Back in the saddle

Due to a new job the past few moths have been crazy. However, with the help of some new writing friends and unconditional support from my partner. I've been able to start writing again. So perhaps with a nightmare job it might just be the push I need to get my craft back on. Expect a book review soon!

Back in the saddle

We all know this by now. I can't keep myself on track to save my life. But again, I'm gonna keep trying. A little update about my personal life. I still work full time but am no longer driving 20 hours a week. That alone gas been crazy cool. It's also given me some stability to be able to write more. So I can honestly say that I'm excited to start working on a novel again. This time things will be different. I'm going to be working on whatever I feel like writing. Wherever my heart is. And it's got me super hyped.

So fingers crossed .

Also, ps, still no internet. So phone posts all the way!

3 Pages of Plot

As part of this year's NaNoWriMo I am pulling out every trick I have. Including mapping out a plot. Took me 3 pages of hand written notes, but I am so ready to start this year's challenge.

Writers and day jobs

I was chatting with one of my writing friends and found out that as of a few days ago, he quit his day job and is writing full time. I got oddly excited at the thought, even though I have no plans of quitting my day job. I asked how long it took him to get there.

"10 years I've been writing." He answered.

I could feel my heart break.

As someone who has only recently come to the conclusion that writing is my thing, I knew it wouldn't happen overnight. On the other hand, I didn't realize that it would take so long either.

As of today I've been published for about 3 years now, and honestly even with all the progress that I have made, I don't feel like I am anywhere near where I should be.

My heart breaks again.

The numbers hurt, I won't lie. The months with .35 cent paychecks from book sales, hurts.

I keep going though. I do it for myself. For my readers. I do it for the LGBTQ persons who have not found their comfort yet.

I will write on.
I will continue my journey.

Daily tracking.

With NaNoWriMo on its way all too quick, I wanted to really start looking at my career as an author. So, how does one see progress? You track it in some way. So to give myself a visual I'll be tracking some of my selective stats over the next few months and keep more written records of my progress. I can only hope that it helps.

What are some of the things you do to view your own progress?

NaNoWriMo prep!

It's that time of year again when a ton of us make the bad decision to give up our entire month of November to write a novel. For some it's a challenge, others breeze right through it.

For me, it's always been a struggle. This will be my 4th year doing it, and I have no real hope to win. However, you can bet that I'm still going to do it.

Any excuse to write is a good one. -looks over at the pile of dishes-

Anyway! This year I really want to document my work to you all. I have a few ideas for some stories, all (cept one that I don't think I really want to do for this anyway) of these ideas will be public. I don't always post my actual work online for free, but I feel like this could be fun.

I'll for sure have more details of where it will be posted within the next week or two. For now, I must ready myself.

What's your favorite way to prep for national novel writing month?

Realization and Self Imposed Deadlines

     I've come to the recent thought process that I should have no problem at all getting one rough draft done every two months. That's about what I did during the holiday season while working two jobs. I can then take two months to work on edits and I should be able to get at least three books out per year with those numbers. 

     Time to impose some self infliced deadlines. This will also hopefully keep me on track with updating things and keeping my 'coming soon' page current. Here is my current line up of things that have already been in the works for too long. There is no order to theses. 

-Between Heaven and Hell

-A Good Cup of Coffee

-Lionheart Abyss short collection

-Kira and Danaca Holiday Short

-Nymph-Elf Romance Short; A errotica from the Lionheart Abyss series

-Lionheart Abyss

-The Adventures of Ragnar

-Silver Mane

-Lesbian Vampire Romance

Again, all of these are in different places right now, but it feels really good to see all of my current projects. Quite a few of these have been NaNoWriMo projects and are fairly far. Some will be full length, other's shorts, still others just collections. I can't wait.
By the end of 2018 I will have at least two of these done and released. Let me know what you are looking forward to.
x

Making Friends.

     As a lesbian first and a writer second sometimes I find it hard to make new friends. Even more so sometimes it's hard to find people I could even talk to about my books. At least outside of my wife, whom I'm sure is sick of hearing about it. She's actually a really good sport about it.

     Anyway, it always amazes me when I do make a new friend even more so when said friend says they write as well. So now for the next few weeks we will swap stories over the next few weeks and if I am lucky, I'll have her as a friend for quite some time. Also I might be able to con her into being a beta for my current projects.

     It just goes to show, you never know who's in your same boat.

I love being Gay

Like really. Girls are so pretty and I just can't help myself.

It also never stop amazing me the ways that I impress them. Story time!

I'm at my day job and working with all females. No big deal, I get along great with my co-workers. This one however, super sweet girl, breaks a nail. I ask if she needs some nail glue. "Yeah." She says a little heart broken. I tell her no worries I have some in my bag, I'll go get it. Her face is priceless and her nail is saved. You don't have to want anything from a woman other than her happiness.

Two Weeks!

     While I did miss a few days, today is day 14 of my daily writing. As in I have for 14 day's, wrote 1,000 words. I can't even believe it myself. Odd considering I've done NaNoWriMo for a few years now. I always come close (around 30,000 or so) I've never actually won. This little project however, is showing me what I can actually do. It's also been a wonderful help for brainstorming.

Amazon Author Page

Hey everyone, just got done making an Author profile on Amazon. It's pretty neat. You can also find all of my books there.

Skadia Trazon on Amazon

Inspiration

     As an only child who grew up in my fathers business, I had very little escape from the real world. The one thing however, that I did have, was books. I could find them and get lost in the worlds for hours and days on end. Any time I needed a break, I could dive right in. It got to a point where I would re-read books, and they would envelope me like a warm blanket. There were a few of those while I struggled through high school. One writer would be the one that actually helped shape me into who I want to be today. J.K. Rowling.

     Yes the famed Harry Potter author. She's been nothing but inspiration to me through all of my writing. The first one in the series came out while I was just exiting elementary school. I remember seeing it in the Scolastic "news paper". Where kids can buy books through their school. I was so excited. I then started to read, and instantly put it down. It wouldn't be until her forth book came out and the first movie was set to release when I picked it back up, determined to finish it. My senior year of High School, the final book came out, and I finished it in a straight through read. To this day, the series is one of my favorites.

     She was there with me through some of the hardest times in my life. Now as an adult I admire her for so much more. I found out that she was on her last leg, children needed her and she was jobless and needing help. She honed her craft and with some luck she landed it. Her life turned around all because she never stopped writing. That's strength. That's the type of person I can only hope to be in this life. Even today after she is doing well enough that she never has to publish another book, she still writes. With her program Lumos she's helping children around the world, not just in her country. I admire her, not as just an Author, but as a person.

Writers and Ice Cream Shops

     I was reading a ebook today on my train ride home and ran across something that got my brain working. Up until this moment I had been thoroughly enjoying the book. It’s called “52 Ways to Sell More Books” by Penny C. Sansevieri. Here is the exert from the book, it was in a chapter about knowing your industry.

“What would you think of a store owner who opened a yogurt shop in downtown San Diego only to find that fave other stores were opening within months of his, one of them a very successful franchise with a huge following? Wouldn’t this make you sort of wonder why on earth this store owner would do that, I mean open a store without doing the proper research?”

Now when I first ready this I had to pause a few moments and reread it just to be sure I got this right. Because that wasn’t actually the first thing I thought about. I didn’t in fact wonder why he would do that, because while in the end game it might not have been the smartest choice, we don’t know his full plans. I thought a man here has a goal and a dream, and he’s doing whatever it is that he set his mind to. That part was inspiring.

Let’s face it, Most big chain ice cream/ yogurt shops have all the same stuff, are priced a tad too high and have a high percentage of High Schooler employees. If this man does things well, and proper, and brings something new that those big name places can’t. He right there would have a hand up on the market. Maybe he will make all of his product in house and fresh, instead of from some bag mix shipped from a warehouse.

It hurt me a bit when I read this and I took some time to reflect on how it was said, because yes I can understand her point, and the need to know what your industry is doing, but with how she words it, none of us should be writing. Taking the same example that she gave us. “Why do something when someone bigger than you is already doing it?” If that was the case, we should all give up now because I’m fairly sure most of the basic ideas have been used.

I personally believe that no two minds work the same or think alike. How you write something, let’s say a dragon setting a city on fire, and how I write it, can come across very different to a number of readers. Some will like yours others will like mine. So back to the ice cream shop. If you write, and you specialize in something. You write it. Take those big ideas and open your mind and heart up and let it loose next to those “big chains” (or authors in this case.) and show the world how you do it differently. We need stories, books, ideas. We need them to be new and fresh because what works for you, doesn’t always work for me.

What are your feelings on this topic?  

NaNoWriMo 2016 Day 12

     Wow, these past twelve days have just flown by. I also can't believe that I broke over 20,000 words today total. 21,000+ words, in 12 days. That alone is crazy. I am happy that my writing has finally gotten back on track at least. It gives me hope.

     This year wasn't just about writing a novel. At least not for me. After my fail at this event last year I was ready to throw in the towel with writing. I told myself that I couldn't do it, and that I wasn't good at it. I didn't however, just give up. My lovely partner told me to take some time off of work and focus on what I wanted to do with my life. My heart told me that I wanted to write. So I did. This past year I have published six (6) books. That is another amazing number. I can't help but to be proud of myself.

     I did of course find fault in my own work. The things that I did publish were short and it was hard for me to actually work on them. I would get some inspiration and do good for maybe a day or two, then I would fizzle out. Lesson Learned (part one) was actually all written in one night, well at least the rough draft was. I still didn't think that I could make this passion of mine a hobby.

     NaNoWriMo this year was a chance. One of my personal last chances. I wanted to use this year not only to write a story I have been working on for more than six years. It was a chance to get myself into a daily writing habit. My own personal goal was to write 2,000 words a day. I haven't quite done that, but I can say that I have written every single day this month so far. I even did some words on the most stressful day (election day). It wasn't a lot, but it was progress.

     I am now here, my average at roughly 1,700 and some odd words a day. On top of working full time. I am beyond proud of myself and am finally giving myself permission to pursue this as more than just a hobby. This just goes to show you, that if you want to write, you will. Nothing can stop the stories.

     Get that word count in. Every. Single. Day. Even if it's just 10 words, do it.

Halloween Mix Up

Just a little tidbit of a collaboration I'm working on.

     It was like any other October night; the air was crisp and light, a hint of cold on its breath. Skadia stood over her cauldron mixing clockwise. She mumbled a few words as she went over the recipe again. The mix was almost done, and it was going to be the talk of the town. Each year she made a spiced pumpkin ale and gave it out to the community, anyone who wanted some was more than welcome. It brought her pride, and the others looked forward to it. This year she had been working on making it the best its ever been. Within the last few moments a thought struck her—one final thing to make it perfect. She pulled her robes up off her ankles and hurried off to the cabinet.

While her back was turned her beloved fur babies decided to help her. Anya, a great black cat with golden eyes watched from her perch up in the rafters. Her eyes followed as the youngest of the three fur children strutted over to the cauldron. “Snowfire, you shouldn’t be near that, mom will skin you.” The oldest of the witches three warned her.

“I will be fine, I just want to look.” Snowfire protested as she leapt up onto the ledge just above the bubbling mix.

The largest of the three came over and sat off to the side, well away from the cast iron pot, her long gray fur sleek and smooth. “Snow, you should really listen to Anya, remember what happened last year?” Her voice was low and smooth.

The year prior Snowfire had actually fallen into the drink. She was fine luckily, but Skadia was fairly upset and had to remake the entire batch. “I’m being careful!” The small white cat protested. As she was distracted by her sisters however, she slipped, one paw catching on a potion bottle on the shelf. The small bottle rocked back and forth on the wooden shelf.

“Snow!” Both cats called to their younger sibling.

Anya leapt down, her fur catching the warm firelight. She landed on the shelf and grabbed Snowfire in her teeth, pulling her little sister up onto the shelf. The small bottle had fallen over, the cork popping out when it landed on its side, the liquid dripping into the ale brew below. The eldest cat pushed the bottle upright but sadly she was too late. More than half the potion had already spilled out.

“She comes!” Bean whispered and in a gray streak went bolting from the room.

“Come on, quick, and be careful!” Anya commanded Snowfire as she leapt from the shelf. Snowfire followed, her ears and tail down.

“I didn’t mean to...” She apologized to her elder.

Anya licked her little sister’s head, smoothing her speckled fur. “It’s alright. Mom will fix it.” The two trotted off just as Skadia walked back into the room, her mystery ingredient in hand.

She tossed the final thing in and mixed it up right quick. With a satisfied smile she took a small sip. It was perfect. She let it cool, and got it into bottles. She sealed them up and rushed out to give them to some friends who were waiting for this batch. She took plenty and before long her friends would share them as well with their own.

As the moon rose high in the sky she returned home and sighed happily. She bottled the rest of the batch and left them all out on the porch for anyone to have. She tucked herself into bed, proud of what she did that day and she couldn’t wait to hear what her friends thought of this year’s drink.  

Procrastinating

     Procrastinating, it's just about my favorite thing to do. When it comes to editing, I do it more than ever. It makes me mad while I do it, but it's almost like an addiction. Like right now! I'm halfway through editing a chapter, but decided to tell you all about it instead. I'm also going to tell you I made bread today! The chapter is still not finished.

     I have noticed today (day 3 or 4 of editing), it's getting easier to run through it. I'm far from enjoying it, but today I don't feel like I'm just staring at the screen. Then again, I know I'm not because I'm over here, rambling and wasting my time. I'm also checking facebook and my amazon sales sheet, because the lack of numbers slightly drives me? Some days? No idea, all I know is I need to get back to editing. So while you continue to waste time on the internet, check out my books! Give me a reason to look at my amazon sales sheet!

.99c read here. Short sweet and to the point! 
If longer is more your thing, check out a mini series I did.

Now for your tidbit today. My favorite part from my reading today.

     "I don't think I have, Bob."
     "That's not my name," he said, and he finally took his eyes off me long enough to flick them towards the parking lot. 
     Shit. He was calculating how fast he'd have to run to get rid of me.
~Black Dog, Caitlin Kitteredge

My best Writing Advice.

     Don't quit your day job. Trust me. I know it will be hard, but even just going down to part time will be better than quitting. It takes time and money to build your name as an author. Even if your first book is a hit, it will take time to write, edit, and perfect, all while getting your name out there. One self publishing author I spoke too said it took her three years to earn a wage.

     Do yourself a favor, keep your day job until the checks start coming in.

~Skadia

Leora’s mother opened the seal and read the letter. By the time she reached the end she was in full blown tears. -A Paladin She'll be. Skadia Trazon 

Breaks

     Sometimes we work ourselves to our limit before we remember that we need a break from time to time. You have them at work to help keep employees "sane" and to break up the mental wear and tear on the brain. Sometimes, you need to do that in real life too.

     I love writing, I do it almost every day (if not every day!), but some days are more taxing on me than others. Days when I work on editing my work, normally after a chapter I don't even want to get a glass of water, let alone do anything else. Those days kill my productivity more than anything else. Even worse, I cannot take breaks while editing, or I won't want to go back. Some days, I need to make myself do it.

     When writing it's easy for me to set up breaks. "Write 1,000 words, then go make some lunch." Super easy and after the break I'm normally ready to jump right back into my work. Some days I mess up and let myself play video games during my breaks. While they inspire me to write, they also are a big distraction. Progress is progress.

     Even more important that a fresh mind is a working one. Some days my depression hits me hard. Like the days where I have a hard time dragging myself even out of my bed kind of hard. Days like that I use as my "off" days. Most days I try to at least do one productive thing, but on days like that, I change things up. I tell myself that I don't have to do anything, that it's my day off and that tomorrow will be better. Some days it works. Some days I even get things done and feel more proud of myself, while helping myself pull out of the negative feelings.

     It's okay to take breaks. To take some personal time for yourself. Do it. You will normally feel better and get more done!

     What are some ways you make yourself take a break from normal life?


     I also think that each post now will contain some small parts of whatever I am working on or a hit on what I have been reading as well with some tidbits from that mixed in. Keep you all on your toes.

"The great man pulled his wife off and looked her in the face. “I’ll be home soon my Zena.” He kissed her head, stooped down and picked up his children. “You ladies have to take care of your mom while I am gone, alright?” The two younger girls squealed as he planted mustache kisses on their cheeks."  -A Paladin She'll Be, Skadia Trazon

 

Working on something for tomorrow

Title says it all really. Not much a post today because I am working on that review of Winterwood. That way you can all have a quality post of it. Enjoy your day!

Poppy - Profile

     Last but not least, may I introduce Poppy. Hope you all enjoyed meeting my girls, get your favorites and be sure to tell me! I love hearing from you.

Full Name: Unknown

Nicknames: Poppy (is known as Poppy to everyone)

Titles:

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: April, 3rd

Age: 723 Human years = 25 fae years

Hair: Dark brown roots with tips that change color, long, normally with flowers

Skin: Tan/Olive

Eyes: White/light blue

Height: 5' 9''

Weight: 75 lbs

Place of Residence: Thornwood Forrest

Place of Birth: Thornwood Forrest

Occupation: Protector of the Forrest

Appearance: Lean, slender, wispy. Childlike face with large eyes and small stag antlers. Extra joints on her fingers, only has 4 per hand.

Fashion of Choice: Corset made of Birch bark and willow wood. Thick ivy covering her bottom bits. Sometimes other foliage as clothing and adornments.

Personality: Fun, playful, mischievous, mysterious, perverted.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Motivations: The wonder of nature

Disposition: Can’t take anything serious

Outlook: Life will continue. Wanna fuck?

Religion: Child of Pan

Sexuality: Omnisexual.

Positive Traits: Resourceful, connected to nature.

Negative Traits: Can’t take anything seriously, sexulizes everything, has her own personal agenda

Misc. Quirks: Can shape shift, can float, glide, and go through some things (non-human)

Interests: Grass, animals, rocks, trees, flowers

Likes: Nature, sex

Dislikes: People and things.

Favorite Food: Fruit

Favorite Drink: Flower nectar

Favorite colors: Green, bright caterpillar green

Hobbies: Sex

Theme Songs: Lindsey Stirling - "Crystallize", Nine Inch Nails - "Closer"

History: Coming soon to a book near you.