Six-Sentence Saturday 05/26/2012

Good morning, everyone!

For my six sentences today:

1.) I'm cleaning my house like a mad thing right now! *achoo*

2.) I have no good books to read. *pout*

3.) Having no books is a GOOD thing, 'cause it makes me more motivated to work on my WIP

4.) My WIP is showing me new ideas I never thought possible.

5.) Isn't it funny how you hang around other writers, get super jazzed about what you're working on, and come home to discover you had less time to write NOW than you thought you had before?

6.) Memorial Day Weekend! As a shock and a surprise, I'll get to have Tuesday off, 'cause Monday's are my normal day, so I get it anyway! Squeeeeeeeeeeee!

That's all. I'm just going to share a couple songs I'm LOVING right now... (my taste is widely spread, so don't feel TOO shocked at the weird array down there.)

God bless

Cat

Six-Sentence Saturday 01/14/2012

Hello again, dedicated readers!

1.) Some of my family and I are going to watch WAR HORSE today - I'm super excited!

2.) I received a massive amount of Diana Wynne Jones books, and I'm going through them very methodically and devouring them.

3.) I'm on the second stage of my revision process on one of my WIP's, and I've just started editing chapter seven.

4.) Don't let anyone tell you - EVER! - that revision is easy, 'cause it's NOT.

5.) I keep having odd and random dreams that play out like book plots, and this new one that I just had last night makes me think I've been reading too MUCH Diana Wynne Jones, if such a thing is possible... it was just that bizarre!

6.) I just received an email from my Josh Groban subscription that says Josh is starting on a NEW ALBUM!! That is the news of the year for me right there. HURRAY FOR 2012!

That's all for now, except I'm also going to share the new Josh Groban music video of his fabulous song "If I walk Away." Enjoy, and God bless.

Reaper's Son

I'm not one for horror. Horror... well, it horrifies me. I generally walk away from it going, "uhhhhhh" and **shudder**.

However, at the online Writer's Retreat that I frequent (and get lots of writing tips from), there are these fun monthly competitions called Monthly Write Offs. What it is, is this: one person gets to be the "Ruler", and say what kind of story needs to happen, i.e., fantasy, fiction, non-fiction, etc. The Ruler also gets to say what kind of word count you get, whether 750 words to 2500, or even 500 MAX! Then there are certain key elements that you must include. For example, in one Monthly Write Off, we had to insert four different random lines (two of them were "Give it to me",and "It must be a joke") and several different words, such as "confabulation", into the story, and make it FLOW. It's always fun, and at the end of the month you've got this story you'd never thought you'd write, but which might just be marketable.

Well, for the MWO in May, we did a Halloween theme, and I surprised myself by actually dreaming up something creepy! Really, really creepy. I scared myself, you know? In fact, it was so eerie I called it the Reaper's Son, and submitted it with a kind of shocked disbelief that I had written it. Now, I'm in the revision process of the Reaper's Son, and I've got two potential markets I'm going to sub it to. Isn't that something?

So, no matter what genre you think you're "blocked" into, remind yourself to always try something new. I'm rather fond of the Reaper's Son... I hope I'm able to place it. Be that as it may, it opened a new door for me and let me explore a new niche that I actually enjoyed venturing into.

Good night!

Badger's Cross. What do you think?

What do you think of the title, "Badger's Cross"?

I thought it was a poor, pitiful excuse of a title. But then, I had several people comment on it, how intrigued they were by the title, and how anxious they were to see what the story was about.

So, I think I may keep it, after all.

To be quite clear, "Badger's Cross" is NOT about a badger... it is about a boy whose nickname is Badger. The MC's name is actually Paul Ryan. (Don't you just LOVE that name? **sigh**) Paul Ryan is prob'ly on of my more favourite MC's that I've created. I can't wait to spill the essentials of his story on NaNo. I chose to do this story, 'cause I'm hoping the constant action of the plot will keep me propelled enough to grind out my 1,667 (or more... hopefully) words a day through November. Only eleven more nights 'til NaNo!!

"Badger's Cross" is going to be a YA mystery/thriller type of story. It's going to feature murder, a fall from faith, revenge, drugs, and lots of shootouts. I'm hoping it turns out as well as it sounds here!

Meet Annie

Don't you just love it when a new character wanders into your head, and says, "Hello, there" ?

I do, too. While I was working on Soccer Sam, a new little voice knocked on my head and demanded, peremptorily, that I needed to write about her. Since she was SO demanding, I did so.

That's how I met Annie. She doesn't have a middle name. She doesn't have a last name. She's just Annie, with a Daddy, and a Mommy who's having a baby.

Annie is SO excited that she's going to have a baby brother, or sister. Babies are so much fun. They're like little live dolls that you can play with and love, but better.

Then, everyone begins doing things just for the baby, and Annie begins to wonder if the baby is going to be as fun as she thought it was.

Don't worry, she finds out that it is. After all, who can't love a baby?

I hope you all love Annie as much as me. She's a WIP, right now.

Destiny's Son

It's amazing how just looking at an open submission can get creative juices flowing.

Pill Hill Press is open to submissions for their Shadow and Light Vol II anthology, and an idea just sort of oozled into my mind and demanded to be written.

All I had for character was "he", a man "who was more wound than man". That line sort of pummelled my brain and said "Write me! Write me! Write me!" and wouldn't leave me alone until I did. Ideas poured out of me onto paper, and I transferred it all to my computer, and that all took about one day.

But remember, after you've transferred something to the computer, DO NOT for a second believe you are done! If you don't belong to a critique group, I urge you to join now. I finished Destiny's Son, and sent out a request for a critique to people at Writer's Retreat, an online writer's forum that I frequent... frequently. Thanks to the generous fellows who answered my call, my story got critiqued, and edited to the most perfect form I could create for it.

Now, to say farewell to this character that I have just been introduced. Time to let him try his wings and see if others love him as much as I do.