Texty

It seems like it's been ages, and it kinda has--I started writing it more than four years ago--but my first novel is finally up for sale! Amazon has it in print and Kindle editions, and it's also at most of their international sites. Nook version is planned, but won't be out for a few months, since Amazon has exclusive digital rights for the first 90 days. However, the Kindle version is DRM-free, so if you're up for downloading and converting, have at it. It's also on the Kindle Lending Library, if you're short on cash.

Back-cover blurb, for those not already familiar with the story:

Young Mirya Thunderstone, like all Dwarf women, has lived her entire life inside her people's mountain home. Frustrated by her confinement, she longs to take up her family's legendary axe, and follow in the footsteps of her late, war-hero brother. But when an accident strands her outside the mountain, she finds there's more to being a hero than wielding a weapon.

Joined by a playful otterkin couple, a deadly Elf warrior, a laid-back Native hunter and an outcast orc, Mirya must use both her axe and her wits to find the truth behind the war that claimed her brother's life.

This is a YA novel in intent, but I think older and younger folks might like it, too. In terms of kid-friendliness, it's probably on the high end of PG: Some violence--not terribly graphic, and the romance bits are very tame. It's possible the language and social/philosophical issues might be a bit dense for younger ones, however. Basically, if your kid can handle Narnia or Harry Potter, she can probably handle this.

This thing is definitely fantasy-trope-a-go-go, but it's not exactly a Tolkien clone (nor did I intend it as such; I was actually influenced more by the Wizard of Oz and Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series.) The setting is a fantastical/alt-history version of the Pacific Northwest, centering on Mt. Rainier, and the characters' cultures are loosely modeled on those of middle-ages Russia (Dwarves), Japan (Elves) and Salishan tribes. And of course there are gay and feminist characters and themes. Of course. ;)

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about it, and if you enjoy it, please do leave a review at Amazon!

P.S.: Big up to foxipher for the gorgeous cover art. It's like she got inside my head and knew exactly what Mirya looked like. So happy with it. :)

I finished my book.

The one I'm writing, that is.

OK, not totally finished. It needs a crapload of editing to get anywhere near where I want it before I go pinging agents. But the story and rough draft are now complete. About 45k words right now, should be about half again when I'm done with the final edits.

I envy folks who can bang out the 50k-word novels for NaNo. That's just not how I work, though. Attention span, fickle muses, etc. It's taken me three years to get this far, and it's the first real novel-sized thing I've ever finished (more or less.)* So, yeah. Pretty pleased with myself.

It's probably not the Great American Fantasy Novel or anything, but I do think it's a fun little read, and I hope it's good enough to get out there in the world in some professional fashion eventually. We'll see, I guess. :)


*We'll just ignore the fact that my ongoing A/B/C fic universe thusfar has about the same word count. What? My muses are pervy little bastards.

I made this.

It probably won't get homepage play, but it's the biggest byline I've had there to date (the last one was a short Harry Potter gallery a long time ago; the "fangirl faves" gallery I did last year didn't have my name on it, nor have most of the other things I've written copy for.)

I kind of like that I did the whole thing from the ground up myself: Research and copy writing, pic selection and editing, gallery building, dropping it in the proper page shell, etc. The only thing anyone else did to it was the obligatory copy pass. Otherwise, it's all me.

The editor for this (the guy who runs the Parallel Universe side of things) liked this so much that he wants me to start doing more features for him (which may mean getting a bit of freelance work now and then even after my contract ends.) I think this may also catch some notice from the rest of the editors, and make them reconsider whether my skills are being wasted with just using me as nothing but a button monkey.

I don't know whether this will really be a breakout moment for me or not, but it does feel pretty good to have done it, and to know that at least several hundred thousand people (if not more) will probably read what I've written--with my name attached. Kind of funny to have spun my fanthinging into a career. :)

I can't decide whether it's sad that I'm getting such a kick out of getting back into writing fic again.

Went and reread some of my old stuff--making sure I wasn't retreading--and oh, that brought me back. Most of my writing I did before things really started getting nuts, so it was still fun. Well, aside from some of the fussier folks who were horrified at the very idea. Tch.

Very much looking forward to having more free time soon when my contract ends so I can start working again on my legit novel (and also maybe start singing again, too), but in the meantime, this is filling the bill and helping keep my mind busy so I don't stress out over other stuff over which I have no control.

And really, I could certainly have worse hobbies (ahahah--I almost wrote "hobbits"--*snort*).

I'm re-constructing my resume because I'm thinking about applying for the EIC position for the SPFH next term.

I decided to condense some of my work history down to individual bullet points (because otherwise, I'd be going on two pages) and discovered something kind of cool: I can actually account for some sort of work history from 1985 all the way up to now, with no gaps and some overlap.

Much of this was volunteer or freelance work, and a heck of a lot was part time, especially when I was in school, but I never went a full year without doing at least some sort of verifiable work.

I think I'll keep this version around for a while, to remind myself that I haven't been a useless slacker all this time.