Six Years of Writing

Six years ago Lisa, Jon, Shawn and myself met up at a Science Fiction class at The Loft, taught by Lyda Morehouse. We instantly recognized each other as kindred spirits and started a writing group (I think it was Shawn’s idea, really, but as usual, we all went along with it). Because the universe can only handle so much bad grammar, it sent us Claudia to balance things out.

During that time we’ve met once or twice each month and have each grown a lot as writers (and critiquers—is that really a word, Claudia? You’ll know).  Each of us has completed at least one novel length manuscript during that time, in some cases more than one. Dozens of short stories have been written, and even a few poems and a novella. All this work has been routed and discussed through our group, novel-length revisions have been made multiple times. To say the least we work hard and are committed to our craft, despite the lack of pay.

There are rejections, sure, lots of them. Lisa has even made it a personal goal to get a bunch of them this year (20?). But there are also signs that our work is paying off. There have been promising conversations with agents and editors—and a few requests to see more. There have been some writing awards (Mark) and even some publications (Jon). We’ve even self-published a “sample book” featuring some of our writing and together gave a presentation at a Sci-Fi convention on what it is to have a great writing group. Over time all this attention to writing seems to be leading us in the right direction.

Part of our writing routine has been posting to this blog—although in the last year we really haven’t been very reliable on that front. But, in six years we’ve published 224 blog posts with over 42,000 page views and 675 comments. That’s a lot of conversation about writing!

In case you’d like to go back and see some of our more popular blog posts, here are some highlights, featuring the top two posts for each Scribblerati agent.

The Scribblerati’s Top Posts of All Time

Two Years Later by Jon Hansen
Our number one post of all time… showing what we were up to four (!) years ago. Maybe we should have Jon do an update?

Book Review: Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes by Jon Hansen

Dinosaurs vs. Humans by Mark Teats (Mark’s top post)

Good vs. Evil: Getting to Know Angels & Devils by Mark Teats

In Praise of Big Noses by Q aka Claudia Hankin (Claudia’s top post)

The Random Post by Shawn Enderlin (Shawn’s top post)

The Great Word Debate by Claudia Hankin (tied for most commented-on post, but also a generator of a number of other 'spin-off' posts)

My pseudo-review of Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me by Shawn Enderlin

On Words, Big and Li'l, All Those I do not Know by Lisa Bergin (Lisa’s top post)

The Little Words Can Throw You Too by Lisa Bergin

So happy anniversary Q, Shawn, Lisa and Jon. It’s been a great six years and I for one appreciate all the support, feedback and ideas that our group constantly gives to each other. More importantly I always look forward to reading what you’ll write next. Damn we’re good.

By the way: it’s now your turn on the blog.

Mark

@ManOwords

Where are we?

Hey there.

As many of you have no doubt noticed by now, we, the varied and sundry Agents of the Scribblerati, have not been too active here on our blog of late. Now, I'm sure over the course of the last few days/weeks, many of you out there wanted to write or call and give ease to your desperate rush of concerned questions. I'm sure some of you, in your panic, maybe even considered contacting the authorities. Completely understandable, completely, but ultimately unnecessary. Everything's cool. Everything's fine. I'm here to calm your fears, my friends, to soothe your nerves, to grammatically rub your back in slow circles all while whispering: "Don't worry, my friends, we're here now."

But where have we been?

Good question. The short answer is: We've been busy. But how busy? Well, that's a longer answer. Read on, my peeps, read on and let the Scribblerati make their own excuses...

Mark

I'm doing lots of writing lately--filling notebook after notebook with of all things, Poetry! This is first most on behalf of my "Groundings in Poetry" class--part of my MFA program at Hamline--but I'm really enjoying it. (My instructor Deborah is also awesome--very supportive and encouraging.) My default when writing is to write fiction (and often novel)--but poetry forces me to write differently (shorter, for one) and write about "truths." I think it is also acting as "therapy" for me--about half of what I'm writing is about dealing with recovering from cancer. I won't say it's good writing--but I'm getting it out of my system. A requirement for this class is to also complete a 30-page chapbook. It is taking shape!

My undead novel, SUNLIGHT is about 30 pages away from being a complete 2nd draft. My goal is still to knock this out before the end of January.

This summer I also joined a second writing group in Eagan through my local church. It's been fun meeting other writers who live right in my neighborhood. There are all levels and styles of writers in that group--and it's been great having a different audience for me to give/receive feedback from. (A shout out to Bruce, Rich, Jodie, Roxane and Kate!)

I've sent out a couple short stories this year in hopes of publication. So far only rejections on that front--but I'm also not trying very hard. I do have a poem entered in a contest that will be judged in early December. Fingers crossed....

Shawn

Where's Shawn at? On the one hand, procrastinating. On the other, in the weeds. To Kill the Goddess is done, pending a copy edit. When will that happen? Once I get further along with Book 2, which is in said weeds. I have a little over one third of the first draft done, but this book is a bear. Book 2 is – at its heart – an old school order vs chaos fantasy epic (think Michael Moorcock) and the writing of it pretty much embodies the topic. The story wants to cut loose and go every which way. For now I'm letting it, but at some point I'm going to have to impose some order and wrestle the darn thing into shape. Elric would sympathize.

Claudia

Claudia has temporarily set aside her book to pursue her passion for herpetology. It turns out, however, that the snakes won’t enact the little scenes she writes for them, so she’ll be heading back to her 3rd draft of Ursula Evermore and the Case of the Man who Wasn’t soon.

Lately, Claudia’s writing has consisted mostly of press releases. She feels pretty lucky in her day job, where she gets to work with The Moving Company, a national theater company based in Minneapolis. She’s been busy this month helping to launch their production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. A review. It's now showing in Minneapolis, click here.

Lisa

1). She's finished trying to weave her five post-plastic apocalypse stories together into a novella and awaiting Scribblerati's comments on how successful she was

and

2). Has tried her hand at a fairy tale, trying to get at the power of fear of our deepest desires. What she likes most about the hero of the story (Birch) is the tattoo of an octopus arm that she was given by the sea; what she likes most about her anti-hero (the flat-chested woman) is the lengths she will go to quiet her fears. Lisa also likes the trees which were once whales an awful lot too.

and

3). She's contemplating her next story. She thinks it will involve a girl and an acorn. An acorn of a girl? It's still shadowy.

Jon

And me?

I'm currently finishing up a small writing project. I've talked about it on my own blog. Long story short? After my last WIP crashed and burned, I have been spending some time on a quartet of story ideas, writing a rough 1st Chapter for each one. I'm just about done with the fourth and final one now. It was a fun exercise, a creative workout, and I'm hopeful one of the eventual results is a ready and waiting springboard into future projects, plus, that it will stop those nascent, but very insistent book ideas from rattling around in my head, clamoring for my attention, and generally distracting me while I'm busy trying to focus on my next project.

What is that next project?

I intend to return to a former WIP that I finished the 1st draft of about two years ago. I wasn't very happy with that draft at the time, I felt it needed a lot of work. So, after it was done, I set it aside to let it stew a bit. In the time since, I've just been kind of thinking about it in the back of my head, and I've finally hit on some ideas concerning what to do with the book moving forward. I'm ready to dive back in. So that's my plan for the new year. Hopefully by Fall I'll have a brand spanking new 2nd draft all done. Hopefully.

Also, there was this here: My Short Story. I was a bit busy with that too.

Woo.

So, that's it. That's the news. That's where we've all been lately. Time marches on, and the Scribblerati are busy entering a new phase in their careers.

Keep an eye out for us, folks, we're doing stuff.
Jon

Dancing, Envy, and Character

Last night I danced to New Order’s Blue Monday at Transmission and it was a freaking blast!

Why does a 40+-year-old man get excited about dancing to New Order? Well, you have to understand, I grew up in Iowa. That doesn’t help? Okay, New Order was the kind of music that if you requested it at a high school dance A) you were lucky if the DJ knew you were talking about, B) luckier if the DJ had it, and C) and “OMG go buy a Powerball ticket right now” lucky if the DJ actually consented to play it, but then when the DJ did play it the dance floor would disintegrate into a bunch of morons staring stupidly at one another until Poison came back on.

High school was four years of wishing I was both somewhere else, and someone else. I wanted to live somewhere where I could go clubbing and dance to New Order, the Smiths, and Depeche Mode, like those characters you saw in the movies. I soooo envied them, because I was that person, despite being locked away in backwards small-town Iowa. I’m sure this was a factor – at least in part – as to why my nose was stuck in a book for most of the time I was growing up. Reading about the lives of those I envied, admired, or identified with was so much better than my own stifling sentence in purgatory.
All this has led me to wonder, what is it about character that hooks a reader? Specifically, myself. Certainly, it’s all those things I just mentioned, but those span a wide range of possibility, and why would I be drawn to those qualities more than others?

Last week Mark talked about the everyman – that guy/gal who was is just a regular old person with whom we could all at least partially identify with. That kind of character never would have kept my attention back when I was a kid. I was already too much the everyman, and I desperately wanted to be someone else. The characters I was attracted to had powers. I didn’t read comics – there was really nowhere to get them and at the rate I read we just didn’t have money for it – so it was books and movies for me, fantasies that had characters with magical powers, and the wilder the better. Man did I eat that stuff up. For me, those kind of stories had the trifecta. I envied their power, I admired their fortitude, and a completely identified with their need to affect change and right the wrongs in their world.

A few of my faves:


Elric of Melnibone – Michael Moorcock
Raistlin Majere – Weis & Hickman
Garion – David Eddings
Arthur, Merlin, & Excalibur
And of course a certain boy from Tatooine who needs no introduction:

Nowadays, the characters who tend to draw me in aren’t usually superheroes.

They are regular people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances.









These are characters whose devotion, stubbornness, anger, and pathology enable them to exceed their limitations and become something more.

To name a few:

Deena Pilgrim – Bendis and Oeming

Hawkeye – Fraction and Aja

Boyd Crowder – Justified

Roland Deschain – Stephen King

Londo Molari – J. Michael Stazcynski

Starbuck / Kara Thrace – Battlestar Galactica



Who’d I miss?

5 Writers on: Inspiration, Rituals, Writing Tools, Fav Authors, Advice for Beginning Writers, Characters like us...

It’s been a while since we’ve done an update on what we’re all up to with our individual writing. Mark decided to take it easy this month and interviewed the 5 writers who make up the Scribblerati—their answers wrote this blog. It's a long post, but we hope it's worth you while. For you fellow writers maybe there is even some shared wisdom here you can use. All is revealed--thanks for reading!

Our Current Writing Projects

Claudia Hankin: I’m still struggling through the 3rd draft of my novel, Ursula Evermore and the Case of the Man Who Wasn’t.  At this point, sadly, there are more hash marks in the ‘challenge’ column than the ‘enjoy’ column. I just want to be done and onto the next step (finding and agent, a publisher). I think every author goes through this, or a version of it. I have so many ideas for new projects, but, I’m stubborn.  As Neil Gaiman advises - “'Whatever it takes to finish things, finish. You will learn more from a glorious failure than you ever will from something you never finish...” The question is, when is it time to let go?

Shawn Enderlin: I’m currently working on two projects: finishing up my final round of edits on To Kill the Goddess and working on the first draft of the sequel, which has a working title of Moon Sister. Both are exciting in different ways. On the one hand, I can’t wait to be finished with To Kill the Goddess! On the other I’m having fun exploring and tackling new challenges.

Jon Hansen: I've started a new WIP that I'm about a third of the way through on the first draft. I've got another one waiting for me to start its 2nd draft and a third on the backburner while I think about the intent of the story, plus its goals, purpose, and approach. Right now, at least with the new WIP, I'm really enjoying the freedom and the focus. It's flowing really easily. I have a good idea what I'm going to do for the whole thing and a pretty good half-formed idea of what I'm specifically doing at the end that I'm letting simmer for now. All in all, I'm feeling confident about the final product. I anticipate having a 1st draft done by summer. The most challenging part is just the usual stuff right now: Specific words and a general fear of whether or not it will all come together. (Jon)

Lisa Bergin: I'm working on a series of related short stories that I think of a post-apocalypse utopia. They are my response to a common philosophical position I hear from students: that people are at core egoistic and just out for themselves. I've never really bought that view and this is my attempt to explore it, putting people in a bad situations and thinking through what decisions they would make. And they are always making decisions based not (only) on their own well-being, but the well-being of others.

Mark Teats: I am balancing the polarity of being an MFA creative writing student and being an independent writer these days. The thing I'd most like to work on is my vampire-apocalypse novel, Sunlight. It’s not getting as much attention as I’d like these days. Simultaneously I’m also working on a new required short story for my class, working title Encounter. This has been fun/challenging/different because each week so far we have been asked to rewrite some aspect of the story (including doing a complete re-write from scratch without looking at the original). It’s being both fun and challenging. It’s making me think a lot about aspects of story and how to approach a story differently than I might usually.

Where We Find Inspiration

Other art. Any kind. It all inspires me to make my own creation. (Shawn)

I just like to do it. I also don't wait for inspiration, I think it's a trap. Dedication and discipline are more important, I think. I believe that if you want to get it done, you just have to get to it. Some days are harder than others, sure, but mostly I just sit down and start somewhere and sometimes it leads to something and something it doesn't. Other times I see/read/hear something that I liked the idea, but not the execution, so I try to write my version. (Jon)

This series started with a dream. So that's one place. Also: other stories, science reporting on NPR. I think I often find inspiration just in the act of writing from the perspective of a character. (Lisa)

Lately, reading lots of really phenomenal short stories by other writers (lots of class reading). (Mark)

Claudia: Many sources. I once wrote a play based on a dream. Another play came from a chance encounter with a transvestite. I am a huge movie and TV buff, and even when I see a bad film, I like to rearrange it in my head and make it better. With good movies and television, I pay attention to the writing - I’m not often surprised, but when I am, I take note.

I also am the administrative manager for a theater company, The Moving Company (for you Twin Citians, it’s made up of former members of Theatre de la Jeune Lune). It’s inspiring to being around people who are that powerfully talented. They’ve been creating art so well and for so long, that making something extraordinary is the least of their worries. It’s hard to wallow in Writer’s Blockdonia when you’re around that kind of energy.

On “Sacred” Writing Spaces and/or Ritual(s)

No. Sometimes I write at the dining room table. Sometimes at this little TV table in front of the TV. Sometimes at the coffee shop. Mostly I just need to be left alone and sit at a table/counter comfortably, then I'm all right. (Jon)

Not sacred so much - but I'm usually sitting cross-legged on my couch with my laptop.

Tho' when I'm first trying to find my way into a story I often have to write with pen and paper.

(Lisa)

Sacred is too strong a word, but I do have a bit of a ritual. I like to write in the mornings, which means I start out by making a cup of coffee and then sequestering myself away in my room, with my standing workstation, iTunes banging out some good house/trance, and my voice translation software listening to me ramble away – and doing the typing for me! (Shawn)

Not really. I flit around. Maybe I should get myself one of those! (Claudia)

My writing space is in my man-cave, nick-named "The Fortress of Solitude." Most Friday and Saturday mornings are mine for writing, so on those days I head to my writing desk (framed in by walls of books, fantasy arts and loads of D&D and other gaming figures), light some candles, incense and write in the dark with all but my computer and a couple desk lamps turned on. If I'm editing/re-writing sometimes some heavy metal music is needed to set the tone.

Favorite Writing Tools We’d Recommend

…voice translation software. I loooove not having to type! (Shawn)

Laptop (Jon)

Scrivener! (Lisa)

... computer? (Claudia)

My Mac computer, a paper notebook I keep near me at all times, and for managing larger manuscripts, Scrivener. (Mark)

Authors We Admire

I love Joe Abercrombie's imagination and storytelling. I love Cormac McCarthy's prose and descriptive powers. I love Stephen King's easy flow. And I love Truman Capote. But then, I try not to emulate anyone in particular. (Jon)

I default to my favorites, Ray Bradbury for his poetic descriptions, Dean Koontz for his pacing and Stephen King for his ability to write characters that I want to know and spend time with. Harlan Ellison can craft some damn fine sentences and short stories with loads of attitude. (Mark)

F. Scott Fitzgerald is kind of the gold standard for me. His use of language is exquisite- but honestly, I’ve never aspired to be the Great American Novelist. I love authors who effortlessly  ground the fantastical in solid characters and stories. I’m fond of wit. Jonathan Lethem, Connie Willis and Michael Chabon leap to mind. And P.G. Wodehouse makes me laugh until I snort. True confession. (Claudia)

There are a lot of authors I admire, but none I really want to write like. I want to forge my own style and my own way, to have people like my writing for itself, not because it reminds them of someone. However, if I may be so presumptive, I like to think my writing style is most like a blend of Dan Simmons, Judith Tarr, and Stephen King. That sounds totally snobby! (Shawn)

Ursula K. LeGuin. I've been reading a lot of her lately. I've always liked authors who on the surface write very sparsely and without a lot of flourish and yet manage to convey more depth than seems possible with that seemingly spare language. (Lisa)

Something That Advanced Our Writing We’d Recommend to A Beginning Writer

Writing group! Just doing it. Reading great fiction. (Lisa)

The thing that’s most helped my writing in the last few years is hiring a professional editor – hands down. But I wouldn’t recommend that to a beginning writer. What I would recommend is sharing your work with other writers, to get their feedback. It’s tough to learn how to see your own flaws, much less accept them. (Shawn)

Take some classes and some workshops and interact with some successful smart writers in real life. Find a supportive and healthy writing group. Learn to listen to criticism. But mostly: sit down, shut up, pen to paper, repeat. (Jon)

Classes at The Loft are great, if you live in the Twin Cities.  If nothing else, it’s a terrific way to meet other aspiring authors, and start a writing group, which I can’t recommend strongly enough. The Scribblerati is the best thing that’s happened to my writing. (Claudia)

Form a critique group. Having to submit my writing to a group of like-minded peers and also reviewing their work regularly has helped me grow a lot as a writer. Also (as a student) I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't say, “Take a writing class” or attend a writing conference. The Loft is great. All these things have helped me grow my writing skills. (Mark)

Which (of our) Characters We Are Most Like:

I'd like to say Black Magic Jack, but Noelle Easter's sarcastic voice is probably the closest to my own. Also, I'm expecting Bill the Minotaur might hit a little close to home. (Jon)

All of my characters are a part of me, but I can’t say that I’m really most like any one of them in particular. (Shawn)

Because of my cancer thingee I guess I'd have to say I'm most like my character, Clayton Jaeger. Granted, he has brain cancer vs. my neck/throat cancer, and I did write him years before I ever got sick. But getting sick really made me question a lot of things in my life and made me come to terms with what it is to be mortal. I think this is a big part of Clay’s character. Unlike Clay I have not started to see angels. Yet. (Mark)

Hmmm. I think I'm like them all. Especially the protagonists. I think I'll have matured as a writer when I can stop doing that. (Lisa)

Hmmm... The first play I ever wrote had two main characters, and they really represented two sides of me at that time. Confident, cynical wit; and  shy, romantic doormat.  I think as my writing matures, my characters become less like me. I wonder if that’s true for most writers. Of course there’s a piece of me in every character, even the nasty ones. (Claudia)

When Not Writing, We’d Rather Be…

Fishing, reading, seeing an action/fantasy movie. (Mark)

Listening to live traditional jazz. Watching movies, reading, playing games. I’m crazy about any group game that utilizes intelligence, creativity and humor. (Claudia)

Reading a book or watching a movie. I like my stories. (Jon)

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing, at work, or hanging with the Lovely Leann. But I’ll go with drinking beer at Republic or Dangerous Man, or going to a Minnesota Golden Gopher football game. (Shawn)

Reading, doing yoga, crafting, cooking, working in my garden, (those are the g-rated answers....) (Lisa)

Why You Should Check Out Claudia Hankin’s Writing and Characters

She’s the berries. Everyone’s going to say MacGreggor, aren’t they?  All of my beta readers liked him a lot. I’m thinking he’s going to need more scenes, to keep up with his fan base. I hope it doesn’t go to his head.  (Claudia)

Her vocabulary (that's mostly just a joke). She's got an amazing handle on humor and dialogue. Ursula of course - time-travelling, dixie-land jazz aficionado. (Lisa)

Claudia does a fantastic job of blending the old and the modern. (Shawn)

Claudia has done some exceptional research to make her 1920's setting come alive. From clothing, music, terminology, she provides enough details--and the fun, interesting details--to create a world that I believe and want to hang out in. Her vocabulary and word choices are superb--even if I do give her grief about that, sometimes. I think Ursula is my fav character of Claudia's: tough, sexy, funny and quirky in just the right ways. (Mark)

Claudia has a great sense of humor and scene and can really draw distinctive characters. Ursala is my favorite. She's a classic hero. She's both smart and quick and capable, but she often ends up in situations a bit over her head because of her own stubborn nature and fiery temper. She's fun to read. (Jon)

Why You Should Check Out Jon Hansen’s Writing and Characters

Jon’s writing is clean and to the point. Most of his stories have a "gritty" quality combined with humorous observations. He brings the horror and the visceral reactions. His main characters are great, and often his secondary characters are just as much fun and easy to visualize. “Noelle” from his Gunslingers’ novel is my favorite of Jon’s characters. She’s witty with lots of spirit. She copes well with the tough and terrible world around her. (Mark)

Jon’s writing is vivid. You can see everything as if you were standing there yourself. (Shawn)

Oh man... so many to choose from. He's my favorite writer, so I don't know if I can pinpoint any one thing, all I know is: That guy is pretty awesome. And he has impeccable taste. Good kisser too. (Jon)

Jon’s descriptions: working with all 5 senses and his characters, all unique yet recognizable.

Favorite character is hard with Jon - he's got so many great ones - of the recent ones, I really liked Juniper Silverbell. (Lisa)

Jon is a superstar. He’s great at description, and uses sound really well - also, funny. Very, very funny.  Perhaps my favorite thing is that he writes terrific female characters, which sadly seems to be a rare gift in a male sci-fi/horror writers. I like the combo deal of Jack and Noelle, from his zombie novel. They have a believable and touching relationship, very down-to-earth, lots of clever banter in the midst of, you know, the apocalypse. (Claudia)

Why You Should Check Out Lisa Bergin’s Writing and Characters

Lisa's writing is very lyrical and smart. Plus, she has such a unique imagination, but such a clear and consistent vision. I really enjoy the way she'll decide to portray things. Beryl is an easy choice for favorite, a close second for me, but my favorite characters are the three philosopher kids: Tommy, Momo, and P Boy. They were good stuff. (Jon)

Lisa makes you think. It’s not just the obvious allusions to her philosophical background, but rather the style and tone, which challenges you to pay attention to something altogether special and different. (Shawn)

Lisa is the Queen of voice. Her characters all sound unique, and use words, terms that show (not tell) what is going on in her world(s). This is more apparent than ever in my favorite character of hers, Beryl, the girl lead in her novel, Once We Were Bears. Beryl has a charming voice that is both endearing and thoughtful in the way she approaches a world of humans that she is trying to understand. (Mark)

Lisa has an incredibly unique voice. I couldn’t emulate her folk tale/fairy tale/post apocalyptic style if I tried. Her stories are very warm, but take place in very harsh worlds. Her characters at first glance are very simple, but ultimately are nothing but. I love the animal characters from her books. She captures what a goat, bear, chicken and squirrel would say, what they’d sound like, their senses of humor (or not) - and it all somehow makes perfect sense. (Claudia)

Why You Should Check Out Mark Teats’ Writing and Characters

Heart. Mark’s writing has heart, even when the subjects are thousands of years old demons. (Shawn)

Mark was my first fellow writer I met who shared a similar vision/interest and was also going through a lot of the same situations as I was. I like how Mark's writing usually concerns darkness and horror and blood and all that, often in some pretty cool ways, but it is also full of heart. For all of its edge, there's still a classic sense of good and evil. I like that. My favorite characters are probably Blackheart and Noel, especially when they're together. I love their chemistry. (Jon)

His skill at pacing - and making sure the reader always knows what's at stake -

Blackheart, because he gets built back from death by creature's carrying his bits in their mouths - he's invulnerable, and yet is dependent on these tiny animals. (Lisa)

In my latest writing class people critiquing my work said that they thought I was imparting a lot of data in short, descriptive sentences, and that I was clearly a genre writer. I was happy with this summary. In the past I've always felt some of my descriptions have been "too thick" (I've been working on it) so maybe I am making progress? Blackheart is hands down my favorite character. I think I've spent the most time with him. He is probably the toughest yet most sympathetic character I have. When I write him I can always hear his voice. (Mark)

Mark has a way with a turn of phrase, he rocks at the similes - and he creates striking visuals. One of my favorite of Mark’s creations is the Psychopomps. When his main character dies, whatever little creepy creatures happen to be around - scorpions, crappies, etc., travel to Hell to retrieve his flesh, one little nibble at a time, and reassemble his body.  Horrific and terrific.

My favorite character of Mark’s is Blackheart, definitely Blackheart. Cursed for eternity in a human’s body, unable to die - a character worthy of his own Dark Horse Comics series.

Why You Should Check Out Shawn Enderlin’s Writing and Characters

Shawn is a great world builder. He is not afraid to take on a huge host of characters, and a vast world (worlds!) with a long history. His mythology and use of magic are excellent - he takes some of the great tenets of high fantasy and makes them his own, as well as adding to the genre.

I love Kaytlyn in To Kill the Goddess. She becomes possessed by an evil entity, and her struggle to free herself is very intense. What she becomes after the struggle is even better. (Claudia)

Shawn thinks big and complex. His stories are epic. I like how he balances lots of different plots--all full of interesting characters and all in their own exciting stories--and how he keeps them all moving and brings them together. I also like the way he mixes science fiction, horror and fantasy. He has a lot of good characters, but I think Cassondra and Colt are my favorites. (Jon)

My favorite thing about my writing is that it is so fucking much better than it ever used to be. Way to go, me! (Shawn)

The scope of his work - spanning worlds and multiple points of view. It’s a lot to balance and he's done impressive work at it. I’ve always had a soft spot for Tea Leaf - even tho’ she's a minor character. I’ve always loved her - I think her name really clinches it for me. (Lisa)

Shawn is the King of world building. Faeries, unicorns, saurians, druids, lasers, elves and space travel all in the same story? Shawn does it and does it well. Mana-use in his TKTG series is awesome! My vote for his best character is Katelyn (who has to deal with some dark shit, like being possessed by and alien being). She is compelling and convincing (a great female character written by a male). Second place goes to Tea Leaf the faerie. Best. Faerie. Ever. (Mark)

Thank you!

If you made it this far, you're our number one fan. Thanks for taking the time.

~ Mark/@manOwords on behalf of Shawn, Lisa, Jon and Claudia

aka The Scribblerati

Eleanor and Park

I recently read the cutest book ever.

The lovely Leann and I were packing for our two day trip to Houston – to watch the Gophers play Syracuse in the Texas Bowl. I was all ready to go and was flipping through the Kindle, looking to see what was there that I hadn’t read. (I rarely find time to read anymore, so I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into something good.) There were a few things I had downloaded a long time ago and couldn’t remember what they were about, so I decided to check out what was on the Amazon store. I was thinking it might be fun to read something sci-fi, but then I saw the editor’s picks section and began to scroll through that. It was lots of literary fiction, and I was kinda meh, but then one cover caught my eye.

So simple. A boy and a girl tied together by their headphones. It hooked me, and after a cursory look at the back cover blurb, I saw it was consistently receiving four and five star reviews. And with a Kindle price of $7.99?

Click-Buy.

So there I was an airplane, an incredibly tiny airplane that was three seats across, too short for me to stand up in, and with a disconcerting steward who sounded exactly like a Transylvanian vampire (I vant to suck your blauhd). I put in my earplugs – because, loud engine right next to my ear – pulled out my Kindle and started reading. And couldn’t put it down. I was reading every spare second, right up until finally finishing it around 1 AM on the day we left.

Eleanor and Park is a beautiful and sweet book that tugged on every single one of my heartstrings. It takes place in Omaha Nebraska, in the mid-80's. Park comes from the perfect family, is good-looking, but his half Korean heritage makes him an outsider (it is the 80's, you know, before that was hot). Eleanor comes from a completely broken family and is a bit on the chubby side.

The book is all about how they fall in love – over music and comic books and of being outsiders. It’s not just first time teenage love, but the real deal kind of love – head over heels soulmate love – with all the ups and downs you to expect, and quite a few you don’t.

It’s a gripping, lovely read.

To Genre, Or Not To Genre

I’ve been thinking a lot about genre lately.

Specifically, genre as it relates to the speculative fiction we write here at the Scribblerati, as well as my Work in Progress, To Kill the Goddess.

Exhibit #1

It all started while reading Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson. This was a recommendation by my editor (I’ve made a habit of asking her what’s good) and I read it over our Fourth of July vacation to San Francisco.

In case you’re not familiar with it, Life After Life is a story about this woman – Ursula – who is reborn into the same body every time she dies. Each life is a redo, starting in the 1920s, and going through World War II or beyond, assuming she lives that long.

It was a fascinating story – mostly. Sometimes she made terrible choices and the story was hard to read, other times she chose better and the book was fun. But the longer it went on, and the more times Ursula died, it became… tedious. This is not to say it was a bad book, or that it was poorly written, because it was none of those things, but the author shied away from getting into why Ursula kept being reborn. What was the point of it all? Was there intent behind this miracle? Was there a lesson to be learned? A change to be made?

None of those questions were answered, and maybe I’m reaching here, but I think I know why. The answer to those questions would have taken the book out of the realm of literary fiction and into genre.

Exhibit #2

My own writing has been coming along quite nicely. I finished a new draft based on my editor’s comments, and now I’m making one last cleanup pass before I send it back to her. The process has taken about six months, which is longer than I’d hoped, but not as long as I’d feared. During that time, I’ve become a whole new writer. I’ve refined and honed my style, vastly improved my self-editing, but the most important thing I’ve learned is how to focus the story around character.

Character, is entirely what Life after Life was about. Ursula was the same character throughout the book, but her character changed (impressive, eh?). In regards to my own work, To Kill the Goddess has (I hope) become as much about the characters in it as it is about the fantastic world they live in, or the terrible/exciting events taking place around them.

A confession

I have – and this is an entirely unexpected development – thought about giving up writing speculative fiction.

It is, I think, a bit of snootiness, and a notion that will fade with time, but there is merit behind the thought. I still think about those cool sci-fi/fantasy things that used to completely melt my butter, but the more I think about character, the less I think about the facets of my story that make it genre.

I see now why so many choose to write literary fiction. There is a purity there, a laser focus on character that can so easily get buried within the fantastic elements of genre.

Genre, whether it’s fantasy, science fiction, dystopia, or something in between, allows the writer to confront their characters with challenges entirely outside the experience of our normal lives.

If I wasn’t writing genre, I could never so completely turn my characters’ lives upside down, not in any sort of way that wasn’t retreading events we’re all intimately familiar with (e.g. World War II), or turning it into a historical fantasy. Genre lets me tell a story that is fresh, engaging, and exciting.

Could I tell a fresh, engaging, and exciting story without writing genre?

Absolutely.

And I might even do that someday.

But I could never write To Kill the Goddess that way.

Something to Read?

Hey ho, Scribblerati Faithful!

I am pumped! Why? Because spring is here!

Maybe.

I just don’t know. And you know what I mean, right? The weather has just been atrocious. God awful. Horrific.

Now, I have allergies, so I kind of have to live somewhere where everything is dead for several months at a time, and over the years I’ve gotten pretty good about rationalizing the cold, but I’m done. DUN!

So let’s talk about spring, and summer, and sitting on your deck with a cold, sweaty beer, or a sparkling glass of your favorite rosé, AND READING.

Here’s a few ideas for ya.

Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn

Folks, this book is WAY outside my comfort zone. I'm mostly a hard-core sci-fi/fantasy guy, but I read this at the behest of my editor. At first I was like, nuh-uh, but then I decided, why not stretch my wings a little? And besides, it’s hard to read sci-fi/fantasy while you’re writing it.

So I read it, and… this book is the bomb.

For those who don’t know, Gone Girl is about a man and a woman who fall in and out of love. Simple story, right? Not in this case. These people are crazy. CRAAAAZY! It’s an, “I think you need to be on medication,” kind of crazy. Seriously. What they do to one another is just terrible.

But it’s the way the story is told that makes it so great. I don’t want to give anything away, so I won’t say much more than you will love and hate each character in equal measures. You will laugh. You’ll be horrified. And at the end of it all, if you’re like me, you’ll sit there and go, “Huh. That was frakked up.”

And then you’ll try to decide when you’re going to get around to reading it again.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Ben Fountain

This is another Editor Recommendation.

ALWAYS read those when you get them.

Here’s the story. Billy and his squad are war heroes and they are back from Iraq for two weeks. The book is told entirely within those two weeks, more or less, and you are in Billy’s had the entire time.

The thing that was so fascinating for me about this book is that you are in Billy’s head for the entire time. I know I already said that, but it’s totally worth repeating. You really are in his head. Like, ALL THE TIME. Every minute. Every thought. Everything from the minutia to the profound. Sometimes your heart breaks. Sometimes you laugh so hard that those nearby at the bar turn and look (true story).

There’s this one part, where he and his squad are at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium and they are meeting the Dallas cowboy cheerleaders, where Billy goes on for most of a page about their breasts. It’s so nineteen-year-old guy real, and so crazy hilarious. It brought tears to my eyes.

But trust me, there’s more here than just hormones and boobs. The story has heart, and you will love it.

Hawkeye
Matt Fraction and David Aja

Okay, lest you were worried that I’ve completely lost my geek cred, we’re switching to comics.

I read a bunch of these. Too many, probably. But we likes them, and this is one of my favorites.

I honestly didn’t think I would like this comic because the author, Matt Fraction, isn’t my favorite. But Fraction has nailed Hawkeye, and the artist, David Aja, is exceptionally talented. I don’t know which of them does the paneling/layout, but it’s top-notch. No herky-jerky pacing here, everything is well thought out, making you laugh in one panel and cringe in another.

Of course, every good story is about character, and in this comic Fraction has nailed Hawkeye’s character. Sure, there’s the requisite beat them up / bad guy story arcs, but the heart of this comic is Hawkeye himself. He’s a lovable, good-natured screwup whose mistakes are mostly balanced by his good intentions.

And then there’s the women. They love him, and he can’t stop loving them back, regardless of who it is, or which relationship he’s currently in. Hilarity ensues.

It’s loads of fun. Buy it, take it to the park, and be proud. “Yes, we read comics, and we likes them!”

Take Off Your +3 Cloak of Isolation

Cross posted from my blog, Writing and Whatnot

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It should come as no surprise to anyone that we writers are a relatively solitary bunch. Regardless of how outgoing we are in our everyday lives, we have to shut away the world to write.

And we like it.

Writers get high from a brilliant plot twist or off the buzz of a perfectly crafted sentence in the same way normal people do from partying with their friends. Ok, writers do that too, but we just do it less often, and even when we are with friends, our minds aren't all that far away from our story, or the possibility of story laying nascent in the gestures of the woman across the aisle, or in the way the light shines through the window and onto the bar.

We writers know that constant churn of creativity is gold. It can only come from within our minds and only we can spit it out onto paper. We have to do it, and we have to do it alone. No one can do it for us.

And that’s where we get into trouble.

Consider all those indie publishers out there. Some of them find success but a lot of them don’t. Now take a look at all those “real” authors out there. They may have the vindication of being published, but we all know that’s no guarantee of financial success. Regardless of our path, the problem all us writers face is the same: How do I become successful?

Yes, we all know the road to success is long and winding, and while we all face the challenges of editing and marketing, we indie authors have one defining challenge that will separate those who fall flat on their face and those who go on to find success: knowing when you are ready.

Now I can’t speak for all writers, but after accomplishing as much as I have, I’m pretty impressed with myself. I kinda think I’m the shit, you know? And I am. I’m pretty damn good. But I’m not ready for the Big Show. Not yet. Not quite.

My writing group (Scribblerati Agents unite!) didn't tell me that. Nor did I wake up knowing that. My editor told me. She didn't come out and say, “Shawn, you handsome, egotistical bastard, you've got something here but you aren't ready to publish.” What she did was point out all the things I need to work on, which in turn saved me from joining the ranks of those indie publishers who publish too early.

So allow me to pass along a little advice. If you, like me, are one of those lonely indie writers who are preparing to knock on publishing’s front door, then start talking to other people in the industry. Make connections beyond the immediate focus of your peer groups. Stretch yourself. Challenge your certainty and make certain that you really are the shit. Find those people who can help with the next stage of your evolution.

The Big Show is waiting. Take off your +3 Cloak of Isolation, get the help you need, and make your entrance with style.

Indie Publishing: Editors, why you hide?

Hey Scribblerati fans, today I'm blogging about my experience as a first-time Indie Author looking for an Editor.

You can find my post, Indie Publishing: Editors, why you hide? over on my blog.

I hope to see you there!

Fallen Jedi - Padawan

Okay, show of hands. How many of you knew there was such a thing as Star Wars Reads Day?

No? Me either. Not until a few days ago, anyway, when I saw it in my Twitter feed. At first I was like, meh, because Revenge of the Sith kind of killed Star Wars for me.

But then I remembered.

You see, I have this bit of fan fiction I've been sitting on for a long time. It's just a short little thing, something I wrote shortly before Revenge of the Sith. Back then I was reading a lot of Star Wars novels and my imagination was churning, dreaming up all the exciting places the franchise could go. I never once considered that Lucas would kill off all the Jedi in one movie.

This little story takes place in a Star Wars universe where Anakin Skywalker turned into Darth Vader and killed many of Jedi, but not all of them. Those who remained were on the run and Darth Vader was tracking them down, one by one.

So, in honor of Star Wars Reads Day, I present Fallen Jedi – Padawan. I've dusted it off and polished it a bit, but it's essentially the same story I wrote all those years ago.

Enjoy…

Fallen Jedi
Padawan

A story by Shawn Enderlin

Kile ran, skimming along the building’s side as fast as his short legs would carry him. Hot ozone and blaster charred duracrete choked the air while the all too familiar sound of colliding lightsabers hissed and spat behind him.

Run, the mocking voice said in his head. While you can.

Heart pounding, Kile rounded the corner and darted into a busy street. He lost himself in the crowd, moving away from the ambush.

Good, the voice said. Run away and hide. You're too young to help her. Too slow. Too clumsy.

Kile pounded his fists against his head. It was true!

Master Marion’s voice echoed in his head. Control, Kile. Remember, the only one who can make you feel inferior is yourself.

Grinding his teeth with frustration, confusion, fear – the dark side! – Kile struggled to bring his emotions under control. Master Marion was right. He couldn’t afford to let fear control him. Not now. Not with death so close.

Give in to your fear, Padawan. Give in to your hatred of your own weakness. Only then will you discover the power you crave.

“Out of the way, boy!”

Kile looked up into the angry eyes of well dressed man who had. The man took in Kile's braid and the lightsaber hanging on the clip at his belt and the man's contempt melted into terror.

“Jedi!” the man blubbered, backpedaling.

The flow of people slowed to drink in what was happening. Kile felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as the thoughts around him bent on that one dreaded word.

The crowd pulled away, their fearful glances searching for clone troopers. Or worse. Kile knew better than to ask for help. Most hurried away, cold with fear, but there are always a few whose shock hardened into calculation, for the bounty on a Jedi could feed most families for a year. Those were the ones to be afraid of.

Kile turned, poised to flee, and nearly ran into an old woman who dragged a reluctant boy along behind. Her crazy gray curls, deeply wrinkled cheeks, and too thick rouge should have been alarming, but something in her sharp green eyes said otherwise.

“Come with me,” the old woman said with an authority Kile was only too glad to obey. Her bony fingers clasped his arm, steering him through the crowd and into a nearby shop. She and pulled both him and the boy away from the windows and behind a large rack of clothes near the counter.

“Can I help you?” asked a distinguished looking man who wore the same fine clothes found on racks.

“Leave and lock the door,” Kile said, motioning only slightly with his hand.

“Of course,” the man said, politely inclining his head and backing away.

“Jedi!” the boy whispered, making the word sound like a curse.

“Not a Jedi,” the old woman said. “A Padawan.”

“Who are you?” Kile asked. She didn’t feel like a Jedi, but her emotions were remarkably calm for a woman who was risking death by the simple act of associating with him.

Her smile intimated a past he could only imagine. “I’m not a Jedi, if that’s what you are thinking. But I’ve known Jedi.”

“Ga’ma!” the boy said, scandalized.

“You don’t understand, grandson,” she said to the boy. “All of you kids, all you know is to fear the Jedi. You never knew the Jedi as I did, as guardians and teachers, masters of lore, compassion, and all that is good.”

“I wish they were dead,” the boy said.

The old woman grimaced. “I’m sorry that this is all that is left to you, Padawan. A boy your age should have better companions than fear, misunderstanding, and bigotry.” She touched his forehead, pushing back his hair. “How old are you? Ten?” He nodded. “Then you must have been in one of the last classes?”

Kile nodded, but kept to himself the memories her words evoked. He barely remembered his life before the Purge. Sometimes he dreamt of the Jedi Temple and of the web of aircars that flew overhead. Mostly it was Yoda he dreamt of. Kile almost smiled. Once, after practice, Yoda had pulled him aside and told him he would be a great Jedi someday.

Kile stuffed the memory back into its safe place then reached out and took the old woman’s hand in his own. “Thank you, ma'am, but I have to go before they find me.”

The old woman nodded sadly, hiding her face as she brought up a hand to dab at her wet eyes. “Yes,” she said. “You should go, but before you do…” She grabbed her grandson's shoulder, turned him around, and pulled off his jacket.

“Hey!” the boy protested.

Kile was even more surprised than the boy when she put jacket over his shoulders.

“Stop it Ga’ma!” the boy sputtered, reaching to take back his jacket. The old woman slapped his hand, stunning him into silence.

Then, before Kile even realized what she was doing, she grabbed the braid that marked him as a Padawan and cut it off with a tiny laser knife she pulled from her pocket.
He watched the braid fall to the ground.

Should have done that long ago, he thought, without anger.

“Now you can go,” the old woman said.

The urgency in her voice rang true and the weight of the world settled onto Kile’s shoulders. Master Marion would be dead by now. He was on his own.

A sudden wave of fear washed over him and he looked up at the old woman, asking, “What if I’m the last one?”

Sympathy and sorrow rolled off of her, but she kept it from her face and instead smiled encouragement.
“You're not,” she said. “There must be balance in the force.”

“Thank you,” he said, and then he looked over to where the boy glared angrily. “Thank you,” he said to the boy.

Eat nerf dung, the boy mouthed.

A feeling of disquiet washed over him.

It had nothing to do with the boy.

“They're coming,” he said at the same moment glass shattered.

“He said they went in here!” a clone trooper’s rough voice said.

“Find the Padawan!” shouted another voice.

“Run!” the old woman fiercely whispered, pushing him behind the counter and pointing him towards the hall before pulling her grandson close and stepping into the open.

“You can't have him” she cried. “He's my boy!”

“What?” the boy shouted. “I’m not a Jedi!”

“Sure you're not,” said one of the clone troopers as he roughly scooped the boy into his arms. “No!” the old woman screamed.

Kile, crouching behind the counter, closed his eyes. “A real Jedi knows no fear,” he whispered, giving voice to Master Marion’s well worn mantra.

Standing, he looked over the counter, to where the sobbing old woman clutched at the armored troopers. He whispered, “A Jedi protects weak, comforts the needy, consoles the distraught.”

Kile stepped around the counter. “A Jedi does not let others die for him.”

The clone trooper with the boy caught sight of him and pointed.

The other clone trooper backhanded the old woman and drew his blaster.

“Another Jedi?” said the first.

“Just some kid.”

“He’s the Jedi!” the boy screamed.

Kile drew his lightsaber from beneath the boy’s coat and thumbed the trigger. It blared to life.

The clone trooper fired. Kile swatted the bolt back into the leg armor on the trooper holding the boy.

Another bolt went wide. Kile leapt across the room, deflecting a third shot back at the shooter and dropping him like a dead dewback. Kile sensed movement and reverse thrusted his lightsaber up into the other trooper's stomach. 

He deactivated his lightsaber and silence filled the room.

For the first time in months his breathing and heart rate were as calm as if he had just woken from a long sleep. Emotionless, he bent down next to the crumpled old woman and turned her bloodied face towards him.

She said, “You should have ran.”
 
Kile shook his head. “A boy would run. A Jedi would never let you die for him.”

A deep, mechanical voice rumbled, “Foolish sentiment, Padawan.”

The old woman's eyes flashed fear and even though Kile knew who that voice belonged to, her fear couldn't find purchase.

He turned and reignited his light saber.

“Fighting you will be a waste of time,” Darth Vader said, gliding into the room. “Your master was disappointing as well.”

Kile walked forward.

He died a Jedi.

A great Jedi.

Present is Past

Originally posted at my blog, Writing and Whatnot

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There are few things more influential on our lives than those early years between childhood and adulthood, those years when we become aware of the larger world even as we discover the things that thrill us and struggle with those that cause us pain.

When I look back there are a lot of things that stand out. Good things and bad. Excitement and dread. Venturing out and withdrawing.

Through it all, there was one thing rarely sullied by the drama that so often made a mess of everything else: Iowa Hawkeye football.

Maybe it’s just the forgiving lens of memory, but something about game day was sacred. We forgot about jobs, homework, and struggling marriages and we focused on football.


There was lots of yelling, but always at the TV. Especially at Michigan! There were smiles all around, cursing at bad plays, and food. The food! Mom made a potato salad as mean as any linebacker and dad could make that Weber grill serve up a T-Bone that sizzled like a ball thrown on a quick slant.

Now I’m [REDACTED] years older and things have changed. College, marriage, writing a novel, and becoming a Minnesota Gopher fan just scratches the surface. One of the constants through it all has been that fall Saturdays still hold a glimpse of that same naive wonder I used to feel as a child. Now, football season is the one time of year when I set my coveted writing Saturdays aside and make my way to campus, or sit down in front of the TV.

Especially this week. It’s Minnesota vs Iowa, with Floyd of Rosedale (#ProtectThePig!) and another year of bragging rights at stake.

This year my (not so) little brother and his wife are coming over. The poor kid is still an Iowa fan and while we may not agree on who should win, there will be smiles, curses, beer, food, and fun. And who knows, maybe there will even be some potato salad.

I’ll write on Sunday, when the Gophers are 5-0.

In Which Shawn Merges Onto the Self Publishing Highway

Note: This post originally appeared on my personal blog Writing and Whatnot.

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My book is done! Woot!

But I've been here before and here too.

I'd like to say, this time I'm really done, but now I'm older and wiser (ha!) and I know there's more work ahead. Have I taken this thing far as I can by myself? Yes, unless one of the few people who I've lined up to read this says, "Hey this part blows." I'd fix that but otherwise, yep, I'm done.

So what's next?

What I'm not doing: querying agents.

I want creative freedom, fair compensation for my efforts, and full control of my intellectual property rights. Agents work with traditional publishers and traditional publishers won't give me any of those things.

What I will do: self publish

But not this kind of self publishing:

[David] has no interest in self-publishing and worries that the flood of substandard self-published books is creating a backlash. "You have to be dedicated to the craft of writing," he said. "I don't think doing straight e-books answers that. You don't get better. There isn't an editor, an agent or a line editor to go through the books with a very fine-tooth comb to massage it into something that is of high quality. Instead, you have people who think the first draft of whatever they put down is good stuff."

That's David Housewright in a recent Star Tribune article. I understand his point of view, it's point of view that he shares with many, but I do not believe that self publishing and producing a quality product are mutually exclusive. Plenty of authors have already demonstrated that self published works can be of high quality and not only do I plan on doing the same, but I plan on doing it entirely though ebooks. Will I have a Print On Demand option somewhere down the line? Probably, but that's getting ahead of myself.

First, I have to write the best book I can. That involves hiring a story editor and then making revisions. It also involves hiring a copy editor and making more revisions. Finally, there's the book cover designer. No revisions there - whew!

So as you can see, there's no part of what comes next that is going to be easy or expedient. Or cheap. I have a lot of hard work left.

I think this puts it best:

When I suggest that self-publishing a book is too easy, I mean it in the sense that descending a mountain by jumping off is too easy.

That's Clark G. Vanderpool in a post titled CAUTION – Self-Publishing Is Too Easy, which I have pulled from Porter Anderson's Writing on the Ether. Clark goes on to say:

It can be accomplished with minimal effort, little or no assistance, and very short-term planning, but too often the too easy can lead to disaster.

Unfortunately, some authors who consider self-publishing seem ready to take the swan dive rather than endure a controlled descent.

That is what David was talking about. More from Clark:

I began my analogy at the top of the mountain…Now, in the rarefied atmosphere of accomplishment, he or she (our author) searches for the fastest way to disseminate this newly written creation to the population below. A relatively small percentage of authors will be able to descend in the harness of a publisher’s parachute. The thing about parachutes is that they require a commitment preceded by a leap of faith and followed by a lack of control.

And with no publisher’s parachute?

And that is what I was talking about. As well as this:

For the rest of us who do not wish to remain on the summit like a solitary Oracle awaiting the sincere reader to scale the heights in search of our wise words, there is always self-publishing–an increasingly accessible option. But the ease of access carries with it the temptation to ignore the process. Those who succeed through self-publishing do so, more often than not, by careful steps and with the help of a guide who has been over the ground before.

If an author will invest as much effort in getting down the mountain as in reaching the summit, self-publishing can be a rewarding path.

So wish me luck, friends. I'm about to go where no Scribblerati agent has gone before. I'm going to jump off the mountain, but I'm going to do it the right way. The hard way.

I'll keep you posted.

Open Your Heart

I've been cranky lately.

Its a number of things. First world problems mainly, but still, they've been weighing on me. Work's been kinda meh and I've been sick more than I haven't, but really, it's mostly the book's fault. I'm still not done!
Enough complaining.

I was driving home the other night, crabbing at the traffic, and thinking that all I wanted was to get home and get to work editing but I knew I needed to do some yoga first. It's two hours out of my evening, but I've been putting it off a lot and that's not helping things either.

So I got home and pulled up the Yoga Glow website and this class on heart openers jumped out at me. So I did it. And it was awesome. The instructor spoke of making space around your heart, of casting aside those old thoughts that weigh you down and opening up to truth and light and intuition.

That's good advice, eh? It doesn't matter if you are talking about work, or relationships, or editing. You have to be open to new ideas but that process of making yourself receptive isn't always easy. Sometimes the answer your looking for isn't even new.

Sometimes you just need to rediscover acceptance.

I am where I need to be. The rest will follow, if I open up my heart.

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Originally posted at my blog, Writing and Whatnot, on 6-21-12