Write Cubed Crew Update

Hey, all!  Writing has commenced.  We've got a discord and have planned some Tuesday and Thursday evening sprint nights with more to be added as we decide.  I locked the form.  But if you want to join in, use the contact form, or DM me, and I will give you links. 

7 Things about Tricked by Love

1. Side characters in books are always fun because they can be like cue balls, bouncing off the other balls, and resetting the table.

2. Making them main characters is always a little tougher, because now they need internal thoughts and feelings. 

3. When I wrote Hot Bartender, and created Lillian (Zane's sister) and Xavier (Zane's friend and eventual co-worker), I had no additional plans for them.

4. But well, Lillian apparently had plans. So when in Troubled by Love, Lillian mentioned a secret relationship, I realized I had to write that.

5. As with my other books, this book stands on it's own. The only thing you will learn from reading Tricked by Love that is that the couples in Hot Bartender and Troubled by Love are still together. Also, timewise, Tricked starts before Troubled but ends after it. 

6. Is there a museum date in here? Yup. And food? Yup. And a reference to DC's dinosaur, aka dinosaur butt?  Also, yep.

7. Lillian doesn't date bartenders. Xavier doesn't do secret relationships. They are both about to break their rules.

Lillian's brother is a bartender, and the bartender circle in DC is too small for her to date within that pool. She meets a hot guy on the customer side of a bar and goes home with him. When she discovers he is a bartender too, she decides they never need to meet again. And that works, until he shows up to Thanksgiving dinner.

Xavier's family drama means he likes things clear and upfront. But he never forgot Lillian, and when they end up seated at the same dinner table, he decides he'll agree to just about anything for another chance with her.

Except secret relationships never stay secret for too long. When Lillian's brother and Xavier start looking into working together, Lillian and Xavier are either going to need to go public or end things.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VrcBza

Apple: https://apple.co/454n0nP

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3RdOgdQ

Barnes and Noble: https://bit.ly/3X0PInw

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdwRYw

Bookshop: https://bit.ly/4aKZiy2

New Release - Dream Catchers Anthology

Newsletter subscribers got the heads up first, but surprise! 

Something a little different from me. I had the chance to participate in an anthology. We all wrote flash stories around the theme of dreams. I have two stories  in this, one straight contemporary with a smooch (flash, so not much time) and the other is a little more folklore based, though there are relationship shenanigans.

Balloon Dreams is about a woman who, after a weird dream, hops into a hot air balloon to see if a change in perspective helps, and discovers that there's a cute balloon pilot.

Dream God's Assignment is about dream god Pahulu, who is asked to send a dream message to a friend's granddaughter.

The anthology is being made available on Amazon in e and paperback. 

It was such a fun prompt and I enjoyed the chance to go in two very different (and yet still very me) directions with the theme.

If Amazon is not your book purveyor of choice, I do have plans to make the stories, including an extended cut of one, available later this year, so stay tuned for that. 

Peaks, Valleys, Blooms, and In Between

Author Hannah Carmona once talked about how cherry blossom trees reminded her that incredible things sometimes require a lot of prep. Cherry blossom trees may bloom earlier than they used to with climate change, but they bloom once and then they move on to other phases. Because not every season is meant to be bloom season. 

Similarly I saw someone on social media talking about how you cannot build your productivity plan around your best day. 

It's funny, because I think in capitalism we've all seen this. How hiring freezes and other measures that show up in times of economic uncertainty become our normal staffing, and three years later everybody is tired and burnt out and you suddenly remember, oh yeah, there used to be more of us to do this. That's why we're tired.

And yet, I will call myself lazy for not writing every day, or finishing a draft and wishing to read for a few weeks. 

And look, I know for some people a break from writing longer than an hour is too much for them. 

And to be clear, there is still writing work happening. My first drafts are often written in a giant long string with a quick indent for new scenes, and so the first thing I do with a draft is break it into scenes and figure out what I have and take a big picture look at the pacing. And a lot of that is hard to quantify. The draft looks less like a giant brain dump and more like a draft. 

But pondering pacing and other things, well, that kind of looks like me playing games on my phone. 

Everyone has different processes, and many many people wish their process was some variation of better, faster, cooler, or let's face it, easier.

But if the social pressure of NaNo helped you be productive and now you are less productive, that isn't you backsliding. If you finished your draft (at least for now) you have earned that rest. Your brain often needs time to process, so you can look the draft with fresh eyes.

If you did not finish your draft, you have a few options here. You may need to rest. I know all these people have been telling you you can build a habit of writing just by writing, but your process may need more than that. If it benefits from social pressure, finding drafting or writing groups that continue on might help you.

It may also be that the NaNo pace is not sustainable for you for more than 30 days. Even marathoners don't run a whole marathon every day. So maybe work on finding a good pace for now. 

And you may also just need a rest. December may not be a good month for you. But the good news if you did write for 30 days straight, you can do it again. But maybe not now. 

Kind if like that old video with Stephen Covey talking about planning for family and vacations first. Make space for your writing, certainly. But also make space for you to not write, so that when you go back to it, you've had time to gather up the energy and excitement to go at it again. 

Writer Goggles

One of the things that happens as you write, is you develop writer goggles. You can do this even if you aren't currently writing. 

For example, the other day I watched a small child stage a very dramatic "I don't want to go!" moment in the lobby of my building. The small child lay on the ground, hands clutching the parental figure's ankles, while an elder sibling waited with impatient stance. 

I participated in a series of flash fiction challenges, and we all used the same prompt. None of our stories were remotely the same, even the ways we used the prompt varied widely. 

Newbie writers often worry about people's stealing ideas, and as many have said, they can't. Ideas can be precious and sometimes need time to percolate. But no one is going to that idea the same way. 

But one way to exercise your writer goggles is to go forward and back, expanding the story. 

Does small child do this every weekday? Does elder child have morning events that get interrupted on days this happens?

Does the parent have to be at work at a specific time or are they lenient? 

Does small child have a specific concern, or a general hatred of school or daycare?

What tiny details change the experience of the story? 

What if I tell you small child peeked up to see what reception they were getting? 

What if elder child tried this? 

What if small child just switched the school or daycare they go to?

There are lots of ways to shift or expand the story. 

Choose Your Pace

I did a 5k over the weekend. It was a very tiny one. I told people my intention was to walk it. I found another participant, who said, yeah, I'm just walking too, I'll stick with you. 

And then the race began, and she turned to me, and said, I'll think I'll go fast for a bit. And she - still just walking - was ahead of me in no time. 

I could have sped up to catch up with her, but I also knew the pace I was at was sustainable for me for the whole thing. So, I kept going at my pace. I was technically not the last to finish. But the group that came in behind me took a detour, to look at something else. 

But in the end, we all finished. Some people ran, some people walked, many did both.

And whether it's NaNo or a knit-a-long, or group exercise, often you do it with others for the camaraderie. Only one person can finish first. But if you finish, you still finished. And if that was your goal, then it's all good. 

You can try moving at other people's pace. Sometimes you will discover you can go faster than you thought. Or that slower actually gives you time to look at the trees, to smell the smells. Finding your pace, knowing what it feels like when you are pushing too hard or just enough, these are all great things to know. 

The camaraderie comes from the shared experience not from finishing first. Finishing first, or in the too ten, or whatever is super cool. I'm not saying that can't be your goal. But if your goal was to get to the end, then the pace may not need to be the fastest, it just has to get you to the end. 

7 Things About NaNo

1. Having a goal can be useful. I went for a walk on the weekend and set the goal that I was going to walk without pausing until the end of the podcast I was listening to. It helped me push through and walk a smudge further than I might have otherwise.

2. The number is arbitrary. I like the 50k goal. But it's not going to be the right pace for everyone. If what you cone away with is learning your best pace, that's great info. 

3. Community helps. Try a write in - virtual, in person, whichever. Knowing all those other people are writing can help. There are enough virtual ones that there is almost always one happening somewhere. Last year, my work schedule let me do one in the mornings. This year I'm going to be looking for more evening ones. 

4. Sleep, food, hangouts with people who quite honestly don't care that much about your writing - though the like you, these things are all so good for you. Consider all your people interactions writing research. 

5. Move, stretch, hydrate. Take good care of yourself so you can keep coming back and making words. 

6. I'm a big fan of trying new things. Dictation, writing by hand, writing in the morning, writing at lunch, writing on my phone, writing with special writer snacks. But the flip side is I also quit a lot of things that turn out not to work. So it's be afraid to try new things. But also don't be afraid to quit the ones that aren't working.

7. There will come a point when the tracker you are using seems to have it in for you. It suddenly tells you, you won't finish until January, or that your daily average dropped. I think tracking helps. But, if you need to look away from the tracker for a few days, and focus on the words you can get, do that. All of this is to support you writing more words. The words are the priority. 

 

New Story in CommuterLit

Hey Hungry Readers, 

I've got a story appearing in CommuterLit this week. It's an ezine that focuses on fiction or poetry that is commute sized. (Your commute may vary.) My story is about a mermaid with a little grudge. So not so much a romance this time, but there is some emotional closure to be found: https://commuterlit.com/2023/10/monday-called-to-the-water/

On the Newsletter: Available Again

Hey folks, 

Repeat news for newsletter and Ream folks, but I made Cocker on the Porch available in e, free, across retailers. ('Zon readers, it may take a smidge to update.) 

It's single POV, closed door romance, two neighbors who are brought together by a dog. It now includes a bonus epilogue where Wendy and Tuan meet my other dog owning couple, aka Rafe and Felicia from Undercover Bridesmaid. (The only spoilers for Undercover Bridesmaid would be that Rafe and Felicia get together and get a dog, and honestly, only Felicia should be surprised about that.) 

Universal link: https://books2read.com/u/meqDOl

7 Things: New Release - Troubled by Love

1. I mention this in the acknowledgements, but the original idea for this story came along from an idea that Jackie Barbosa had for a series of stories, so of course thanks go to her for this. 

2. I wrote the original version of this before Roe v. Wade was struck down. DC remains a place with somewhat easy access to abortion, so a lot of changes on that front were not needed to the story. But of course having to ponder access to medical procedures, and the funds and associated time off work are not easy in our world, even when funds, and access are available. 

3. Did I get another museum date in here? Yes, yes, I did. 

4. Does someone (it's Dan) in this story work in food and show up with food a lot? Yes. 

5. This story stands entirely on its own, but does a character appear from another story? Yes. I apparently can't help myself. Lillian, who is Zane's sister in Undercover Bridesmaid shows up, as does Xavier. Do I have additional plans for them? Stay tuned. 

6. Will there be texting and maybe flirty texting? You know it. 

7. And here's the official blurb and order links. 

Amy's now ex sent Dan to her instead of himself. Living in a new city and having to go get an abortion and dump her ex was not how Amy imagined this new chapter of her life going. 
Dan has been working hard to get his food truck going. Picking up ride shares, bartending, and barely sleeping, has all been to support that goal. Amy is the first person to make him wonder if he should be finding time for things that aren't work. 
After a few months of texting they decide to make a go of it. But when her ex shows up, Amy will have to figure out have things really changed? 

Zon: bit.ly/45kiFvW
Apple: bit.ly/3E4Bnvx
Kobo: bit.ly/3OIgVpg
Google Play: bit.ly/3YYJROF
Scribd: bit.ly/3qE6TNW
Universal link: https://books2read.com/u/4DDXLd
Bookshop: bit.ly/3shWg3U

Bonus Short

Hey, Hungry Readers,

I posted a bonus Short story featuring Jia and Ken from Of Kings and Queens on both Ream and the newsletter. It's subscriber only, and maybe shows a sneak peak of a character or two from the upcoming Troubled by Love. 

Both books can be read on their own without the short story, so if you want to save it for later, it's going to stay up in both places. 

Happy reading!

So Many Words

I am participating in #1000WordsOfSummer which I expect to roll into or bundle with Camp NaNo in July because I do love to write alongside people. There are daily newsletters, and pep talks and some days I try to write before I read them, and some days I read them as a reward after.  

The more things I read about writing the more I learn about the very many different ways we all approach writing, and of course the ways that feel very much the same.  Writing is often solitary in the sense that the writer and the page - however that writer chooses to get those words onto the page.  

But knowing that other people are on the journey with you, even though they are on their own path, can be useful.  Just as seeing others posting all their word counts can inspire you to get back.  

Not every day of course.  And of course, as writers, we love a conclusion, a story about battling the distractions and getting through, but some days you do not succeed.  But if you show up again the next time then that day or days where progress was less clear can turn into the cool montage of eventual success. 

But it helps to have fellow writer to wave at as you climb back into the boat.  

New Story: Troubled By Love

Newsletter subscribers already got the heads up, but I've got a new story for you. I'm going to be releasing it as a serial over on Ream, and then releasing it as a full ebook in August. (Preorders are still going up to all the sites for that.)

But I wanted to share the first scene with you here.

This story is a standalone romance novella. Still set in DC. Their might be a cameo from someone in one of my other series. There might be a museum. There will be food.

Content notes - This story contains on page abortion, and references to parental cancer and death that occur prior to the book.  

And the blurb:

Amy's now ex sent Dan to her, instead of himself. Living in a new city and having to go get an abortion and dump her ex was not how Amy imagined this new chapter of her life going. 

Dan has been working hard to get his food truck going. Picking up ride shares, bartending, and barely sleeping, has all been to support that goal. Amy is the first person to make him wonder if he should be finding time for things that aren't work. 

After a few months of texting they decide to make a go of it. But when her ex shows up, Amy will have to figure out have things really changed?

Troubled By Love

Chapter 1

Amy He Metcalfe didn't believe in New Year's resolutions. January was no better month than any other to start changing your life. But four months ago, she had decided to focus a little more on her own goals, and when she was offered a job DC, she had said yes.

DC wasn't far from Philadelphia, where she had gone to college. It was a great opportunity, and her boyfriend Ryder traveled so much she'd see him about the same amount anyway.

She had not counted on finding herself pregnant of course.

Ryder: What time is the appointment?

Amy: 10 am

Amy held onto the phone for another second, but there were no more bubbles indicating he was texting back.

Ryder's job as emergency communications strategist kept him on the move. About six weeks ago, a sudden storm had him in town for an extra day, and they had run out of condoms. Their plans to just use hands and mouths had disappeared.

Amy purchased Plan B at the pharmacy the next day. But she had read all the fine print, and knew Plan B didn't work if you were already pregnant by the time you took it.

Amy knew a lot of stats about both contraception and abortion. She was the eldest of seven kids. Amy had bought her first pack of condoms at ten, placing them prominently at her mother's bedside.

Lots of siblings, especially female siblings knew a lot about middle of the night feedings, diaper changes, making lunches, or back to school shopping on an extreme budget. Amy had gotten any desire to raise kids out of her system well before the school sex ed program came to scare her about teen parenthood.

The sex ed program in Nevada suggested abstinence. Teen Amy had known she couldn't convince her mom of abstinence. Her mom never opened the condoms Amy bought her. The pill, in addition to being expensive, had turned out to have a terrible effect on her mom's depression.

Amy had discovered while she herself as an adult had not previously shown signs of depression, she inherited the same reaction to the pill. She and her ob/gyn had gone through a few of them, before her ob/gyn suggested that condoms had no such side effects. Plan B as a backup was probably better for her mental health.

All of this added up to Amy making a dreaded call to Ryder. She explained she was pregnant, she had an appointment to get the medication necessary to end the pregnancy. She didn't like ultimatums, but he could either get his butt back here or they were officially over. He had agreed to everything.

Then a hurricane hit the Caribbean. Amy had learned to hate hurricanes for many reasons - evidence of climate change, destruction wrought, but also because those bastards sent Ryder places without warning. Ryder should be off the schedule, of course, for the next few days.

Her phone rang and there was a knock on the door. Figuring Ryder had made it from the airport early, she threw open the door without looking, only to find an unfamiliar dark-haired, brown-eyed man standing there. "Next door," Amy said. Her neighbor had a lot of friends and often they knocked on her door by accident.

"Amy?" he said.

Amy stopped swinging the door closed. She knew better than to confirm her name to a stranger, but the folks looking for her neighbor Helena never knew her name.

Her phone chirped one more time and then went silent.

"I'm Dan," stranger dude said, "and I think that was Ryder calling to warn you. I made good time."

Amy wanted to slam the door now. It wasn't stranger dude's fault. Dan. Stranger dude's name was Dan. If Ryder had sent a stranger to her door, he wasn't on a plane. Not to here at least.

"Is it the hurricane?" Amy asked. It wasn't a question that would make sense to anyone who didn't know Ryder.

Dan shook his head. "Mudslide in Japan."

"So, Ryder sent you to what - spend the night?" Amy asked. Part of her, a stupid hopeful part, was still crushed that just this freaking once, Ryder hadn't taken himself off the schedule. He could. His other coworkers did. Amy was nothing if not an expert at looking strong when she was crushed inside.

"I think the idea was for us to chat a bit before tomorrow. To make it less awkward." Dan grimaced a bit, as if he realized the awkward train had long ago left the station.

"Darling," Helena said, leaning out of her door, long strawberry blonde hair loose. "As fascinating as this has all been, could you either let him in or kick him out. Any minute now, Mrs. Overgaard is going to email the whole building."

"Thanks, Helena," Amy said flatly.

Helena smiled and shut her door.

Helena was right though. The building was old enough that the soundproofing between apartments was good, but hallway conversations carried. Mrs. Overgaard often sent emails to everyone in the building reminding them of courtesy and decorum. "Come on in, I guess," Amy said.

Probably, Ryder's friend Dan wasn't a serial killer. And if he was, well, Amy didn't have a plan for that. Her plan for Ryder not showing up had been to go to the clinic herself. She'd been assured the pills were fairly painless, and had stocked up on super-strength pads, a bunch of microwave meals, and sports drinks. She had a streaming list of silly, lighthearted comedies, and dark revenge dramas, for her every mood.

She sat dead center on the couch, in her partially unpacked living room. Having to find the Planned Parenthood clinic her first week in DC had not been on her to do list. Nor had asking for a planned sick day before she'd had a chance to accrue any leave. Her boss had been great about it, made sure Amy had enough funds. But Amy had hoped that was it. That was enough awkward and uncomfortable at least for the month, but she should have known. The universe had endless wells of awkward and uncomfortable, and when it decided it was your turn, it was like a mudslide.

If you want to read more - the first two chapters are available to subscribers on Ream.                 

Stealing People's Stories

For those of you paying attention to the discourse out there, this both is and is not about the revelation that the short story "Cat Person" lifted some details from a real person's life. 

I had a conversation with a family friend who is an artist, who said when she paints people, she usually envisions someone she knows to start with, and kind of adds enough bits on top that it isn't really them, but she can always see who she used to start with underneath, and was writing like that.  

For me it both is and is not.  I always remember the bit in L. M. Montgomery's Emily series, where Emily gets published and various neighbors decide they are the such and such character and feel affronted about this bit. Because I think no matter what you do as an author, people who know you are going to decide you stole it from them.  

I have written stories based on real people, but also not.  Because I'm a pantser, if I know exactly what happened, I am bored, and no longer care.  But I did once write a story that combined a bunch of things my brain had been noodling on, and then when it was finished, realize one element of it bore enough similarity to something that had happened to a roommate of mine that there was no way she wasn't going to think it was inspired by that, even though I hadn't thought about them once when I was drafting.  That wasn't the only problem with that story, my main character changes personalities halfway through and that meant at least half of it needed to be re-written, probably more, and so I trunked it.  It wasn't just because it resembled a thing that had happened to someone, because let's face it there are a finite number of things that happen to people, especially when writing contemporary.  But once the similarity was clear to me, I couldn't see how I could fix the story and disentangle it enough from what had happened to my roommate to not seem like a trauma vampire and so trunked that story is.  

But yes, writers joke about plot bunnies, but for me, unless I'm doing a retelling, I'm taking a thing and throwing it into a blender and using it to power the story engine, not using it as the entire story template.  These differences may seem subtle but I do think it's important.  I want people to feel seen when they read a story I wrote because I got to some emotional truth of a thing.  Now, of course, I did use a viral date gone wrong story for Undercover Bridesmaid, but I felt to me like that was different because I was using a thing and the story wasn't really about that, that was just a way to move the beginning bit.  Could I have done it another way?  Yes.  

And certainly I am often inspired by stories that I read, both the viral date gone bad, and other news stories.  But mostly the thing I wonder is - what happens next?  Like sure, you go on a date and discover the guy has booked other dates, but what do you do next? 

And yes, I have overheard things in coffee shops, and thought hmm, and talked to people about funny things that happened to them and thought hmm, but writing a story about Bob in accounting is not appealing to me.  And while I can never guarantee I won't stumble onto a combination of things that happened to someone I know, I can of course try not to do it intentionally. And it feels like if anyone can say I think your whole story is based on me and Bob, then rather than there's a bit in chapter two that happened to me once, well, it feels like that's not fiction anymore.  

Some Notes About Awards

I made the decision last year to renew my membership in RWA last March when it came up for renewal because I had made commitments to the two chapters I was a member of.  They would have survived if I had left, but I decided to see them through, although I did think long and hard about what it would take for me to leave.  

I had a couple of thoughts about what would happen after. 

completed the board service role I was in, and notified my other chapter that I was going to step down as contest chair.  And I confess, based on the proposed award schedule, I realized that if I stayed as a member, I would be up for renewal right around the time they announced the new award nominees and would be in a position to say something if something needed to be said.  

It's a fair assumption that the pandemic has meant the idea of not paying for three (one national and two chapter) memberships didn't hurt my decision.  Overall, while I haven't agreed with every step the board has taken over the past year, I think they are doing things to make sure that RWA is still around for folks for more than just the next year, and that requires decisions not everyone is going to like.  They have also worked to implement several programs that I think are useful and interesting to new and mid-career writers.  

So, lots of lead up to say, that the finalists were announced.  There are some great books on that list.  And there is at least one about a protagonist who participated in a genocide finding love.  

Full disclosure, I have already shared my thoughts, in far more detail, than I will here, with the RWA board.  I am aware that the way the RWA awards are set up means that the rules cannot be altered or changed until the award cycle completed.  So I sent my thoughts so that I could be on record ahead of my membership lapsing, but am aware that this is something they cannot discuss until July.  (Do I think that in and of itself creates problems for RWA? Yes, I do.)  

I am aware that racism and bigotry exist in our larger society and RWA cannot fix this.  It is not RWA's job to fix this.  However, it is my personal opinion that the current awards process requires an incredible amount of free labor from members and other volunteers.  I heard from participants this year that they got eight books to read.  I read eight books and have read eight books in a similar time period, but reading eight books for a deadline is different.  Reading eight books you didn't select for yourself is different.  It's a lot.  

The current setup has three rounds - and initial round where only a partial is read, and the second and third rounds where the full book is read.  

Having run a contest I can also tell you that there's a lot of work that goes into finding people to read for all your rounds, gathering up all the documents, figuring out how to assign them so that everyone gets read by people in the correct categories, to say nothing of the person who inevitably tells you after all the assignments are sent out that they don't want to read X, and now you have to find backup judges.  

Other organizations use either a small committee that commits to a ton of reading to create their initial finalist list, or a voting submission process.  These options are not equal amounts of work, but they allocate the work differently.  

Because let's be really honest here, the current process is a lot of work, and it is not providing RWA with a better quality of finalist than other methodologies.  We have basically proven that many, many, times now.  I love some books that have been nominated this year.  I love some books that were nominated under the prior but not distinctly different process and even some that won.  I am not saying that some of the finalists and winners over the years aren't great books.  

But here's what I also know to have finaled and in some cases have won: 

-A book with a Nazi protagonist

-A book where one protagonist dies at the end.  (Not to be confused with undead.)

-A book with a protagonist who helped slaughter native Americans

I'm sure there's more to it than that.  I certainly haven't read every nominee.  

I love awards ceremonies.  It's really fun to watch people dress up and take home shiny statues.  Writing is a hard and often solitary job, and finding a moment of recognition in it is amazing.  

But RWA cannot take credit for the good books that are nominated, and ignore the problematic books that are nominated.  I know it's easy to critique other's work.  I know the board won't get to really dive in on this until July and I don't envy them that task.  But right now this process requires a lot of labor, and isn't really getting us to better results. So I hope they take the opportunity to make bold change with it.  

About Substack and Platform Choices

I have not been unaware that some writers with some pretty bigoted views had found themselves a home at Substack.  I had many justifications.  I had watched the whole Patreon fallout as Patreon first actively recruited folks that were active in sex work, were LGBTQ and such, then then a bit later, changed their terms because some funding sites are very unhappy about such things.  

I have heard about the toxic environment at Mailchimp.  None of this is a justification for Substack, it just made it easy to be like, well there are terrible people everywhere.  Terrible people use sidewalks too, I'm not going to stop using sidewalks.   

Substack did a free virtual conference, provided mentorships, and did some things that made me feel fond of them. 

They also sent out a whole thing about how they didn't really moderate content because everyone was opting in. It wasn't like other things where the algorithm forced you to see things.  No one got anything they hadn't clicked on, and if they didn't like something they could unclick, unsubscribe, and all was well.  It is true, but wishy washy.  Patreon recently had to kick off someone who was posting videos of criminal behavior.  These things are going to happen, and if your response is going to be, well, these people are all demonstrating interest in bad behavior, I am not satisfied.  There needs to be a plan.  Preferably before it's needed.  

And then it was revealed that there was another program - Substack Pro.  Those people Substack was basically paying an advance on to cover them growing their audience on Substack for a year.  They say they didn't announce participants because the idea wasn't for these people to be brand ambassadors, just to go off and do their thing.  Except of course, it isn't that simple.  If a Pro writer is using their Substack to espouse terrible bigoted beliefs, then Substack is profiting off of bigotry. There is a difference between we provide a platform that anyone can use, and we have chosen to bankroll certain members of that platform.   If a Pro writer is using their Substack to harass a colleague they dislike, then Substack is finding that harassment.  (Jude Ellison Doyle has some further thoughts on Substack here.)

So now Substack being like, oh we don't want to tell you who the other writers are seems less like oh we're trying not to make them advertisers, and more like - we picked people with a wide range of views and we like both the bigots and the social justice folks all chipping in, but if they find out they are all here, one or both sets might leave.  

Given pandemic brain and such, I am not currently going to move my posts off Substack.  I am suspending all paid subscriptions, because my reader's money is not going to fund this. 

I have already expressed to Substack that I think the very least they owe us, is full disclosure of who is a Pro member. If they comply, I may take further action, but I will not reactivate subscriptions during the LTAFS series at all.  So all posts for that will just be free.  

Edited to note, the newsletter is moving to a new platform. The posts will still be free, I'll update the links as the archive becomes available.

Pandemic NaNo

It's often tempting to attribute great meaning to how the drafting process of a project went.  But - much like "Project Runway" there are projects that I was sure was the best thing while drafting that I liked less on reflection.  There are projects that were so hard to draft, that I loved when I put aside and then re-reread later.  There are projects that were great but didn't fit what they were meant for which meant changing projects or changing tactics, or abandoning an agreed upon plan.  

NaNo is sort of random.  It's a month and a deadline and a community.  But every year some is like why November (there's Camp in April and July), why 50k, why?  And the answer is essentially because. That's what they decided.  You can write more or less.  You can be a rebel.  You can do it in whatever way works for you.  If twitter sprints or discord or zoom sprints stress you out, then don't.  If virtual chats with folks you haven't met stress you out, don't.  Do the things that work and discard those that don't. 

So, all of that is to say I wrote this year.  I wrote fast.  I wrote so fast I was constantly saying to folks it's going well so far, but I'm probably gonna crash soon. I said that not because I'm a pessimist but because I know that as a panster there's a tricky balance to writing fast enough to capture all the ideas swirling and yet not so fast that I bonk against the wall because I haven't given the idea well time to refill.  And yet, I did not bonk.  I rolled past 50k and the story kept going.  

As a pantser I often don't know when the story will end, and a lot of people find that silly because of course there is story structure and the story ends after the goal is achieved.  And I know that. But well, I often think I'm about two scenes from that and discover I am not.  Some of this of course gets fixed and tightened up in editing.  But well, I kept writing.  And writing.  

And I reached a finish.  And it was - for me - a very long first draft.  I hardly ever remember things like description and feelings. All of those are things I layer in, so my drafts almost always get longer in editing even as some scenes get cut.  I have been going through doing some minor touchups so that when I get to really dive into edits I at least won't have to fix gibberish sentences.  (When things are flowing I get very typolicious.) 

So,as I said, pandemic brain means who knows what kind of editing effort this story will really need, but I wrote a thing that I really love.  I wrote a thing I am somewhat excited to edit.  (I hate editing a lot.  I know it's a necessary step.  I agree that it needs to happen.  But you can't make me like it.  Some people hate drafting.  I love drafting.  I hate editing.)  

And while the NaNo community felt a little different this year, it was still great.  The folks who were able to make time for more screen time this year were much appreciated.  And those who weren't but still plugged away on their stories are fab too.  

Final wordcount: 73469

7 Things: NaNoWriMo in a Pandemic Edition

1. Long time readers can probably guess what I'm going to say at this point.  I've been noodling on book like things since high school.  NaNoWriMo was the first time I finished something that wasn't an assignment for a creative writing class.  It was a mess.  At one point the characters started making up songs.  And singing them.  But I wrote a beginning, middle, and end.  

2. Since that first NaNo I participated in, I've written things during NaNo and outside of NaNo.  I joined writer's organizations.  Took more classes.  And learned more by writing more.  But NaNo taught me I could finish a thing.  

3.  The pace of NaNo is not ideal for everyone.  Let me peel off my official NaNo gear for a sec - if you think the camaraderie of doing a thing while other people are also doing a thing is useful to you, I suggest doing it even if 50k is not a good goal for you.  

4. On the flip side, if trying to aim for 50k and not getting it will depress you, no need to make yourself sad in a pandemic.  And if you do a secret NaNo, where you don't announce and don't even tell anyone until you emerge with a fully formed story, that works too.  

5. I normally advise folks who choose to participate to try one write in. This year everything is virtual.  I'm still going to suggest trying one.  But if learning the forums, and discord, and chat, and twitter, and whatever else your region or group is using to connect this year is too much - then don't.  If you have only been using video conferences for work you might discover they are more interesting when the goal is more fun, and you might not.  

6. It might be clear from this list, but I'm a pantser, in some ways about life too.  I try things, I quit things, I pick up new things.  If all of that makes you itchy, go make a plan.  Just try to leave room - especially this year - for things to work a little differently than expected.  

7.  However you get words is good.  Things that don't get you words - assuming those things are not work, sleep, spouse, kids, taking medication, etc, that you really cannot give up for a month - are not good.  This is an unexpected year.  Processes that worked for you before may not work this year.  That's not you.  But try to appreciate the discoveries. 

Places on the Web This Week

Got a post over on the newsletter with third quarter reading. And I'll be both behind the scenes and in the chat for Fiyahcon this week, so feel free to wave if you are there also.  (Tickets are sold out, but there are some events open to all.)

Editor note: Apologies, I accidentally reposted instead of updating this. Fiyahcon has happened. Some material will be available in the archive.

Edited to update link

New Release - Hot Bartender

I have a new story out today, it's Hot Bartender. 

Louise's fast fingers and social media savvy have her spreading the story of a first date gone weird on social media.  But every story needs a good ending.  And Louise just told the world that she's dating the bartender now.
Except Louise doesn't really remember doing that. Oops. But he is nice. And hot.

Zane has been watching Louise have a series of first dates that all end with her chatting with him at the bar. Can he convince her he's just the change of pace she needs? 

-Buy links: 

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3hUneDR

Amazon: https://amzn.to/33TurPc

Apple - https://apple.co/3mJEZJG

Universal link: https://books2read.com/u/4AKVMJ

-This story operates as a standalone, but Seth, Adriana, Rafe, and Felicia all make appearances (from Aloha to You, and Undercover Bridesmaid respectively.)
-It also includes, not necessarily in order, found friends, a this is of course temporary dating situation (spoiler, they might  be wrong about that), nosy parents, a pushy sister, and quite a bit of food discussion.    
-The opening chapter of this story was loosely inspired by actual events that took place in a bar in DC. The real life dude planned six dates.  I tried to do the math on that and found it odd, so I let truth be even stranger than fiction.  
-Hospitality is a huge industry in DC, and of course in current conditions it is being hammered.  It didn't seem like fantasy to write about a thriving bar scene when I first wrote it, and of course, we'll get back there.  In the interim, shout out to the folks trying to pivot in this new world and keep in contact with their customers.
-I did not intend to put two list making heroines back to back, but well, some people need lists for their jobs, and some people pretend lists make them organized.  Louise is a little more of the latter.    
-I had separately been researching Maryland's history as the Gretna Green of the mid-Atlantic.  I discovered that Maryland has now added a twenty four hour waiting period.  (Although there are still some B&B's on the border that invite you to just make it a special trip.)  And then I discovered the proxy filing process in DC and well, the writer brain was inspired.