Tag Archives: writing

Editing the Beast

10 Monday Feb 2014

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So I’ve been plugging away at editing my first novel, Calling On Fire, and let me tell you: nothing can prepare you for editing: not even having gone through edits on my short story.
I did expect edits to be harder on my novel. It’s longer, for one, and it’s much nearer and dearer to my heart than the short. I poured not just time into it, but pieces of my heart and soul. And I knew – or at least, suspected – that there were some things wrong with it, and I even had an idea what those things were (although I didn’t know how to fix them.) But I still didn’t expect it to be THAT different: more the fool, I.

pencil writing editing inspiration

As such, editing is taking longer than expected. The demands of my day-life aren’t helping, but that’s no excuse. The book is still DEFINITELY going to be out this year, just not as early as I’d hoped. But as soon as I send the next round of edits to the editor, I’ll be getting the cover design underway and this thing’ll be rocking.

In short, there are two major parts of the book that need significant rewriting, with moderate and minor edits sprinkled through the rest. I’m confident the book will be even better once they’re done – it’ll be tighter, cleaner, and more polished.

And I’m excited. SO excited. You have no idea. ;)

So that’s the update on where the book’s at.

Cheers!
Stephanie Beavers

Top 10 List of Books That Have Stayed With Me

13 Monday Jan 2014

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The “Ten books that have stayed with you” meme found its way into my Facebook. Most people wouldn’t consider my picks great works of literature (although I obviously think they’re awesome), but they’re books that have influenced me and my writing, and they’ve made particular impressions in my mind. Not necessarily in order, but easy decisions came first.

1. Arrows of the Queen –Mercedes Lackey
2. Mossflower -Brian Jacques
3. Exile’s Honor -Mercedes Lackey
4. Birth of the Firebringer –Meredith Ann Pierce
5. Song in the Silence -Elizabeth Kerner
6. Harry Potter -J.K. Rowling
7. Wizard’s First Rule -Terry Goodkind
8. Nicomachean Ethics -Aristotle
9. The Bible
10. The Bourne Identity -Robert Ludlum

So yeah… 70% of my list is pure fantasy. Is it any wonder that I write it?

Now I long to go into detail about some of these authors, right here, right now, but I know I’ve talked about Mercedes Lackey already, and I’m actually planning a series on authors who have inspired me. So expect posts on most of these people in the future!

The Eve Before New Year’s Eve

30 Monday Dec 2013

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Well, this is it. Christmas is over, and the new year is almost upon us. I know a lot of people do the whole New Year’s Resolutions thing, but I’ve never been big on it. I know this year I will publish my first book, but other than that… meh. To me, self-improvement and setting goals is an ongoing thing. It is isn’t something I do once a year and not the rest (although I realize that for some people it’s simply a reminder). I’ve also never been big on set deadlines, so I simply work hard at something until it’s done. I want it done right more than I want it done on time.

That being said, there is something exciting about the concept of a new year. So here’s to the coming new year!

Fireworks

As for my general goals, there are some things I want to work towards. First and foremost, I want to publish my two novels. I want to write more, too. I’ve been neglecting my writing lately in favor of publishing and other life stuff. I also want to stabilize my work position (it’s been… interesting, to say the least), and I want to eat better and exercise more.

But how about you, my fine readers? Any resolutions?

My Inspiration: Mercedes Lackey

02 Monday Dec 2013

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All writers are readers; it just goes with the territory. And I have been reading for as long as I can remember. When I first started learning to read, I devoured everything in site. It didn’t take long before my reading level was far beyond what my age suggested it should be. In fact, I remember reading books with sex scenes (not like erotica, but still) before I really understood what was going on. I just went flip, flip, flip- oh good, we’re back to the story. My voracious reading continued until university, when unfortunately my reading lists took over and I didn’t read much for pleasure anymore. Even so, I expanded my mind in new ways, with different kinds of reading and learning.

But for me, the most memorable author is Mercedes Lackey with her Valdemar series. I started with Arrows of the Queen and I was completely enchanted by her characters and her world. Who wouldn’t want an amazing animal companion of human intellect who loves you to the depth of your being. I have to admit, those Companions were a big draw for me, but so was her character-focused writing in those early books. Alberich is still my favorite character of… yes, I think ANY book, ever. His book, Exile’s Honor, came a little later in the series, but it has become my favorite by far. And it wasn’t just the characters – Mercedes Lackey has built an incredibly vivid, magical world for her characters to live in. Everything from the geography and the mix of cultures and races, to the carefully crafted system of magic, to the unique creatures that roam her world, all work to draw the reader in.

I have to admit though, I am a far greater fan of her earlier works that her more recent ones. But such is life – things change, and her writing has changed. She has expanded in new directions while I remain curled up, snuggling her old books, much beloved. Of all the authors that I’ve read, she has probably had the greatest impact on my own writing. She has an immersive, straight-forward style that discards fluff in favor of moving things along. Her imagery is vivid without taking 6 pages to describe something (I’m looking at you, Tolkien). She has her flaws, sure, but I recommend her books to anyone who loves fantasy. Start with Arrows of the Queen, like I did – it was her first book and one of her best, in my mind. Maybe you’ll fall in love with her characters and her world like I did.

Updates on life and writing

14 Thursday Nov 2013

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WOW, has life ever been crazy! It feels great to be busy, but after my little stretch of tedious unemployment, it’s a little tiring. My first week at my new job went great though, and although I know I still have a huge learning curve ahead of me, I’m really looking forward to it. I’m an administrative assistant in an accounting office, so I’ve finally broken out of the retail industry and into something I actually want to do!

In other news, my first novel is off to the editor! I’m very excited, although I know what with scheduling times and holidays and everything, it will be a while before I get it back even from the first pass. Still, progress is being made! Plus, once the first edits are done I’ll be able to get my blurb all refined and everything so I can get into cover creation too. I think I’ve found a good company to do my cover, but I’m still doing research, so we’ll see! I’m hoping to release Book 1 in early 2014, but that’s a tentative estimate only. With my new job, I won’t have the same amount of dedicated time to throw at this project, although obviously I’m still quite driven to get it done!

Just a reminder, in case anyone missed it, my short story is now up, posted for free for all to read! No strings attached! You can also find it (also free) at Smashwords if you prefer downloading it onto your e-reader.

Cheers!

And The Wolves Danced: A FREE Short Story

09 Saturday Nov 2013

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short fantasy story coverJust sending out the alert that I’ve posted my free short story!  You can read it in your browser window here on my website: And The Wolves Danced or at Smashwords so you can download it onto your e-reader!

Enjoy!

(And feel free to share thoughts and opinions. I love to hear from you!)

The Frightening Truth About Where Inspiration Comes From.

07 Thursday Nov 2013

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Bees Underwent Massive Extinctions When Dinosaurs Did. Articles like these are one place where I find inspiration. The title inspires questions – most notably “why?” and “what if…?” It’s just a simple statement, a single fact, but it holds an immense amount of potential. Someone could write an entire book based on that one sentence – fiction OR non-fiction (although that doesn’t mean anyone will). Me, I write fantasy, so I immediately start thinking of supernatural.

Even just putting bees and dinosaurs in the same sentence can inspire something (albeit something B-movie): Beezilla! Half bee, half dinosaur! Tokyo is doomed! Or maybe: Mutant Bees Vs Tyrannosaurus Rex, Battle for Jurassic Earth (Let’s face it, “Jurassic” is a pretty epic-sounding word and would’ve found itself in a movie title some day even if Jurassic Park had never been made.)

Angry Bee

Does he look angry to you? He looks angry to me.
Image compliments of Jon Sullivan, pdphoto.org

But even a mystery or thriller writer could do something with that idea. Maybe it’s a conspiracy! They could link that fact to something that’s happening now, something no doubt nefarious. Maybe scientists are conducting experiments. Maybe a secret society is engineering the downfall of our countries so they can take over the world – or at least control it.

I’m not saying any of this would be award-winning material (although it could happen), but it would definitely be fun.

So there you have it, folks. For every writer who has ever been asked where their inspiration came from, the answer is going to look something like this. They saw an image. They read a single sentence (or an entire book) on some random subject. They heard a song. Heck, they tasted a particular flavor or felt a particular texture. And when they did, it evoked an emotion. It evoked an idea. It evoked inspiration.

Fortunately, it’s also often better stuff than bees and dinosaurs. Then again, not every bit of inspiration gets written down, and even less of it gets published. So be afraid. Be very afraid. A writer’s mind is a scary place. As Colin Nissan said,

A writer’s brain is full of little gifts, like a piñata at a birthday party. It’s also full of demons, like a piñata at a birthday party in a mental hospital.

So when someone says inspiration just happens, it’s true. It’s wonderful and inexplicable. That’s why it’s inspirational.

Constructed Languages

10 Thursday Oct 2013

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Constructed languages, or “conlangs” are something that have always fascinated me. I was never a Tolkien fangirl or a Trekkie, but the invented languages in those fandoms intrigued me nonetheless. In the Valdemar series of books (some of my favorites), there was also a people who had their own language – multiple ones, come to think of it. As much as fully constructed languages intrigue me, however, I think I have more of a soft spot for when key words and phrases are cherry-picked and used the way the Valdemar books did it. Regardless, here is a very cool presentation on conlangs:

I’ve always wanted to create my own language, but I have to admit that it’s not yet something I’ve done. I’ve tried making bits and pieces here and there, but they haven’t ever turned out quite how I’d like… maybe one day!

Crazy Awesome Woohoo!

05 Saturday Oct 2013

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So this weekend, I attended WANACon! WANA stands for We Are Not Alone, and it’s a community of writers online. WANACon is an online conference (the second so far) that I attended last year, and then again this year. Want to know how awesome it was? Here’s a sample from the little social (PajamaCon) session that kicked it off. According to Gry (another attendee), this is Danish humor:

The next day there were TONS of talks – not as much infodumping as I recall from the first one (which I actually rather liked) but tons of interesting and engaging speakers. Kristen Lamb was one of my favorites – I hugely respect her for her work with writers and her writing itself, and she’s an all-around fun person. She summed up Lord of the Rings as a story where an evil ring needs to be thrown into an evil volcano before darkness covers the world. …It’s strangely accurate, however humorous. If you’re a writer, her blog is a must read. She also has a book out that’s extremely helpful, I recommend it.

The second conference day was awesome too. The idea of writing a unicorn horror story even came up at one point (I’d read it). One presenter talked about websites. It inspired me to tweak mine, but it also admittedly made me feel a little insecure about it and wish I had money to throw at a website designer. Alas, more money is going out than coming in at the moment. *sigh* One day… Anyways, I got a couple of those infodump sessions I was looking for this day too. Hurray!

In other news, I found an editor! I sent her my short story, so hopefully everything goes well! I’m very excited… and nervous. Regardless, this means the short story should be up soon! I will, of course, make an announcement and link to it the moment it’s up. :D

And finally, my scalemail costume has been coming along nicely. I work on this project on and off (more off than on, most times). Here are the update pics:
front back

That is all.

A Wee Bit of (My) History

30 Monday Sep 2013

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So I figured I should do a post where I let you know who I am and what I’m doing.
…That’s as far as I got before I realized that I don’t know what I’m doing.
*Ahem*
Fortunately, I do know who I am! …But I have an About Page already… But I suppose there are a few holes in the “details” section.

Basically, I’ve been writing for… forever. Or grade 5 at least, when my teacher held “journal writing” every day and I started writing stories. My first one was about a unicorn: so was the second. There were a few in there, one with cats, another with leopards and magic, and then… I stopped finishing stories. I got too ambitious and wandered away from stories after getting a few ideas and writing a couple chapters. I had one story that I worked on for years before finally abandoning it, and I roleplayed or “rped” on forums for many more years. That only stopped when I started to get serious and decided that I was going to finish something. A year later, I had a manuscript. A year after that, I had a second, the sequel that completed the story. Now I intend to get the first one published (and the second one after that, obviously). And that, more or less, is the history of me writing (trust me, there’s a lot of terrible stuff in there, stuff that will never see the light of day… at least not without being heavily overhauled.) Although, my characters from the books I’ll be publishing actually originated as rp characters (even if they were altered for the novels).

Other than that… I’m just a somewhat nerdy chick with a cat. You will no doubt hear about said cat. Her name is Loki, and yes, that’s a boy’s name, and yes, she’s a girl (my sister named her, as I got Loki from her). Here’s a picture:
Does it look like I'm laughing?
Yes, she’s in a jester costume… it’s better not to ask.

Anyways, I play video games, do crafts and stuff (I’m working on an awesome scalemail costume), read (mostly fantasy – always feel free to comment with a book recommendation), watch TV like the rest of humanity, and I love cats, dragons, candy, and crepes. I’m not sure what else there is to say, so I’ll leave ‘er there!
So that’s it for my lame-o introduction.

Have an awesome day,
Stephanie

P.S. Here’s some cool science news:
Scientists create matter out of light