And We Have a Winner!

I know-- I'm a bit slow with the news, but I went out of town this past weekend to meet up with a good friend and cause some early Halloween mayhem at Knott's Berry Farm. Much fun was had! And now for the big news: Congratulations to Cia Nordwell for winning Captive by the Fog's Musa anniversary giveaway!

Yep, that was my grand ol' method of choosing a winner. I love dice. I collect dice. So, why not put them to good use?

Cia, I'll be sending you an email! Everyone else who entered, thank you for entering, and for the comments and well wishes about Captive's release. The weeks are counting down, and it's exciting to have friends and fellow readers and writers along for the ride!

Oh, and for the news about the winner of the Kindle (though you probably know already!), check out this page.

Happy Birthday, Musa!

One year ago, Musa Publishing was just finding its way into the wide, wide world of e-publishing. The folks in charge were (and still are!) talented individuals, with experience, writerly know-how, and a whole bunch of ambition. They then opened their arms to us loonies-- er, writers, and what do you know-- it's now Musa's first anniversary, and our books are a force to be reckoned with.

Well, everyone else's, anyway. Mine hasn't been released yet, but it will be soon! How soon, you ask? October 26th soon! Before I tell you about my soon-to-be-released novel, let me babble a bit more about Musa, and why, to me, their books are a step above.

My reasoning is simple-- Musa takes chances. Captive by the Fog, my debut novel, wouldn't be readying to dive into the reader universe if it weren't for Musa. The novel deals with an odd mixture of subjects, including but not limited to: aliens (yep, have a spoiler-- free of charge!), grief, friendship, self-esteem, LGBT issues, illness, disability, creativity, love, happiness, desperation, dreams, captivity, and more that my readers may hopefully one day point out to me. And ALIENS. Did I mention that?

Now, when I first began pitching around my synopsis (which looked far different from my current blurb), the reactions I received were, well, odd. I think most folks thought I was crazy. And hell, maybe I am. But I honestly don't think many publishers would have given my goofy-sounding novel a chance, let alone read the entire thing. People need to take chances to see the true bounds of happiness. Books need to take chances.

Lesbian science fiction and fantasy is a rare breed. And I intent on helping to change that. Musa was that first step.

Seriously, take a look at some of the excerpts and blurbs for the books listed under Musa. Musa takes chances. And for that, I wish them years and years of good luck and hawt books. Okay. Back to Captive, and the reason you're probably here-- phat loots (yes, I'm a gamer-- I'm all about the shinies).

Captive by the Fog

Earth has been captured by an alien species, and one prisoner, Sam, must confront the darkness as well as her own dreams-- or watch the city crumble.

Release date: October 26, 2012

Genre: Modern day science fiction, LGBT

Formats: All popular E-book formats


Here's a not-so-final version of the blurb:


Sam feels like a prisoner within her life until one foggy evening, when she is captured by beings from another world along with a group of strangers. As they are held within San Francisco, Sam and her fellow captives are told they are under surveillance, and that in order to survive, they must trust these creatures who won't show themselves. 

The group has no choice but to do so, and cling to the tiny pieces that make them human--hope, curiosity, courage, and love. Sam befriends Kisana, a shy woman with a captivating smile, and despite the harsh conditions, they find strength in one another--and love. Both are needed when Sam begins experiencing strange, prophetic dreams about the city around them being blown apart.
 
Will love--along with the power of Sam's foretelling dreams--be enough to ensure their survival after the fragile trust with the aliens is shattered, the city falls, and the fog of desperation rolls in?


See more information about Captive, including a rather long excerpt (which may still change), here. 

Now, for the blog hop details. Since my release date isn't until October 26th, I'm going to be promising a copy of Captive to the winner of my hop. That copy won't be delivered until October 26th, unfortunately, but the second I'm able to grab a copy, I'll send it in an email!

Don't also forget, of course, that by posting a comment to this blog post, you'll be entered to win our awesome grand prize-- a Kindle Fire!

To enter the Captive by the Fog Musa Anniversary giveaway, please do the following:

• Include a comment with your email
• Do ONE of the following: Follow this blog (check the sidebar on the right), or follow me on Twitter. 
• If you've already done both, no worries, just toss me a comment and your email. I'll know who you are! :D 

As the weeks to Captive's release count down, I'll be providing as many updates as I can! I also have a Facebook page, which you're welcome to check out and friend me on.

Thanks for stopping by! To get back to the original Musa Anniversary Blog Hop page, go here. Alternatively, here's the full list of participating blogs:

Captive by the Fog Cover Reveal!

Huzzah! This is the cover for my debut novel, Captive by the Fog, due out October 26th. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Pretty nifty, eh? I'm pretty dang happy with it. In the information I provided the artist, Kelly Shorten, with, I just kinda babbled about the San Francisco skyline, ruins, fog, a lamppost, and a whitish/blueish technological "sheen"... and well-- wow, major props to her for somehow being able to decipher my random items and come up with this. The color scheme's exactly what I'd imagined!

I'm finished with Captive's edits (special thanks to Megan Embry, my fantastic editor who somehow put up with my noobness!), and am now heading into the final stretch before publication. I've got some nifty Captive-inspired projects in the works, including a book trailer, an amazing instrumental song composed by my awesomely-talented friend, Jeremy Jones, and a slew of guest blogs that I'll be babbling on-- er, appearing on-- as the countdown to October 26th nears. 

I'm also going to be taking part in Musa Publishing's 1st Anniversary Blog Hop, which is starting in October. I'll be giving away a free digital copy of Captive by the Fog during the blog hop, but since my release date's after the hop ends, it'll pop up in the winner's email box when the novel is released. Think of it as a pre-order, but free! Expect to see more information on the blog hop this coming Sunday.

In the meantime... huzzah x2!

Journeying Into a Writer's World - One Year Later

I'm not normally one to talk about myself. I'm not sure if my random seven and a half Twitter followers know anything about me. I think most of my family members and Facebook friends see me as a weird, quiet reader who plays video games and kind of leave it at that. It's all true, of course. I am quiet, and generally content observing and listening. I am weird, but not as a result of my quiet nature. I'm just me-- at times goofy, eccentric, and nerdy, yet oftentimes lost inside my own head. I am, of course, a reader and gamer.

And I am also a writer. This part still causes me to blink a bit, which is odd, really, when you consider the fact that I have a B.A. in English. I've been writing since middle school, yet not consistently, and not professionally, until July of 2011. Now, at age 30, more than a year later, I finally have the confidence to say, "Yep, I'm a writer." There are a lot of reasons behind both my natural position of disbelief and my late-in-life acceptance. For me to explain those reasons... well, you're going to have to put up with a bit of my blabbing.

The years following my time spent at U.C. Davis were a bit unusual from the normal 22 year-old career-aspiring graduate. I didn't spend them frantically job-hunting or searching for internships. I didn't concentrate on my writing career at all. Or any career, for that matter. I didn't fall in love and get married. I spent them taking care of my mother-- the most kind and generous woman ever to have graced my life-- until she passed away in 2007.

Less than a year after that I also found myself burying my father, who died of cancer after I spent his last month with him as we watched old black and white Westerns stream across his television set. It was just him and I and the outrageously terrible medical care he received, even as a former Vet. I don't regret a minute of the time I spent taking care of both my parents during their final days, but let me tell you-- that year, and the following years-- were the darkest in my entire life, and will always be.

It took me until July 2011 to finally have the courage to face the world outside my grief-colored box and remember what the hell it was I wanted out of my time on this planet. If it weren't for my three lifelines-- my sister Debbie and my friends Angel and Chris Kyler-- I may never have braved the sunlight.

 

Now, my journey back to the world of the living-- and writing-- was kind of ironic, in a sense. I took my love for getting lost in video games and MMORPG worlds and finally... did something with that passion. I saw an ad and offered to become a writer on a popular RIFT fansite, Rift Junkies. The position was paid. I doubted myself for days, and was sure I'd be no good, yet I tossed out the application anyway. And somehow my editor had faith in me. And still does more than a year later.

I've since gone on to become a writer on multiple sites within the same network. I toss out new content between the three sites on a 5-night-a-week basis. My editor offers me all the freedom I could ever want, and along with that freedom, the job has given me one very precious gift-- confidence. That's not to say I, uh, am truly confident yet. I still struggle with confidences issues daily, but I am on the mend.

During the past year, that confidence gave me a glimmer of hope, and with that glimmer, I reached out and grasped my true writerly passion-- fiction writing. I've finished one novel, fully edited it, and had it accepted at Musa Publishing. I've also written about five short stories, four of which are currently circling the speculative short fiction market. I have quite familiarized myself with the concept of a form rejection this year, and I've yet to have a short story accepted for publication, but hey-- I'm on the mend.

Captive by the Fog, my upcoming novel, will be released October 26, and I'm excitedly awaiting its high dive jump into the wide, open world. A huge part of me rests in between the pages of Captive along with a large host of goofy characters, an alien species, a blossoming lesbian romance, and an encompassing hope for freedom. For those of you who plan on picking it up, I hope you enjoy the leap.

In the months to come, expect some pretty cool updates about Captive. In the meantime, I've got some more journeying to do, and I hope everyone who reads this has their own journeys to continue, begin, or lovingly recall (or all three!). Remember, the journey is everything. And yep-- everyone better have a Journey song in their head right now (A Jerry Maguire song's acceptable, too).

Featured Musa Book: Day Dreamer by Devin Hodgins

In the spirit of learning all things awesome about my fellow Musa authors (Wut? I'm an author? Oh... right! One day it'll hit me. One day!), I'm going to be starting a monthly feature of some of the fantastic Musa books I've been reading. Yeah, just when I didn't think I had enough to read, I discovered there's actually quite a cool collection of fantasy and sci-fi goodies by Musa authors!

First up, "Day Dreamer" by Devin Hodgins!

                                                       

I was awarded "Day Dreamer" in my first-ever meandering during a Musa blog hop last month (which was pretty nifty, by the way). It's not a full novel, but rather, a novella. Perfect for a quick read, and priced at just 99 cents. The true genre of "Day Dreamer" is a bit two-fold, I thought. It definitely has a speculative fiction edge, but that edge is curved, wrapped around the mysticism that accompanies nighttime dreams, which are interestingly enough, a blend of reality and fantasy.

The dreams themselves, which in "Day Dreamer" are brought into daylight and propel the story forward, encompass the main character's entire, young life. Through his dreams, a very realistic and thought-provoking story about two characters who share a resonating and artistic bond forms. I refuse to go into spoilers! You'll just have to read it for yourself!

All this becomes quite interesting when you consider how short the book is. I definitely felt like I wanted more-- yet I was still satisfied by the scope of the story-- which to me, personally, is a trademark of great short fiction. And hey, short fiction's damn hard to write (I say as I scowl at my pile of short stories that have awarded me with quite a stack of market rejections).

The prose in this novella has a very natural, dream-esque flow to it, which heightened the themes of the story for me. The descriptions are beautiful and sensory. Devin Hodgins, the author, told me that for him, "Day Dreamer" was a different sort of tale to write, and that struck me as very interesting. As writers, when we dive off into the unknown, that's sometimes where our best ideas come from.

Enough prattling from me, though! Check out Devin's website for more information about the author and his current projects. For more information about "Day Dreamer," make sure and check out its page on Musa Publishing's site.

Oh, and hey, for other Musa authors out there that foray into science fiction, fantasy, GLBT fiction, and other regions of speculative fiction, if you'd like me to give your book a read and babble about it a bit, let me know here, on Facebook, or on Twitter. I'll buy the books, of course! I'm currently looking for new reading material. :D

(And yeah, yeah, I'm also due for an update about Captive and my other writing goodies! I'll update you guys soon, I promise!)

Big news! I uh, guess I'm an author now?

Oh, yeah, new site design, too! Finally got tired of the kinda-customized, default mountain-looking design. So now I made a slightly-more customized, weirdo star-themed design. I hope you like green.

Um, right. You're probably still wondering what I meant by the title. See the little "author" word in my banner? Yeah, that's right. Captive by the Fog, the novel I finished a couple months ago, is getting published! It tied for second place in the contest, which granted me a contract.

I actually heard the news a couple weeks ago, but was waiting to find out more details before I made a big announcement. It will be published through Musa Publishing, and will be published in e-book form. I signed the contract, and am now waiting to begin the editing process. I was told they're looking to release Captive during late October of this year, but that may change.

Exciting news! I'm still not completely sure I believe it, sometimes. I'd been throwing around short stories, thinking that if one of those hit a wall and stuck to it, that I'd maybe have a shot at one day stepping up to novels. But uh, seems the novel stuck first... the goofy LGBT alien novel based on a really silly dream about my dad, San Francisco, a hot girl, and well, aliens. This just in-- I'm going to be really bad at promoting this thing...

But yeah. That's my big news. The folks at Musa seem pretty awesome, so far, and I'm looking forward to digging my heels in the experience, and finding out about all the work that goes into publishing a book. I'm really looking forward to the editing process. Since I haven't had much exposure to professional critiques or editing, I'll finally be able to learn a few things about what I need to improve on. And well, that's important. I'm not done yet. Not by a long shot.

My next big project is already taking shape, in fact. I'm going to finally novelize the world that Quest was based on. What's Quest, you say? The fantasy world my friend, Heather, and I created back in high school. Originally, it was kinda based on a bunch of various books and sci-fi shows we loved, but as the world grew, and I realized I liked to write stuff, I started making Quest its own universe. And yeah, shaddup-- I know the name's silly. It's not staying!

It will probably take the shape of at least a four-part series of novels. I have the first two books loosely plotted out, and hope to start the first soon. Its tentative name is Wardens of Wandering, but that may change later down the road. It'll be awesome seeing the unique host of characters come to life.

I'm still planning on continuing submitting stories to WotF quarterly, but other than that, I think my focus will remain on these novels. Novels may definitely be my forte. I've always found it easier to work on longer pieces-- projects if you will. I love the idea of sinking down into the process of extensive world building, involved character subplots, and all that jazz.

Anywho, that's my update. I'm gonna be a published author! I'll keep everyone updated on Captive's progress!

Hay Look, a Novel

Been a while since I've updated. Luckily, it's been a busy March, and I feel like I've made some good writerly progress during it.

I submitted three things at the end of the month. One was my 2nd quarter WotF submission. Fun little story to write. I'm not entirely sure how it'll do as far as the contest goes, but I'm honestly not stressing it. I know it's a decent piece, and may have a home elsewhere.

I also dug out an old, old story of mine from college, reedited major parts of it, and sent it off to a small press-type anthology. I'm not entirely sure how that piece will do, either, but I'd really love to find a home for it. It was my first fiction piece I wrote after coming out as bisexual, and features an interesting mix of a raw coming out story and an edgy, kinda experimental narrative structure. The narrative structure by itself may make it a hard piece to sell, but eh, I'm gonna try a bit. I have a few other markets in mind, too, if it doesn't fly for this one.

My novel, Captive by the Fog, also finally got finished. Yes, finished. Big news, I know! After a year and a half of randomly chucking it aside, then turning back to it and furiously editing, yet leaving off the end unfinished... I finally finished the dang thing. Luckily, thanks to my half-year spent editing the first three-quarters, it didn't need much polishing after it was complete.

One of the small publishers I've had my eye on held a fiction contest for their LGBT imprint, and that, well, that was the reason I finally buckled down and decided to finish it. I think deadlines are good for me. That really isn't too surprising, though, considering the rate I used to write essays/stories during college... BREAK-NECK LAST MINUTE 3 AM WRITING, GOOOOOO. Sigh. Some things never change!

Anyways, the contest will have two rounds. First round, the public gets to cast votes on our queries. Second round, the five queries with the most votes get to submit their full manuscripts to the editors. Those are judged by the editors, and results are given. The top three get published. I figured what the hell. If anything, it'll give me a good reason to finish the dang thing. And so it did.

Voting is currently underway, and will continue until the end of this week. Feel free to check out my query, the contest, and vote for it here. Thank you so much if you decide to vote!

I have a couple projects in mind for April, too. I kinda like this whole projects with deadlines thing... It's working.