going for it around the middle or 2/3rds of the way through. It just feels like a good spot to me.


Question: How long should my scene be?

Short Answer: As long as you want it to be

Long Answer: It varies. Factors that might influence your choice are the scene's location or its purpose in the book (yes, even sex scenes need to have some kind of purpose in the book...) Some of my favorite sex scenes are only a few paragraphs long. They have to have punch, though, for that length to work. Or you can go the long-winded route and make your sex scene take up an entire chapter (or two). This can be fun as well. Just go with it, and don't be afraid to experiment. It's fun!


Okay, that's about all I can write on this subject for now. I'll probably add to this topic tomorrow, it's a big one. (No sexual pun intended).

O Romeo, Romeo...

So, you want to add romance to your novel? Most people do. I've met a couple of writers (mostly males) who say: "but I'm writing a fantasy/sci-fi novel! I don't want to ruin it with romance!" You won't ruin it. Trust me. IF you do the romance right. In fact, if I had to classify myself as anything, I'd call myself a romance novelist. Some of my novels are epic fantasy/sci-fi adventures. I've got some smut out there, some YA novels... some courtroom drama/action/thrillers, ect. But ALL of them have romance at some point (and usually sex, either explicit or implied).


1. In order to write a good romance novel, you need strong characters. Characters are the building blocks of any novel, but they are extra important in a romance novel, because it's the interaction between the two characters that creates the tension and... release... ;D Avoid creating a standard boy-or-girl toy for your main character just so they have someone. The last thing someone wants to read about is a perfect lover. As with all characters, flaws give depth and color to a romantically involved pair.


2. Observe! Go back and reread your favorite romance novel (or any novel that has some romance in it, if you don't like pure romance). See what they author did and make a list of what you liked. If you are reading a new novel or short story that you dislike, try to figure out why and remember it. That's how good writers learn to write anything, romance or not. They read, see what works and what doesn't, and try to incorporate it into their own work.


3. Templates can be fun. As always, I advocate 'stealing' couples with a lot of chemistry and changing them around to make them your own. The Second Sister actually did not start as an Uber novel (Uber novels, for those of you who do not know, are lesbian romances placed in any time where the characters resemble the epic duo Xena and Gabrielle). I created Belle and Ellie on my own, although I changed Ellie's eye color from green to blue in order to match Gabrielle's description. Uber is great for beginners (and even those of us who are no longerbeginners), and you shouldn't feel bad for 'copying' another couple. Xena and Gabrielle are a template that was around long before the 1990s. The angsty warrior/protector and their redeeming, innocent lover is a volatile combination that has existed in literature for centuries. Besides, if you write an Uber, it's still original fiction, you can still publish it, and you get a ready-made group of fans in the Xena community! It's a good deal.

That said... Make sure your characters have enough originality so that people don't get bored. Add your own flavor, or the novel won't be worth reading. Even fanfiction writers do this. Every individual writer (and sometimes each individual universe belonging to a single writer) has a different 'flavored' version of their leading character(s).


4. Add conflict. There has to be something keeping your leading ladies (or dude(s), if you write straight/gay male romance) apart. No matter what point in the book the lovers fall in to each other's arms, there should be some looming, outside force conspiring to keep your characters from finding happiness. This can be a physical force such as a villain, or an internal force such as societal taboo (lesbianism? best friend's girl? feuding families?) or conflicting personality traits (one of your girls is afraid of commitment because of her dark past? One has other priorities like a child that require her attention?) You get the idea.


5. Decide how descriptive you want to get. Choose in advance how much of the 'action' you want to write out. In case you are very, very dense, I'm talking about sex. I can only say that deciding in advance is helpful. I also encourage writers to at least TRY to add some sex for fun, even if they "don't think they can write it". You can always fade to black and save that part in a secret file somewhere. No one else ever has to see it. But you might find that it enhances the novel. I'll make another complete post about writing sex scenes tomorrow, so this isn't the end of this subject!

How To End A Novel

Since I have already posted about how to begin a novel, here are some tips/guidelines for ending one on a high note. I am sure that you have all seen the "plot graph" before, but it's a good place to start anyway.


The first thing that I would like to mention about this picture is its deceiving proportions. The 'Resolution' and 'Falling Conflict' part of the line looks pretty big, right? Wrong. Once the CLIMAX happens, you want to get out of there as fast as possible without leaving your reader feeling cheated. The biggest event in your story has already occurred, and all that's left is the cool-down period. One or two scenes/chapters should wrap things up nicely. There is no need to drag the ending on forever. Get in, accomplish what you need to accomplish, and get out, just like clipping the beginnings and ends of scenes.

Another useful tip: unless you feel in your soul that it is absolutely necessary, I strongly advise against killing off your protagonist. Although the death of a hero can be extremely poignant, I recommend adding an 'expendable' sidekick/friend/wizardly guide/someone-likeable that you can redshirt in the final battle (for a Fantasy novel) or kill in some freak accident (for an angsty romance novel). Unless you have a very good reason for doing so, killing off your main character will only succeed in pissing off your readers.

Note: there is an exception to this rule. If you have written a godawful story/novel and want to move on, it is totally acceptable to end it (just for the sake of ending it) by killing all of your mediocre characters in some kind of fire or other natural disaster. Actually, doing this can be rather soothing for your frazzled nerves, and it will allow you to find some closure before moving on to your next project.

If you are writing a romance novel (or any novel with romance in it), for goodness sake, do NOT end the novel with the two main characters on the outs, even if you are planning a sequel so that they can fall back into each other's arms. Have them come together happily at the end. If you want to disrupt the relationship again in your sequel for more drama, feel free, but give the poor person who was kind enough to read your work a bone. Some more romance advice - do not have your characters constantly break up and make up. Once or twice is all right, but if it happens seven or eight times... it gets old. Fictional people in an on-off relationship are just as annoying as friends in real life that don't know when to let it stick or call it quits.

Writing a good ending is a little like cooking a complicated recipe. You want the right amount of left-over tension to make the reader want to buy your other books, but you want to leave the reader with a sense of peace after their journey with you. Do not endeavor to write your ending until you feel that the time is right. Also, you can write your ending WHENEVER the mood strikes, even if your novel is not finished yet. I usually pen my endings long before the middle of the book is finished. I find that they turn out better that way. Like your beginning, you will know when the time is right.

The One True Way

Writing is hard.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, no matter who they are. They might be other writers who, after a certain amount of success, have forgotten all of the blood, sweat, and tears it took to get where they are. They might be scornful family members that don't understand your "silly little hobby". But we all know better. We know how difficult it is to be a writer, how draining it can be on both your energy and your emotions.

There are lots of "writing courses" that you can take online to "write a novel in 30 days with just one easy payment!" Most of these courses are scams. There is no secret to writing a novel quickly and easily... the only way to do it is through hard work, practice, and perseverance. If it was easy, everyone would have a published novel.

A few of these courses are genuine writer's tutorials that explain how any given author achieved their own success. Reading these can be useful, but eventually you realize that all the research in the world will not help you finish your own novel any faster. Every writer has their own way of writing and every writer has their own ways to be productive. It is good to research these ways, many of them are useful, but you also need to do some soul searching and find your OWN tricks.

There is no secret formula. There is no One True Way. There are no guarantees. All you can do is keep on writing.

There is one thing that all successful writers have in common, however. They surround themselves with a support network. Those friends that think you are wasting your time? Ignore them. Find yourself some new friends. Seek out other writers. Build communities. Find others like you. Offer and receive encouragement as well as constructive criticism.

Write for yourself, but when the writing gets hard, the support of good friends and colleagues is invaluable.