Category: Words

Writing Milestone: Twenty Completed Novels

6/21/2016

I completed the first draft of my latest novel, tentatively titled Riders on the Storm, a couple days ago. I'm guessing it took a while to process the fact that it was really done, which is strange given how many novels I've already written. I didn't share anything about it on Facebook until last night, and it hadn't even dawned on me until now that perhaps I might share this wonderful milestone here.

Counting collaborations, Riders on the Storm is my twentieth completed novel.

Just for fun, here is a list of them all:

Published
1. Myths of Gods
2. The Private Sector (World-Mart)
3. World-Mart
4. Aftermath (World-Mart)
5. Finding Poe
6. Cast in Blood (Revelations) -- cowrote with Jaime Johnesee and Christine Sutton
7. Cast in Fire (Revelations) -- cowrote with Jaime Johnesee and Christine Sutton
8. Cast in Shadow (Revelations) -- cowrote with Jaime Johnesee and Christine Sutton

Backlisted
9. Blood and Coffee (The Darkness and the Night)
10. Cosmic O (The Darkness and the Night)
11. Twins of Darkness (The Darkness and the Night)
12. Lust in Space (Pandora's Hope)
13. Pandora's Hope
14. Love in Space (limited printing sold on the Home Shopping Network)
15. The Hidden Valley

Never Published
16. The Nightcrawlers -- co-wrote with Erin Barker (manuscript long lost)
17. Cinderella Eyes
18. Digital Paige (good idea; just couldn't execute it right)
19. Agoraphobia -- currently querying
20. Riders on the Storm

All together, this adds up to roughly one and a quarter million words I've written in novels alone, which I think is pretty damn cool. Writing has always been the one activity that has followed me throughout my life, the one thing that has defined not Lisa the Twin or Lisa the Wife, but Lisa the Individual. No matter what has gone wrong or right in my life, the good or bad choices I've made, through the successes and failures, writing has been where I can turn to ground myself. It's also the best way I can think of to communicate the ideas constantly building in my mind. I'm an introvert, a thinker. I express myself best through the written word. Writing is a big part of who I am.

Some things I've learned so far:

Not every novel you write will be good. (You might even write a couple of stinkers.) If you write a flop, dust yourself off and get started on something new.
Write the kind of fiction your gut tells you to write. If your heart's not in it, why even bother?
The more critique you can get, the better. No one enjoys getting a list of what isn't right with his or her book, but if you take critique seriously and put forth the necessary effort to address it well, your writing will improve just as much as the story will.
Celebrate every milestone. I usually give myself a pat on the back for every 10-25k words I write. I'll often treat myself to ice cream or a nice dinner to celebrate a finished novel.
If you're an introvert like me, you might not get out much. If you can go to a writers convention, do it; you'll find that a whole new you comes out when you are among your tribe. Make connections, even if they remain strictly online. Share what you know and learn what you can from those who have more experience than you.

I mentioned in a recent blog post that this most recent novel (which still lacked a title at the time) was notably different than the bulk of my other books. The subgenres I'd chosen to work with had put me way outside my comfort zone, and I wasn't really sure at first if I was even going to be able to complete a draft. By the time the story and characters began coming into their own, however, I could see series potential. I love the world, and as difficult as it has been to write, it's been every bit as enjoyable. We'll see where it goes....

Thank you for letting me share this milestone with you! Hopefully, I'll have more news to share about Agoraphobia and Riders on the Storm very soon.

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Why I Write

12/8/2012

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I’m sure you’re preparing yourself for some clichéd rambling about my writing because I must, or that I knew I was a writer since I was seven, or something else to that effect. While all that might be true, I thought I’d delve a little deeper into the subject, while at the same time offering a few candid words behind my motivations in sharing the written word.

I’m not your typical thirty- (around the corner from forty-) something. I’ve spent much of my life observing rather than participating, documenting rather than doing, and analyzing instead of simply enjoying the moment. I can only assume that a good number of other writers have shared a similar path, although it is a difficult one to admit.

If not in talent, then at least in demeanor, I am a Salinger … a Dickenson … a hermit. I strive to understand the human condition, many aspects of which thoroughly confound me, by exploring it through my writing.

I write from an outsider’s point of view. This is both to my detriment and to my advantage. It is only human to want to connect, and so my greatest wish is to reach others in the only way I truly know how. Throw me into the heart of a booming party, and I’m clueless. My heart will race, my body will glisten with sweat, and I will stand awkwardly in the corner of the room, unsure how to interact. The truth is, I don’t fit in. I’ve never fit in. And it is painfully obvious to anyone who has encountered me in person.

I spent my childhood clinging to my books and my studies for some sense of grounding, while bullies singled me out and chiseled away relentlessly at my self-esteem. They saw my weakness, and as any young person will do, my peers exploited it to their greatest advantage. I spent my high school years finding ways to stay as invisible as possible, lest someone notice the bull’s eye painted across my forehead and the word “outcast” visible within the furthest depths of my horrified eyes. Some people fear spiders, some fear snakes, and some fear the dark. I fear none of those; I fear people.

One of the greatest motivations behind what I write is a stern desire to understand all that eludes me. I seek to gain as much from my works as I would hope others might gain in reading them. Of course, what we each derive will likely be very different, and that is the beauty of it. I write because it is my way of reaching out to you, readers of the world—people I might never otherwise have the chance with which to connect. I write because, although I might not understand you, I know you. I know you very well. That is the gift and the curse of people like me.

So I entreat upon each of you: pick out one of my books, one that might suit you better than the rest. Let us connect through that book. Let me touch you, if I can; in the process, let me offer you a tiny piece of who I am. That is all I have to offer you.

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Marrying Form and Content: Can an Author go too Far?

6/3/2012

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When writing WORLD-MART, I strove for an overtly mundane and cold world with the hope of fully immersing readers into the world-gone-corporate. It was part of a literary technique that works to connect to readers not only through what they read, but how they're reading it. That meant, however, also writing characters who could fit that cold, corporate model. I chose the Irwin family to be the epitome of mediocrity, a reflection of the world around them, which called for some creative use of characterization.

With Shelley's character, I used her poetry to offer the readers a gauge into her ever-crumbling psyche. If one compares the different poems she "shares" throughout the novel, obvious differences in style, language, and content give clues about her standing with the world. With that said, I'm curious about readers' responses to the progression (or in Shelley's case, regression) that occurs in Shelley's poetry through the course of the story.

Thanks for reading!

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FINDING POE: How Quickly did You Solve the Puzzle?

5/21/2012

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I love a story with a good unexpected twist—one that defies cliché and really takes the story to a whole new level. I remember when I first watched M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense and the thrill that overcame me when I realized what was going on.

When I set out to write Finding Poe, I couldn’t wait to get to the final pages. I was so eager to write that special twist of my own. Even more, I couldn’t wait to see how readers would respond to it. It was an interesting challenge to find that balance between too obvious and too obscure, and I can only hope that I was able to find a happy medium that would make the experience both challenging and rewarding for the greatest possible number of readers.

So I am reaching out to all of you with the simple question: At what page did you figure it out? Please do not share the twist here, as I do not want to spoil it for those who have not had a chance to read the book. With that said, I cannot wait to chat with you all about it!

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Language

5/13/2011

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Having taken on the task of learning Italian over these past two years, I've found language has taken on even deeper meaning foo me. For any writer, words are like air or water; they are a vital component to one's daily life. Words represent communication, art, emotion, intelligence, and release. Learning a new language adds a whole new set of words to one's palate, but it also adds a greater dimension to the way one thinks about coloquial speach, word choice, and even grammar.

Learning to speak a foreign language forces one to slow down and really think about what s/he wants to say--and why one chooses to say it one way, and not another. As a writer, one with a whirlwind of words dancing around in my head at any given time, I think I took for granted the ease in which I could find just the right word. I found that, when speaking in Italian, I had to search for that word a little longer. I had to think about my use of tense. It makes me think even more about the words I use more regularly.

Learning a foreign language has also offered some fun insight on the use of coloquial language and swear words. One sees one'e coloquial language change over the years, with old words going obsolite and new words taking their place (when I was little, "totally," "rad," and "gag me" were common in coloquial speech in California, but more recently, words like "phat" and "dope" would be better received). When I think about the language cautions I learned regarding Italian swear words, I couldn't help but think about what makes a swear word; I concluded that social acceptance of a word's symbolic value is all that makes any word what it is. Strange, though, how we decide some words are dirty and others are sophisticated--and they are because we agree they are.

I wish the U.S. had more dual emersion gradeschools, as I consider how differently I would view words now, had I learned a second language back when I was a child. I find it amazing that we don't teach our young multiple languages, as great as the benefits would be.

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Writing Milestone: Twenty Completed Novels

Why I Write

Marrying Form and Content: Can an Author go too Far?

FINDING POE: How Quickly did You Solve the Puzzle?

Language

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