Dolly Days

So I wrote a bit on the Coronavirus, but I also wanted to post a little update on some of my projects.

UnHeard editing is at a go again. The word count is at about 100K and I'm sweeping through to look for factual and grammatical errors before I continue writing. There is still much original writing and plotting to be done, but I wanted to get my ducks in order before I went ahead with it. There are a few parts nagging me to rearrange and rewrite before proceeding.

Dolls! Dolls, dolls, dolls. I rearranged myself because not one, but two dolls are going to be getting here in the next month. The Hyperon sculpt that will become Maxim from UnHeard, for one, but I also found the perfect sculpt (which I sadly don't know the name for) for his stubborn counterpart, Princess Endramena ir Hyaren. Although I had been debating getting the Iplehouse Aria sculpt for her, I stumbled on her in a wider search and she more resembled my drawings. Although I do think Aria needs to be in my collection someday, I haven't yet found a project for her, so that will wait. It's most important for me to work on the projects that align with the materials I already have. My craft bins are quite full to near overflowing, so I'm working on making rooms and completion rather than collection of more materials!

My dolls do all have faceups now. The Hyperon sculpt will come with one, but I ordered Mena's sculpt without one, really wanting to do a resin face-up for a change and the different challenges that come with it. I'll get to break out my airbrush and sealant I bought for that purpose as well as play with gouache and acrylics for her eyes and lips. I've done most of my previous faceups with watercolor pencils and chalk pastels (which will still be used for blushing and lashes), so paints are both bane and curiosity.

Now, I don't expect mine to look exactly like the wonderful pictures, but I'll share Maxim and Mena's sculpts here:

Maxim

Endramena

So Maxim will actually have dark hair and lighter eyes and I've gotten the tan skin option for both of them, since they come from an island nation (doesn't make much sense to be pale there). His look will feature a lot of black and gold, leather and embroidery and armor. The sculpt here is a bit softer a look than I'm going for. Maxim is a bit of a hardened character.

As for Mena/Endramena, her very turquoise eyes will be the change since the tan skin option is shown here. I may do her lips in more of a red color, but I do like the coral/peach look here too. Again, she'll have dark hair like Maxim and she's getting an impressively long black wig that will be a blast to style. I see a lot of turquoise and golds for her, though I'm trying to steer clear of the whole Princess Jasmine look... It's probably still going to resemble her anyway.

So, I have plans, but things might turn out vastly different, depending on where my whims take me.

Although Rienna is mostly finished, I removed the teardrop from her belt and replaced it with a shell button that looks more like the source material. I put her wild hair back to try to train the curls not to take over her face. Eventually I'll style the wig or make a new one, but I'm moving on.

Talia, my fire dancer, also mostly done, still needs scarves and a headdress, but I've since bought some large beads and jump-rings that I need to complete those. Ordered by mail so when they get here is integral to when they'll be finished. I have specific plans for how those will be finished.

So, without further ado, I'm hopping back over to editing. Again, be safe with all the crazy going on out there, and I hope you're inspired to do some projects of your own!

The Struggle, No, The Juggle

I look forward to NaNoWriMo coming up, if only because it seems I need motivation to write or even draw at this point.

Not just because of some struggle, but like the header says, it's the juggle.

If you've followed then you've seen my doll posts have been the most frequent. I've... accumulated quite a bit more than the 'doll' I set out to do. Since starting Project Rienna, I decided to get Talia, a medium sized doll, a tiny... or two or three and there will be a third addition to the big dolls who will be my Lyria from the first series as well.

Dolls seem to be my catharsis from the stress of juggling-- work, my nephews' school year, cat caring insanity, etc. I juggle a lot that has little to do with my hobbies and creative work but nevertheless affects them.

Today, I read another of Antonio's wonderful screenplays, but for the most part, I plan on simply relaxing. Started to sew Rienna's bathing suit, but decided after reading the screenplay, I'd hunker down and watch movies. Welcome to Marwen and Glass are on the roster when I finish this up.

Juggling life, well, IS the struggle and I do still adjust to medications and recently had a root canal that means I'm at a chewing level below a toddler at the moment, but that will get better. Things often have to get worse before they get better. The struggle is about adjusting and learning to not take for granted the good things to come.

So, with all said and done, time to wander off and dream another dream. At the very least, the screenplay inspired me with an idea from the second book of the series that will carry a subplot for the one I currently, or will be, writing. 

UnHeard is a struggling story. Not for lack of ideas or muses or even some creative block, but because I've given the lead character more of my painful and hard to decipher mysteries and fears from my own life. It's hard but necessary to separate my experiences from hers because she can't handle it the way I would and succeed as the person she is, anymore than she could make sense of my life were she the writer of my tale. I don't mean to sound cryptic here, but she is only relative to my experiences and it's not meant to be a memoir or an outlet, just being lent the perspective of my knowledge. I'm not using her to understand or even accept myself. I'm using my own experiences to make a more poignant and insightful story. It's just not one that can pass without taking something out of me.

Anywho, movies. I love to blog for anyone who would read it, but relaxation is still the name of the game after a stressful work week. I should only be working two days this coming week; and hopefully, because I'd like the energy for creative projects, not just some down time.

Be sweet, my babies!

Creative Control

Early on, when I decided to make the journey towards publishing, I asked myself a question that I still ask every so often: how much creative control do I want?

As a fan of books, movies, comic books, I'd once assumed that the creators themselves had the last word... At least until, I, as a charmed fan, drew pictures of what they looked like to me, wrote new situations for them to be in, changed what was canon for my own entertainment.

I guess it's for that reason that, when I started writing novels, I didn't feel like I wanted to obsess on every aspect that I did as a fan. Of course, I wanted to be thorough and get a good idea of each character for myself, but I found myself hesitant to draw my characters, to insist they look a certain way outside of the words. Possibly because I do picture them, as a fan would, in many different ways, experimenting with their look and unwilling to force the canon. I never wanted to be so possessive of my worlds that others felt restricted to that.

Of course, I did start my first two books by illustrating, but I found I didn't want my novels to be a replacement for drawing comics. I knew that the novels would take years to finish (since I almost always end up turning them into series), but I needed to create a hunger for making comics that I wouldn't build up by nibbling at it along the way.

The past couple days of just doodling in a sketchbook also reminded me I can't just neglect drawing. My damn hand was cramping, not used to the muscles being used like that. That will be a source of frustration if I try to start comics at full speed ahead. So, like most of my hobbies involving muscle memory, my sketchbook will need to get a workout here and there.

Working on this one today:

This is me playing with UnHeard's Princess Endramena, her guardian Maxim still has yet to join her on the page. Again, I'm not married to readers having to see my characters in any certain way, but sometimes I want to see how I can translate the mental visuals onto a page for myself. Plus, I enjoyed the little details I put into her jewelry. I'm debating on whether I'll greyscale color this or not. I still have to add texture to the lines. I guess it'll be down to the mood of the moment. I'll scan it before I do any coloring. That way, my friends that like to color can play with that.

Either way, I enjoy the change of pace I've been at this week. I'll be excited when UnSung drops on February 21st too. It's actually much more difficult setting a preorder than just publishing something when it's ready. For all of my patience with so many things, waiting to share something is never easy.

It's Not Really a New Year's Resolution, But...

I guess the next round qualifies, doesn't it? I work this last weekend of WinterFest before the UpShift list grows bleak for a while, at least for someone with my timeframe. I'd already planned to devote January to UnSung's 2019 release, as well as that dentist appointment falling smack dab on the first of the year. This will also be the same month I devote myself to sloughing off the winter weight, looking into a doctor who can help me uncover the mystery of why exercise usually means more muscle gain than weight loss for me.

So while it's not a proper resolution, it certainly falls under a timeframe liberated from the crunch of gift making and temp work, a time when I can get geared up for ComicCon and future goals.

I feel the near-sighted trepidation of a busy weekend and the healing of these ornery teeth. Yet in the middle of that, I'm looking forward to going to WinterFest with my family as guests and our sit-in New Year celebration involving wine (the delightfully non-alcoholic sparkling sort for the kiddies) and a slew of board games. So it's not all crunch time, just activities that will require energy I'll really have to reach for.

Yet I see it there, just past that-- the closing of another book, which will be my eleventh. I see the gratifying hard work as I brush up the cover and format it for print and ebook. I see the excitement of returning to UnHeard, my NaNoNovel, to make it into an epic third entry to the world I never named. Only the continents, some of the cities and the smaller elements grow in increasing revelation, an homage to how blurry the world can get on the broad and distant edges. Even my most well-traveled characters are subject to how the world moves behind their backs.

I love how writing is so full of these little treasures of the writer. It's not just full of what we know, but what we reach for, what we want to know, yet still never quite get. Like sand art, we endeavor to create these rainbow layers, but no matter how much we try to pack it tight so the gap doesn't disrupt the sands, disturbances and time always break it down further when it's bumped around.

Rather than try so carefully not to disturb the balance, there is a moment when we must accept that stories are subject to forces that even care cannot preserve. Instead of trying to make the sands cooperate, we must appreciate the beauty of not only what it was but what it becomes.

I truly anticipate going back to that uncertainty. I've never been held back by doubt when it comes to creativity, at least not in this stage of my life. In truth, all through my life, what I've done even leisurely is somehow always magnified by people in wonder of what I sometimes took for granted. From the comics I threw onto lined notebooks in grade school to the fluorescent fairies I hid around the flower shop I worked in, there was always unexpected joy in having what I created for myself spied over my shoulder, the unchecked sounds of admiration for ways I filled my time and calmed my mind.

So why wouldn't I want to find the guts to share it? Truly, the response was worth it, but I was undoubtedly fragile. It took many years to forge myself into a creature that understood how criticism should be taken, to improve myself or ignore it altogether.

Let's be real here (as if I'm ever not) and observe that the 'suck it up, buttercup' sentiment is bullshit. It worked for older generations, for a time when opportunities were abundant, but even in cutthroat competitive areas nowadays, it does you little good. Sticking it out nowadays means it's not healthy to suck up all that poisonous tripe. Those generations didn't have the ruthlessness of keyboard warriors and doxxing that could make or break who you are. We don't need to suck that garbage up. We need to turn it into something useful and send it out. We need to strategize, to build armies, to be the arbiters of our own fate because letting others define us is dangerous.

And, really, I don't know anyone who says that who isn't sitting comfortably in a niche that is working for them. 

Closing on a light note, I love squirrels. Not just watching the silly bastards, but how much their constant bustling seems completely carefree even with such purpose to it. How, once they make it to the top of a tree, they don't just puff up in pride. They look for the next great adventure with no hint of complacency. It's no wonder so many writers consider them a fitting mascot.

NaNo Finish!

As promised my final count was:

NOT IMPORTANT.
But also 72,639 (I'm such an ass).

But really, what I took out of this was just way, WAY more than a count. I'm going to have to trim a lot of fat, but I accomplished far more on this ambitious sprint than I could ever hope to point out.

Followed by goofy graphics:

Weeeee are the champioooons, my fre-hend...

Although I said so on the last post yesterday, if you haven't already, post your own below! I'm proud of you, whether you 'won' or not and you've earned my space to parade that victory.

Make sure you claim those juicy discounts and don't forget to rest or keep going if you're up for it. NaNo provides more scheduled months to edit or draft ahead, so if you like the concept of guidelines and camaraderie, keep it up.

As for me, I'm still drooling over my lovely edits, working on maps and outlines, writing shorts, blogging, all that good stuff. Okay, plus crocheting for Christmas gifts, but that's one of them holiday-related deadlines that builds me up some backbone.

Whether you're resting, editing, celebrating or hibernating, enjoy your victories!

When It's Good, It's Good

Despite how trite these words of wisdom are, it is what it is. I could do this forever, but what I'm getting at is that reaching a goal isn't always cause to celebrate. Or at least not for long.

After reaching 50K for NaNoWriMo on the 15th, my story was just on fire. There was no way I was putting it down to go back and edit, not when my current drafting efforts are falling together in ways I hadn't planned. 

The first time I ever heard that people don't find sequels as good as the first one directed at books, I was stunned. Sure, with movies, I get it. There's a whole team of people dumping ridiculous amount of money into a product they hope will start a full-blown franchise. For most writers, we learn that it can take a lot of damp matches to even light a candle let alone hope to set the world's imagination ablaze.

I've said before that I always feel like my first book of a series is weakest in retrospect. I know it's not the best business practice to make it seem lackluster when it's supposed to be the flagship that keeps up the journey. UnNamed excited me. Yet UnSung thrilled me. Working on UnHeard absolutely enthralls me. In a way, I feel like I may want to consider writing the first three books of any series before releasing anything. Why? Because I see a pattern of only feeling completely confident about the world I begin once I've established three books. My first series struck the same chord; in each trilogy, the third book always felt like the strongest.

UnNamed is almost too quick a read despite being nearly 90K. UnSung's massive word count really helped me pace the characters and discoveries and I'm finding the same colorful spread even more fully realized in UnHeard. I won't rewrite UnNamed unless there's some overwhelming call for it, but I feel like I might have thrown in another huge growth and wealth of story if I were going back to redraft it.

Of course, I'm playing with the idea of some short stories. A few branching from UnNamed's history, at least one brewing from UnSung. The UnSung one actually wedges in between UnSung and UnHeard but not in the series format that would make it fit. It would detail an event that will be vaguely mentioned sometimes but completely unnecessary to the main plot. I'm rather a stickler for not developing anything that doesn't link directly to the main plot so it's definitely a spin-off.

All the same, as a writer, I'm embracing the idea that plans are suggestions. I didn't expect to want to keep writing UnHeard. It was supposed to help build confidence in the continuing story but it became an entity all its own.

If I can offer any advice, it's this-- don't squander those hard pulls. Some writers might take that too narrowly. I do see quite a few that post those memes about starting five new stories on impulse but that's not as widely relatable as the Internet would have you believe. I'm never short on ideas, but I don't find those pulls affect me in the way I mean this. Those instant impulses are more along the lines of a hard tug, whiplash away from the scary finish. It's not that I don't have them, it's just that I don't place value on them when what I really want is the long pull.

It's not exactly beginner's advice because, like your first childhood crushes, all of the pulls/tugs feel important. It took years of introspection to understand the weight of impulses, to learn which ideas to flirt with and which to court. The 'years' part is subjective, having little to do with wisdom, age, experience or maturity. You just stop relating to the ones who complain they don't have enough ideas or have too many once you know it. You always have the right amount of ideas and adapt to how they present themselves.

I write almost obsessively despite this cold kicking my ass still because this is a pull and it makes me truly excited to follow it for days on end. If it had been an impulse, some false lead, it would have faded in a couple hours.

Don't mistake this as some statement for the superiority of epic-length novels. Anything that keeps you excited to keep going past a couple hours qualifies in this example. Pulls need time. You can get bursts from poetry or flash fiction but until you're pouring those into compilations, it's just not the same (coming from someone who was a burst writer). Again, if you're using the flirt/court analogy, then you're looking at the difference between a one night stand and a love affair. A text message and a shoebox full of love letters. Bursts are amazing and valuable but if you're lamenting that you'll never finish a novel as something that matters to you, then you're looking for the pull. Until you learn to swat the distractions, the chances of producing those larger goals are really slim.

Think about what else in your life could stand to improve by limiting those pesky impulses. Or just embrace the hot mess. 

For the hell of it, I'll just wrap it up by saying I'm at the 71K+ mark now. It's way over the goal, but why not see if I can make it to 100K?  Certainly seems doable at this rate.

Thought Dumps

I'm going to enjoy a little aimlessness here. Let's start with the NaNo word count: 34,477. That's twice the minimum daily average still, but I'll keep it up (and more) as much as possible. I don't hate reaching goal halfway through the month, for sure. I do have a couple of Thanksgivings to tuck in and if I'm mentally done with drafting, I can take a break or switch to editing or designing.

Moving on...

One thing that is becoming a habit is the increasing amount of time I'm spending coming up with back stories or subplots. Even as a gamer, these were always my favorite parts of gaming. The parts that were rarely ever told through action or skill-- just the emotional, intense, sometimes even vague developments that don't always reach the page. I more often use these rough events to internally explain why and how my character reacts as they do.

I'm not a stickler for the 'show, don't tell' nonsense, which I've explained before often seems too coy and just as repetitive as saying things outright. SHOW me how their feeling, don't TELL me they're happy. SHOW me the atmosphere of the bar, don't TELL me what it looks like. 

SHOW me there's a dog with sunglasses at the bar, don't TELL me...

I've heard that Steinbeck's work is to blame for this 'rule'. I can't hate the guy because he's a fan of quick, cool moral quoting like I am. I don't avoid showing and certainly, sometimes it's more effective to create a mood when you describe being swallowed in a man-shaped shadow rather than saying a tall man stepped in front of you. Still, more often than not, those that take the advice start to stack up a bunch of these: biting lips, balled fists, clenched teeth. These details can be fun to roll out for a scene where someone is pretending to be unbothered, but they keep telegraphing physical signs of tension. Other times, there's no build and these repetitions are doing quite the opposite. Unless it's truly effective, sometimes 'she was nervous he wouldn't come' is a-okay. Unless holding out that she is 'waiting on someone' or 'who it is' happens to be a good build, I'd push it through.

To be honest, there are just some genres where it works nearly every time, like mysteries or crime. When you want the reader to have to figure out the details before they are 'revealed' then it's perfect for this. I've heard some fantasy readers say they like it, but I find fantasy a place where dragging through every scene this way is tedious, both as a writer and a reader. Fantasy is more fun as a roller coaster, one where you change pace, structure, intent-- all at the drop of a hat for the sake of the story. You want those blockbuster twists. I'm definitely a fan of slow builds, but it has to stay relevant and hopefully interesting. There are many fantasies I just couldn't stomach unless they come out with an abridged version, because it became just as tedious with exposition as it did the very, very showy shit. Which is terrific if you're writing a proposal as a project manager. As a novelist, that shit needs polished up.

Here's another thing: like any writer I can talk a big game, but there's a big chance I'm breaking my own so-called preferences and rules. I'm probably leaning on a bias due to taste and experience. This is why it's okay to call my bluff. In fact, I appreciate being told where I've slipped up. It gives me a chance to reanalyze it and either defend why I did it or mentally seal in what to avoid in the future.

I wandered off of talking about back stories, but it came up because I was looking at my notes today. I haven't looked at them since I started drafting and realize I deviated a bit and still like the original ideas more. So I'll need to tweak the draft on that account, but at least it didn't deviate much. I certainly had the intent in line, so it's minor. 

There are some back stories that just don't fit into this series the way I intend it, but they also fit into the prequel area, a time long before any of the characters were alive in this story, back to where the trouble originated. I had originally gone with the name UnQuadrilogy with the intent to do more than four books anyway (because who doesn't like an intentional Douglas Adams-style gaffe, oxymoron intended?). So I think once I write the last of the main series, I want to go back and play with that prequel! I warmed up to some flashbacks in UnSung and I'll continue to throw those in where they fit, but I think there's a depth I want to reach that would just throw the main series too far off track to try to squeeze it all in.

So I'm thinking of a name for it already. UnFinished? UnEnding? UnTold? Perhaps I'll poll these later, but it's still quite the task to get these all tied up.

Chime in on this one, if you like. After UnNamed, UnSung, UnHeard and UnVeiled, which name do you think might make for a great prequel name?

Nothing But Net!

If only I could always be so productive...

After one helluva crunch weekend, the first draft of UnSung is done, done, donnnnnnne. What does this mean? There are a couple places where I need to amend scenes and add some plot details, which may boost the word count (which currently sits at the 234.3K word count mark), but there's no more guesswork, only refinement to do.

Since the epilogue always leads into the next book, I've also warmed up the characters leading into UnHeard, my NaNo novel for next month.

The edit for UnSung will wait. For the rest of the month? Cover art! I've staged the foreground layers for painting, just need to get it done. I will be redoing UnNamed's cover to fit the new convention. In the future, when I start new series, I'll be planning themes in advance. I didn't do this for UnNamed because I only decided to make it an UnQuadrilogy at the last minute. One of these days, I'm sure I'll be able to do a standalone novel but fantasy is just too tempting for the serials.

Piscine, one of my many plotted projects in wait, will be a sci-fi mystery thriller. It is definitely planned as a standalone yet since it could very well become serial, even that is one I'll plan a cover for that could carry on a theme.

The Dreampunk Chronicles, a Steampunk YA project, will definitely be serialized. I use both real world places and surreal fantasy destinations there so the possibilities will extend as far as I dare. I am still planning to write one of these following NaNoWriMo, but... After I set up UnSung for publishing and UnNamed for republishing (just a new cover). 

For those that bought the first edition, I may try to get some posters printed of the new cover to you, signed and sent free of charge as thanks for early adoption. I'll have to look at expenses but I really want to look at swag, convention booth options and so on for the coming year regardless.

Yes, the webcomic is another script I play with. With the way things are planned already, that's looking at a Fall 2019 slot at the soonest. I should have the first Dreampunk and UnHeard at least drafted by then. More details on those at a later date since I'm planning too far ahead already to nail down dates.

In the foreseeable future, Virtual FantasyCon is right around the corner, November 4-10. VFC Reader's Corner is a group you can join for the details. Remember, The Magical Book of Wands is up for preorder on Amazon. It's a great mix of fantasy short stories (I had the chance to read it this past weekend) and it's worth a read! Historical, urban, dark, traditional-- whatever your fantasy tastes, there's something for everyone. 

Here's hoping 2019 is an amazing year! 2017-18 were full of great learning experience, ups and downs aplenty, so I'm going into in with the same blend of optimism and cynicism that keeps me afloat. Thanks for hitching along!

Bras Don't Prevent Sagging Breasts and Other Reasons Why You Should Always Research What You Think You Know

Funny the things that inspire a bit of thinking... Hey, did you know that bras have never been about long-term preservation of breast shape and defying gravity? However, the study that actually asserts that bras can actually make the ligaments that hold up breast tissue 'lazy' is not as nearly as old as the bra, even fairly new. Like 15 years leading up to the study's conclusion in 2013 new. (LINK) If you hop around, studies tend to offer one exception-- supportive sports bras. Yes, bouncing while exercising actually CAN be detrimental (and painful). Personally, I stopped buying vanity bras many, many years ago and actually wear padded t-shirt type lounge bras all day and night long. This is more about preventing 'headlights' and assuring comfort, but the issues like back pain and sagging actually seemed to self-correct since. However, one of the reasons women gave me for getting a bra the moment my board-flatness became bountiful was to prevent sagging.

Precisely why everything you're SO sure about probably needs to be fine-tuned more often. 

Women's anatomy has faced a lot of confusion over the years. I can't say for certain modern schools are correcting this, but I remember my health class made it clear that the hole at the head of a penis routed both urine and semen. Sex education seemed to gloss over anything more than the basic sexual organs so we learned words like vulva, cervix and uterus, but not that we don't at all pee from the same hole we pop babies out of. Women find this out the hard way. It's not always when we first start out period either. Many girls start with pads because tampons seem terrifying (even once they've had sex-- a dry tampon is never painless to remove). In fact, it became clear several years after I started my period that they weren't that close at all-- when I peed on my hand a little trying a tampon. I don't mean to be too crude here, but women kind of have an 'aha' moment about their bodies that men don't have the benefit of. Men married for 30 years, quite familiar with their wife's parts, sometimes don't know this. Hell, some women probably don't really think about it-- at least until they have to have a catheter inserted or some other revelation of the actual location. (For a hilarious example of this, Orange is the New Black has an episode where the trans-woman character has an entire prison full of women using hand mirrors to prove it.) Vaginas themselves aren't really that sensitive (again, to my knowledge). I can pick up things like pressure, but the only thing even remotely sensitive is the clitoris. It's actually a combination of internal pressure and clitoral stimulation that leads to orgasm. Again, for some women-- sorry, we're just not all in the same category here either. Some women get nothing out of penetration and only rise to clitoral stimulation and vice versa. This is why some swear foreplay is better than intercourse.

I've probably lost some of the men with this one, but if you're still with me, it's actually important that I used examples involved something I actually have personal knowledge with. We don't actually talk about many of these things; not because women's bodies are 'shameful' (I really wish extremist feminists would choke on a dick every time they try this argument) but because often, we feel fucking stupid that we didn't realize it sooner. Why anatomy classes and sex education classes haven't decided where a woman's pee hole (and I shit you not, this is medically accepted terminology even) fits on the curriculum is beyond me, but nevertheless...

You don't know what you think you know about most things.

This goes for that degree you earned. Technology, medical, law, art, information-- it ALL changes. This is why many legitimate colleges often offer supplemental courses for life. So when a new program, a new law, a new medical condition comes along, your expertise doesn't rely a 20 year old education that is sometimes dangerously obsolete. This is why certain professions do keep active databases to consult for every case, every diagnosis. One missed symptom could lead to a deadly diagnosis. Let's not be over-dramatic here and wind it back down. Even as an artist or a writer, you don't want to fall behind on digital technology. Even if you use a traditional medium, it's imperative you learn how to digitally capture it best to take advantage of presenting it on social media or websites to attract buyers and fans.

Your stories are not less affected, writers. Even when you write fantasy, it's not really the easy way out to construct a world from scratch. It should be easy to just look up historical facts for your medieval fantasy and take them for rote because history doesn't change, right? Nope, sorry-- even dinosaurs are getting more entries in terms of subspecies and discoveries. It's also just as likely that a certain weapon or tools actual uses might have been given an educated guess-- at least until Bob the Butcher's leather-bound diary is found on his excavated body, revealing some actual uses even experts didn't foresee.

Knowledge can often give us a sense of ego, especially when we tend to know more than most people. Attaching 'expert' or 'master' to our name doesn't not make us the last word either. If we understand the weight and responsibility of knowledge, then we should always be suspicious of how it is spun or even how we spin it in presentation. Even when it makes perfect sense, we should always check for ourselves. Beware of bias, beware of ego, beware of that little trick the brain like to play on everyone-- filling in the blanks to bury the fear of the unknown.

Embrace the doubt of what you might not know. Check again when your ego seems oh-so-certain even. There's really no shelf-life or acceptable age for knowing what questions to ask. The internet now gives you a place to quietly feel stupid and educate yourself. Even the most intelligent of our species sometimes took a few thousand years to even think to ask certain questions, let alone answer them. Factors like religion, culture and society even buried some of them on purpose. Curiosity, historically, killed a whole lot of inquisitive kitties. New studies will disprove old studies and old studies will actually be found to be correct with the new study being fudged so the claimant could make a name for themselves (if you wonder why brain-dead anti-vaxxers exist, it's because of this. LINK). And no, you don't get to pull Darwinism's natural selection against babies and kids with auto-immune disorders if you're a fucking Creationist.

It's okay to carry biases, to write with biases (in fiction, especially), but at least be self-aware. There are times where cherry-picking is actually about separating the wheat from the chaff, but there are also cherry-pickers that are goblins against reason and progress. When you hear people vilifying vaccines for trace amounts of poisons, they will absolutely refuse to acknowledge there are trace amounts of cyanide in apple seeds, that any damn thing you consume could kill you if you consume enough of it. However, in certain doses, they are also helpful, even life-saving. You often get debates where they ask you for sources-- not so they can change their mind but so that your endless search for verified sources will wear you out enough that you realize it's a waste of time and give up. This is how keyboard-warriors 'win.' They don't actually need intelligence or proof-- they just need you to realize that you have better things to do in life than suffer fools.

Back to my fantasy peops, I hear ya when ya say 'it's fantasy; there are no rules.' You're almost right, but it isn't that there aren't any rules, it's just that it's your burden to explain them if you're suspending belief. I agree that fantasy is where you can rewrite society, create utopias and dystopias, and so on, but it is actually difficult to make this work if you're not making sure all the characters and plots uphold rules that probably don't come as naturally to you as you think. You'll slip into what does come naturally and realize you've destroyed entire chapters by traveling down a contradictory road, every piece after supporting the exact opposite intent. Our genre isn't as easy as it's made out to be (nor as complex as some writers have tried to make it-- not all fantasy requires companion glossaries).

In my previous post, I talked about planning. If you want complex ideas to translate well, you might spend a LOT of time researching and creating a strong web of seamless logic. However, one of the reasons we turn to beta readers is because we're not always flawlessly capable of knowing which questions to ask sometimes. We're so immersed in this rich landscape of details that it's stupidly easy to forget our left-handed swordshuman appears to be ambidextrous when they are just as good with their right. (I almost typed 'he is just as good'-- unconscious defaulting that was caught this time, but next time...) (Side note: If you have a swordshuman and it's not said in comedy, fuck your story. Chances are your shit is FILLED with virtue signaling of the PC variety.)

Strong opinions, strong language, are just that. They empower some and are distasteful to others. In my experience, market research is very nearly pointless. Safe stories just don't appeal to some people, edgy ones come off as trying too hard for others. Self-awareness, again, gives you some idea of the types of people who will like your story and the ones that won't. I've been in so many groups where egos set out to squash your ideas with yellow language like 'I don't see why anyone would like this idea in a book.' You know, as much as I loathe PC bullshit, there are plenty of people who are gasping to keep it alive too. I don't have to like it-- it's there whether I do or don't. Logic doesn't support the market, not really. It's WHY psychology fascinates me. There seems to be no bottom, no destination for what people are capable of. Studying it makes it conscious why I don't like certain people and am drawn to others. It also helped me understand why I tend to attract psychopaths (but how I learned to make them bored with me).

The more abyssal the research, the more tempting; I truly believe that. At some point, your deep dark rabbit holes will be the sort of obsession that people will try to shame you for or tell you it's useless. Some people dedicate their entire lives to research that which they are never credited for until their work is passed on and completed well beyond their years. It's easy to think of it as tragic... but never pity the ones who embrace their purpose. Lack of faith is pitiable to them. There is nothing harder or more satisfying than latching onto that purpose. People with a purpose, they'll stop arguing sanity with everyone. They won't suffer others to wear them down. They'll even tell you you've won if it will shut you up.

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UPDATES: my laptop charger came in the mail and I couldn't be more psyched that I have my laptop working again! This is why my posting speed didn't taper off TOO much from the daily. I was aching to get back to typing and scheduled posts like crazy.

There was beginner's angst, just what I was afraid of. I stared at my laptop like it might bite me. So I couldn't just dive right back into UnSung. Instead, while making sure my backed up files were up to date, I came upon my script for the webcomic. Ended up spending a few solid hours writing up some more episodes. In truth, I want to plan about 20 episodes before I set out to draw it. I'm up to about 10.5 episodes.

What else? I opened some templates and set out creating color palettes for the UnQuadrilogy covers. I decided on a cohesive theme to extend across the series. As much as I love the original UnNamed cover, it doesn't quite carry over in theme. I'm going to try a very different style than my usual comic style, but it's important to me to show off my flexibility in design and mood.

So September... I wasn't expecting to get my charger so soon, so it gives me a couple of weeks' boost actually! I've decided that UnSung Part III and other writing projects are going to get a solid binge in the next two weeks. The planning gave me so much momentum, it might go quicker than expected.

October will definitely include prepping for NaNoWriMo and making sure I market the anthology. I actually want to focus on art here though. My writing got a longer run than planned and I want to hunker down on those UnQuad covers. I do want to try to cram as many of my big projects' needs into the next seven weeks as possible so I can crack down on NaNoWriMo in November.

November is the No is NaNoWriMo. First and only focus... 'Nuff said.

December-- what I call PeEdDiMo. Please don't coin that, no matter how much it makes you laugh. Personal Editing Disaster Month. I'll edit my NaNo mess, UnSung's draft and whatever other carelessly written messes I end up with. It's... not really as bad as it sounds. I'm an eager masochist when it comes to editing. It's not exactly easier now that I have great methods to streamline it, but it's massively satisfying to be done with it because of what a pain in the ass it is. Give it a good spanking and it's all goosebumps and tingling, not welts and bruises. 😉

Future updates will probably just explain what actually happened. Heh. Sometimes I wander from intent. Not a bad thing. It really just ends up meaning the priorities are spread out between things differently. I might not have gotten as far as I hoped with x project, but projects a, b, and c might have gained from it.

Happy Dance/ Beta Reorganization

Because blogging is bipolar, we're shifting to the fully positive, almost sickeningly enthusiastic side of things.

First and foremost, a happy dance is in order. After my previous confession of needing to muster up the troops and get to some serious outlining, I am almost completely unable to stop attacking my current book with an ever-increasing word count. I not only put a 14K ring on Part II, but I've seen its transition into Part III. My muse has this unwritten rule, mind you: Write out of order or she'll be out of order faster than a vending machine at the bowling alley or the men's room at a dive bar. So I set out to spot edit between Parts I and II and ended up with the muse taking a joy ride directly over to the epilogue and start setting up the lead-in for the third book, UnHeard.

Which is why I'm postponing the beta I was planning for Part I which is more correctly still a very polished alpha, but some things might wiggle loose while writing Part II that I'd rather not confuse readers with as a clear work-in-progress when I jiggle some conversation and events just a bit askew.

I've also decided I'm going with BetaBooks for this. Click on the hyperlink and check it out, especially if you're interested in queueing for the beta in its current TBA state; I'll still put you on my list. Once I start putting up the beta on FB groups, you'll know it's in serious motion and I'll start linking people to them. I don't have official 'chapters' but everything is parsed into sections according to scene and characters, so I might start people out in different plotlines rather than the book in its usual chronology. This will keep people following one solid progression and able to spot confusing breaks in the continuity if present. I might leave it up to request for people to read it in its entirety, but be warned that this book will be super epic in length and will likely break 200K words in its entirety, so I endeavor to keep any commitments flexible this way. I even have bits that are really small, short story length, that I'd appreciate a look-through for.

So yeah, I jumped the gun on betas, but I promise this is for the quality of the experience since it is a very ambitious entry in the series.

Happy news all around though, short and sweet. I can feel my craft honing to a finer edge as I go. I'll never down on my first series, which still continues to entertain me whenever I read it, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that it only gets better. I'm still unconventional in my methods, but I believe that flexibility is what makes personal successes something to treasure. Perhaps someday there will be someone looking to discover my story and it won't be one you find in every writer's blog, the cookie cutter road to 'success.' For me, there's no greater motivating (and pant-shittingly scary) path to a good story than a life carved stubbornly through the mountain. Safe doesn't guarantee success, so why not aim for a worthwhile journey?