A Shattering Review or Two

Review One: “A Thousand Glass Flowers” by Prue Batten


This is one of those books that feeds my reading addiction like pellets for my stove. Seriously you buy the pellets, feed them into the stove and they heat our family room like nobody’s business. She did the same thing with her book, lighting my mind with the passion to read. The only reason I remembered to make dinner is because my husband reminded me to.

I started reading this book on January 29th, thinking I was getting a head start on my February novel. Yeah, that little percent read mark, well it made it to 100% before midnight on January 31st. That’s okay I’ll read “Walter’s Purple Heart” by Catherine Ryan Hyde this month. But what made “A Thousand Glass Flowers” so good that I had to read it whenever I had the chance to?

It was most definitely the characters. It starts with Lalita who is a young scribe; a profession normally reserved for men. She is a strong woman, raised by her loving aunt and uncle, suddenly thrust into a world of lust and greed. Opposite her is Finnian who is a Færan or magical being that is ‘Other’ than human. At first it’s hard to form an opinion of him, but as his story unfolds you feel deep sympathy for the man who grew up without love.

Their connection was painted with such skill that by the end of the second chapter, I had to read two more; hers and his. Continuing on two chapters at a time I waited with baited breath for their paths to cross. But, there is more at stake than their meeting as they race to find the Cantrips of Unlife. Sometimes working together sometimes apart, each with their own reason for the hunt.

Besides the characters, there is the rich and varied world though which they travel. “A Thousand Glass Flowers” takes us on a tour of the Mediterranean coastlands. The names of places are slightly changed, but familiar enough that only a minimum of description was required to immerse me in it. A feat Prue pulled off well.

But in the end, it was the characters I cared about, wondering if they would ever trust each other enough to work as a team and how their quest would end. I’ll warn you that the end had no happily ever after, but it was satisfying. So satisfying I’m not even trying to imagine what happens next. And that’s pretty amazing since I have a tendency to imagine more.

Review 2: CHARLEY’S PUBLISHED!

Okay, Okay, this isn’t a review view but I just had to do some squealing for her. Those of you readers who are from Protagonize will know her best as SpookOfNight. She’s probably said hi to everyone on the site at least once. Anyway, she’s taken the plunge, submitted a short story and voila! Publication in “SaffinaDesforges Presents... (The Kindle Coffee-Break Collection Vol.2)” – that’s the Kindle US link, Charley’s got the Kindle UK link on her blog. I’m sure other platforms will follow for every country possible.
The i in MWiDP doesn’t stand for international for no reason!

I think I might have to see if I can get in the next edition, so we can get a running streak – Miriam in Volume 1, Charley in Volume 2 and Me in Volume 3... But what in the world would I submit?

:} Cathryn Leigh

Am I Worthy?

Last week I mentioned something about having Guest Posts on my blog. Well apparently, the time was right as my two good friends Charley and Miriam immediately volunteered. Of course they won’t do it for free, but at least it’s only words they are asking me to write in return. So look for Charley and Miriam to appear here and in exchange I’ll appear on their blogs.

In addition, on Monday, Saffina Desforges had a facebook status looking for un-published author’s who wouldn’t mind showcasing their work on her blog. I volunteered. I must have been the first response because she e-mailed back saying if I got something to her by January 25th, I’d be the first. That’s a “Yikes!” and “Oh My Gooses” all at once. I wasn’t sure I had anything worthy, but thanks to Charley and Miriam , I have a good candidate, if my revising doesn’t then make it unworthy. *grin*

"We're not worthy" - Wayne's World

And since we are talking about guest blogging, I must mention Mark Williams. After I got my Kindle for Christmas, he kindly gave me two books, with my promise to do a review. He said if it was fairly lengthy and in depth he might consider posting it to his blog. I don’t know if I can write a review worthy of that but I’ll give it my best shot. The least I can do is post a condensed version to Amazon. I ought to be worthy enough to do that.

So am I worthy?

Yes, I am and you can be too. You just have to work hard, believe in yourself, and have a few cheerleaders to remind you that you got what it takes.

:} Cathryn Leigh

Dreaming of a Goal

This seems to be the time of year when we all reflect upon what we have done in the past year and what we are going to do in the current one. A friend expanded this and blogged about where she wanted to be in 2020. That’s nine years from now.

In nine years my daughter will be in 9th grade (Year 10) and my son in 7th grade (Year 8). Yikes! That means I’ll be getting hit with one in Middle School and one in High School. What I’m doing at that point will largely depend upon what my kids want to be doing. Of course that doesn’t mean I can’t set my own goals for nine years from now.

But I do have a long term goal: Turn my writing into a second career so that when I retire from the day job, I won’t really be retired, but have a portable career that will supplement my retirement savings to allow me to give to the charities closest to my heart, spend quality time with family and travel (hopefully by motorcycle).

Quite the goal huh? I’m not sure if it’s measurable, concise, or has a real deadline, but that’s the dream. I have other things I want to do, but they are sitting (like perform in the Nutcracker) until my children get older and don’t need me as much (as if! *giggles*).

Phoenixes of Vervell by Gabriel Morrison

So this next year I’m focusing more on my writing. Last year, saw me begin to revise and edit in a way I never have before. I plan on doing even more editing and polishing of my Phoenixes of Vervell in 2012.

Yes, beyond the two collaborations I have going, my main goal for 2012 is to revise the Wholawski out of my trilogy. Sarah’s Phoenix needs to be aligned with Phoenix Rising and Phoenix Triumphant, and Skathains replaced with Arenians. Then I want feedback from beta readers and a critique group. After another edit, I’ll start submitting in the traditional method. *nervous nail chewing*

I know, I’ve been reading a lot of Indie publishing blogs. And I’m not discounting that route at all. In fact, I suspect I’ll end up wandering down that path anyway. But, after a bit of soul searching, I’ve decided that part of my journey to becoming an author needs to include an attempt at traditional publishing (aka rejection).

Right now I’m in a place where I don’t need the income from selling books and my dream has been to see my books on the shelves of a bookstore. Don’t worry, I won’t wait forever to get my final acceptance (or take a predatory contract *shudder*). Seeing my books in a bookstore is the stretch goal; the bottom line is to be published and to continue being published.

I’ve got these stories in my head and I want to share them with more than just my immediate family, or even my extended family. I’m thinking the world! (Or at least those people in the world who want to hear about ordinary females doing extraordinary things and discovering that love surrounds them.) *grin*

Now back to work editing Phoenix Triumphant. *wink*

:} Cathryn Leigh

It’s NaNovel Update Number 3!

All right we’ve gotten over the midway hump and we’re now at Day 17 of NaNoWriMo!  

First, we have the Statistics:

Total Word count:  42,805

Total Page Count:  146*
Total Time Spent:  34.55 hours
Average Words per minute:  20
Average Pages per hour:  4

*by the way, I’ve got my pages set up with double spacing, that why the page count might look a little high. I’m planning on printing this for editing by hand, rather than the electronic method I’ve been using for Phoenix Triumphant.

Second, we have the Write-Ins:

Well the family and my husband’s work have been conspiring against me. Still after a failed attempt at making it to the local library on last Wednesday I made it last night! I even found a fellow Writer there, trying to make up for lost days. I averaged 28 words per minute in the hour I was there, so I’d say it was successful. Still hoping to get to one of the big Write-In’s that happen closer to my work.

 

Lastly, we have my notes

Okay, so Light Speed is pretty slow when you have to travel 1,000 light years. I’ve discovered some interesting things about space travel. There’s a lot, and I mean A LOT of time spent twiddling your thumbs. Thankfully Rachael has an over a million books on file and has Michael to translate some of the more ancient works written by me, Miriam and Spook in the 21st Century A.D. Remember Rachael and company are living in the 41st Century A.C. (After Colonization).

I have gotten around to introducing Michael’s half-brother, Kron, and Rachael and Michael’s daughter, Lupita. In fact she’s got the best line written so far, so I think today’s excerpt will feature that. I’m looking forward to introducing Adam soon, the cybernetic aborted baby of Rachael and Traverse. Let me tell you. This is a fun cast!

 

“I think I’ve found a solution to your problem on how to fund your revolution,” Kron stated.

Lupita sipped the tea, but was wary of the Vidal. Kron had warned her about the stuff when he’d first stashed it in his house. To have him bring it out was a sign that something big was up. Bigger, she suspected, than his off handed comment about funding.

“Is it legal?”

“Not in the least.” Kron shook his head as he sipped his Vidal and then his tea. “Might involve Pirates too.”

“Space Pirates?” Lupita leaned forward, eager to know more.

“And you’re mom.” Kron sipped his Vidal and then his tea. He chuckled. “You can close your mouth now.

“Sorry,” Lupita sat back and nearly drank her Vidal in one sip. Luckily the burning stopped her and she spit half of it back. She gulped the tea, though it burned in a different manner going down her throat. “You could have been a bit more tactful.”

“Yes, but I’d say that expression was worth a kilo of Transium.”

Lupita snorted. “Don’t make me go Transition on your ass.”

Kron frowned. “You’ve been hanging around them boys too much.”

“Them boys, are going to be my army, if I can get them some weapons,” Lupita spat back. “So how’s this funding, my mom and Space Pirates linked together.”

“Not quite sure yet, but you know that spacer you’re Dad’s been traveling with?”

“The ‘Spacer bitch’?” It was the term she’d heard thrown about by her grandmother the few time Kron had gotten her close enough. Just glimpses of her father, but she’d known it was him. Whatever pack instinct came with being one of the Nueri Nin Ni, told her that he was family, close family, just as it had told her that Kron was related, though it’d taken longer to figure out how.

Kron leaned forward and Lupita reeled in her thoughts. “Well that ‘spacer bitch’ happens to be your mother.”

Luppita’s jaw dropped once more, but this time she kept enough cool to quickly close it before Kron could comment. “Are you sure,” she looked at Kron sideways, looking for any hint that he was pulling her leg.

“Your father just about came out and said it... How did he put that to me?” Kron sat back as he sipped the last of his Vidal while thinking. “Something along the lines of they got hitched when they were teens, only she went by a different name back then.”

Lupita froze, tea cup half way to her lips. “You’re not joking one iota?”

“No,” Kron looked dead serious. “And she’s got an in to the black market, IF we can supply the Transium.”

For thsoe of you who know Spook and a little bit about her NaNo Project, the Vidal drink, a gin made flavored with Vidallia from the twin sun system of Tellirax, was indeed named for her character, Vidal. Don't worry, they gave me their seal of approval.

And What about you, my readers, how ar you doing? And how are your NaNovels going?

:} Cathryn Leigh {:

It’s NaNovel Update Number 1!

Well NaNo has begun and I’ve set up a little NaNo update template to minimize time spent away from my NaNovel. So here’s what I have to say on Day 2 of NaNoWriMo.

First, we have the Statistics*:

Total Word count:  6327

Total Page Count:  22

Total Time Spent:  5.31 hours

Average Words per minute:  20

Average Pages per hour:  4

*Don’t worry I’m not calculating that every time I post. Nope, I already have a spreadsheet that I log my start and end time, as well as the total words and pages. Then Excel does all the calculations for me. If you think that’s organized you should see my Nueri binder...

Second, we have the Write-Ins:

There are five weeks to NaNo this year, so I’m giving myself a goal to attend four Write-Ins AND the TGIO Party. I’ve already made it to the Kick-Off party, which was a blast. Being at my mom’s for this first week I’m going outside my region (and taking my Mom with me) to attend a Write-In on the south shore of Boston. We’ll be attending that tonight.

Lastly, we have my notes

I won a binder at the Kick-off party and spent the last week filling it with my map of the galaxy and the starships I’ve designed. Funny part is next year I’ll start work on designing one for my mom’s story that I’ve just about convinced her to do for NaNo next year.

Now as to how my story is going. I am having a blast. So is Stowaway, the large tabby feline, who gets to do the Cheshire Cat act because he knows he’s in a novel (this is Dare 1) and he’s decided that’s his purpose for being there (double dare) and he’s going to be trying to convince them they are in a novel (double credit). Only I think he’s doing that more for his own entertainment than anything else.

Oh, I’ve also managed to find a way to mention a few trilogies that my friends and I have written *grin*

Rachael let out a swear as the deceleration made her mess up her course.
“Have you down loaded anything new to my tablet?’ Michael asked.
“Death and Fairies, Aeserion and The Phoenixes of Vervell.” Rachael spoke responded with out paying much attention to what she said.

That’s right through out the story I get to make references to these three book as Michael works on translating the ancient Latin alphabetic texts to the oriental like character language now used. Apparently, Rachael’s father used to read these trilogies to his kids. She can’t read the Latin alphabet and translation keeps Michael out of her hair while they’re out in space.

Now, should I start counting the number of times Rachael beds someone? I could include Michael too, to increase the count. He’s not nearly as bad as her though and only beds others out of necessity. (What happened to those anti harassment laws? I have no idea!)

And now I’m off to do some old fashioned cooking on a wood stove. *giggles* It’s back down from the year 4000 AC (after Colonization) to 1800 AD. I’m just a century hopper!

Oh and how are you NaNovels going?

:} Cathryn Leigh

Count Down to NaNoWriMo

In less than a week, November starts and with it the [Inter] National Novel Writing Month begins. Never heard of it? (Though I’m thinking all of my blog readers probably have.) Then you can check them out over at the NaNoWriMo website. As they put it NaNo is “30 days of literary abandon”. It’s the one month you’re allowed to write crap in, so long as you remember to edit it out before submitting it to anyone... Well unless you all want a laugh over NaNoisms; Miriam has some good ones on her blog.

Anyway, this year I’m going for my Science Fiction story, which is centered around Rachael Elizabeth Anderson. I’ve dragged her and her lover/husband Michael Rembrandt Brocktovitch over the coals in a draft story that a few people have read. Let’s see what have I done? Well I have:
*  Made them fall in love, get married and have a child all before the age of 16 then separated all three of them by force when the child is six months old
* Given them temporary and permanent memory blocks so that they don’t remember their past (aka the above statement)
* Killed off Rachael’s family and made her think she did it
* Brainwashed Michael into thinking he killed his wife and child
* Had Rachael become indebted to space pirates who forced her to get an abortion and then sold the embryo without her knowledge
* Had Rachael and Michael reunite and fall back in love

Well, when I first thought about doing this I was going to try and do an utter rewrite on what I’d previously written, but that’s kind of cheating. Plus I’ve discovered that doesn’t necessarily work so well. Or at least I don’t think it would for me.

Instead, I’m going to take off from where I left off. Essentially Michael and Rachael have entered into a contract to work for this particular planetary government. It’s highly lucrative and Rachael’s got the qualifications as a space courier. Some of the things I’m going to throw at them:
* Reappearance of the United Government Rachael’s parents used to work for, they’ve finally gotten around to tracking down her ship, which used to be theirs
* Recovery of memories, at least on Rachael’s part, and the unraveling of their convoluted past
* Reunion with the Pirate’s son, who was the father of the aborted baby
* Appearance of the aborted son whose mind is very human though his body is mostly machine
* Contact from the daughter Rachael and Michael thought were dead

Yup, so I think I’m ready. Once I’ve printed out all my space diagrams, spaceship diagrams, spaceship specifications... What? I have been working on these since 2003 you know. :}

But what about you guys? Are you doing NaNo? Are you ready?

:} Cathryn Leigh

P.S. What’s going to make this fun and difficult is the fact that Rachael is a Nymphomaniac, Adrenal Junkie and prone to mood swings. Oh, and Michael is a werewolf (as is their daughter and Rachael is half one) with a six month cycle. *grin*

A Versatile Blogging Award

Earlier this week I got nominated for the Versatile Blogging Award by two totally cool people: Miriam and Charlie. Now as a recipient of this award I have some rules I have to follow.

Fist I have to thank the person (or in my case people) who nominated me.

So, Miriam (A Farewell to Sanity) and Charlie (The Leaning Tower ofPlot), thank you! 

*Aside* I think they were coordinating an ambush because they nominated me on October 15th! I certainly wouldn’t put it past them. *End Aside*

You know I love you two and will give you lots of hugs when we meet at last!

  

Secondly I have to share seven random facts about myself.

Yikes! Do I have to do fourteen because I was nominated twice? I hope not. I think coming up with seven might be hard. Perhaps lunch will help. *Fifteen minutes later* You get seven, but some of them are going to be quite detailed. *grin* 

1. Up until a month before I was born I had an older brother, Eric Benjamin Adams, who died of a rare genetic disease involving the Kreb’s Cycle. He would have been a year and a half older than me.
2. I’m an only child but my daughter will tell you I have a big family.
   
   a.  My Dad’s remarriage when I was 8 or 9 gave me a step-brother and step-sister who are 10 to 15years older than I am. He has two kids, she has three.
   b. My Mom’s remarriage when my daughter was six months only gave me four step-brothers who are not much older than me. One is engaged (or thinking about it), three are married and one of them has a daughter one month older than my son.
3. Writing became my main hobby two years ago when I joined Protagonize and found like minded people to cheer me on. The hobbies that have fallen by the wayside are:
   
   a.  knitting
   b.  crochet
   c.  beading
   d.  sewing (but I still do Halloween costumes!)
   e.  quilting
   (I guarantee that I have unfinished pieces in all of those categories, including writing.)
4. I still get the heebee geebees from dark rooms in houses. This is especially true when I’m heading up stairs in a darkened house. I can feel things creeping up behind me, and I’ve been known to start walking/running if no one else is around.
5. There are times when I also believe in monsters under my bead and jump under the covers and wrap myself up so it can’t get me.
6. When I retire, I want to be a writer and to supplement my retirement savings with book sales. I also hope to have the time to:
   a.  make costumes based upon clothing I’ve created for my worlds
   b.  travel to lots of different places in our world
   c.  be the neighborhood Grandmother (or at least have been enough of a mother to my children’s closest friends to be grandmother to their kids...)
7. I have a love/hate relationship with the [Inter]National Novel Writing Month.
   a.  I love it because it gives me planned time to write away from home in the company of other writers
   b.  I hate it because it forces me to write faster than I like, eliminating my ability to take time and walk out plot points (aka go for a walk to think through what’s going on in my plot and where it’s going next)
   c. Apparently love wins over the hate as I signed up to do it again this year!

Now, Thirdly, I have to pass this award on to five to seven of my deserving blogging buddies.

That’s going to take a bit of figuring see as my two best blogging buddies nominated me, and I’m going to try and use the no backsies (at least not right away) rule. Looks like I’m going to be subscribing to some fellow Protagonize member blogs so I can nominate them *giggles*

1. Eloosive (Daily Writing Practice)
2. Jackerbie (Crumb Trails)
3. Burndtree (Burndtree)
4. Alyssa (Literaturistic Blog)
5. Jessica M. Vazquez, aka Arwym (Crafted Dreams)

And Lastly, I need to contact those people I nominated and congratulate them.

Well if you’re one of those people and you haven’t been contacted by me, you will be soon. Just remember the rules are as follows:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5-7 deserving blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them!

May we all gain a reader or two in this whole fun process!

:} Cathryn Leigh

The Power of Dreams

Dreams and the waking conscious are powerful things. How many times do we wake up with a strong idea rattling around our head? Or perhaps, you suddenly bolt upright because yesterday’s problem now has a solution. Yet, even when they aren’t giving out story ideas or solving problems they can be entertaining and sometime frightening. Dreams also give us insight into ourselves.

When I was younger, around the time of my parents’ divorce, I had a reoccurring dream. It never happened the same way twice but it was always the same thing.

I would be at a place waiting for my mother to pick me up and take me home. I’d wait for a bit and then shed arrive. Sometimes she’d get out and talk to the person whose house I was at. Sometimes she’d just say something through the open car window. But, every time she would drive off without me. I would be left there, standing where I was crying.

Even retelling the dream makes me misty eyed. I’m still afraid of being abandoned or forgotten, just not so much that I continue to have that dream.

Another dream form my youth, about the same time frame I think, is the one in which I died; yes, died. It’s a bit convoluted and hard to describe, but I’ll try.

It starts off at night in an abandon bus yard. The yellow school buses are all park, silent for the night. There is a jacket lying on the ground and, being cold, I pick it up. No sooner do I put it on then all the bus headlights flick on like monsters opening their eyes. I run and manage to make it inside the house. I’m not quite sure what happens inside the house, but there are more people and I think ghosts that chase me. Then it’s morning and I go for a walk with my dog. We head just into the woods where I’ve dug out a fort. Climbing inside we curl up for a nap, oblivious to the construction equipment nearby. We get bulldozed over and die. Now a spirit, I wander about until I come across this amusement park. I can still clearly see it in my mind, but describing it is a completely different story. Take the Titanic, cut it in half and set it on land, slightly buried into the ground. Now paint it pink, hot pink. Add zip lines from the decks to the ground in multiple places, and then populate it with arcade games, bowling allies and kids. Yeah, something like that. So, as a spirit, I float up to one of the decks and meander about. Then I take possession of a girl. I have no idea who, but I’m alive again I guess.

Looking back I can say, my dog’s death had to do with the fact we had to put her down eventually. But the Bright Pink ship, and there is now way I knew this when I had the dream, but the Bright Pink ship was related to my mom’s first boyfriend after the divorce. The man hated the color pink. The brighter and more fluorescent the more he hated it. He also happens to be the only person I hate.

So this turned out to have nothing to do with my original thought. But hopefully you were at least entertained by my dreams. Because what started this dream blog idea was my waking up early in the morning two days ago thinking about St. Malroy’s Forever and the fact that I might get to be a beta reader, and what kind of valuable feedback I might be able to give, being an American adult over 30.

:} Cathryn Leigh

A Forgotten Blog and a Morphing Plot

Okay so being one day late probably isn’t too bad, but I still I feel bad for not posting last night. I got a little caught up in cutting out fabric for my latest Halloween costume; The Dragon Queen. It sounds more impressive than it probably will be, but I’m hoping that I will at least have wings that can be opened and closed.

Anyway, back to what I’d like to talk about; Phoenix Triumphant. Now, you would think that, having written the draft, editing would be a piece of cake and just a matter of working on sentence structure and warding. But no, not with Phoenix Triumphant, it is trying to go someplace completely different now.

The first half of the editing went fairly well. Not too many things were changed, and the parts that were easily slipped into the spot they replaced. Then it came time to introduce James. Obviously he was in there before, but I did some writing to figure out just why the Vervellean rescue party would trust the Azurean, who had a pretty high rank in General Wholawski’s army, to come with them.

That is where the major changes started. You see James went from a nervous, scared guy who was afraid of being killed upon return, to, well, a much stronger more take charge kind of guy. Don’t get me wrong I like this change in him, despite the fact he walks the line of double agent well. I know what side he’s really on.

Still it means that if I don’t get my but into writing gear in the next three weeks, I’m going to run out of material to post on Protagonize. Something I suspect my Vervellean fans might get upset about.

Speaking of those fans, I cannot help but return my love for them. Without them this story wouldn’t have gone nearly as far, nor been sustained for as long. It’s amazing to think that Sarah’s Phoenix was posted nearly two years ago? Craziness!

So to all the people I could list (if I was at home and had my notes) who have read and commented as well as those who have faithfully squealed when the first post date of Phoenix Triumphant was announced: THANK YOU! *Heart*

:} Cathryn Leigh

Where Am I On the Road to Publishing

My current project, Phoenix Triumphant came about though my participation in National Novel Writing Month. My first time and I managed to get down 53,551, but the draft wasn’t completed until the end of February with a final count of 95,792 words. Yes, I’ve kept track. Perhaps even scarier is the fact I’ve kept track of my editing ours too.

If you’ve clicked on the link you’ll see I’ve posted approximately 42 Protagonize chapters. I call them that because the Protagonize format is best suited for short chapters, so I try to keep their size between one and two pages. Still that’s a lot. I’m actually up to Chapter 57 in my editing, having managed to push past my latest stuck point. I get them now and again.

Finding time to write and edit can be hard. As my little description up there states I’ve got a husband, two kids, a career and other hobbies that need balancing with my writing. The hubby and I have a stay at home ‘date’ night on Friday’s once the kids are in bed. The kids require dinner and supervised bedtime, so I’m never free until 10 pm at the latest every night I’m home. The career keeps me occupied from 9 am till 5/5:30 pm, though thankfully, being mostly desk work, I’m not without my Protagonize (you’ll see this site come up a lot. It’s my writing life line and what keeps me motivated). Lastly, there are my other hobbies. They’ve pretty much take the back seat to writing.

And that’s where I am. Currently my writing is being posted on Protagonize (I’ve got a link to my Protagonize profile over on the side bar). I’ve been doing that for about two years and I’m still surprised to find I have fans. Spook (the scribbler) Of Night and Delorfinde “Miriam” Telcontar being two of my bestest friends from that site.