HOLY
MOLY!!! I’ve been one busy Fey chick in the last month.
What have I
been up to? Writing, writing, writing…
In
fact when I finished the final edit of Chapter 3 of “The Sensuous Faery” I got
a fab idea. I thought you might find it helpful if I posted a progress
report for my writing projects, one I update every week. That way you can
see how these new books are coming along and how close they are to
publication.
Too
cool, huh?
So
I’ve created a special section for that info on this blog. Look in the
sidebar, and you’ll see it (third section from the top). It looks like
this:
* * * * * * * *
“2013 Fiction Progress Report”
FINISHED:
1.)
Otherkin Fey (short story)
2.)
Let Me In (flash fiction short story)
NOVELLAS
IN PROGRESS:
1.)
The Sensuous Faery (2654 words so far)
2.)
The Lusty Faery (7551 words so far)
3.)
A Vampire’s Embrace (2061 words so far)
* * * * * * * *
That’s
almost 13,000 words. And most of them written since I returned to my
regular writing schedule in March. All those words in about two and a half months.
Whew!
Hard
to believe I consider myself a slow, meticulous writer, isn’t it? But
it’s true. By the end of 2013, even though I write for hours every day,
only one novella and 4-5 short stories will be finished and ready for
publication. But this gives you a good idea of how I work. I
multi-task on several books and stories at once.
It’s
easier for me to do it that way because, as you know, all my series and short
stories are spin-offs from my main series (“The Witchery Series”). That
means I’m always working within the same community of Pagans and with some of
the same characters, even if I add a few new ones along the way. So my
readers are never lost when they read my books. No matter which one you
read, it immediately tosses you back into the same Witchy world you know and
love from other books/series of mine. Fun!
Okay,
let me catch you up on the rest of my month.
I
finished “Let Me In” a few days after my last blog post went live. I’m
sooooo freakin pleased with every word in this awesome flash fiction story!
It’s one of my best. Truly. It’s only 485 words, but it says
as much as if it were 3000 words. Exactly what a flash fiction story
should do and why good ones are difficult to write and why I adore the
challenge of writing them.
The
thing about flash fiction (and why I love it so much) is it’s very much like a
poem in the editing process. Every word has to be the right word in the
right place to move the plot forward in exactly the right way. Timing and
delivery are everything in flash fiction. Economy of word is the goal.
It’s a fun challenge to tell the entire arc of a story in 500 words or
less. But that also means a good flash fiction story can go through two
or three times as many edits as a regular length short story (30+). A lot
of work, but totally worth it. The interesting thing about “Let Me In” is
I can see it becoming an entire collection of flash fiction stories about this
oh-so-sexy Faerie King.
Hmm.
We shall see….
As
you can tell, I’m already deep into the final edit of the new novella, “The
Sensuous Faery.” This has been a tricky but fun one to edit. There
are so many details to coordinate in this novella to make it fit seamlessly
between the novels “What Witches Want” and “Call of the Witches” in the
timeline of my series.
And
I love that kind of challenge. Plus, there’s a LOT of action in this one.
Things happen that will surprise you. But then surprising things
always happen to Donnie and Savannah. Wild, isn’t it? They’re the
most unlikely couple for this kind of dramatic action, yet they’re the ones
this seems to happen to. Who knows why? Not me. You’ll have
to ask Donnie and Savannah about that. ~wink~
Ready
for some startling news? I signed with an agent last month. I did.
Not a literary agent, but a film agent. I met him earlier this year and
just adore him! He’s a really great guy and much needed.
Here’s
why I did it. Movie producers and studios have come to me for years,
wanting to make movies of my books (especially “The Manigault Vampires” series
and the “Memoir Series”). This year I’m getting constant inquiries and
interest from movie people, so it was time to sign with a film agent.
It’s wonderful to finally have a good one who can walk through this maze with
me. That means 2013 will probably be the year I announce my books or
series have been optioned for movies. I know. Just think. Dray on the silver screen. ~swooooooooon~
Exciting
stuff, huh? Hollywood, here I come. Weeeeeee….!!
Please,
please, please check out my blog at Tumblr. I know I say this all
the time, but it’s a super easy way to keep up with my crazy busy life since I
write a blog post there every day. The cool thing about Tumblr is you
don’t have to join Tumblr to see my page. You can just mark it as
a favorite in your browser or add it as an icon to your phone or tablet
homescreen and read me every day. Total and complete awesome sauce!
Gotta love Tumblr for that.
Wanna
know another cool thing about my Tumblr blog posts? Almost all are
illustrated with pics from my life. Squeeeeeee! These days the pics
are from my garden because my flowers are GLORIOUS!!!
Speaking
of gardening, I have a major challenge this year. Critters.
Specifically deer.
Eeeeeeek!
Everything
was blooming beautifully last month. Then one morning I walked out the
front door, and massive deer damage slam-dunked me. Ugh!! They had
eaten all the blooms and buds off one red rose. All the ruffled
peach lilies were gone. Half the new buds and branches on one wild rose
were gone. And they ate a bunch of the new caladiums.
Ugh!!
So
I dashed to out Lowes. When I got there I decided to buy lantana.
It’s a perennial in South Carolina, reseeds in the fall, grows as fast as
kudzu, and it’s covered in blooms all summer. Perfect. This one has
red, pink, yellow, and orange flowers on it. Best of all, the tag said
it’s “deer resistant.” What’s not to like, right?
Then
I bought a big bottle of deer repellent.
Woot!!!
Hey,
I love the forest critters and want them to be happy and healthy and have
plenty to eat. BUT not in my gardens. So far this repellent seems
to be working. I really like it, too, because it’s clear. The one I
used a few years ago had egg yolk in it and left nasty yellow crud all over my
flowers. Stinky, too. Yuck. Not what you want on pretty
flowers. But this one doesn’t. So far I’ve been reapplying it once
a week, and it’s working.
Yay!!!
I’m
sure you’ve noticed this. Without any conscious decision on my part, I’ve
kinda moved into a schedule where I’m posting a really long catch-up post on
this blog (like this one) once a month and writing one monthly “Treasured Fans”
mailing every full moon to my “Fan Email List.” So it looks like you’ll
be hearing from me twice a month now. I think this is gonna be the trend
for the rest of the year while I’m working on these three novellas and
collection of short stories.
That’s
less blog posts than normal for this blog, but I’m actually writing more blog
posts than ever since I’m blogging at Tumblr every day. That
counts, right????
Last
but not least, I have Twitter news. If you’re on my “Fan Email
List” you received a special mailing about this. Or if you read this
blog, then you saw my post about it several days ago.
Basically,
I left Twitter on June 1. It was a MAJOR decision for me because
I’ve been at Twitter for 4 years. But the fact is Twitter
doesn’t jibe with me anymore the way Tumblr and LinkedIn do.
The insanity in my career and love life over the last 3 years changed me.
A lot. It did. And Twitter has changed, too. So
it was time to move on.
Even
though I adore all my tweeps, it was the best decision for me. I’m very
very happy about it and having a blast chatting with my old Twitter
tweeps at LinkedIn, Tumblr, and by email now.
As
for my personal life, things are awesomely good. My guys have taken me
out to see a few movies in the last month like “Iron Man” and “Before Midnight”
(freakin AWESOME!!!). And they surprised me last night by telling me
they’re planning a short vacay for us to Asheville in July. Should be
fun! I’ll tell you more about it in my next blog post.
Okay,
that’s all the news for now. Time to get back to work on “The Sensuous
Faery.” Editing a novella this size is like going on a treasure
hunt. You’re searching for exactly the right word (thousands of them,
actually) and then plugging them into the right place in the right sentence at
the right time. It takes a lot of patience, unwavering persistence, no
time restrictions, and an endless sense of adventure.
But
that would be me, wouldn’t it? I’m married to two Alpha men. No way
I could survive that if I didn’t have amazing reserves of patience (Wes) and a
love of adventure (Ken).
~twirling,
twirling on my pink Fey wings~
See
ya next month…..!
Laura
Stamps
©
Sexy
Pagan Novels & Short Stories
(Romantic
vampires, Witches, faeries, shapeshifters)
