A Cold and Creative Projects

 

I've been absent with a cold or something and sleeping a lot the past week. I have lots of exciting news, but most of it is top secret, until the projects are revealed. You will be the first to hear about them, as soon as my mouth isn't taped shut! It's so hard not sharing cool news and just jumping around your living room in celebration before shambling off to bed or the kitchen for food.

I do have some news I can share, though. I am now a Getty Images Stock Photographer and they are much easier to work with than Shutterstock for creative types. I've been taking walks when I feel I can muster the energy and editing and submitting snaps. I've been doing small makeshift studio shots at home too. I have a few stories I am working on, which are hush hush. Sorry! I also finished reading 162 submissions for two presses and am glad to be moving onto other projects. Stay tuned ...

In the meantime, you can buy my photography here.

Rejection Isn't Bad

What? You're thinking I'm crazy or had a momentary lapse in judgement. Why would I embrace a failure? Well, it's not a failure, if you put your work out there and one publication rejects it. There could be a number of reasons your work was rejected:

• They got slammed with great submissions and didn't have room to publish them all.
• You might have misjudged the market and have a great story that would fit better with another press.
• Not everyone has the same taste as you.

The Clarion West Writer Workshop Write-a-thon 2014

I'm back and I'm participating in The Clarion West Writer Workshop Write-a-thon 2014. It's six weeks of me getting off my duff and bringing you new blog posts at The Demon Stole My Pencil, writing a few stories, which might appear on my blog, if I ever get that pencil back from that pesky demon, and me willingly submitting myself to the flogging of various editors, as I send out submissions! It's going to be fun! *grins*

The fundraiser raises money for The Clarion West Writer Workshop, so all of you can continue to be offered exciting speculative fiction workshop goodness!

If you would like to sponsor me for this charity event, you can just click my nifty sponsor link below. 100% of your donation goes to the workshops. I am but a humble word slave, plodding along. The writing fun begins June 22 and ends August 1, 2014.

http://www.clarionwest.org/members/se...

You're also invited to participate with me. There is no entry fee and all writers are welcome, whether you're working on the next War and Peace or just getting started, you can help raise money too!

Thank you and happy reading and writing, as always!

Time for Some Truth

I've been feeling pretty much like this picture, ticked off and hungry for my next meal, which in the  past two weeks has been liquid or not very exciting. I've been battling with some health complications due to the illness that I refuse to own, fibromyalgia. However, it's enjoyed an extended vacation in my writer's body since 2005 when I was first diagnosed. Before 2005, I was pretty healthy. I wrote whenever I wanted, was at the gym 7 days a week, suffered from more than a few sports injuries, but I healed. I went out dancing after a good gym workout and then the next day could get up and go hiking and clean house without batting an eyelash. Now I'm lucky to get up and get in some writing time.

I'm not sharing this with you for sympathy, though well wishes are always nice. *grins* I'm sharing to explain my absence lately on my own blog, but I'm hoping that my writing stands on its own. I want to be seen for whom I am, not a label a doctor has given me.

In the past two weeks, I've had a few trips back and forth to the ER, my doctor, testing facilities, and undergone anesthesia and a pretty unpleasant procedure that left me fasting for 24 hours before.
(You do NOT want to be around me when I can't eat. It's horrible! Just ask my husband.) I've been having some complications with colitis related to the fibromyalgia. It's a nasty autoimmune disease that causes your colon to have ulcers, which your body tries to heal by making things worse. I had a cancer scare this time, but pulled through that one, but am now looking at more serious treatment, including possible I.V. infusions to get my colon under control and avoid having it removed.

So what does this mean for my writing? Well, it's made me VERY determined to beat this thing so I can get back to the production levels I was at in 2008-2010 before a string of nasty health complications marched into my life and moved in as the monster under my bed. I'm going to get better and write like THE demon from hell. It's the only thing I can focus on right now. So wish me luck! And check back for another post. My blog is not going die and neither am I. *grins* But if I did, I think I would do some ghost writing. *collective groan* Bad joke, I know, but I couldn't resist in respect to the levity of my subject today!

Happy writing and good health to all!

Monday Musings #10 - To Name a Snake

So I have this novel I've been flushing out in conversations with my husband for the past few years. (I am such a procrastinator about this one! LOL) It's a cast of colorful characters. There's a black cat named Phillip Morris, a goat named Baphamet, and an emerald green tree boa, yet unnamed. All of the animals talk and they cause a lot of problems for the poor magician that owns and runs the shop where they live.

But what to call that snake? There is a joke referencing Adam, Eve, and The Garden of Eden in the mix, but naming the snake after a biblical character seems overkill to me. What would you name a wily, mouthy snake with an attitude?

The Joy of Editing by Author Patti Larsen

About the Author: Patti Larsen is a middle grade, young adult and adult author with a passion for the paranormal. Her YA thriller series, The Hunted, is available now. The first four books of The Hayle Coven series, Family Magic, Witch Hunt, Demon Child and The Wild are also out now. Her YA paranormal novel, Best Friends Forever, and steampunk series, Blood and Gold, are due early in 2012. She is a full time writer and a part time teacher of her Get Your Book Done program. Patti lives on the East Coast of Canada with her very patient husband and four massive cats.

You can find her:

On her website www.pattilarsen.com

On Facebook www.facebook.com/pattilarsenauthor

Her writing blog www.pattilarsen.blogspot.com

On Twitter www.twitter.com/#!/PattiLarsen

On Amazon.com and Goodreads

The Joy of Editing

Patti Larsen

The title may make you cringe or gasp in horror, but I assure you, I’m not being facetious. I love everything about writing, from plotting, to titles, outlining, research... every single bit. 

Including editing.

How can I love editing you ask? The tedious, torturous foray into self-flagellation and abuse? The very task that can make or break a writer, sending them down into a black pit of despair, wailing as they fall that their work sucks and will never be good enough?

Well, I do. And I can because I don't fall for the lies. Oh yes, believe me, that black pit is a lie. Think of it this way. Everything that little voice (your ego) tells you (you suck, you can't, it's terrible, why bother) is a lie. Got that? Excellent. So why allow said voice to make your editing process hell? Yes, it takes time to edit. Yes, if you weren't well prepared to begin with you may have a huge job on your hands (another reason I outline by the way--saves in edits). But, like the writing of the thing, editing needs to be a happy, positive experience, an exploration of your work. A loving taking apart and reassembling of this precious thing you've made. So a particular scene doesn't jive after all.  Don't throw it away. It may be a scene from something else. Instead, craft another with as much care as you did the first and admire it for a bit.  

See how beautiful it has become? Treat it like a joy, a pleasure, polish it like a fine gem. Even the painful stuff is positive in the end. You're making your vision the best it can be. Aside from doing the first draft, editing is the most awesome part! You get the chance to turn it into art. Embrace it no matter what and the ego will run out of you. It has to. It can't stand against that much love. Does this sound hokey? I won't apologize. Because like all the other odd, crackpot ideas I use day to day, it works.

Isn't that all that matters?

If you treat every edit like an opportunity to explore your work and ideas rather than a punishment for ‘doing it wrong’, you’ll learn to love it too.



Cars are Characters Too - Meet Barbara!

Barbara is our new OLD '66 Mustang. We just picked her up from Amarillo, Texas yesterday. She's my husband's early birthday gift. Aren't I a nice, wife, huh? LOL

Barbara is fun and flirty and a little flashy, and totally loyal. We named her after Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie. I hope she's happy with us. She might make an appearance in an upcoming short story or the novel I have swimming around in my head at the moment. She'd make a great character or I can totally see a great character driving her. Maybe, a kickass witch or vampire femme like Rachel Morgan or Ivy from Kim Harrison's Hollows series. *grins*

What are you driving? Does your car have a name? Have you considered using her as a character in your stories? If not, she might surprise you.

Writing is Like Karaoke

This past week I went back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to visit my family and my best friend. I went to Rascal's, a karaoke place, and sang in public for the first time. Usually, I just sing karaoke at a friend's house, so this was a new experience for me. It occurred to me today as I cursed the ungodly Texas heat and cement jungle I live in and procrastinated about unpacking and paying bills and all those other unglamorous things I need to get caught up on that writing and karaoke are a lot alike.

1) Both put you out there to be judged by peers.

2) Sometimes you don't know if you liked what you did, until after you're finished.

3) There are always going to be people who hate you.

4) If you don't take yourself too seriously, you'll enjoy it a lot more.

5) A supportive network of friends can work wonders.

6) If you don't like the results, you can always start over.

7) Both make for interesting conversation starters at parties.

8) You get to meet new people through both.

9) You learn something about yourself as you go.

10) And finally -- both don't cost you any money to enjoy!

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Sometimes the Writing Life Isn't Glamorous

I always chuckle when I meet someone new and tell them I am a writer. Everyone thinks it's glamorous and surely must be better than what they are doing. However, I assure you, while it is a nice dream to pursue and makes for interesting conversation, it's not always flashy and fun.

For example, today I spent about an hour tracking submissions sitting in electronic limbo for the past month. Before that, I checked my author email account, deleted a bunch of spam and weeded through my latest collection of messages from Writer's Digest. Then I sat in front of my computer screen for about half an hour facing the blank page of death while I racked my sleep-addled brain to come up with something creative to blog about. (At least I was comfortable in my uncomfortableness, since I'm still in my skull and cherry pajamas.)

It seems with the entrance of spring and 90 degree weather in Dallas I have lost my blogging mojo, which cracks me up, since I really have never experienced serious writer's block before. Maybe, it will reappear if I close my eyes and tap my ruby-slippered heels and start a new mantra: There's nothing better than blogging, or I could just pray I get whisked away by a spring tornado into an alternate universe where my blogging is caught up for the week, the laundry is done, my bathroom has magically cleaned itself, and the library doesn't charge me past due fees for books I've returned on time. I'm not holding my breath on that last wish.

After I finish up here, I am working on a new short story. It's a plot I've been pursuing for the past year. What is reality? Is it what we believe in our minds? What if a character had a nervous breakdown witnessed by another person? What would that look like? Originally, I created a housewife with a husband who traveled. Her relationship is an unhealthy one and on her husband's latest trip for work she mentally breaks down. She thinks an art mask is talking to her on the wall. The mask channels her husband's horrible personality. For some reason, my writing wasn't flowing organically. The plot felt forced.

I put it aside for about 6 months and recently came back to this idea, but it's morphed into a completely different story. I now have a taxidermied cat, a divorced mother, and an angry preteen boy. It's working well and I've been enjoying the experience, though the last five pages took a dark sinister turn I hadn't been expecting. I hope to write the final scene this afternoon before my husband comes home from work. Wish me luck!

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Do You Remember Your First Published Writing?

I had to dig in the vaults for this one, but I found it!My first publication was right out of high school for a small press magazine, Primitive Bikini, which is no longer in print. I had thought it was published when I was in high school, but it seems my memory was fuzzy as I pulled it out from the filing cabinet this afternoon. I'm going to share a poem with you about my time spent in the Appalachian Service Project, but first I want to tell you a little about the organization.

I blogged a little about this experience earlier this year. A.S.P. is a Methodist organization helping repair homes for the poor in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Every summer high school kids from all over the U.S. volunteer. Long after I left the church and organized religion all together, I still traveled with the program to do this service work because I believed in the people who ran it, people who were open-minded and accepting of everyone, regardless of their religion or lack of religion.

It's amazing and sad that there are still people here in our own country who live without indoor plumbing and running water in their homes. These people in the mountains have some of the biggest hearts and I was humbled by them. I volunteered for six years with A.S.P., my last year as a youth leader, which was truly rewarding.

Here's my poem about my experience. I don't write anything like this now, but it's good to remember where I come from. If I don't remember where I came from, I can't grow as a writer.

Morning Song

In the misty morning the
mountains swell as we
join hands in the
circle of eternity
our souls intertwine
to become one
our witnesses are the
whispering leaves and the
families whose lives have
been warmed with love
and affection
like the morning star
which rewards us with
life-giving light
as our spirits
dance in
celebration
for to give love
is to receive
happiness.

What was your first published piece?

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Interesting Places to Use as Story Settings

Everyone is attempting to save money these days, so here's a great tip. When planning a vacation or an outing, think of places you'd like to write about too. You can have fun while also doing your writing research. Remember to take pics to document your visit. They will come in handy later, when you want to write.

This doesn't mean I always double my entertainment and vacations with writing research, but I always take a ton of pics just in case.

I'm going to share four places I've gone and would like to use as settings for stories in the future.

The first setting is infamous.



The entire town is completely tourist crazy. Every storefront features aliens. Even the local lawyer's office got in on the action.

The streetlamps were even decorated for the alien holiday.

Of course, while I was there I visited the museum and took many pics. (A word for the interested -- the museum is a waste of money, but if you are an alien nut, you still have to go anyway just for the experience). I enjoyed my trip into Oddville and I have an alien Xmas ornament to put on my tree from the experience!

The second trip I want to incorporate in a story is The House on the Rock. Neil Gaiman already incorporated a scene from this house in American Gods, which is a book I highly recommend. This is one of my favorite trips. I've gone three times actually, and plan to go back again. Alex Jordan Jr.'s house is wacky and kooky, inspiring any writer.

Here are a few pics of the oddity that is The House on the Rock. Perhaps, they will inspire you to write as well:

This first sculpture is suspended from the ceiling above the great carousel.

The carousel hosts unconventional mythological creature seats such as these. It's a beautifully creepy and I can see why Neil Gaiman was inspired.

There is a wide variety of odd collections like guns and moving miniatures. Some of the more famous items in the house are the giant whale sculpture and the whimsical mechanical band that plays The Beatle's Octopus's Garden.

The third trip I took that will inspire a story, I am sure, is to Ripley's Wax Museum in Grand Prairie, TX. This museum is amazing and there are so many possibilities for a plot amongst all the famous movie monsters, celebrities, and historical displays. Here are just a few of my favorites:

The museum entrance:

Classic Frankenstein:

Billy the Kid:

And an amusing sign good for a chuckle:

The fourth setting is so inspirational! It's my recent trip to Savannah, Georgia this last December. If you have not been to Savannah and you love reading ghost stories, horror, historical, or gothic novels, then this is the vacation spot for you.

I stayed at the very famously haunted Marshall House, which got my ghostly writer juices flowing. It was nicely decorated for the holidays. All the woodwork is original to the hotel and is gorgeous, by the way.

I spent the weekend visiting with family and walking around downtown Savannah, which has a great atmosphere. It was raining too, which only added to the fun of it. Everywhere you walked was the famous Spanish moss on the live oaks. If that isn't haunting, I don't what is!

All the buildings downtown are kept up historically. The architecture is gorgeous and just gets your writer's imagination going.

We even managed to take in a ghost trolley tour, which was the perfect way to spend a chilly, rainy night on the riverfront and learn more about the history of the city.



There are tons of touristy shops set in  historical buildings that will set your writer's imagination alight, but beware of the treacherous stairways, which I can imagine a villain lurking in on a dark and lonely night.

I also found time to tour one of the historical graveyards in the area, Bonaventure Cemetery. The background was hauntingly seductive, so much so, it's already been featured in famous books like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and in the movie directed by Clint Eastwood.

These are just four of the places I've visited and plan on featuring in my work.

What places have you featured in your writing? Happy travels!

And as always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

10 Fun Writing Facts About Me

1) I write left-handed, though I am ambidextrous. I discovered this when I broke my left arm the summer before 7^th grade.

2)  I can also write with my right foot, though not as well as with my hands.

3) I was first published as a junior in high school.

4) In high school, I wrote a paper on the symbolism of flowers in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is one of the reasons I wanted to study English in college.

5) My mother and I attended a few writing classes together in college. She didn’t get her college degree until she was 53. We both majored in English.

6) My freshman year of college I took Environmental Science. I was accused of plagiarism on my final paper because my professor thought an eighteen-year-old could not possibly write as well as I did. He was wrong, of course. The paper was all my work. I got an “A” in the class.

7) My last semester of college, I applied to a graduate program at UW-Milwaukee for creative writing with an emphasis on poetry. Yes, I used to want to be a poet. I didn’t get in that first semester, but did the second time around.

8) After college, I applied for a job selling funeral plots at a local cemetery. I also wanted to be a cosmetician at a funeral home. My love for graveyard architecture and history led me to join a local group. On sunny days I could be found reading, writing, sketching, and taking pictures in my favorite cemetery.

9) Up until three years ago, I still wrote all my first drafts by hand in lined three subject notebooks.

10) One of my favorite first published short stories is a schlocky piece: Carnivorous Cows from Outerspace. It’s about alien cows coming to take over earth. It was rejected four times before I found a home for it. One editor told me they could believe cows had pet monkeys working for them and that they ate people, but not that some of the cows were dumb enough to get caught and eaten by humans. You can read my free odd tale here:

http://theoddvillepress.com/Vol_I_Issue_I.pdf

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

What I Did - My Two Writing Days Off

Thought I'd mislead you with a photo of me drinking at Trinity Hall pub, my new favorite Irish watering hole. Actually, I am not really much of a drinker, so it's rare you will get a picture of me like this one. I just wanted to post about Scottish ale. I had this amazing one, Dogma by BrewDog. Yummy -- heather honey, poppy seeds, and a hint of kola nuts. My husband took me out on Friday for a traditional Irish dinner. I had a chicken curry bap, which is a chicken sandwich on a bun, for those of you who are Irish-challenged. (FYI: I am Scottish, Polish, and Bavarian gypsy, with probably a tiny fairy fart of Irish in me).

Then we traveled to, and I could not make this name up if I tried, The Pocket Sandwich Theatre for The Lollie Bombs burlesque show, which totally bombed, no pun intended. The costumes were tasteful, but the women had not talent, which is key in burlesque. The best routine of the night was Angie B Lovely's hula-hoop dance. The rest of the time, I found myself wishing I was back at the Irish pub with another Dogma in hand. However, kudos to the women for feeling empowered enough to prance around in pasties and frilly lace because I know a bunch of women out there too self-conscious and self-hating to feel comfortable enough in their own skin.

Then yesterday, the real fun began!

I took another day off from writing to bathe my three cats. I managed the feat without even a scratch! It was a miracle.

Here's the mad kitty trio in order, Toshio, Tiggyr, and Houdini:

I celebrated my success with my husband at a Greek restaurant, Stratos, last night. They had belly dancers who did these amazing dance routines with swords balanced on their heads. Awesome! We ordered a flaming appetizer that went well with my glass of Pinot Grigio. Wine, women with swords, and food on fire -- what a combination! I was a little worried, though, when the waiter asked me to move so he wouldn't set me on fire!

And now I must return to the writing grind of faeries, mermaids, dragons, and other creatures. Such is life!

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Borrowing a Sandbox: Writing Fan Fiction by Guest Blogger Elaine Garner

I have a driving compulsion to write. It doesn’t matter if it’s shouted from the roof tops or if I’m the only one who ever reads it. I have a story lurking inside the slushy wilderness of my brain, and it refuses to stop harassing me until it’s told. I’m different from the professional writer, however. I like to stop in and play in someone else’s “sandbox.”  I step into worlds which are already established and belong to others. Even my original work is dependent on material which legally belongs to someone else. My inspiration flows around characters who don’t always belong to me, but have taken up residence in my imagination.

I’m a fan fiction and hobby writer, and I won’t be paid for a single feverish keystroke pounded out in the dead of night.

So why do it?

My answer: because it’s fun. Other fan fiction authors I know write for positive attention through comments left for them on blogs, forums, etc. Others want something to continue which has otherwise ended, be it a video game, book series, comic series, television show or movie. In writing and reading about it, the experience lives on.

Fan fiction writing can also be good practice to flex the writing muscles. There will always come a time when a writer must step outside their own skin, eventually writing about things not personally experienced. Fan fiction makes me study the characters in my tale. I listen to vocal inflections, observe expressions, body language, what they wear, setting, try to get into their minds, and orient on details. In some ways, this is more demanding than writing about one of my own. A freshly minted original character can behave however you want them to, but other fans have expectations on how established characters act. By doing all of this, a writer trains their brain to start picking up details. This will carry over to original, marketable material as you observe people around you in life. You can transfer what you absorb into your next short story or novel.

Fan fiction does, unfortunately, have some drawbacks. One of the most obvious is copyright issues. In rare cases, authors are allowed to write under the umbrella of a company. I can’t share specifics on how it works because I’ve never done it, but I’ve seen novels based on comic characters. There are entire chains of books spun from Star Wars and Star Trek. Obviously, these authors were the exception to the rule. They gained full legal permission from those who owned the sandbox and presumably were paid for their novels.

On the other side, there are authors who are protective of their work and will do everything in their power to shut down web sites or places who borrow from them. Most people are satisfied with a disclaimer on the fan fiction which includes who is the original owner and states there is no profit being made. Some authors like Wendy and Richard Pini (Elfquest.com) even encourage fans. They love to see what others do with their ideas. For anyone who wants to delve into the world of fan fiction, it’s wise to do a little research to make sure you aren’t going to offend anyone if you plan to publish it in any format to share with the world.

I began writing fan fiction for television shows as a teenager. Some of the stories sprung into characters of my own, but I never pursued it in a professional capacity. Later, I picked up the pen again in my college days to write as an outlet for stress in my real life. This was before the internet became the household presence it is today, so I actually published what was called a “fanzine.”  These were self published magazines which I charged just enough subscription money to almost cover my costs of producing them. I had people send me stories and artwork, combined it with my own, and ran each page through a copier. I then bound them and mailed them out in hard copy. Now there are places on the internet dedicated to nothing but fan fiction, but many years later I’ve found myself wanting to write about a video game universe. Instead of going through all the trouble and expense of a fanzine, it goes to my blog.

One day my muse might stop bashing me soundly over the head with conversations I wish I could have had in a game called Dragon Age: Origins. Until then, however, I will be a fan fiction writer.

For more of Elaine Garner's fan fiction check out her blog: http://whuffie.wordpress.com/

You may also look for additional fan fiction writing at: http://www.fanfiction.net/

There Are No Snow Days in Writing

I was nestled under the covers with the cats, sleeping peacefully, and then the phone rang at dark-thirty this morning. The Texas weather gods had smiled on my husband. He got a snow day. I found myself thinking two things:

1) When you're a writer there are no snow days. You can write from anywhere.

2) It's a horrible thing to be awake, cold, and still tired, and unable to sleep at dark-thirty in the morning.

It seemed the gods of sleep had eluded both me and my husband, so we trudged out of bed and downstairs while the sun was creeping over the apartment roofs. I am writing this blog entry with my Kensington Flylight 2.0 while my husband catnaps on the couch next to me. It's a pretty nifty holiday gift from a friend; the light plugs into a USB port on your computer and you can sit in the dark with your keyboard illuminated. Perfect for mornings when you are awake at dark-thirty, tired, and blogging.

I ventured outside to document the snow day. Brace yourself. It's not very dramatic for some, but you have to keep in mind that we're in Dallas, Texas and there is a lot of ice coming our way with a light snow mix. This is the wily culprit that caused the snow day:

It may not seem like a formidable storm, but if you were born and raised in the Midwest like me and knew how Texans drove in any form of frozen precipitation, you would be scared too. (For any Texans reading this, I love how welcome you have made me feel in your state, but you need to learn to drive in snow).

Might I add, having been spoiled by the balmy weather gods with 75 degrees just two days ago, this is a cruel punishment and I want to know what we mortals did to incur your wrath! Perhaps, it was my lovely neighbors' fault who keep littering in the parking lot that pushed you over the brink. I know I'm teetering on that brink myself, if one more person doesn't pick up after their dog.

Appropriately this morning, I am working on a new piece, Snow Faery. I am unsure whether this will be a shorty story or something longer; storytelling is a wild animal and you just have to grab it by the mane and go! I don't create plot outlines before I sit down at my computer; I just have a vague idea like: Hey, let's write a story about a snow faery held hostage by a mean child. What would happen in that situation? And then I go find out...

Here is a small excerpt of the work in progress:

Nell stood, staring in horror at the tiny body of the man curled up next to their igloo. He clutched a small bowler hat in his right hand to his chest. If he had been standing upright in her palm, he would have been only a few inches tall.  His face was translucent blue.  She could see the tiny threads of veins running across the hard angles of his face. His jaw was pointy like an icicle.  His hair was the color of fresh snow in moonlight.

And that's about all I will share with you. I don't like sharing works in progress much outside my close circle of friends, but the snow day was a serendipitous moment I could not pass up.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

And today, happy snow day to all!