Science of the Week, 9/23/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Closing in on high-temperature superconductivity

A first-ever study to train cats and their people for better health

UCLA researchers use stem cells to grow 3-D lung-in-a-dish

Computing the ocean's true colors

Earthquakes, Marsquakes, and the possibility of life

Microbes help plants survive in severe drought

Pacific Ocean's response to greenhouse gases could extend California drought for centuries

Scientists triple known types of viruses in world's oceans

Have a good weekend, and see you Monday!












 

Fifth Season--Cover Reveal with Special Guest Commentary

With today being the official last day of summer, it seems like a good time to welcome fall with a cover reveal for Fifth Season, Book Four of the Season Avatars. Each book in the series has a different point-of-view character, and in this book, it's the turn of Ysabel, the Fall Avatar. As with the other books in this series, Maria Zannini of Book Cover Diva did the cover. Thanks, Maria, for taking my ideas and combining them so quickly into a cover! This is the eBook version; I'm not done with layout for the print book yet, so she'll complete the back later. Enough suspense-building; here's the cover:

Since there's a T-rex skull on the cover, I had to bring in some special guests to get their opinion on the cover. If you know me on Facebook, you may have seen pictures of my son's stuffed animals: Stan (the T-rex), Rex (the Apatosaurus, who's named for Captain Rex from Star Wars: The Clone Wars), and Oscar (the orca). We bring them with us on trips so they can share funny lines and photos. Here's what they had to say about Maria's latest cover:

Stan: I'm in the book! I'm in Mom's book!
Rex: Uh, Stan, that's some other T-rex.
Oscar: A dead T-rex, Stan.
Stan: I don't care! It's me! (tries covering ears and fails)
Rex: Anyway, Mom wanted us to point out that this is her first cover to feature a brown-skinned woman.
Oscar: You mean, woman of color. Ysabel belongs to two different ethnic groups and has brown skin.
Rex: Isn't that what I said?
Oscar (ignoring him): But the most important part of the cover is the black-and-white cat she's holding. Ysabel obviously has fine taste in color combinations--
Stan: BUY THAT BOOK! BUY ALL OF MOM'S BOOKS!
Rex and Oscar: STAN! CALM DOWN!

This is why I don't put the boys in charge of book promotion, though how can I go wrong with an endorsement from them? Anyway, pre-orders should be ready by next week; more information and buy links will be posted soon, so keep reading this blog.

From Summer to Fall

Thursday is supposed to be the first day of fall, but the extended forecast in my area calls for temperatures in the 80s that day. Even though we went apple picking this weekend, and I've already broken out the ankle boots, the weather still calls for T-shirts, not sweaters (unless I'm at work, in which case the heating/cooling system calls for the addition of a cardigan and a fleece). It seems as if summer doesn't want to cede pride of place to fall.

In the world of my Season Avatars, the seasons do fight with each other at equinoxes and solstices. These special days are called "soltranses," and the Season Avatars for the old and new seasons battle each other with staffs at the Temple in Wistica. Here's a few paragraphs of Jenna, Summer Avatar, and Ysabel, the Fall Avatar, preparing for the fall soltrans in my upcoming novel Fifth Season:

Jenna hadn’t participated in the summer solstice soltrans, but she handled the fighting sticks with confidence, weighing each one in her hands. The oak staffs, padded on both ends, probably still responded to her magic. Ysabel wished her animal magic was more useful for this ceremony. However, as she tested her own fighting stick, memories of previous duels returned. She advanced into the stone-paved area of the courtyard and lunged at an imaginary enemy a few times.

“Thank the Four we remember these skills.” Jenna combined blocks and stabs as she moved into position opposite Ysabel. “I didn’t get much chance to practice with fighting sticks when I was growing up. There were always too many chores to do. How about you?”

Ysabel shook her head, mindful of saving her breath.

“Of course,” Jenna continued cheerfully as she struck a blow directly on Ysabel, driving her backward, “being a farmer’s daughter does mean I know my way around tools. Especially wooden ones.”

“Freeze it, Jenna.” Ysabel attempted her own thrust, but Jenna blocked it with surprising strength. “You have to lose in the end.”

“Yes, but we have to put on a show first, don’t we?”

Neither of them spoke as they focused on the fight. Jenna continued to press her with three attacks for every one of Ysabel’s. Several of them got through her defenses, and Ysabel reminded herself to ask Gwen for healing before the bruises became obvious. Gradually, as she continued to handle the fighting stick, memories came back to her of previous sparring sessions in this same courtyard. The sun warmed her and released the scent of stubborn roses still clinging to their bushes. The weight of the fighting stick felt more familiar in her hands, and moves and different combinations of moves appeared in her mind. As each one appeared, she tried it out. Jenna countered each move easily, but fewer of her own attacks landed on Ysabel. Once Ysabel even drove Jenna back a couple of paces. When Jenna stepped on a loose cobblestone and struggled for balance, Ysabel instinctively pressed her attack, striking her in the shoulder before tapping her on the head.

Jenna let her fighting stick drop. “Enough! I yield!”

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt. More information about Fifth Season will be coming soon.

Science of the Week, 9/16/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Aussies develop new material to "revolutionize water proofing"

MIT tech can read a book through its closed cover

Researchers debunk "five-second rule": eating food off the floor isn't safe

Study find insecticide hurts queen bees' egg-laying abilities

Study: humans, chimps share cognitive connection

Scientists film bacteria's maneuvers as they become impervious to drugs

World's most powerful X-ray takes a "sledgehammer" to molecules

Killing superbugs with star-shaped polymers, not antibiotics

Research aims to show how plastic surgery will really look


Have a good weekend, everyone, and see you Monday!

Blog or Story Block: Which is Worse?

I had some trouble deciding on a topic for today's posts. Although I did come up with several subjects, I rejected each of them for different reasons. Finally, I realized I was suffering from a blog block, so I decided to write about that.

For me, blog block and story block are caused by two separate issues. Blog block often happens when I don't have a subject for a post. Once I come up with one, I can generally outline the main points in my head before I write. The block/slow writing I'm going through for Summon the Seasons is different in that I know where I'm going with the story, but I don't always have the specifics of how I want to get there. It may be hard picking the right words for a specific line, or my idea for the immediate scene may change to something other that what I had originally intended. Little time and lack of sleep don't help either. I need more energy or brainpower to write fiction than I do for nonfiction.

If you blog, do you ever suffer from blog block? How do you think it compares to story block? Feel free to share your thoughts below.

A 19th Century Book in a 21st Century Head

First of all, can anyone name the song that this blog title references? I remember hearing it on the radio, though I admit I had to Google the lyrics to come up with the title myself.

Anyway, this weekend I finished reading Adam Bede by George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans). If you're not familiar with this novel, it was published in 1859 and is considered a classic of 19th century British literature. Most of the book is set in a small English town and revolves around the relationships of four people: the titular Adam Bede, a carpenter; a local squire named Arthur Donnithorne and is Adam's old friend; Hetty Sorrel, a pretty but vain seventeen-year old whom both men are attracted to; and Dinah Morris, a Methodist preacher who is Hetty's cousin. Although the book has received lots of praise since its publication, I found it hard to get into because in many ways it's different from the more recent books I normally read. I'm not even sure a traditional publisher would accept it today. Here are some of the things that I noticed about this book:

1. Sentences tend to be longer and more complex than in modern books.
2. Compared to modern books, the pace is slow. Much space is devoted to description, daily life (which is actually a feature that draws praise from critics) and to characters who don't impact the main plot--or do much of anything.
3. Dialect is spelled out, which sometimes means it's difficult to decipher.
4. Head-hopping in a single scene is common.
5. Authorial/narrator asides are common and are frequently used to "preach" at the reader.

These writing practices can work under the right circumstances, but for me and my modern tastes, they weren't that interesting. There was also a lot of overt and covert sexism and classism in the book, which is to be expected given the era it was written in. I did care enough about the characters to push my way through that book, plus I wanted to finish it so it would count for my reading challenge.

I do think this book shows how much fiction has changed in over 150 years. Will my books be read 150 years from now? Probably not. It does make me wonder how storytelling will change. I don't think our species will ever give up stories, but the mode of storytelling may be through immersive technology or something else we haven't thought of yet. The past and present stories that future generations find valuable will be translated into new forms. Let's see if this book makes the cut.

Science of the Week, 9/9/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Can the woolly mammoth be brought back from the dead?

A strange thing happened in the stratosphere

Early-onset spring models may indicate "nightmare" for ag

Stanford engineers develop a plastic clothing material that cools the skin

Malaria, once a scourge in Bhutan, is nearing elimination

Twin study helps unravel the genetic blueprint of the human brain

Nutrient pollution is changing sounds in the sea

Antibacterial ingredients in indoor dust could contribute to antibiotic resistance





 

IWSG--Fighting for Writing

It doesn't seem like September yet, does it? Nearly a full week has already passed, so it's time for an Insecure Writer's Support Group post. This month's hosts are shown below:

C. Lee McKenzie
Rachel Pattison
 Elizabeth Seckman
 Stephanie Faris
 Lori L MacLaughlin
Elsie Amata!

 This month, we've been asked the following question: How do you find the time to write in your busy day?

If you're a parent (especially if you're the default parent, the one who keeps track of all of your child's activities, schoolwork, and
friends), and if you have a day job, then you know you can't just passively wait for a block of time to magically open up for your novel. There will always be something else that has to be done, or something more tempting leisure activity. You have to fight for your right to write. That means you actively create blocks of time for writing, even if that means adjusting your priorities and making sacrifices.

It's actually easier for me to find writing time during the week, since I get a lunch break. Some days it's a full hour; other days I only take a half hour so I can leave early for my son's after-school activities. Either way, I bring my netbook and write, along with catching up with e-mail and Facebook. Depending on Alex's schedule, I may be able to write in the early evening (for example, if it's tae-kwon-do night, I write and watch, while if it's archery, then I participate). Otherwise, I have to wait until after Alex goes to bed (since I'm the parent who reads to him or helps him practice tae-kwon-do).

Weekend schedules are more erratic. If I'm catching up on housework or doing errands, I might not get time during the day to write. If we're going somewhere, I may bring my netbook in the car and try to write while my husband drives. It's often very difficult to read the screen with the glare, but still, it's an opportunity to get down words. (Unless my netbook isn't charged properly, like it was on Monday. At least I was able to read instead.)

Do you have to give up other activities to create writing time? Well, sure. I don't watch TV (I admit it's unavoidable sometimes if my family is watching something and I need to get something down downstairs, but if I lived by myself, I wouldn't need the set.) My house is a disaster area, although I do manage to cook and get the laundry done. And I suppose I should end this blog post if I want to get any writing done tonight. If you've got time to spare, leave a comment!

Science of the Week, 9/2/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Ranavirus study finds "super spreaders" of disease

Activity tracker uses heart rate to personalize amount of exercise needed to prevent death

Shifts in the microbiome impact tissue repair and regeneration

Chew on this: how we believe our meat was raised can influence how it tastes

iPads as effective as sedatives for children before operations

The world's largest 3D printed object

Researchers discover machines can learn by simply observing

Dogs understand both vocabulary and intonation of human speech

Proxima b: could life exist on Earth-like planet in the solar system next door?

How to plan a happy neighborhood















Have a good weekend, everyone, and if you celebrate Labor Day, enjoy the extended weekend! I'm not sure yet if I'll have a post for Monday, but I'll definitely have one for Wednesday.

Blurb for Fifth Season

Although I didn't finish the rough draft of Summon the Seasons this month as I originally planned, I did make progress with Fifth Season, which I want to publish either in November or December. (I have an intermediate-length goal of publishing two books a year until 2020, so I'll have to push myself constantly to meet this challenge.) I've reached out to my beta readers and sent the manuscript out to a couple of them. I've also contacted Maria Zannini about the cover. Another important part of publishing is drafting the blurb. Here's my initial take on it:

Ysabel became the Goddess of Fall’s Avatar to care for animals, but her kind heart may jeopardize her loved ones.

When a pair of strange animals invade the country of Challen during a magical weather storm, Ysabel must learn if they’re ordinary creatures or if they’re connected to Salth, the Season Avatars’ sworn enemy. Distracting her from her task are the responsibility of raising her younger siblings, including her rebellious sister, and two rivals, including her husband in a previous life, competing for her hand.

When tragedy strikes the Avatars, Ysabel comes up with a desperate plan to allow all twelve of them to face Salth together as required by the Four Gods and Goddesses of Challen. Jealousy, however, tears an ally from the Avatars during their most vulnerable time as even more beasts rise against them. If Ysabel cannot control the strange animals and use justice as well as mercy, she will not only lose her position as Avatar but the people she loves. 

 Does it hook you? Does it give you too much or too little information? I have a feeling I'll be working on this some more before I start posting it elsewhere, so any constructive criticism on this blurb would be appreciated.

Indie Author Day

If dogs can have their own day (which was last week), why not indie authors?

The first annual Indie Author Day is scheduled for Saturday, October 8th. Libraries across the United States will be holding a variety of events to support local indie authors. You can learn more about Indie Author Day at their own website, indieauthorday.com. This is also where authors and libraries can sign up to join the event. I think signing up puts you on the ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors) mailing list, as I received an e-mail from them with an offer of a free eBook shortly after I signed up.

One caveat I would point out is that one of the sponsors of Indie Author Day is SELF-e, a service that asks indie authors to donate eBooks so SELF-e can sell them to libraries. I don't mind donating paper copies of my books to the local library or offering permafree books as a marketing strategy, but other people shouldn't profit off of my free works. Hopefully they won't pressure me to enroll with SELF-e.

My local library hasn't signed up yet to be part of Indie Author Day, so I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to do anything with them or if I'll be able to participate at another nearby library. I'll keep you updated as the time draws closer.

Science of the Week, 8/26/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

A new Goldilocks for habitable planets

Drinking green tea to prevent artery explosion

Meet "Adonis," Europe's oldest known living tree

NASA Symposium: Futuristic Space Exploration Concepts

Test for damp ground at Mars' seasonal streaks finds none

The first autonomous, entirely soft robot






Have a good weekend, everyone, and I'll see you Monday!

Writing Memes, Story Layers, and Story Meaning

Anyone with an interest in books and/or writing has probably seen a lot of the writing memes in circulation on social media. For instance, the meme below prompted a response from a famous SF writer last night. I won't name him because I'm not sure if he meant for this discussion to continue off of Facebook. To paraphrase, writers who put down the first thing that comes into their head, who aren't adding a layer of symbolism or subtext to their work aren't writing stories that people will teach. He also added that you may technically be a writer, but you won't be a good one.

Well, I'm much lower on the writing chain than this author, but while I might agree with his main point, I disagree with him in two respects. First, the way his statement was worded was disrespectful to pantsers. I may not have symbols planned when I'm writing the first draft, but I have the opportunity to discover them along the way. (An example might be Yvonne's cross in Twinned Universes.) Even though I'm trying to increase my publication speed to at least two books a year, I still rewrite and revise my work before publishing. I do look for telling details that show us how the viewpoint character thinks. Symbols that are discovered during the first draft can be honed during the second draft. Pantsers do outline; it's just that our first drafts are our outlines.

I also take issue with this author's assumptions that the only way a work--and an author--can be judged good is if they're taught in schools. Symbols and subtext do deepen a story and can make a reread of the story a whole new experience. But that's not why I write stories. I write stories to explore characters' internal lives and their interactions with each other, to work out implications of creating worlds with certain characteristics, to tell a single truth behind a thousand falsehoods. To me, entertainment should be the main goal of a story; subtext is secondary. That's why I prefer this meme:

Symbols are important, but no one just writes in symbols. Without context, symbols have no meaning.

What's your take on symbols and story purpose? Please share it in the comments.

The Myths and Realities of Doing What You Love

I read an article on Medium last week with the title listed above. I thought it was worth sharing because it offers a balanced, sensible solution to the age-old dilemma of doing what you love versus doing what will pay the bills. It suggests doing what you love as a side gig while having a good-paying job to support the side gig. I think this is especially important if you have a spouse and/or dependents. If you haven't read this article yet, feel free to go over there and read it before commenting. If you did read it already, what do you think?

Edited to Add: One point I don't the author addressed very well is time management. Even if you "only" work a 40-hour week (technically, my job is 37.5 hours a week), there's still commuting, daily tasks, and other responsibilities that take up your free time. If you have dependents, it can be very difficult finding time for yourself, let alone a side gig. That's why I write on lunch break, during my son's tae-kwon-do class, and any time I can steal for it.

Science of the Week--8/19/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news stories I read this week:

Headband detects concussions, collects data on hard hits

Genome sequencing may help avert banana Armageddon

 Brain-maching interface triggers recovery for paraplegic patients

Global warming's next surprise: saltier beaches

NASA's Fermi mission expands its search for dark matter

New technique may help detect Martian life

Study finds taller people are more politically conservative
(This study was done in Britain, so I don't know if it's also true in the US)

Diet and exercise can reduce Alzheimer's protein

Latinos age slower than other ethnicities, UCLA study shows

Transparent wood for windows is cooler than glass

Methane-eating microorganisms: a solution to climate change?

Venus-like exoplanet might have oxygen atmosphere, but no life


Have a good weekend, everyone, and see you Monday!

Writers and Words

One of the books I'm currently reading is actually a trilogy that came out over a decade ago. I read the series when it originally came out, but I don't have the paper copies any more. When I saw the ebook version of trilogy advertised at a bargain price on Bookbub, I decided to grab it. Reading a trilogy isn't going to help me make up my book count for my Goodreads challenge, especially when it's a very long trilogy, but I'm already close to halfway done. My secret? I'm skipping or skimming the description.

In the prefaces to the first and second books, the author talks about her love of words, which started in childhood. She also loves worldbuilding, which results in pages and pages of description of even unimportant people and locations. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of reader who is more interested in the story than the setting. (I have to admit I forgot about this aspect of the series, or maybe it didn't bother me back then.) I wonder how well a new author with this amount of description would be able to sell her work to a traditional publisher today--or how well her work would fare if she self-published.

It's important for writers to develop their vocabularies so they know the proper definitions and connotations of words. There are words that are appropriate for a Victorian setting but not a futuristic one, and vice versa. As a creative writer, I acknowledge that other writers are free to experiment with language--and they should. I don't believe that writers should abstain from using adverbs and adjectives. But with my background in technical writing, I also want to keep my works easy-to-follow. I don't want to write the parts that readers are going to skip. Wordcraft is only one aspect of storytelling; story structure and character development are also important. Writers and readers may prefer different proportions of description and action. Perhaps book blurbs should do a better job of conveying style along with story. (Some do, but not all of them.)

In my opinion, Patricia McKillip is the champion of writing poetic prose that doesn't detract from the story. What other authors do you admire for their writing style? Do you think they'll still be read a hundred years from now, or will changes in our language make our current works inaccessible for future generations? Please comment below.

Newsletter Relaunch with Free Book!

Although newsletters can be an invaluable part of book promotion to authors (since subscribers are most often your fans who are most likely to buy your book), I have to admit I've neglected expanding and using my newsletter. In fact, it's been so long since I last accessed my newsletter that I can no longer log into my previous MailChimp account. So I made a new one, and I'm finally starting to put new sign-up forms here (see the sidebar) and website. (I thought about doing a popup for the website, but I didn't want to do through MailChimp and didn't want to register with yet another service. Besides, popups are annoying, even though they're effective.) I'll have to update links in my books on a rolling basis when I have time.

To pique interest in my newsletter (and more importantly, my stories), I'll be giving away free copies of Scattered Seasons to all subscribers. This is Book Two in my fantasy Season Avatars series; Book One, Seasons' Beginnings, is permafree. Hopefully readers who finish the first two books will want to complete the series or try some of my other work.

I plan to use the newsletter for announcements of books available to order, sales, convention appearances, and so on. While I'll post this information on my blog as well, I may do giveaways or provide bonus stories to newsletters subscribers later on.

Do you use an author newsletter or subscribe to one? What do you like or not like about them?

Science of the Week, 8/12/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Scientists discover light could exist in a previously unknown form

 Record-breaking logic gate "another important milestone" on the road to quantum computers

Preventing mass extinction of big mammals will require immediate action

Psychologist reveals science behind a fulfilling single life

Study reveals brain's finely tuned system of energy supply

 Let the buyer beware: here's how to gauge a study

Unsafe levels of toxic chemicals found in drinking water of 33 states

Clear link found between warming climate and risk in bacterial illnesses

Specialized life forms abound at Arctic methane seeps

NASA climate modeling suggests Venus may have been habitable

Experimental treatment for Alzheimer's disease shows promise


Have a good weekend, everyone, and see you on Monday!

Clawfoots or Clawfeet?

A couple of months ago, I posted that I was having trouble coming up with a suitable name for some animals that will appear in Fifth Season, Book Four of the Season Avatars series. These animals are based on dinosaurs; they're smart as velociraptors and physically resemble Deinonychus. My heroine, Ysabel, initially called them "mixups" since they resemble lizards mixed with birds. Since "mixup" isn't exactly a fear-inspiring name, I struggled for a long time to come up with something better. Finally, as I was editing Fifth Season last week, I went back to the description of the beasts and came up with "clawfoot" for the long sickle-shaped claw Deinonychus had on its feet. However, that leaves me with a dilemma: do I use "clawfoots" or "clawfeet" for the plural? While "clawfeet" might be technically correct, to me, the "feet" in this term seem to refer to actual feet, not the entire animal. I prefer "clawfoots" myself, but I'll have to do some research to see if there's a preferred way to handle this plural.

Would you use "clawfoots" or "clawfeet" as the plural? Or should I come up with a new name that avoids these issues?

Happy Birthday, Eugene!

Today is my husband's birthday. With it falling on a Monday, there isn't much we can do to celebrate. We did go out for dinner over the weekend and plan to go out for dessert tonight after Alex's tae-kwon-do class. Please join me in wishing Eugene a Happy Birthday!

Science of the Week, 8/5/16

Here are some of the most interesting science news posts I read this week:

English Bulldog's gene pool may be too small to heal the breed

Portable device produces biopharmaceuticals on demand

Breastfed preemies turn out smarter

Breakthrough solar cell captures CO2 and sunlight, produces burnable fuel

Compromise nearly guaranteed when a woman is involved in decision-making pairs

New evidence suggests first mass extinction was engineered by animals

Cognitive ability varies, but prejudice is universal

Meat consumption contributing to global obesity

Is Earthly life premature from a cosmic perspective?

Electronic skin patch offers new way to monitor alcohol levels

Male-harming DNA mutation reinforces "mother's curse" hypothesis

Scientists have just uncovered a major difference between RNA and DNA

Sprinkling of neural dust opens door to electroceuticals

"Red gene" in birds and turtles suggests dinosaurs had bird-like color vision


Have a good weekend, and I'll see you Monday!

IWSG: Skill and Grit

This month's Insecure Writer's Support Group Day is brought to you by Tamara Narayan, Tonja Drecker, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Lauren @ Pensuasion, Stephen Tremp, and Julie Flanders. You can learn more about the IWSG on their website.

For August, we've been posed the following question: What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?

The first story I wrote as an aspiring writer was a fantasy novel called Let Silences Be Broken. The story was about a group of magicians who get their magic by voluntarily giving up speech. One of the main characters was an albino woman pursuing a renegade magician. Their minds are blown when they encounter people who speak a different language. I may still have a paper copy somewhere, but otherwise, it's on a floppy disk somewhere in what I hope is an unreadable format.

A few days ago, an article was published on Medium with the click-bait title "You're Not Meant to Do What You Love. You're Meant to Do What You're Good At." The author of that piece apparently thinks skills are fixed and that loving to do something isn't enough to make you good at it. She says that "If everybody did what they thought they loved, the important things wouldn’t get done. To function as a society, there are labors that are necessary. Someone has to do them. Is that person robbed of a life of passion, because they had to choose a life of skill and purpose?...There is only finding a job that suits you enough that the work doesn’t feel excruciating. There is only finding what you are skilled at, and then learning to be thankful."

While I agree that there are jobs that may not inspire passion but are still necessary for society, and I also like her later idea that we should focus on giving to others with our skills, I think settling for work that doesn't feel excruciating can still drain the life out of you. (I've had jobs like that.) None of us came into this world with skills; we had to develop them. I may have been born with an aptitude for words, but I still had to read thousands of books; study writing craft; critique other writer's work; and write, write, and rewrite some more to get to my current level of writing. I had to learn the skills for my current job when I transferred into the position as well.

How does one develop a skill? By practice and perseverance. Angela Duckworth's Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success not only discusses how to develop a skill, but how to develop the grit needed to follow a passion despite setbacks. Toward the end of the book, she quotes a poem about writing. I don't have time to type it out, but it talks about how when you first write something, it isn't very good, but the more you work on it the better it gets.

If you love writing, not just the idea of being an author, but the actual thinking of stories and characters, sitting in front of a computer for hours on end to bring them to life, and sharing your work with others, don't let anyone tell you you shouldn't write. Even if your first efforts aren't very good, that doesn't mean you can't improve with dedicated practice. We may not evolve into Shakespeare, we may not be able to make it our day jobs, but it's still worth doing. So persevere with what you love, no matter what anyone else tells you to do.

Back from Break

I have to admit it was nice not having to prepare blog posts for a week, especially since it gave me some more time to focus on my writing. The bad news is that I'm slightly behind where I wanted to be with Summon the Seasons: I'm only at 55,000 words instead of 60,000. However, after looking at my schedule and thinking about my goals, I decided I needed to make revising Fifth Season a priority if I want to publish it by the end of the year. I spent most of last Sunday outlining the current draft to figure out what scenes I need to add. I've also started editing/revising Fifth Season and got about three chapters into it. (Most of the changes so far as minor; I'll have to add some scenes for a subplot as the story progresses.) While I really want to finish the rough draft of Scatter the Seasons, it may take a little longer than originally planned. If I don't finish it this month, I should be able to do it by the end of September.

As for what else I've been doing, I confess I've been playing Pokemon Go. Visiting local Pokestops and gyms has been great for getting me out in the morning, but not so good for my plantar fasciitis. My son participated in his first tae-kwon-do tournament and came in third in his division for sparring, which was quite good considering he was facing bigger and more experienced students. (They were grouped by age and rank, so it wasn't a complete mismatch. Alex just happens to be on the low end for rank and middle for age.) We made our annual trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire yesterday and met up with some friends there. Although we stayed there fairly late and shopped, watched jousting and other showed, and learned about weapons and dueling,  there was still so much we didn't get to see. It would be nice if we could make more than one trip per season.

So, what have you been up to lately? Ready to enjoy the last month of summer?