Life Before Blogging

Two conventions, a whole-engine overhaul, reuniting with my first writers group, family issues, a death, a pow-wow, ten anniversary of 9/11…

Really, I don't feel that terrible about not blogging for about two weeks.

I really can't do all that justice in one catch up blog post, so I'll move forward.

It's September!

September is my New-New Year, and this year it's particularly poignant.  Not only did Dragon*Con rejuvenate my writing spirit, as it always does, but hanging out with the Dragon*Writers, dinner with Ann Crispin, and being on some pretty fabulous panels just made it all the better.  Even before that, being Guest of Awesome and sharing a pretty fab dealer's room with friends and friends-to-be at Pi-Con had me flying with writerly joy.

The engine overhaul made us have to redo some major finances, so despite its hefty cost, we're starting September with what is likely to be a better financial grasp on things.

I have yet to sit down and re-evaluate my New Year business plans, but that's all right.  I'm working on my editing deadline for UnCONventional and remembering why we picked each of the stories we did; I can't wait for the anthology to come out so we can share it with you.

Besides my editing, I've got a bunch of local stories I'm covering for Worcester Magazine that are due in the next couple of weeks.  I also know that the Broadsheet is looking for articles, and I have to get off my but to get some of my existing writing out there.

Speaking of which, I just shared the opening my novelette, "Mirror of Hearts," on the Broad Pod this week.  I need to get on putting that out as an ebook.  :)

In any case, there is a lot to do, but at least most of this is on the computer, and it really just requires some major Butt In Chair syndrome.

And kinda being sparse online.

The lesson in all this?  It's never too late to do a little restarting, or a lotta restarting.  So long as you go and do it.

The Second New Year

Yes, I have my big ritual for the New Year most of the world celebrates on January 1st, but September is often its own New Year to kick-start our productivity.

School starts right before or in September.

A new television season starts in September.

The air is getting cooler and there's a bustle of preparation for winter.

Fall Harvest is traditionally a major time of change and preparation.

For me, Dragon*Con now also kicks off September.  Whenever I get together with the DragonWriters, meet so many people who are mentors or inspirations for me - and interact with them, attend so many workshops and panels on writing and literature… I just can't help but feel inspired!

                                          (Trish; JIM BUTCHER; Husband-of-Awesome Scott)

Since Dragon*Con:

I redid my 1-page synopsis for Starbard

Wrote almost 4000 words on Kelpie

Banged out a poem inspired by my friend Stef's painting, "Eagle Dance"

Went through a big change with Aurelio that I will deal with in January

Recovered enough from certain injuries where I could go and play with Calico

Started a new semester with Smarthinking

Am planning for another big editing project

Am redesigning 2 different websites

Finished editing "Cemetery Angels"

Set up a publicity interview for a friend

Caught up on all my correspondence critiques

Published a new Broad Pod

Cleaned my desk… again

All in less than a week!

Ok, so maybe I only got one and a half loads of laundry done… and Scott cooked most of the meals… minus the take out a couple times… but I did dishes!

What I'm planning to do starting Monday/today:

Finish my Broad Universe web editing

SUBMIT Starbard

SUBMIT some short stories, including "Cemetery Angels"

Get cracking on 2011 Broad Pod… for TWO episodes per month - stay tuned!

New semester Smarthinking Work

Possibly start on the NEW BAF4 short story

And throughout the week:

Play with Calico!

New editing project

SPC meeting on Tuesday

MORE writing on Kelpie

FINALLY get my email back to < 100 in the inbox

And… um… more than I feel like typing right now because, welllll… look what the heck I've got planned!

(Check out the super-fab art from Christy's H-of-A for BAF3's "Last Gate to Faerie"!)

Post DragonCon Delirium

Warning: More Scattered than Usual Blog post!

xx

DRAGON*CON!!  I'm Back!! 

Points of fabulosity:

Besides EVERYTHING?!

Ok:

Both BEYOND BINARIES panels.  Great panelists, great audience… great ideas to make it even better for next year!

(The Beyond Binaries panels were done with my friend Sunder Cameron Addams and explored SF&F beyond male/female gender/sexuality.  'Cos, you know, it's SF&F… aliens and other fantastic beings.  Why do we get so stuck with traditionally gendered pairings and sex?)

Also, after Beyond Binaries 101, Jim Butcher flew up about a million more points in my opinion as he stayed until wellll after the panel to sign things for fans, chat, and have pictures taken.  Yay Jim Butcher!

Beyond Binaries 201 also had a full room and talked about sex - whee!

Sunder moderated the WHAT WOMEN WANT panel, which also flew by and was a ton of fun.  It was basically about what women want to see in SF/F writing/reading/etc. - with a lot of wonderful discussion. Thanks, Sunder!

In the Alternate History Track, Emilie Bush moderated a most fun STEAM QUEENS AND CLOCKWORK HOOKERS panel discussing feminism and women in Steampunk genre.  We had a ton of fun there, with a lot of great audience questions and conversations.  Thanks, Emilie!

We had not one but two RAPID FIRE READINGS for Broad Universe.  Cindy Macleod invited us to revisit BROADS THRU TIME for alternate history, where I read one piece of "Last Gate to Faerie" from the latest Bad-Ass Faeries anthology: In All Their Glory.  I read another section for the BROAD UNIVERSE RAPID FIRE READING in the Literary track run by Sue Phillips.  Both readings had nice audiences and, as always, I enjoyed hearing my sister Broads read!

Very special thanks to Cindy and Sue for inviting us back in 2010!  We're looking forward to 2011.

xx

Another bit of Dragon*Con Awesomeness:

Weird Tales editor Stephen Segal started a new poetry slam/performance panel on the Lit Track (Even more Props to Sue!).  On the panel he included Cherie Priest and...

*drum roll*

ROGUE FROM THE CRÜXSHADOWS!!

I can't imagine many more things that get a "ZOMGsqueeee!" than that.

Scott was in the audience, thankfully, or I mighta just chickened out.

I didn't.

I took my place among the readers, pulled out my cute little chapbook, and read all of "The Unicorn & the Old Woman" to the audience and panel.

Not to sound proud, but I really think that was the best performance I've ever given of that poem.

At the end, and again at the end of the whole panel, I got many compliments, sold copies of the chap book… and more specifically, Rogue said he liked it!!!*

In case you didn't know or couldn't tell by context, Rogue is the writer/head man for my number-one-favorite-ever band, the Crüxshadows.  Were it not for the Crüxshadows, I would not have found out or attended my first ever Dragon*Con in 2002.  The lyrics are the most powerful and personally moving to me than any other band in my collection.

The fact I read MY poem in front of Rogue?  And the fact he complimented me on it?!

Forget Cloud 9… I was on Cloud 11.  (Take that Spinal Tap!)  And still am.

*Reality check:  Yes, Rogue was exceptionally kind and supportive to everyone, not just me.  BUT the Husband-of-Awesome, who WILL tell me if that dress makes me look fat, said that the panel was watching me attentively, including Rogue, and he doesn't lie.  :)

xx

That's all I can fit now… but that's not "All."  Stay tuned for Faery Friday and more great news!

Find your Inner Bard: 5 Tips for Better Readings

Yay Dragon*Con Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readers!

So, I've been on the Motherboard of Broad Universe, officially handling RFRs for a few months. Of course, I've run a more than a few since then. And, before that, I've read at some RFRs, and even a few bouts of poetry for Jacob Edwards Library with my Southbridge Writing Group.

I liked to think I was pretty good at reading.

I purposely avoided listening to recorded versions, though. It would absolutely pop my "I'm pretty good at this" bubble. It was like how I KNOW I could totally kick ass at American Idol while I'm driving and hammering out whatever Crüxshadows or Ego Likeness… or even Nightwish… song is on my iPod.

Just don't record me! Self-delusional, huh?

I'm not the only one.

Most current writers hate hearing themselves read. An awful lot hate and fear reading out loud.

The problem is, the world of selling one's books is changing.

Inanna Arthen described it in her great panel at Readercon this year. This idea that writers are holed up, just writing, is a new construction. For millennia before, storytellers… told their stories. Or sung. They performed.

And now, with so much competition out there and so much marketing falling to the writer's responsibility, an author are returning to performance to drive sales.

Personal example: Every place I've read my poetry: I've sold out of chap books. Completely.



Of course, this is now a few years - and many lessons - of regularly reading out loud. And listening to my friends & colleagues read out loud - and also get better.

How about I share some of these hard-earned "secrets"? Here's my top 5 ways to ma

Credit where credit is due, first. Inanna was a big help in coaching me with her panels and in our overnight sessions at her house. Also, Mary Robinette Kowal has taught me so much from her panels and from her website resources. Definitely check out both of their web pages for more information.



5. Get friends & colleagues involved.

If you are lucky enough to have a live writing group near you, suggest that you spend a meeting every so often reading out loud. In my case, my live writing group reads almost everything out loud. Because we want feedback, we have an indirect pressure to perform well so our colleagues can understand and critique us. If you don't have a live writer's group, make Skype dates with online writing friends. Skype is free, and reading aloud will help both of you sell, so what's the


4. Pick strong passages

You want a passage that has a beginning middle and end. You don't want to spend more than a sentence or two acquainting your reader with the scene, and while you want a bit of a cliffhanger so the reader buys your book for the end, you want some sort of end to it. Your listeners want a story. If you can find a passage that's a natural scene in your book, you probably have what it needs. You may also want to pick a scene with a combination of narration and dialogue - and be careful not to have too many characters in dialogue. You'll need to differentiate your speakers - including the narrator, and most people have a hard time differentiating more than 4 speakers.


3. Record it.

Yes, yes, I admitted I hated the sound of my recorded voice. I still do, actually, but it's become much less painful. Record your readings and analyze them. Where you are stressing, and where you are stumbling (and may not realize it)? Where do you naturally speed up? Where do you naturally slow down?

Just being aware of what you naturally do helps you read better; you'll subconsciously fix yourself. Taking conscious steps to fix common mistakes makes your performance even stronger.

As an added benefit, move your recording device (or yourself if you are using a computer) to different distances to practice projecting. If you have to read to a full room of people (which is a good thing - really!), you want everyone in the back of the room to hear as well as those in the front.


2. Numbers game with Words.

With Rapid Fire Readings, all the readers have a strict timeline to follow. Even if you are reading alone or have more than 4.5 minutes, you don't want to go over your allotted time (it aggravates the people who scheduled you) and you don't want to be under time (who wants an awkward silence?). Inanna told me this ONE THING that has made calculating my readings a million times easier: You should read at a pace of between 100-120 words a minute.

Why is that so cool? It means that no matter what time frame I have to read, I can whip out my calculator and select a reading within that word count! 20 minutes? 2000-2400 words. 4.5 minutes? 450-540 words. If it's dialogue, I know it will go faster, so I can go towards the higher number. If it's a lot of narrative, I aim lower. If it's poetry, I also aim for the lower end because I know my poetry depends on dramatic pauses.


1. Practice and Perform.

Knowing you should practice reading out loud should go without saying, but I still like reminders, myself.

The harder part is to break beyond practicing: Go out and read!

If you're a member of Broad Universe, a great way to wet your feet is to be part of one of our Rapid Fire Readings at a convention you're attending. If you are on your own, talk to libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops to see if they have open mic events or if they'd be interested in hosting a reading. This is another chance to bring together your writing friends, too. A group of readers will have more draw than just one or two: organize a local author event with readings!

Maybe you're one of the few who won't want to puke or be caught with the shakes for your first few readings… or you might be like me and get stomach jitters and need an inhaler years into reading in front of people. Either way, read. Read as best you can. And do it again. And again.
Soon, you may find you need to pack more books to your events.

Fall: A Time for New Beginnings

A long time ago (about 12 years)…

In a journal far, far away (ok, really just on my left-hand bookshelf)...

I opened with an entry about how fall, despite being a time for death before winter, is really a time of beginnings. School starts in fall - and I was just the geek who enjoyed the start of classes. Most of the good programming seasons started in the fall. (Bones, Fringe, & House are back! Buffy & Angel always started in the fall… )

I still get a rush to start new stuff in the fall.

This whole to-do list and organization push is still going on. I've already got my list for tomorrow - though I'm still a little behind on some Friday stuff. We also just had our Broad Universe Motherboard meeting last Sunday, and I'm pumped with our new projects for our 10th Anniversary. On top of that, since I've been going to Dragon*Con regularly, it's like a jump-start to my writing. Especially when I get to see all these awesome faces again:




Hooray DragonWriters 2002!

And these fabulous people:




Eternal roommate Sunder Addams and the DragonWriters teacher, the inimitable Ann Crispin!

I will get more Dragon*Con stuff up soon. Promise. J Scott just downloaded them all to my computer tonight.


Also, more wonderful news - as the wicked-wonderful Danielle reminded me - Bad-Ass Faeries 1 & 2 are being re-released by Mundania Press. BAF2 even has this gorgeous new cover:



Not only that, Mundania is also releasing a special hardcover edition that has been personally signed by ALL the authors! These editions are numbered and lettered and in a VERY limited quantity. Keep watching for how you can get one of these!

Fall has always been my favorite month… good things happen in the fall. In New England, the vegetation dies in a gorgeous flame of color crossing the area - like the phoenix flaming up before the white ash if winter and being reborn in the spring…

Autumn is also harvest time: apples, pumpkins, squash, cranberries… delicious!

I hope to keep this wonderful fall momentum going for as long as possible.

Is your autumn a sign for new beginning? How can you make it something beautiful and new?