picks and pans--In Midnight's Silence

I spent this weekend writing and editing. I'm still working through the opening of Dolorosa and attempting to achieve the overall mood of the piece. Meanwhile, I polished an opening scene in the Garden's sequel, In Midnight's Silence. Just a snippet for today:

Diago

The voices of the Nephilim who died in the Garden murmur songs of sorrow in my dreams. I try to sing with them, but I can no longer recall the lyrics. I have forgotten my own song, and a Nephil without a song is but a ghost.

Or so said Ashmedai the Daimon King.

I do not remember my first-born life as Asaph; although Guillermo insists that my power was once almost as great as his. He swears that we both possessed the ability to prophecy through our dreams. He says that in the days of our first-born lives, we would compare our dreams to better understand the meanings.

I don’t doubt him; perhaps in my first-born life I dreamed and prophesied with him. I also trusted him as my friend and my king. In my first-born life, I swore my undying fealty to him. I did as he commanded, even when it meant my death.

Those oaths died with Asaph.

Now I am Diago.

I have no song, only whispers that follow me in the rain.

Autumn Tales and Gardens in Umber

2012 is done and over, and frankly, this author is happy to see that dreadful year go. It wasn't completely terrible though. Many good things did happen and here are a few:

During 2012, I met a lot of online book bloggers and fans, and I have to say that all of you really made my year special. I can't single one of you out without missing someone else. You know you are, we talk on Twitter and Facebook almost everyday, and my world would be a little less brighter without you in my life.

The highlight of the year was when NYT Bestselling author Ilona Andrews read Miserere and bestowed such a lovely review on her blog. I was awed when she said that "Miserere reads like Ladyhawke had a baby in purgatory and Meljean Brook delivered it."

Just recently, a second surprise hit when Felicia Day posted her gracious review for Miserere on Goodreads that just blew me away.

Two major shout-outs for that book in one year really helped my morale as I struggled through writing Garden in Umber.

Even with the blessing of those two dynamic ladies, the best part was all the lovely emails and Facebook posts that people sent me to tell me how much they enjoyed Miserere. Just that you took a moment out of your busy schedule to send me an email to say that you enjoyed the story made my whole day, sometimes my whole month.

I got to attend my first major con in Chicago at WorldCon. I met a lot of the authors that I've come to know on Twitter and had great fun at the panels. It was a joy to meet these people and find out they are all as kind and fun in real life as they are online. I look forward to seeing them all again in the future.

The end of the year saw my first agent leave publishing, but as that door closed, I acquired a second shot at querying another agent who I greatly admire. Fortunately, Garden in Umber was complete and will be represented by Marlene Stringer as it goes on submission this year.

The blog post I had the most fun writing was when Alex Bledsoe tagged me for The Next Big Thing. I had initially turned down an offer to participate in that meme, but in the end, I had a blast with The Next Big Thing--Garden in Umber.

My absolute favorite tagline for Garden in Umber came from my friend Leah Raeder when she called Garden in Umber "a delightful mind-fuck with werewolves, gay love, and male relationships in the Middle Ages." She also called me lovely and corrupt in the same sentence. I <3 Leah Raeder, because she makes me laugh out loud on my darkest days.

At the very end of the year, I was seized with some strange madness to run a Gender-Bending experiment, and the results of that will be posted on Monday, January 7, 2013.

And now that experiment is done, I am moving forward. I've almost finished the first few chapters to the sequel to Garden in Umber, which will be Diago's story. In Midnight's Silence has 5,000 words and is growing daily. Miserere's sequel, Dolorosa, is burning in the background as I begin the first chapters of it too.

I want to make an effort to post more consistently on the old blog here, but if I disappear, know that I'm writing stories for that is where my true love lies. I'll keep you up-to-date and post some snippets from time to time and never fear, I will try and drop by at least once a week to tell you what I think.

More often than not, you'll find me walking through gardens dressed in umber and spinning autumn tales. Stay with me. There is more to come ...

A [belated] but most sincere Happy New Year to you all.

picks and pans--Dolorosa & In Midnight's Silence

This is a works in progress sort of thing that sort of gives you an idea of how my stories emerge and broaden.

For Dolorosa, I keep getting the coolest scene in my mind:

Catarina awakens and her first sensation is the pain, stabbing her body, like needles in her blood. Then Cerberus' tongue darts out to touch her cheek.

The demon presses his lips against her ear and whispers, "Do you know, Darkling, how long it is to the end of forever?"

That one is simmering in the background and becoming more viable by the day. I also had a portion of Chapter One of In Midnight's Silence (the sequel to Garden in Umber) pass the old crit group last night. It was fun to write and I don't know if it will stay in the final cut, but sometimes I like to use little scenes like this to help establish a sense of place, character, and time:

From his window, Diago noted that the innkeeper had closed the doors in the archway so that the street was no longer visible. The little man dignified his hostel with the name Casa de Carlos; although the locals referred to it as the Casa del Cachorro, which was apparently the innkeeper’s nickname, the puppy.

With his large ears and bright eyes, it was easy to see how Carlos came by the moniker. He possessed a boyish face, but his demeanor was as stern as any priest. Carlos dictated that they must be inside the courtyard by midnight; otherwise, they would be locked out. He informed them that he ran a respectable establishment and didn’t tolerate drunkards or whores; he prided himself on the fact that people slept safely within his walls. Furthermore, if either Guillermo or Diago didn’t abide by the house rules, they’d find themselves on the street, regardless as to how far in advance they had paid for their lodgings.

The pious speech inspired Guillermo to quip that Carlos didn’t simply look the puppy, he yapped like one too.

What are you writing?

A new beginning with Marlene Stringer, Literary Agent

I've not been around much for November, because there have been some rather dramatic changes going on in the background. Early in November, my literary agent Weronika Janczuk and I amicably parted ways. Her life-path is taking her down a different route, and I wish her all the success in the world. I will always be grateful to her for her advice and input and also for helping me kick off my career as a writer. She made my first two years as an author a very positive experience.

However, even as Weronika moves on, so must I.

I am very pleased and excited (I mean bouncy-happy-excited if you can imagine such a thing) to announce that I am now represented by Marlene Stringer of The Stringer Literary Agency. I have long admired Marlene and enjoyed the works of the authors that she represents (Alex Bledsoe, Erica Hayes, Liane Merciel, Jennifer Blom, Medeia Sharif to name a few), so I am exceptionally happy--and quite proud, to be honest--to be featured in her line-up of clients.

While November was hectic and somewhat nerve-wracking at times, everything turned out very well, and a few people have been asking me: what's next?

This is where I clean up and work on odds and ends such as synopses for new novels. I'm also working up the first three chapters to Dolorosa (Miserere's sequel), and In Midnight's Silence (the tentative title to Garden's sequel). Right now Midnight is speaking to me the loudest, so that is where I am concentrating my energy. Nothing is set in stone at this point.

I've done some research into La Santa Muerte for a short-story idea that I'd like to write. I intend to share a little of that information in a blog post later on. You can also watch for Random Notes, a new series of posts that will highlight source material from my research. I'll post those tidbits as I come across them. I am also making a dedicated effort to blog in a more timely fashion.

*coughs*

No. Really. I am.

And that is where I have been and what I have been up to ... what about you? Share your news in the comments and tell me what you've been up to in the feral month of November.

The Next Big Thing ... Garden in Umber

I was originally asked to participate in this meme by the talented E. J. Swift, and while I rarely say no to these kinds of things, E. J.'s request came at a rather bad time, so I was forced to decline. Life settled down as it often does, and over the weekend, I got a second request to participate in The Next Big Thing, this time from Alex Bledsoe.

Since I was asked not once, but twice, I'm including a link to E. J. Swift's Next Big Thing and one to Alex Bledsoe's Next Big Thing, so you can see what both of them are up to.

And here is what you can expect from me next:

What is the working title of your book? The working title was The Garden, but I have since changed that to Garden in Umber. It is also the title to a poem, which bears no relation to the novel other than it has the word "garden" in the title, but the imagery of a garden dressed in shades of umber fit very nicely, so there. We'll see if I get to keep it.

Where did you get the idea for the book? I built the story around a character I imagined. His name was Guillermo and he was a werewolf. That was all I knew when I started. I've always loved Beauty and the Beast and wanted to do a story where the "beauty" was the man and the "beast" was the woman. As the story progressed, I found it was less about my beauty and beast and more about the relationship between three men.

As I researched sexuality in the Middle Ages and the attitudes toward gay men, I realized that this story was about how one man allowed societal mores to destroy his relationship with a close friend.

What genre does your book fall under? Fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? This question usually stumps me, but for Garden, I actually had some inspiration:

Javier Bardem as Guillermo--not because of his looks, but he has the personality that I always associated with Guillermo;

Gael Garcia Bernal as Diago--from his eyes down to his mannerisms, he is just perfect; and

I don't really have an actor picked out for Miquel, but Brazilian model Carlos Freire when he was 18 is right in line with my mental image for Miquel. I don't know if he can act or not. But he sure is pretty.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? It's complicated and really awesome.

No?

Okay, for real:

Guillermo, Diago, and Miquel struggle to remember their first-born lives and the secret of a song that will send the Daimon Ashmedai to the final death and free them from the mad angel Belita's ruined garden.

I hate those one-sentence synopses like the plague. Just saying ...

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Garden in Umber will be placed on submission in 2013. I'm represented by Marlene Stringer of The Stringer Literary Agency.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Once I got the story on track, it took me a little over a year to produce a rough first draft. This one felt longer, because I had a lot of research on the front end of the novel and also had to split my time between Garden and promoting Miserere.

I also tried to produce a polished first draft and wasted a lot of time trying to fit the story into my idea of what the story should be, rather than letting the themes emerge. I hope not to make that mistake a second time.

I've found for me, it's great to start with a firm synopsis, then write the first draft from beginning to end. Once written, it's easy to polish, edit, add, bend, fold, staple, and mutilate ...

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? None. I set trends, I don't follow them.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? I think one thing that inspired this tale to take shape the way it did was my research. I read about men who were accused of homosexuality and how they were burned at the stake along with their papers and personal effects. I read another case about two young men who went to the stake together and professed their love for one another right up until the end--their behavior totally baffled the priests, but I admired their courage. All of these stories had a deep effect on me, and I tried to imagine living in such an atmosphere of hate and fear, not because someone was a bad person, but simply because of who they chose to love.

I also wanted to write a novel about the intimacy that men often share with one another, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. It's not so much about fathers and sons as it is about how we often find our closest brothers and sisters are those who stand outside our blood lines.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? The angels and daimons in Garden aren't the Biblical good vs. evil sort like I had in Miserere. In Garden, I wanted to toy with the idea that angels and daimons (old gods) were different species of beings and what would happen if these different species mated with mortals.

And they had a war.

And the Nephilim could change into lynxes and wolves.

And you could work magic with a song.

And lots of other cool shit.

Reincarnation also intrigues me and I use that theme in Garden. I wound the men's past lives into their present lives, so we can see how Ithiel, Asaph, and Benaiah were in their first-born lives, then we see how some aspects of their personalities remain the same, yet other aspects are completely different, when they are reborn as Guillermo, Diago, and Miquel.

And if you just followed that sentence, you're going to love this book.

Next up, I've tagged five authors to participate and tell you about their Next Big Things:

Leah Raeder -- who is just too cool for words and is currently shopping her novel, The Feral. She is the Borges to my Garcia Lorca and is an all around interesting person to boot. That and we share a passionate love for our boy, Carlos.

Lindsay Smith -- who has been see hanging out with Leah Raeder and myself (please don't hold that against her) is the author of Sekret, which is coming from Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan Children’s in Winter 2014.

Kendra Highley -- author of Matt Archer: Monster Hunter. Kendra and I go back to my days at the Online Writing Workshop where we bonded and still mete out the occasional crit. Check in and say hi to see her talk about her newest novel.

Gabi Stevens -- is a new agency-mate of mine at Stringer Lit. Gabi is an award winning author, who is working on the publication of the backlist that she wrote as Gabriella Anderson. Her latest work is The Falcon and the Wolf.

Wende Dikec -- Wende is also a new agency-mate of mine, and she writes YA with a science fiction edge. Her next big thing is a novel called So Pretty. Head over to see what she has to say about it.

And since being tagged by Alex, I got tagged again by my friends Barbara Friend Ish and Helen Lowe, so pop over and see what their Next Big Things are going to be too.

And THAT ... is all the big things for now.

random notes--garden in umber

I utilize a lot of different resources when I'm writing a story. As I clean up my notes and arrange my scattered sources into notebooks, I often come across random notes--highlighted passages or notes that I've written to myself--that take on a special meaning within the context of the themes I want to express.

I'll share a few of these from time to time, just to let you in on that "where do you get your ideas" question.

When I create magical systems, I like to fall back on religious texts already in existence. Saves me a lot of work, especially when someone more intelligent than me has gone to the trouble to write all this information down. I came across this particular passage when I was looking into the symbolic value of the heart.

There [the heart] is conceived of as central in the activity of the rsis, those seers who intuitively perceive the divine and express it in hymns. The heart is the secret place of their inspiration, where hymns are prepared to offer the gods, but it is also the critical authority that monitors the hymns' value. The heart thus becomes the place of divine vision, which is only given by grace to those who practice self-renunciation. It is understood that the heart's knowledge is satya, real and true, since it alone can enable one to pass from the unreal and the illusory to the real. Such knowledge is transformative, for it discovers, by means of the heart, the divine immanence within man. In bhakti, the heart is the seat of an aspiration to join the god and the center of a desire that "binds man at the level of his heart." Man should also reject the desire of natural and illusory realities in favor of the enjoyment of bliss and union with brahman. It is necessary to clear this heart by way of renunciation in order to become "a polished mirror" in which the god can be reflected.