Wanna Be in a Story of Mine?

 Doing the Clarion Write-a-thon again this year, having some fun and some frustration with it. 

It's been a busy summer with some competing priorities. My planned six stories have morphed into a short stories and work on the novel manuscript. I did finish a revision pass, which was huge and made me very happy. But also, juggling is not my strong suit and has left me feeling a bit like I'm churning in circles.

So. An incentive!

Donate $10 - $25 to Clarion's Write-A-Thon (link here:  https://secure.qgiv.com/event/clarionwestwriteathon/account/1298108/) and I'll cameo you in a short story in my space opera-esque universe. (Not an ongoing character, but a walk-on.) You can even ask to be a specific species (I have several, below) or for something outrageous to do in the story, and if I can, I'll work it in!

This is less about me raising money and more about making me actually write words, to be honest. But it's for a cool cause; the money helps support Clarion's six-week training for genre writers from around the country and the world.

Existing species, all sentient:

Spacer: Humans 1,000-years from Earth, collective culture adjusting to no longer living on a colony ship.

Peqe: Imagine a peacock crest made of axolotl-like filaments on the shoulders of a muscular, bipedal, furred dinosaur with a jaw full of black teeth the length of your arm and retractable talons. Uh, and they're matriarchal. Prefer to stay on their home planet where they know they are superior and not one will tell them otherwise. Shockingly small population, rigid class system, new religion with widespread adoption.

Phren: Egalitarian, polyamorous community-minded people who look stunningly like the peqe, only without crests. Neither species appreciates the comparison. The Phren share their planet with:

Wjorx: the most terrifying creature in the solar system; jungle-dwelling and rarely seen but apparently two to three times the height of a phren with fangs the length of a human leg. They'll dine on a phren from time to time, which does not seem to upset the phren as much as one would expect.

Modeel: cuttlefish-like spacefaring creatures inside a fantastic robotic shell. Bioluminescent discharge is both protective and emotive. Very into mining and space-faring trade, with an equally strong faction at home that is becoming increasingly violently anti-pollution.

Larsivians: Crocodilian, bipedal, with a powerful ridged tail that might take off your head if you say the wrong thing to the wrong person. Larsivians worship many religions, have many cities and villages, hold many philosophies, range from laid-back and semi-feral to mob bosses to hustling business types. They're known for their poetry, emotion-forward language, and ability to argue six sides of a single argument. Most populous creature in Se Solar System, with the possible exception of...

Aupoin. Grizzly-sized tardigrades, for lack of a better description. Live in underground colonies on nearly all the planets. Very service-oriented and apparently insular; known for their root-weaving art.

Gruide: Heron-esque, only flock-based like geese. Least space-faring of the lot and the least interested in anything off planet, but required to be part of the system's government. Resent the heck out of it, especially when it becomes clear the Peqe have in fact hunted them for meat in the past.

Kertueon: Hive-based creatures, reminiscent of locusts and praying mantis, but larger than humans. Utterly terrifying to most humans, yet startlingly civil.

There are also non-sentient creatures on all of the planets, and I haven't fully worked out the ecosystem on a few of them and need bulk some of that out a bit, so if you have a critter you just wanna be, ask.

BTW, I have ARTWORK of some of the species coming and I am SO STOKED ABOUT IT. It's amazing!

Finding A Revision Process That Fits

 Quick note to talk about my revision process. Hopefully without screwing up the fact that it's finally working right now.

So I'm currently working on a tightly-timed, half-the-book-takes-place-in-an-afternoon, multi-POV manuscript. It hurt my brain soooo hard putting it together last fall, but right now I love it. But figuring out how to revise it was killing me this spring. Just .. how to organize it, how to manage my own workflow, how to make progress and not rearrange deck chairs.

I started back up a bit ago and I'm at 15K, on page 55, and it's rolling like silk. What did I do right, eventually?

So I set this manuscript aside and re-read it in March. I made notes and marked it up like an editor would, all in the word processing program so I could make READABLE comments. (I've done the paper notes. I can't read them after 30 days).

I was floundering a bit after that. Multi-POV books can be confusing. "Where and how to start" was breaking my brain.

I made a document I titled "outline" because I knew I was going to need to move some things around, and I simplified the existing structure with one graf for each scene. I played with it, followed character arcs, pointed out plot holes to myself, and worked on the timeline.

Once I had a handle on how the existing structure needed to change, I created a new document I called "outline as revised" and started copying simplified grafs over in the new arrangement, only including short simple notes about alterations. I kept most of the editing notes in the original manuscript. 

The outline document is four pages for a 240-page draft (which will grow).

Then I created a new rewrite document, and started copying scenes into it as I revised them. So: starting with scene one (well, scene two because scene one got cut), I copied that text into the new file, dealt with all the revision notes from the re-read, and made changes. Then I marked that scene done on my outline and moved the to the next one.

Some sections I've just cut and rewritten because it was easier; and I have a new scene I'll need to write when I sit down tomorrow. 

Had to walk away from the revision for a week for a trip not long after I started this. When I got back, I read what I had so far, fine-tuned it, added more description (I'm always shorting that) and caught a few errors, and then moved to the next scene in the outline. 

My Very Ambitious goal was eight scenes a week, and if the last two days are any indication, I'll be able to hit that. I'm... a little boggled. Revision has always been a bear for me, but this process has taken nearly all of the decision-making (which ALWAYS bogs me down) out of the equation by doing it in advance. And it simplifies the essential tasks enough that I can keep things in my head while I'm working. 

Knocking on wood; I'd like to get this to the editor early!

Three books and some plants; what's keeping you going?

 Everybody's tired, and on edge, worn thin and in some cases worn down until they're sick (more often than not, *again*).  It's winter. Here in the PNW, the wet side anyway, we're getting glimpses of spring that help ease that a sense of overwhelm despite freezing cold nights and heavy frosts. Buds bursting open early on the camellias. Snowdrops blooming in the yard. Daphne fragrance wafting by the porch. Seed catalogs arriving in the mail. The latter tempt me, now matter how limited the summer sunshine I have available to me. We have many neighboring trees -- great for summer shade, not so great for vegetable gardening. 

I should be writing (that's the title of a cool podcast by Mur Lafferty, btw). I'm still having trouble -- made it through the worst of my writers' block (what if I get it my representation wrong? What if I screw up? What if people hate the far-future culture I create?) and have hit block two, which more simply: where do I start? 

That has an easier answer: butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. That's not the where I meant, but it is the where that will get progress done.

So of course I'm starting with a blog post -- accountability!  Sigh. But it's better than doom-scrolling Facebook and Twitter, which I've been doing excessively of late. 

Lots of daydreams lately as well, which is interesting. Daydreams and conversations with others is how I process things emotionally. So there's a lot of that going on, that maybe has to happen before I can address the writing with a clear head. NOT putting the writing off. I'm just... the two short pieces I have managed in the last month have been flat and missing a lot.  Yeah, they're first drafts and they're supposed to be shitty? But when I write something thinking, "yeah, I want to address x and y," and I leave X and Y on the table and they're nowhere in the text it's clear I'm either avoiding something, need a TON more practice, or am working on Z instead. Or maybe all three. 

So there's that rats' nest. 

And then there's *waves hand vaguely at the morass that is ludicrously politicized community care, i.e., "my freedom from a piece of fabric over my nose is more important than babies, vulnerable elders or cancer patients," the potential hostilities with Russia, and friends coping with various health ailments including Covid* and just life.

At least there's Wordle. And Le Mot. And Lewdle. 

And June's Journeys, and Duolingo, and Sudoku. 

I might be indulging in escapism a bit too much.

That said, I did manage to finish three disparate books this month!! OMG, I can read again! So I'm writing about them: Law's Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, Joe Malik's Dragon's Trail, and Karen Lord's Redemption in Indigo. (Hey, I did say disparate). 

Karen Lord's award-winning Redemption in Indigo reads like a complicated, braided fairy tale with a moral message, yet it is so much, much more. It addresses duty in ways that make me comfortable and ways that make me squirm, it brushes the unknowable time travel question of "if I fix this, how will it change the future," and it shows us time and again a woman being her best self--and that being enough even when she doesn't always think so. That final message is one that left me with deep satisfaction. The storyteller framing was both unique and deeply enjoyable; the slow reveal of the unknown character kept me hooked. So many people have written so much more eloquent reviews of this great book that I feel odd raving about it; go read some of the great discussions at the link above. I'd recommend it to just about anyone who likes fantasy and definitely to anyone who loves fairy tales and oral storytelling. You'll be unlikely to have read anything like this before. I hope to read more of her work soon. 

I'd recommend Joe Malik's Dragon's Trail to any fencer, sword-and-armor-nut, service person, equestrian or fantasy fan who loves medieval-style portal fantasy. I'll (mildly) spoiler it by saying that I was ready to kick his shins hard, twice, but there is no "fridging" and the motivational trauma is largely the protagonist's, not a woman's. I know some women won't read books that do either, and avoiding those tropes is important to me as well, so I mention it because there are moments that raised my eyebrows, but he swerves. That said, this is pretty much a guy's book. There are (literal) strong woman characters who the protag admires (and sometimes lusts after), but we are never in a woman's viewpoint, just the viewpoint of a man with a strong libido who respects women as well as physical and emotional stamina.  I set it down several times, finally laying it down for a month about halfway through because I was having trouble connecting (and reading, but that's not Malik's fault; see state of the universe, above.). When I picked it back up this month I finished it in two evenings. Once things fall into place it does just flow. Dragon's Trail is billed as Book One in the Outworlders series and came out in 2016. Book two apparently .... well, it's a long story but it had to be approved by the Pentagon (no shit) and they redacted a lot. So he's re-writing. Yeah, I don't understand either, but those of you in the military might.

I read Law's Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling cover to cover over our New Year's vacation, and it's a resource I'll be dipping back into over and over because there's too much there to absorb at once. There are at least two concise pages on just about anything you can think of involving rapid drafting and painting; specific how-tos for various critters, leaves and landscapes, and use and selection of art materials. The focus is on outdoor sketching and watercolor, but there's information on gouache and ink as well, and finishing tips for longer-duration studio work or working from memory or photographs. For a beginning artist, it's a useful, example-laden compilation of techniques and tips for the swift-capture-of-what's-in-front-of-you as well as just basic drawing help. 

There. That's pretty much the state of my brain: escapism and art. Your turn; what's keeping you doing in the Winter of 2022?

Five weeks, 22 stories worked on, 5 revised, 16 submitted

I sat down today to check in after an intense week of novella revision. I needed to decide which short story to revise for my sixth and final revision to meet my Clarion West write-a-thon goal. *

Because I've been submitting as I've been revising, doing little nips and tucks here and there, I honestly couldn't remember which stories I'd revised for the writeathon. So I went into my "recent files" list, scrolled back to early June, and counted. 

Blink. Blink. Wow.

I've actually worked on **twenty-two** stories at some level during the last five weeks, and drafted three new ones (only one of which is likely to survive to adulthood). I've submitted stories 16 times since early June, which for me is amazing 'cuz I'm not great at getting stories out there.  

So. Awesome! I'm doing this every summer from now on! Um. But I still need to decide which story to work on next. LOL.

     *Clarion West is an intense, six-week residential SF & F writing workshop.
The write-a-thon raises money for it. Many of your favorite SF authors may be taking part; Clarion West and Clarion San Diego are well-respected. Check it out!

Clarion Write A Thon and STREETCHH Goals!

 So it occurs to me I've neglected, again, to mention something semi-cool that I'm doing.

I'm taking part in the Clarion write-a-thon! 

It's a fundraiser for Clarion West, to be specific (confusing, since both are on the West Coast now --the program in Seattle is Clarion West, and the one that originated in the midwest but is now in San Diego is Clarion). They're summer residential Science Fiction and Fantasy writing workshops; intense and amazing.

During the six weeks the current class of lucky and talent folk are taking the workshop, Clarion West runs a write-a-thon. Alumni, fans, or writers interested in working on their fiction set goals and try to reach them. And, well, ask for donations to help the writing program offer scholarships and pay its staff.

We're now in week... four? Starting week four. I've gotten 16 submissions out during the write-a-thon, and revised four short stories. I'm working on a novelette now so I've slowed down. 

The whole event has a been a boon to my motivation. 

I met my fundraising goal!!  (Thank you, Larina!)

 Some people did "stretch goals" so I'm adding a few -- only two weeks left! I've added a few -- "Tuckerization," "write to your prompt" or "write you a story." 

Anyway, check it out! Some of your favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy authors are probably taking part. The link above will take you to my fundraising page, but you can find everyone who's participating by doing an "empty" search here: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/writeathon/search/

I *knew* I was forgetting something...

 Hey! My first pro-sale story came out! A week ago Tuesday night! And I posted about it on Facebook and Twitter and via email to friends and kinda giggled all week!

...but guess who forgot to post it on HER OWN BLOG? 

Yeah, well, apparently I'm not alone on that. Anyway, here's the "permalink" to Daily Science Fiction for "Funny Baby," which isn't really all that funny nor is it really about babies....

https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/biotech/ellen-l-saunders/funny-baby.

SALE! I made a Sale! ... and who cared about productivity during this trash fire year?

 Year in review, sort of 

But first -- I made my first pro sale!

This month Daily Science Fiction picked up "Funny Baby," a flash piece I wrote four years ago and revised this year. DSF pays pro rates! So I have my first pro sale. And it sold to the first place I sent it to!

No, I don't know when it will be published yet. I'll link to it when I goes up. Or go over there and subscribe! They send you a flash fiction short story every weekday, it's great!

(Uh, so a professional short story sale is one made to a magazine that pays the current "pro" rate as recognized by the SFWA board, which this writing is 8 cents a word. There are a limited number of markets that pay that well, and an even more limited number that pay more.)

(I note the Horror association has differing levels of membership, and has a non-voting membership open to writers with fewer or "lessor" sales, which seems like a cool idea, but I digress. Twice.)

My first ever short story sale was in 2015, to a ROAR anthology (Volume 6) for a Marciex story (although I guess it's not entirely canon because her name was different then...) Anyway. While  remain deeply grateful to the editor who picked it, it was a semi-pro sale, and one needs three pro sales to be able to join SFWA, professional organization for science fiction and fantasy writers.

That's kind of a goal of mine. It's not a "real goal" because it requires behavior on the part of strangers on my behalf (to buy my stuff), but ... it's whatever you call a goal that one can't accomplish alone.

All *I* can do to reach that goal is improve my craft, and that I have been doing.

I'm pretty chuffed that it sold to the first market I sent it to.  I have one story I've sent out 15 times and another I've tried on 11 editors. So... either I'm getting better at this, or that one ticked all the right boxes.

Looking at my stats for the year, I made 33 submissions for that one sale. Year before I sent stories out 29 times for zero sales.  Made 27 submissions the year before that.  That's really a fairly abysmal submission rate; I should keep stories churning all the time. People don't buy air; they have to see your work to purchase it. 

I normally have a bunch of stats about what I read and what I wrote and how many hours I spent on revision and all that... but I quit keeping good records sometime this summer, so my stats are shit. 2020 took a huge bite out of my give-a-rip about my own productivity, so ... I got nothing useful.

Right now I have nothing out with the exception of a story sitting with an editor whose market is on hiatus. I have a deadline in seven days so I'm focusing on that manuscript revision. Then I'll send short stories out again. Although ... there are a few Dec. 15 closures so I may take an afternoon this weekend and try to get something to those markets.  

I should get off the internets and work on all that!