The past week has been full of reminders about things I need to remind myself about.
When writing a new story feels like a slog at the beginning…
Reminder: This is normal. I often need to write about 1,000 words to get into the characters’ heads and the flow of the story.
Another reminder: It doesn’t matter how clear the story is in my head. When I first start a new story, it may feel slow and like it will never go anywhere. But it will. 🙂
When I feel stuck at the very beginning of the story, and don’t know enough about the story to feel I can even start it…
Reminder: Try writing an outline. Just because I don’t do much outlining for most of my stories doesn’t mean it isn’t useful for some of them.
When I’m stalling on writing a story/scene because something feels wrong with the point of view character…
Reminder: Does this character have a problem? If not, can you give them one? And if you can’t, perhaps they’re not the right character for the point of view character.
You’d think I’d remember all of this, as well as the other things I reminded myself of recently, but have since forgotten (reminder: write them down next time). Apparently knowing something doesn’t mean that I remember it when I need to. 🙂
Rosie reminding everyone that it’s time to go down the trail.
I had so much fun putting this collection together that I’ve decided to turn The Faerie Summer into the first of a series of faery-themed bundles! The next one is scheduled to come out at Midwinter, also known as the winter solstice. (This is a northern hemisphere approach – in the southern hemisphere, the next issue will come out on Midsummer…)
I’m also planning a novel with some of the characters from my bundled story “The Faery’s Choice.” I’m not entirely sure what will happen in that story, but it’s going to be fun to find out.
Next up is the Beneath the Waves bundle, which launches in mid-June. The theme is mythical water creatures. As you can see from the artwork, it’s obviously a very different type of collection…
I’ve committed to a jam-packed schedule for the next year or so, which feels both daunting and exciting. I’ve got two stories that are due in the next week, then I’m going to write another short story, wrap up my edits on Entangled by Midsummer, outline and write a series of witch-themed novelettes/novellas, write at least five new short stories this year, work on my faerie novel series, and try to get ahead on all the things I’ve already signed up for in 2018. And, of course, I’m sure I’ll commit to more new things along the way! Like Rosie and Jasper, I’m always happiest when I’m busy – I just play with stories instead of pine cones. 🙂
Rosie with a pine cone in her mouth; Jasper is eyeing his.
This was such fun to put together! I’ve loved reading faerie stories since I was a kid. I loved Tom Deitz’David Sullivan books, I read lots of books about Merlin and King Arthur (whichever version you prefer, it’s pretty clear that the Lady of the Lake was not a human…how many people do you know who live at the bottom of a lake?) and, while I was pretty far into adulthood by the time I found Little, Big by John Crowley, that story has such a wonderful feel that I loved it in spite of there being no obvious faery magic. Or at least none where you could conclusively explain what was going on. 🙂 I love reading – and writing – faery stories, and I’m so thrilled to have been able to put this collection together.
I started planning this bundle in mid-August 2017. Yes. that was eight-and-a-half months before the release date. 🙂 And yes, I have bundles that I’m planning that far out right now…and even farther!
And yes, I have a story in this bundle as well. 🙂 I wrote the first draft of this story over two years ago, as an assignment for a class I was taking. This story is set in the Land of Faerie. Three young faerie boys come across a human girl who has accidentally wandered into their land, and can’t find her way back to her own world. One of the boys, Táinar, is a side character in my (almost done…really, truly…) novel Entangled by Midsummer. It was really fun to write about him as a 12-year-old.
I plan on writing a novel (or more) about the characters in this book. At this point I only have a vague idea of what will happen, but it’s clear enough that I’m looking forward to this project. I don’t expect to get to it for a while only because I’ve got so many things lined up, but I do know that it’s going to be a fun story to write!
The next thing up on my list is the Beneath the Waves bundle, which launches in mid-July. The theme is mythical water creatures – my story is about Scylla, a monster from Greek mythology. But Scylla wasn’t originally a monster – she was a young woman who, like many unfortunates at the time, was turned into a monster even though she’d done nothing wrong. Greek mythology is filled with stories about horrible things happening to good, innocent people. I clearly have to write more stories like this one…
Rosie and Jasper are ready for summer, when it’s easier to find pine cones.
