Apps I Love

I just got home from an amazing time at Imaginarium where I had several conversations with writers and readers comparing their favorite apps to write with or just for general use. So I thought I’d share some of the apps I love!

Of the ones in here,  I use Index Card and Coffitivity the most. The others are cool, but they aren’t something I use on a regular basis.

 Index Card is amazing. It lets you create digital index cards to lay out your work however you want. You can shuffle them around, color code them and most importantly, sync with drop box and import them into Scrivener. Fair warning, this one is not free.

Coffitivty- Take a coffee shop with you!

Coffitivty is great! It lets you get the ambient noise of a coffee shop without the expense of buying coffee at these little shops. I use it all the time when I’m writing in public or just to block out some distracting noise.

I use the items in my document section regularly, but my favorite is Documents. It lets me sync with dropbox and edit my texts. I can create a new document and type my little heart away without having to have a connection to wi-fi.   

Last but not least is a to-do list app called Wunderlist. It lets me sort my to-do lists into easy to organize areas. I use it to track what I have to do at work, at home, and with writing. I even use it for long term goals, bucket list items, books, movies, and writing ideas. It syncs across multiple devices so I can add something at midnight on my phone and see it on my desktop in the morning.

So those are my favorite apps, what ones do you recommend?

Weekly Review: Servants of the Storm

Sorry about missing last week, but this week I am back to review Delilah S. Dawson’s new YA novel, Servants of the Storm. 

Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson

Dovey lost her best friend Carly when Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah and left disaster in her wake. A year later, and Dovey sees Carly in one of their favorite coffee shops. Needing to know the truth, Dovey stops taking the strange white pills that leave her in a fog, and begins to see what’s really happening in Savannah. Demons are running rampant. To save Carly, Dovey will have to find her way through the hellish scape of her home to free her friend. 

Enlisting the help of Baker, her childhood friend, and Issac, a mysterious young man who knows more than he lets on, pulls Dovey into new nooks and crannies where she starts to learn just what the cost of saving Carly really is. 

I adored this book. It’s dark, and creepy with southern gothic all over. Dovey’s love for Carly reminds me so much of me and my friends at that age where we would do anything for one another and nothing would stop that bond. In Dovey and Carly’s case, not even death can sever their friendship. 

The world of Savannah is rich and vibrant without it feeling like you have to really know Savannah to understand the story. The flavor of the city is there, the old, haunting area that the tourists don’t generally get to see. It’s a great testament to the southern gothic feel for a story. 

Dovey is brave, and relentless, and she pushes the story forward past the point that she should have given up. I really found myself rooting for her, and worried about her well being. With people questioning if she’s just crazy or if she really is seeing things, Dovey has to convince herself, and her friends that Carly is out there and she needs help. 

I really recommend Servants of the Storm to anyone who likes their stories dark and twisted. A great read with a really unique concept that looks at what happens when storms are more than just a simple force of nature. 

You can buy Servants of the Storm on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or order it through your local Indie bookstore. 

Weekly review: Mirrors and Magic: A Steampunk Fairy Tale

This week I had the pleasure of reading a lovely YA steampunk fairy tale set in a circus. And that is pretty much all of my favorite things rolled together! So here we go!

Mirrors and Magic: A Steampunk Fairy Tale by Katina French

Neve is trying to hold together the circus her father always loved, but wicked things are afoot all around her. When Neve finally makes the leap to save the circus from financial ruin she steps right into a battle for the spotlight. After someone makes an attempt on her life, she starts to question who to trust as she tries to save the circus, her father’s legacy, and just maybe whatever feelings are growing between her and knife thrower Brendan.

As soon as I saw Steampunk circus, I was sold. Two of my favorite things! This take of the Snow White fairytale Neve is a delightful, hard working character who clearly loves and is devoted 100% to the circus even as it starts to fall to financial ruin around her. Brendan is wickedly charming, but certainly not a polished Prince Charming, and the characters in the circus around her are all fun, and interesting people. The fairy tale elements don’t seem forced at all, and I actually forgot about the Snow White aspect as I got drawn into the story.
The world building is truly fascinating and I certainly hope there are more stories set in this world because all of the mechanics and the wars sound fascinating! I also think this book would be great for someone who isn’t sure about steampunk because at no point are you really beaten over the head with it, more of the world around the story is a steampunk world.
Over all, this is a fun, quick read of magic, courage, and not giving up on the things (and people) you love.

You can buy Mirrors and Magic here.

Weekly Book Review: Bad Mojo by Shane Berryhill

So I’m starting to post a book review every Friday, so woohoo!

I really want to read more so this will hopefully keep me on target with getting lots of things read. We’re starting off with Bad Mojo, a book by a convention buddy of mine, Shane Berryhill. So without further ado, here’s your spoiler-free review!

Bad Mojo (Zora Banks Book 1) by Shane Berryhill

Chattanooga is its own character in this dark urban fantasy series featuring Ash Owens, a rough and tumble redneck with a monstrous side, and his partner Zora Banks, a Southern conjuring woman of incredible power. Spooks (supernatural creatures) roam about ‘Nooga, and Ash makes his living trying to keep some of them (and himself) in line. When Ash is hired on to find a politician’s missing wife, he stumbles into more problems then he expected especially after he finds out it’s not just spooks that act like monsters.

Ash has got one helluva personality and it’s clear from page one of Bad Mojo. He’s a smart-talking country boy struggling to come to turns with his own monsters and trying to make a living in the city he loves. Chattanooga really is a huge character in this novel and holds her own as Ash travels from top to bottom trying to unravel the mystery he finds himself in. There’s a lot of time spent developing the city of Chattanooga, the various underground circles run by the Vipers, and the Zombies, and even some more conjuring folk, and the mysterious In-Between.

Ash is a big act first think later kind of guy and it puts big strife between he and his partner Zora especially as the book progresses. The way the two partners want to handle this case causes a lot of chaos between them, and it’s fun to watch Ash try to dance around his problems only to cause bigger ones.

Occasionally some of the sections of dialogue run a little long because I want back to the action, but overall this is a really fun, quick ride along a supernatural world. The lingo used to describe the creatures, Spooks and Vipers, makes the take of vampires and zombies seem fresher and unique to Berryhill’s world.

A fun read for anyone who has a taste for a smartass Southern story, and wants to see a fresh take on urban fantasy.

You can buy Bad Mojo here.

Cut the Crap

The process of editing and rewriting.

Cutting words from your work can suck. It can, without a doubt, be one of the toughest parts of the writing process, especially when you either a) have to cut a lot of words/pages  b) have to add a lot of words/pages or c) to cut huge sections and redo them.

Figuring out what can stay and what can go is one of the challenges of making your story the strongest it can be. Here are a  few things that can help (and by the way, making gifs on Photoshop is a great way to waste time but an awful way to get editing done.) These are basically things that I do once I have a first draft of a story.

1. See what words you frequently use.

You can use wordle to create word clouds of your text and examine what words show up the most by how large they appear (and what words in general appear).

Another great way to check this is to use wordcounter which will create a list that shows you exactly how many times a certain word has been used.  Here’s the same story’s results with wordcounter.

I think wordcounter is more practical but I just love how pretty wordle is.

2. Cut any scene that isn’t moving the story forward.

Even if you have written the best description of a thunderstorm ever to have been written, if it isn’t advancing your story then it needs to go. This can be one of the hardest parts and I usually try to save these little gems in a graveyard word document.

One way to find these scenes is to re-read your story and mark the sections you start to skim over. A better way to do this is to ask a friend to mark the sections they skimmed through. If people aren’t reading those sections then something’s wrong and it needs to hit the floor or be reworked.

3. Read your work out loud.

If you stumble, then highlight that section and go back to look at it later, but read your work out loud. You can even ‘cheat’ and have your computer read it to you; this can really highlight areas that are awkward or that drag forever.

4. Check your beginning.

A lot of times the beginning of your story will need to be cut because you started too soon and have too much just meandering until the story actually begins. You can also have the opposite problem where you start the story too late and need to go back and add information. Look at your beginning very carefully when editing.

5. Check your timeline.

Most of the time when I edit, I realize that I have three sun rises in one day, or four Sundays in a week. I’ve started writing out what happens day by day in an old planner to keep myself in line, but checking your timeline is crucial to a good edit.

Those are just a very, very few things that I do when I’m going through my first draft. What kind of techniques do you use?

HeroesCon 2014!

So I am safely back from HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC and let me start off by saying that I had an incredible time. I was fortunate enough to get to go with a friend who has family nearby and we stayed at their place and could take the Charlotte train to the convention every day.

Arriving and finding the place was easy-peasy. We picked up our badges and were on our way. It was a lot bigger than I thought, and the main hall was a little overwhelming with all of the things there.

Some of the most amazing artists were there, just incredible artwork everywhere. There were also tons of comics, and just pure excitement everywhere you looked.

I also got to meet up with friends John Hartness and Shane Berryhill (and you should totally go check them out because they rock). There were some incredible panels by the writers of Marvel and of Image.

However, the highlight for me had to be meeting Kelly Sue Deconnick. I’ve admired her comics for a while, and she’s constantly inspiring me to do more and work harder. She’s got a great text system set up (check out #bgsd to learn more) and it really gives me a huge boost every time a message pops up from it.

I told her that she is one of the people who keeps me motivated to write. I gave her a copy of The Bone Queen and in exchange she gave me a wonderful hug.

After meeting Kelly Sue I headed into the line to get her husband, Matt Fraction, to sign my copy of Sex Criminals. He was way nicer and more awesome than I expected, asking me about what my degree was in and loving the fact that I told him I realized I didn’t need any kind of MFA to actually write anything.

I then got to go to my first Carol Corps panel which was awesome. The Carol Corps are a group inspired by Captain Marvel and they are by far one of the kindest, most open and welcoming groups I’ve ever met.

When the day was all over, my friend and I hoped onto the train and headed home. On the ride back, we ran into a family. The young mother was thrilled by my Marvel themed skirt and bag and gushed about superheroes. We told her all about the convention and she started asking her husband about going. He asked us how much it cost, and that’s when I made a pretty easy decision. I passed my pass over to her and told her to go enjoy it tomorrow for free, and my friend gave her pass to her husband so they could both go enjoy it without worrying about the cost.

I sincerely hope they made it over on Sunday and had an awesome time with their kids.

All and all Heroescon has become one of my favorite conventions. It’s big without being overwhelming, and incredibly well organized.

My Writing Process Blog Tour

I’ve been tagged by the awesome Meghan for the My Writing Process Blog Tour. I’m really excited (and slightly scared) to answer these questions and play along! So, let’s go!

1. What Am I Working On?

Currently I am editing a Lewis Carroll inspired short story called “Rain, Rain” and writing a short haunted house story. I’m having a lot of fun with both of them and am just very pleased with myself because both of these stories I was very concerned would turn out awful, and neither one has! Whoo!

I just finished the really ugly zero draft of my project “Blessed” which is a YA novel about a hot-headed superhero in training who learns there is nothing she won’t do to save her mother, even if it means teaming up with a supervillain. It’s a hot mess of a draft but I’m really proud of myself for sticking with it and finishing.

I’m also working on a few other short stories, but those are still in the ‘thinking about it’ phase.

2. How Does My Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?

With a lot of the pulp stories I write, I think that I add in a female voice that has been lacking, and tell stories that look at things in a little bit different of a way. I think everyone has an interesting way of looking at the world and I’m happy to share mine around me. I’m not afraid to blur the lines, and to dance around with various genres from horror to romance.

I don’t like excessive amounts of gore and I have a fondness for bones and bright colors. Colorfully morbid is the best way I’ve been described and I think that translate beautifully into my writing.

3. Why Do I Write What I Do?

Because I don’t know what else to do? I never know how to answer questions like these because the only reason is that I write what I write because those are the stories I’m excited about, and that I want to see. I try to write things I would like to read and that excite me, sometimes I miss the mark and sometimes I nail it, but I always try to get the words on the page to share what I see.

4. How Does My Writing Process Work?

I use to try to set up a specific writing process. I’d light a candle, make a cup of tea, and sit at my desk, but what I started to realize was that all I was doing was complicating everything. Now I have a simple trick: when I have time I sit down and write. I write until I reach at least 1000 words then I take a break and reward myself. Sometimes, I’ll make a deal that I can’t eat dinner until I’ve written 1000 words, and I can’t shower until 2000 words.

I try to reward myself for working and staying on task. I use timers and race to see how many words I can get in during a period of time. The main thing that I do is write every day, even though some days I just write out a plan of what I want to write over the next few weeks.

Generally speaking I write with a soundtrack for whatever I’m working on, and I work from beginning to end making changes as I go in the first draft. I’m very much a ‘get it all on the page right this second’ person and then I’ll go back to edit. I’ve tried doing things out of order by writing the end first but it just doesn’t work for me and I end up confusing myself about what’s going on.

Lately I’ve been more organized about what I write. I track the number of words I write every day and log my total word count for the week, this has really helped me see how much I can do and to schedule accordingly. I even have a little system where I give myself a gold star sticker on the calendar for every day I write more than 1000 words. It’s kind of lame, but it works for me.

HOWEVER, writing processes can change all the time and what works for one story, might not work for the next. People change all the time so never be afraid to shake up your routine and try a new way of doing things. You might learn something else works way better than your usual method.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Now here’s where I’m suppose to tag someone to do this but almost every single one of my friends has already done this, so… if you’re reading this and have a blog consider yourself TAGGED!

To participate, write a blog post next week and…

• Acknowledge the person and the site who invited you into the tour (that’d be me and you’d link back to this post.)
• Label your post as part of the My Writing Process Blog Tour.
• Answer these same four questions about your writing process in the post.
• Nominate and link to up to three people to participate who would then post their answers the week after yours.
• Let me know in the comments if you’re going to participate, so I can add your link to this post.

Another Year Older and Half a Day Wiser

Today’s my birthday… and this year it’s on a Friday the 13th AND a full moon which means all my creepy kid tendencies are super stoked!

Every year on my birthday I try to think about what I’ve learned over the year, what’s changed, and what in the world did I even do? Time feels like it’s flying by faster and faster (seriously, wasn’t it 2013 just a few days ago?) and it’s hard to even think about a year ago some days. In fact most days I still view myself as a 16 year old floundering through high school and wonder who in the world gave me permission to be an adult.

So, a quick year in review!

I’ve been at my day job for just over a year and it’s going awesomely. I work with some amazingly fun people and rather enjoy my job. There’s definitely a lot of changes happening so it’ll be interesting to see what the next year brings!

The Bone Queen!

I had my first stand alone work published in October. Yay The Bone Queen! And honestly I think I totally flopped on a lot of the marketing aspects for it. This year has definitely taught me that I need to work on that whole self-promotion thing in the future. But overall, the process of writing a book and going through the process of first draft to published was a really helpful and eye-opening experience.

Capes & Clockwork

A short story came out in the really fun collection Capes and Clockwork and I had a blast writing a superhero steampunk story. This is one of the stories I’ve had the most fun writing and I’m really excited to be able to create a second story with Rowan and Bee in the future. It was a great experience all around and everyone who worked on it has been incredibly helpful and supportive.

Over the past few months I’ve started submitting stories out to open calls again which has been both a really nerve racking and a really fun prospect. So far nothing but rejections, but they’ve all been personalized rejections so that gives me hope that an acceptance is around the corner!

I wrote my longest work to date at 65,000 words, and I’m incredibly proud of myself for finishing. It has a beginning, a middle and an end, and is the whole story. It’s an ugly mess, but I finished it. I’ve written more words on other projects, but they were never finished, they just went on forever, so for me finishing this project means a lot. Whether it goes anywhere in the future is yet to be seen, but even if it just sits on the shelf forever: I FINISHED IT!

I’ve also started working out again and doing yoga and that has been amazing. I feel stronger and better and am remembering just how important the body is.

So all and all, it’s been an awesome year so far. I’ve got some amazing friends all around me, and the potential to just keep moving on up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME!

Patient Zero- The first draft

I’ve been working away on my latest work in progress, and just crossed the 60,000 word mark last night. I’m hoping to finish it up before the end of this week.

At first I thought I was writing my first draft. And I suppose in a way I am, aside from my outline, this is the first time these characters have seen the light of the page and the first time I’ve told this story to anyone. But, about halfway through, the story veered in a direction I hadn’t seen. I realized I needed to change a major character and rework my main character and the plot in a big way.

For about a day I just stared at this mess of a draft and considered just starting it over again and making all the changes.

I’ve been down that road plenty of times before where I write the first 20,000 words over and over and over in a perpetual groundhog’s day loop of writing.

Instead of sending myself into that kind of hell, I decided to just make a note to myself (set aside with XXX) and keep going as if those changes had already been made.

What this means is that a minor character named Virgil became a main character at word 31,008, and that a main character named Darcy completely disappeared at 40,000 and I never backtracked to fix the words behind them. I’ve even gone back and rechanged the changes I made. So maybe for about 3000 words, Darcy existed again and then was erased for good.

This draft is going to be a mess when I finish, like a Frankenstein monster sewn together with hands on his head instead of ears, and eyes for a belly button. It’s ugly, and gross and going to have to be ripped to pieces to be put back together again. That’s why I’ve decided to call it a zero draft, and not a first draft.

But now that I’m nearing the end of this story, I feel more confident in the characters, in the voice and the story I’m telling. It’s changed drastically, and that’s okay. I’m sure it will change a dozen more times before it’s ready to be unleashed onto the world as a (mostly) right-side together Frankenstein.

The advice I most frequently people at any of the writing panels I’ve been on is to finish what you start, but I’m terrible at following my own advice. I want my first draft to be a perfect story and that just can’t happen (at least not with the way I write) so I make do with what I can make. I paint in the lines as best as I can, and then I go back and clean up.

So, draft zero I hope you’re ready to be finished off…and don’t worry, I’ll get your foot out of your eye socket soon.

Promise.

But is it organic?

Every time I try to start eating healtheir, more fruits, and veggies, walking and running and yadda yadda it always turns out that I then feel guilty because I’m not doing enough. Maybe I’m eating veggies but are they from my local farmer AND organic? Am I juicing and meditating? Well then I’m not doing it right because I should be doing it better.

I get disappointed, and slide off back into the land of mac and cheese and french fries for every meal.

This always makes me think about writing, I get on a streak, writing every day and I’m proud of myself but then invariably I see someone writing more, doing more and I start to slide, thinking why am I not doing more? I start to feel lazy, and unproductive, and from there it’s easy to start slacking on my words, and projects.

Depression creeps in, and I start writing less and less because I feel like a failure because I’m not doing it ‘right’ whatever the hell that is. I worry about the ways I could be doing better and end up doing nothing for fear of not getting it right.

I still fight with this feeling, with eating healthy, and with writing. When I do something, I like to do right, and perfectly. But slowly, I’m starting to realize that I can’t be perfect and great at everything. I can find what works for me, and stick with that. Reading advice and tips that have worked for other people might help, but at the end of the day, I have to live with me and what I’m doing whether it works for someone else or not.

Some things that have worked for me:

Shiny stars!!

Keeping track of my daily word count. Every litle shiny star represents 1000 words written that day. It’s a little grad school, but it’s great looking at the calendar and seeing all those stars and knowing they represent words written!

CHECK BOXES!

I love to-do lists so putting my writing goals in a to-do list format is awesome! I really love this app Wunderlist because it syncs across all my devices, and you can seperate everything into seperate lists and add sub-tasks. (PS now you can see what I’m working on, exciting!)

So those are just a few things that work for me and make me feel like I’m getting stuff done. What are some things that work for you whether they’re ‘organic’ or not?