Writers on Writing Blog Hop

My friend, Marva Dasef, tagged me for this blog hop. It sounded fun so I'm playing along. Check out her post here. I'm supposed to answer these four questions and tag other authors to play along. So without further ado, here are my answers and taggees:

What am I working on/writing?

I'm finishing up publication on my Fall of the Altairan Empire series, a fun space opera adventure series. It's been years in the making. It's a bittersweet thing. I'm glad it's finally out there, but I'm sad that it's over. But that means it's time for new things. I've got a steampunk/fairyland/elf fantasy (Dark Dancer is due out hopefully this fall depending on how much editing it needs) in the works along with a middle-grade fantasy adventure series and more space opera novels. It's always something.

How does my writing/work differ from others in its genre?

I've been told my writing is reminiscent of pulp sci-fi adventure stories from the 50s. People have compared my books to Andre Norton or Elizabeth Moon, which made me extremely happy. I love both of those authors and adore their books. It's flattering.

I write books that I want to read, which means lots of action and explosions and characters you can admire as well as villains you can hate. I love long series, too, so I wrote an 11 book, million+ word saga. That should keep readers happy for a few days.

Why do I write what I do?

I love adventures and fun characters. I also love playing, "What if?" Aliens, spaceships, other worlds, space in general - I love them all and can't get enough of them. But I also enjoy magic and fantasy settings. Mostly, I just want to tell stories. I love telling stories.

How does my writing process work?

I futz around for a while, answer the phone three times, find my water bottle, find chocolate and snacks, tell the kids I'm writing and they better not disturb me, go to the bathroom, check on the kids, watch a few episodes of my favorite tv shows, take the dogs outside, answer the phone a few more times, realize the day is almost over and I haven't written anything yet, complain to whoever will listen, then maybe knock out a few words and vow to do better tomorrow.

That's true some days, but not always or else I'd never get anything done. On a good day, I hide in the bedroom out of reach of the phone, turn up my music, and WRITE. Once I'm in the zone, the words just pour out. I don't care if they're good or not, not until I get into editing mode which comes much, much later after the book is finished.

And the music? Depends on what I'm writing. I've got movie soundtracks, pop songs, classical, heavy metal, anime, and a whole lot of other music genres in my library. I find something that fits the mood I need and let it carry me away into the story. The latest I repeated ad nauseum for about ten hours were the soundtracks for Medal of Honor and Wing Commander. I've never seen either movie, but I adore the soundtracks. Dr. Who is also good. As is this one:

And sometimes, my playlist even includes MLP:FIM songs. I live in a house of bronies. I can't help myself.

Make sure you visit these authors next week to check out their answers:

Soozcat blogs the most interesting things.

"Since I first started posting to Confessions of a Laundry Faerie in September 2006, I’ve tried several times to nail down what my blog should be about: Journal entries? Personal essays? Short stories? Flights of fancy? Finally I just gave up and ticked “All of the above,” and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since."

Check out Confessions of a Laundry Faerie.

Dene Low has written several books, with the latest being COOKIES TO DIE FOR that came out in May. Her writing spans the genres of Young Adult fantasy to mainstream mystery and some scholarly publications on the side, including poetry.  Her books have won won numerous awards, including being a finalist for the Mystery Writers of American Edgar Award and a selection of the Junior Library Guild. She is a university professor who teaches writing. She and her husband love to see their many grandchildren and travel. She especially likes riding her motorcycle.

Check out her blog at denelow.com

Kathryn Olsen is a Bostonian essayist whose interests range from Chaucer to Challion. She has contributed to iEmily, Voices, What Culture and Authors Publish Magazine and will be featured in an upcoming anthology of Mormon writers. She came to Utah to study English at Brigham Young University and has not yet gotten around to leaving. In her spare time, she travels as much as possible, works full time and talks to her four goldfish.

Check out her blog at http://novel-ties.blogspot.com.

Writing a Serial Story

For the last few years I've been playing with a serial blog story. It's just for fun, Star Trek fanfic sort of, based on a character I play at work. Read it here, if you want. It's a different exercise than writing a short story or novel. Those I plan out. I know what's going to happen and where the story is going. With a serial story, I make it up as I go along. I have no idea where the story is going to end when I start writing. Each week or so, I sit down and write another episode. I guess it's like writing a tv show, but I wouldn't know. I only watch those, I've never written one.

For those who like to write by the seat-of-their-pants, this process will sound very familiar. From what I understand, those authors make it up as they go. I respect them for that. It's a tough process when you give yourself that much freedom. I write from a loose outline, nothing too specific, except for my serial story. That is truly seat-of-my-pants.

It's a weird feeling and more than a little scary to write an episode at a time and post it before you write the next one. What if the writing isn't polished? What if I made mistakes? What if I change my mind and want to rewrite to take the story in a new direction? What if it isn't any good? What if no one reads it? Wait, that last one is a good thing. Sort of.

So why do we write stories if not to share? And what's more fun than sharing that scary but exciting first exploration draft? Serial stories can be lots of fun to write and read. You have a new chapter every week, if the author sticks to a schedule (sorry, I don't do that very well with my story. I post as I write which can be very hit and miss but the first two stories are up and story #3 is started). Writing them is usually done just for fun. There is no real plotting or planning, at least the way I'm writing. The story is free to wander wherever it wants. Scary, but exciting. The story and characters can take surprising twists. For those who believe that the author is in charge and decides everything, you've never really written stories. The characters come alive and do things different than the author may want. The story may wriggle itself in brand new directions. Ideas rise from your meta-consciousness like the kraken from the deep, mysterious and unexplained.

Do you write a serial blog? Post a link and share! For those of you who've never read one, go try one.
Adrian Stevens, Quartermaster

Excerpt Monday - Try something new!

Head over to the Far Edge on WordPress to read chapter 1 of Nexus Point, then follow the links to try out some new authors on Excerpt Monday - http://bit.ly/cSori1

Good reading, everyone!

Writing is like...

...a box of chocolates. Each one is a little bit different. You never know what you're getting until you bite into it.

Um, not quite? Try again?

...cooking. No matter how carefully you follow the instructions, measure, and bake, it never turns out the same. And sometimes the serendipitous mistakes lead to the most delicious results.

Hm. Do over.

...eating an elephant. One bite at a time. It takes a lot to chew through something that large.

...bathing naked in a pool full of man-eating, ravenous sharks. With paper cuts.

No, wait. That's what being published feels like some days. How would you complete the sentence?

Monday Viral Blues

I decided I needed to post twice a week. Mondays will be devoted to writing advice, author interviews, and other topics of interest to writers. Thursdays will be recipe/family life articles.

So this Monday post is: Simple Advice for Writers, 5 easy ideas of things NOT to do (Yes, I've done them all)

1. Never write while under the influence of children. Your dialogue ends up reading something like this:
"Kiss me," she whispered, passion glittering in her eyes.
"Quit kicking the cat!"
"Oh, my dearest darling, Stop squishing peas into the carpet!"
"I don't care what your brother said, he is NOT stealing your air when he breathes!"
Her bosom heaved as his hand slapped his sister. "I'll give you something to scream about, you little monsters!"

2. Never write while under the influence of cold medication. This should be self-explanatory. If you're anything like me, your brain takes a holiday. What you write is highly entertaining but usually makes very little sense when read in the light of day.

3. Never take advice columns too seriously. Really, folks. The best way to learn to write is to do it. Then get people you trust to read what you've written and give you feedback. If all they tell you is, "This is wonderful!", find other friends who know something about writing. Pick apart books you like, books you don't like, movies, whatever has a story to tell. Study other people's writings. Then write more of your own works. Keep writing.

Good luck with your writing endeavors. I'm going to go take more cold medication now.