Traditional vs self publishing

Let me make my disclosures before I reveal my judgment call... 
 
 
I have six mass market novels available from Simon and Schuster's imprint Pocket Books.


I have a prequel short available in a trade paperback anthology, as well as from my website via e-version...or I used to. The title of the short MARLBOROS & MAGIC apparently, after a year of availability, triggered something in Amazon's system that said I can't use Marlboro in the title because it is trademarked.


--SIGH--


 So I have to rename it, reload it, and somehow manage to help folks understand it is not something NEW.


I really don't want to piss folks off because they were 'suckered' into buying something they already have...



Shhhh...I also have an unrelated novel coming out from a small press next year (announcements coming later).
 
And there's that 7th installment into Persephone's world...

Every week I get emails from someone new asking about the rest of the series. Sadly, there is no interest from the original publisher. So I will be forced to finish it without them.

I have inquired with the fans if they want ebook or print. So far, it's about 50/50. So however I choose to 'deliver' the novel, it must have book options.

I may offer it to the small press; I may make it self-published. I am still totally on the fence about it and uncertain which is the best option for me. To acknowledge the pros and cons of both possibilities that my blog-family have been talking about this week, I like the idea of the amount of control self publishing provides, yet I'm not sure I want the total commitment of time. Relinquishing some control gives me more time to, yanno, write. Social butterfly that I am not, letting others handle promotional stuff is an attractive feature.

Traditional publishing:

-is so SLOW
-typically need agent to even be considered by editor
-likelihood of being the editor's selection for his/her available slot in publication has odds similar to those of winning the lottery
-print and ebook, distribution
-there will be some sales
-expectation of quality should be sound
-they (should) do majority of marketing, author does some, they may pay for some marketing such as banner ads or blog tours at the author's request
-they do editorial, copyediting, typesetting
-they do cover (little to no control by author)
-they format all ebook types
-price is set by them

Small press publishing:

-faster, but still takes time
-agent good but not necessary
-likelihood of being the editor's selection for his/her available slot in publication has slightly better odds than those for winning the lottery-there will be some sales-expectation of quality can vary by press (do your research)
-ebook and print on demand, possibly print and distribution
-they do some marketing, author does some; books included in regular marketing that small press does and is present wherever they have tables, etc.
-they do editorial, copyediting, typsetting
-cover may be negotiable, may be their choice
-they format all ebook types
-price is set by them

Self publishing:

-FAST 
-no agent necessary
-you will be published when you hit the publish button-there may be single digit sales (0 is also a single digit...reality)
-quality (often in the eye of the beholder) is entirely your responsibility (and your reputation is on the line)-ebook and print on demand, 'distribution' unlikely-author does ALL marketing, pays for promotion and ads, sets up and pays for blog tours and signings, sets up and pays for tables at conventions, etc.
-author pays for editing, copyediting, typsetting
-author pays for cover
-author pays someone to format all ebook types
-author decides price


And this is just off the top of my head...so it is a lot to think about.

My Path

How did I get here? What breadcrumbs led me to this place where writing is what I do?

An avid reader from an early age, my reading preferences, like many young readers, had much to do with short adventures. Such as Donald J. Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown series. That young lad's mysteries led me to longer stories with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I'd read and re-read from my school library a shortened and illustrated version of Walter Farley's Black Stallion, but when I found the full novel I was in love. I read, no...I devoured all of his Black Stallion books, delighted to see how Alec and his magnificent horse dealt with a new problem. The spin-off Island Stallion series was just as good. Then I needed something else, a new fix.

Enter the genre fantasy.

I read the lot of Weis & Hickman's Dungeons and Dragons books and their Darksword trilogy and Rose of the Prophet trilogy,  Piers Anthony's Blue Adept books, David Eddings' Malloreon series, Steven Brust's Jhereg series, his stand alones To Reign in Hell and Cowboy Fengs Space Bar and Grill. There were many, many others. I read EVERYTHING.

The problem was...the boys got the best adventures. The men bore the brunt of the danger. Sure there were some interesting and strong women in Weis and Hickman's tales, but they weren't the lead.

I didn't see myself represented in these books.

Then I found Jennifer Roberson's Sword Dancer.

 

 

As I understand it, at the time, Ms. Roberson was not able to write the story from the female leads POV and expect to get it sold...so she wrote it from the male lead's POV. Del was smart, strong, able, and determined. She was my hero during very formative years.

 

Though I had always dabbled in writing, this was when I began in earnest, and I wrote for me. To be honest, the Dragonlance art of Larry Elmore and Clyde Caldwell (and others) had as much to do with my imagination spring-boarding into my own stories as the novels I had read.

 

Then this whole Urban Fantasy thing happened, with female leads in abundance...and I was able to join the ranks of my favorite authors and have mass market paperbacks of my own on the bookshelves of book stores and chain stores alike.

Reviews

Reviews are not something I do. "Grading" my peers seems disingenuous and dangerous, aside from the fact that I don't get to read nearly as much as I once did. That said, I make recommendations to folks who ask and I support my writing pals by linking to their stuff on Facebook when they are promoting something. I have also given a few blurbs when approached to do so.
My reviews have been mostly good, but there are some bad ones out there. I understand that this is the law of averages, and as my subject matter is such that some folks will object to it, I don't mind. Really. Reviews don't make or break my day. It's the constant contact from folks who've just discovered the series and want more--that makes my day. There isn't much that can break my day, and certainly not someone's opinion of my books. That just isn't me.

Visual prompts work for me. As a graphic artist, what I see is directly influential to my wordy author side and both of those impact my musician side. My brain automatically wants to know 'who, what, where, why, and how' and a story is born.

Here are three that I find very beautiful, striking, and inspiring. Enjoy.

Book Contests

The topic this week concerns whether or not those book contests that authors pay to participate in are moral/ethical.

Here's what I know:

I've never paid to be in a book contest.

It seems to be a standard thing in the Romance genre circles.

Here's what I think:

If you see value in it and have the money to do so, why not? I figure if you do well, that's exposure and bragging rights. (Because "Hey, I won this contest!" posts are far friendlier and exciting than "Buy my book!" posts.) Worst case scenario is you're out a bit of cash. If there is feedback from the judges, it might be worth it.

Critique Partner Wanted

In the past,I've had critique partners. However,  currently I do not. Now that I think about it, I miss that interaction and validation and push that having a critique partner provides. There's something vital and valuable in the process of talking with someone who is thoroughly knowledgeable about the aspects of writing, and exploring plot and character arcs, then riffing off one diabolical idea to create a bigger, badder one. Gimme an idea and I can play devil's advocate and "what if" it to death when there's someone who's adding to the frenzy. By myself, I don't push my own ideas far enough sometimes. But pushing someone else's idea farther and farther is easier for whatever reason.

So yeah, now that I think about it...I'd like to have a critique partner again.

Who's interested?

Handsome Beasts

My favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast.

C'mon, it's a given. The chick in it is a reader. She digs a fellow who plays tough, looks rough, but underneath is sweet and smitten with her.

The original version by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve provides backstory on the main characters, some of which the Disney version touched on, but the condensed version by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont is the one most folks are familiar with.

What author wouldn't love access to a library like this...

Flash Fiction DST

The Equation of Time **93 words

Moonlit fog roiled silently 'round the granite marker. The name furrowed on its face was unimportant. 'Twas the dates beneath that mattered. A strange custom had developed in this region and with innumerable participants, the people ripped Time from one chronology and reinserted it into the fabric of the universe later. The body six feet below the surface had ceased living in another season when Fate had slated a painful demise to begin, a finale unfinished because their ritual had interrupted. But the corpse was about to regain that hour. 

Three, two, one.... 

Social Media Hell

I admit, I am nowhere near proficient with social media when it comes to using it as a tool. That IS my social media Hell. I use it like everyone else, for the entertainment value and to see what my friends are doing. To use it as a tool means learning a few things and techniques (I could apply myself), and having time to do it (that's the really difficult to do). These complaints are, perhaps, merely whining. But what time I have, is time I choose to spend writing rather than promoting. That's my call. For now, it's right.

Creativity Boost

If you are into Affirmations and/or Candle Magic, here are a few ideas to try...ones that my heroine Persephone Alcmedi would surely be into...

**Use common sense and follow basic fire safety.**

AFFIRMATIONS:
I am open to new ideas and
am blessed with many.

I recognize validity in new ideas.
I can develop new ideas into product.

CANDLE MAGIC:
Dress and light a pale blue candle, and place it where you can sit comfortably before it. Hold a geode in your non-dominant hand, close your eyes and relax. Call for ideas for your project, name it specifically (for my book, for my painting, for my lyrics). Make it a chant if you can rhyme it. Since three is a creative number, repeat your chant in cycles of three. Imagine ideas flowing like water, filling the geode ‘cup’ in your hand. Either have the ideas filter through the geode and into you, or ‘drink’ the ideas from the ‘cup.’
Ways to increase this:
• make it a nine-time chant

• use three blue candles in a triangular formation—keep the tip pointing at you and imagine the ideas funneling through the other two and being directed toward you by the foremost one

• do this on a Thursday and call on Jupiter in your rhyming chant, such as:
“Mighty Jupiter in the sky,
send ideas from on high,
fill my creative cup
and never let it run dry!”


AFFIRMATIONS:

My daydreams feed my work,
and my work feeds my daydreams.

My (art/writing/music) displays dexterity
and is imbued with inventiveness.

I am clever. I am imaginative. I am creative.

CANDLE MAGIC:
Dress and light a green candle under a waxing moon, especially if the planet Venus is in a position to be a positive influence.
Ways to increase this:
• invoke Benzaiten, Japanese goddess of all that flows and ask her guide your imagination.
• add green tourmalines.
• Invoke Dionysus—I’m not suggesting you alter your mind with alcohol—but as a means to grasp the inventiveness of spontaneity.

Also, read THIS.

Or check out this meditation HERE.

Title Trouble

When it comes to titles and me, I average 50%.

     Working title vs. release title:

1.) Full Circle  vs. Vicious Circle
2.) Hallowed Circle
3.) Dead Circle vs. Fatal Circle
4.) Arcane Circle
5.) Malefic Circle vs. Wicked Circle
6.) Shattered Circle

The repetitive use of circle is due to the main character being a witch and casting a circle as part of her ritual. It was not my idea or intention to run the titles like that. In the beginning, I didn't think about title cohesiveness at all. My editor gets credit for making that call.

As for my Works in Progress... I feel rather good about all of them.

I think the title should:

A.) Fit the Genre  

Truthfully, don't you think you'd get a good score if you had to sort random slips of paper with Romance, Mystery, Sci-Fi, and Thriller titles?

B.) Give a Good Indication of What the Story is About

Make a list of places, names, elements, mood of the story, etc. Something in the list should jump out as a viable piece of your title puzzle. Build from there. Talk to your writing group/beta readers.

For fun:

Try this Romance title generator HERE.

Or this Western title generator HERE.

This one HERE says it'll give you 10 different genres to choose from...

Fortunate Vices

The topic du jour is 'How My Personal Vice Aids My Writing.'

Vices being defined as wicked or immoral behavior, heh heh heh, yeah. I have a plenty. Let me pull a few out of my magic hat and discuss.

DIRTY MIND/SEXUAL INNUENDOS    

If you've ever been to a convention and attended a panel you probably know that THAT (sitting authors on a dais in front of a crowd of readers and then giving those authors microphones and asking them about their books) is the exact alchemy necessary to transform us into a group of filthy-minded thirteen-year-old class clowns.

A dirty mind is helpful in a myriad of ways because, at its core, a dirty mind is a sexy, creative mind and who doesn't like to read that kind of shit?

FOUL LANGUAGE.  

I embrace the words -- all the words -- without regard to how others my shun them. I love all the words. They are, I guess, my cat replacement as I am allergic to cats. So instead of being a crazy cat lady at heart, I'm a fucking pirate. Admittedly, I try to maximize the other part of my vocabulary in the workplace (the paydays tend to be more consistent when swearing in professional setting is kept to a minimum) but it is sooo hard.

(See what I did there? A called a call back.)

Yes, I especially adore FUCK. It's the hardest-working son-of-a-bitch word there is. Its a noun, a verb, an adjective or adverb. Its the predicate AND the subject. SEE:

Using it when looking back on our childhood is more fun...

And it makes points more succinctly. 

ALCOHOL.

It has a time and a place. At conventions qualifies as both.  It does not really come into play when I am actually writing, but there is more to a writing career than sitting your ass in the chair, and in fact, having drinks with friends at conventions and talking shop is one of the best parts of the self-provided compensation package for all those hours with your ass in the chair...and for doing the hard things (there I go again!) like being brave and sending in your work to editors, to rewriting that damn scene AGAIN, to trying something new, etc. etc.

What writing apps?

I am so trained in the ways of Word that, though wooed by Scrivener, I keep returning to Word. I've never looked for writing apps for my phone because I don't use it for that. And I like BIG screens for writing. Documents and maps and music everywhere. And I'll write notes to myself on dozens of scraps of paper before I write it on a stickie on my phone.

Begone Ye Foul Distraction-Beast!

Of bad writing habits, I have my share. And it is my own fault.

I keep my phone too damn handy. It's circuits have a hyperactivity syndrome. It flickers because I got an email or a text or a FB message or someone liked something I posted or the battery is fully charged or some random app updated and it thinks I need to know RIGHT NOW.

Sure these are controllable sounds and flashes. I can adjust the settings anytime I want. But subconsciously I want to know, to feel connected and needed and to respond...

Worse, if I get stuck on a scene, I'll check my phone. I play Spider Solitaire. I think, it's a quick break and I'll come back with a fresh thought.

Right?

Wrong.

I'm training myself in bad habits, and reinforcing that training, with rewards that work to shorten my already hobbled attention-span.

Therefore, to reduce these bad habits, it is my resolution this year is to:

Cut the umbilical to my metallic symbiont. 

No, I'm not ditching the phone. I'm removing it from the desk to a place of restful silence while I work. This has proven to be a chore, breaking that addiction to the digital 'connection.'

Also, I'm forcing myself to rely much less on my Spotify playlists while I write because that free bitch is always burping out a commercial right in the midst of my story groove. I own a hundred+ cds of movie scores. All of them are loaded on my desktop and I can work there instead of my laptop and go interruption free.

What I Wish I Knew When I Started Writing

If I had access to a time machine and could go back to slip some instructions to my younger self on the sly, the advice I would impart would be scribed on thick fine parchment, lettered in some elegant yet imposing hand. It would look like a scroll of days long past, the kind that bear secret knowledge that readers innately respect, and it would read something like this:

My Dear,

I cannot tell you the joy my heart felt at seeing you today. So young and full of potential. I know what you will become and I am proud of you. 

Yet, my letter comes with a warning: there is much unpleasant that is coming your way. 

It would seem a kindness to prepare you so as to shelter you from great heartaches, but trust me, to do so would - in truth - be a sinful disservice, so I dare not rob you of those coming and invaluable experiences. Indeed, the sun and the moon will both witness your tears and both will hear you cry. You will feel like the darkness is too close and too heavy, and though these bright heavenly orbs beckon your eyes upward, neither of them can be constant in illuminating your path. The sun sets. The moon wanes. 

Sometimes, you have to light your own candle and watch it burn until the dawn.

I do not tell you of your sorrow so you will fear it. Quite the opposite. I tell you because I want you to know that you faced it, that you dared to live and you never gave up. Even the sharpest of those aches could not permanently stifle your creativity or cage the boundless thing that you demand to be. Nothing can douse the fire burning in you. 

So what am I hoping to accomplish with this missive?

I want you to realize a bit sooner that through it all, there is one thing that is always, always there for you: words.

Use them.

Harness and hone them for they are the only tools you have with which to craft the contentedness your soul craves. Language combined with all that you have experienced will fuel your stories, woman. So embrace that pain you cannot avoid, that ache which wisens you and then, when the world is cruel and shoves you on your ass, you can stand up and show them all you have gleaned from it. 

And I love you. I love all that you - we - are. 

When to Give Up on a Story

The short answer: 

NEVER

The long answer:

I don't believe there are stories that can't be told. Therefore, no project is beyond repair. They are just words and MISTAKES CAN BE FIXED.

That said, it may be a story that you or I aren't yet ready to tell as it should be told. It may, like good whiskey, need some time alone in a dark place to ferment while you trudge onward, honing your skills on other projects.

I have several trunk manuscripts either whole or in pieces. Eventually, the blunders will be figured out, fixed, and these stories will find a home. I truly believe that. Why?

1.) Because I am committed to learning my craft and re-writes don't scare me. Putting forth a weak effort that lacks character, voice, action and conflict does.

2.) Because I am willing to admit mistakes I made. Revisiting old published works and seeing the flaws *facepalm* have some embarrassment in them, yet the kernel of gold is in understanding how far I have come and the knowledge that I am better than I was before.

3.) Because I am UNwilling to let those characters lie dormant or let those tales go untold. People are constantly evolving--or should be, because stagnation is boring. Characters can evolve from their flat first incarnations. They can become deeper, more interesting and challenging. Plots can be twisted and changed to add new excitement.

Writing your book is a personal test.

But here's the secret key you should not lose sight of: there is no end of the semester unless you GIVE UP. As you grow, you can take those old 'tests' out and peruse them again as you like. If you recognize the flaws and correct them, then you've passed THAT test.

The next step is to go and create another test for yourself.

Books I'm Excited About & Setting Goals

Because I was a no-show last week, here's my take on:

2016 releases:

In starting this post, I realized I haven't got a clue what's coming out. So I did  search. I got this list from the Huffington Post HERE I haven't heard of any of these people (my bad, I guess) and I hate all these covers. Pfffft.

So I go HERE, to a Goodreads list. I recognized only two names on this list. (Hint, I  may be way out of the loop.) But the covers are more pleasing to my eye.

I poke around, find more lists, and begin to feel disgruntled. I'm pleased where I see names of friends and acquaintances.  I'm hopeful that the book supposedly in contract for me (but waiting on other details the publisher has to work out) will resolve and still be out in 2016. I'm happy that it looks like a lot of fantasy is coming.

For me, strolling the aisle at the book store or library to see what is out, what grabs my attention, what back cover details reel me in...that is far more fun than anticipating this or that. My time to read is short. (40+ hours a week working, gotta sleep, gotta see my boys, gotta write...oh yeah, and read too?) So I dunno what to expect, but I'm open to what grabs me.

As for this week's topic about setting goals:

My 2016 goals are: 

1.) Finish Persephone #7.

2.) Hopefully spend some time doing the 'author/editor back and forth dance' on an unrelated fantasy novel that *should* come out fall of 2016.

3.) Finish and find a home for unrelated modern fantasy A or unrelated modern fantasy B. Or both. A has a good start, but short. B is 60% done...but the ending wasn't coming together...until, while watching a speculative TV show, something they said sparked a wild idea that over the course of an hour blossomed into the ending I'd been searching for.

My advice for you, dear reader, in setting goals is to simply have a plan and execute it.

Writing is hard and it takes a serious time commitment, but it is also a wonderful, quiet, immaterial thing in your head until it is done. You know what works for you, so play to your strengths in time budgeting. And when things get in the way (they will), be gentle with yourself because unlike writing, Life is very immediate, demanding, and loud. It gets in the way of writing. (See recent GRRM announcements.)

Allow life it's intrusions. You cannot necessarily stop all of them anyway, so when life needs tending and interferes with your writing time, take care of it but make a promise to yourself and keep it:

I will persevere and 

return to the mysterious path 

of my storytelling course 

and finish my word journey.

Gift Book for a kid...

When I was young I devoured series. Encyclopedia Brown books, Nancy Drew books, Hardy Boys, The Black Stallion series. the Marguerite Henry horse books...then I found Dragonlance and I was hooked.

 Here is a book I particularly loved. I don't know if it is still available, but was part of a series about various dog breeds. I still wish I had a saluki.

I also recall a large size picture book of the black stallion, with fabulous drawings inside.

So, I guess if I were going to gift a book of my past to a kid today, it would depend on the kid. Mystery, animals, or fantasy... To me, so long as they read something they find interesting, it doesn't much matter what.

Linda's 3 Memorable Reads 2015

I didn't get to read as much this year as I wanted to so this was a tough competition but I'm very satisfied with my list. I promise, y'all will find something worthwhile to glean from either of these.


1.) A Natural History of Human Emotions by Stuart Walton

Link HERE

I've found this book sparks some unique character twists for me. An interesting read in itself, as an author it becomes an interesting springboard for character development.

FROM BOOKLIST REVIEW:

Even though a Chinese audience hearing Electra sing her poignant lamentation song would not understand her words, they would immediately recognize her emotion. And in the universal recognizability of sadness and nine other human emotions, Walton sees evidence of the validity of Darwin's groundbreaking Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1873), where the great naturalist argues that evolutionary development has biologically inscribed six fundamental emotions into human instincts. Walton extends Darwin's work by adding four more emotions to his taxonomy and by probing the psychological dynamics of each within a range of cultural contexts. An impressive wealth of scholarship helps readers define each emotion and understand how humans experience--and provoke--it. Though he assumes primal origins for all of the emotions examined, Walton limns some remarkable shifts in their modern manifestation. Readers consider, for instance, the dubious transformation of shame during the twentieth century into a motive for sadomasochism. And despite his advocacy of free expression, Walton acknowledges the role of the moral virtues in preventing emotional eruptions. A study that will repeatedly spark shocks of self-recognition. 

2.) Thieves' Quarry by D.B. Jackson

  

Link HERE

Thieves' Quarry is the second novel in D. B. Jackson's Thieftaker Chronicles.  I love this series.

AMAZON DESCRIPTION: 

Ethan Kaille isn't the likeliest hero. A former sailor with a troubled past, Ethan is a thieftaker, using conjuring skills to hunt down those who steal from the good citizens of Boston. And while chasing down miscreants in 1768 makes his life a perilous one, the simmering political tensions between loyalists like himself and rabble-rousing revolutionaries like Samuel Adams and others of his ilk are perhaps even more dangerous to his health. 

When one hundred sailors of King George III's Royal Navy are mysteriously killed on a ship in Boston Harbor, Ethan is thrust into dire peril. For he―and not Boston's premier thieftaker, Sephira Pryce―is asked to find the truth behind their deaths. City Sheriff Edmund Greenleaf suspects conjuring was used in the dastardly crime, and even Pryce knows that Ethan is better equipped to contend with matters of what most of Boston considers dark arts. But even Ethan is daunted by magic powerful enough to fell so many in a single stroke. When he starts to investigate, he realizes that the mass murderer will stop at nothing to evade capture. And making his task more difficult is the British fleet's occupation of the city after the colonials' violent protests after the seizure of John Hancock's ship. Kaille will need all his own magic, street smarts, and a bit of luck to keep this Boston massacre from giving the hotheads of Colonial Boston an excuse for inciting a riot―or worse. 

3.) Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore 

Link HERE

Containing more than 1,500 A-Z entries, an encyclopedia of world folklore covering folktales, legendary figures, superstitions, folk arts, fairies, fabulous beasts and otherworlds. Information is also given on festivals, rites of passage, texts, plant lore, and the theories of folklore scholarship.    REVIEWER:  "The first sentence of each boldfaced entry clearly and succinctly defines the term and places it in the sphere of folklore. The rest of the entry expands upon the definition, sometimes tracing it through historical or literary changes and often providing cross-references to other entries. Each entry is generally 1-3 paragraphs in length, although some are as long as nine paragraphs. The readable text is accompanied by more than 200 black-and-white line drawings. Although these illustrations are charming and well executed, they add little to the text since they are generally illustrations for well-known characters such as vampires or gremlins. However, they do serve to break up the text and add some visual interest."

The Almighty Do Over

At the day job, there are always month-end tasks. And end-of-quarter tasks. And end-of-year tasks. From one point of view, they are the extra work. The stuff not done on normal weeks. From another point of view, they are marks of achievement. Either way, the point is: there are specific things to be done before the job is considered complete.

Books are no different. There are rituals we do, checks we make along the way, and some at the end, which brings my ramble to our topic this week: Finishing Touches. (**That sounds like the title of an erotica story about a masseuse that may or may not have a happy ending...  See what I did there?) Alas, I ramble then I digress...which I can get away with in a blog, but not so much in a novel. Yes, I have plenty of work {finishing} to do at the end of a book. When under contract, my personal deadline is 6 weeks ahead of the actual deadline in order to allow time for A.) the life stuff that happens that would otherwise put me behind schedule, and B.) the finishing pain.

Okay, yes, that may be an exaggeration, 

but it feels like my editorial pen is 

ripping through my world like this:

When actually, it's more like this:

Carving out the story, wading through research, and stirring it into something brand new and uniquely your own is the fun. Hell yeah, pour me another stout shot of that Godlike Master of your own little Universe. But digging around after the fact, sifting through all those words for the errors, the over-usages, and the flaws can be grueling. It's taken me a while but now I view this as the bonus round.


After the end of the story is written I take some time away from that {insert a negative here because like many writers I have a "this is all crap, why did I bother" phase}, then, like my bordello-mates, I whip out the ever-evolving list of shit I typically screw up.

Psst. Wanna hear a secret?

That list is some 

seriously magical shit. 

It's absolutely crammed full 

with the power of the 

ALMIGHTY DO OVER. 

Here is where I get to showcase my craft, to sprinkle here and gush there, to take what words were weak and empower them with greater meaning and specificity. Here is where I go the extra mile, where I have the greatest opportunity to take all those strung together sentences and ensure the words become more than the sum of their parts. Sure, it's a story. It's got characterization, setting, dialogue. It's got a beginning, middle, and an end. But here is where those little things, those "a-ha's" get dropped in to link a few things you won't catch at first, but will mean more in the end. Here is where I amp up scenes and sequels. Here is where I put all I have learned so far to the test...and come away having learned something wonderful and new each time.