In the third week of this July's Camp Nanowrimo, as is the case often, I find myself stalling out. This is the collab with my brother Tony, this is a story that we've been working on for over a year, and yet I can't seem to keep myself motivated. It's a new genre for me, at least with an eye to publication, and Tony and I have wildly different writing styles and voices. But I adore Lark and Vyx, the two characters I'm responsible for at the moment, and so when I run across music like today's offering that just pushes through all the noise in my head and lets me hear Lark clearly I hang on tight...even if this song sounds like Connor (Tony's responsibility) all day long. Enjoy (lyrics in the video).
22 July 2024
01 July 2024
Music Monday: You're gonna go far, kid.
So, full disclosure...I was reminded that I was once punk-adjacent and loved The Offspring when I heard this song in a video game advert. But I couldn't help thinking of the characters in my current WIP, the collaboration with my brother, and all of the fighting that is to come in the latter parts of their story. I mean, what's a good story without a boss mob to take down?
Yeah, that's back to the video game. Fair enough. But if you just need a good song with a pounding beat and some fairly dodgy and yet still awesome lyrics that you can almost belt out in the car or at the gym, The Offspring is a good bet. Works double for authors, you see - our characters can beat up on the bad guy while we beat up the keyboard writing those scenes. Win, win. What are your favorite songs to get ramped up and ready for (literary only) destruction?
Or maybe you're just staring down a new nano month and you need some motivation? I got you. GET IN! (Lyrics are in captions, and it's a bit NSFW in places but hey, that's the punk-adjacent way, man.)
22 April 2024
Music Monday: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow...
31 July 2023
Music Monday: We're all a little unsteady...
03 July 2023
Music Monday: Tattooed Camp Nano?
26 June 2023
Music Monday: I ran...
This has always been one of my favorite songs, and I can't beat an epic remake when I'm staring down another Camp Nanowrimo month. Enjoy. Watch this space for more Nano tidbits and other bits...once I can slow down enough to blog about them!
01 May 2023
Music Monday: Out with the Nano, in with the Eurovision
I've packed up my tent and left my laundry in front of the washing machine, and I'm jetting off* to Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest because May is the month of magnificent music!! I mean, it's like the French entry says... Évidemment.
(No captions because it is captioned already and in English.)
*There is no jetting anywhere except to the sitting room to watch the ESC 2023.
24 April 2023
Music Monday: How Very Dare You (Warning: NSFW)
Once again, I'm diving into Tiktok for the song of the week, and like the one I posted last time, this one does not disappoint. Have you got some rage left over after you've had Paris Paloma's labor on repeat for a week? I got you, fam. While not safe for...work? Male ears? Dinner parties and other such fanciness... This song is on repeat in my head and has resurrected my connection with my MC in this month's Camp Nano, just in time to get in those last 10k words to the finish line.
What?
Anyway, enjoy...or rage. Your choice. I would also suggest checking out Chinchilla's other music because there are some amazing moments in their back catalog.
19 April 2023
On Writing, Nanowrimo, and Writer's Block
It's a funny thing, being a writer, especially when you aren't writing for your DayJob™ income. Some days I am so ready to throw off the day's frustration and will make my target word count and then some. Other days, I know what I want to get done but none of it it happening. Every sentence is awful.
Usually, the Nano months will pull me out of that ofnadwy (my favorite Welsh word these days, means terrible) slump and get me back to putting words down. You can always sort out the good from the bad later.
Until this month. Holy Shnikes, is this an uphill battle! It's a new project but not a new genre, if you will. I've got two "manuscripts" in my hard drive that are vampire fiction and the fits and starts of a third. I think the difference is that this one is a collaboration with another author, and I'm frustrated by only hearing one of the two main characters in my head.
There is still plenty of time to go, at least. My word count target is very low, so I don't have to worry about not being able to finish, no matter how ofnadwy the end result is. If you've gotten to this point where NOTHING IS HAPPENING, how do you pull yourself out of it?
03 April 2023
Music Monday: Leaping into Camp Nano Like...
...get it? A Catapult?
Listen, I had many other puns involving felines that were MUCH worse, so...you're welcome.
I have a feeling I have posted this song already before it got lost in the seventy-eleven playlists that I have for every significant moment in my life, but if so, enjoy it again. Another writer I follow on Twitter just finished Darkness and referred to Sath and Gin's relationship as "delectable" (what? Maybe I AM a romance writer after all? No...). I heard this song again recently and it really does bring me into the mind of the Royals of Qatu'anari, so I'm sharing it with you. Romance with a side of never-ending danger and a bit of sarcasm - Sath and Gin all day long. Since this April's Camp Nano isn't going to be in Orana, I'm getting all my Sath and Gin vibes out here.
Maybe.
Probably not.
02 April 2023
Off Camping...Again. April 2023 Newsletter
Well, here goes nothing.
Again.
This is my 24th Camp Nanowrimo, which means 12 years of trying to fit in 2 more 30-50K word months in the year. There have been a few that didn't reach that goal, but that's okay. I just looked back at my projects, and I do have something listed for all of them at least.
This is why I preach the Nano gospel whenever someone asks me for my best advice for someone that wants to get started writing - the accountability is there, the community is there - I firmly believe it can be a great introduction to this crazy life.
So many of my books have started as Nano/Camp Nano projects, including all of the Orana Chronicles, the World of Arcstone, and the Clobberpaws/Proud Racer novels. If you have any questions about joining up for either of this year's Camp sessions (April and July) or the full Nano proper in November, I'd love to hear from you.
As always, if you want signed copies of my books and can't make it to one of the events, contact me and let's talk about how I can make that happen. If you have a copy of one of my books, I'd love it if you'd leave me a review - that's the best way for others to find my books and for me to know how my writing is being received!
Cheers, y'all!
25 January 2023
Upcoming Appearances, 2023
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| At 742 North, Rock Hill, Fall 2022 |
(I have submitted applications to DragonCon and will submit to Multiverse, both in Atlanta, and if I'm successful this time, y'all will be the first to hear about it!)
First is the Atlanta Steampunk Expo, where I will be signing copies of Strid (and my other books, too), February 10-12 at the Atlanta Marriott Northeast/Emory Area. My table will be in the Decatur Exchange - come see me!
After that, I will be running up the road to hang out with one of my favorite groups of authors at 742 North's Springtime Blooms event from 10-6 on March 4th. I will have all of my books there and would love to see you if you happen to be in the Rock Hill, SC, area.
April and May are the Georgia Renaissance Festival, and I'm hoping to get together a signing event one weekend there now that I don't really have a dog that can work with the Hounds. I'm sure that I will be traveling down there with my vaudeville partner, Anne, even if I am without hound...you can take the girl out of the rennies, but you can't take the Rennie out of the...no, that sounded better in my head. Never mind. Moving on.
April is also Camp Nanowrimo, and while that isn't an appearance, it's something that I love dearly. The second round will be in July, so if you don't hear from me during those two months, I'm likely writing.
The second book in the World of Arcstone series, Storm, is set to launch on the 15th of May, just in time to take it to the next event on the list (if I get space in Author's Alley).
The first weekend in June is ConCarolinas at the Hilton Charlotte University Place. I really consider this my home faire, and I've been an author guest there since 2020. I will definitely be an author guest and on panels, and I'm hoping for space in the juried Author's Alley to sell/sign copies of my books. The Kaylee cosplay will be returning, and I'm thinking maybe something Stargate or Star Trek related? We'll see.
July sees me heading up the road to Winston-Salem, NC, for Congregate 9. I had to bow out of Congregate 8 last year, and I'm feeling so lucky and thankful that they are having me back this year. I will be in Author Alley there at the Downtown Marriott.
August will be Back to the DayJob™️ for the most part. September 8-9, I will be setting up at the Upstate Renaissance Faire in Greer, SC, and hoping that we do NOT have weather like last year. I'm excited to decorate my tent and figure out which piece of my Rennie garb will work best for sitting in a chair and signing books. That faire is fantastic, complete with a dragon. Come visit if you're nearby!
September is also my professional development month - and I will return to the Broadleaf Writer's Association annual conference in Decatur, GA. This event always recharges my batteries and prepares me to tackle my next WIP.
November is a busy month, as I'm tentatively planning the launch of the next book in the Guardians of Orana series, Hero. It will also bring another chance to participate in the Time Traveling Authors event at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. More on that event later in the year, and next year I've already been invited to the Dahlonega Literary Festival, which I believe is in March of 2024.
I hope to see you at one or more of these events, so I can ask, "what kind of books do you like to read?"
25 July 2022
Music Monday: I'm Only Real...I Mean Human
18 July 2022
Music Monday: 80s Throwback, Part 1
11 July 2022
Music Monday: Heavy is the Crown...
I'm behind on my intro to Daughtry, admittedly. But here is one that strikes me as more Orana than Arcstone...and I'm hoping putting it out here will get it out of my head and stop distracting me. This Camp Nano is Arcstone, dang it! Enjoy.
04 July 2022
Music Monday: Not Stranger Things. Nope.
I'm sure you've seen the Stranger Things season finale/last two episodes/massive LOTR length movie pretending to be two episodes of a television show, and that you have all the feels. Well, I'm not spoiling anything here, so I'll just leave you with something I found on Spotify the other day that slots in amazingly well to the playlist for this month's Camp Nanowrimo.
But never fear, I have a whole bunch of ST4-related song post ideas. A WHOLE BUNCH.
16 May 2022
Music Monday: Cuckoo
Y'all. I love Rising Appalachia...but this song is just AMAZING. I can't even put into words yet why it strikes me so, but I can tell you that this song speaks in the voice of one of the MCs and I am obsessed. Enjoy, won't you?
09 May 2022
Music Monday: T minus 7 days and counting...
02 May 2022
Music Monday: On Leaving my Nano World...for now...
And a picture of us
Even though it was framed
And covered in dust
It's the map in my mind that sends me on my way
They say it's never too late
To stop being afraid
And there is no one else here
So why should I wait?
So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair?
And your moment of truth
Is the day that you say "I'm not scared"
Put your hands in the air
If you hear me out there
I've been looking for you day and night
Shine a light in the dark
Let me see where you are
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind
If I told you that you're not alone
And I show you this is where you belong
One more time
I've seen a million miles
Met a million faces
Took all I knew
To reach all these places
And I'd do it again
If it brings me back to you
So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair?
And your moment of truth
Is the day that you say "I'm not scared"
Put your hands in the air
If you hear me out there
I've been looking for you day and night
Shine a light in the dark
Let me see where you are
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind
If I told you that you're not alone
And I show you this is where you belong
Put your hands in the air
One more time
Put your hands in the air
Put your hands in the air
If you hear me out there
I've been looking for you day and night
Shine a light in the dark
Let me see where you are
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind
If I told you that you're not alone
And I show you this is where you belong
Put your hands in the air
One more time
Put your hands in the air
One more time
25 April 2022
Music Monday: Ray of Light at the End of the Tunnel
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