Word Domination

Writing with Illness

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:05:46 -0400

It’s not really a secret that I have severe clinical depression and moderate to severe anxiety, though it’s not like I’m shouting it from the rooftops. The past year, I’ve also been having near-constant ear infections, which have become increasingly…

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The Fear of Criticism

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:19:41 -0400

Whenever I criticise someone else’s writing, especially in a public arena, I’m immediately nervous that someone is going to use my own criticism against me, or just outright attack me. This is a fairly valid fear in this day and age of internet…

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Constructive Criticism

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:11:27 -0400

Writers crave attention. We want people to write paragraphs and paragraphs on our stories and characters and worlds, and while we want to be told how great we are, we also want people to tell us where we went wrong. This is where constructive criticism…

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Shameless Self Promotion Masterpost

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:08:08 -0400

yellingintothevoid:

Smashwords

The Hunt (free; urban fantasy, slight folklore): When winter comes, he feels the call again.

Blood Claim (.99; urban fantasy, smutty): Antisocial mage Valentine Greyfeather is used to working alone and being his own boss but gets more than he bargained for when an underwater demon lays claim to him. In a life or death situation, only a stronger claim can save him - like one made by his new partner, Kellan.

Darkly Dreaming (1.99; urban fantasy, fantasy, mild horror, supernatural; possible trigger warning for homophobia in Last Cigarette): Short story collection.

Troll Farm: a short little soft horror story about a reporter who visits a goat farm run by trolls.

Tiger, Tiger: a college student encounters a type of incubus and discovers there’s a beast inside all of us.

The Pusher: a cubicle slave learns that dreams are like drugs, and carry their own price

Last Cigarette: the power of love and friendship, and the cost of hate.

Un Histoire Officielle de Bob et Les Zombies (.99; horror, smutty, sarcastic humour): Not in French. A sudden outbreak of zombies on a hot summer day sends college student Dane and frozen yogurt stand employee Killian running for their lives through a Canadian mall.

Soch Writes (my website, all stories posted on it are free but I’m not going to say no to donations; general warning for smuttiness, language, violence, and assholery)

Novels

Ashfall (prologue only; fantasy; sequel to The Rising Fire, which is off at Harper Voyager somewhere)

Bonewitch (WIP; urban fantasy):
Arden Viljoen is a bonewitch, a magic user who uses bones to cast spells and can speak to/see the dead. After stealing part of a dead man’s finger, she finds herself haunted by his ghost, who claims to have been murdered and demands she find his killer. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Arden’s been on the radar of a slightly obsessive cop named Caleb O’Riley, and his interruption early one morning causes her to bind the ghost to the fingerbone instead of banishing him. When she’s attacked shortly after by a strange creature, she finds herself caught up in the plans of an ancient mage who is determined to destroy her and steal the life of the ghost’s older brother.

Ricochet Effect (WIP; sci-fi): College students Nila and Sireno make a decent living off competing in online tournaments in the global network NetLife, but after meeting the mysterious Ricochet, they discover parts of NetLife aren’t as friendly as they appear.

Sand Wolf (WIP; urban fantasy): Werewolves and magicians, oh my.

Silent Desert (WIP; urban fantasy, fantasy):
A rogue storm sweeps Ciaran overboard during what’s supposed to be a holiday boating trip with his boyfriend Alejandro, sending him to a desert in another world - a world where those without magic are put down like rabid animals and a king will sacrifice his own son for his kingdom.

Isendiar is the eighth son of the Desert King, bred and raised in the belief that his only existence in life is to be sacrificed to his father’s god. Protected by his bodyguard, Azima, and forced to remain celibate so he won’t go to his sacrifice sullied, he spends most of his time playing around and generally being spoiled - until he and Azima rescue a stranger in the desert.

On Earth, Alejandro is desperate to find Ciaran again, even though everyone thinks he’s insane to think Ciaran is even still alive - everyone except his best friend, Brandon. Brought together with a witch named Shoshanna Rose and a psychic named Nabila, Alejandro and Brandon must figure out where Ciaran is and how to get him back.

Splinters (complete but unedited; edited version will be on Smashwords; urban fantasy): War is on the horizon between the Fae and the ruling humans, but all Solan Yorke wants to do is get through his last year of school without anyone finding out he’s not human.

Winter King (technically a novella; will be more set in this world; urban fantasy): When his boss goes missing, Nikhil Chakravarthy will do anything to find him, even if that means getting tangled up with a mysterious runaway named Jess.

The Fifth God (current WIP; fantasy):
A thousand years ago, a group of Elementalists split a warring nation in two, separating magical Mihavar from science-minded Avernon with the great river Calanaia. The two countries continued to grow apart from one another but while Mihavar became prosperous, Avernon became overcrowded and jealous.

A thousand years later, a priest of the fire god Firenze finds a newborn baby on the steps of the temple. Named Daimeric di Firenze, the baby is raised in the temple until, at the age of ten, he tests for magic in all four elements. The first Elementalist in 500 years, he is sent to be trained at the Academy of Mages in Avran Avar, where he is watched closely by the ruling Council of Mages.

When Daimeric graduates at 18, he expects to be sent to the front lines to help guard against attack from Avernon. Instead, the Council assigns him four new students to mentor, in hopes of teaching him self-control and respect for other people, even those weaker than him.

These students - tough, rough-and-tumble Niamh; mischief-maker Luca, second son of a king; thoughtful, sweet-tempered Lore; and sensitive, loyal Korivenya - are forced not only to adjust to their new lives and each other, but also must earn Daimeric’s respect - and in doing so may save both countries from another war.

Short Stories

Blood Bond (sequel to Blood Claim; urban fantasy): Still partners whether they want to be or not, Kellan and Valentine must put aside their differences if they want to save Kellan from his own past.

Cold Seep (fantasy): Ocean-dweller Azhorai meets a sea witch.

Death Comes For The Hero (urban fantasy, supernatural; possible trigger warning for suicide): Depression, angels, and the love of friends.

Fire Dance (urban fantasy); Sebastian ‘Bash’ Uyende is given the chance to travel to another world to complete an anthropology project. While there he discovers jealousy can run deep, even between brothers.

Hard Words (urban fantasy): Betrayal hurts the most when you’ve finally started to trust someone.

Junk (urban fantasy): When Evarin Kim picks up an old lock from the local junk table, he does it on a whim. Putting his old high school combination number into it dumps a green-eyed, lion-tailed stranger into his kitchen and sends them both on the run from what the stranger claims are angels.

The Problem With Werewolves (prequel to Sand Wolf; urban fantasy): Is that they’re possessive, cranky, and have a tendency to make Yoah’s life difficult.

Stormchaser (urban fantasy): Picking up a Storm Lord’s mask sends Maverick on the wildest tornado chase of his life - and reveals a few things about his partner that he could never have expected.

Blog: Total Word Domination

Review: The Long Walk by Stephen King

Sun, 05 May 2013 16:59:11 -0400

Title: The Long Walk

Author: Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman)

Genre: Horror/dystopic fiction

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 1979

The Long Walk focuses on 16-year-old Ray Garraty, who lives in a dystopic world where the totalitarian United States…

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'Real' Literature

Thu, 02 May 2013 19:32:32 -0400

I write (and read) genre fiction. Not only that, but I write queer genre fiction that generally involves at least one sex scene, even though it’s usually not that explicit. It’s what I enjoy writing, and I appear to have at least a few readers who enjoy…

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Picky, Picky

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:32:06 -0400

I need certain supplies to write. I prefer writing on a desktop computer that has a keyboard and mouse, preferably both wireless, and the keyboard can’t be too flat. My program of choice is Microsoft Word and I get uncomfortable when I have to write in,…

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How to GIMP Up A Digital Book CoverOr at least how I do it,...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:11:00 -0400

How to GIMP Up A Digital Book Cover

Or at least how I do it, keeping in mind that I’m a writer, not a graphic designer.

Things you will…

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Life of a Writer

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:02:54 -0400

Life of a Writer

To One Million!

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:02:43 -0400

To One Million!

Writing For Popularity

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:02:26 -0400

Writing For Popularity

Anti-heroes, Screwed-up Relationships, and Fiction vs. Reality

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:02:15 -0400

Anti-heroes, Screwed-up Relationships, and Fiction vs. Reality

The Problem with Freelancing

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:01:58 -0400

The Problem with Freelancing

New Smashwords Story

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:18:48 -0400

yellingintothevoid:

Here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/240708

Mages and snark and sex, oh my. Please go check it out? It’s only 99 cents.

I need a beta reader

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:54:50 -0400

yellingintothevoid:

For two urban fantasy novels of just over 70K and just over 74K. One is written in first-person, the other in third-person. Need someone who is okay with LGBT, swearing, violence, and general mayhem. Sound like you? Askbox me. Pretty please.

Rant Time

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:19:52 -0400

So I have this friend and I love her dearly. We bonded over fanfiction and RP, and we have been friends for years and years and years, even though we have never once met in person and only have a vague idea of what each other looks like. She lives in another country and we’re not in a position to visit each other, really, not to mention we’re both awkward little introverts and what would we do in person without the buffer of a computer between us and the RP we play most every night?

Anyway, as I said, I love her dearly. We RP all the time, we share our writing with each other, we rec books to each other, and we’re working on a collaboration project that will hopefully go up online at some point in the future. But the thing about my friend is that she’s so close to me and so much in my heart that the littlest criticism from her stabs me deeply. She’s actually destroyed my will to even write stories with an offhand comment of dislike. I don’t think she does it on purpose—she’s blunt, not evil—but it weighs on me at times.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten a lot better at taking crit and negative comments in stride, or at least with a healthy dose of sarcasm and a big ‘fuck you’. I’m one of those defensive writers, the ones who wail ‘you just don’t understaaaaaand’ when someone dislikes something I like in one of my stories. I want crit, I like crit, but let’s face it: I’m a writer and I have a fragile ego (not even getting into the mental problems I’ve talked briefly about here before).

It just bothers me, I suppose, that her first go-to is negativity. She’ll complain first, so all I really hear is, ‘This sucks and you suck’. Fair or not, I think it’s a common reaction among us ~sensitive~ artists. And it sticks in my head when I’m trying to write more of the story (because I post a lot of my work online at my website) and I suppose that right there is a good argument for writing your first draft with the door closed, as Stephen King says. It just doesn’t work well for me because part of my motivation is that I have other readers who are always encouraging, so it gives me something to work towards.

There’s probably no real point to this rant, it’s just a rant. But here’s as good a place as any to get it out, so as I said. I have a friend and I love her dearly. I just wish I could stop taking her criticism as an insult, and I wish she had a little more finesse.

alex-ivy: FUCK WORDS.

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:06:50 -0400

alex-ivy:

FUCK WORDS.

clementinesmonsters: If there’s a way to forget, a writer will try it; if there’s a way to...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:06:29 -0400

clementinesmonsters:

If there’s a way to forget, a writer will try it; if there’s a way to remember, a writer will know.

"Read your work aloud, if you can, if you aren’t too embarrassed by the sound of your voice ringing..."

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:04:12 -0400

“Read your work aloud, if you can, if you aren’t too embarrassed by the sound of your voice ringing out when you are alone in a room. Chances are that the sentence you can hardly pronounce without stumbling is a sentence that needs to be reworked to make it smoother and more fluent. A poet once told me that he was reading a draft of a new poem aloud to himself when a thief broke into his Manhattan loft. Instantly surmising that he had entered the dwelling of a madman, the thief turned and ran without taking anything, and without harming the poet. So it maybe that reading your work aloud will not only improve its quality but save your life in the process.”

- Francine Prose (via writersrelief)

booksdirect: “Reading is a staple of life, like bread or water...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:03:52 -0400

booksdirect:

“Reading is a staple of life, like bread or water or chocolate.”