IWSG: Writing Success

How is it September already? It's not only time for apples, fall, my wedding anniversary, and Homecoming, but also the monthly blog post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook, and Twitter. Our hosts this month are Rebecca Douglass, T. Powell Coltrin, Natalie Aguirre, Karen Lynn, and C. Lee McKenzie.

Here's our question for September: How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?

I think the definition of success is specific to each writer. I've held my books in my hand and had a few short stories published, but I can't say I've made much money from my work. While I would like to make more of my work available to readers (and get paid for it), true success for me is about connection with other people. I'd like people to identify with my characters and worlds--and even better, tell me about it. There are plenty of ways to gain money and fame, but communication is at the heart of writing. Communicating with someone across space and/or time, as writing allows us to do, is pretty amazing when you think about it. The more reach my writing has, the more successful I am as a writer. But even moving a single reader is significant and successful.

What is your definition of being a successful writer? Feel free to share your thoughts or link to them in the comments.

 

Murder at Magic Lake--Pre-Orders Up!

 I've taken the plunge and set up pre-orders for Murder at Magic Lake. The official publishing date is September 15th, three weeks from today. Pre-orders are currently only available for the eBook; I'm still waiting for the paperback cover from the designer, but it should be ready soon. Since this is a new series, I'm running a special promotion price of $0.99 through September 22nd. Click here for the universal book link. The eBook is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Google Play. Here's the blurb:

After losing her job, twenty-nine-year-old Abigail Ritter isn’t looking forward to returning to her hometown of Magic Lake, Wisconsin, for her grandmother’s birthday party. All she has to offer her family is her own special fruit juice and tea blend. But when Grandma suffers a fatal accident in her apartment building, The Grand, Abigail’s cousin Brian is blamed. Abigail will have to step up and investigate with the help of her best friend Sam, an intriguing detective, and a magical stuffed fox named Sherlock. Abigail’s got a plan for the Grand and its shuttered restaurant, but will she solve the case or drown in a sea of suspects?

Cozy Fantasies and Cozy Mysteries

If you've been following my blog for a while, you may have noticed that although my prime reading/writing genre for a long time was fantasy, lately I've been reading and writing more cozy mysteries than anything else. A lot of it has to do with the "cozy" part. In these unsettling times, the main emotion I want to experience in my reading is comfort; warm things like books, tea, food, and crafts; and a sense of community. However, I've been drawn to comfort/cozy books for a long time. One of my first favorite fantasy series was Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. For a fantasy world, Haven felt like a very comfortable place, with creature comforts like heated baths being readily available. Some of M.C.A Hogarth's Pelted Alliance books also feature comfortable settings, but some of them go to surprisingly dark places. Then there's hopepunk like Susan Kaye Quinn's When You Had Power. I recently read Becky Chamber's A Psalm for the Wild-Built and found it as comforting as a cup of tea. Both of these books are science fiction. It seems like this trend may transcend genres, though there are many genres incompatible with coziness.

Do you like cozy settings, or do you prefer other genres? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Murder at Magic Lake Cover Reveal

 

 

I've had the eBook cover for Murder at Magic Lake for a few weeks, but I think it's finally time to reveal it. I went through 100covers.com this time since I was able to get a sale: only $100 for an eBook and print cover package. I think they did a great job of creating a cover that fits with the cozy mystery genre:

In addition to the covers, the package also included a 3D image and a social media banner that I'll use on my website and perhaps a Facebook page for the series when it's more established. In the meantime, I'm doing another edit on the book. I'm a little nervous about publishing something in a new genre, so I want it to be as good as I can make it with the resources I have. Once the preorders are set up on all the eBook stores I use, I'll announce it here and on Facebook.

IWSG: Favorite Writing Books

 

 

It may be August, but with kids heading back to school this month, it feels like fall and summer are butting heads. Hope you're enjoying the month no matter what type of weather you're having.

With a new month comes another edition of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. Our hosts this month are PK Hrezo, Cathrina Constantine, PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, and Sandra Cox.

Here's our question for August: What is your favorite writing craft book? Think of a book that every time you read it you learn something or you are inspired to write or try the new technique. And why?

It's been a long time since I've read the Writer's Digest books, but as you can see from the photo below, I have several of them in my library. Some of the books that I learned the most from are Dibell's Plot and Orson Scott Card's Characters & Viewpoint. These are books I read when I was just starting out as a writer, so they helped me with the basics. I also recommend The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger as a counter to the traditional hero's journey popularized by Joseph Campbell. 

 

What are your favorite writing books? Feel free to share them in the comments.

 

New Stories From Old: Shrinking Stories

 Last year, I wrote a short story that was the pandemic version of a fairy tale, with theme's of women's work and community. I sent it out to a few markets, but it got rejected each time. I decided to hold on to this story until later this year, when I could submit to a special fairy-tale themed magazine issue. However, I was recently invited to submit to a hope-themes anthology that's currently in the middle of its submission period. I thought this story was a potential fit until I realized the word count limit for anthology submissions is only 3,000 words. My original story is 4,500 words, so it would need a lot of trimming to make it fit.  I also needed to change the tone of the story to better fit the theme.

I started by removing the first two scenes, which show the protagonist interacting with her husband. This put the story opening right at the critical moment of change. I also removed nearly a thousand words with this single edit, which left me with about five hundred to go. I tightened up some phrasings, removed details that no longer seemed necessary, and took out an incident that was told rather than shown. I actually managed to get the story down to about 2,100 words. Now I needed to work on the tone and the hope theme. To do this, I'm refocusing the story on the relationship between the protagonist and a friend instead of the woman and her husband. I've added more interactions between the friends,though I wasn't satisfied with the direction I'd originally planned for them and did something else. The deadline is next Monday, so I have to finish it before then.

Whether or not this new story gets accepted to the hope anthology or I submit the original one to the fairy tale issue, I think it's interesting how a writer can take the same premise-even some of the same words--and tell different tales. It might be interesting to publish them side-by-side in a collection someday.

 Have you ever had to cut a story drastically down? Did you feel it made a significant difference to the story? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Reference Shelf: Electronic vs Paper

 Every so often, I sort through my books and other belongings in an attempt to keep the household chaos under control. One section I've been ignoring for a long time are the reference books I keep on my desk. Surely a writer should keep hard copies of dictionaries, a thesaurus, and name books on hand, even though it's easy to find online versions of them. I finally decided that that I was using the online versions more than the aforementioned paper books, plus the paper versions might be out-of-date. So I finally decided to sell them at Half Price. I am keeping several grammar guides and style references, along with a book on everyday life during the Victorian era and a German-English dictionary. I have to admit I don't use these books much anymore either, though I cling to the illusion that they might be useful. In the meantime, it's nice having a little more space on the top shelf of my desks.

What do you have on your reference shelf? Do you use paper books, electronic resources, or both? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Location Themes

 

Although my family is fully vaccinated, our schedules don't allow us much opportunity to travel this year. Perhaps we can go somewhere during my son's next Spring Break or next summer. In the meantime, books allow us to experience other destinations. It's not surprising that there are cozy mystery series devoted to travel or vacations. Goodreads has a list of such series, and this blog has pages of mysteries on this theme. I'll just briefly mention books about places I've visited.

When I was fourteen, I spent a month in Germany but had a short layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. That's why I just added R.I.P. in Reykjavik to my Want-To-Read list. Representing Germany is The Watchman of Rothenburg by Adriana Licio. 

Another place that I've been to is Washington, D.C. I spent six months performing an internship at the National Cancer Institute, but I've also been in the area as a tourist. Elliot Roosevelt has a whole series set in D.C.; the first book is appropriately called Murder and the First Lady.

Before we got married, my husband and I visited friends in Minneapolis. These two series are set in Minnesota: Curiosity Thrilled the Cat and Killer Librarian.

For our honeymoon, my husband and I took an Alaskan cruise. Sue Henry has a whole series on Alaska, starting with Murder on the Iditarod. We also spent a week in London for our first anniversary, and this site has a whole page of mysteries set in London, too many to pick out just one.

When I was pregnant with my son, I accompanied my husband to Las Vegas for a veterinarian convention/continuing education experience. This location brings Carole Nelson Douglas's Midnight Louie series to mind. Start with Cat in an Alphabet Soup. 

In 2009, I spent two weeks in Japan for work, not a vacation (though I did get to do some sightseeing). The Daydreamer Detective is set in a small Japanese town and is free on Amazon.

To keep this post short, I haven't included books about other places, like New York City, Texas, Arizona, or Florida. Where do you like to go on vacation? Have you read any cozy mysteries set in these locations? Feel free to share them in the comments.

IWSG: Quitting Writing?

2021 is more than halfway done. Today might be Ringo Starr's birthday, but it's also post day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook group, or Twitter page. 

Our hosts for July are Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, and Louise-Fundy Blue. 

Our question for this month is a simple yet deep one: What would make you quit writing?

 

I've been writing for about a quarter of a century now. I started out wanting to be traditionally published, then self-published my novels while selling a few shorter works to anthologies. It hasn't been a overwhelmingly productive or lucrative career so far, but hope springs anew with each completed story. I can fill my time with plenty of other activities if I choose, but writing fills my soul in a way other hobbies don't. My passion for writing has survived critique groups and workshops, rejections, bad writing advice, bad reviews, and being a working mother. At this point, I probably won't stop writing until I'm no longer physically or mentally able to continue. And if I should pass away while at the keyboard, I hope it's after I've completed whatever I was working on at the time.

Have you ever considered quitting writing, or have you done so for a while before being drawn back to it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

Semiannual Reading Review

 Every six months I post a summary of my reading for the year. My original goal for 2021 was to read 125 books, but I'm doing so well I decided to increase it to 150 books. Currently (as of Sunday, when I'm writing this post for the week), I've completed 87 books. I might read 88 or even 89 before this post goes live. You can see my complete list of books here on Goodreads. I don't always add books to Goodreads when I start them, so those dates are often left blank. Completion dates are generally complete and accurate. Here's the breakdown by genre:

Science Fiction: 9

Fantasy: 18

Mystery: 43

Other Fiction; 3

Non-Fiction: 14

 

The bulk of my reading so far this year has been mystery, most of them cozy mystery. (Some cozy mysteries feature paranormal or fantasy elements like witches, vampires, or psychics, but I only list books in one genre to avoid confusion.) Cozy mysteries tend to short (some are less than 200 pages) and fast-paced, so I can read through them very quickly. I'm reading a lot of them to help me with my current project. That said, my favorite books so far this year are The House that Walked Between Worlds and The Dictionary of Lost Words. They are fantasy and other fiction respectively.

What are your favorite genres or books so far this year? Feel free to share them in the comments.

The Three Stories Within a Mystery

One of the online courses I took about writing cozy mysteries talked about the three stories within a mystery: the story of the crime (how it happened and the backstory), the story of discovery (how the detective figures out what happened), and the prevailing circumstances (the environment in which the story takes place, such as a special event or location). I lump any side-plots, such as the detective's personal problems, into the prevailing circumstances. What I've noticed is that I find some stories, such as the prevailing circumstances, easier to plot (or pants, since I tend to be more of a pantser than a plotter) than the crime story or discovery story. I can actually work out the story of the crime in advance, but plotting the discovery story feels less natural to me. For me, it seems that a lot of the clues my detective has to discover depend on context, which I often don't know until I'm writing it. It's probably due to a combination of me being a pantser and my inexperience with this genre.

Can you think of any other genre that depends on weaving different types of stories together? If so, feel free to discuss it in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Pride

 With June being Pride Month, I thought it would be interesting to look at cozy mysteries that feature LBGTIA protagonists. I wasn't sure how many I'd find, but here are two lists on Goodreads and a cozy mystery author's blog that fit the bill. Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the books, but Posted to Death and Cosplay Killer look particularly interesting to me. 

I recently read Queer and Cozy Mysteries, a collection of three short mysteries featuring a mother and teenage daughter who are both lesbians, a transgender caregiver who investigates a case of blackmail, and a family that puts on a drag queen show every Thanksgiving. I liked the second story the best.

The protagonist of my Murder Lake Mysteries is straight, but secondary characters include the couple Allen and Ben, who run the coffeehouse/bookstore Beans and Books. A transgender couple will be moving in in the sequel. Hopefully I can do them justice.

Summer Plans?

My son has officially finished middle school and growing more independent by the day. He received his second vaccine dose last week and will be fully vaccinated by the end of next week. Since my husband and I are already fully vaccinated, we'll be able to do more this summer than we did last year. Unfortunately, I have to prepare for an unannounced audit this fall (it'll happen sometime between late August and late October, but we won't know the exact date until the auditor arrives), so I won't be able to take much time off for a vacation. It may be possible to do something in early August, but nothing is definite. At least we should be able to visit more museums, get together with friends, and attend the Renaissance Fair in Wisconsin this year. 

There are various things we need to maintain around the house. My husband and son might paint a couple of rooms, and I'd love to hold a garage sale and clean out the basement. I've been wanting to do that for years, so we'll see if we make it happen this time.

I tend not to read so much in the summer (I walk outside instead of reading on the treadmill), but I've got a very good start on my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I'll discuss it at the end of the month.  

My main writing goal for the summer is to finish the first draft of Restaurants and Revenge, which is currently over 40,000 words. I need to get feedback from my beta readers, revise Murder at Magic Lake, and acquire a cover so I can publish it this fall. I'd also like to finish Jenna's story for The Seasons Between, the next collection of Season Avatars stories.

No matter what I ultimately end up doing, it'll be a busy summer for me. Do you have summer projects or plans to relax? Feel free to share in the comments.

IWSG-Time Away From Stories

 

Can you believe summer's almost here? This is my son's last week of middle school, and he'll have his graduation ceremony next Monday evening. It must be June, time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts for this month are J Lenni Dorner, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, Lee Lowery, and Rachna Chhabria.

Here's our question for June: For how long do you shelve your first draft before reading it and re-drafting it? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?

 

While writing experience has helped me finish stories in fewer drafts, there are other factors that matter more when I take time away from stories between drafts. The main factors are any other projects I'm currently juggling, the length of the story, and any deadlines I'm trying to meet. For novels, I normally take four to six weeks off between drafting and revising, while short stories might be a week (maybe less if I need to meet a contest deadline). However, I'm slowly working on a collection of short stories in the Season Avatars universe, and I won't revise any of them until all the stories are done. (I've only completed one story so far out of four or five.) 

How long do you let your stories breathe? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Library Habits

Libraries are the best place to indulge without spending money or consuming lots of calories. Every so often, I end up checking out more books than I can finish in a month. Here's a photo of my latest library book stack. Most of these books were checked out three weeks ago, but a couple were holds that came in afterwards. Please note that this stack doesn't include several books I already finished and returned (A Short History of Humanity, Arsenic and Adobo, A Sprinkling of Murder, A History of the Human Brain, A Study in Scarlet Women, and Catfishing on CatNet.), and I finished reading Fugitive Telemetry before I took this picture. Currently I'm in the middle of Ageless, and I'll start The Dictionary of Lost Words soon, since a dozen people are waiting for it.Thankfully, my library will automatically renew books as long as no one else has a hold on them. As you can see, most of the books are marked "New." I tend to spend the most time browsing the new books, though I have a long list of older books to check out when I'm ready for them.

 If you use the library, how often do you go? Do you check out other items besides books? Feel free to share in the comments.

Continuing Education

 In a few weeks, my son will both turn fourteen and graduate from middle school. We met (virtually) with the assistant head of his high school last week to discuss his classes for next year. I have to admit I would have liked going to this school, since they offer a lot of advanced classes. However, the class that I was most interested in (even though I don't think my son would be) was a music appreciation course offered as part of the Fine Arts section. Even though the last thing I need is another project, I was inspired to sign for a Coursera course on Classical Music. Now all I need to do is find the time for it.

I believe learning should be a lifelong goal. Reading has always been my preferred way to learn, but sometimes it's also important to engage other senses or practice a skill. 

Are there any new skills you'd like to learn or old ones that you want to improve? Feel free to share in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Asian-American Authors

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. As the wife of a Filipino-American and mother of a biracial child, I want to be a good ally. That's part of the reason I write books with diverse characters. (Another way to be an ally is to stop AAPI hate; learn more here.) My forthcoming cozy mystery, Murder at Magic Lake, will feature a heroine with a Filipino mother and white father. However, even though I've been with my husband for over thirty years, I'm no expert on Filipino culture. So for this month's cozy mystery blog post, I'd like to feature a few cozy mysteries written by Asian Americans.

If you'd like to read a mystery that does a good job of incorporating Filipino food and culture, I recommend Mia P. Manansala's Arsenic and Adobo. Lila works in a Filipino restaurant run by her aunt and grandmother. They serve plenty of traditional dishes but also adapt their cuisine as needed (for example, the aunt creates vegetarian versions for Lila's best friend). This book just came out, and a second one, Homicide and Halo-Halo, is forthcoming. (Adobo refers to a cooking method for meat and vegetables that involves marinating them with vinegar, soy sauce, and other seasonings before browning them. Halo-halo is a Filipino dessert made of shaved ice, milk, and various fruits.)

Another cozy mystery series featuring Asian characters and written by an Asian author is the Noodle Shop Mystery series by Vivien Chien. What I particularly like about this series is that Chien has set the eponymous noodle shop in an Asian mall in Cincinnati. This gives her an intimate setting within a larger city. Seven books are currently available, from Death by Dumpling to the latest, Fatal Fried Rice, which I have on hold at my local library.

Finally, there are the Raina Sun Mysteries written by Anne R. Tan. I've only read the first book in this series, so I can't say much about it. It's set on a college campus, and the heroine, Raina Sun, has to deal with not just mysteries but her grandmother. The series is up to ten books already, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

Have you read any of these books? Do you know of any other mysteries featuring Asian American or Pacific Islander characters? Feel free to share them in the comments.

 

IWSG: Readers' Responses and Status Update

Welcome to the merry month of May! I hope it's a pleasant one. Today is not just the Revenge of the Fifth (Star Wars reference), but also blogging day for the Insecure Writers' Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

 Our hosts for this month are Erika Beebe, PJ Colando, Tonja Drecker, Sadira Stone, and Cathrina Constantine. 

Here's our question for the month: Have any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn't expect? If so, did it surprise you?

The only thing that's coming to mind happened a long time ago in response to my novella Lyon's Legacy. The reader was a co-worker who knew me in real life and was surprised by how much my characters swore in that story, since I seldom swear. That must be a sign I can write characters who are different from me.

Since I don't have much to say regarding the IWSG question, I'll provide a brief status update on my works in progress. Murder at Magic Lake is with beta readers. The sequel, Restaurants and Revenge, is well over 30,000 words. It might turn out longer than the first book. I'm focusing on that story for now and have temporarily set aside a novellette/novella called, "Jenna's Journey," showing Jenna from my Season Avatars series traveling to another country. (Most Avatars stay in their own countries, so it's a significant step for her.) I plan to publish a collection of short stories about my Season Avatars before I work on the sequel series. 

How do readers respond to your work? Feel free to share your stories in the comments.

Blurb for Murder at Magic Lake

 I've finally started sending out my cozy mystery to beta readers. Here's the blurb for Murder at Magic Lake:

After losing her job, twenty-nine-year-old Abigail Ritter isn’t looking forward to returning to her hometown of Magic Lake, Wisconsin, for her grandmother’s birthday party. All she has to offer her family is her own special fruit juice and tea blend. But when Grandma suffers a fatal accident in her apartment building, The Grand, Abigail’s cousin is blamed. Abigail will have to step up and investigate with the help of her best friend, an intriguing detective, and a magical stuffed fox named Sherlock. Abigail’s got a plan for the Grand and its abandoned restaurant, but will she solve the case or drown in a sea of suspects?

 Please let me know if you have any suggestions for improving it. 

A Shot of Hope

 Last week, I finally got my first Covid-19 vaccine dose. Although I had some initial difficulty getting an appointment, I was able to get one at a mass vaccination site close to my house. To celebrate, I wore a "Girls in Science" mask and my t-shirt from the March for Science. Once I arrived at the site, it was a very efficient process. It took less than fifteen minutes from the time I entered the building to the moment I received the injection. While I was waiting to make sure I didn't have a reaction, the appointment for my second dose was automatically scheduled exactly three weeks from my first one.

I did have some side effects from the first dose, mostly headaches. The first day was the worst, but I had some slight headaches the next day. I was pretty much back to normal by the second day. Of course, the side effects are supposed to be worse after the second shot, but fortunately my workplace is giving us time off to get the vaccine and recover.

I'm looking forward to being fully vaccinated in a little more than a month. My husband is an essential worker, so he's already fully vaccinated. Hopefully soon at least one of the vaccines will be approved for use in my son's age group. I'll feel more secure once we're all protected, though it will still take me a while before I resume my normal activities.

 Are you planning to get vaccinated, or have you already fully or partially protected? Are you having problems finding an appointment? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Libraries

Since anyone who loves to read mysteries probably also loves libraries, it's not surprising that there are many series that feature libraries. Here are a few series that I've started along with some more that I'd like to check out (pun intended).\

 Death Overdue is the first book in Allison Brook's Haunted Library series. The main character is a librarian who solves mysteries with the aid of a ghost that haunts the library. There are currently four books in the series.

A Murder for the Books is the first book in Victoria Gilbert's Blue Ridge Library series. I think I accidentally skipped ahead and read the fourth book in this series, which is called Bound for Murder. I need to go back and read the other books in order. This series currently has five books.

The Bodies in the Library is set in England. The library here is a private one made of first editions from a noblewoman's library. I've read the first book, but there are two more in the series by Elizabeth Spann Craig.

A new series coming out this summer starts with Murder at the Lakeside Library, by Holly Danvers. The library here is an informal one that's part of a lakeside cabin in Wisconsin. I'll have to keep this one in mind.

There are a lot of other series I could list, but I'll keep this post short for now. Have you read any of these series? Are there others that you'd recommend? Feel free to share them in the comments.

 

IWSG: Taking Risks

Welcome to the month of April--and another Insecure Writer's Support Group post! You can learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.  

Our hosts this month are PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton.

Our question for this month is Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

I don't think it's possible to grow as an artist or as a person without taking some risks. Writing short stories can be a good way to try new writing techniques. For example, the climate fiction short story I'm revising follows one person over the course of her life, with scenes at pivotal moments. I wouldn't say it's radically different from my normal style, but it's different from the other types of short stories I've written before, which are normally focused on a single problem and take place within a short amount of time. 

Another way to take risks is to try writing in new genres, such as the cozy mystery series I'm working on. My heroine is biracial, so she'll encounter causal racism and sexism at various points in the series. I'm not sure how many incidents I can include before the "cozy" feeling readers are looking for disappears, but I think it's important to show them. We'll see what the beta readers think. 

I also think it's harder to take risks as an author once you become known for a certain genre or style. Traditionally published authors sometimes get around this by writing under a pseudonym, and I know of a couple of indie authors who do the same thing with some of their work. While I considered publishing my mysteries under a pseudonym, I plan to use my real name. These will be paranormal cozy mysteries, so hopefully some of my readers will cross over to my fantasy work.

How do you feel about risk-taking? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

The Catalyst Chronicles Series

 After discussing all the projects I had in various stages of writing, revising, or submitting, I couldn't help thinking of one project that's been on the back burner for a long time: the science fiction Catalyst Chronicles series. Currently published are the novella Lyon's Legacy, a short story called "The Mommy Clone," the novel Twinned Universes, and a pair of short stories published under the title "Seasonal Stories from the Sagan." 

I had planned to write another short story set after Twinned Universes. This short story is tentatively titled "The Unnumbered World" and would focus on a secondary character adapting to events. Coming after that story would be a novel I tentatively call Catalyst in the Crucible, which would be set a few years after "The Unnumbered World" and be a followup to Twinned Universes. 

Although I have partial drafts of both stories, I've been stuck on how to complete them (or how to get through the middle to reach the end). Also, although Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes involved time travel, Catalyst in the Crucible won't. A traditional publisher would have a fit if I switched subgenres in the middle of a series, and I'm not sure how marketing this series myself would work. I'd have to hope my readers like the characters as much as I do.

It would be a shame to abandon the Catalyst Chronicles characters completely, but it is difficult juggling multiple projects. Fortunately, I finished the rough draft of a short story last week, and I have to submit to a contest by April 12th. Once that's done, I want to focus on my Season Avatars short story collection and my new cozy mystery series for a while. However, if I get stuck on them, it might be time to revisit some older projects. Ultimately, I need to focus on spending more time on my current and past project before chasing new ones.

Do you have stories that you don't want to trunk but you don't know how to finish? Feel free to discuss them in the comments.

Project Updates

It's been a while since I discussed the projects I'm working on, so I thought I'd give a brief status update on them today. At the very least, it'll make me more accountable to myself. So here's a list of my various writing projects in no particular order:

Cli-Fi (Climate Fiction) Story: I mentioned previously that I'm working on a story for a cli-fi contest. The title is currently "The Trees of Carson Tower," but I may change it. I'm still working on the first draft, as I took a wrong turn with the plot and got stuck. I think I've figured out how to proceed and hope I can finish the draft by the end of the week--or month, at latest. The deadline for submitting the story is April 12th. If I don't make that deadline, or if the story is rejected, I may save it for a cli-fi collection of my own. This story is my top priority at the moment.

Jenna's Journey: This story is intended for a short story collection that will be set after Summon The Seasons and act as a bridge between my Season Avatars series and a spin-off series. This particular story will follow Jenna as she travels to the heart of the Fip Empire. The Season Avatars normally don't leave their country, so there will be plenty of opportunities for world-building and character development, as well as foreshadowing the short story Rob's Choice. I'm still partway through the first draft. This is the story I work on when I'm stuck with my other projects.

Murder at Magic Lake: I finally managed to finish the second draft; revising this story took longer than writing it, which isn't surprising since cozy mysteries are a new genre for me. I'm going to read through it again and decide if I'm ready for beta readers. I can draft a blurb when I pitch this story on a Facebook group for cozy mystery readers and writers. This story is my second priority.

Restaurants and Revenge: This is the second book in my cozy mystery series. I'm around halfway through the first draft, but I've already had to go back and revise it as I get new ideas. This story has been put on hold for a while, but once I finish the cli-fi story, I plan to return to it.

Silents for Swans: This is a pandemic version of a fairy tale I wrote last summer. I've submitted it to three different markets without success. There's a potential market for this story, but the submission period won't open until November. I'm holding the story for now, but if I find a market that sounds like a good fit before November, I'll send it there.

Thoth's Wager: This is a short story written for a themed anthology, but it was rejected. I revised it, but I need to send it to different markets. The subgenre is godpunk, so I need to find a place that's looking for that genre.

What are you working on? Feel free to share in the comments.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Irish Cozies

Whether or not you're Irish (I used to think I was, but DNA tests show I'm not), March is a good month to focus on mysteries set in Ireland. I've found two sites that already have lists of Irish cozies (check here and here), so today I'll discuss two Irish series that I've personally read.

Alexia Gordon has created a compelling character in Gethsemane Brown, an African-American classical musician who get stranded in an Irish village. Fortunately, she's asked to house-sit a cottage, and she soon develops a friendship with the ghost of the former owner. Gethsemane is a strong-minded woman who's more than a match for the most complicated mystery. The first book in this series, Murder in G Major, won several awards. There are five total books in this series, with the last one, Execution in E, being published last year. Hopefully we'll get another book in this series soon.

The Vampire Book Club also features an American woman, Quinn Calahan, living in a cozy Irish village. This series by best-selling author Nancy Warren has ties to her Vampire Knitting Club series (characters from the latter series appeared in the first book of the former.) Quinn is a middle-aged witch who's been banished to Ireland for misusing her magic. I enjoy her interactions with the local witches, but I can't provide too many details for fear of spoilers. There are currently three books in this series, and I'm looking forward to more.

What's your favorite book set in Ireland? Feel free to share in the comments.

Seasons and Reading/Writing

After a long, wintry, February, we're finally getting a stretch of decent weather in the Chicago suburbs. It's uplifting to be able to go for a walk in the neighborhood. Of course, by the time this blog post goes live, we'll return to more seasonable weather. Still, the equinox is coming soon, and by the end of April or early May we'll have true spring. 

I've never been much of an outdoors person, but when the weather is nice, I do enjoy spending more time outside. The tradeoff is I spend less time reading and writing. (I usually start off my annual reading challenge several books ahead, only to fall behind in summer and catch up in the fall and winter.) Here are a few things I try to do to keep indoor and outdoor activities in balance:

1. Go out early. During the summer, I get my exercise by walking in a nearby park. I usually go shortly after I get up. There are fewer people around, so it's easier to enjoy nature. It's also not hot, and I don't have to worry about sun exposure. (When the weather is bad, I normally exercise on a treadmill and read.)

2. Sit outside with a book. 

3. If we're traveling somewhere, my husband normally does most of the driving, so I use the time to read, crochet, or even write.

Are you feeling spring fever too? Do you feel that you do less reading or writing during the warm months? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

IWSG: Reading Genres

Welcome to March! Let's hope this month isn't quite as mad as last year. The first post of the month is always for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are Sarah--The Faux Fountain Pen, Jacqui Murray, Chemist Ken, Victoria Marie Lees, Natalie Aguirre, and JQ Rose.

Here's our question for this month: Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about your reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice?

 The main genres I write are fantasy, cozy mystery, and science fiction. Those are also the genres I prefer to read. Occasionally I'll venture out of those genres into classics, an historical novel, or a popular contemporary work. About twenty to twenty-five percent of my reading is nonfiction; I tend to read science, history, research topics for writing (for example, I'm currently reading Rewilding North America for a climate-fiction short story I'm working on), or anything I want to learn more about. I read more widely when I was younger, but these days I'm more focused on the genres I enjoy. As for what draws me to these genres, I would say that science fiction and fantasy help me escape my everyday life. I still crave stories that evoke a sense of wonder, but the older and more experienced/cynical one gets, the harder it is to find wonder. Cozy mysteries not only offer a way to right a wrong and find justice, but, as the name implies, they can offer a cozy atmosphere and possibly an ensemble of characters that feel like friends.

What types of books do you like to read, and why? Feel free to share in the comments.