Aleister Luck ~ The Playlists

Since it’s promo weekend for Luck for Hire, I thought I’d share some of the music behind the Aleister Luck books.

Aleister’s particular way of influencing the universe is reliant on his not observing his surroundings too closely.  As it says on the cover, “MAGIC is the manipulation of what isn’t or can’t be OBSERVED.” While Aliester doesn’t go around with his eyes shut, blind alleys and closed doors always better serve his purposes. He also relies on his trusty MP3 player to keep from hearing too much.

The first seven songs on this playlist are directly from Luck for Hire. Obviously, I was having a bit of fun with the loose theme. I’m currently working on the second Luck book. It’s probably going to be set entirely in Las Vegas; the other album that gets a lot of play while writing Aleister Luck escapades is the Ocean’s Eleven soundtrack. The last two tracks are more specific to In Need of Luck. Could I resist adding a female magician to this book? Of course not. Bennylita Wati should definitely add some excitement to Aleister’s playlists.

If you’re interested in reading Luck for Hire, it’s currently FREE! You can download it from Amazon, Smashwords, or Barnes & Noble.

Adventures of the Writerly Writer ~ 2013 in Review

So, what did the Writerly Writer do in 2013? I’m almost afraid to look.

Model Species and The Apothic Man series

Obviously, the big deal in the last couple months has been Eric and my decision to self publish some of our previous works.

The kernel idea for Model Species and Weordan, the setting of the Apothic Man series, began in 2004 after World Fantasy Con. I wrote Weordan stories that year for NaNoWriMo, but those bear little resemblance to what that world would become. Eric wanted to play with the idea of a “magic” system based on actual science. How could characters harness personal power, personal technology? What kind of biology would be needed? What kind of environment would evolve that kind of biology? Then we tell stories in this world. Model Species is a murder mystery with a dash of Frankenstein thrown in.

There are other books set in Weordan, what we’ve decided to call the Apothic Man series. Divine Fire is story of political intrigue set in a theocracy far away from the events of Model Species. These two very different stories are the basis for the next iteration of Weordan novels that will weave the two narratives together. How far we get into Weordan will be partially decided by how well Model Species and Divine Fire do.

Model Species was released for free on Nov. 30th . According to Smashwords we’ve had 335 downloads and not a day has passed without a download. We plan on releasing a premium version with extra content in a few weeks (that will be priced reasonably), and Divine Fire is slated for February, probably.

As I said, Model Species is out there in the world for free. If anyone’s looking for a sci-fi fantasy mystery read, check it out. I’d also love to see some reviews! (Well, okay, the thought of reviews makes my hyperventilate, but that’s normal, right?)

Model Species at Smashwords | Weordan | LIKE on Facebook

Lucinda at the Window

I also rereleased my first novel, Lucinda at the Window. It saw print publication a few years back by a small publisher. Lucinda is my love letter to gothic fiction and manor-bound ghost stories. It’s available for cheap and, if anyone is interested in reviewing (*wheeze, wheeze*), I’d be happy to provide a copy.

Lucinda at the Window at Smashwords | at Amazon

Luck for Hire

I started sending out queries a year ago. I’ve sent out quite a few. Thus far, not a nibble. I’ll be honest, that’s disappointing. Luck for Hire is the closest thing to a mainstream novel that Eric and I have written. And no dice. I have a few potentials, but it’s getting thin.

There are still many more days of failure ahead, whole seasons of failure, things will go terribly wrong, you will have huge disappointments, but you have to prepare for that, you have to expect it and be resolute and follow your own path.
~Anton Chekhov

Abbott Project

Doing research for the Abbott project has been a lot of fun, even if the writing of it hasn’t gelled yet. After writing 44K during NaNoWriMo 2012, I started a new draft in January and then another new draft in June-July-ish. I still haven’t quite found the story I want to tell, but my details are getting better with research. The biggest change has been adding Joseffy to the narrative. He’s a intriguing personage. I’d almost like to write a non-fiction book on him alone. The plan for 2014 is to keep doing research (I need to learn more about Omaha in the early 20th century) and to keep picking at the Abbott Project plot while working on more Apothic Man stuff.

RoW80 – Februray 13th Check In

As I write this, Eric is out picking up dinner. Yes, I have avoided bologna sandwiches by meeting my 10K-a-fortnight goal. Chicken schnitzel cordon-bleu, rösti, coleslaw, marinated green beans, and tomato-basil salad will be eaten soon.

Word counts:

• Wednesday: 1601
• Thursday: 202 – Things were looking grim. I knew what scene I needed to write, but got stuck on it. I should have either talked with Eric more about it or moved on. This is a lesson I keep (not) learning.
• Friday: 1616 new words, cut 133
• Saturday: 0 – Yeah, who was I fooling by thinking I’d get anything done in the morning after staying up until 3am or in the evening after running a 5K and then indulging in quite a few beers?
• Sunday: 1177 new words, cut 278

That makes 10,036 for the fortnight, 7819 written this week. The manuscript is just over 38K. I suppose it could be considered a zero draft. Instead of starting another 10K fortnight, I’m planning on some reorganization and clean up during this next week. Eric and I need to hammer out the exact details, but I’ll probably start with Monday and Tuesday being read-through and note-taking days. More details to come.

RoW80 – January 26th Check In

Oh, Wednesday. I love you, but it’s so hard to be productive. The afternoon whizzes by in a haze of ultimate frisbee, grocery shopping, and cooking.

Monday: 1023
Tuesday: 1219
Luck for Hire is at 25,731 words.

No cuts. Eric liked the last scene I was working on. 2841 to my Skirt Chaser hard goal. (It has been pointed out that my carrot is particularly carrot-y. I’m going to "reward" myself with running 3 miles.)

Nothing yet today. I need to have good evening. I’m going to have to set up teams and a schedule for VOTS league probably tomorrow. And I’ll probably have some NYF web stuff to do before the weekend too. And then NYF.

I’ve settled into a habit of writing late a night, starting at about 9pm and going to 1-3am. I suppose it’s working well enough, but if that’s my schedule, I need to take better advantage of my days to get other stuff done.

Sent one Model Species query out yesterday. No other writing and only a small bit of reading done.

Click to go to Mr. Linky

RoW30 – January 23rd Check In

After such a good Monday, the rest of the week was a struggle.

Wednesday: 507, cut 76
Thursday: 1164
Friday: 0
Saturday: 1104, cut 430

I semi-purposefully took Friday off even though I was behind where I wanted to be. I needed a day to mull on the lasted plot bits, and Chris was in town and wanting to game. I ended yesterday having written 4917 words, 4411 of them new. Luck for Hire is currently just shy of 23.5K words. Spent some time yesterday cleaning up a few things.

Next weekend is New Year Fest. Friday morning, Saturday, and some of Sunday are pretty much spoken for. Since I’ll be doing working Frisbee Central, I might take a notebook with me if I have to and work when there’s nothing better going on. My intention, though, is to have my 10K words (this two-week’s sub goal) written by end of day Friday. If I succeed, I’m going to treat myself to the Skirt Chaser race coming up in February (my soft goal/reward: if I manage to add 20K to the manuscript by Sunday night, I’ll buy the entry package that includes the skirt! I’m 7600 words from that–barring no other cuts. Probably not gonna happen, but that is a great skirt.)

Didn’t get any other writing done this week. Very little reading done either. Today, I plan on some reading, maybe a little gaming, *maybe* some writing after Eric and I talk.

Click to go to Mr. Linky

RoW80 – January 19th Check In

I thought yesterday was the 19th. I am continually amazed that it isn’t March already. That seems to be my general mind-set lately.

Luck for Hire is going well. Eric had some great scene ideas Sunday night. I blew through Monday, writing 1188 and getting caught up on my Model Species submissions. Tuesday wasn’t quite as easy. I wrote 954 by midnight. Today, nothing yet. Wednesday days are activity heavy. Eric and I talked through several scenes. We’re still working out some plot aspects, but this is our process, more or less.

So, a couple of thousand words progress with no cutting. Nice! It won’t last.

This week has been much more low-key. Fewer hormones and computer disasters. League stuff got in the way yesterday. Men’s registration filled and needed to be closed. Now, things are mostly back on auto-pilot.

A note on goals: I don’t mind the trudge. Sub-goals are nice, they give a boost, but I’m in it for the long game. Well, as long as I can stop and do something a little different in three months. Which, with RoW80, I can. To me, "plugging along" means I’ve got a pace going, I’m making incremental progress, and I’m good. Merit Badger’s progress badge is a snail. And that works for me. Most of the time.

Click to go to Mr. Linky

RoW80 – January 16th Check In

Plugging along.

Started new scenes Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday: 1071
Thursday: 1004
Friday: 433 new words, cut 381
Catch-up Saturday: 508

For my first two weeks, I wrote 10,324 words; added 8005 to the manuscript. Luck for Hire is at 19,078 words.

Didn’t get done this week: writing flash or sending out submissions. I’ve also been pretty hermit-y since Tuesday.

I did get the Christmas tree down and mucked out the apartment. I’m nearly moved in on the "new" computer.

Also, LJ and the blog hop code do not get along. Click here to return to Mr. Linky.