Here are some of the things I googled for the first two rounds of this writing contest:

• robotic dogs
• how do robots move
• do robots have hydraulics
• would hydraulics work on Mars
• power sources for robots
• how much oxygen on Mars
• can airplanes fly on Mars
• how to make oxygen on Mars
• maps of Mars
• Mars landing sites
• robotic drone soldiers
• how can you kill someone quietly in their sleep
• psychopaths
• psychopath characteristics
• psychopaths in literature
• what high school sports teams have jerseys

What did writers do before the internet???

I’m 3/4 of the way done with a draft of my story for round two of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge and I am Having So Much Fun!

My prompts are: Genre – Suspense, Topic – Funeral, Character – Tutor. Yup, by tomorrow at 11:59 EST, I will submit a 2,000 word suspense story about a funeral and a tutor. This round of the contest gives us 72 hours to write.

Some people are reluctant to enter any writing contests that include a fee to participate, but I will say that the $55 entry for this one is 100% worth it to me.

I love the random prompts. I love the short deadlines. I love the tight word limits.

These things combined force me to create things I would NEVER write otherwise, force me to push myself in new directions.

It’s exciting.

I will have a complete draft done in the next few hours, then solicit some beta readers. I would LOVE to make it to round three.

The contest started with just over 3,000 writers. Round two is down to 500. Round three goes down to 80 people who get 24 hours to write a 1,500 word story with their prompts.

Wish me luck!

Woot! My story took first place in my heat (of 30ish folks) for Round 1 of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. I love my story “Abso.” I’m happy others like it, too.

This means I move on to Round 2. We’ll get prompts at 11:59 pm EST Thursday; story’s due 11:59 pm EST Sunday. 2,000 word limit. Another random genre, character and subject.

I guess I know what I’ll be doing this weekend! I would LOVE to make it to Round 3. Cross your fingers for me.

And let me know if you’d be willing to do a quick read & quick turnaround critique of this story sometime over the weekend!

Last night, I arrived home after an exhilarating and exhausting conference for NACADA Region 5. I presented, talked to first-time attendees, led a state meeting, attended meetings, attended sessions, AND Every Single Day, I went back up to my hotel room and met my minimum daily writing goal.

Felt pretty damned good. Now, my minimum goal is NOT as high as my “most days I should” goal, but in these circumstances, it was enough.

Book 3, Rising Wolf, is developing nicely–with many tweaks and false starts along the way so far. I keep trying to push this story, then realizing I need to back up and let it move through the plot arc in the way it wants to. Learning.

“Final” edits for Waxing Moon should arrive soon. Our book blurb has been approved, cover art should be following in the near future. I’m hoping this timeline means the book will be released in late summer/early fall. EXCITING.

I’ve been thinking about point of view lately. Dark Moon Wolf and the other two books in my series Calling the Moon are written in first person, from Julie Hall’s perspective.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to first person.

Some of the advantages:

1. As the reader, you feel a closer, personal connection to my protagonist. You’re in her mind. You see what she sees, you hear her thoughts, you feel her emotions. This increases the book’s immediacy and can lead to heightened emotional involvement with the story. The reader identifies with the protagonist.
2. As a writer, I can develop tension between what Julie thinks/feels/knows and what the reader gradually begins to understand as the larger truth. Even with a mostly-reliable narrator, there’s also tension between Julie’s inner life–what she thinks and feels–and what she says out loud to other characters. There’s a certain mystery to the inner lives of other characters and the reader, like Julie, must guess at what’s going on for them. These are all nice sources of tension.

Some of the disadvantages:

1. I’m stuck in Julie’s head. If I want to detour into something that happens with other characters, I have to present it as Julie’s learning about it. If not careful, this can lead to a lot of “telling” instead of “showing.”
2. Writing in first person, especially women writing in first person–ESPECIALLY women writing in first person in less-respected (marginalized, vernacular, feminized) genres (like paranormal, fantasy, romance)–can lead readers to conflate the author and the narrator. Lots of discussion of this in literary criticism.

I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about this last point lately. Authorial voice versus narrator’s voice. What is the reader’s perception of the author/narrator relationship? Does that change when the reader personally knows the author? I’ll continue thinking and may share more if I come to any conclusions. Do you have thoughts? Share in comments, if so!

WIP updates:

Edits on book two, Waxing Moon, are back with my editor. I think we may be close on this one. Book three, Rising Wolf, rolling along–a bit slower than I’d like, because life is so very busy. But I’m making solid progress and it feels good. (Drafts are drafts; the magic happens in the rewrite and editing phase!!)

Dark Moon Wolf has been out for a week and my world hasn’t changed yet, haha. It’s
been quite fun talking to folks about my book, from Twitter to blogs to a Facebook event. Every Amazon review that pops up is exciting! Most of the initial reviews have been from people I do NOT know–and they’ve been really positive.

I do think the line between promotion and being a pushy jerk is hard to find! Anyone have tips on that?

I sent off the latest round of edits for Waxing Moon yesterday, after spending about 8 hours editing over the weekend. Can’t wait til that’s further in the process and I get to see the cover art. I hope it will be released in early fall. Cross fingers the timing goes smoothly!

Finally, there’s real life. Work. Kids. Home. If there were less of some of that, there’d be more time for writing Rising Wolf, book three in Calling the Moon. Ah well.