You Don’t Need Money to be a God...

...You just need to be (no not a doctor, it costs a lot of money to earn that degree); a writer. You read me right. It doesn’t take any money at all to start writing. A walk to the local library, plop yourself down at the public computers and start typing. There are free writing sites out there (my favorite is Protagonize, of course). Or you could sign up for free e-mail and send the story out to the ones you love. But, either way, it’s totally free to dish out agony and pain on the characters you create.

Of course being a writer comes with its own pit falls. If you’re doing it like I do, your characters start to live inside your head and you’ll find yourself talking to them at odd moments. Worse yet they could take over you words and you might blurt something out. I’m serious. Charley’s characters took over her blog once to plead for help.

I haven’t had anything so drastic happen. I prefer to be a benevolent Goddess and love dishing out happy endings. Not ever afters mind you, those are simply unrealistic, but what they call in the Romance industry ‘happily for now’ – my life is full of those moments so I share with my characters, the good guys at least. They in turn protect me from the evil nasties I’ve begun to create.

It’s quite fun, actually, to see my character come to life and grow into their own persons. Plus, it’s a lot less stressful than raising my kids.  No one will accuse me of child abuse if I stuff a character into a bunker only to fill it with rotting vegetable stew. Not to mention those great character conversations that happen between me and Charley.

Of course, she’s like me so she doesn’t think I’m crazy for it. In fact I blame her for my characters becoming so vocal and active. Now I find them watching through my eyes and making observations about the world I live in. Sometimes keeping those thoughts to myself hard because... well, here’re two examples from Rachael.

Example 1

My hubby and I were watching Firefly, I can’t remember the episode now, but Rachel grins at me from inside my skull.

“I like him,” she comments as Captain Reynolds kicks the bad guy into the running engine because he won’t take the Captain’s message back to his nefarious boss.

Of course, she would like Mal. Though I created her before I ever say Firefly or Serenity, Rachael is a female version of him. She runs her ship without a crew, though... Or, she did until I decided to reunite her with her hodge podge family. Don’t let her grumbling fool you, she loves them and woe to anyone who tries to mess with them.

Example 2 (links in this example are 'not safe for work')

My hubby and I got cozy and started watching Diary of a Nymphomaniac and Rachael saunters into my brain.

“That’s what I am,” she states, indicating the main character with a smirk.

I think my jaw must have dropped, even if I didn’t say what I wanted to. I mean,

I’d known she was an adrenal junkie. And sure, she was a saucy minx and liked sex, but a nymphomaniac? That threw a wrench into the works on the loving romance I was hoping to write in there. Michael might never get over his depression now!

Yes, us writers may be the Gods of our creations, but our characters will assert their individuality. Of course if they annoy us too much we can alter their stories to add more physical or mental anguish. However, these are probably thoughts best not said out loud because, as Miriam so nicely blogged about, you might have to tell the police: “I’m Not a Psychopath. Honest!”

Have you had any moments like that? I told my hubby about a couple and decided not to tell him anymore. I love the dear man and don’t want him to think I‘m crazier than he already does. Not to mention he’s currently my best editor... when I can get him to edit my stuff!

*Giggles and Grins*

:} Elo / Cathryn

P.S. I’d like to thank Tammy J. Patton, whose comment on Anne’s blog about Writer Myths for the inspiration of this post – even if it took me a month to write and post it. {:

A Map is All You Need!

No fantasy book is complete without a Map. It’s your invitation to go places, and explore. Not to mention it is very handy for making sure it takes the proper amount of time to get from point A to point B... something I am a little, erm, obsessive about.

So how does one go about making a Map? Good question! I suspect I might enroll myself in some cartography classes (or hire a cartographer) eventually, but for now, this is how I'm going about making the map for my Phoenix Trilogy.

Rough Sketch

It all started with an idea. I wrote the very first book with no map at all, but when I got to revising for posting on Protagonize I needed a map to figure out timing. So, I made this rough sketch of what I thought Vervell and part of Azure looked like.

When I got to revising the second book, I needed something more. My map had no scale, and I needed more detail. Thus this, my second, and more detailed, version was born!

Detailed Sketch

Then I got into these whole world building exercises and found a link to some web pages about building a planet, which emphasizes there really aren’t planets of sand or forests or ice (Bonus 1).

One of the other points in the world building was that maps don’t have to be free handed. One way is to trace old maps, so I bought myself a World Atlas. I wish I could have the one I used to pour over when growing up, but the one I bought isn’t bad. It’s on the environmental side, but that means it has useful world maps, that show currents and climates.

Then I got to talking with Charley. We’ve always had a sense that our Phoenix and Aeserion trilogies take place on the same world. Both trilogies are set in a similar era of human evolution. And then there was the character invasions of each other’s plots in the third books, without thought to continuity! Anyway, I offered to layout her world of Cumnor and my world of Videra on one map.

Charley's Sketch

So this April, after Charley sent me this lovely sketch, and a barrage of email exchanges, I got out my tracing paper and atlas. Using one of the world maps, I began tracing land boarders and country boarders, mixing and matching, reversing and inverting, until I was relatively happy with the result.

After some more e-mails and some reconsiderations of the amount of water necessary, I finally have... The Map!

I’m still figuring it out – I’ve got the currents (dark blue lines in the ocean), mountain ranges (the grey/silver lines on the land), and major lakes and rivers (landlocked blue obviously). Now I need to work on climates and vegetation cover.

The Map!

Cumnor is solely Charley’s territory. She is the overlord supreme and is tackling at least four countries with, I don’t know how many, deities. (Bonus 2)

Videra is mine. Since Sarah’s from the USA Midwest, I felt the need to turn her world even more upside down, so Vervell,  Azure and the Areni Plains are actually located in the southern hemisphere and a mirror image from before. I, however, have stuck with two Gods for the entire continent. (Bonus 3)

The Pontus Isles, and Draconia are collaborative territories. They may or may not feature in our novels. Yet, they are there, just waiting for a mischievous Demi-God (or two) to set things in motion. The lonely Apanati Islands, however, are mine. I have a lament to write, which I intend to set there. (Bonus 4)

BONUSES

Now if you’ve been wondering what those Bonuses are... Well they are questions for you to answer.

1. What is the names of the ‘planets’ I reference and what universe do they belong to? – 4 possible points
2. Where is the Errion and Skatha Peninsula located, and what parts of the world did I use for this continent – 2+ possible points
3. Where is Azure, Vervell and the Areni Plains located and what parts of the world did I use for this continent? – 2+ possible points
4. What parts of the world did I use for these Island groups? – 4 possible points

E-mail me your answers (elorithryn at gmail dot com) by June 1st. The person with the most points gets to choose one prize from the list below. I’ll let you know the results in my June 6th post, though I'll e-mail the winner asking for their preference.

• A scaled sketch of your map
• Editing on up to 2,000 words of prose
• A guest blog post on you blog (you pick the topic)
• Post as a guest on my blog
• Pick a topic for me to blog about

Name Thyself, ye Witty Chapter!

In reading a blog post by Sierra Godfrey about 1star reviews, I got a little random in my commenting and mentioned trying to figure out “how to translate my ability to flip to the section I want in a paper book” to my Kindle. This then linked to the thought that people should use chapter names rather than chapter numbers.

I don’t know if naming my chapters this is something I would have done without having joined Protagonize. But, there’s something about having the Chapter title box, with the little saying “This is the title of your chapter. Make it catchy!” that makes me want to use words more than numbers.

And let me tell you, adding chapter titles with a hyperlinked table of contents and it’s pure magic! I have used my tables of contents many times A LOT. Most pf the time I”m looking up information to make sure I’ve remembered something correctly. Without those chapter titles I’d be lost. Even with them I’m sometimes a chapter or two off, still better than randomly guessing.

So now that I’ve exposed their value (to me at least) how does one come up with Chapter title? Sad to say they don’t name themselves, so why don’t I step through some my chapter titles, both good and mediocre, maybe some bad.

Firstly, some things to keep in mind: 

• Strike a balance between hinting and giving away what happens in the chapter.
• Stick to three words (not counting words like the, in, on, and, a, etc.).
• Make it catchy! Similar to bullet one, but now it’s purpose is to make readers keep reading.

Secondly, some examples, 2 from each book of my Phoenix Trilogy

• Scouting – As the title of the first chapter of the first book of the trilogy I feel it’s meh. It states what’s happening, but nothing really to pull us into the story.
• Ambush! – Book 1 is rife with titles like this one. It tells us exactly what’s going to happen in the chapter, and while it doesn’t give the outcome, it does spoil the surprise.
• Sarah and the Four Bears – I like this one because it gives reference to the story she ends up telling Bears children, maybe it could be better, but I liked it.
• Amber Waves of Pain – I like this one for many reasons. There’s lots of layers to it, though the simplest is that Sarah is in pain an ends up dreaming of the grain farm she grew up on. It’s a title that clicks about halfway through the chapter; just like a good book title. (Plus I love titles that make me think of songs) :}
• A Tour and More – Obviously there’s going to be some description in here, but what is going to be the more? Not a bad attempt at making the reader keep going. In fact I’m tempted to read the chapter because I’ve forgotten what the more is.
• Playing Telephone – I like this one for the juxtaposition of the modern invention in an archaic world. (That and it was one of the few decent titles I could find that weren’t song related, like Wheels on the Cart.)

So there you have it; some examples of chapter titles. I’ve given my opinions on them. What do you think about them?

:} Cathryn Leigh

P.s. There’s still a part of me that loves the Moomin Tolls chapters that also contain a summary, but I wouldn’t use those in something that wasn’t a kids book. Using them, while writing. to outline your next chapter however... Now that proved useful for writing my 2011NaNovel, The Nurie. :}

Phoenix may Triumph, but The Queen Needs her Wings!

So I’ve finished editing Phoenix Triumphant and, as my Protagonize fans know, I have only six chapters left to post. It feels weird to be done with editing. I floundered a bit last night, not quite knowing what to do with myself. I haven’t gotten up at 5 am to edit either. But, my goal to finish editing and posting by February 29, will be accomplished.

Next up on my list of things to do is edit Sarah’s Phoenix, or more to the point re-write it. I want that done by the end of September so I can send it out for critique. However, the month of march is going to be about preparing for that. I’ve got me a to do list.

• Revamp the map – I’m found the perfect are on the globe to use and I’m putting my county in the southern hemisphere. Nothing like setting a northern hemisphere girl down under. Just one more thing for Sarah to get used to.
• Outline the whole plot – Looking at the spreadsheet I used to keep track of time, distance, and events, it’s clear why Sarah’s Phoenix is only 28K words – Nothing happens! So I’m going to fix that by outlining Wholawski’s rise to power and his dastardly deed. Sarah’s going to be coming to face with a few things sooner rather than later. *snickers* I may even be mean enough to have Sarah witness Allmarah’s kidnapping... not that she’d realize it at the time. *grin*
• Move Sarah’s Phoenix to a private group – just something that will have to be done when i start revamping it. But, I don’t want to delete it because I want to keep the comments from my readers for posterity.

The unmodified dress

But before getting into all that work. I’m giving myself a break, well just from my Phoenixes.  I’ve still got my collaborations to work on and a novel to finish reading. Still I feel I deserve a reward. Not a food reward mind you, but my other pleasure, a costume reward. I’m going to start work on my Dragon Queen Costume and hopefully finish her wings. I believe I mentioned my Dragon Queen a while ago, well now, her are some pictures of it in its current state. Plus my the inspiration for my wings... sadly they didn’t come out nearly as well as they hoped, but hopefully they will end up cool.

My inspiration and pattern

I love Anne McCaffrey's Dragons!

The Wings  - They do not stay extended on their own. However you can see how thin the material is that I used. I still have to work out how I'm going to actually wear them. The trick is to make them somewhat easy to get on and off for traveling.

:} Cathryn Leigh / Elorithryn

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 Delinquent Blog

Normally I try to post something on Tuesday or Wednesday, while my hubby plays hockey, but I failed at that. Now, I’m not apologizing, but I thought you might be interested in why. You see, I’ve been map making. :}

On Tuesday night, I got so absorbed into making my map that I stayed up until midnight. And then last night I was up till eleven working on the same map. But, what map, you might ask? Why, the one for the city state of Solaris.

Solaris is the name of the city state in which I’ve set the Choose Your Own Adventure, The Prisoners, I blogged about a bit ago. I’ve got two wonderful women helping me with the project, Moonwalker and AmandaQuirky. We’re each taking a character to write for and see if we can’t get this interwoven tale going.

Anyway, back to the map. It’s nearly done. I’ve got some coloring to do and than I will be scanning it to share with my coconspirators. Yes, I’m probably going all out on the map, but at least it’s only one city, not a whole country or world. It also took two drafts and umpteen erasures to get it right. Okay so I’m a perfectionist too.

But just wait! It’ll look awesome. *grin*

:} Cathryn Leigh

Scared to Write

I need to stop procrastinating my writing on Phoenix Triumphant. And, it really is still writing more than editing since I haven’t gotten to a point where I can merge things together. I’m a bit fearful that I won’t be merging anything together at this point.

Right now I’m at the point where Phoenix is going to get his siege set up. And, I’ve got questions. Perhaps you do too. I know at least one of my followers is current on the story.

How long is the siege going to last?
Will Phoenix show himself to Wholawski?
Will he risk everything to get inside and be with Sarah?
And if he does, will Wholawski catch them and torture them?
What about Ryan, how much of a part will he play? (I know we’d all like him to keep out of harm’s way, but I know the Gods have plans for the boy.)
Who gets to kill Wholawski?
Will York get a chance to possess his brother, Chester’s, body?
And how are we going to get Lady Miriam out of the dungeon?
Will I ever get a chance to translate the God mixed up message she was shouting when Sarah first saw her?

I could go on, but some of my questions deal with wondering if stuff I’ve already written will come into play. Since there is the possibility it might, I’m not going to give you the spoilers.

At some point I need to stop checking e-mail and replying to my Protagonize notifications and just hunker myself down and write. I am just very scared of what I might end up putting down on paper. Wholawski scares me. He really does. And if you read any of In Support of Vervell, especially those chapters from his point of view, I’m sure you understand. Heck just reading Sarah’s dungeon tour, probably give you enough of an idea of how twisted the man is.

:} 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

Running a Prose Competition

I think it is appropriate this Tuesday to talk about the Prose Competition I’m running on Protagonize. That’s right, on top of all my editing, motherly duties and work I am coordinating a Prose Competition, the Summer Prose Competition of 2001 (SPC2011).

I spent this spring coming up with contest rules and details, leaving the challenges for last. First, I had to create the questionnaire so that I could pair people up. After all Protagonize was created to be a collaborative site, so what better way to celebrate, than to have people collaborate? *smile* The questions were fairly basic, focusing on genres people love to read and write as well as some basic writing styles (like point of view and amount of planning). Pairing people up was h-a-r-d, hard! There were a few who had stellar compatibility, but I tried for a middle road. I wanted the teams to have a somewhat even footing. I’m just glad I gave myself a few days to analyze the results. Not to mention there were only fourteen contestants.

I did finally create my challenges too, finalizing them when my contestants were filling out those questionnaires. Nothing like a little last minute prep, eh? *grin* I’m really happy with them. Two story prompts and six criteria for each. The first Challenge is already posted to Protagonize and submitted to the Seasonal Prose Competition Group (Read tab). On Friday they will be complete short stories.

So far no one has complained about their partner, though I’ve caused some mass confusion by not clearly stating what I meant by Peer Reviews. My four Judges seem to be getting along well, too. Of course, this could all change when I post the standings tomorrow afternoon.

Wish me luck!

:} Cathryn Leigh

Unearthing a Trilogy

Well on the plus side, my editing went really well this weekend. At least I thought it went well until I just realized I only edited two more chapters. Make that three chapters, which equals a week’s worth of posting on Protagonize. So I take that back. I editing did go well this weekend.

Speaking of my current project, Phoenix Triumphant, have I given you direct links yet? Ah, I see two weeks ago I gave on to it. But that’s the third book in a trilogy. Yes, I said trilogy. A story that was just warm fuzzy romance fantasy blossomed into a bit more the moment I started posting it to Protagonize. Why?

Well that’s the funny thing about stories. When you start delving more deeply into the world, you begin to find things you had no idea was there. I like Stephen King’s analogy in his book “On Writing” (which came highly recommended and I add my own high recommendation to it). He said something along the lines of stories are like dinosaur bones and writers are the archeologists who dig them up carefully to expose the full skeleton.

Sarah & Jason, the original title of the story that blossomed into The Phoenixes of Vervell Trilogy, started out, as I said above, as romance. It was your basic two imaginary friend turn out to be real and somehow the boundary that’s kept them apart is shattered/crossed by their love for each other and they get married (after somehow convincing his family it’s okay) and live happily ever after.

Bleck, huh? Okay I admit, writing sappy romance is my guilty pleasure. Even more so if I bring it back to high school. Thankfully, when I started editing the original story in order to post it on Protagonize, things started coming out a little differently. Now Sarah’s Phoenix could still use a lot of work, especially after the underlying plot came out and bit me in Phoenix Rising, but it ends very differently from the original Sarah & Jason, all five ways. Yes, I have a habit of taking alternate paths. Heck, I have a habit of taking a theme (see end of the paragraph above) and writing five different stories using it. *grin*

So anyway, back to Vervell. I think the most fun part of this journey has been the discovery process. Like that dinosaur Stephen King mentions, I’ve been carefully excavating the culture and history of Vervell. I’ve discovered what their clothing looks like (for the most part), their take on religion, and that their Gods really do exist. The Great-Grand Pairents (aka the gods) apparently also have a sense of humor, but they are claiming their names are NOT Adam and Eve, though some of their priest/priestess pairs have come from the Christian Bible (like Mary and Joseph). And I can’t forget the few Knights and wives whose names are connected to King Arthur’s Knights of the Round table...

What? I’m telling you the Gods named them, not me. I mean, who am I to argue with the Gods of Vervell, Azure and the Areni Plains. I’m just the archeologist, I mean author.

*giggles and grins*

:} Elorithryn

I mean Cathryn Leigh

He, he! {:

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.