03.10.10
Posted in Writing at 11:23 AM by Administrator
I just finished watching the movie, which I believe was based on a book. What a concept! Gifted readers can make characters come alive by reading aloud. (Brendan Fraser seemed out of place, but Helen Mirren and Paul Bettany were brilliant, imho. Seeing Jim Broadbent as the author of the title book from which all the characters came was weird after seeing him in HP6.)
It was a perfect adaptation of how we as writers feel about our worlds. They come alive for us and the characters are more than mere figments of our imaginations. They are real, alive and breathing. They have their own personalities and quirks and can make their own decisions.
When we joke about the voices in our heads, it’s not that we’re schizophrenic, but that the characters are as real as if we could reach out and touch them. They have stories that they want us to write. Although, I suppose one has to be just slightly crazy to want to sit down in the loneliness of one’s own private world and write as if it is real. Many of us are sensitive to the real world, because we’re already overstimulated by our own imaginations. But that’s what makes the most memorable stories, because the worlds do come off the page and almost interact.
But when we write, it’s not the world we want to express but the rich experience of knowing our characters intimately, as if we’re telepaths reading their emotions and thoughts. That’s what we express when we write it on the page. We paint with words so that you, readers, can enjoy it as we do. When we reach that point in our artistry of the written word, we find the greatest satisfaction. Knowing that readers can experience as close as possible to what we do makes the hard work worthwhile.
I read some negative reviews of Inkheart when it was released in theaters, but the movies never live up to the books on which they’re based (except one, er, trilogy–Lord of the Rings…Ironically, Andy Serkis, whose acting was the basis and whose voice was used for Smeagol/Gollum, played Capricorn, the bad guy in Inkheart). I’ve never read the book, but I found the movie captivating, and thought Dustfinger stole the show as the deepest, most complex character.
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03.06.10
Posted in My Books at 4:36 PM by Administrator
I noticed that my Kindle ebook of STARFIRE ANGELS went on for seven months before I caught the mistake. I had wanted to use the publishing name of Prairie Winds but found that was taken and ended up registering Prairie Star. I didn’t realize until yesterday that the Kindle version at Amazon still had Prairie Winds. My apologies to the owner of that trade name. For those who have bought STARFIRE ANGELS, I didn’t make any other major changes to the file, except two minor errors I found–a double comma and a double period, both in the same section.
Oops.
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03.05.10
Posted in Just for Fun, My Books at 9:09 PM by Administrator
As I posted on my homepage, I will be holding a contest to give away 4 crystals like the Starfire crystal in the STARFIRE ANGELS series. For reference, here’s a picture of what they generally look like (not exactly, as each crystal point is natural quartz heat treated with gold and not plastic from a factory). Every crystal point is unique.
I’ll post more about how to enter and other details near the release date of WHEN ANGELS CRY. Stay tuned to my website and blogs for further information.
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03.04.10
Posted in Equine Affairs at 9:50 PM by Administrator
I am a horseperson. I flaunt that like a hooker flaunts…well…her wares. You get the idea 
Yesterday, a prominent dressage rider, trainer, and Olympian, Courtney King-Dye was in an accident with a horse who tangled its hind legs when asked to move its haunches and went down. She was thrown and ended up with a fractured skull and is in medically-induced coma. You can read about it all over the equestrian world. Nothing in any of the brief articles clarifies whether she was wearing an ASTM/SEI approved helmet or not, but by the severity of the injuries, most of us speculate she was not.
This is a tragedy that all equestrians of all disciplines can learn from.
I learned my lesson long ago, when I was fourteen and practicing barrel racing. Yes, barrel racing. I woke up near the first barrel about 40-45 minutes after I started my run. I’ll never forget seeing it as a dream as if over my shoulder, watching my body heading off my horse near the barrel and then nothing until I woke up. Seeing it happening was just as hazy as my description. I walked back to the corral, grabbed my horse who was waiting at the fence to be unsaddled, and returned to make him run the barrels again. I finished up, put out my horse, and was crossing the farm yard when my mother drove up and saw my scraped up face. She made me go to the hospital, where they kept me overnight for observation, since I had been unconscious.
I was lucky, and I had my warning. Never ride anywhere without a helmet. It took me another year or two before I bought my first helmet–I had to use my 4-H premium money to buy it–but I never went riding without it after that, even while out chasing cattle among cowboys. Sure, I was teased a bit, but not that badly. I think most of them had had enough spills of their own to wish they had the guts to strap one on in front of their friends. It was more acceptable for a girl than for some rough and tumble cowboys.
Before then, I got by. I planned how to take a fall and ended up having to use the method of tucking and rolling when my horse then bucked me off soon after the first time. I discovered he didn’t tolerate spurs.
A few years later, the 4-H council in my state made wearing a helmet mandatory for all 4-H riding events, western and english, in my state. I was so glad. As a judge and camp counselor, I’ve seen kids saved because they wore helmets.
To this day, I don’t get on any horse without a helmet. Others can laugh and say that I’m incompetent, but it’s those who don’t wear helmets that make me cringe–they’re usually the worst riders who can’t control their horses.
Here are some statistics on equestrian activities that I found on the site of the American Riding Instructors Association:
- Between 12 to 15 million persons in the United States ride a horse or pony every year.
- Approximately 20 percent of horse-related injuries occur on the ground and not riding.
- Most riding injuries occur during pleasure riding.
- The most common reason among riders for admission to hospital and death are head injuries.
- A fall from two feet can cause permanent brain damage. A horse elevates a rider eight feet or more above ground.
- A human skull can be shattered by an impact of 4-6 mph. Horses can gallop at 40 mph.
There are many more statistics, which were obtained from the Equestrian Medical Safety Association. No horse sport is 100% safe. It’s when we think we’re safe that we are farthest from it, because we let our guard down.
I wish Miss Dye a full recovery, and I hope everyone learns from this.
If you need further convincing, there is a video available through your local extension office titled “Every Time…Every Ride…” If that doesn’t scare you into strapping that helmet on before you step into the stirrup, you probably shouldn’t be getting on.
3/5/10 UPDATE: “Courtney often wears a helmet, but she was not in this instance. Lendon said that for the last 15 years of her riding career, she wore a helmet and hoped she could encourage others to do the same, but helmets are rarely seen at a dressage show.” More here…
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03.03.10
Posted in My Books at 6:08 PM by Administrator
unless you give them a try. I don’t want anyone feeling “cheated” or disappointed. I want you to sample my writing. I have most of it free on my website right now. I won’t make it all free, since I do have bills to pay, but I make it fairly reasonable in price. You’ll find the fantasy serial, LEGEND OF THE WHITE DRAGON, currently running on my website, a good portion of STARFIRE ANGELS for free sampling, and the fantasy novella, A TURN OF CURSES, completely free. That’s just coincidence that the fantasy happens to be free, by the way.
I will be releasing LOTWD as one complete novel before the end of this year in both ebook and print for a fair price (or at least as fair as I could make it). Those who don’t want to wait on the serial to run through 2011 will have the opportunity to buy it and read the whole thing without waiting.
Why do I do this? Because I want you to know what you’re getting. I want readers to feel satisfied that they got the 8 oz tender sirloin vs the 4 oz charred steak or the cheesecake rather than the rancid cheese. I want to give you tastes of what you can expect, so you can better judge whether or not you want to support me. I enjoy writing these worlds and characters, but I want you to enjoy the reading experience just as much.
And if you’re ever unsatisfied, tell me (the cook in this analogy) why. I have the power to make improvements. But taste test before you buy.
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Posted in Podcasts at 4:24 AM by Administrator
I know. I know. I promised two months ago, or longer, that I’d get back on the podcasts. I’ve been SO busy in that time that I can can with certainty that I have no idea when I’ll be able to do another. I think, though, that once a month is a better goal than once a week.
Post a comment. What do you want me to talk about?
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02.27.10
Posted in My Books, Writing at 9:05 PM by Administrator
Where have I been? In busy-land. Sorry to abandon you, dear readers. When editing calls, it isn’t a simple “we need you now” but more like “Get the f*** into this story now, woman, or we’re coming after you!” Yeah, editing sucks…but it’s also very fruitful.
After yawning my way through one story–we do get tired of our stories after spending so much time with them, no matter how much we may love them initially–I switched back to my recently finished fantasy work. I fixed a few inconsistencies with that. Things change as you write sometimes. I usually plan things out pretty well before I write, but this one had me scratching my head for a long time and barely getting by. I knew I had something good but it refused to reveal itself fully enough to appreciate until the end. As it turned out, there were some things that changed in the course of writing, but they were very slight. I learned a lot, though, and went back and filled in some details in the beginning.
Then I went back and attacked WHEN ANGELS CRY with a machete. Yeah, that bad. Actually, it was more like drawing and quartering the thing. I gutted the thing and wrote new scenes and reorganized a few others. I had to add a lot. I also discovered a lot about myself in the process, as a writer, that is. Every story is a learning process, after all.
I learned that I can’t force myself to write for any market. I have to write what works for me. If it fits somewhere, great.
WHEN ANGELS CRY was originally written for a romance anthology of angels and demons. I had a hell of a time writing it in the first place but managed to make something work. Or so I thought. Going back to it, I realized that what I thought was good was really meh. It’s amazing what some months away from a story will do to your perspective.
I knew there was something worthwhile there, though. After all, this is the prequel to STARFIRE ANGELS. I already had the world set up. But I realized that I just can’t write romance. It’s BORING. (no offense to those who do; this is just my opinion.) I need intrigue, action, and lots of science fiction and fantasy goodness 
, especially the latter. That doesn’t mean dark, just a kind of teasing suspense that raises questions that lead me to keep going and wanting to know more. I also don’t write sex scenes, btw.
I do, however, like romance as a plot element, just not the main element. I grew up on science fiction written by men, and you know what men write? Action, adventure, intrigue…See where I get it? I’ve been acclimated to that and I like it.
So, in ripping apart WHEN ANGELS CRY and rewriting and reworking it, I molded the story into what it should have been, the story I would have written if left to my own devices. It’s currently at 27,000 words but that may change with further editing. A story is considered a novel at 40,000 words, although most modern SFF runs around 100,000 words, sometimes more. This novella is shaping up to be what it should have been and is looking pretty attractive right now. In this rewrite, I also added hints of some things to come in the STARFIRE ANGELS series.
Hang on, it’s coming. Sometime this March, WHEN ANGELS CRY will be available as a $0.99 ebook. Now you know some of the difficulties of writing. I’d go into more detail, but I don’t want to give anything away…yet 
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02.21.10
Posted in Cats, Just for Fun at 8:29 PM by Administrator
I caught Harlee on the webcam but it disturbed her so she looked instead of holding the pose I was trying to capture. It’s still cute, in a vindictive sort of way.
“You think my butt looks big? Look in a mirror.”
Caught her while I was writing this:
“Oh, the shame!”
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02.15.10
Posted in Equine Affairs, equine products at 4:49 PM by Administrator
This is a horse product, for those wondering.
I bought my first set of Professional’s Choice Combo Bandages a year ago, and I still have them. In that time, I’ve been able to evaluate their performance and durability. To give you an idea, these wraps are half plush polo wrap and half elastic wrap with a double hook and loop closure for greater security. I bought them from Dressage Extensions, the only place I’ve been able to find them, for $39.95.
I have them in white, but since the elastic part wraps over the plush part, dirt doesn’t stick to the outside very easily.
At first, I had difficulty with snagging, because I wasn’t careful of the hook part of the fastener, and they do snag easily, but they don’t unravel. I also feared that the stitching between the two portions might pull apart, but that isn’t even close to happening. I was wary of these wraps but they bear the good name of Professional’s Choice and cost twice as much as standard polo wraps.
I do advise washing these with the hook and loop fasteners completely closed and in a leg wrap laundry bag. The fasteners won’t come apart, but you don’t want to wash them with standard polo wraps, which will come apart in the wash and snag them, even through the laundry bags.
These are far more durable than I expected, even after a couple threads of elastic have pulled out, although the elastic part is also getting a bit stretched, but they still have a lot left in them. The stitching is first class, and they can easily be used multiple times without washing, if used on a clean horse and dry footing. Muddy or slightly wet footing will stick, of course, but can be brushed off them easier than from the standard plush polo wraps. Dry footing is easy to dust off the wrap.
I recently bought another set of these and hope to purchase a third soon. They last far longer than standard polo wraps and provide great support to a horse’s legs that’s flexible, so you almost can’t wrap too tightly or too loosely (depending on how tight you wrap the plush portion). As a comparison, the $20 polo wraps have hook and loop fasteners that wear out quickly, although the material doesn’t. These PC wraps have yet to show any wear of the actual fasteners. They’ll be with me a long time yet.
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02.14.10
Posted in Writing at 6:16 AM by Administrator
Aargh! Every time I say something about book sales, they slump. Maybe I’ll just say they’re awful and that’ll fix things, but then thinking that way will usually jinx me worse…*stomps off grumbling*
Enough complaining.
I’m in a bad mood–rewrites and edits suck. In this case, I’ve been pushing myself to make WHEN ANGELS CRY what I want it to be instead of what it was going to be for the anthology I had written it for. I like its evolution into a story more fitting of a prequel novella love story. It’s far more satisfying for me to bring it into my expectations instead of someone else’s and incorporate more of my world into it. I’ve added about 3,000 words in the last couple of days yet still cleaned up the writing in a few areas. It is now up to 25K, and my goal is to have it ready in a month, or at least by the end of March for sure. But this has to be worthy of that gorgeous cover. Quite the task. In the end, I expect it to stay under 30K, probably between 26-27K for a final word count.
Then it’s on to the recently finished fantasy for touch-ups on the story and the synopsis (so glad to have a rough draft of that done, and in under ten double-spaced pages). Then back to WAC for another pass or two before heading into whatever else needs to be done, which is a few things. I’ll make at least one more revision of WAC after that before it goes out. I’m a stickler for finding that right flow for my stories.
Okay, it’s late–or early, depending on how you look at it. I’m going to bed.
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