A to Z II - T is for Time

Welcome to the twentieth day of my personal A to Z challenge for the month of May. Since today is day twenty, it means we are on the letter t. T is for time.

Time is an interesting concept in Trajectory.

You have time where Joe observes for hours and days on end, yet the story does not drag.

You have the expenditure of time for the complications of his situation with Claudette, as well as the unfolding of events between Joe and Michael.

You have the passage of time while Joe recuperates and rehabilitates  after Michael's attack.

When you're writing about a sniper who can lay still for hours or even days at a clip, but who also suffered serious injuries and has a long road of recovery ahead of them, time can be a tricky thing. It is sometimes difficult to write about the passage of time, this new and improved Trajectory, though, handles it perfectly.

ANOTHER A to Z Challenge!

Hello again, fellow bibliophiles!

This year, I am challenging myself even further by doing a second A to Z Challenge. Please note this one is completely personal, and is not affiliated with the wonderful folks who host the annual A to Z Challenge in April.

National Police Week takes place in May, as is National Peace Officers Memorial Day. So in honor of that, I want to do an A to Z challenge with Trajectory.

Now you might be wondering why I'd do a challenge with a short story I wrote a few years ago. Well, I have some big news for you. I am currently reworking Trajectory to be a full-length novel! Call it an overhaul, if you will, but this story will be bigger and better than ever.

So to revisit the story, the characters, and to give you a taste of what's to come, we're going to do a May A to Z with Trajectory. We start tomorrow with the letter A. See you then!

A to Z Theme Reveal

Okay kids. It's the day you've all been waiting for! It's time for my A to Z theme reveal!

This year's theme is...

The Good Pirate, Robert!

This is a current WIP (work in progress). It is my first shot at a fantasy-type story.

I want to give you a little background on this. Robert was the name of a bird we had. We have a few birds, including a pair of Lovebirds. They had had clutches (babies) in the past, but Mom (CJ) hadn't laid any eggs in a few years. That is until last summer.

She laid 7 eggs, 4 of which were viable. All 4 of those hatched. Unfortunately, we lost one pretty early on. The other 3, however, seemed to be thriving.

Robert was one of those babies. He had a brief encounter with one of our dogs. He survived, but there was obvious brain damage. Within hours, though, he showing us how tough and resilient he was.

One of the "symptoms" he showed was that he kept his right eye closed (he was able to open it after some time, but it seemed that he preferred to keep it closed). So I always said that he looked like a little pirate. That's where things kind of took off.

Daily, I shared pictures and videos of him and his siblings as they grew up. His siblings developed more quickly than he did. For example, when they were learning to fly, he was still learning to climb. Nothing kept him down, though. He was so determined; he seemed so bright and happy.

One night in September, I went to get him for his evening feeding, and he was dying. We're not sure what happened. We can only assume it is somehow related to the trauma and injuries. Perhaps he threw a blood clot, we don't know. It was a devastating loss.


Robert was such a happy guy, and when I announced his passing on Facebook, I was floored by the number of people who were saddened. People I had never met - people from around the globe who were touched by this little baby Lovebird. At that point, I knew his life wasn't in vain, and that there was something greater to him. That was when I began writing his story.


This book is not complete, in fact, it is very much still a rough draft. I want to use this month to honor Robert, to share his story, and to help this book improve.


So please join me in this fun and unique journey.

Trust me, you're gonna love it!

See you April 1!

Prepping

Hi kids!

I want to let you all know that I am prepping for this year's A to Z challenge, as I have done for the past few years. I'm also doing a second, independent one in May. In doing so, I will not be blogging during the month of March, so that I have time to get all of my posts perfect for the challenges. You will hear from me on the 21st when I reveal my theme for the official A to Z Challenge.

Until then, happy reading!

What to expect in 2016

I wish I could tell the future. To know what's going to happen, and to be prepared for it. Unfortunately, I can't. However, I can still tell you what to expect in 2016. As in what to expect from me.

This year, expect to see more in-depth blog posts. Expect to see more creativity in my blog posts as well. With things like the A to Z challenge in April, I plan on letting my imagination run wild, and to take you all along with me!

Expect more of a relationship with me. I want to personally connect with my readers. I think it gives us a tremendous friendship, and I also think that it gives both you as the reader, and me as the writer, a more complete experience with all of my stories.

Expect to see more of me. I plan on using social media more, and creating more of a presence, and making myself more accessible and more known.

Expect the unexpected. We never know what's going to happen, what life will throw at us, or what inspiration will hit and when. I ask that you please keep your minds open, and together we can experience some wonderful things!

2016 will be what we make of it, and I plan on making it the best. That's what I'm going to expect. What about you? ;)

Happy new year, and happy reading!

First blog post of 2016!

Happy New Year!

With 2016 waiting like a blank canvas, I think it's a good idea to discuss my goals for this year.


I want 2016 to be a big year, full of big changes, big successes, and big stories.

Big changes. I'm coming into 2016 working on stories that are unlike anything I've written before. If you follow me on Facebook or have read my WeWriWas in November, I am working on a magical story based on my baby Lovebird, Robert. I'm attempting to emulate J. K. Rowling by writing something that could be deemed a childrens' story, but is written in a more mature voice so that even adults will enjoy it. It'll be very exciting to see where this story goes, and to watch it come to fruition.

Big successes. I  have goals of seeing my stories - old and new - reach bigger audiences. I have goals of seeing my stories receiving more reviews, and watching my rankings go up. I have goals of continuing to publish great stories for you to enjoy. Everything that I do that is positive, that is helpful, that creates movement and momentum, everything that I can achieve is a success. 2016 will be a year that is chock full of them.

Big stories. I'm working on a few pieces, and I plan on writing many more. I write stories of love and life without boundaries. Stories that will touch your heart. Stories that will stay with you, long after you've closed the book. Stories that are powerful, poignant. Stories that are educational as well as entertaining and enjoyable. Stories that you will love.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, folks. 2016 is going to be one heck of a year!

Happy new year, and happy reading!

NaNoWriMo: The end is just the beginning!

Happy November, everyone! For many people November equals NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. It's a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I want to take this opportunity to go through NaNo with you, and to look at the writing process in great detail.

It's the end of the month, so it's time to look at the end of NaNo and where we go from here.

The end on NaNo is not the end of your story. In fact, it's just the beginning.

                                           

We've talked about quantity and quality, and the importance of editing and polishing your piece. The end of NaNo marks the beginning of that.

But I don't want to beat a dead horse. I'm just as sick of the repetition and redundancy as you are.

Let's look at the other beginning the end of NaNo brings us.

Having accomplished NaNo, we can say that we have written a novel. It doesn't matter if we're seasoned or not. We've done it. That's an accomplishment in and of itself. It's the beginning of feeling pride in our work and our victory.

It opens the door for us to write more. Novels, short stories, poems, whatever we want! NaNo opens up our creative channels to write and write and write.

If you discover that writing isn't your thing, it still opens up those creative channels. It encourages us to try new artistic endeavors - to begin other challenges and begin learning other art forms.

The end of NaNo is not the end. Not even close. The end of NaNo marks the beginning of many wonderful things!

NaNoWriMo: Why word counts count

Happy November, everyone! For many people November equals NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. It's a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I want to take this opportunity to go through NaNo with you, and to look at the writing process in great detail.

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This week, I want to discuss word counts.

To start off, we need to look at the breakdown of word counts. As a general rule, they go as follows:

Short Stories: 20,000 words or less

Novellas: 20,000-40,000 words

Novels: 50,000 words or more.

NaNo sets the goal at 50,000 words, which is a good goal. At 50,000, you should have a very well rounded story, and good foundation for the novel itself.

50,000 is a lot of words! Yes it is. Any writer will tell you that there are times when 50,000 feels more like 5,000,000,000. It's not always easy, but word counts are important to keep in mind.

Why?

First and foremost, if you're seeking publication, publishers watch word counts carefully. If the word count is low, they see an emaciated story that will need lots of editing to beef it up. That's time and money that they're not willing to spend. On the flip side of that, if the word count is too high, the piece is too long and no one will read it. So you need to watch your count if you want to get published.

What if you're not seeking publication? What's the point of watching your word count?

Well, those of us who are die-hard grammar policemen/-women will tell you that you need to follow the rules. 

For those of you who are rebellious and don't like rules, look at a word count as a challenge. It's a goal to meet. It's a good frame to help you beef up and trim off sections of your story. It will show you what sections of your novel require more attention and editing. 

I personally find word counts to be a great guide in my story writing.

A good word count is not necessarily indicative of good quality, per se. However, a good word count is indicative of the fact that the writer has been paying attention. If they're paying attention, chances are they're paying attention to the quality and the quantity.

So yes, word counts count.