Creative Draw of the Day: The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man seems perfect for New Years Eve, when the old year dies and the new year is born. It's a Major Arcana card, so it carries extra weight for a character. Better yet, it represents a period of intense withdrawal from the every-day world, when the character undergoes an ordeal that leads her to re-evaluate her life, emerging with more insight and wisdom than before.

I've always thought this ordeal should be voluntary--but I changed my mind after seeing The Fighter. Dicky is forced to undergo a withdrawal from the world, and the subsequent re-evaluation seems to work for him.

This card conjures up the mythology of Odin--the Norse deity who hung from the branches of Yggdrasil, the world tree, to learn the secrets of the Runes. Take a look at this post, which gives a Pagan perspective of  Odin's story and how it relates to this card.

Whatever a character's religion or mythos, the ordeal represented by The Hanged Man may leave her shaken or even shattered--but it will leave her stronger too.

Christian Bale as Dicky in The Fighter

Need a plot twist?

T. N. Tobias's 10 Ways to Create a Plot Twist is an excellent article on the subject!

Calvin on the purpose of writing:

Patting Myself on the Back

I've been writing my ass off these past two days! I've worked on Not So Safe, a new Craig and David story, plus a new fantasy-mystery. (More on that later.)

I wanted to work only on Not So Safe--at least until I finished the first draft. But that turned out to be counter-productive. Words flow more easily for me when I allow myself to jump around.

Any thoughts on that? What works for you?

Free Read: Like a Sparrow Through the Heart

M / M romance fans, take note. I found this free story via Goodreads and left a review:

Like a Sparrow Through the Heart by Aggy Bird

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun, snarky and often hilarious story. Talon (the shape-shifting griffin with anger-management issues) and Flit (the shape-shifting sparrow-therapist) make for an absorbing couple, and Aggy Bird's world will suck you right in.

But one caveat: there's a lot of casual violence in this story. Talon starts off as a bully, and though he arguably improves--well, read it for yourself and see.

View all my reviews

You can find the story here on Aggie Bird's LiveJournal.

To all who celebrate: Merry Christmas!

Although Chanukah is my winter holiday, many of my family members celebrate Christmas, so I get both holidays. (Life is good)

Wishing everyone who celebrates a warm and wonderful Christmas!

What was I thinking?

In addition to the two challenges I mentioned in this post, I also signed up for a challenge called 100 books in 2011. I'm not sure if the any of the challenges are allowed to overlap. I may be aiming for 136 books in 2011! That will keep my Kindle busy . . .

Need to learn more about your characters?

The Mother of All Character Questionnaires is designed for roleplayers, but I'm betting writers will find it useful to! (And not just fantasy writers, mind. There's something here for everyone.)

Two Reading Challenges for 2011

Georgette Heyer

I've committed to two separate reading challenges this year. The first one is on Goodreads' M/M Romance group (which is an 18 and over group due to some explicit content.) The challenge is to read 26 M/M books, each with a hero whose first or last name starts with a separate letter of the alphabet. For example, I'm going to read one of Josh Lanyon's Adrien English books for the letter 'A.'

The second challenge is courtesy of the Books are a Girl's Best Friend blog: it's a challenge to be "captivated" by Georgette Heyer by reading ten of her books. (You can find this challenge on Goodreads as well, in the Georgette Heyer Fans group.)

I have a love-hate relationship with Georgette Heyer, the woman who more-or-less created the Regency romance. (She had a little help from Jane Austen.) I love her books, but I could live without her antisemitism. (Her most blatant offense, as far as I know, is that horrific chapter in The Grand Sophy. And yes, I'd feel this way even if I weren't Jewish.) But when she's not talking about Jews I adore her.

So that's 36 books to complete my two challenges. I'm starting to line up the M/M books already; it will be harder to choose ten Georgette Heyer books, because I've read so many. But I'm sure I can find ten more that are new to me.

So here's to at least thirty-six enjoyable reads in 2011!

Moriah Jovan on Self Publishing

Great article on one author's experience--and she started self-publishing before we had all the options we do now. Check it out here.

The Snowflake Method

If you don't want to write by the seat of your pants, but you're not an outline-freak, this method may be the way to go . . .

Dumped and Dangerous

Author: J. Rosemary Moss (originally published under my pen name: Shoshana M. Moshe)
Pairing: pre-poly (Jonathan/Melinda/Kevin)
Warning: Non-consensual adult spanking
Summary: Kevin learns that not everyone will tolerate a drunken tirade . . .


Dumped and Dangerous by J. Rosemary Moss is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The link to Dumped and Dangerous will take you to my Sassy Romance blog, due to some adult material.

Hanukkah Maccabeats parody of Taio Cruz's song "Dynamite"

Reality check for a would be novelist

I saw this on both Nathan Bransford's blog and The Coffee-Stained Writer. Enjoy!

No Writing For Me!

Not a single word so far today--too busy working and preparing for a Shabbat dinner/Chanukah party with my family tonight.

Sigh . . . but at least I have a good excuse!

Happy Chanukah!

D20 Source Article: Longsword vs. Rapier

Gamers and writers-of-stories-with-sword-fights: check out this article, complete with a YouTube video.

Creative Draw of the Day: The Hermit

Yes, this is the card made famous by the inside of the Led Zeppelin IV album. I've strayed from the Universal Waite Tarot deck because that album is where I first encountered the Hermit--and where I first encountered the Tarot.

The Hermit is the ninth card of the Major Arcana, falling between (in most decks) Strength and the Wheel of Fortune. So say your character has just had a traumatic experience that helped him discover his inner strength. He's still not ready for the ups and downs of the Wheel, or for the rest of the torture--er, conflict--you have in store for him. He'll need to seek out the Hermit's advice first.

The Hermit himself seems like the Obi Wan type, doesn't he? But he doesn't need to be that obvious. To me, this card represents any secondary character who is detached enough from your main guy to give him sound advice--advice your main guy will probably ignore, but that's another issue.

In Not So Safe, for example, Scott Edmund will perform this service for Zev. Scott is a ruthless bastard, not an enlightened Jedi! He just happens to have a soft spot for Zev, whom he views as a little brother. And since he's not immediately involved in Zev's drama, he has a better idea of Zev's situation than Zev himself.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought this would be a good time to say thank you, Arkhamites, for reading and following this blog! I wish everyone who's celebrating a marvelous holiday.

I'm visiting my folks, getting ready for a vegetarian Thanksgiving. We're waiting for tons of family to show up, and we've just turned on the parade. I'm watching with half an eye while I hold out for football tonight. (Go Jets!)

Creative Draw of the Day: Six of Cups

Ever met people who miss the way Thanksgiving "used to be?" They're thinking back to a time when relatives who have passed on were still alive, or back before a divorce complicated the holiday, or back when there didn't seem to be so much pressure to bring everyone together.

To me, this card represents that nostalgia taken to an extreme. It's a longing for some time in the past that we've idealized and, well, idolized. Of course, we were never as deleriously happy "back then" as we think we were. We've just forgotten the bad stuff.

A character with this card as his guiding principle is fixated on the past. He can't move forward because he wants things to be the way they used to be. Maybe he's can't let go of a failed romance--we could have a stalker here--or maybe he's an athlete who can't face the fact that he's too old to compete. Whatever the specifics, this character is all about looking back.

Failure--but not disaster

I'm officially facing facts. I won't be finishing 50,000 words of Not So Safe by midnight next Tuesday. I've failed yet another NaNoWriMo.

But I'm ok with that. I think I'm going to have a solid first draft by the time I'm done, so I'm not going to castigate myself if I finish it in December instead of November.

Meanwhile, I've had a productive week. I've read two Josh Lanyon books--yeah, I'm hooked on his M/M mysteries--and Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I've revised my outline and character list for Not So Safe and added about three more chapters. So I can live with my failure. No kvetching about from me!

Starting in the middle . . .

Scott Adams' Dilbert speaks to the business world rather than the world of creative writing, but this comic makes a great point for writers regardless. Don't start your story at the beginning!

Ok, ok. James Michener was an exception. He could start from the very beginning, much like 'the man who could not summarize' and make it fascinating. But book after book on writing advises us to start in the middle of the story, where the action is.

I'm taking this advice to heart. I promise that when I write a romance, I won't spend six chapters telling readers about my hero's childhood. I'll jump right to the moment the future love of his life pulls him over for speeding.

Book Review: Man Oh Man, Writing M/M for Cash and Kinks by Josh Lanyon

My Rating:

5 out of 5 stars

Book Blurb:

It can be more than just a dream...

To write the kind of stories that you love to read - that's what you really want. If only you knew how to get started. Help from someone who knows...

What you need is professional advice, help from someone who's been there, who can support you through the creative process, with the goal of writing for publication. What you need is Man, Oh Man. 

So, why this book? Why not one of the other "How to Write..." titles? Because everything in Man, Oh Man is geared to the M/M market and the M/M writer, to you and the genre that you love, whether you're an aspiring writer or you're already published. Lambda Award finalist Josh Lanyon takes you step-by-step through the writing process: from how to find fresh ideas and strong hooks, to how to submit your carefully edited manuscript. With help from the genre's top publishers, editors, reviewers, and writers-- experts in the field of M/M and gay romantic fiction--Lanyon offers insight and experience in everything from creating believable masculine characters to writing erotic and emotionally gratifying M/M sex scenes.

Indulge yourself and your dreams...

My Review:

Solid advice from Josh Lanyon, complete with insights from other authors and editors. I'll be reading this one again!

I'm not giving up!

According to my stats on NaNoWriMo, at the rate I'm going I won't be finished with my novel until December 31st. But I'm not giving in!

Here's the good news: I like my story, even if I'm not as far along as I hoped. And even if I'm writing a sort of bare-bones, dialogue-centric version that will need some layering on the next edit.

So I'm hanging in there. Here's to 41,000 more words by the end of the month!

Writing music

I love listening to El Cuarteto de Nos, a brilliant and very tongue-in-cheek band from Uruguay, while I'm writing. This song, Ya no sé qué hacer conmigo, is one of my favorites. 

Creative Draw of the Day: Seven of Cups

I've always seen this card as holding special meaning for writers: it's a card of imagination, showing all the different stories a writer can conjure up. But sometimes conjuring up stories is easier than buckling down, choosing one to write, and completing the project.

That's one advantage I've found with NaNoWriMo--participating is forcing me to work consistently on one story this month. I may be behind in my wordcount, but at least I'm not hopping from idea to idea.

And that's the lesson of this card, I think. It's one thing to dream up stories, but another to focus on one and convey it in the real world. I've always been better at the former than the latter!

NaNo Word Count Update

I'm behind on my word count: I just reached 6,052. But so far I'm happy with Not So Safe. So I'm turning in for the night, but I'll be back tomorrow to post the next part. I'll also return to my 'Creative Draw of the Day.'

Meanwhile, I hope your NaNo-ing is going well! Are you making your daily word count goals? Feel free to share your triumphs or kvetch about your failures!

Bradbury on Writing

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

~Ray Bradbury

Not So Safe, Part Two

Title: Not So Safe
Author: J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Gay; Poly)
Warnings: Adult language and situations
Feedback: Welcome!
Summary: Zev learns that his crush on his straight boss isn't as safe as he thought . . .
LINK TO PART ONE


Not So Safe by J. Rosemary Moss is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

~oOo~

Marc didn’t say much as he drove us to Ralph and Karen’s. Funny, he was usually talkative in the mornings. But he was probably dying from shock and embarrassment. I tried to think of a way to set him at ease, but then I decided that I didn’t want to. My head was spinning; his should be too.

Not that I was angry, exactly, but--I didn’t know what I was. I’d worked for Marc and shared his house for two and a half years. I’d had a harmless crush on him the whole time. Now I didn't know where I stood.

Not So Safe, Part One

Title: Not So Safe
Author:  J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Gay; Poly)
Warnings: Adult language and situations
Feedback: Welcome!
Summary: Zev learns that his crush on his straight boss isn't as safe as he thought . . .


Not So Safe by J. Rosemary Moss is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

~oOo~

I had my jacket on and my hand on the doorknob, but I still turned around one last time. “Are you sure you want to be alone tonight?”

Marc, my boss and house-mate, rolled his eyes from his spot on the couch. He was ensconced there with his feet up on the coffee table and a bottle of Guinness in his hand, watching the Yanks on the ridiculously large flat screen we had mounted on the wall. “Get out of here, Zev. Go enjoy your date.”

“But I can cancel--”

“Go. Ross is waiting outside, right?” He was wearing a tired, exasperated smile, but those hazel eyes of his were warm and there was no hint of judgment in his voice. He might look and act like the stereotypical straight guy he was, but he’d never given me a hard time about being gay.

I nodded. “Yeah. Ok. Call me if you need anything.”

“Go!”

I sighed. Marc can be such a martyr.