Don't Get Stuck in the Weeds

Don't get stuck in the weeds like Ullr.

Signs you may be overthinking your writing:

• You write, then delete. You write, then delete.
• You can’t stop researching details.
• You’re still staring at a blank page determined to find the perfect start.
• You make no progress.

You may think overthinking isn’t an issue for you. But be honest with yourself, how many times have you written a sentence only to delete and rewrite it over and over? Hello first sentences! 

The trick is being able to acknowledge what your brain is doing. If you’re not aware of how it’s operating how can you change it? And also…how do you change your brain?

For me, overthinking is the drive for perfection. It’s the inability to leave a sentence alone because it’s not conveying the exact emotion or action I’m looking for. Have you ever heard of there’s more than one way to skin a cat? Same applies here, there’s more than one way to describe a specific emotion/action/what-have-you and there is never one perfect way.

Once I realize I’m stuck, because yes, overthinking can be a type of writer’s block, I like to reset my brain. A short breathing session or yoga session, because yoga literally means to unite the body and mind. This helps me get back to alpha brain waves which is where creative thinking happens.

Think of brain waves this way, beta is when you’re actively speaking or exercising. Beta is worked up. Take a step down to alpha and you’re relaxed. You’re walking in a garden without having to concentrate or your sitting in meditation. Another step down is theta. Autopilot. That’s why you can have those ah-ha moments while you’re taking a shower or driving your car. You’re in autopilot which frees your mind up to wander and find solutions. 

Next time you find yourself overthinking, maybe give resetting your brainwaves a try! 

Old Skills and New Skills

We’ve reached the middle of January and the new year has yet to shed all of it’s glitter and shine. It’s a great time to pursue goals and think about trying new things…like new writing skills? This week we’re asking if we try new skills each year or with each book. 

To date, I’ve written four complete novels and roughly a dozen intros with synopses. Over the years I’ve found my writing groove: best time of day, chapter structure, outlining, and word count expectations. All of this was determined by use of a spreadsheet. I don’t sit down to work on any novel without first pulling up its spreadsheet. 

Yes, I’m a Virgo. I’ve got spreadsheet skills.

I’m not going to say I won’t learn new tricks or processes, because I fully expect to. I want to grow as an author, I don’t know how you can write multiple novels without growth, though I expect it to be a gradual thing. For now, I do feel comfortable with my writing skills and how I go about turning thought into book. At this time I’m not looking for new skills, I’m looking to strengthen the ones I’ve got. 

My spreadsheets—they’ll continue to be tweaked as I determine which parameters need to be tracked more closely. My plotting graph—that’ll stay the same handy form that it is. And Scrivener—it’s capable of gobs of options I don’t use, but the ones I do are irreplaceable. 

That’s the rundown on my writing skills. How about yours, do you try out anything new when you start a new manuscript?

3 Ways I Refill the Creative Well

Happy 2024! What better way to start the new year than by talking about inspiration. And not simply where do we find inspiration, but three sources of inspiration. 

I have forever, and will forever, love hearing about a story’s origins. When I fall in love with a book I want to know what inspired the place, the characters, the events. Isn’t it fun to hear an author say the idea struck them as they sat in a specific place and watched [fill in the blank with basically anything that’s ever happened and it’s likely to have inspired someone]. That’s where my mind goes when I hear: book inspiration. But what about a source of inspiration? 

A source insinuates a well, a continuous refilling. A place, or a mood, that is guaranteed to inspire the story muse. Now that’s a horse of a different color. And here we all thought simply being inspired was the trick! 

Well, what do I do when I’m drained—besides take a nap? I give in to my husky pup and go outside. Like Jeffe said, nature refills my well. Fresh air combined with rain, sleet, snow, or sun revitalize me. I suppose gardening and getting my hands in the dirt fall into this category as well. But being outside, which pretty much always means I’m at least walking if not doing more, can unlock my brain like nothing else can.

As a runner up I’d say yoga is another source of inspiration. Not necessarily the physical act of yoga, though that feels fantastic and the more limber the body the more limber the mind, but the mental aspect is what I would pinpoint as the source. You can yoga with friends, you can yoga with goats, you can even yoga in a high temp dance-like studio. Or you can yoga and focus on your breath and slide into the quiet headspace where I’m emotionally and mentally refilled. You can call it meditation, though I’m still learning and meditate better when I’m doing certain poses since it helps me focus on my breathing or certain muscles and then suddenly I’m not thinking of anything else! Yoga is a source because when I’m done I’ve got clear headspace and am ready to create!

And in third place, which sounds sad, but really isn’t, would be reading. It doesn’t matter how wonderful or flawed the writing is, reading is a source of inspiration for me because it jumpstarts my imagination. Love them or hate them, characters interact with your imagination. Homey or alien, worlds make you feel like you want to hang around or run away screaming.  And head-scratching or applauding, plot lines are like parallel universes, one choice spins the story in a whole different direction.

There you have it, my three sources of inspiration that I return to again and again. What well do you draw from?

Burnout

Have you been staring at your blinking cursor, wondering how you’re going to fill the page? Have you been sitting down to write only to find yourself doing the dishes or scrolling your socials? Have you been experiencing burnout?

There are numerous ways burnout hits. Which also means there’s a lot of options to work through it—yay! But none of it’s easy–boo. 

I’ve been through burnout, I wrote about it here. And the most important takeaway I can share is that you have to be able to give yourself grace. If you can’t write. It’s okay. If you can’t focus and lose every writing minute you had in the day. It’s okay. If you couldn’t bring yourself to even open your WIP. It’s okay. 

Give yourself grace and avoid piling on the guilt. In my experience, guilt adds to the burnout. Refilling the well takes time, if you don’t have time and are on a deadline check out Jeffe’s post from yesterday. 

How do I take care of my writer self? Surrounding myself in nature refills my well. So does being creative in any way that isn’t writing. When burnout is really depression in disguise, it’s okay to ask for help. You’re not alone.

To Nap or Not To Nap

It’s fully summertime with its 90 degree Fahrenheit heat and activities! So it’s quite fortuitous that our topic of the week is to identify our greatest writing challenge. Are you aware of yours?

Do you struggle to get writing done during certain seasons or holidays? I know many authors who take off around the winter holidays—too much egg nog and twinkling lights to ignore! And I know some authors, like myself, who have kids home in the summer—which is a time demand to work around. 

The warmest season of the year is a tricky for me to carve out writing time, but I’ve come to rely on practices or tournaments that allow me to find a patio or bench for me and my laptop. But it’s not my greatest writing challenge. Energy is. 

I have a chronic disease and depending on where my iron levels are at, my energy tends to tank in the afternoons. Not merely a little run down, but a full on brain e-break stop. 

Energy dips are a known thing for me and if I’m going to be productive, for anything, I need to plan around my physical capabilities and make sure I’m eating and drinking what my body needs to ride that rollercoaster back up to the top. Some days my challenge wins out, and that’s okay. Because I know that there’ll be inverse days where I’m able to get more done than anticipated.

Having a writing challenge doesn’t have to mean you stop. Yes, it can be very difficult, but allow yourself grace and time to figure out how to work with it. 

May your weekend be filled with words!

Do Good

 Ethics—what thorny issues have you dealt with or worry about as an author?

So far this week Jeffe and KAK have posted about conflict of interest in our writing world. So I’ve been trying to come up with anything else to do with writing ethics. But I have’t found my author self in any thorny issues revolving around ethics. 

The closest instance I can come up with is that I’m a member of SFWA’s romance committee and as part of that group I want to be sure we’re doing our best to provide an even playing field. 

So many things in life aren’t fair or even, which means if I’m given the chance to attempt to make it so, I sure will. And I hope you will too. Never forget to look around you and extend a hand to those who could use help. I don’t mean overextending yourself. I’m talking about things that are small and easy to you, but to someone who is struggling they’re huge. 

If you put good out in the world, karma will send it back. The age old: do unto others as you would have done to you. And so I hope your weekend begins with all the good things which include many words!

Wishing you a Glitter filled 2023!

As we watch the last sunsets of 2022 we’re sharing thoughts and blessings for the year to come.

There’s something refreshing about contemplating the year to come instead of pondering the year that has been. What has been has been, and what will be is still in formation. Have you put thought into your 2023?

Like Jeffe mentioned yesterday, over the past year I’ve realized that I do need people interaction. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended a con, and I miss it. Author friends get it in a way no one else can. Those relationships are precious and in the coming year I aim to give more time to them. I hope you have the bandwidth to put into author friendships, they’re worth all the effort. 

2023 will also be when I send out my next manuscript. There’s all sorts of scary wrapped up in that, but I refuse to be afraid of my shadow. It is time. 

And I’m going to continue to look for glitter, every day. It’s easy to let the no’s and negative stuff bring you down. I believe it’s important to focus on the good, every day. I hope your 2023 is filled with glitter, writing, and author friends! 

Happy New Year!

Joy Bringers

I make a conscious effort to find joy every day. Big or small, and especially when I’m feeling down. So it was difficult to narrow it down to three for our week’s theme of Three Things That Bring You Joy!

Exploring brings me boundless joy, especially when I talk my whole family into it. Hiking trails, or making our own, is something we do in all weather. And it never fails to trigger images of characters traveling on quests or spy pieces that could be on another planet. 

Like chocolate and peanut butter, it’s wonderful when two good things combine into something even greater! My husky pup, Ullr, accompanies me when I slip out to my greenhouse to play with plants. Even on days where it’s negative fourteen Fahrenheit, playing with my plants makes me happy.

Last is one thing that helps spread smiles across my face. Yoga and meditation. Being able to clear my mind and stop the thoughts from bombarding me constantly helps my dopamine and helps my writing. And yoga gets me some zen and keep me limber after long writing sessions. 

There are a few of my favorite things. How about you? What are some of your favorites that bring you joy?

Hiking, unlike writing, is Always a Collaboration

Hiking, unlike writing, is always a collaboration...

If a writer’s work is solitary, can you call it collaborating when there are two or more in the room?

I’ve never written with anyone. I think it would be a fun experience, but it would have to be someone whose style meshed with mine so that it wouldn’t be glaringly obvious there were two voices at work.

A great example of two authors who make magic when they write together is Kit Rocha. Read Mercenary Librarians and you’d never guess that it came from the brains of two people. 

An anthology would be a blast, but I haven’t been part of one. Early on I was invited, but the stories needed a touch of horror. I had an idea I loved, started writing my short story…and suddenly I had a fleshed out idea for a novel with a solid start! But. I was too new, I had no idea how to write anything shorter than a 300 page book, and I regretfully bowed out. 

Since then I’ve written some shorts and have a better grasp of novella story structure. It amazes me how different my writing processes are for various lengths of work, and it also surprised me at how working at both helped improve my skills. 

How about you? Have you written shorts as well as novel length pieces? Do you have a favorite? 

Alexia's Furry Editor

There are few jobs as solitary as writing.

That is, unless you have a furry editor that pokes their nose where it doesn’t belong…on your keyboard, across your screen, on top of your hands. But we still love them!

I have a Siberian husky for a writing buddy. When I first started, his name was Loki. He kept my feet, and my heart, warm. He was by my side as I finished my second fantasy novel. And someday, when that book gets its chance to be published, it’ll be in his memory. At least for me.

Now, I have a new furry editor! Ullr the husky pup. He’s better at feeding my muse—by which I mean he demands more walks. But, he is two. So it’s expected. 

Ullr is getting better at keeping my feet warm.
And he’s quite accomplished at closing my laptop! But his best quality is his soft fur that works better than any stress ball or fidget. All I have to do is sit and give him some long scratches for my mind to relax and hone in on my story. It’s very zen. Of course, he’s also incredibly talented at getting in the way when I’m doing yoga—so maybe it’s a trade off. 

There’s good and there’s frustrating with Ullr. All I know is I would be much lonelier at my writing if I didn’t have his furry butt beside me. Here’s to my furry editor!

Do you have a writing buddy your craft would suffer without?

Alexia's Favorite Perk to being an Author!

 Publishing is a strange, strange occupation…at least from my POV coming from the medical field. It’s time tables are opaque and responses from people lag for months until suddenly something is needed yesterday. 

It’s easy to pick out the dislikes in the book making biz, as it is with everything. But I like to focus on the good stuff—the highlights! 

My number one fave of being an author:

Being blessed to be included in some wonderful groups of authors!

This picture are my 2018 Golden Heart sisters, the Persisters. Having a group of writers that, no matter which publishing path they were taking, were starting out at about the same place was invaluable. Having these fabulous women, and the women I met through my Golden Heart experience, is definitely the best part of being an author and I hope that each and every one of you find a like-minded group to feel at home with. 

My next fave is being able to work from home and have this guy around all the time. 

Ullr the husky pup

Writing's a lonely gig! You're in your own head, you need no to minimal interruptions, quiet places rule, and all communication is done through email. It's easy to loose connections, which is maybe why authors are so fond of their pets. And I gotta say, I'm awfully fond of Ullr—even when he's a knucklehead and whining to go outside to chase squirrels. 

What are your best and worst aspects of being an author?

Summertime On My Mind

 The Master of Puppy Naps: Ullr

It’s officially summer! No hotdogs on the grill here, but the kiddos are done with school and the garden is growing! 

That’s basically the entirety of what’s on my mind. I’m still getting over the cold I came down with last weekend and I haven’t had enough concentration to do much in the way of bookish stuff…which includes coming up with a clever writing post. 

Napping though, that I’ve been pretty good at. But I don’t think I’ll ever be as great at it as Ullr.

I hope you’re having a wonderful start to summer!

Two Types of Character Deaths

 This week we’re talking about killing off characters and asking is it necessary. It’s not a new debate among authors or even readers, as Jeffe mentioned, and so far this week my fellow SFF Seveners have given opinions from both sides. 

KAK made a good argument that we, as consumers of entertainment that’s filled with death and dying, are numb to it. Vivien made the point that to make a character death, MC or secondary, worth it you’ve got to make the character earn it by showing growth. 

And that’s my answer to the question: Both! How can I choose both? Because for me, there’s two types of character death. 

The first type of character death: mass casualties. The kind that pile up as you’re slicing your way through a game like Heavenly Sword or reading a Gridmark. I believe we, people in general, are inured to this type of death. It isn’t personal. We’re capable of separating ourselves from it—be it in the media or in real-time death toll numbers that flash across our screens—because it isn’t personal. 

Depending on the type of book this kind of death is part of the story. When I wrote The Mars Strain back in 2015 the Ebola outbreak was maintaining a death toll. It wasn’t even close to our current pandemic’s tracking, but it was reality. So I knew I needed that piece of reality in my fiction and I wrote in a high casualty rate. Devin Madson wrote a great post about trad and indie publishing and near the bottom is an excellent, little section about The Pitfalls of Gridmark (it’s a great read, check it out!). Devin talks about the difference between character development and suffering, and that there is a difference, even in a genre stuffed with death. I translate Devin’s point about Gridmark to: don’t kill a bunch of people just for the sake of killing. Have a reason, be intentional.

Which brings me to the second type of character death: the immediate death. Not as in fast, but close proximity—usually a beloved secondary character. This is the one that hits you in the heart, the one that makes you cry, and the one that changes the main character’s trajectory. I have a couple close proximity deaths in The Mars Strain and I spent a lot of time debating if those secondary characters really needed to die. In the end I came to the conclusion that yes, they did because only with their deaths could my main characters make the decisions that they do that result bring about the climax of the story. Intentional, very intentional.

Nope, I’m not going to give away any spoilers here and name names.

And there you have it, my take on killing off characters and how I believe the two kinds of character deaths—mass casualties and close proximity—are needed for some tales. But I will stand firm with Vivien on the furry friends. Don’t touch a single fluff on the four legged characters (I’m looking at you I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson who made me bawl). 

How about you? How do you handle writing character deaths or reading character deaths? And please, don’t ever tell me Kevin Hearne killed off Oberon.

Mental Health and Furry Friends

#Ullrthehuskypup

I love stats, numbers, scientific proof. And I can happily report that in a study done through the University of York and the University of Lincoln showed that pets helped us emotionally deal with the past year’s lockdown by 90%. Their findings also showed a link between how attached people were to their pets and mental health. Also, the UK Mental Health Foundation reported 87% of people believed their pet improved their wellbeing. 

Those are some good stats on pets and mental health. And speaking of…it’s mental health awareness month in America! 

I face my own struggles with mental health and even though I know scientifically what’s going on in my body it doesn’t change the fact that I feel it. And I’ve found that for myself, I can only talk about it when I’m coming out of the deep. I only want to see others and talk to people when I’m past the worst. Which is why I'm able to talk about it a bit today.

If you’re struggling and can’t bring yourself to talk to anyone—it’s okay. As long as you are able to tell yourself you are not alone. Because you’re not. There are so many of us at different stages of dealing with mental health struggles. Please remember that and that when you’re ready there are so many of us you can reach out to for help. Having dealt with my own and some struggles that my children have I am able to look back at my time as a manager and see flags and opportunities I missed. I wish I could go back in time with the knowledge and experience I have now. Which is why I like the premise behind the Mental Health America Peer Program. They have people who have gone through challenges reaching a hand back to help those coming along behind, not just a doctor or motivational speaker who has no first hand experience. 

Back to my stats! And back to my favorite way of coping with depression and anxiety: my furry sidekick, Ullr. 

He’s a goofus. He’s uncoordinated at times (like when he’s sprinting and faceplates because he’s going too fast). He loves to steal my garden veggies (I didn’t get the chance to pickle any cucumbers last season and he ate all the peas). He’s definitely not my Loki boy who always knew when I needed him to sit quietly beside me—I still miss him dearly and will always have his paw print on my heart. 

But Ullr is mine—and he loves me. That’s why we have pets, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter how terrible of a day we’ve had. It doesn’t matter how stressed out we are or how many tears we shed. It doesn’t even matter if we have enough time for them. They’re there, like Ullr is there at my side day after day. 

Ullr may not be quiet and stoic, but he makes me laugh—which is probably what I need more of in my life right now. I guess someone upstairs knew I needed a knucklehead like Ullr right now, and I’m thankful. He’s also incredibly soft, which, if you’re the owner of a dog or cat you know, is incredibly soothing, and he’s a husky so snow is a magnet for him and he makes me have adventures outside every day. He even came with me to celebrate the release of The Mars Strain! He loved it—he got to walk and sniff new territory. Win win!

How about you? Would you count yourself in the roughly 90% that say they’re better off with a pet?

You Can't Stay Sedentary With A Husky At Your Side

(Ullr the husky pup)

 

This is a Siberian husky. This sled dog is in a rare form….tired. And the only way to tire out a husky is to hike/mush/run/skijor them ‘till their energy drops to a manageable level. 

That’s it. My annoyingly, adorable pup is the one tool I have to battle the sedentary job of being an author. I’d love to have a walking treadmill like Jeffe’s to write at. But like she mentions in her post, it’s a monetary commitment. Though I also agree that prevention is the way to go, so I’ll keep it on my to-be-purchased list. 

The more practical, maybe feasible is a better word, option would be a standing desk. For me, being able to stay in the scene and not be pulled out by distractions is huge. If I had the ability to stand I could do squats or stretches without having to step away from my keys. But I’ve never worked with one before.

Anyone out there use a standing desk? And do you actually use it? 

my favorite things...aren't things

 

It’s the holidays and Christmas is approaching…so I’m going to get sentimental on you all today. 

This week we’re picking our three favorites. I have a lot of favorites. Favorite champagne: Le Mesnil, favorite pie: peach, favorite book: wait—I can’t answer that because there’s too many! But this year when I think of my favorites, the only thing that comes to mind is what really matters most. And they’re not things. 

My favorites are my family. No matter which direction I’m going, or where I’m hiking off to, I know they’re always behind me. 

My favorites are my friends. The right ones know when I need a call or a friendly message. They know how to pick me up and they’re always down for a bourbon tasting evening. They’re worth more than their weight in gold.

My favorite is my pup, Ullr. Being loved unconditionally is a difficult thing to grasp, especially when your own sense of self worth and success are strained. So having a physical reminder, every day, of that kind of love in the form of a fluffy fur-ball is amazing. 

Those are my favorites. What are yours?

Books to the rescue!

(from my backyard)

The day started off like any other day; the sun rose and the coffee brewed as the household began to wake. But that’s where the normalcy ended. There weren’t any eggs for breakfast which meant a trip to the store…which meant disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer…which meant venturing out into the pandemic.

Our world has changed. 

Science fiction writers imagine countless possibilities to countless disasters, but, at least for me, we never expect to live out one of those possibilities. And now we’re living one, COVID-19, that had been written by some and predicted by few. 

Our world has changed, and it’s dumping stats, announcements, warnings, and news stories on us. Schools are moving to distance learning for months, social distancing is our reality, stores are closed, restaurants and cafes are curb-side only. We’re overloaded. 

(overloaded is never good, even if it's just flour)

Though, it’s not all negative. There are clips of Italian opera being sung from balconies, choruses of neighbors joining their voices together from safe distances, and instrumental solos serenading the evening air. We’re human, and we’re defiant. 

We’re fighting back, together. We’re learning how to take care of one another and I believe we’ll be better because of it. That’s the heart of science fiction, battling against the odds and clinging to the aspects that make us human. Together. 

(Ullr standing on the edge of the bank)

If you feel as if you’re standing on the edge, know that you’re not alone, even if no one if physically at your side. And if your walls are closing in and you need an escape…books can be a rescue. They can take you far, far away, or they can take you back in time. Books can take you anywhere you want to go.

Right now, epic fantasy is really hitting the spot for me. Take me away into the trees and mountains where the fearsome are giant trolls or dark mages and not invisible viruses. Do you need a book rescue? Drop a comment and I can make some suggestions.

Remember, you're not alone. Narnia’s in the wardrobe, Hogwarts is just a letter away, and you can spin the Wheel of Time for hours on end!