IWSG: The 1 Million Word Count Edition (#17)

Insecure Writers' Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Nah... I haven't actually written one million words since my last blog post back in September. But, I have decided since then to work my way toward that ultimate goal. I recently read an author's response to a post over on Kindle Boards, and it just made sense that experience trumps everything. And, 1,000,000 words equals those 10,000 hours meant to be spent on becoming an expert in anything.

So, I literally tallied up every word I could find evidence of having written in the past 1o years (since 2004). What a project! Whether fan fiction or original, whether goofing around, or serious, if it was FICTION, it was added to my lifetime word count chart. I didn't go back further than 2004 because I simply don't have anything I wrote that far back anymore, sadly.

I will say that my current total is a little bit higher than I thought it was going to be. Not by much, but slightly, so this actually encouraged me rather than derailed me. But, I'm still nowhere near 1,000,000 words written total. That needs to change and it will now.

Doing this has made me realize that WHAT you write isn't even half as important as the fact that you simply DO it. Just do it! Just write fiction, and it doesn't matter if it sucks or is so amazing, J.K. Rowling will be mad with jealousy. Just write because you cannot add to your word count total that which does not exist.

I have to say, it helped me make a big shift in getting over some of my writing anxiety. Now, I just write and write and write until something someday will be good enough to edit into publishable condition. Someday, it will just have to happen. 

And, if I write another 4,000 words before the year is over, I will have surpassed my word count total from 2012, which was my best writing year, by 500 words! (I didn't realize I was so close to having written as much as I did that year. This chart shows you everything that is true!)

My other big ah-ha from discovering how many words I've actually written is that I have a lot more compassion for myself. I realize it is so very, very wrong for me to expect perfection from myself when I am such a rank amateur. That might sound like something that should depress me, but it really doesn't. I can't logically expect to be so good at something that I don't have enough experience at to be considered a true professional. Now that I understand this, I'm easier on myself about making mistakes. You can't expect a toddler to run as fast as a teenager, ya know?


Have you ever tallied up your lifetime word count goal? Anywhere near 1,000,000 lifetime words written? (Maybe it's just me who's so far behind. :(

Underrated Treasures Blogfest! Beware the Awesome....

An opportunity to share some underrated TV, films, books or music that just aren't getting enough love! Share your favorite lesser-known gems with everyone in this BLOGFEST, created by the all-knowing, all-powerful Captain Ninja Alex Cavanaugh.

For this Blogfest, which is brand new, as far as I know, I love having the opportunity to share obscure gems with other people who are not aware of some amazing things out there that I know about. I'm going to separate things into categories: 

TV 

This TV show hails from Japan and it's quite popular over there, but here in the U.S., it's only hugely popular with the anime-loving crowd. Needless to say, that's not a very large segment of the population. *sad face :(* I'm a very big anime and manga (Japanese comic books) fan, so if I'm recommending an anime TV series to people who never watch anime, it's because this one is so different from the norm. 

Shingeki no Kyojin, a.k.a. "Attack on Titan" is like Japan's

version of "The Walking Dead" American TV series. But, these zombies are HUGE. Imagine having to battle zombies as large as skyscrapers! Yeah, it's a very harrowing, terrifying series, but so satisfying. The characters are genuinely freaked-out about their circumstances and not too prepared for what they have to deal with. Many twists and turns abound, so be sure to give this one a few episodes to really show its true nature. Don't expect this show to go easy on you--many characters die. DIE very horrible deaths, even the ones you come to care about. 

When the man-eating giants called Titans first appeared, humans retreated behind massive walls. After a hundred years of safety, a colossal-sized Titan smashes through the defenses, unleashing a flood of giants and carnage in the streets. Eren Jaeger watches helplessly as one of the creatures devours his mother.
He vows to kill every Titan walking the earth.

Eren and his surviving friends enlist to fight against the insatiable monsters. The future looks bleak, but there's more to Eren than meets the eye: he may be humanity's last hope against extinction. From the director of "Death Note" and "High School of the Dead" comes the series Anime News Network calls an intense, visceral, and graphic thrill ride. The Titans have come to feast. Anything can happen. No one is safe.

Available to watch on Netflix streaming in its original Japanese audio, or on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on Saturdays at 11:30pm in English dubbed voice over. 

MUSIC 

I'm going to be schizoid and jump from this very intense, terrifying TV show to my favorite music composers of beautiful, ethereal music. Try and keep up.... 

Adrian von Ziegler, an independent composer from Switzerland, has had my ear for the past year now with all his gorgeous high fantasy and dark gothic music. This guy is seriously a genius and needs to be hired for film and video games of every kind. He bases himself on Youtube and has quite a good following, making a living for himself from the sales of his audio tracks. Take a listen below!

Brunuhville is a contemporary of Adrain's and a good friend.

Bruno hails from Portugal and composes very similiar-sounding music to Adrian's, but in a very different style. If you end up liking Adrain's music, you're almost sure to like Brunuhville, as well. He, too, is based on Youtube and has a very nice-sized following, so far. He has a fantastic ear for extremely emotional music. Watch out or you may end up balling your eyes out! 

I'm just so happy to have found these masters of music! They are very young and have full careers ahead of them. I can't wait to hear what they dream up next. 

STAND-UP COMEDY 

Now, I'm going to keep up my unpredictability with a plug for a fantastic, but lesser-known stand-up comedian that I have recently discovered. Brian Regan is an American comic who has been doing stand-up since the 1990's, although I've never even heard of him. Maybe you have, since he's been around for so long. He's absolutely hilarious and a very clean family man. You can enjoy his comedy with your teenagers, since the younger ones might not get his jokes. Then again, maybe they will!

And, there you have it! Have any of you ever heard of these lesser-known gems? I'd love to hear from others who like any of this stuff, too.

New Book Release: The Trouble with Flirting by Rachel Morgan

**NEW RELEASE**

THE TROUBLE WITH FLIRTING

by Rachel Morgan

Labelled a nerd for most of high school, Livi sees her first year of university as a chance to redefine herself. She can finally enter the popular crowd and maybe even land herself a super hot boyfriend. But Livi’s about to discover that the price of popularity may be more than she's willing to pay, and that what—and who—she wants most has always been right in front of her.

Amazon
Goodreads
Trouble Series Website

The Trouble Series

Forgiven (A Trouble Novella) *FREE*

The Trouble with Flying *OUT NOW*

The Trouble with Flirting *OUT NOW*

The Trouble with Faking *OCT 2014*

The Trouble with Falling *DEC 2014*

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Morgan was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. After completing a degree in genetics, she decided science wasn’t for her—after all, they didn’t approve of made-up facts. These days she spends much of her time immersed in fantasy land once more, writing fiction for young adults and those young at heart.

She is the author of the Amazon bestselling YA fantasy series, Creepy Hollow, and the lighthearted contemporary romance Trouble series.

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+ | Pinterest

IWSG: The Reluctant Edition... (#16)

Insecure Writers' Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

  

I keep blogging about IWSG every month without any other content in between! Sorry about that, people. I've been busy writing and doing a million other things to my own bedraggling, lately.

I suppose what comes up for me this month, insecurity-wise,

is that I realize, as I get closer to finishing my difficult manuscript, I will have to put it out there in the near future. That whole idea is terrifying to me! I know it's a necessary evil for any author, but I'm finding it super hard to feel comfortable with this.

If anyone has any advice for what I could do to help me feel more confident about proceeding with putting my work out there for all to see, please grace me with your wisdom. Anyone with good experience, maybe a great story to share that will aid me would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you can relate to me, please let me know that, too! Are you in the same boat as me, working on getting to that published phase, but feeling your feet getting cold as the day looms ever closer?

IWSG: The Winning Camp NaNo Edition! (#15)

Insecure Writers' Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

I happily report that I have won Camp NaNoWriMo from last month! It's really great to have a big chunk of my novel WIP completed and I'm well underway to finishing it.

Somehow, by some miracle, my writing partner Lan Chan decided to join me at Camp NaNo and we proceeded to create our own private cabin. These cabins feature a chat system, like instant messaging, and we found we were the only ones chatting with each other at first. I suggested we go to the NaNo forums and ask if anyone else wanted to join our cabin, and voila! Some people came along and we had a full cabin after about a week.

We all bonded so well with each other during the month, we were able to boast of having one of the few cabins that was active and exciting. Most people complained in the forums about how boring and dead their cabins were. Since we found so much strength in our numbers, we decided to keep the magic alive after our cabins would close, and now we are all still chatting everyday in our very own Skype group! Now we have a good half of us to still encourage each other and hold each other accountable.

I can't say enough about how important it is to declare your writing intentions and have other people keeping you honest. It made a big difference that everyone could see if I was falling behind in my writing, or if I was keeping up a good pace. It's far too easy to fall off and not get your work done when no one else really cares, or just doesn't really know what you're doing in the first place.

Anyway, I had no idea Camp NaNoWriMo this year would change my writing habits forever. I needed something like this, so I'm happy it worked out so incredibly well. Thanks to Lan and all my other cabin mates for your support (Denise, Toni, Olivia, Jess & Allison). I think we can be so much more sure that we will accomplish our publishing dreams because we all have each other to rely on. 

IWSG: The NaNoWriMo Edition... (#14)

Insecure Writers' Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

This month is Camp NaNoWriMo and I'm currently just beginning it. With such a huge push, at least for me (20,000 words), of words needing to be written by the end of July, I always fear something happening to me that will derail my efforts.

I've only ever tried NaNoWriMo a few years ago in November, and I got a bad cold two weeks in. I couldn't continue after that. This time, I hope to be able to meet my goal, which isn't as hard to reach as regular NaNo's 50,000 words, but it's still a stretch for me. I have the worst luck in getting things like this completed because something always happens to bump me off track.

I'm trying not to think about it and to just feel more positive about succeeding this time. If I sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop, the Universe will see to it that it happens. So, I'm trying to let myself be encouraged by all my cabin mates and keep my schedule as free for writing as possible.


Have you ever had issues with NaNoWriMo, or a long word project that you couldn't finish due to LIFE getting in the way?

Ugh, life.... Get a life and quit bothering me.

 

Camp NaNoWriMo 2014!

Anyone else participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this July, besides me?

All I know is that November is always a bad month for me because I'm too busy and stressed out due to the holidays, and my creative flow is usually completely nonexistent at the very end of the year each year. July is much better for me for the lack of family holiday stress and a better creative flow!

Camp NaNoWriMo is actually more lenient than the annual event held every November, in that you can set your word count goal as low as 10,000 or as high as 1,000,000 words. All you're trying to do is meet whatever word count you want to meet, instead of the 50,000 words you have to meet in order to win in November. More reasons for me to like this July event better. It will be running between July 1st through July 31st, so it starts exactly a week from today!

If anyone is participating and you'd like to "friend" me on the website, feel free to click here and add me. If you want me to "friend" you, then let me know how to get to your profile page so I can add you to my friends.

Hope to see you there!

What I Write

I never blog about my actual stories, so I figured I should fix that, even if for a mere blog post. Since it's taking me so dang long to finish writing my current novel, I'll just use my little corner of the cyberspace universe to chat about what sort of writer I am and what I've been writing since last August.

Does this make writing seem really cool, or what? Tell everyone you know that this is what you do for a living!!

So, what do I write, since I'm a writer? 

I write stories that appeal to me and hope they are going to appeal to other people with the same interest in fiction that I have. It means I hope I'm in my target audience. 

I have a few, maybe more, unfinished manuscripts lying around on my laptop's hard drive that I feel have become the stepping stones for the stories I write today. That's just a nice way of saying they suck, but if I hadn't written them, or partially written them, I wouldn't have the skills to write what I can write these days. 

I might be approaching forty--as I leer at it--but don't be fooled. I am not much of an adult and probably still think too much like a teenager or college student. I usually read Young Adult fiction, thus I usually write Young Adult fiction. Anything that dramatizes fantasy or paranormal elements floats my boat. Just as long as the fiction isn't stuck in the overly realistic mundane world, I'm happy. I like to escape when I read! 

My current work-in-progress is a Young Adult vampire novel. I know, that sounds like the stupidest kind of novel to write in this day and age. As if this genre hasn't already been beaten to death thousands of times over. Despite this, vampire lore and the fascination humans have with these paranormal creatures lives on, my friend. If a real life vampire were to approach you tomorrow on your way to work, would you simply tell him, "I'm so sick of your kind. Just go sparkle somewhere where I can't see you...!" I think not. 

And, why not? Perhaps you know intrinsically that vampires can be interpreted in an infinite number of ways. You would probably bombard the poor fellow with a slew of questions about what makes him a vampire and how he lives from day to day, and whether or not you happen to be his next meal. They are basically creatures who prey on humans for their blood, sometimes even turning humans into more of their kind. That's all that is needed to create a fictional vampire. Beyond that, the possibilities are endless..... 

My WIP (work-in-progress) is about aristocratic vampires, enslaved humans and the Roman Empire all wrapped up in an alternate history of the 19th century. Yep, that about sums it up. Any questions?

Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Time for me to write a review and shout about another amazing book I just read!

 

Shadow and Bone

 by Leigh Bardugo

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Genre: High Fantasy

My Rating: 5/5 stars

Every now and then, you read a book that makes you remember the reason you love to read. Shadow and Bone is just this kind of book for me. It’s one of those novels you can read and read, and keep reading without even realizing how much time is actually going by in real life as you read it. When you have to put the book down and go do something else that needs your attention, you want to read just one more page, or chapter….

Shadow and Bone is a high fantasy young adult novel set in a fictional world based on Imperial Russia. Yep. Right there you already know you have something different, probably even special (and you do). It’s about a teen girl named Alina Starkov from a country called Ravka who discovers she’s a Grisha—basically a person with magical abilities. She’s not only a Grisha, but the special kind that comes around every century, or even less often. Because of this, she is whisked away to the capitol of Ravka for her own protection and to be trained to use her powers.

There is, of course, romance, but it’s not heavy-handed as you would expect. Let’s face it—YA tends to focus so much on the romance that not much else about the stories have any substance. Not the case here. There is plenty of plot and real things going on, political things even. The author finds little opportunities to sneak in a bit of romantic tension here and there without making it all about those moments. It’s done so artfully.

But, the best part about the story is Alina herself. She is full of sarcasm and even a little sardonic humor. She’s realistic and reacts how people would actually react to the strange and fanciful situations she’s forced into. I liked Genya, her sort-of best female friend character, Mal, her crush and long-time best friend, Baghra, her magic teacher, and even the ever mysterious and complicated Darkling. The relationships she has with all of these characters is delicious.

I know this book came out about two years ago and I’m only now reading it, so I feel a little slow. But, it takes a while to get around to certain books with a to-be-read pile stacked to the ceiling, you know? If you haven’t gotten around to this one, I highly suggest you do. Make sure to imagine Alina with a Russian accent as she tells you her story. The entire story will sound so much better and more fitting in your head that way, particularly with her personality.

IWSG: The Cyclical Edition... (#13)

Insecure Writers' Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

 

 

So, it's time for IWSG once again. This post reflects my insecurity from last month's IWSG post, which was all about how insecure I am about being a slow writer.

 

But, this time I think I may figured out why I'm so slow. I've been looking back on my writing habits for the past few years or so, and it looks very much like my creativity goes around in cycles. It means I have periods of time when I'm able to sit and write for a few months without much trouble. But, then I will always lapse into an ebb of creativity that lasts for about the same length of time.

 

I think I can safely say I'm going through a dry spell right now, but it will pass, and the creativity will flow again soon enough. I'm putting the writing on the back-burner for now and getting little things done while I wait for this dry spell to pass, like chores, editing other people's work, etc. I'm really very accepting of this now, even if I wish my creativity flowed all the time. But, that's just how my mind works. Can't control it!

 

Have any of you ever felt like your creativity comes and goes in cycles? I'd be interested in hearing if more authors and writers experience something like this, too.  

Guest Post: Author Cherie Reich (Reborn Blog Tour!)

Today, author Cherie Reich is dropping by to explain why she reads fantasy. Be sure to check out the links to her new novel, Reborn, a Greek mythology-influenced YA high fantasy.

 

Why Cherie Reich Reads Fantasy

I didn’t start out reading fantasy. My fantasy experience as a child revolved around Disney movies. I delved more into mysteries and horror as a child. I loved RL Stine’s Goosebumps series. I couldn’t keep my hands off the next Nancy Drew book. I watched Scooby Doo and Inspector Gadget.

From childhood, I graduated to Stephen King and Michael Crichton. I couldn’t stop reading horror, mysteries, and thrillers. I watched The X-Files, CSI, Criminal Minds, etc. I loved it.

Then, my friend told me about Mercedes Lackey. That moment changed my life. I picked up her Magic’s Pawn. I fell in love with the world, the characters. I started snatching up as many books as possible from her Valdemar series. My friend and I even created a roleplaying game featuring her characters and characters we created in her worlds.

Then, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie was about to come out. I devoured the first four books, which were out at the time. I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and so many other types of fantasy books. Recently I’ve been reading Brandon Sanderson’s work, and man, I’m crushing hard on his world building abilities.

I couldn’t get enough of magical worlds which contained elements of mystery and horror. Who wouldn’t want to live in a magical world, after all? I found my home within these worlds.

Do you read fantasy books? What are your favorites?

 

To save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate. 

On the day of Yssa’s death and rebirth, the god Apenth chose her as the Phoenix Prophetess.

Sea serpents and gods endanger the young prophetess’s journey and sour the omens. Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. She spends her days reading dusty scrolls, which does nothing to help her forget Tym, the boy back home. But the annoying yet gorgeous ferryman’s son Liam proves to be a distraction she can’t predict, even though he rarely leaves her alone for two sand grains.

Her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom.

Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight to change Fate.

Available in Ebook and Print!

To purchase: Amazon | Createspace | GooglePlay | Kobo | Nook | OmniLit | Smashwords | Other Retailers 

Click here to add on Goodreads.

The authors of Untethered Realms and I are giving away over $50 worth of books to one lucky winner. The giveaway is open internationally. A Rafflecopter giveaway.

A self-proclaimed bookworm, Cherie Reich is a speculative fiction writer and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her books include the horror collection Nightmare, a space fantasy novella collection titled Gravity, and the fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles and The Fate Challenges. Reborn is her debut novel. She is Vice President of Valley Writers and a member of the Virginia Writers Club and Untethered Realms. For more information, please visit her website.