Merc Rants

The end of a year, the end of a blog.

2010-12-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone!

I am closing down this blog tonight. Since I almost exclusively post to Fire, Guns, and Zombies (my LJ), poor Merc Rants has fallen to the side of the road like a footless zombie.

It's been fun, it's been interesting, it's been all sorts of things. But it's time to move on, and put this blog away. Sometime in 2011 I will have a shiny official website to use for, well, official and pro stuff.

Until then, you can always find me on the other blog, or Twitter. I'll be around! I check my RSS reader all the time.

It's been fabulous trip, and I appreciate everyone who's visited and hung out and followed this weird little corner of the interwebs. Thank you all!

Have a wonderful, productive, zombie-Apocalypse-free 2011!

Cheers,

~Merc

Hero's Choice

2010-07-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, just for quick reference, here is the link for Hero's Choice (serialized in ten parts) on Silver Blade. :)

HERO'S CHOICE

*waves to new visitors*

Hi and welcome. The blog isn't updated much at the moment, but the LJ is moderately more active. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Merc

Drive-by thoughts on endings

2010-06-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

I've been reading several novels* by Hilari Bell recently, along with a bunch of other books, and I've been thinking a lot about endings in general. (What works, what doesn't, what an ending needs to accomplish, etc.)

Ms. Bell’s endings are so perfect. I can see how they would not appeal to everyone—they are short, to the point, and give you just enough wrap-up and resolution to satisfy and properly end the story, and that’s it. No long epilogues or wrap-up chapters where we see the aftermath (it’s all implied, and I like that better) and people gab and sit around discussing what happened.

Nah. It’s snap, bang, we’re done. But in a GOOD way—not too abrupt, and there is most definitely a conclusion, with a lot of what will need to be done left implied and open.

I get cranky when a story goes on and on and there is too much wrap-up and “ending credits” stuff. (When the story is done, please STOP WRITING.) I don’t actually want every last detail wrapped up and tied in a neat bow. Major threads, yes. Character arcs should finish. It should be a solid, satisfactory, sufficient ending.

If the conflict is resolved, threads wrapped up, character arcs finished (for this story), then I want the book to end. I don’t want to slog through 30 or 50 or more pages of aftermath and wrap-up and characters fiddling around with things, etc.

Endings are tricky beasts—flub it and it reflects on the whole book. Too long and it makes Merc a cranky reader. Too short and abrupt and I wonder what the hell you’re thinking, author, and why are there not a few more pages at the end.

But get is just right and there is that warm, happy glow, and a satisfied reader is likely to go read and buy more books (I am, anyway). It’s like an addiction. You give me a good ending that works just right (and I can forgive a lot if you nail the ending) and I’ll go look for more.

What about you? What makes an ending “perfect” for you? What does an ending need to pull off/include to make you happy?

____

*Novels include:

Goblin Wood
Songs of Power
The Wizard's Test
The Prophecy

I have a lovely stack of Bell novels on my TBR pile! *is a fan*

EDIT: I found an excellent article Hilari Bell wrote about novel endings (climaxes) as well.

Delay

2010-04-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

So! I realize it's almost the weekend and I have no (real) post yet. Um, yeah. I'm working that. (Net issues complicate things.)

A couple post ideas are brewing--thoughts on conflict and how to make things so much worse in-story, and rambles on short stories as a form in and of itself. Among other things, possibly.

Sorry about the delays. Sometime in the future here I will get my game together and resume regular posting. The zombies say hi, by the way. ;)

~Merc

Still alive

2010-04-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

T.D. Newton was nice enough to poke me to see what's up (thanks, Todd!) and *facepalm* I completely forgot to post here. (Sorry!)

Reason is, I've moved back to Minnesota (beginning of April) so for a couple weeks I was in limbo. Still settling in and readjusting and all, but I will be back and aim to continue posting next week. :)

Hope you're all doing well! What're you all working on?

~Merc

Editing Attitude

2010-03-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder, is the editing-hate I see some writers express due to it being actual WORK, or is it the negative focus/attitude that gets in the way? Both? Neither? Something else?

(When I say "editing" I'm talking about fine-tuning words and line-edits. Nitty-gritty stuff like word choice and sentence structure and how many em dashes you can get away with before beta readers come after you with torches and pitchforks. Editing, in this case, means the polishing stage. Revision and rewriting are different*.)

Confession: I used to hate editing. And I wondered why--obviously because it's fricking hard WORK, it's tedious, it requires concentration and focus, and it takes time. It's still not my favorite activity, I admit.

However, it's the way you make a draft good. And that's what I want, isn't it? A good draft that I can make spiffy and shiny and sparkling-clean for submission purposes? Yes. Okay, so I've established that editing = a better draft, which = I could submit it to markets, which = potential publication. (Which is a goal.)

So if my goal is to 1.) produce quality stories which I would be happy to share (I'll let people read first drafts, but only a few people), and 2.) reach a wider audience via publication, then I must learn to edit and I must have a positive attitude.

Why the attitude adjustment?

Bitter and angry and hating on something does not make it fun to do (unless you have that kind of personality, I guess). Oh, sure, there are bad days, and there are areas in a manuscript that incite bookhate, etc. I get frustrated when perfectionism kicks in and I don't produce a perfect draft the first time. Yeah, guilty. It's a hard monster to beat (again and again because it's like horror movie sequels and franchises--IT NEVER DIES). However, in general... liking what you do makes it easier to improve and do it more often.

A positive attitude and focus on (positive) goals may not make the editing less work, but it will make it easier and more appealing. Yes, I have days where I fall back into "teh hateness." But trying to stay upbeat and keeping a positive attitude makes editing easier. (It also helps if you love the story you're working on.)

Working off that theory, if I look at editing as a hateful, dire process that-oh-god-who-came-up-with-this-in-the-first-place-naggh rather than focus on my final goal (if I do the bloody hard work and get this story sparkling, it might have a chance) I'm pretty sure I won't get anywhere useful, or if I do, it'll be full of stress and bad moods and random innocent zombie bystanders will be incinerated.

That's just not fair to the zombies.

Thus, I'm learning to have a better attitude towards editing. I'm even starting to enjoy it. It's a necessary part of the craft. It's how we turn crappy drafts into readable stories. It's part of the process if you want to become a professional writer.

It may not be easy and there are days it will not be fun. I have a lot to learn (as always) and there's no guarantee the work will pay off on any particular story.

Despite all that, I'll continue to work on my attitude towards editing. Think of the zombies, after all.

~Merc

______

*Christy asked in the comments what my definitions of "revision" and "rewriting" and "editing" are, for reference. Here you go:

-revision = big changes. Adding scenes, adding/cutting/combining characters, rearranging large parts of the novel, fixing plot holes, etc. Your big lifting and large-scale fixes in a story.

-rewriting = starting over from scratch, whether it's a single scene or the whole novel. I differentiate the two because you can revise a story or novel without necessarily scrapping the entire daft and beginning all over. Maybe "redrafting" would be a more accurate term...?

- editing = micro changes. Fixing words, sentences, punctuation, smoothing tiny details, tweaking pacing, trimming excess wordage, etc. The polishing stage to make the prose sparkle and read smoothly.

Short film: Pumzi

2010-03-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

This* looks very cool.

PUMZI

(I haven't figure out how to embed videos yet, but check it out.)

Dystopian sf! *hearts* It's a Kenyan short film written and directed by Wanuri Kahui and shown at the Sundance film festival in 2010.

The movie's website, and also Wired has an article about it.

I want to watch it. So, if word of mouth gets around, maybe it can get picked up by a distributor and we see it, yes?

(Thanks to @sandykidd for bringing it up.)

___

*I will continue to ignore Spartezda's attempts to put images of Equilibrium meets WALL-E into my mind. Just no. Besides, Pumzi wins on the prettiness factor. ;)

Hero's Choice, finale

2010-02-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

The final part (chapter 10) is up on Silver Blade! Thank you to everyone who has read the story. :) I appreciate all the comments!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 10

Being a Chosen One sucks, in Hero’s opinion. The big questions in his life don’t revolve around how to ask out the local village girls or whether his birthmark (a bright blue metallic star in the middle of his forehead) is ever going to fade.

No, he gets saddled with a Destiny. It’s not like he’s the usual Chosen One type, either. He’d rather follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Dark Lord, complete with burning down villages when he feels like it. And while life is never dull--he's kidnapped by rangers, haunted by a bossy ghost, and there's the obligatory quest, complete with dragon--nothing postpones his Destiny.

Hero really hopes he has a choice in fulfilling the prophecy--the one that says he will kill his father when he turns fifteen. But what if he doesn’t?

(I have a summary of previous installments on my LJ.)

Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this story--crit partners and beta readers and fans, I appreciate you all SO much!

I hope you enjoyed HERO'S CHOICE. :)

~Merc

Hero's Choice, pt 9

2010-02-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

Part 9 is up on Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 9

Hero's Choice, pt 8

2010-02-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Part 8 is up on Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 8

Series, Scares, and the Making Thereof

2010-02-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

In Jessica Faust's post (on the BookEnds, LLC blog) on the subject of writing series, she says:

If you are writing a series, trilogy, or any other form of linked books, my recommendation is not to write all three books or to continue the series until you’ve sold the first one.

(Read the full article. She has specific reasons for this advice, and it's an interesting piece. There's also sister posts about series that are worth looking at.)

It's advice I've heard before, and I also know some authors and writers who work this way (one book on submission, working on an entirely different project).

Merc's reaction: "Holy crap, are you trying to scare me into having a heart attack?"

Now, don't get me wrong, this is fine (the advice, not the heart attack) if that's how your process works and you can pull it off. I'm quite impressed (indeed, awed) by writers who can finish one book, polish it and submit, then switch gears and only if the first book sells, begin (contractually) writing the rest of the trilogy or series. Hats off to you folks who do this.

I'd probably collapse from nerves at the very idea of trying it. (And that wouldn't be good, because then the zombies could get the upper hand. Or brain.)

See, the way my process works is something like this:

1.) write a crappy draft
2.) decide it's entirely wrong and needs to be rewritten from scratch*
2a.) hopefully not more than five times**
3.) figure out if this is a series book (if it is proceed to step 4. If not, return to step 1 and 2)
4.) write another book in this series or world
4a.) find out all sorts of stuff about the world/characters that must be changed in book 1
5.) rewrite book 1 (again, if need be)
6.) write the next book (repeat steps 1, 2, and 4)

(and the next steps have not been tested yet, so they are subject to change)

7.) have three drafts in some chronological order so Merc does not freak out
8.) polish and submit book 1
8a.) actually figure out what the hell happens if book 1 is accepted (most likely with heavy doses of panic because the entire series is not done and OMG WHAT NOW)

So, yes. I'm not confident or comfortable enough with a series unless I have several books drafted. Because I change things so much. I'm tracking my progress while writing (rewriting, actually) my novel NECROMANCER RISING on my LJ. In between that and writing on a non-novel with Spartezda (prequel-ish to NR), I've discovered quite a few ~~massive and necessary~~ changes I need to make, in this book and the next one.

While I may plot out a novel in odd ways, my writing process requires that I world-build and develop characterization by writing. Those things don't work the best when planned out beforehand, since no one (i.e. characters) actually listens to me. I need to write a draft of a novel before I have a good grasp on what I want, what works, what direction I'm taking things, and who these people are (and what the hell they are doing in my story).

Is it a lot of work and frustration? Yeah. But I need the 'wrong first draft' to get the wrong angles and bad plot kinks and unusable characters out of my head. Then I can write the book I want right.

Jessica's advice makes sense from a business perspective, certainly. If book 1 won't sell (and even if the other books are stand alone, they might not sell either) you may have wasted your time. Fair enough.

The thing is, I have to love and believe in a project before I'll get anywhere near polishing it for submission. If that story is a series, then I'm going to write the drafts of several books. 'S just how I work. ;)

If I tried the "one book out, then don't touch the rest unless it sells" many panic attacks and no writing would occur. It would make the zombies happy (they love it when you're paralyzed) but it would make Merc cranky.

How about you guys? Do you write more than one book regardless, or do you go for writing one book, sending it out, then working on a new project while you wait? Some combination?

~Merc
_________________________
*After a period of several months so ideas and the book have time to gel before starting again on Teh Rewrites. This step is unavoidable.
**Case in point, my first NaNoWriMo novel.

Hero's Choice, pt 7

2010-02-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

Part 7 is up on Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 7

Hero's Choice, pt 6

2010-01-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

Part 6 is up on Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 6

Hero's Choice, pt 5

2010-01-18T22:09:00.000-08:00

Part 5 is up on Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 5

Hero's Choice, pt 4

2010-01-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

Part 4 is up on Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 4

Hero's Choice, pt 3

2010-01-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

Part 3 is now live at Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, part 3

Hero's Choice (pt 2)

2009-12-28T18:29:00.001-08:00

Part two is now up at Silver Blade!

HERO'S CHOICE, pt 2

Being a Chosen One sucks, in Hero’s opinion. The big questions in his life don’t revolve around how to ask out the local village girls or whether his birthmark (a bright blue metallic star in the middle of his forehead) is ever going to fade.

No, he gets saddled with a Destiny. It’s not like he’s the usual Chosen One type, either. He’d rather follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Dark Lord, complete with burning down villages when he feels like it. And while life is never dull--he's kidnapped by rangers, haunted by a bossy ghost, and there's the obligatory quest, complete with dragon--nothing postpones his Destiny.

Hero really hopes he has a choice in fulfilling the prophecy--the one that says he will kill his father when he turns fifteen. But what if he doesn’t?

(Part 1 is here. Also, on LJ posts about this, I have a "what happened previously", and will keep a running synopsis if you'd like. Hero's Choice so far.)

I hope you enjoy, and have a good New Year, everyone!

~Merc

Hero's Choice

2009-12-22T00:25:00.000-08:00

(Image credit.)

It's Christmas early!

The first part of my serialized fantasy novella, HERO'S CHOICE, is now online at Silver Blade.

Hero's Choice, pt 1

A new installment will be posted each Monday.

This week:

On a cold and starry night, Dark Lord Mrakota finds the Chosen One prophesied to kill him. Being unconventional, Mrakota adopts the boy and names him Hero. This does not go over so well with the Guild of Old Mentors or the rangers...

*bursts from the happy* I've been so incredibly excited about this, it's thrilling to be able to share with everyone now! I'd love to know what you think--and if you like it, please help me spread the word. I'll give you cookies. :)

Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this story! I'll figure out an acknowledgments post sometime.

*throws flaming confetti*
~Merc

Words, words, all is words--and titles.

2009-12-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

(Book and title chosen to head the article because I love Stephanie Burgis' short stories and can't wait for her novel, A Most Improper Magick (April 2010)... plus I like the title.)

Titles.

Titles are one of the (many) banes of my existence (writing-wise), compounded by the fact I usually need a title before I can properly work on a story. Head, meet desk. Often. ("Aha, we meet again, Sir Desk!")

There's some words I (personally) dislike in titles--not so much reading them (hey, one of the Dresden Files books is titled Blood Rites) as "words I will avoid if at all possible and if not possible, THERE WILL BE BLOOD" in my own titles. Just because I want to avoid them doesn't mean I don't want to see them at all in titles. ;)

Blood**, for example. My immediate associations with that in the titles end up being vampires and horror. Yeah, there are a lot of fantasy novels and thrillers and mysteries, etc, with the word "blood" in the titles, too. (If you go to Amazon, filter a search for "blood" through books, you will see somewhere around 600,000 or more results. Sure, not all will be unique, and there's a good deal of non-fiction in there too, but you get the idea.)

There's also death (again--I think of horror elements and dark fantasy and vampires). I'm not so opposed to it if you're using it to indicate Death as a personification or character itself--I'm talking about the ones like "Halls of Death [and DOOM, bwhahaha!]".

Dead* naturally brings zombies to mind. And vampires. After that, my associations wander between more dark fantasy and mysteries or thrillers.

*Okay, I realized I've used "dead" in a title. Twice, actually, when I think about it. The first was "They Dreamed of Dead Ships," a horror serial, and I liked how it turned out, title-wise. The other, naturally, involves zombies. "Dead Tide" is the zombie octopi story.

**ETA: Dude. I also realized I have one with "Blood" too. o.O The ship serial, again. "Blood Tide" is the fifth and final part.

Son of ETA: Two. I had a story ages ago called "Blood Rewards", which had vampires (and elves). It got scrapped and turned into a novella-project dubbed Winter Kin instead. Yes, it still has vampires and elves. What? It's dark high fantasy and there's a reason it's been pushed into the cold storage bin. ;)

As much as I like to use the word dark in stories, it's another title word I avoid due to having seen it a lot. It's a milder case--I tend to like it more than some other title words

For fantasy, sword--unless used humorously--is one of those I sort of cringe a bit seeing. (I blame the Sword of Truth series.) It seems to be a very fantasy-title word. There's nothing wrong with it, I'm just not enamored with it as a word to use in my titles. Scimitars, now... mmmm.

Words I like? There's way too many to list, but off the top of my head: Necromancer(s), goblin(s), Hell, sun, moon, shadow, fire, glass, gentleman/gentlemen, steam, gears/clock/cool words like that, anything with ferrets or weasels or mustelids in general, wicked, demon(s), scar(s), hero(es), chaos, sand, mercenary...

C'mon, you can't be that surprised at my list. ;)

What are words you like/dislike in titles? (Yours or not.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

~Merc

"All right, title, there ain't room here for the both of us."

2009-12-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

And lo, a post! Shocking.

Over at The Literary Lab, Scott F. Baily has an interesting article about titles.

*clears away the dust from the floor* So, what makes a good title to you? Do you have Preferences? Do certain words or formats appeal to your more than others? Do you even notice a title, or just go for the shiny cover art?

(Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman is still one of my favorite book titles in awhile--plus, the novel was fun to read.)

I haven't done any real analysis of what works for me. It's one of those cases of I either like it, don't like it, or don't care either way and other factors determine if I read a book. (Choosing a title is a whole 'nother post*.)

What'cha think?

(No, the emoticons have nothing to do with titles, per se, I just found that one here and had to use it. O:))

Have a great holiday, everyone!

~Merc

*Which I've started. Shock! Awe. Yeah.

Also, semi-connected, I'm digging up examples of titles for published books that were changed by editors/publishers. The list is growing and should be fun to compile. If anyone has examples (e.g. Lisa Shearin's Magic Lost, Trouble Found was originally submitted as Thief of Souls), feel free to share. The more the meatier. Merrier. I think it's time to go...

It's December? Why aren't the zombie frozen...?

2009-12-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

Ah, lovely not-snow weather.

I'm not back yet. If you want to know why, I give you two words: Holidays. Retail.

(If you've ever worked retail in the holidays, you will Know What I Mean.)

Anyway. Still alive, when I steal back the braincells I need to write actual posts this blog may come out of the dark.

How's your December so far?

~Merc

P.S. I'm marginally more postful on the LJ. Marginally.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

I have a Twitter short (in honor of the holiday) up on Thaumatrope.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Enjoy your Turkey Day. ;)

~Merc

Not Dead

2009-11-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry, guys, but for various reasons I don't think there will be much (if anything) in the realm of posts for Nov. Sorry I didn't finish those NaNo posts *sigh*... bear with me, I'll attempt to return in December.

(This post is certified written by Merc and no zombies were involved, though some were no doubt harmed in the making thereof.)

~Merc

"Moo" in Nossa Morte

2009-11-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, Merc was driving home from work and (as always) passed a cow farm near her house. The herd of cows was meandering through the drain under the road that connected two fields--a common enough sight for Merc, but on this gray afternoon, a story snippet popped into her head.

I brought him inside and named him Moo. I could replace the cow later.

This evolved into the little horror story titled "Moo".

After writing "Moo", it took awhile before I at last found a home for it, but it was worth the wait. Nossa Morte published it in the November 2009 issue and I couldn't be happier.

Thanks to everyone who helped and encouraged me on this one! :D It's a definite favorite of mine and I'm very pleased it found a good home.

~Merc

Just In Time for Halloween

2009-10-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have a Twitter-length fic up on Thaumatrope today.

Sacrificed Anonymous

Enjoy!

~Merc

This.

2009-10-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

I read a blog post about action scenes (by James Scott Bell) and this stuck out at me.

Fiction is the stylized rendition of reality for an emotional effect.

Yes.

I read forums, blogs, etc, where people freak out in indignation about certain techniques and complain about a lack of realism/logic--i.e. "gasp! dead first person narrators the horror!" /sarcasm--and this is a point I try and make (it's fiction, people, stop hemorrhaging your brains), only Mr. Bell does it so much better and more succinct. ;)

Thoughts?

~Merc

Error--brainfail... please see system manual

2009-10-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no NaNo 101 post today.

Work stress has devoured my brain (the zombies are so jealous). Tomorrow, be prepared! (Or not. Or something. Gah.)

~Merc

NaNo Ammunition!

2009-10-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

(Inspired and suggested by Snazel.)

Stocking up ammunition for NaNoWriMo is vitally important. You don't want to be caught unprepared when November 1st hits.

When the plot bunnies start marching on your base and other NaNoing perils throw themselves at you, having the right ammunition to combat the foes of novel-writing is invaluable.

Playlists
(Unless you don't like writing to music, or noise in general, in which case I suggest comfortable ear plugs or noise-canceling headphones or the like if you have no quiet place to write.)

Do you write to music? Having a special playlist (or three) ready to go for when you start writing can be inspirational and energizing. It's fun picking out a selection of songs that fit your mood or your novel or help you write. When you're ready to start, hit "play" and write on.

It's better to mess around with musical playlists before you begin NaNo, due to how these pesky buggers can suddenly become time-consuming and addictive fun. *cough* (Not that I speak from experience or anything...) You'll have plenty of ideas for procrastination in November--don't be an enabler and add this one to the list.

Don't know which kinds of music would fit your novel? Play the Novel Playlist Creation Game.

Food (of the gods)
Stock up on munchables. Sugar is good. Chocolate is (by default) even better.

You'll want to avoid things too crumbly/messy when actually typing, due to the weird natural phenomenon of crumbs magnetically finding their way into keyboards and clogging keys.

Chips, crackers, pretzels, candy, fruit, veggies, etc. You're bound to have a favorite munchy food. While in the midst of the writing frenzy, you'll need your energy. Preparation ahead of time is wise.

(So is delegating labor to non-noveling minions--er, family/roommates/friends--if you can get away with it. But don't count on it all the time.)

You can have a box of crackers marked as yours and placed next to the computer early, or chop vegetables or fruit and stick them in containers in the refrigerator so they're ready to go when you need a snack.

With Halloween just before NaNo, chances are you can also stock up on candy. ;)

(You'll want to take the occasional break from typing, so those are the times you re-stock and re-fill the food supplies.)

Drinks
Have plenty of water, caffeinated beverages, tea, coffee, soda, hot cocoa, smoothies, or whatever else you like handy.

Water is always good regardless of what else you drink. You want those brain cells hydrated.

Just be cautious of opened cans, bottles, mugs, cups, and buckets by the computer, as liquid spills have been known to sabotage Wrimo efforts to novel at unfortunate times.

If you live in a cold area, hot drinks can also aid in finger warmth and this is a good thing. Frozen hands are difficult to type with. I've tried.

List of Shiny
Via Liana Brooks and Inky, I present: lists of shiny.

Do you have one? No? Go ahead and start one.

Why? Because lists of shiny can give you that spark or boost when you're slowing down and need something interesting--fast--in the scene. They're like plot bunnies, but more manageable.

Keep them on hand for bouts of #shinyfail when noveling away.

Word Races
There's lots of word race threads on the NaNo boards. Word races are wonderful when you're stuck or need some competition or poking to churn out your daily quota. Check the forum for threads, IM and chat room hangouts, and other ideas for boosting your output.

Back Up
This is the most important step. BACK UP YOUR WORK. This isn't just for NaNo, either. Use an external zip drive, email, online file storage, hard copy, whatever works for you (and I suggest more than one method).

Back up your novel every day. There are thousands of tales of woe every year from Wrimos who inevitably lose their novels due to computer crashes, alien abduction, zombie attacks, or other disasters. Don't be one of them.

It only takes a minute to email yourself the current version of your novel when you're done for the day, or copy it to a USB drive.

Don't put it off. The moment you think your work is safe is the moment They are waiting to strike... *ominous music*

--
ETA: Bahnree makes an excellent point--hats! Everyday can be #hatday.

Son of ETA: Liana has a similar post with the suggestion of the Write or Die tool. Check it out.

---

Now that your base is stocked and you have plenty of ammunition and weapons to combat the insanity of NaNoWriMo, to the front lines! The month is almost upon us.

What else do you have in your ammunition stockpile?

~Merc

A Confession About This Year

2009-10-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions for NaNo-related posts! Great ideas. I'll work on articles and may have a few going through November as well.

So, now for this year's confession: I'm not doing NaNo this year.

*waits for the shock to die down*

"What!" you may say. "But Merc always does it--she's taken on crazy goals and projects before! Is this a plot by the zombies? Why? WHY?"

No, zombies haven't gotten my brains. I've been sorting out priorities lately, and I've decided that this year, NaNoWriMo is not going to work for me. A few in my lists of reasons:

I have a revision* project I want to tackle. (My urban fantasy novel, TIME IS HELL.)

I'll likely have an editing/revision project to tackle in Nov/Dec, for my serialized horror novella.

Productivity wise, I now do better taking things slower**. Over-stressing myself by trying to cram 50k words out in a month burns me out badly. Last year was really rough and I ended up doing almost nothing novel-wise for seven months. I'm not eager to try it again.

I have quite a few finished drafts (and too many un-finished ones), but no finished/polished novels, and this annoys me. I should be proactive in fixing this.

I technically already started writing my NaNo-idea, so I'm going to be poking that at a leisurely pace in between revisions. (I'll be writing in November, just not at NaNoWriMo speed or aiming for the 50,000 word goal.)

That said, I'll still be here to cheer you guys on. I like the community spirit in NaNo, and I think it's a great challenge for getting drafts pounded out, and worth trying (if you've never done it--or even if you have).

I'll continue NaNo-related blog posts and I'd love to hear how it goes for you.

*Revision is hard for me to get enthusiastic about. So hell, when I get eager to revise and have ideas on how to fix a broken story, I don't want to put it off.

**I did some rough estimations. When I added together the actual time spent writing on a novel, it seems to average around three months, give or take. It's a shiny number, and definitely one I can handle.

Coming up: actual posts on NaNoing.

~Merc

A List of Things You Like In Fiction--What's yours?

2009-10-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

In his book No Plot? No Problem!, Chris Baty has a section devoted to creating what he calls the Magna Cartas.

Basically, you compile two lists: things you like in novels, and things you don't like. While writing the novel, keep these lists handy. His theory is that when you like something as a reader, you are likely to enjoy writing about it. And if you don't like something, chances are trying to write about it will turn out a chore.

Baty says:

What, to you, makes a good novel?

It’s an excruciatingly broad question, but give it a shot. And feel free to be as vague or nerdily detailed as you like; this list can include anything from ultra-shot chapters to ribald sex scenes to massive infusions of ill-tempered elves.

(pg 85, "No Plot? No Problem!" by Chris Baty)

It doesn't have to be an exhaustive list--and you don't have to finish it all in one setting. [Also, don't worry if you don't have time to do this before NaNo. It's not strictly NaNoWriMo related, and like all tools, it's optional. ;)] You can always add to it later, revise it, etc. If you're short on time, or aren't sure this will work, jot down half a dozen things off the top of your head for a start.

Do you like zombie/ghoul romance, or is your thing more along the lines of airplanes that evolve into spaceships and voyage out into the depths of the universe?

Add whatever you like. You don't have to show the list to anyone if you don't want. (It can be your own, your precious...) Just have it available when you start writing.

Stuck in chapter 4? Look at the list. Maybe you indicated you like high speed car chases through narrow streets, and your characters are already downtown and being pursued by a motorcycle gang. Why not make the getaway scene a car chase?

It could be a technique or device as well. Do you like reading second person scenes in between chapters that show you the bad guy without revealing who it is? Why not try that technique in your novel?

If you're fond of heavy symbolism, there are probably many areas you could slip in imagery and metaphors and parallels and whatever else you want to squeeze in there.

This list can be helpful for plotting as well as actual writing. (If you like car chases, maybe you already planned to include the madcap race through the metropolis sewers on hoverbikes.)

You may not realize you like certain aspects or techniques of writing (as a reader) until you start listing them--or maybe "high speed chases" jars your memory and you realize you also like reading about underwater mazes. Hey, a high speed chase through an underwater maze might just make the perfect plot point in your novel.

(I've noticed I can read something, a novel or story, and I may react right away as a reader--emotional or lack thereof gut reaction to something--and it's not until I start writing down what I thought about it do I realize what I liked and disliked, and why. In a way, lists are like this. They help distill and sort out all the mushed up and packed-in things--likes and dislikes and weird tics--you accumulate while reading and writing.)

Another quote from Baty:

…the things that you appreciate as a reader are also things you’ll likely excel at as a writer. These bits of language, color, and technique, for whatever reason, make sense to your creative brain.

(pg 86, "No Plot? No Problem!" by Chris Baty)

Sometimes you just need a written list to jog your brain when you're in the middle of a mad write-a-thon like NaNoWriMo.

You can't expect yourself to remember everything you've ever liked as a reader while cranking out words. (Much of it may become instinctual as you mature as a writer. Or you have a massive intellect and really do remember it all. Some of need lists still. ;))

On a similar note, Lianna Brooks did a post on lists of shiny that's equally helpful (mirrored as well by Inky). What does your "list of shiny" include? If you like bright colored explosions, why not blow up a paint factory? Maybe that's why the car chase is necessary--getting away from the scene of the explosion before the authorities arrive.

Remember, too, that lists can always be changed. Peoples' tastes can change over time. Don't be afraid to modify your list later--it's not set in stone (unless you go out and get concrete slabs to chisel you list into). And it also doesn't dictate what you must include in a novel. It's not a list of commandments.

It's just a tool (one of many) to help you. How you use it and what you use it for are always up to you.

Have you made your own "Magna Carta" about what you like? What are some of the things included in it? Do you find this tool/idea helpful, or is it a waste of time for you?

Feel free to share your thoughts.

~Merc

Eleven Days to NaNo (otherwise known as "Ahh! Panic!")

2009-10-20T14:34:00.001-07:00

In ~~horror~~ honor of the encroaching First of November (when NaNoWriMo starts), I'm doing a series of posts leading up to the start of my sixth year participating in the crazy event (writing 50,000 words in 30 days). And yes, this is another stab at blogging more regularly.

Posts will include (maybe not in this order):

- A Confession About This Year

- Merc's NaNo History

- ~~Merc's 2009 NaNo Novel~~

- The Magna Carta I (from No Plot? No Problem!), or, A List of Things You Like In Fiction--What's yours?

- The Magna Carta II (from No Plot? No Problem!), or, A List of Things You DON'T Like In Fiction--What's yours?

- Tips and Tricks for Surviving NaNo and Not Becoming Zombie Chow (The Merc Guide)

- Plot It or Wing It?

. . . and this is where I need your help. What other NaNo related topics should I tackle? I need suggestions quick--preferably three or four I could mess with and add to the line-up. Nothing is too out there. ;) It's NaNo-related after all.

So. Ideas?

~Merc

THINGS WE ARE NOT

2009-10-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

The queer-themed science fiction anthology, THINGS WE ARE NOT, edited by Christopher Fletcher (M-BRANE SF), is now available.

*insert Merc partying gleefully here*

You can get it directly from M-BRANE, or on Amazon. It's also available in e-book format.

It includes great stories by:

Alex Wilson “Outgoing”

Derek J. Goodman “As Wide as the Sky, and Twice as Explosive”

Alex Jeffers “Composition With Barbarian and Animal”

C.B. Calsing “Seeker”

Trent Roman “Confessions of a Call Herm”

Mari Kurisato “Connected”

Larissa Gail “Diplomatic Relations”

Eden Robins “Switch”

Deborah Walker “The Meerprashi Solution”

Jay Kozzi “Pos-psi-bilities”

Abby “Merc” Rustad “Queen for a Day”

Therese Arkenberg “Reila’s Machine”

Christopher Fletcher “The Robbie”

Stephen Gaskell “The Offside Trap”

Michael D. Griffiths “Transitions”

Lisa Shapter “The World in His Throat”

Brandon Bell “Things We Are Not…”

Indeed, it is awesome. Chris Fletcher (editor) has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and I'm thrilled to have a story in this anthology. :D

Ooh, and I have a bio/introduction here.

*breaks out the cyber and non-cyber champagne*

~Merc

First paragraphs and all that jazz

2009-10-12T11:54:00.001-07:00

So, agent Nathan Bransford is hosting his Third-Sort-of-Annual Stupendously Ultimate First Paragraph Challenge on his blog. (If you're entering, you should make it snappy. There's a deadline of Thursday.)

I enjoy reading these openings for a variety of reasons--seeing what people are working on, reacting to what I like or dislike (in my head), and finding Bits of Shiny (only to find an author's blog is all about Real Life--what! people blog about RL?--and so I'm left unable to comment on the shininess of writing*).

That is followed by realizing that most of my (novel) first paragraphs aren't that great. (Well. All are drafts. This may explain something.)

So now the debate--tweak an opening and participate, or just sit on the sidelines and watch? (Alas, I have no deep thoughts on openings in general or specific at this time.)

Is anyone else entering?

~Merc

*Okay, it was one entry I read. I haven't finished reading. But STILL.

P.S. I know this post contained no zombies. Bear with me while we transition to the new Lair. Or you could watch Zombieland.

"Bluebird Fugue" published in AlienSkin

2009-10-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

I may have a thing about evil birds. Just maybe.

"Bluebird Fugue" is up in the Oct/Nov issue of AlienSkin Magazine. O:)

A horror flash fiction about, well. A bluebird. I'm sure you can guess how bad things go from there...

Enjoy!

~Merc

Death, volcanoes, and world-hopping--September Recap

2009-10-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

The world-hopping, sadly, did not actually occur on the move from Minnesota to California. (Some may argue the point. Whatever.)

Yes, I did move, I did survive, and I'm still recovering (but I like the weather). Most of the zombies are still being shipped over via express mail. I have a large reassembling project ahead of me next week.

As for writing, it was better than I expected. Things Got Done, which is also more than I expected and hoped for this month.

SEPTEMBER GOALS

- Finish FERAL LEGACY
(Sooo pleased--because, yes, I did finish the novel. I'm still rather high on the accomplishment.)

- Do not, in fact, die moving to CA
(I did not, in fact, die. It was close a few times. Plus I had a cold. Oddly enough there were very few bodies involved in this--barring the zombies. It's kinda impressive.)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels

So I finished FERAL LEGACY--that was good (around 16k written). Many people died. The ending sucks, but hey, that's what revisions are for. I still may have almost gotten something like a climax and resolution in there, even if they need work.

Then I dropped into post-novel ennui. That was not so good.

From about the 20th of September 'til the end, I didn't actually touch any novels. I did finish the first (new) chapter of last year's NaNoWriMo novel, TICKING CLOCKWORK, even if it was a whopping 300 words. ;) (That was fun. Kuso should learn to shut up, or this* is what happens.)

I thought about other novels. Does that count?

*"This" being: he was shot at, knocked out, and then experimented on with clockwork nanites. Which isn't all that bad so far. He has to survive the rest of the novel. *evil grin*

Short Stories

I wrote two. One included a dragon, a volcano, and everyone dead at the end. (I may, in fact, have some dragon issues as well.)

The other is a non-short (brilliantly titled "Feral Compassion"--I know, I'm so clever... /sarcasm) involving a goblin character from FERAL LEGACY. At about 5k, it shows his take on several pivotal scenes in the novel. Let us say it does not end well. (But it was fun. O:))

Maybe not surprisingly, what with finishing the novel and the resulting brain-crash, that was about it for shorts. I did start some random fantasy that involves killer dragonflies and gemstones. We'll see if it goes anywhere.

Other Writing Stuff

Ooh! Sparky and I started another crossover (which, by the way, Sparklish One, Wolf is staring balefully at me about *cough*), this one again involving our characters and world-hopping. Almost 10k was written on that, which is fun. It'll end up a good-sized novella when we finish.

Related to the crossover, we wrote some selective scenes just to be evil to Wolf (necromancy works differently in other worlds). ;) We're not procrastinating at all. *cough*

I plotted out a character arc and plot thread for one of the main goblin characters in another novel (NR)--this makes me happy, since the novel is broken but now I may have an idea on how to fix it and integrate the two separate plot lines together better.

Random Trend of the Month

Slit throats. Death and destruction in general. Necromancy. Alas, nothing more shiny than that.

If not in October, then I have very high hopes for November. (Phoniexes! Dirigibles! Closets full of doppelgangers! And other fun and shiny stuff. Plus, the MC wears a purple fedora.)

OVERALL

Total word count (rounded off): 31,000

Satisfaction level: moderate (not counting the squeeing that happened when I finished FL).

Things got written, things got finished, I moved, so it was all and all not too bad for the Real Life things going on.

How was your September?

~Merc

"The Perils of Laundry" published in Lorelei Signal

2009-10-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's October, isn't it? (It has, in fact, taken me three days to realize this.)

My fluffy fantasy short, "The Perils of Laundry", is now up at The Lorelei Signal.

(Isn't the artwork by Holly Eddy fantastic? :D *adores*)

It's work safe (shocking, I know!) so I hope you enjoy. ;)

~Merc

"LIFE, With Side Effects" published in BASQ

2009-10-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

I've been looking forward to this one.

"LIFE, With Side Effects" is published in the October 2009 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly.

It's (another) depressing SF short. I had a great time with this one. You just know a drug called "LIFE" will not end well, right?

(I realized I have written maybe one science fiction short that is not depressing or dystopian. I assure you, this says NOTHING about me. Nothing at all.)

Enjoy!

~Merc

Isn't it shiny? THINGS WE ARE NOT soon for pre-order!

2009-09-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

I'm insanely excited about this. (Pic is of editor Chris Fletcher with a proof copy of the anthology.)

THINGS WE ARE NOT soon for pre-order.

*bounces more*

Post-novel ennui and why it drives me crazy

2009-09-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Bear's post on this subject is quite fitting.

I feel like I should be working on something. In fact, I want to work on something. Anything. I want to write, damn it.

But coupled with isuckitis (I has it bad, yo) and being drained after finishing my novel (let's add moving stress to round it out), I haven't been able to focus on anything all week.

*sigh*

I realize that 1.) I need to recharge my brain and rest, 2.) this is normal, and 3.) it happens to other people too.

It still annoys me. Part of my brain (no, the zombies don't have the other part--it's on hiatus) is still bubbling with ideas and wanting to write. The rest of my lacks energy, focus, enthusiasm and belief in being able to write.

(It would be easier to veg out and relax if I wasn't moving in less than a week. The joys of timing.)

You know what really annoys me? I want to play Bounty Hunter, but my brother's GameCube is broken dead. Also, I don't have a TV. :P

*mutters darkly at the universe*

FERAL LEGACY

2009-09-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today I finished the first draft of my dark fantasy novel, FERAL LEGACY.

That sound you hear is me dancing and partying in exhausted glee. Also there is flaming confetti the zombies are hiding from (since they're flammable).

Word count: 98,541
Started: 7/4/09
Finished: 9/20/09

Yup. Soooo pleased. Pardon me now while I go collapse for awhile in a "ahahaha-I-finished-the-novel-now-what" bliss/lostness heap for awhile. (More coherent posts will follow. Eventually.)

Hell yeah I'm happy to get this puppy done. Drinks are on the house!

Author bios for THINGS WE ARE NOT

2009-09-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

The release date for the GLBTQ anthology, THINGS WE ARE NOT, is slated for the beginning of October, 2009, and editor Chris Fletcher has begun posting bios of the authors online. :D

Merc's is here.

*dances*

How to Finish a Story: Part 2, the Deadline of Terrible Consequence

2009-09-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Or deathlines, if you follow the method I described earlier (the Death Threat).

If you've participated in NaNoWriMo, you may have heard creator and founder Chris Baty talk about why deadlines are needed and (sometimes) work for going about the mad feat of cranking out 50k in 30 days.

Deadlines can be highly motivational--but only if they have consequence attached. Sometimes, just having to admit publicly that you failed your goal (whatever it was) isn't enough.

They are not limited to novel writing, of course. You could need to finish a short story by a certain date. Or maybe you need those revisions done by the end of the week. Whatever it is, deadlines may help.

In real life, missed deadlines have consequences. You turn in a paper late for school, your grade could suffer. A book publisher wants your next manuscript in my a certain date, damn it, and you'd better deliver. Or else Vinnie here... (*coughs* Uh, maybe not. But you never know.) If you miss filing taxes by the deadline, men in black suits and sunglasses come knocking at your door (they may even have little pen devices that make you forget everything that just happened when the conversation is over--oh wait, that had to do with aliens...).

Self-imposed deadlines for writers aren't always so clear-cut and final. They're hard for me to take seriously, which is why I find the previous method of death threats more helpful. Le sigh. Not even zombies promising to eat my brain if I fail is enough. (My brain is toxic to zombies.)

If no one will help you by threatening to murder a character you love, and you need a bit more bite in your deadline (beyond it hanging over your head like Damocles and his sword), a few ideas might help.

Public humiliation. State a goal, a deadline, and then report back (in a public place such as a blog or web forum you frequent) when you've succeeded (in which case everyone parties and cheers and gets drunk), or when you've failed (in which case, you are staked out as zombie food by a jeering mob). Or, if you're immune to what other people think, there is always...
Hire a mad scientist to blow up the sun if you fail. (The world will hate you and possibly the sheer pressure of dooming the entire planet will encourage you to meet your goal.) On the other hand, if you're actually evil enough you prefer global darkness, you might try...
Chris Baty's Financial Deprivement Method. (You may not want to go this far, but possibly setting aside a small amount and trusting it to someone who will donate it/keep it if you fail can be incentive. :P) From the book No Plot? No Problem! Batty describes this method for ensuring you meet your goal:

This path was pioneered by a month-long novelist writing outside of NaNoWriMo. In May 2001, an aspiring writer named Paul Griffiths announced that if he failed in his quest to write a 60,000-word novel in one month, he would donate his entire life savings to the National Riffle Association.

Paul was not a fan of the NRA, and was very enamored of his savings account, and these two things combined to give him all the incentive he needed to get the novel finished.

Deadlines are extremely helpful--peer pressure and cheering on as well. If a deadline in and of itself works for you, excellent. Have a cookie. Otherwise, if outside motivation is required... *evil grin* There's plenty of ways to motivate you, if you look for them.

Do you have techniques or ways to meet a goal? Tricks to making a deadline, methods you've developed to get things done?

~Merc

Necromancers and wizards and spaceships, oh my--August Recap

2009-09-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm happy with August. (We shall ignore the fact it felt like April for the weather and rain. Even in Minnesota this is odd. But on the bright side, the zombies are nice and clean.)

And writing wise, I got a lot done--on novels, on short stories, on a collaborative project.

*so happy*

AUGUST GOALS

write: 1667 words a day on my novel FERAL LEGACY
(While I didn't manage this everyday, I did get a lot done on it. I'm very pleased.)

edit: the train short, the fantasy western, the wizard short, and the SF dystopia short. Because they are all STARING at me.
(Meh. I edited the wizard short, "Smoke", and I looked at the train short... :P They are still staring at me, but less intently now.)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels

FERAL LEGACY progresses well. I'm on the last fourth of the novel. Much evil ensued. Poor Wolf. He now gets to go kill people en mass. %-) I wrote almost 39,000 words on the novel. See Merc do the happy dance.

Shockingly, I even wrote about 1k on NECROMANCER RISING--killing goblins. Do we see a theme? *cough*

I also started a random JFF* novel, The Professor of the Clockwork Zombies (which, crazy as it sounds, actually does have clockwork zombies), and ended up with about 2.5k.

So, all together, I'm pleased--I may yet get in shape for NaNo. ;)

Short Stories

This was a better month for shorts. I finished two new shorts. One, a SF tale about a ship, technology screwing things up and ending badly for all involved, ended up about 1,300 words and needs fleshing out to work properly. But yes, it was fun.

The second, set in the same world as "Smoke" (the wizard short), was 4k something. Factories that try to eat people! Experimental drugs for mad hatters! Chain smoking! And things explode, of course. Eventually I'll fix the second half so it doesn't suck. *cough*

Spartezda and I started a cross-over story as well--a murder mystery of all things. Yup.

The month also included more Twitter-length stories and a few hundred words on the "punk bunny" story. (I should finish that. Suki is stuck in limbo between the marten mafia and the mouse mob.)

So while no real editing, marketing or submissions happened this month, that's okay. I'm still evaluating. I swears, one day, precious, there will be a post.

Other Writing Stuff

Notes and plots on NaNoWriMo. My characters have no names and now they are telling me they don't need names. Methinks we have a difference of opinion here...

But the novel should be fun. There is steampunkiness. And airships. And an assassin who wears a purple fedora. Also, things explode (with FIRE).

Random Trend of the Month

I would have to say technology gone bad or psychotic. (The SF short involved messed up computers. The wizard short involved a man-eating factory.) Even if FERAL LEGACY doesn't have that much, per se. Aside from drugging people...

But no, there was no real trend this month.

(You'll be shocked to know there were actually no zombies. Ghosts, yes. Dead bodies, plenty. But no reanimated corpses. Woe!)

OVERALL

Total word count (rounded off): 55,000

Satisfaction level: extremely high.

Though I'm saving all the "doubt" posts for later, really, I'm happy with the output this month--in particular continued work on the novel. (Yup, trust me, after almost a year of #novelwritingfail, two months in a row of solid productivity feels soooo so good.)

How was your August?

~Merc

*JFF = Just For Fun, which in turn equals random, fluffy projects I occasionally do just to entertain myself.

Help me out--book recomendations in UF

2009-08-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

I'm on an urban fantasy kick again, but I'm looking for something very specific.

From causual observation and browsing of covers, I'd say of UF is hot-kickass-chicks-in-leather-and/or-skimpy-shirts-looking-tough-with-tattoos-and-weapons-and-going-Immagrrrl (e.g. FMCs). *cough* Which is fine (I'll save you the rants for now), but it's not what I'm interested in reading at the moment.

What I'm looking for is MMC-centric urban fantasy. (I'd like to see some in third person, while we're at it.)

To start it off, I've read the Dresden Files (Jim Butcher), I've read the Nightside Series (Simon R. Green); I recently finished "Nightlife" by Rob Thurman; I'm reading "Unshapely Things" by Mark Del Franco, and lined up (so far), I have "Dead to Me" (Anton Strout) and "Lightbreaker" by Mark Teppo.

They're all urban fantasy with MMCs. They're also all first person (unless "Dead to Me" and "Ligtbreaker" end up switching down the line).

I like first person, don't get me wrong. I'm very fond of it, and in some genres it definitely works best. But I'm wondering where the third-person stuff is. Coz, you know, a girl likes some variety.

So! I'm looking for book recommendations--specifically MMC-oriented urban fantasy, and while I'd love to see third person, I'll take whatever you can toss my way (first or third). YA is fine as well (I'm reading Sarah Rees Brennan's "The Demon's Lexicon" right now, too).

What else should I add to my TBR pile? All suggestions welcome. ;)

~Merc

"Kayen's Fortune" up at The Absent Willow Review

2009-08-15T17:20:00.001-07:00

Just for the record, I'm not a fan of fortunetellers. You might be able to tell. *cough*

Kayen's Fortune

'Tis an older fantasy tale I had sitting about and it found a home in The Absent Willow Review. I'm admittedly fond of screwing people over in my stories.

Cheers,

~Merc

Wait, November is HOW far away?

2009-08-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, it either seems ridiculously far away or way too close. In November, NaNoWriMo madness begins.

I've started planning at last. (Shocking, I know, that I didn't start in April or June like I normally do.) And I swear, I'm only doing one book this year, damn it. Even if the zombies run off with my brain in the middle of October, one book and only one.

Not that I'm known for taking on multiple projects at the last minute or anything.

*cough*

I have no plot and no title, but apparently there are trains and dirigibles. That explode. Oh, and everyone in the Forces of Good is dead by the first five chapters. *cough*

Because, what could be more fun than taking the slightly less evil* allies and pitting them against the slightly more evil adversaries since the world is already screwed, and seeing what happens? (This is where a plot would be useful.)

No one has names, either, though the assassin dude informed me that I have to pay him for his services of participating in the novel. It will be an. . . interesting month.

Anyone else planned for NaNo yet?

~Merc

*I use the word "evil" lightly. O:)

THINGS WE ARE NOT anthology contents announced!

2009-08-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

The table of contents for M-BRANE's queer anthology, THINGS WE ARE NOT, has been posted. :)

Table of contents

You can also see previews of the fantastic cover art (done by Mari Kurisato) and if you're interested, pop on by and see the sponsorship program for THINGS WE ARE NOT that is going on.

So exciting. :D

~Merc

Break out the brass goggles and airships

2009-08-04T13:21:00.001-07:00

I was extremely pleased to find out that my steampunk Twitter story was accepted and published today in Thaumatrope!

"Train"

This August, the Twitter 'zine is running a special 'punk-themed selection of stories (along with their regular daily episodes) chosen by Sean Wallace. :D It's going to be an excellent month.

*continues bouncing around in her gearwork shoes*

~Merc

I see dead people (in ships) and a musicbox wolf on the table--July Recap

2009-08-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

After over a year of being stalled out on novel writing (read: it was like pulling fangs out of pissed off vampires to get any novel words written), July was a lovely and awesome change.

I wrote half a novel in 26 days.

(This is me being restrained and coherent. Because, y'know, otherwise there would be just incoherent squeeing going on. *cough* It doesn't translate well on screen, okay?)

GOALS SET IN JULY

- edit the dream horror novella/serial thing for submission
(Got it done on the 31st with hours to spare.)

- continue working on novels. Maybe one day I will actually get somewhere on NF.
(This ended up being so much WIN, I'm still bouncy.)

- finish another started short
(Nope.)

- write a new short (possibly the B&B idea)
(I, er, actually didn't write any new shorts whatsoever in July. A first so far this year.)

- polish up at least three stories for submission
(Well. Technically I meant "besides the ship serial", so really, I only did one. But! It paid off, since "Queen for a Day" was accepted for M-BRANE's QSPACE anthology.)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels
Did I mention how excited I am over this?

The new novel I started, FERAL LEGACY, took over my brain with a delicious vengeance. 41,100 words in twenty-six days--and I'm nearly at the halfway point. I love it so much, it may possibly be illegal in some states.

Oh, and Wolf has fans. It's so cool. (Thanks, Snazel, Bahnree and Sparky!)

Truly, that progress would be enough, but I also managed 2,300 words or so on RIVEN. (I didn't mean to neglect you, sweetie, but, well, the other novel is shinier. *Riven looks at Merc blankly and says nothing* Aren't you even jealous? I meant to finish ch 6... *Riven continues looking blank* Argh, never mind. *Merc mutters darkly*)

Short Stories
While I didn't write anything new (I'm still boggling over that), it was the month of Editing From Hell.

Let's see. Edit "They Dreamed of Dead Ships", check.

Edit "Hero's Choice", check. (This was after I panicked and realized I hadn't fixed it until I got an email asking if I'd, um, edited it. But I did manage it in two days! And I'm really happy with how it turned out. So yay.)

Edit "Queen for a Day" for the QSPACE anthology, check.

Merc's brain = ERROR: file not found.

It's amazing anything else happened this month, given how much I was slashing words (not THAT kind of slash... I save that for Wolf's novel ).

Other writing stuff
I wrote an outline and some notes for FERAL LEGACY. Yup.

Random Trend of the Month
Dead people. Seriously.

I killed off most of the world's population (in the horror serial); the death toll may not be high in FL yet, but it's meaningful; and I got to kill rangers and old mentors in "Hero's Choice", along with, you know, lots of "good guys". 'Tis fun. Oh, and the "Queen" short is nice and violent (give someone absolute power with no consequences, and you will have blood).

*happy sigh*

OVERALL

Total word count (rounded off): 47,500 words.

Satisfaction level: we have passed out of Earth's gravitational pull. Or something.

On the blogging front, I managed new posts! After looking through the archives on the Toasted Scimitar, I re-thought my plan of re-posting until I have a chance to update the few articles I thought might be fun to revisit. (What? I like the prefix "re".)

How was your July?

~Merc

collapses on a shore of silver tiles

2009-07-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

I finished editing the horror serial (I vaguely remember mentioning it... or did I? *eerie music*) this afternoon. *falls over* Editing has sucked out my brain.

But anyway, "They Dreamed of Dead Ships" has been (wait for it...) shipped off. Ha ha.

I know, I know. Terrible. (I'm tired.)

Now I can focus on other things (one hopes) for awhile, including possibly that reevaluation I, ah, meant to get to this month. *cough*

Yeeeeah...

(Since I've been a day ahead of myself all month and feel like it's August--I have two hours to go, brain--I may have a recap post up tomorrow. Or, you know, before we're halfway into the month and I remember I was gonna do it on the 1st...)

~Merc of the random posts

It's so shiny when things are offical

2009-07-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not (go away, Ripley*, I wasn't talking to you), I'm a tiny bit paranoid about talking about acceptances in public.

Rejections are different--I prefer not to talk about them, for professionalism reasons, and I figure everyone already knows I get bunches of them (like everyone else) so why babble about it? :P

Anyway. The acceptances thing--I'll be honest: I don't want to jinx it. (What can I say, it's my one "superstition".) Also, it feels weirdly inappropriate (don't ask me why; but unless an editor has posted a "list of acceptances" as some do, I feel like I shouldn't talk about it until the story goes live--I'll probably feel differently with novels/agents in the future ;)).

But! Since the wonderful editor Christopher Fletcher at M-BRANE SF has made an official twitter post about it and gave talking about acceptances his official stamp of approval, I can say this.

My short sci-fi story, "Queen for a Day" will be appearing in M-BRANE's very shiny and cool GLBT-themed anthology, coming this fall.

*bounces off the walls*

I'm so very honored and pleased to have a story included in this collection. (Other names so far include Brandon Bell, Derek J. Goodman and Eden Robbins. I hear the TOC will be announced soon, and I can't wait!)

So yes. It's shiny when things are offical.

~Merc

*I named one of my zombie lieutenants Ripley, since he's so fond of ripping out brains. Somehow he got into the habit of thinking anytime someone says "believe it or not", that is now his phrase. I tried to educate him, I really did. But wouldn't you know it, rot in the cranium does strange things to comprehension sometimes. *sigh* And no, Ripley, I'm still not talking to you...

"Shrewhead" published in Everyday Weirdness

2009-07-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

My (very short) story, "Shrewhead," is now up at Everyday Weirdness, the 7/23/09 edition.

(I must thank the brilliant editor, N.E. Lilly, for the suggested revisions on this on--and for publishing it, of course. ;) But seriously, I'm so much happier with the story now. I love editors!)

This one is dedicated to Jeremy C. Shipp with the good-kind-of-blame, because it was completely inspired by his awesome stories.

Cheers!

~Merc

The Passion of the Novel

2009-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

My normal writing MO is, of course, to work on five different things at once. Whether it's short stories (which I did a lot of for the last nine months), or a mix of shorts and novels (only recently), I've always been a multi-tentacled--um, multi-tasking writer.

(You saw NOTHING. The tentacles behind my back do not exist. Move along, minions, move along.)

I have trouble actually remembering if there was ever a time I worked exclusively on one project for more than a week before I got restless and had to shake things up a bit. (NaNoWriMo does not count. NaNo is the mother of all exceptions. Except maybe having a Mi-Go steal your brain and can it...)

And yet, since the beginning of July, a novel has consumed my brain.

It started so innocently. Wolf, an antagonist from NECROMANCER FALLEN, casually petitioned me to write him a novella. (The whole history is going up on my LJ as I piece it together.) I said yes.

What harm could it do? I'd work on it off and on while doing "real" stuff. Easy enough.I began FERAL LEGACY thinking I'd poke it now and then.

Ha. Ha ha ha.

See, I laugh. I laugh TWICE.

The novel hit 24k yesterday. I started on 7/4/09.

(This may not seem like much, but given that in the last year, the most I've written on any one novel in a month has not topped 6k. You can figure it out from there.)

I love and adore this novel so fricking much it makes me want to squee. Yes, it is that cool. Yes, I am that passionate about it. I wake up wanting to write. Ideas ambush me at work. I lament having to go to bed because I want to keep writing.

This passion is something I haven't felt for a novel in a long, long, long time. Oh, yes, I like my other novels. (RIVEN, for example, is one of my preciouseses.*) But there's something about this new one that just makes me want to run around and download it into people's brains. Sorta reverse zombie tactics.

Coherency continues to escape me when talking about this.

Are you passionate about your current project? Why or why not? What about it makes you gibber in incoherent delight when the topic comes up?

~Merc

*I don't believe in calling novels "babies". That's a little disturbing if you consider what we do to them. (Bad parenting, anyone?) So, I refer to my "special" novels as preciouseses. I'll babble more about that later.

Reevaluation II: The Reckoning (trailer)

2009-07-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

They thought it was over.

They thought they were safe.

But someone is watching them… and they have nowhere to hide.

[Quick, staccato clips of STORIES looking around nervously in a barren wasteland as the music builds slowly and creepily in the background.]

STORY 1: H-hello? Is someone there?

[Camera follows STORIES as they creep about, panning above them to show they are seemingly alone in the wilderness.]

STORY 2: There’s no one here.

[A low, sinister chuckle echoes around them.]

STORY 3: Wait! Did you hear that?

[They peer about, spreading out as they search for the noise.]

They never thought they would have to face their worst nightmares.

[Camera focuses on STORY 1’s face. STORY 1 starts breathing hard and turns in a circle.]

STORY 1: Come out, wherever you are!

[Fade to black as text keeps rolling.]

They were wrong.

[Close up of STORY 1’s face.]

STORY 1: I’m n-not afraid of you!

[Camera pans back to show MERC standing behind STORY 1 with scimitar in hand.]

MERC: You should be.

[STORY 1 turns around and screams. MERC raises the scimitar and slashes down. Blackout.]

REEVALUATION II: The Reckoning

COMING SOON

In other words, I’m working on five different posts at once, but I will get to the reevaluation post. Like the inevitable sequel, it will come...eventually. B-)

The LJ rises again from the deep...

2009-07-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

(Argh, sorry, I keep forgetting to finish the next couple posts in my 'how to finish a story' series... *stabs tiredness*)

Anyway.

Some of you (you know who you are, Snazel) encouraged me to try daily writing updates of my WIP. I thought about this. (A dangerous pastime, I know.) I fed the zombies and thought some more.

Then, it occurred to me that my LJ (Zombies, Flamethrowers and Scimitars--so me) has been sitting there neglected and slowly becoming more and more dead (as opposed to merely undead), so I might as well scavenge it.

The experiment of daily updates shall begin tonight.

~Merc

Non-books and productivity

2009-07-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

I should give myself permission to write badly more often.

There is a definite difference in knowing "first drafts suck" (and trying to tell myself to just write, since all sins can be fixed in revision) and writing something I have no intention of doing anything with except writing for the pleasure of it and sharing with a few friends.

I call the later stories non-books. They're purely for the fun of it. And I realized again today how freeing this can be--I don't have to concern myself with tense consistency (much to the dismay of some), I can be as sloppy and unstructured as I want, etc, etc, etc. I can write bad because, in the end, it doesn't matter.

The current non-book is a novella about the antagonist in NF--it's Wolf's story about he became the broken, twisted, manipulative bastard he is. A lot of fun, and the best part is, it sucks and I don't care.

I wrote almost 4k on it today, pounding out two chapters and loving every moment of it. *sighs*

The lack of pressure, the lack of needing to meet my own standards, the lack of "rules" makes me incredibly productive.

Bed calls. More on this later. (Also, I will try to have the next "How to Finish a Story" post done tomorrow. The topic: deadlines. Mwhahahaha.)

Ta,

~Merc

How to Finish a Story: Part 1, the Death Threat

2009-07-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm notoriously bad at starting and not finishing projects. Part of this is due to laziness, part of it is I loose interest in a project, and... various other environmental factors. (Running a zombie horde takes time, damn it.) It frustrates me, and I will not mention what it does to the people who, for bizarre reasons, get involved in reading my projects I suddenly leave in limbo for ages.

There are many reasons one might drop a project. Sometimes the story is simply too broken to fix; perhaps the puppy-love infatuation has passed and you now hate the sucker; or maybe you find the novel uninspiring and not what you want to spend huge chunks of time and your life (and brain) working on.

Let's say you want to/need to finish the story (be it a novel, short story, whatever) but you:
1.) lack ambition and enthusiasm to poke yourself along
2.) you have Perfectionist Anti-Draft Syndrome (in which you can't bear to work on it because the first draft will suck and This Cannot Be!), or
3.) you are distracted with a New Shiny but really should finish The Story (for any number or reasons--deadlines, for example).

So, if you're like me, and have trouble finishing something that needs to be finished (even if it's just because your readers will be breaking down the castle door with torches and pitchforks if you don't), I have a few self-proven methods.

This first of which is:

THE DEATH THREAT

(Also known as the 'Finish or I Will Kill Him' motivation strategy)

No, not threats against the author, as that is rather counterproductive. But! Characters are likely victims.

Several years ago, I was writing a first draft of my novel RIVEN. I waffled around at the 30k mark for several months. I knew where I was going, but I had Perfectionist Anti-Draft Syndrome and was frustrated by the complicatedness of the novel. (And yes, I was being lazy.)

Merc: Mweh, I wanna finish this but I'm stuck. *wanders around setting her hair on fire*

My friend and crit partner, Ardyth, was reading along as I wrote the novel. She was not impressed with my complaining.

Ardyth: Just write it, you can fix the bad draftiness later.

Merc: I know, but ugh...

Ardyth: *looking stern* Okay, that's it. You either finish RIVEN by the end of February, or I'm going to kill Leon. [One should note here that Leon is secondary character in one of Ardyth's novels. He reminds me of a half-wizard version of Enjolras in Les Miserables, except he doesn't die in the end. Or he didn't in the version I read--but Ardyth was rewriting the novel.]

Merc: *gapes* Nooooooo!

Ardyth: *smirks, chains up Leon, and puts a noose around his neck* I'll do it, you know I will. [This got no argument, since she is the Dreaded One, and really would do it.]

Merc: *gibbering incoherently* You CAN'T KILL MY FAVORITE CHARACTER!

Ardyth: Oh yes I can. Leon has already served his purpose in my novel. I can easily kill him in the climax and I will unless you finish Riven.

Merc: *more incoherent gibbering*

Ardyth: *raises an eyebrow* Well?

Merc: Okay, okay! Damn you, I'll do it.

Ardyth: Good. *smirks more*

Merc: *mutters dark and unprintable things*

So, with the life of my favorite character hanging in the balance, I furiously set to work writing the rest of my novel. I had twenty-eight days to finish the draft or Leon would be executed and the Dreaded One would post the death scene in public so the world would know.

I couldn't let Leon down! I wouldn't fail! (Did I mention he has a crush on me? It's... an odd relationship we have. *cough*) Leon was counting on me to save him, and I would. I had to.

It was an insane month. I wrote at work; I wrote during every spare minute, without looking back and re-reading previous sections. I think I got up at ungodly hours a few days to write while I had ideas and focus.

Ardyth was heartless and kept taunting me with how Leon could be executed and how much it would fit in the end, and... and... argh! I continued looking at her darkly and muttering darkly dark things, and writing my ass off.

On February 28th, I collapsed over the finish line, typed THE END, and declared Leon saved. He would live! I'd written over 60,000 words in the shortest month of the year, finished my novel, and proved to myself I really can produce drafts under pressure and threat of characterly demise.

(Ardyth and I recently repeated this technique last month, when I was working on the Ship Horror serial, because I wasn't finishing the shorts on time. In this case, she threatened to kill helpless ferrets in her anthropomorphic MG fantasy novel. But I finished, and REGO WAS SAVED! Ha!)

[photo credit Michael John Dunway]

How To Use the Death Threat Technique

What you need:

- someone who has written about a character you love, who would be willing (and will actually do it, if necessary) to kill said character if you fail. This is hugely important: the threat lacks any real impact if your partner in crime backs out at the last minute. Pick someone ruthless you can trust. (And no, characters who die anyway do not count.)

- a time frame for finishing your project (under threat of character death)

- a public declaration of intentions by both parties--so you can't back out of it. (In our case, we posted on CC's message boards.)

How to go about it:

Evil Partner in Crime: Finish [Project] by [date] or I will kill [Loveable/Cool/Sexy/whatever Character X].

You: *agree, panic, and write your ass off so Character X does not meet an unnecessary and grisly death on the page*

Results will vary. Either you:

- finish your project, declare victory, laugh in EPIC's face and dance in mad glee that Character X is saved, or

- you fail, watch in helpless grief and horror as Character X is brutally killed, all the while cursing your name.

And if, for some reason, you actually prefer to fail and watch Character X die that way... well, I'm not sure I can help you out there. The ghost of the character will return and IT WILL HAVE ITS REVENGE.

I'm just sayin'.

---

So if you're finding it difficult to finish your project, for whatever reason, you may consider the Death Threat option. Because violence does solve many things in fiction.

~Merc

They Dreamed of Dead Ships--June Recap

2009-07-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

Huh. That title might get swiped for my horror serial novella (which lacks a title). *snatches and runs*

(Yes! Do you know how difficult titles are for me? Damn things refuse to cooperate so I have to use stealth tactics and blackmail to get ones that don't incite eye-damage and bleeding from the brain. My title-poachers have about a 30% success rate, and high casualties.)

*cough*

June was an amazingly productive month. Despite the fact I must have spent most of it complaining endlessly to Sparky and Ardyth (who, if I didn't know their evil sides, I would say should get nominated for sainthood for putting up with me), I did actually get things done. (Shocking, I know.)

GOALS SET IN JUNE

- one chapter of NF (dark fantasy novel) in the Present plotline
(Mweh, didn't happen.)

- finish at least one short that is started but not done
(I actually this, I was so pleased with myself. I began an urban fantasy short at the end of May and finished it on the 2nd of June.)

- allow myself to write whatever the heck else I want for the month— i.e. relax and have fun.
(I did this, too. Mwhahaha.)

I should have added (since it was the top priority):
- Finish the horror novella serial thing (five connected short stories of 3.5k each) by the end of the month.
(And lo, it was done.)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels
I gotta say, I'm happy with progress on this front, minimal though it was. I managed about 4k on RIVEN, the first real progress since, oh, December. It may not seem like much (it really isn't, all things considered), but the main thing is I got back into it, I like the novel and am excited about it again, and I have my fingers crossed that this draft is The One That Works.

In an effort to bribe Sparky to work on a short story for submission to the Way of the Wizard anthology next year, I'm offering to write on my novel TICKING CLOCKWORK. The Feral Biologist apparently is quite fond of my psychotic, insane, pyromaniac gay acrobat MC, Kuso, and his gearwork jaguar companion, so the deal is I write more on TC and she works on a short story.

Bribery, for the win! (I managed about 1,200 words on TC. Kuso uses way too much alteration.)

Short Stories
I wrote five new stories (unconnected to the serial) with everything from zombie flash fiction to my foray into omni-POV with angels *looks around shiftily* to over-the-top weird fantasy (hail Maggot, whose world gets weirder every time I write about it) to dark and gritty fantasy about wizards to an experimental story using three different kinds of POV and two tenses. (It involved collecting bones! And I killed the MMC three times. I think.) Also a bunch of Twitter-length shorts.

Yeah. It was awesome. O:)

And then there is the serial, which I'm dubbing Ship Horror for now to save my braincells. It's five parts, each a short story (about 3.5k each) that can stand on its own (so goes the theory) but also is part of an overall story arc.

Let's say that it's a miracle I have any hair left after this. (I did let Sparky chop it off--whoo!--but that's not the point.)

But, behold, all five stories were completed in June. See Merc write. See Merc collapse in exhuastion.

Note: always back up edited copies of your work. Seriously. Email yourself when you finish or, like me, you may end up spending several hours editing a short, and then a few days later realize that it did not save at all and you've lost it and now have to redo it. Again.

Yes, I edited several shorts (one I had to re-do twice after losing all my edits due to #technologyfail) and nearly strangled my computer in the process.

Other Writing Stuff
Bits and pieces of novellas and other shorts got written, but nothing extensive. The twisted superhero novella progresses apace, and eventually I may even finish the goblin-POV non-short (dubbed, How to Drive a Necromancer to the Breaking Point Whereupon Many People Die and It Ends Tragically).

Random Trend of the Month
Not surprisingly, it involves death omen ships, killer dreams, and bringing protagonists back from the dead (more than once)--I just realized that in both Maggot's short and the experimental story, the MMC is killed off and resurected in the course of the story... and then I had that zombie flash... are we seeing a trend here, precious?

OVERALL

Totak word count (rounded off): 48,000.

Satisfaction level: high. I'm incredibly chuffed at all that happened in June, even with all the bitching I did. *looks innocent*

On the blogging front, I will be recycling several posts from the now-defunct Toasted Scimitar blog (R.I.P, TS) over the next few weeks and maybe that will inspire me to write some new stuff.

How was your June?

~Merc

Or: What really happened in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.

2009-06-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Apple In Your Teeth" is now up at Golden Visions Magazine. O:) Scroll down, I believe it's the second one in the list.

(On a side note, this seems like a good month for snake-oriented stories.)

Enjoy!

~Merc

P.S. I refuse to put disclaimers about the content--be offended it you want. This is fiction; I rest my case. :P On the other hand, it's quite clean and work safe reading. ;)

#Mercfail

2009-06-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

You know that post awhile back I did about novel goals? Yeah. The 500 words/reading every day one. Um. That hasn't happened. At all. Zilch. Nada.

Total #Mercfail.

*sighs*

*sets herself on fire*

*reboots brain* Let's try this from the top, again...

Reading: every day. Oh, I do read every day... a lot of short stories and stuff, you know? But the stack of novels sitting there (staring at me with murder in their non-existent eyes) hasn't moved. I also meant to do some reviews. #Mercfail

So, the idea is to read from a novel every day.

Writing (on novels): let me get back to you on that one.

~Merc

"It Never Helps" up at TOL Summer 2009!

2009-06-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

I've always adored The Evil Overlord List. Who doesn't?

In honor of #34 (the inspiration), I'd like to announce that my short story, "It Never Helps", is now published in the Summer 2009 issue of Tower of Light Fantasy Magazine.

Enjoy! (Unless you happen to be terrified of snakes. In which case I suggest therapy. ;))

~Merc

Because This is Awesome--QuasarDragon

2009-06-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across the blog QuasarDragon the other day, and I must way, it's awesome. Dave finds all sorts of free speculative fiction, art, comics and more on the web, and compiles them in bite-sized posts regularly. With pictures!

If you're looking for stuff to read, definitely check out the blog.

~Merc

Weekly bout of fangirlishness: "Only the Dogs Bark" by Dawn Lloyd

2009-06-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, I critiqued a story on CC that was absolutely fantastic. I don't remember how long ago it was, but the story has stuck in my head. (Seriously, I can't look at brown/blue eyes the same way.)

And now, I'm absolutely thrilled to plug Dawn Lloyd's story:

Only the Dogs Bark

(Published in the recent 2009 issue of The Future Fire.)

It's fantastic, haunting, and has lovely world-building. A definite treat. Go read and enjoy.

*throws flaming confetti*

Congrats (again), Dawn!

~Merc

The Bastard Saga (published in The Town Drunk)

2009-06-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

*throws flaming confetti*

I'm super excited to announce that the June 2009 issue of The Town Drunk is now live, and features my S&S parody (with zombies):

The Bastard Saga
Bast is the Chosen One, commissioned by a doomed wizard to save the world from Rackshalok, Prince of Demons and Lord of the Underworld. But what’s in it for Bast?

With sincerest apologies to Elric of Melnibone and Audrey Jr.

~Merc

Direct Correlations

2009-06-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me the other day there may, in fact, be a direct correlation between my reading habits and writing productivity.

A couple years ago, before I started really getting into short stories, novels were my main focus. I was also reading/writing (and finishing) novels much more frequently than I am now. When I started being attacked by short story ideas and slipping into full-fledged combat (i.e. writing them down, editing, polishing, submitting), my reading also tipped from novels to shorts. I read more online magazines, more short story collections and anthologies, etc.

Part of this, I think, is my short attention span--look! sparkling zombie chickens!--and the instant gratification shorts give. When I focus, on average I can write 1k an hour. I can (with focus and determination) finish a short story in a day/several hours if I work at it. When you add that + shorts don't take me 6 months to revise + I can submit lots at once + the fact I've sold several stories it and feel like I'm getting somewhere= something like, "Merc's brain is firmly in short-story-gear and possibly the gear stick is now stuck there."

And because things work in reverse, I've noticed I have a difficult time reading and finishing novels lately. This is not the fault of the novels I've been trying to read. It's the damn stick shift that's stuck.

Novel writing (let alone finishing--what is this ending of which you speak?) is almost non-existant, and all I seem to be reading is shorts.

Now, shorts and reading of them is not bad. I adore short stories. But I love novels, too. I want to get back into novels. Writing them. Reading them. And--y'know--finishing them. (Possibly short attention span + slow reader = shorts are more "instant gratification/feeling productive". This shouldn't be an excuse, brain.)

I have this shiny stack of new books. Sitting there. Taunting me.

Possibly I need to ween myself back onto novels by reading an hour a day on one book. Then I'll see if I can get myself to write on a novel every day and see what happens.

If there is a correlation here (alas, no flashing neon signs are appearing to confirm my suspicions) then I think one will lead to the other. If I read more novels, I may get back into the mindset that I require to write them. (I'm well aware how novels are different than short stories.)

So, even though I seem to suck at following set goals :P I'm stating (yet again) a new one.

Reading: an hour a day on one of my shiny new novels sitting by the couch. Probably in the evening/late afternoon around supper time.
Writing: let's try this 500-words-on-a-novel-project-per-day thing again, ja?

Poking and mocking of failures (and cookies when I make it!) much welcomed. I may even *gasp* post updates.

~Merc

P.S. I love this page.

Weird, Wacky and Questionably Wonderful--May Recap

2009-06-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

Argh, even though I've been looking forward to June, I keep forgetting it is, actually, here. So.

May was a moderately successful month--though I probably started way more than I finished, sigh.

GOALS SET IN MAY

- finish "Mutter?" (my third Fourth Reich short)
Much singing and dancing in the fiery streets--I finished this short (yes, damn it, it is still a short even at 9,500 words).

- finish the teeth/dentist horror short
Um... there are definitely no subconscious barriers but... er... no. *sigh*

- finish my goblin non-short (just so it's out of the way)
Poor sexy goblins got forgotten and neglected--I only just remembered I meant to do this now.

- do something novelish
Rah! Work on NECROMANCER FALLEN actually happened.

- do crits
Amazing. I did some. Go me.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels
Progress actually happened. Not much, granted, but I wrote almost 6k on NECROMANCER FALLEN which, sadly, seems like a lot of late. *grimace* (You know that goal (ha ha) I'd set awhile back, 500 words on NF before other stuff? Yeah. Uh, didn't happen.)

Short Stories
Only finished four actual shorts this month, though there were about ten Twitter-length (140 characters) shorts mixed in with that. It was an odd month. All the Twitter-shorts were horror. ;)

I wrote a second-person-present-tense-zombie-infested-clockpunk-twisted-retelling-of-Snow-White which was... well. What do you think, given the description? :P It was weird and dark and fun in interesting ways.

Finished "Mutter?", another Fourth Reich short involving an orphaned, telepathic griffin and blowing things up. Fun.

Rounding out the (finished) flash-fic spectrum in May, I wrote a sci-fi short I'm not entirely sure what to make of (involving, apparently, a boy who falls in love with a metal girl?) and a purely weird horror short (inspired after reading Jerebear's work) about a shrew who lives in this kid's head.

In the realm of started-but-not-finished, there was a more electic mix: an urban fantasy short about a genetically created nephilim on the run, a sci-fi/noir thing, a fantasy about were-tigers-turned-gladiators, more horror, and the next Maggot short (apparently about Maggot the chronically unlucky assassin's unintentional hunt for immortality).

Much wackiness involved in it all, but fun. I'm actually surprised how much I liked most of what I wrote this month...

Other Writing Stuff
I apparently wrote two outlines, one for a serial of horror shorts, the other for there were-tiger story. They are longer than some of my shorts. :|

Random Trend of the Month
Yay, the zombies make a resurgance! In fairy tales, fantasy, and sci-fi.

The theme this month seems to be: suicide missions (i.e. jobs that look fairly deadly and impossible but characters take them on anyway for whatever reason). Makes for fun conflicts.

OVERALL

Total word count (rounded off): 37,000, so not too bad given I did mostly shorts and had quite a few days I didn't write.

Satisfaction level: moderately high. Yay! I liked a lot of what I wrote in May, I experimented, and managed to have fun while being somewhat productive. I think. :P

Blogging still remains the iff-y topic, doesn't it?

How was your May?

~Merc

Plug from M-BRANE SF (i.e. squee!)

2009-05-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

If I haven't recently said (bad me), M-BRANE SF is made of win. Not only is it a great mag (do subscribe if you haven't!), but the editor, Christopher Fletcher, is absolutely fantastic about promo for authors who have had stories published or upcoming in the magazine. :D

Is this cool or what?

(The emoticon has nothing to do with this... except maybe a toast to M-BRANE... I just adored that smiley on the old NaNoWriMo boards and wanted to use it. That one too. Can you tell I'm having too much fun now?)

So yes. Now you know offically M-BRANE is awesome in all ways. :D

~Merc

"Hangman" on Dunesteef

2009-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

The first-ever podcast of one of my stories is out at Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.

"Hangman" was originally published in AlienSkin Magazine, and the guys at Dunesteef did a fantabulous job. I'm so excited! :D

Please stop by and have a listen--I'd love to know what you think. (And yes, I already know my voice is Evil Incarnate... did you ever wonder why I have so many zombie minions?)

Enjoy,

~Merc

Construction and deconstruction (i.e. making things explode)

2009-05-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

I meant to eventually come back and fix the layout/colors/general blogness looks, but the zombies were in need of feeding, and one thing led to another and... yeah, it didn't happen.

Currently I rather hate the way pictures and images fit in the sidebars, I'm debating a lighter, more eye-friendly color-scheme, etc, and I need to update link lists.

So, be prepared* for random bizarre occurrences of color blindness, more explosions than usual, and the screams of innocent passersby getting struck with falling debris. Bloggish re-construction is in the near future. (I live in Minnesota. Summer = road construction. Well, actually, there is no summer. The seasons are Winter and Road Construction. But anyway, I'm just going with my home state's trends from hell and initiating construction with the warm weather.)

Don't panic if you see flaming zombies falling into the moats, m'kay? 'S all I'm saying. It'll be a work in progress for a week or so.

(You're welcome to comment on how it looks. Love or hate or want to nuke it, it's all good. ;) I'm not a visual designer for a reason. :P)

~Merc

*If anyone dares mention the Lion King song and gets it stuck in my head, you will probably want to flee the planet before I find you. %-)

I'm a chocolate-plated yard gnome...

2009-05-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Not literally, but I bet that got your attention, didn't it? Mwhahaha.

Actually, it's in reference to Jeremy C. Shipp's new Bizarro Bytes.

I would totally be a zombie horde mistress anyway.

~Merc

Combatting Shiny Ideas with flamethrowers and goals

2009-05-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

. . . or not.

In an effort to make myself, you know, actually work on a novel, I decided to set myself a goal. I will write 500 words on NECROMANCER FALLEN before diving into new, shiny story ideas (such as the novella that invaded my brain, with tigers).

It was a spectacular failure. The first day (Sunday, aka yesterday), my brain said "screw you". I wrote a 1,200 word outline, took a nap, and then wrote 1,500 words on the "shininess with tigers" novella. NF was cruelly neglected and forced to sulk in a corner.

(I'm having too much fun shamelessly hijacking emoticons, too.*)

Ugh.

Either my brain is still in "screw you" mode (okay, fine, when isn't it?), or I'm still taken with the idea of gladiatorial were-tigers in a circus, or I'm just procrastinating on NF. Maybe all three. *sigh*

However. Even if day one was a loss on the novel (regardless of what I did get done--which was good, yes, I admit it), I shall strive to crush this pitiful rebellion off the face of the galaxy! (Damn. The rebellions tend to win in SF, don't they?)

Possibly there will be bloggish updates about the ongoing war between Empire Merc and the Brain Rebellion. *cue dramatic music*

~Merc

*This emoticon was hijacked off Absolute Write.

Couldn't have said it better.

2009-05-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

Though naturally I would have added zombies. ;)

Amy Laurens over at Inkfever has a brilliant post about the logic of narration and tense in general, when telling stories.

Story Elements #6: Narrators and Tense

(Having had the "dead first person narrators are illogical!" debate with people before--I'm pro on the issue, I see no problem with DFPNs--I really adore Inky's argument that all narrators are, in a way, illogical if you think about it.)

*wanders off to kill some more first person narrators*

~Merc

Fiction Idol: Jeremy C. Shipp

2009-05-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, I remember reading the story "Camp," originally published in ChiZine. It's a sick, twisted story about a special summer camp for "special" kids. (I mean that in the best possible way, of course, since I way enjoyed the short.) That story has stayed in my head ever since, and yes, I will now forever associate summer camps with the place described in the narrative.

Just recently, I "discovered" (or perhaps re-discovered) the author, Jeremy C. Shipp, via Twitter. (You can follow him here.)

I adore his work. ADORE, I tell you. (Read and you will see why.)

The man is a freaking genius with dark fiction (horror, bizzaro, dark fantasy, etc) and absolutely awesome all around. Did I mention hilarious, too? And he has a thing for gnomes. (According to this interview at Fear Zone, he actually is a gnome who is shortness challenged.)

Mr. Shipp is the author of Sheep and Wolves (a short story collection) and the novel Vacation, with a second novel, CURSED, coming soon.

I suppose I could sum up my fandom with a bout of manical laughter. So. Bwhahahaha!

If you like dark, twisted, disturbed, thought-provoking, highly entertaining and imaginative fiction, check out Jeremy's body of work. (No, not the bodies in the trunk of the car.)

I guarantee the stories will stick with you for a long, long time. They may even breed gnomes in your spleen.

(Of course I still prefer zombies, but hey, to each his own.)

~Merc (who is parathentical and has discovered icons can be pasted into posts--let the world beware!)

Cloned gods and dentures--April Recap

2009-05-07T00:25:00.000-07:00

I nearly forgot about this. *sets her hair on fire*

GOALS SET IN APRIL

- edit/revise the Permits 'Verse short (the "controversial" one )
Mwhahaha. I actually did this--at least, cohesified it into a short. (It was formerly part of a novel.) Also, ooooh, I didn't think images transferred from CC! *is distracted by shiny devil emoticons*

- fix the other permits short I finished yesterday and decide if either of them can be dragged out of suckiness to consider for subbing
Meh. Forgot about this one. Oh well.

- finish the two Fourth Reich shorts I have going (that tag is so much easier to write than shiny-alt-history-post-apocalyptic-SF-fantasy-weirdness)
Check. I was pleased.

- ignore all novels until after I move
That was the easiest one of all. O:)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels
Nothing, it was glorious!

Oh. Wait. Damn it--somehow I got suckered into finishing TSASHI's first chapter. *le sigh* I got to blow stuff up. A ship, a prison wagon, and almost the MC. Funness. O:)

Still, in comparison with my goal, that's not too bad.

Short Stories
Six shorts completed. Shockingly I'm even happy with most of them. :P Two "Fourth Reich" stories done (involving sphinxes, antlered elves, elementals, jackal-headed semi-cyborg dudes running around, blowing up tanks, and killing the MC. Several times). Shah is still an irredeemable pest. PUT THE GRENADE DOWN, Shah. Argh.

Moving on. Another re-told fairy tale got added to the mix last month, involving Hansel and Gretel, the Gingerbread Man, and zombies.

The anthro snake short involving a cobra fallen angel and a gay brown mamba didn't turn out so well. Meh. Have to figure out how to fix it. On the plus side, there was an albino anaconda general dude.

The necromancer short is, well. Let us say it at least has a beginning, middle and end. I'm waiting on the verdict about coherency and workability. ;) (It's set in my goblin world. So the fun part was my sexy, coloful goblins. Okay, and messing with Leopard, the necromancer.)

And finally, I edited the Permits short "Ryan" into something resembling coherency.

Started a few new shorts, mostly a non-short set in the goblin world, a third "Fourth Reich" short (involving baby psychic griffins and many explosions of armored mechs), and a horror piece about teeth. Floating, killer, invisible teeth. And dentists. Ugh, why do I do this to myself...

Other Writing Stuff
Not much. A crit or two.

Random trends of the month
It is clearly the month of killing main characters. Someimtes more than once.

Alas! No zombies. It was sad. I'm aiming for better luck with them in May. O:)

OVERALL

Total word count: rounded off to 29,500. Which normally would be on the low end, but given moving and whatnot, I consider fairly decent.

Satisfaction level: moderately high. I actually got things done I'm happy with, I survived the move, and achieved some goals.

Blogging? Who knows. I wasn't keeping track.

Did you have a good April?

~Merc

Zombies lurking in the spam folder

2009-05-06T20:36:00.001-07:00

So, I finally figured out why I was randomly not getting comment notifications on some of my posts.

Apparently a zombie went mental (it was messy) and ate the brains of my gmail account. Almost all my notifications and replies to Blogger posts were being eaten by the now mindless spam folder. Gah!

After a hasty brain-transplant and zombie slaying (really, once they go psycho, you have to put them down) I fixed the problem. Now I will actually know when people comment, huzzah!

(So if I missed replying to your comments, it was the zombie's fault. Sorry. ;))

Now, you may return to your regularly scheduled mundane existences. Or not. Up to you.

~Merc

"Chatterbox" out

2009-05-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

We shall not discuss why it took me this long to figure out which mag my story was in. *coughs* Moving on...

My micro fiction horror story, "Chatterbox" was published in the Spring 2009 issue of Sonar4 Horror Mag.

It was one of those 'random inspiration stories' (where I had a line of dialogue pop into my head, and on my lunch break I wrote the entire story in one sitting) about a man who talks to much. Needless to say, not everyone appreciates this endearing quality.

Enjoy!

~Merc

Bite sized horror--delicious!

2009-04-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

I've just found a wonderfully entertaining e-zine for horror micro fiction: Micro 100.

Lots of wonderfully twisted mini-stories in there; the March 2009 issue is particularly awesome. Go check it out!

ETA: I can spell... really... *fixes title*

~Merc

Another vote for insanity

2009-04-29T19:37:00.001-07:00

Dr. Dume is always reliable for madness (including maniacal laughter-inducing insights) and his recent terrible ruminations on insanity and sanity and the evils of the later is insanely brilliant.

Do go check out The Terrible Sanity.

~Merc

Pulp!

2009-04-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

I've discovered The Nostalgia League, which is made of win. *sighs fondly* Old pulp stories, art from magazine covers, old time radio shows and more... it's just awesome.

By the way, if you've not read it, you should read "Farewell to the Master". 'Tis awesome. (Sci-fi and the basis for the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.)

*wishes she had found this way before now*

Enjoy!

~Merc

And behold, there was Net

2009-04-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Verily.

*glows radioactive with excitement*

At long last, the elder gods have awoken--I mean, well, I'm hooked up to the 'Net and can finally get back to my slacking in posting, and catch up with blogs.

Tremble in fear, world. Merc has returned. %-)

Zombie food!

2009-04-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

...Shall be made and canned out of stories that begin with "MC woke with a start." Or similar cliches.

I swear to the infernal reaches of my lair, if I see one more opening like this I'm starting a zombie canned goods plant. I'll have plenty of material to use in the processing, clearly.

Yes, I've been reading submissions on Critique Circle. But I see this elsewhere too... it's empty filler for zombies, I admit, but hey, it's cheap and plentiful and you just mark the cans "Brains" and they won't know the difference until they're hungry an hour later. %-)

~Merc

I'm not dead. Not even zombified (shocking, I know)

2009-04-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

In fact, I'm moving. :P

So, the utter lack of posting, commenting, etc, is entirely due to this Process From Hell. Sometime next week *crosses fingers* we should be set up (with net, I'm so in withdrawal) and the usual chaos will ensue.

Ta,

~Merc

That's a nice start to April!

2009-04-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

I had no idea, but a 140 character story I'd submitted to the Twitter mag Thaumatrope was published today. :P

I've titled this one "Some Days" for lack of anything better. (My handle is Merc_hyn_di on Twitter.)

lol

Well, a surprising but nice start to the month. ;)

~Merc

Necromancer Horses and Undead Pirates: March Recap

2009-04-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

(For the record, I think April Fool's Day is a spectacular waste of time--because everyone suspects your prank. I usually wait to spring my zombie-laden surprises on people on a different day, when they won't be on guard. %-))

I'm fairly sure I'm going to give up on setting specific goals soon... I never actually remember them, and no, it wasn't the zombies getting into my brains again.

GOALS SET IN MARCH

- get the minotaur/wolf-girl short edited and ready to sub
(Bwha ha ha! So, I actually managed this, thanks to wonderful help from the Feral Biologist.)

- finish the two shorts begun in Feb (my "Rail" short and the Sleeping Beauty re-telling)
(The fairy tail retelling spawned into completion. Zilch on the mental/time-looping short.)

- write ch 4 of RIVEN
(See me laugh. Ha. Ha.)

- edit TIH ch 2 (I'll keep it simple)
(*groans* Nope.)

- finish my JFF novel
(I'm pleased--I finished the "just for fun" story. It's about 14,000 words of pure random Armageddon chaos.)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels
This month didn't suck as badly as I'd thought. Happiness! On my dark fantasy novel, NECROMANCER FALLEN, I managed about 8,900 words--the most progress on it in months.

I began my new JFF, this time an adult fantasy/steampunk titled TSASHI. (You can read the first sentence here if you want. :P) It attacked me and demanded I write the first page. I laughed in its face and wrote an entire scene instead.

*refuses to mention Kuso lest he be inordinantely encouraged*

Short Stories
Five finished shorts--I'm pretty happy with the results. Sparky's fairy tale retelling ended up weird and with slash (why am I not surprised :P). There was a random short about a dude who stalks Death. I probably commited some unforgiveable sin by writing a Black Beauty short involving bringing Ginger back to life to seek revenge...

It was the month to finish long-ish shorts. I finished the SF/borerline western with cyborgs and gentically engeineer chimera short at 8k. Then there was the Maggot short, complete with undead pirates, cults of ghouls, animated stone elephants, and the most chronically unlucky assassin still alive. (7k)

I also ended up revising/editing a handful of shorts, including an urban fantasy (it's a prequel short to my novel-that-should-be-edited-but-isn't TIME IS HELL), a permits 'verse short (see To Market, Before the End, and Unpermitted for others), and the zombie octopi short. *is chuffed*

Other writing stuff
Not much. I outlined a novella, wrote TSASHI a blurb, and *gasp* did some crits.

Random trends of the month
Clockwork and the undead.

. . .I wanna do something with clockwork zombies now.

*focuses*

Yup, everything from a zombie octopus invasion, Death personified, undead pirates, zombie horses, and plans for resurected dead imortals (don't ask)... it was quite the month for the walking corpses.

As for clockwork, well, it's more in the planning stages, but Kuso's novella that shall not be named involves a gearwork jaguar, and TSASHI has something going on with the clockwork black market... all right, fine, I just wanted to mention clockwork zombies. :P (How cool is that?)

OVERALL

Total word count: rounded off to about 34,000. I think I managed to write something almost every day, which I'm pleased with.

Satisfaction level: pleased. I got more than I anticipated done, I actually finished some shorts I'm pleased with, and I made progress on NF. Wheee! Hopefully we're out of the sucky winter months and weather related depression now...

Alas, blogging in general sucked. Oh well.

How'd your March go? Get anything you're really happy with done?

~Merc

P.S. It occurs to me I keep listing goals I never actually, you know, post on my blog to begin with. :P Not that I know how many really care about it... I'm mostly using it as a record of what I do this year.

Since one can never have too many zombie links...

2009-03-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

Lady Glam did a great post on zombies at her blog. ;)

Enjoy!

~Merc

Because my brain is useless except for filler...

2009-03-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

...I thought I'd link to a couple horror stories I read today. :P It's light reading, perfect for my lack of brain. (Of course in AlienSkin there's lots more entertaining reads. I'll get to them. I just liked Nicole's story quite a bit and had to share.) Anyone read any fun shorts lately?

The Chocolatier by Nicole Ross
(AlienSkin Magazine Feb/March 2009)
Makes you want to go eat some chocolate. *cackles*

The Thirteenth Step by Richard M. O’Donnell
(Every Day Fiction, March 25th 2009)
We all know you don't go down into the basement when the power goes out...

"Before the End" now published in Alternative Coordinates!

2009-03-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting eagerly for this one, so I'm thrilled to announce that my short SF story, "Before the End" is now published in the first issue of Alternative Coordinates! :D

*throws flaming confetti*

Definitely check out the whole issue--lots of fun stuff!

~Merc

HOW long? o.O

2009-03-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, when reading a post on Writer's Musings about how much time it takes you between novel drafts and why, I had one of those "oh, crap" moments when I realized how long it's actually been since I've steadily worked on a novel project. (NaNoWriMo doesn't count.)

September.

*winces*

I finished the draft of TIME IS HELL around then, and set about poking NECROMANCER FALLEN while I "planned" for NaNo. (Quotes are necessary since, well, not that much planning really happened.)

Admittedly I've poked random novel-ness on and off since then, but despite Plans and Goals, nadda. Zilch on the 'focus on one novel and get another draft done' front.

*headdesk*

Shorts have been going well, I suppose. I'm just a bit disturbed how long a gap I have once I actually consider it.

So yes, random post over. I had some thoughts on character voice I may try and coherently scribble down later...

*sighs and sets her hair on fire*

~Merc

"Unpermitted" is now published in M-BRANE #2!

2009-03-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

I'm way, way excited about this!

My short story, "Unpermitted," is now out in the wonderful second issue of M-BRANE SF. Please check it out--issue 1 is also available free to download. :D Chris (the awesome editor) did a fantastic job, and the whole issue is definitely worth reading. It looks fabulous! So if you need some good reading matieral, drop on by.

*throws flaming confetti*

"Unpermitted" came from an idea I'd been tossing around for years. I probably wrote ten or more completely different versions and incarnations of this story before finding one (this one) that worked. It tells of a not-to-distant future where everything (literally) is regulated with permits. Anything is possible--except personal freedom.

It's a dark little tale about one man's choice to protect his family from what is perfectly legal in this world--and the consequences that follow.

I'm very happy with this story and I do hope you enjoy. B-)

~Merc

Angelic Longevity On the Decline: February Recap

2009-03-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

Give me cookies, I remembered to keep track again this month! *munches* Impressive, no? Two whole months in a row, I remembered something! :P

Winter can end now. Really. No one will complain...

GOALS SET IN FEBRUARY
According to what I posted in a discussion thread on Critique Circle, I set some goals for Feb (funny how I don't remember any of them O:)).

- write the superhero novella
(I think I forgot about it after finishing the first chapter; I melted my brain with a discussion of Things That Shall Not Be Named--specifically how Star Wars and spandex should not be in the same sentence. But hey, the whole story is outlined... counts for something, eh?)

- write/finish (depends on what I get done in Jan) my two post-apocalyptic shorts
(Totally blanked on these, sigh.)

- write on something novelish.
(Whoo! Novelish occurrences happened! Sorta. If you squint and look at it through your peripheral vision and stand on your head.)

- edit TIH
(If editing 250 words from a chapter ending for Miss Snark's First Victim's Drop the Needle crit session counts... that's about it.)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Novels
Meh. I (re)wrote half of chapter two for RIVEN. I might quite possibly have finally gotten the Second Chapter From Hell to work now--awe and shock and glee! Well. Until I edit. ;)

The JFF (just for fun) has progressed in all it's random, chaotic awesomeness of zombies, mummy-trolls, living pills, and end-of-the-world weirdness. 'Round 3k and two chapters done on that.

And... that's it. *sigh* At least I thought more about novels and looked at them this month... gotta count for something, right?

...Right?

Short stories
Four finished shorts--including a fantasy western, a SF clone story, an experimental fantasy about symbiotic trains, and a weird SF/horror short about what absolute power does (I think? am still not sure what the hell that one was overall, but it was totally inspired by Night Gallery)--so I'm reasonably happy with that.

I also began two more (apparently one involves mental time loops and angel feathers of mass destruction; the other started as a Sleeping Beauty short with briar romance, especially for Sparky, who gave me the idea).

I made my goal of writing at least one short I liked (I did like the fantasy western, and the clone short), and I even started editing the minotaur/wolf-girl short I wrote in January.

Other writing stuff
Hey, it was a good month for outlines. I finished outlining one part of NF, wrote one for another dark fantasy, and even came up with an idea and blurb for a serial novel.

Random trend(s) of the month
Dead angels.

The fantasy western (angels die in a gunfight), the half-finished time/mental loop short has a random dead angel (apparently this is the whole cause of the MC's problems), and the JFF includes some falling deceased feathered wonders as a side-effect.

Let's leave it at no comment, shall we?

OVERALL

Total word count (including revisions of shorts/chapters): 24k, rounded off, which isn't too bad given all that happened in Real Life (I hate Feb, for the record).

Satisfaction level: moderate. No energy for anything more.

Is winter over yet? What the hell do you mean, "no"? *growls and plots* (And all you in the warmer regions, send some heat waves this way, won't you?)

So. How was your February?

~Merc

insert something witty here

2009-02-24T18:24:00.000-08:00

I meant to do a post today. I meant to be productive. Really. Honest.

*looks angelic and innocent*

It was not my fault I've done nothing but watch episodes of Night Gallery. The DVDs possessed my computer!

Okay, okay, I admit it. They didn't possess my computer. They addicted me.

I started last night. Two discs (roughly four hours each) and a day later I'm only stopping because I work in the morning...

And just in case you have never seen this (people! go! watch! now!), it is unadulterated awesome. B-)

I'll get back to writing something postful. You know, soon as I finish this entire collection. O:)

~Merc

What does "regularly" mean?

2009-02-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

Clearly my aim to post more than once a week has failed with spectacularness and fireworks.

I have yet to figure out a good way to poke myself into posting on a regular basis. All you guys that blog every day impress me, you really do. :P I'm not nearly that motivated.

But I feel neglectful of my poor fiery, zombie-infested blog when I let it list in limbo for days at a time.

So this week, I'm trying for a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday (with a possibility of something on Sundays) posting--we'll see if I can get into that habit for awhile.

For those who blog every day... how do you do it? Do you come up with topics in advance? When do you usually write your posts, and how do you stay on track?

~Merc

Fun is a full-loaded flamethrower and lots of flamable targets

2009-02-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

It's important to take time out of your busy schedule to randomly set something on fire (zombies are always good and flammable) now and then. And equally important to let ourselves have fun when writing.

"But," you may say, "isn't writing fun already?"

Ha. Ha. Ha. Not always, no.

It's work. Yes, it can be fun, but more often it makes you set your hair on fire (or someone else's), scream in frustration, etc. Yes, it can be enjoyable, and there are days you wonder if feed the manuscript to the pet zombie goldfish would be a more productive use of paper and ink. Often we get wrapped up in a serious project (yes, comedy counts) and it starts becoming a chore. We sit down, bang out words (or try to, if you have severe perfectionitis), growl curses at the keyboard, and wonder why this dreck is going nowhere.

Yeah, and there are days we plain get stuck, blocked, caught in a rut, and nothing is interesting, exciting, worth working on. These bouts can last for a lot longer than a few days, too. It's annoying as hell and sucks.

(Those of you who never have bad days or bouts of project-hate, you had better start running now. *hefts flamethrowers*)

There are 736,352 reasons (I omited the decimle points out of laziness) why you might have isucktis, writer's block, be stuck in a rut, have no enthusasim for your work, et cetera.

You may be burned out. It happens. Don't panic. Take a break and recharge. Read for pleasure, relax, do something else for awhile why your brain recharges. I find I get burned out after finishing any novel, several shorts in a row, or some insane amount of words in a short time. Now if I can just train my brain to accept the fact burnout happens so it stops begrudging me breaks...

You may be blocked. Some people don't believe in writer's block. Of course it's a pyschological aspect, unless you have plaque built up in your brain, in which case I'd recomend a doctor and not a writing manual. Changing gears, writing randomness or taking a break can help. I don't recomend open skull surgery to scrub the plaque off with a toothbrush, though. I hear it's not quite sanitary. (No, I don't know why either.)

You may be too focused on seriously advancing your career/body of work and putting way too much pressure on yourself to the point where you hate everything and feel not only blocked, burned out, and sulky, but also inclined to shoot every story idea on sight.
First drafts are crap. It's a reality. I know it sucks, but so does the fact there's a lack of zombie goldfish in mainstream fiction.

When this happens, you need to step back and have some fun. Yes, you can reevaluate and reconsider and whatever else. You can take a break (usually a good idea), but if after that you're still convinced that everything must Mean Something, be good, if every idea must have a unique spin, if every story must succum to internal story logic, if no draft can have plot holes or flat characters or lack of setting or emotional impact or deep meaning and theme, if it all must change the world... then seriously, dude, you need to lighten up, step back, and have some fun.

If you suck all the joy and pleasure out of writing, it's going to show. You're going to feel it in your mood and lack of interest in working on anything real.

Yes, I'm serious. You need to have fun.

Sometimes this can be as hard to do as working on a real project if you don't lighten up; I understand it can be difficult to loosen up and work on a "just for fun" project that means nothing, will never see the light of day, and is flawed in every way imaginable.

However you define what is "fun" for you, or "just for fun", it can help break you out of the trap listed above.

Merc's steps to having fun (sans setting anything on fire in the case of fire marshal rules where you live):

1.) Relax. Take a hot bubble bath, curl up with a book, whatever. Before you do anything do something physically relaxing and mentally un-stressing.

2.) Either tattoo on your forehead, hang a sign over the computer, or otherwise impress on your muse, brain and creativity that THIS PROJECT IS JUST FOR FUN. It can be as cliched, as cheesy, as bad and terrible and drafty as you please. They key ingredient is that it should entertain you. No one else is important.

When you get to a point you're putting too much pressure on yourself to make sure the drafts come out good (or even workable and fixable), it can build to the point you freeze up and can't produce anything.

Do you secretly like sappy vampire/werewolf romance set on a desert island where everyone wears pink sneakers, but realize the vampire/werewolf market is swamped and people tell you it's cliche and you shouldn't waste your time? Write that story. Make as B-movie as you like. Go for all the cliches! Turn off the spell-check. Name your female main character Bellaroo if you want. Feel free to rip off your favorite novel or movie shamelessly.

The point here is to give into your guilty pleasures, the random crap that comes into your brain but has no place in your more "serious" and "real" projects, anything at all, and dump it all in the JFF. Logic does not apply. Think of it as a free-write if you want.

If you like pages of scenic description and melodramatic mood swings but know they have no place in your urban fantasy thriller, write five pages about how brooding the clouds are over the moors. You don't have to do a mad dahs like in NaNoWriMo. You can take your time if you want, but...

3.) The moment it starts feeling like work, stop.

This is not work, this is play. It's for fun. No one elese ever has to see it. You can add all the random smut or furit-juice drinking vampires you like. It doesn't have to fit into a genre or nook. It doesn't have to fit conventions or age ranges or vocabulary standards.

It doesn't matter how bad, silly, insane, random, cliched, weird, unlogical, holey, flat, off the wall or infused with killer goldfish it is. I'm serious. It. Does. Not. Matter.

If you want to journal or rant, go ahead. I chose a fictional outlet since I didn't want to stop writing completely, but couldn't focus on anything I might consider adding to my portfolio.

This is a brain-dump exercise to take the pressure off you. Give yourself permission to be bad and indulge yourself. Think of it like eating that quart of chocolate-swirl caramel delight ice cream in the freezer. (Or your favorite flavor. Personally I like frozen strawberry yogurt.) Maybe you shouldn't, maybe it's not good for you, but it sure as hell is fun to do and savor that moment of indulgence.

The same with writing. Indulge yourself. You don't even have to look at the scale in the morning and feel guilty about it. Cool, huh?

And to wrap it up...
You don't have to finish the JFF. It does not need plot, conclusion, or denoument. Change direction and stop whenever you like.

If you feel refreshed, happy, and eager to get back to a real project, go ahead. That's the whole point of de-stressing yourself and letting your brain dump. Once you feel better about your other writing, the stuff you want to show people and see succeed, you may very well be able to proceed.

There's no time limit on the JFF. It'll be there (or spawn siblings for you when you need them) when you need to let out some steam and don't want to risk ruining your current project. If you need a break, take one. Have fun, in whatever way you decide to do it. Remember why you enjoy this thing called writing.

Enjoy! And remember, roses often smell better when you set them on fire.

~Merc

Reevaluating

2009-02-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

That word looks so weird, and I don't know why. It always makes me think of valves and how to make a flamethrower with a gas pipe and lighter, a la The A-Team.

Go ahead, laugh. I'm still the one with the flamethrower. %-)

Anyway.

Last week I took an imposed break from writing "real" short stories. It was okay. Not sure how much it really helped, but less pressure on myself was nice.

For a couple days now, I've been letting the notion of doing a major reevaluation of my short stories (and to some degree, writing in general--but I'm heartlessly ignoring the novels right now) percolate when I'm not using the percolator for coffee. I've decided I need to stop thinking and actually do it.

I have a handful (and growing) of blog post ideas I would love to get written and posted here... but first I need to sort out the shorts, which continue to monopolize my brainpower. (Zombies go for the actual brain, not the brainpower. Lucky me.)

So.

While I'm not all that regular with posting to begin with, I figure if I take a week to sort out some stuff I can concentrate better and will work on some shiny posts/topics. (They keep poking me! With sharp pointy objects! Grr.) If it gets done sooner, the better. Otherwise, while the fires never quite burn down around here, it may be quiet.

What? I can pretend I'm more active than I really am on here if I bloody want... *grumbles*

How often do you step away from your writing/work and evaluate or reevaluate it? What kind of measures do you use and how do you judge what's working, what isn't, and what you want to change to improve and grow?

~Merc

Minotaurs and the Apocalypse: January Recap

2009-02-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

There were fewer zombies created in January, and I blame the schizo temperatures all month.

Writing wise the month mostly sucked, for a lot of personal reasons, but on the brighter side, I remembered to track what I did and didn't accomplish.

GOALS SET IN JANUARY
- write, finish, polish, and have ready to market one new short story.
(I tried. I did a flash fic...)

- research what I need for Time is Hell
(Er... what is this thing known as research?)

- finish writing my novel Riven
(Ha. Ha. Ha.)

- keep randomly working on Necromancer Fallen, my dark fantasy novel (because, as we know, Merc can not work exclusively on one thing at a time)
(I think I looked at it twice.)

- blog a bit more regularly
(Did I?)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Novels
While I didn't touch Riven, I did write two scenes for NF. Rounded it up to about 2,700 words of bugging the hell out of my main character (always fun).

I managed to edit the first chapter of TIH, which luckily does not involve more research than what sub-zero temps in a basement feel like. I live in MN. I have Experience. :P

Nothing else really novelish happened. I got burned out, sick of them all, and shoved them in a corner to sulk while I (tried to) focused on shorts.

Short stories
Wrote a total of three new stories that got finished. It was wonderfully balanced in three genres: a flash fiction SF, a horror short roughly 4k, and a fantasy one that clocked in around 8k. (The fantasy one involved minotaurs. In case, you know, you were wondering where the hell my post title came from.)

I'm actually pleased with how all three turned out. (Which is definitely a first.)

Two post-apocalyptic shorts poked a few random sentences through my brain. I dutifully jotted them down and set the stories on fire for mocking me with a lack of plot for most of the month. They burned gloriously and at last offered up plotness, and now lurk at the back of my mind waiting for me to work on them again.

Other writing stuff
Near the end of the month, I finally got too stressed to work on anything real, so I took a "break" and worked on only non-stories. That was fairly productive, in a non-real way.

A zombie fight scene, non-story (The Historical Escapades of Mr. Dinonysus Block); a myth about why the grim reaper is a skelaton (that was fun); and finally I started a JFF (just for fun) story about a boy who gets a hex drawn on his arm and it brings about Armageddon--wrote about 7k on that and while it's random, weird, and utterly unclassifable, it keeps me entertained. ;)

Random trend(s) of the month
First person and zombies.

Now, I write in both first and third person; I have no preference between one and the other, and it all depends on the story I'm working on. (I admit I'm more likely to use third in novels, quite often beucase I have multiple POVs.)

But this month was unusual in that almost everything was in first person. All three completed shorts; the JFF; the zombie fight scene; one of the post-appocylptic partials. (The novels are already in third person, so they don't count.)

My biggest problem is getting the voices right and keeping them different (keep an eye out for an actual post on the subject of character voice). Still. I'm pondering where this trend came from.

Surely no one need to know why zombies are a trend? O:) (Besides "Mr. Dionysus Block", the JFF includes zombies raiding the cookie jar.)

OVERALL

Total word count (including revisions of shorts/chapters): 33,000 rounded off.
Satisfaction level: moderate to miserable.

Like I said, the month sucked. But I'm not too worried. January usually does for me. ;)

So, anyone else notice random trends in their writing lately?

~Merc

Giving the dungeon a make-over

2009-01-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

You might have noticed I'm doing a bit of redecorating. A few skeletons in the corner, a strategic pit of toxic waste by the front door, a couple more rail guns on the battlements. Nothing much, just some sprucing up.

So just ignore the zombie construction crews for now. (They somehow mistook my link list for brain crackers, sigh, so I need to restore that manually now...)

Posting should--if no one trips the evil circuit breaker again--resume sometime in the near future. (Which is, we admit, debatable with the time machine malfunctioning so much.)

Suggestions or comments on the layout and color scheme and new decorations are welcome. Just don't step on the minefield while you're at it.

~Merc

The Historical Escapades of Mr. Dionysus Block: Zombies and Flaming Umbrellas

2009-01-25T08:55:00.001-08:00

This is a response to Lady Glamis' post on Can you pack a punch? (about fight scenes). I'm not quite sure why I decided to mention zombies and flamethrowers--oh wait, standard lingo around here. O:) (It's a rough draft. Blame the typos on the zombies trying to "assist" me.)

Enjoy.

The Historical Escapades of Mr. Dionysus Block
My good man, have you seen my brain?

The zombies popped out of the drainage ditch near the intersection at the most inconvenient time—on the cloudy afternoon I was late for a presentation at the alchemist’s manor.

Granted, “popped” might have been too strong a verb, as they lurched and wobbled out instead.

Nevertheless, when five zombies appear in a traditional brigand ambush site, one is allowed such expressions regardless of the actual movement. I paused, eying the decayed corpses wrapped in shreds of black fabric.

I offered a formal nod and leaned my umbrella tip on the toe of my boot. Getting dirt in the napalm ejection tip would do my presentation no benefits. “Good day, gentleman.”

“Braaaaiiiiinnnnssssss.”

“Give us... your... brain.” The more coherent of the speakers stepped forward and brandished a brace of pistols. He wore a feathered beret and motorcar leathers, though I saw no indication of his vehicle.

“I would be happy to give you my purse instead, sir,” I replied with my driest inflection, suitable for the mummification of insipid wit. “Unfortunately my brain is irreplaceable.”

The leader shrugged and fired.

I spun on my heel, twisting my upper body sideways. Bullets, unfortunately bound by the laws of physics, are much faster than zombies. Twin projectiles whizzed past, and one detoured hard into my shoulder. Jarring pain escorted the shock and centrifugal force and I staggered back.

Damn, but being shot hurts.

The four zombies sprinted towards me. I assure you, they “sprinted”—even in a decomposed state, whatever injections had been used in their reanimation had given them speed. Two barreled straight ahead, and the other two split and aimed at my flanks. Bits of dead flesh caught in the breeze and the rightmost zombie lost a chunk of scalp and brittle hair as it skirted wide to get behind me.

I stepped forward, twirled the umbrella up, and impaled the nearest zombie head on. The metal tip crunched through its rotted torso. Aha! “The living mind and muscle triumphs again, sir,” I crowed.

The zombie rolled what was left of its eyes and swiped a knife at my throat.

Bugger.

I bent backwards in ways the human spine is quite probably not meant to bend. The rusted blade missed my nose by centimeters. Hanging onto the umbrella handle, I swung my weight counterclockwise and straightened. The zombie lost its balance, staggering as the tip wrenched out between its ribs.

I spun and kicked the zombie behind me in the mouth. It gurgled and lurched back. The impaled corpse snatched at my collar, got hold of my bullet-ridden shoulder instead, and it yanked me back onto its knife.

Pain rippled out from my shoulder up my neck and down my side. I jerked and elbowed it in the ribs. The knife broke against the treated wool of my coat, much to the zombie’s evident surprise and my silent praise for my tailor. The zombie slurred curses at me and tried to bite my skull. Given my advantage in height, it succeeded in slobbering on my neck instead.

I take pride in my grooming, and undead drool is far from highly sought-after cologne.

Whipping around, I jabbed the umbrella under its chin and pulled the trigger. A jet of flame spouted from the tip. The zombie shrieked and immolated in a glorious conflagration. Red and white sparks and heavy gray smoke spat skywards.

For a moment, the others froze at sight of their fellow in dead arms going up in flames.

The one I had kicked moaned and staggered away from the heat, which was quite cheerful and pleasant in the approaching storm-chilled air. In the light, I recognized them now—albeit without the sterile sheets covering their bodies on polished dissection tables. They were Alchemist Franklin’s experiments. The bloody fool had sent them for my work. Was he in such desperate need for my latest invention he could not wait until I met him to rob and murder me?

“Get… his… brain!” the beret-wearer ordered.

“I have deduced your strategy,” I cried as the gale picked up and fanned the merrily roasting zombie to brighter and more expressive, fiery heights. “To steal my brain and all my infernal and arcane knowledge and blueprints when I will not sell Alchemist Franklin all my ideas, and he will claim them that way.”

“It’s a perfectly… legitimate…plan,” the zombie in the beret said.

So it was. One cunning mind must by necessity admire another, even when one is being attacked by zombie created by one’s former colleague and rival. “Quite brilliant, my man. How did you plan to transport my brain without cellular damage before it could be transplanted in a tank of fluids?”

“By… the wonders… of science, Block.” The lead zombie holstered his pistols and held up a syringe of translucent pink fluid.

“Good God,” I exclaimed in fascinated and horrified awe, sidestepping the blazing corpse as it tipped over. “Franklin? What have you done to yourself?”

“Wrong… immortality… potion.” He coughed up a wad of phlegm and spat to the side. The road smoked where he’d used it as a spittoon. “I need your brain… to reverse the process…”

Brilliance to counteract stupidity. I should have seen it earlier. “I’m terribly sorry, Franklin.” I gave him my most sympathetic look with a dash of smugness. “I only have the one brain and do rather need it for work. You understand.”

“Naturally,” Franklin said.

The zombies charged.

I snapped open the umbrella and used it as a shield against the one to my left. The zombie bounced off and rolled to its feet. Blast slow re-charging fuel cells. The one with its jaw hanging loose and broken tackled me around the knees.

Gravity does not take kindly to resistance, and my efforts in keeping upright failed. I landed hard, jarring my shoulder. The deflected zombie seized the edges of the umbrella and heaved. I clung to the handle, cursing.

The zombie around my legs crawled its way higher, a most uncomfortable and queasy sensation, and its rancid breath fumed in my face. It scrabbled for my throat. I caught its hands in my free one barely in time, straining to hold it back. The third zombie grabbed my hair and I felt its teeth click against my scalp.

The steady clip of Franklin’s polished boots on the road sounded loud even with my slightly exaggerated heartbeat. The umbrella handle slipped in my grasp.

Blast and damn!

When one is shot in the shoulder and striving to keep from being strangled by a reanimated corpse, strength in one’s arm is not always optimal. My muscles quivered; my elbow buckled. The zombie’s broken fingernails scratched my neck. Teeth on my scalp broke the skin, and the hot tingle of blood and zombie spit slid down my back.

“Hold him… down…” Franklin said. Lightning flickered off the needle tip.

Admittedly, I am not so found of having my brain excised and liquefied into a serum for the reversal of zombificated immortality. It has the misfortunate side effect of being permanent.

I let go of the umbrella and its zombie attachment. Wasting no time, I kneed the zombie atop me in the privates—or what was left of them. It grunted. I rolled and shoved it back with a desperation-fueled burst of strength. It flopped on its side and I landed on top of it. One of its arms crunched and squished under my palm. The corpse gnawing on my cranium scrabbled to keep hold of my hair.

Using the stunned zombie for leverage, I heaved myself up, tucked into a forward summersault, and snatched my umbrella in one calculated motion. Gray sky and gravel road pinwheeled past my eyes. The Ludwig van Hellstien University, of which I graduated with honors, values physical fitness as well as mental agility.

I sprang up and spun the umbrella around once, aiming at the three tangled zombies left in my wake. I fired the napalm ejectors again and the corpses went up in an inferno. They thrashed and moaned until they collapsed in a twitching heap. Thunder applauded my efforts and I snapped the umbrella closed.

I deemed it a flawless presentation of my newest invention.

Franklin stood gaping at what had been his entourage in brigandry and alchemistic crime.

Now quite put out, I straightened, withdrew a handkerchief, and wiped my face and neck, concealing my trembling. I pointed my umbrella at my old colleague. “As for you, sir…”

Franklin turned and fled, syringe in hand.

Thank God. I had no more charges left in the umbrella.

Given there was no reason to continue on, I decided to return home. I was in sore need of a bath.

“Next time, Block!” Franklin cried.

“By all means, my good man. Do drop in for tea some time.” I waved at the alchemist’s retreating back. “I’d love to pick your brain about the nature of immortality!”

FIN

Oh. WOW.

2009-01-20T12:11:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I have not officially found this until now, but... wow.

Crique du Soleil

*dies of shiny delight*

Bios, bios everywhere

2009-01-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

As in biography. Not biology. Sorry, biology geeks, but I shall have to disappoint you with this post on writing and not delve into the shininess that is zombified octopi and pigeons.

So, it occurred to me today (while writing a bio for M-Brane SF), that when I'm asked to write a bio either with an unsolicited submission or for a sale, I've written a new one from scratch every single time.

Does this seem like a lot of work when I include basics like my name, credits (which either gets updated or modified as necessary), possibly the blog address, and a reference to zombies if applicable? Well, yes.

After all, I'm required to think of up something new each time, and perhaps conform to length guidelines, and damn but it is hard to mention zombies causally at times. O:) It is work. I set my hair on fire over it every time.

But on the other hand, I just can't stand the idea of using a boilerplate bio that reads dry and predictable. I've seen some authors (short fiction--I understand if a novel "about the author" is reused...) who have the same bio with possibly just credits updated. See, I adore author bios that have something unusual or funny or weird or what have you. I like to see something new or tweaked or showing personality, you know?

For me, with a new story, a new take on the bio is required. I enjoy the opportunity to "personalize" it to the story or magazine in question, despite the amount of work. (If you want an example of what I mean, look at my short story "To Market" and "Lady Bones and the Missing Soul Broker" (you can see the bio for the story here, just scroll down).

What's the point of writing a bio if you can't enjoy it? ;)

So how about you? Do you/will you change up a bio (if one is included) or use a standard one you can just copy/paste and be done with it? Why? What do you include and how much bizarreness/humor/randomness do you inject into it, if any? (What kinds of bios do you enjoy most in others' work?)

Okay, I'll see if I can fit octopi in the next post somehow, savvy?

~Merc

Titles made of win

2009-01-12T18:04:00.001-08:00

Just so you know, anything called Ninja Weasels has got Merc's full and undivided attention. O:)

Merc Rants

The end of a year, the end of a blog.

Hero's Choice

Drive-by thoughts on endings

Delay

Still alive

Editing Attitude

Short film: Pumzi

Hero's Choice, finale

Hero's Choice, pt 9

Hero's Choice, pt 8

Series, Scares, and the Making Thereof

Hero's Choice, pt 7

Hero's Choice, pt 6

Hero's Choice, pt 5

Hero's Choice, pt 4

Hero's Choice, pt 3

Hero's Choice (pt 2)

Hero's Choice

Words, words, all is words--and titles.

"All right, title, there ain't room here for the both of us."

It's December? Why aren't the zombie frozen...?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not Dead

"Moo" in Nossa Morte

Just In Time for Halloween

This.

Error--brainfail... please see system manual

NaNo Ammunition!

A Confession About This Year

A List of Things You Like In Fiction--What's yours?

Eleven Days to NaNo (otherwise known as "Ahh! Panic!")

THINGS WE ARE NOT

First paragraphs and all that jazz

"Bluebird Fugue" published in AlienSkin

Death, volcanoes, and world-hopping--September Recap

"The Perils of Laundry" published in Lorelei Signal

"LIFE, With Side Effects" published in BASQ

Isn't it shiny? THINGS WE ARE NOT soon for pre-order!

Post-novel ennui and why it drives me crazy

FERAL LEGACY

Author bios for THINGS WE ARE NOT

How to Finish a Story: Part 2, the Deadline of Terrible Consequence

Necromancers and wizards and spaceships, oh my--August Recap

Help me out--book recomendations in UF

"Kayen's Fortune" up at The Absent Willow Review

Wait, November is HOW far away?

THINGS WE ARE NOT anthology contents announced!

Break out the brass goggles and airships

I see dead people (in ships) and a musicbox wolf on the table--July Recap

*collapses on a shore of silver tiles*

It's so shiny when things are offical

"Shrewhead" published in Everyday Weirdness

The Passion of the Novel

Reevaluation II: The Reckoning (trailer)

The LJ rises again from the deep...

Non-books and productivity

How to Finish a Story: Part 1, the Death Threat

They Dreamed of Dead Ships--June Recap

Or: What really happened in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.

#Mercfail

"It Never Helps" up at TOL Summer 2009!

Because This is Awesome--QuasarDragon

Weekly bout of fangirlishness: "Only the Dogs Bark" by Dawn Lloyd

The Bastard Saga (published in The Town Drunk)

Direct Correlations

Weird, Wacky and Questionably Wonderful--May Recap

Plug from M-BRANE SF (i.e. squee!)

"Hangman" on Dunesteef

Construction and deconstruction (i.e. making things explode)

I'm a chocolate-plated yard gnome...

Combatting Shiny Ideas with flamethrowers and goals

Couldn't have said it better.

Fiction Idol: Jeremy C. Shipp

Cloned gods and dentures--April Recap

Zombies lurking in the spam folder

"Chatterbox" out

Bite sized horror--delicious!

Another vote for insanity

Pulp!

collapses on a shore of silver tiles

insert something witty here