Category Archives: writing

October 28, 2014

NaNoWriMo Prep… or not.

Raise your hand if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year.

Okay, this being the internet (and me not being a creepy webcam-stalker) means that I can’t see you. So I guess commenting would be more appropriate there.*

Yes, it’s going to be one of those posts.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, NaNoWriMo is an annual event during which writers all over the world (yes, even Antarctica one year) attempt to write 50,000+ words of a novel in one month. This equals 1667 words per day, assuming a steady pace and no days off. You can write the 50,000 in the first week and nothing the rest of the month if you want to. Or leave it all to the last minute, which is… it’s generally not a good plan. Trust me.

I’ve participated every year since 2010, when a (very) rough draft of the then-untitled Bound was my project. And then I lost almost all of it in a software-related mishap, but that’s another story. Since then I’ve won a few, “lost” one (though I don’t think anyone loses as long as you get some words down), and participated in several Camp NaNo sessions. I drafted Torn in 2012 and thoroughly revised it in 2013. It was much better the second time around.

Okay, technically revisions are not allowed by NaNo rules. But I did change/add 50,000 words, so I counted it.

And it looks like this year I might just be a NaNo rebel again. Or maybe not.

See, if all goes well, I’m going to have the first draft of my current project finished by November 1 or shortly thereafter. Even though I blasted past 50,000 words in a private NaNo in October, I can’t count any of those words for the event. So I can’t use that project.

I need to do another editing pass on Torn before it goes to my editor in December. I need to make a few plot and character adjustments to better lead into book 3, plant a few ideas in there to bloom later (being a time traveller is fun!), do a sweep for over-used words and other issues that are going to make editing more expensive. I have to start that ASAP.

And I can’t count it.

During Camp NaNoWriMo, one hour of editing = 1000 words on the progress bar. Not so in November. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think I can take my cheating that far.

This makes it a little difficult to join in on the NaNo prep excitement. I miss it.

So Here’s What I’m Going to Do:

I’m going to bust my ass to get Torn finished quickly. I’m going to work every hour I’m at home without the kids. I’ll use NaNo word sprint events and Facebook write-ins to keep me focused, I will get organized before I start, and hopefully I’ll get it done in a week or two.
And then I’m going to start something for NaNoWriMo. It’ll be a late start, as I can’t have my attention divided when I’m editing as many people can.** I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I might go back to my as-yet-unpublished vampires***, because I’ve had a lot of fun with that. I might buckle down and flesh out the plot for that gempunk thing I started for a flash fiction challenge. Maybe, if I just want to relax and play with something that will never see the light of day, I’ll get to that erotic ghost story. Why not have fun? I’ve been busting my ass to get the Bound trilogy done. I can’t stop writing, but maybe I can just play for a few weeks.
As for pulling off a win… it’s probably not going to happen this year. I have to make editing the priority, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be right in there. I’ll be participating in groups and forums if I find time, cheering my writing buddies on, ~~neglecting the housework~~. I wish I could say I’ll go to write-ins, but we don’t get those out here.
But darn it, I’m going to have fun.

And then after that it’ll be just chilling and relaxing and…

*accepts note from disembodied hand*

Wait, no. After that it’ll be biting my nails while Torn is with my editor, then ~~surviving~~ enjoying Christmas, then the stress and pressure to get the edits done so that I can get it out to second-round readers and get proofreading done and formatting and figuring out promotional stuff and planning a party and uploading for pre-order–

Deep breaths.

So November should be a cakewalk compared to January and February is what I’m really saying.

It’s a good thing I like my readers. 🙂

For more on my experiences with NaNoWriMo and why it’s the only reason I ever wrote more than three chapters of a novel, see this post. I talk a lot about perfectionism there… we’ll have to revisit the topic some time.

If you’re participating, drop your username in the comments or just go ahead and add me as a buddy.

If not, we can still be buddies.

–

*Do you guys SEE how well my brain is working today? I know. It’s bonkers.

**I don’t hate you. I’m just jealous.

***Resurrection is the working title of the first novella, Sanctuary is the 1/3 finished second one. I’m starting to notice a theme…

2 Comments | tags: NaNoWriMo, novel, planning, prep | posted in NaNoWriMo, writing

October 22, 2014

WIPpet Wednesday: Just So We’re Clear

By Kate Sparkes

Wednesday AGAIN? Sweet fancy Moses, that goes quickly. And this means it’s time for WIPpet Wednesday, and another snippet from _____: Bound Trilogy Book 3.

According to the rules of WIPpet Wednesday we have to choose a snippet that relates to today’s date. Let’s do some math so I can use the bit that I want (because that’s pretty much just how we Wippeteers do): October 22 = 2+2 = 4 short paragraphs.

Another snippet from Rowan. I swear the whole thing’s not from her POV, it just so happens that she’s had the entertaining and non-spoilery snippets recently. We’ll try for Aren next week. Or… Well.

Just for fun, no other context. Have fun with that. 🙂

Her scaly lips opened into a grin, and Aren pulled me a few paces away.

“I need to say this aloud,” he said quietly, “just so I understand. We’re about to entrust our lives to a dragon and the tensile strength of a bedsheet?”

“No. A sheet of canvas.”

He paled. “I see. That makes me feel much better.”

Poor Aren. At least his life’s not boring, right? Given what’s happened in the last few days, be glad this is a cute snippet.

For more WIPpet goodness, click here to see what everyone else is posting. We usually get a mix of romance, fantasy, sci-fi, and other good stuff. I think we had 17 contributions last week (and yes, reading them does cut into my other reading time, but it’s so worth it). Thanks to KL Schwengel for hosting. As I understand it, she has recently been to the stockdog races, and… wait, that sounds wrong. And yet, so right… *imagines souped-up stockdogs zooming around a track*

Ahem.

Row80 Update (goals here)

So it was another good week. Word counts have been good:

Wednesday: none
Thursday: ~2,000
Friday: ~3,000
Saturday/Sunday: (off–and away from home, and serious migraine, and finished beta reading, and LEAMME ALONE, GOSH)
Monday: 6,077
Tuesday: 10,289*

So pretty good, except for last Wednesday. Want to know why?

I spent Wednesday on 12 pages of hand-written notes, and in those I outlined the rest of the book.

Guys. I know how the trilogy ends. Down to the last line.

Maybe I’m delusional, but I think it’s going to be fantastic. Exciting, surprising, amusing, romantic, heartbreaking, bittersweet, satisfying. If you all have half as much fun reading it as I did outlining, I’ll have done my job. The next few weeks aren’t going to be easy for me, and someone might have to come scrape me off the floor with a shovel at some point because of things, but the end result is going to be worth it. I mean sure, there are plot holes and issues in this draft… but it’s all fixable. It’s going to get there.

Ugh, such surprises I want to share with you. For anyone who’s impatiently waiting for Torn and then this one… I’m right there with you, trust me. Like, going BANANAS waiting to get them to you. But quality first. Only the best for y’all.

So anyway, that’s my update. Yaaaaaay! Here’s the link to the other ROW80 updates. I don’t get around to a lot of strangers’ blogs to comment on this one, but enough WIPpeteers do it that I don’t feel TOO guilty.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to me ramble. I hope you’re all having a great week!

–

*Most emphatically NOT a typo. Full disclosure: I’ve never done that before, and may never again. I have to stop and ponder too much to have a high enough per-hour word count. But things are getting exciting in the story as we near the climax, and I hit that zone you get into when you’re reading a book you really can’t put down. And then the word count hit 8,000, and I thought what the heck, let’s do this. I took breaks to feed the family and tidy the house, do a couple of loads of laundry and help with homework, and to watch a TV show with my husband. But otherwise, I was writing (see words per hour issue). It feels like a fine accomplishment, but I don’t think I’ll try for it again on a regular basis. I can’t have my kids watching this much Spongebob every day. Also, my wrists are KILLING me.

33 Comments | tags: fantasy, snippet, WIPpet Wednesday, YA | posted in ROW80, WIPpet Wednesday

October 16, 2014

Bound Featured on TeamNerd Reviews!

By Kate Sparkes

So a few days ago I got a DM on Twitter from Bridget, who said she was from TeamNerd Reviews and that they were going to feature Bound on Thursday.

Cool!

She asked for a teaser to post with the information.

No problem.

Er… okay, a little bit of a problem. I’ve come to realize that almost every really juicy bit of this book contains SPOILERS. Big ones, small ones, itty-bitty ones, but always something.

But I did my best, I sent a few over, and she picked a good, reasonably-non-spoilery one to post. TeamNerd Reviews is a super fun blog where they not only review books but also feature authors, offer teasers, and discuss TV shows they love. Check them out!

Here’s the link to today’s post

Thanks, Bridget and Annabell!

2 Comments | tags: Bound, fantasy, TeamNerd, teaser, YA | posted in blogs, Bound, promotion

October 15, 2014

WIPpet Wednesday: Mrowl

By Kate Sparkes

Hey look, it’s WIPpet Wednesday again! Which means it’s also garbage day… hang on.

*crashing noises*

*door slams*

*monster in the garbage can yodels with joy*

Sorry, I keep forgetting.

Anyway, for anyone who’s not familiar with WIPpet Wednesdays, this is the day when a fantabulistical group of writers shares a small snippet from a work in progress that relates somehow to the date, and we all link up here so we can share the fun. Today I have another piece from the third book of the Bound trilogy*. I wrote this last week, but it was too adorable not to share today. First draft, edited for spoilers. Rowan’s POV.

WIPpet math: 15 sentences for the 15th

We searched the house for clothes to wear while ours dried. All I could find was a soft cotton nightgown which covered me from neck to ankles in the least-flattering shape possible. I’d hoped to sneak back to my room without being seen, but Aren waited for me in the hall, arms crossed, leaning one shoulder against the wall.

He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “Damn.”

“Don’t even talk about it.”

“No, really. It’s good. Leaves a lot to the imagination.”

I mustered what dignity I could and held my head high as I passed him. “Goodnight, Aren. Have fun with your imagination.”

“Goodnight, Rowan. I promise I will.”

He’d been joking about the attractiveness of the nightgown, but that didn’t stop him watching me as I walked away. I smiled to myself as I closed the door behind me.

So there we go. Much sweeter than some of the moments I’ve been getting from characters lately.

If you’d like more WIPpet fun, click here to see what the rest of the crew is up to this week, and be sure to say hi on their blogs. If you’d like to join in, please do! You know the rules. Thanks again to our host KL Schwengel, to whom I say, “See, I was nicer to Aren this week! Please don’t hurt the guy I love in your books. Or the other one.”

Writer friendships are kind of screwed up. O.o

ROW80

Word counts are on track. Last Wednesday: 5,000 words. Thursday: 2,500 (this was my day to go to town, so I wasn’t expecting any). Friday: 5,000 words. Saturday: 4,600 Sunday: 0, but did some planning. Monday: 4,898 Tuesday: almost 3000 TOUGH words. Why do words get embarrassed and hide from me when things get romantic?

Things are getting tricky in the story now that I’m starting to pull together all the loose threads, play the wild cards, bring out things that have been in the shadows… pick your metaphor. It’s exciting, but it’s getting to be delicate work. I have a plan, anyway.

I have started beta reading (yay!) and am aiming for 2 chapters a day.

Listened to one podcast, not two, because my phone’s being a jerk about listening to them when I’m walking right now. But that’s something, anyway.

So there you have it. I hope you’re all having a good week and accomplishing ALL THE THINGS.

——

*I’m totally going to give up the name soon, because I’m really sick of typing that.

38 Comments | tags: fantasy, romance, sample, snippet, writing, YA | posted in ROW80, WIPpet Wednesday

October 10, 2014

Strength 101 (Or How to Be a Strong Female Character)

By Kate Sparkes

Hey, guys! A.M. Liebowitz invited me to do a guest post on her blog, and this morning she posted my short story “Strength 101”

It’s a fun look at what happens when a bunch of fictional characters attend a class on how to be “Strong Female Characters,” and how things don’t go exactly as planned.

Seriously. Good times for your Friday.

And while you’re there, check out the sidebar links to A.M. Liebowitz’s upcoming release “Lower Education.” I got all spendy and pre-ordered this one. We’ve met the main characters on WIPpet Wednesdays, and they’re amazing. 🙂

Here’s the link to the story.

Enjoy!

3 Comments | tags: fiction, free, humor, short stories, short story, strength, strong female characters | posted in Short Stories

October 8, 2014

WIPpet Wednesday–Déjà Vu

By Kate Sparkes

I’m writing this post on Tuesday. I just finished up working for the day, and I am not happy.

It’s not that things aren’t going well. In fact, yesterday and today were AMAZING. It’s killing me that I can’t tell you guys what’s happening in book 3 right now. One of the characters surprised me on Monday, and… and I really wish that fictional people would stop making me love them. It hurts.

So I’m just mad that I have to stop working for the day. There’s a house that needs cleaning, and the ~~distractions~~ kids are home from school, my ~~other distraction~~ beloved husband will be home in less than 2 hours, I need to get supper on. You know. Real life.

And so it goes. I just hope my excitement about what’s happening lasts until tomorrow, when I’ll dive head-first back into this thing.

For WIPpet Wednesday I’ll give you the last eight lines (in the WordPress editor pane, anyway) that I wrote before I quit for the day. Rowan’s POV, very rough, but at least fairly spoiler-free.

Unless you haven’t read Bound, in which case I make no promises, and you should go do that. 🙂

Mountains, yo.

A cliff loomed to my right. As I passed into its shadows an eagle shrieked. I ran toward the noise. Aren, still in his familiar avian form, lay chest-down on the rocks. A few paces away the gryphon crouched on the ground, head held at an awkward angle, gaze fixed on Aren.

“Hey!” I yelled. The beast didn’t change its position. I threw one of the rocks. It bounced off of the gryphon’s skull with a cracking noise, but still the creature wouldn’t move.

I stepped closer. The whites of its eyes showed beneath heavy feathers, and the massive talons curved uselessly beneath it. The animal I’d so heroically attacked was already dead.

Aren let out a softer noise, calling for my attention. His left wing stretched out over the rocks, oozing blood onto the ground.

“Well, this looks familiar,” I observed.

He snapped his beak at me.

The um… the gryphon was a lot more impressive when it was airborne and attacking and didn’t already have a broken neck. You’re just going to have to trust me on that for now, because sharing that would just be BOOK TWO SPOILERS.

For more WIPpet fun, here’s the link to everyone’s posts. It’s updated throughout the day, so shop early and shop often. Say hi to the nice folks, and join in on your own blog if you’d like! The only rules are that you have to post from a current work-in-progress (WIP), and the passage has to have something to do with the day’s date (so I did 8 lines, but you could do a wee slice of chapter 8, show us a planet with eight rings, something about spiders, eighteen lines for 10+8… et cetera). Big thanks to our host KL Schwengel, who’s not allowed to get mad at me for hurting Aren. It was the gryphon’s fault, not mine.

Seriously, he came out of NOWHERE.

*innocent face*

ROW80 Update (goals post link)

Hey, here we are already. So far, so good. 3,000 words on Monday, 3,000 words on Tuesday, and I’m hoping for another 3,000 today. Guess we’ll see… this is what I get for posting from the past.

I’ve got a whole lot of scenes turning up that I didn’t plan on, so the book keeps getting longer. It’s also getting deeper, and the story is filling in nicely. All of the planning I did is (so far) leading draft one to have the depth of a draft 2, if not the polish. There have been a few more detours than I expected, but they’re all still leading to the right place, and it’s a fun ride.

So that’s it for today’s report. How’s your week going so far, writing, reading, or otherwise?

21 Comments | tags: book three, bound trilogy, fantasy, snippet | posted in ROW80

October 6, 2014

Half-Assing #ROW80 (on purpose, this time)

By Kate Sparkes

Okay, that was a strange title, so let me explain.

I sort of dropped out of ROW80 (A Round of Words in 80 Days) on the last round because I was worried about boring people with my posts, especially those of you who subscribe by e-mail. You don’t want your phone to go BRRRRRRMP or BING! or whatever on a Sunday just to be notified that OMG KATE SPARKES WROTE ANOTHER 5000 WORDS YAY.

I know. And I don’t want to put you through that.

But I do miss the accountability and the community. So what to do?

I think I’m going to just check in once a week, on Wednesdays (see? Half-assing the reporting bit). That way these posts will be combined with WIPpet Wednesdays, which will be the candy I offer you to go with the vegetables that are my goals updates. If you’re interested in how things are progressing with my goals, by all means read through. I live to serve, and if watching my numbers is at all inspiring, encouraging, or exciting, I hope you’ll follow along.

Just don’t feel like you have to.

Round 4 of ROW80 for 2014 runs from October 6 to December 25. That means it’s GOAL-SETTIN’ TIME.

*rolls up sleeves, spits in conveniently-placed spittoon*

GOALS:

BOUND TRILOGY BOOK #3 – I’m currently at about 36,500 words out of a projected 120,000. I want to have this done by mid-November, if possible, to leave time for my other book-related goal (see below). This won’t be a problem if I can focus and stick to my schedule… so it’ll probably be a problem. But here’s what I’m aiming for:

3000 words a day, 4 days a week. This leaves one day for me to go to town and get groceries, because my children continue to insist on me putting food in their faces. COOKED food, even. So demanding. If I can get more words than that in, I will. If I can squeeze in writing time on the weekends, I’ll do that, too. But based on what I’ve been able to accomplish over the past month, this seems like a reasonable base goal, if a challenging one.
So doing the math… That would get me done with this messy first draft thing in 28 working days, or on November 20. Hmm. I’ll have to try to get extra words in there, maybe aim for 14,000 words a week somehow. Because my other goal is…

TORN – barring some miraculous cancellation on the part of one of his other clients, my editor will be taking this one on at the beginning of December. I’ve already worked in most of my beta readers’ notes (many thanks to those of you who got through it so quickly, you’re the best!), but there are a few more things that need fixing up. So as soon as Book 3 is drafted, or sooner if need be, I need to get those last few things cleaned up. This is really important, but I don’t want to interrupt this whole first draft thing while I’m on a roll, so I’m putting it off.

Oooooh, dramatic tension, if only in my own mind!

SHORT STORY – It’s a thing I’m working on, which I’d like to have released by Christmas, but it’ll have to get squished in between other BIG, IMPORTANT STUFF. No promises.

OTHER GOALS –

listen to two writing podcasts a week. I can do this while I’m cooking or out walking the dog, so this should be an easy one to cross off. Right now I like Hide and Create and The Self-Publishing Podcast.
Beta reading. I’m doing this for a fellow WIPpeteer this month. I haven’t started yet, but I’m going to get on it soon. There will be notes. SUCH NOTES THERE WILL BE.
Other reading – one or two novels a month seems to be all I have time for these days. Reading just feels like homework right now (heartbreaking, I know), but it’s important. Right now I’m reading Behind the Scenes by Dahlia Adler (so adorable–and I usually don’t like contemporary YA romance) and The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. We’ll see what comes after that. And I’d like to get through at least one writing-related book this round, too.
Organize something fun for the Bound audiobook release in November.
Also, I’m using the Duolingo app to learn French. Because why not?* I have no concrete goal for this, except to use it for 10 minutes a day.

I guess that’s enough.

Are you participating this round? Link back to your goals post in the comments so I can stop by and say hello!

October. Oooooh, aaaaah!

–

*Weird story: I’m pretty sure it had me say, “Je mange les femmes” yesterday, meaning “I eat women.” I’m not entirely sure what they’re implying… this could go in a few directions. Of course, they also think “Je suis un homme,” so you know. Whatever.

15 Comments | tags: #ROW80, editing, fantasy, first draft, goals, revisions, trilogy, writing | posted in ROW80, writing

September 26, 2014

Audiobook News

By Kate Sparkes

BIG NEWS!

Okay, those of you on the newsletter mailing list know already. You’re excused. Or you can hang out. You guys are cool.

And some of you saw it on Facebook, but they don’t show it to everyone who liked the page, because Facebook.

For everyone else…

The audiobook version of Bound will be available on November 4, 2014!

*streamers, balloons, and confetti fall from the ceiling*

Guys… I’ve been sitting on this news for so long it was making my butt numb. Things were a bit up in the air for a while, but I accepted an offer from Tantor Audio to produce the book. It’s going to be great! They’ve produced audio versions of books by Jennifer L Armentrout, Lauren Kate, Jacqueline Carey (eek!), some lady named Suzanne Collins, and hundreds of others.

And for those who are wondering, curious, concerned, or otherwise all twitchy…

Aren and Rowan get their own narrators.

Aren’s chapters will be read by Paul Boehmer (sample here), and Rowan by Justine Eyre (sample here). Both are versatile and experienced actors/narrators, and I’m excited to hear what they do with this project.

The audiobook version of Bound is available for pre-order on Amazon now, here. It will be available through other retailers later, in CD and digital formats.

…and I guess that’s all the details I have for you, at least for now.

I think I need to go lie down.

*kicks balloons*

Oh, and for anyone who missed it or hasn’t entered, don’t forget about the paperback giveaway that’s running here until October 1! See this post for details.

4 Comments | tags: audiobook, fantasy, kate sparks, pre-order, release, YA | posted in books, Bound

September 25, 2014

Welcome To First-Draftsville, Population: Me

By Kate Sparkes

*shoves cabin door open with shoulder, coughs at dust*

Sorry, I still have a lot of cleaning up to do.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I wrote the first draft of Bound in 2010, the first draft of Torn in 2012, the first draft of my Urban Fantasy novella Resurrection over a year ago (and that in two very separate parts). Sure, there have been drafts of blog posts since then. Short stories. Flash fiction, just to keep me on my toes. But this? The big stuff?

*whips dust cover off of decrepit sofa*

This is big time.

Have a seat. I don’t think the dust bunnies will bite. Or the plot bunnies, for that matter. Mind the spiders, though.

I’m 18,000 words into the first draft of book #3 in the Bound trilogy. It has a name, but that’s top secret for now. If you need a working title, I was going with “Creepy Uncle Pantaloon’s Circus of Fun.”

Probably best to just go with “book 3.”

My point is… this is kind of a weird place to be. I know some people love drafting. Me? I love revising. I don’t like filling the sandbox, I like playing in it. I like taking the words that are there and improving them, pruning the stray branches off of an unruly story, re-shaping character motivations that aren’t helping them or me, finding the problems and fixing them.

The blank screen is intimidating, I’m not going to lie.

Now, I have done a few things to make it less so, and I’m going to share them with you. I’m always experimenting with technique. This is by no means a permanent battle plan, or right for everyone, but here’s how I’m doing it this time around:

This is the end of a trilogy, which means lots of loose ends to tie up (if not all of them, then at least the major ones). I’ve also dealt myself a whole lot of wild cards in books one and two. All of this went into a pair of lists that we’ll come back to later.
I’ve known the ending since before I started drafting book one, but until a few weeks ago, the first half of book three was… let’s be generous and say “nebulous.” I knew the answers were there, but I couldn’t see them no matter how hard I tried. Scary stuff. This is where those lists came in. Those were the blueprints and tools that helped me build the bridge to the second half of the book.
I planned more this time than I ever have before. Every scene I knew I wanted to use and every one I thought I might use went onto an index card in Scrivener. I added to them, rearranged them, figured out who would be the POV character for each scene. As I made those notes, the holes became clear, and I started to fill them in.
I took a fresh look at how the characters have developed so far, where they need to end up, and what internal and external pressures would logically lead them there. They’ve already surprised me a few times, and this could all change, but it gave me ideas for those missing scenes.
Having those scenes laid out meant I had no excuse to not start drafting.

That’s it. Nothing fancy. But it’s a big leap from having ideas for events in my head and just trying to get to them, or scribbling notes on paper, as I’ve done in the past.

What I’m really trying to do here is streamline the process. Might save on revisions. We’ll see.

Now, this isn’t to say that everything is planned out and writing is just a matter of finding the right words to express what I already decided on. After ten scenes, things have already happened that I hadn’t anticipated. Bright little moments have popped up and made me smile, new scenes have turned up, internal conflicts have come to light*, past relationships have… well, you’ll see. Plotting doesn’t mean taking the surprises out of writing, as I always thought it would. It just means that with the big things taken care of, I can turn my attention to teasing out the little ones that make a story rich and satisfying. In the past, those moments didn’t come to light until draft two.

It’s still hard. I haven’t had a day yet where the words flowed and my fingers couldn’t keep up with my brain. But I’m hitting a steady pace, and I like what’s happening in the story, even if getting words out of my brain is like pulling taffy.

Taffy. Out of my brain.

Terrible image, sorry. I used up all of my good ones this morning.

This is all I can ask for, really. I’m working. I’m actually enjoying the first draft this time through, even if part of me still just wants to have it DONE.

I’m happy. And I think readers will be, too.

–

*I now need to go back and make adjustments to Torn because of this–and this is exactly why I draft the next book before I publish the previous one. That, and so I can release more than one book a year.

9 Comments | tags: bound trilogy, fantasy, first draft, pantsing, plotting, Scrivener, writing | posted in Hows & Whys, writing

September 24, 2014

WIPpet Wednesday: Just a Dream

By Kate Sparkes

Yep, I’m back.

Maybe not every week–I’m working on book 3 now, and spoilers abound. Not even just book three spoilers… book 2 spoilers, too. I keep forgetting that you all haven’t seen that yet. I guess the only spoiler here is for people who don’t want to be reassured that anyone survives book two. If you’re that into surprises, you might want to look away now.

Still here? Good.

Anyway, since I am, in fact, drafting something, I feel like I should be able to find a wee bit to share. (For those of you who are new to the game, WIPpet Wednesday is where we share a snippet of a work in progress that relates somehow to the day’s date. Six lines on the 6th, or something from chapter six, or something about a six-armed hooker… the possibilities are endless, really)

I’ve been going for dialogue and character interactions lately, so today we’ll try something a little different.

24 sentences from Rowan for the 24th. She’s just found herself in a dream, standing outside her childhood home. I’m speed-drafting here, I’ll fix it later. No laughing. And this is not the beginning of the scene, so don’t worry if you feel a little disoriented. You’re not alone.

I took a step toward the iron gates and tried to remember whether I had ever seen them closed. No. They’d always been open, a reminder when I was a child that my home was not a prison, even if it felt that way at first. And they’d remained open after I moved back with my parents, welcoming me every time I visited.

Here, in this dream, they were shut tight. A token gesture to be sure; the stone walls on either side were crumbling even more than they had been at my last visit, and wouldn’t keep anyone out. But those black gates closed tight against the road set my heart fluttering. The familiar had been made strange, and I didn’t like to think what it might mean.

I stepped forward and was relieved to find that this wasn’t one of those dreams where I moved like I was swimming through honey. The hard-packed dirt road felt solid beneath my feet, and I hurried toward the gates. No chain held them closed, but they wouldn’t move no matter how hard I pushed. I let my hands drop and stepped back.

Something crashed through the underbrush to my left.

“Aren?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. The wind blew, and the tree branches creaked in reply.

The broken stone bit into my hands as I vaulted my legs over a low spot in the wall and landed inside the property.

I gasped. The house could have been abandoned a century ago.

The roofline reached as high I remembered, but only at the ends of the building. The middle had caved in, leaving a jagged, gaping hole. Vines covered the stone walls, growing thick and wild. Narrow branches reached out through shattered window panes. As I moved closer to the building, I noticed piles of rubble and dust at the base of the walls.

The front door hung limp from its broken hinges like a drunkard stumbling into his home, and green slime filled the lanterns outside.

But it’s just a dream… right? Guys?

Guess we’ll see where that goes.*

If you’d like to see what the other WIPpeteers are up to, click here. As always, thanks to our host KL Schwengel, to whom I dedicate this very occasional use of the word “whisper.” And if you’d like to join in on the fun, post at your own blog (according to the rules, mind you), link back, and be sure to drop by and visit everyone else. It’s a good little community.

And with that I bid you farewell. Things got a little crazy after this snippet, and my characters have some big decisions to make.

Back to work.

PS- don’t forget about the Rafflecopter giveaway for a signed paperback copy of Bound! See this post for details.

–

*If anywhere. I might cut the scene, and you’ll be the only people to ever see it. 🙂

22 Comments | tags: bound trilogy, description, draft, fantasy, imagery, rough, sampole, snippet, YA | posted in WIPpet Wednesday

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disregard the prologue

Category Archives: writing

Vines and Vices (All the Queen’s Knaves book one)

Urban Fantasy (writing as Tanith Frost)

Bound (Bound Trilogy Book One)

Torn (Bound Trilogy Book Two)

Into Elurien

At Any Cost (Bound Trilogy prequel novella)

The Binding (Short Story)

Follow via Email

Kate Sparkes

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