Category Archives: writing

June 19, 2013

WIPpet Wednesday: Flashback, and a Farewell to ROW80

You may recall (and you’re forgiven if you don’t, I know how busy you are) that this month I’m working on a few projects. I’m making good progress in my editing on Bound, and yes, added words are being counted toward my word count for JuNoWriMo. I’m not adding a lot; I’m really trying to cut down on the total word count. But sometimes more needs to be said, and today’s WIPpet Wednesday offering is one of those passages. Will it stay? I don’t know. But experimenting is fun. 🙂

So, the WIPpet math for 19/6/13: 19 paragraphs +6 paragraphs -1 paragraph -3 paragraphs. Don’t worry, it’s mostly dialogue. (Aren’s POV)

–

My return to town was quiet, made late at night and in the midst of a street festival, but Severn knew I was coming as soon as I dropped the magic dedicated to blocking his awareness of me. He had me brought to his chambers before I had a chance to unsaddle my horse. The only reason I made it without a beating was that the palace guards feared me only a little less than they did Severn.

He dismissed them with a wave, and they bowed as they left us. The room was uncharacteristically cluttered, littered with half-empty wine bottles, and I wondered how many other people had been sent away before my arrival. “How wonderful,” Severn drawled after the guards closed the door. “Just what I wanted for my birthday. A ghost.”

I didn’t speak. I’d learned over the years that if I didn’t have an answer that would satisfy him, it was best to give none at all.

“We thought you were dead,” he continued, his voice as cold as I’d ever heard it. “It’s not like you to disappear.”

“I was injured escaping from the mountains. I needed time to recover, and had no way to contact you without being seen.”

Severn poured two glasses of wine and offered me one. I drank the full glass, not because I wanted it, but to show that I trusted him not to poison me. That, or I feared him enough to do as he wished with no thought for what might happen to me. It didn’t matter to Severn; respect and fear were nearly the same thing to him. “I searched for you. There was no sign.”

“Perhaps the distance interfered with your perception. I can assure you that at no time was I dead.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “You weren’t blocking me?”

“I don’t think I could. You know me too well. And I had no reason to.” I held my body still, and kept my eyes glued to his. I have nothing to hide, I thought. I did, of course, but Severn wouldn’t be able to see far into me. He lacked that particular set of skills, and that made me useful to him— and him mistrustful of me.

It was several uncomfortable moments before he released me from his gaze and sipped from his own glass. “You’re ruining my party. Tell me what happened, and go.”

“Annyk is dead.”

“You killed him?”

“His brother did.”

Severn sneered. “I’m not sure whether I’m impressed by your skill or disgusted with your continuing unwillingness to dirty your own hands. Either way, it’s done.” That was the most praise I could expect from him. “Any sign of more magic?”

Now I would have to tread carefully. Severn might not have been able to see my thoughts, but he would know if I lied to him outright. Half-truths would be better. “I think I found someone, but I was attacked before I could bring her in.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Her? Interesting. Where?”

I fought back the tension that cramped my shoulders. There was no chance I was going to let him take her. Not after she saved me. Severn would never understand that, though, and there would be no stopping him if he learned there was an unidentified sorceress in Qittavia. “In the mountains,” I lied. “And well-hidden.”

“Obviously, if Annyk didn’t find her.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

“No.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Familiar energy began to build, infusing the air in the stone-walled room, causing the hairs on my body to stand up and remembered pain to race through my body. He wouldn’t be afraid to hurt me if he thought he wasn’t getting what he wanted.

“There’s nothing. I’ll go back and find her again, or I can tell someone else where to search.” The energy leveled off, but did not disperse, and my body broke out in sweat as I fought to not react to the pain.

–

Want to see more from the other WIPpeteers? Click this link to connect to MORE links that will take you to them (updated all day, so check back!), and be sure stop by and maybe leave a nice fruit basket at our host blog, My Random Muse.

Tommorow is the last day of this round of A Round of Words in 80 Days. It’s been fun; I’ll do things a bit differently next time (starting at the beginning, setting clearer goals at the start), but I’ll definitely do it again. I’ve found some interesting bloggers to follow, and it’s always nice to just go through and visit someone new. I like being reminded of how many of us are in this together, writing and struggling and loving it.

As far as my own goals are concerned, I’m catching up on my JuNoWriMo word count, which means I’m currently trying for more than the 2,000 words a day that I’d set as my goal. My reading didn’t have as measurable a goal, but I’m getting it done when time allows. I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying Matched; it really didn’t seem like my thing at all, but I like the set-up of the Society (and some of you know how picky I am about that sort of thing), and I like how Cassia is developing as a character. Now, I’ve heard from several people that the other two books in the trilogy are a big disappointment, but I’ll at least try the next one. This is one advantage of library books, isn’t it?

School is almost out here; Simon gets a day off on Thursday and only goes in for a few hours on Friday, so I guess today is really the last day of school. We’ll see how having both kids home will affect my productivity. We also have a week-long vacation planned for the end of July, and I don’t see myself getting a lot of writing done there (not sure if I’ll even take the computer), but I can read.

Annnd… that’s about it. Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget that the next round of ROW80 starts next month. 🙂

18 Comments | tags: fantasy, magic, WIP, writing, YA | posted in Bound, JuNoWriMo, ROW80, WIPpet Wednesday, writing

June 18, 2013

Lessons From Empire Records

By Kate Sparkes

Some of you know that Empire Records is one of my all-time favourite movies. It captures something about the nineties that other movies seem to have missed, an atmosphere that I guarantee you’ll never find in new movies when that decade becomes “retro” and a cool time period to set movies in.

And I’m not ashamed to admit it, I adore Lucas.

But as I was watching last night, I realized that there were things that I, as a writer, could learn from this movie. No, it’s not perfect, but it does a lot of things very well. The first one that struck me was character introduction.

This isn’t a movie with a small cast. It’s not Game of Thrones huge, but it’s a day in the lives of the people who work at a record store, on a day when absolutely everyone is working. So do we open on a scene with everyone running around, doing their thing?

Of course not. The introductions come quickly so we can get to the story, but each character has a moment (or a scene) where we meet them and learn the basics; depth and details come later, but we get enough to push them into our brains and stick a pin in them until we get back to it. Now, I’m talking about the fan edition; forgive me if anything doesn’t line up with the original cut.

First, there’s Lucas. We learn that he’s closing the store, and he’s been instructed not to touch Joe’s (the manager) beer, cigars, or drums. A moment later we cut to Lucas touching all of those things, drumming away on the piles of money he’s been instructed to count twice. But count it twice he does, which tells us a lot about Lucas. We also learn something when he discovers that his beloved Empire Records (an independent store) is set to be turned into a big chain store (booooo!), and he decides to take a big risk to try to save this place he loves.

Lucas may have impulse control issues and/or an odd way of respecting authority, but he wants to do the right thing. This in just a few minutes, and from him closing the store. Not the most exciting set-up, no danger or explosions or fights, but we’re thrown into character and story right away, and want to know what happens.

Boom. That’s exactly what all writers are told to aim for in the first few paragraphs, isn’t it?

Other characters trickle in the next morning. Joe, the grumpy manager. Frustrated, beaten down, but it’s quickly apparent that he cares for the kids who work for him. We get Mark, who’s obviously not all there (hi, drugs!), but he’s funny and seems like a good guy. AJ: artistic, confused, and lovesick.

Next scene, Corey and Gina on their way to work. Corey: perfect, organized, efficient and infatuated with a much-older pop star who she plans to seduce later that day…

Because it’s REX MANNING DAY, folks!

Rex is clearly a bit of a douche. This creates tension as we wonder what in the world the sweet, innocent Corey wants with him, and how that’s going to pan out. Bleh.

Gina: Corey’s polar opposite, except that they’re both pretty (of course).

Other employees filter in (Burko and Eddie are really the least-developed ones, but we still get a feel for them*), adding to the cast in little bits, allowing the audience to adjust and get to know them a little before we’re overwhelmed with more people. And while this is happening, of course, there’s a plot developing.

Several plots, actually.

And this is another thing I think is interesting. You have this plot concerning what’s going to happen to the store after Lucas screws things up. This affects everyone. But the subplots are thick in this one. AJ wanting to tell Corey he loves her. Debra tried to kill herself, and everyone’s worried about her. Rex Manning is a douche, and just makes everything worse in the store (and adding conflict is a good thing, right?). And we also have Warren the shoplifter.

Gina hates Debra, Debra hates Gina. Gina is jealous of Corey but tries to hide it; Corey seems perfect on the outside, but we all know that can’t be right. Everything is coming to a crisis point.

It could be a huge mess, but every sub-plot is tied in to the others, adding to them rather than taking screen time away from them, and everything builds toward the climax and a satisfying resolution. Subplots add depth to a story; keeping them tight and intertwined keeps them from slowing the plot down.

So there’s two things, and plenty of evidence that I can’t just sit and enjoy a movie. There are other lessons, I’m sure. Dialogue is one:

Aah, I love it.

So, what movies have you learned from? Jae, I know you always find lessons in movies (everyone else, have a look!). Anyone else have one movie you just adore and want to share with the ~~class~~ rest of us? Or are there movies/books/shows you thing didn’t do character introductions well, throwing so many people at us that we can’t really tell them apart later on? Share!

–

*However, their hairstyles are never adequately explained. Come to think of it, everyone’s hair is pretty greasy… this may be the film’s primary downfall.

10 Comments | tags: characters, dialogue, empire recorde, movie, plot, subplot | posted in Entertainment, Hows & Whys, Movies, writing

June 16, 2013

Science Fiction Writing with Ray Bradbury

By Kate Sparkes

Love it. 🙂

2 Comments | posted in Hows & Whys, writing

June 16, 2013

ROW 80 Update: This does NOT happen edition

By Kate Sparkes

So my husband came home last night, long after I was in bed and asleep. He’d had a long, difficult weekend already (and it was barely even Sunday), but he managed to take a few minutes to stop by the goodbye party for the guy he works with. He told me, “there’s a surprise for you in the fridge.”

I LOVE fridge surprises! I did mumble something about how if it was roadkill I’d be very disappointed, but really there was only about a 14% chance of it being that.

And then, being mostly asleep, I forgot about it.

This morning, AJ said, “did you look in the fridge?”

“No!”

I ran to the fridge like a hyperactive little kid hunting for Easter eggs, expecting maybe a chocolate bar (because sometimes AJ’s cool like that) or a bit of dessert from the party.

I was not expecting… THIS:

Pardon my language, but HOLY SHIT THAT’S A WHOLE LOT OF CRAB LEGS.

There was also deep-fried turkey, hashbrown casserole, and… I don’t know, ham or something. I kind of forgot about all of that when I saw the HOLY SHIT CRAB LEGS.

Do you guys have any idea? DO YOU?! The fact that I’m yelling might tell you that I like crab legs a lot. What you might not have guessed is that I haven’t had them in years. They’re expensive, and there aren’t many restaurants around here that serve them (at least, not at a price I can pay). I think the last time I had them was at Mandarin Buffet in Ontario, when my mom and I pretty much ate everything.

I’m not ashamed of that.

Not all of the surprises I wake up to are pleasant; cold cat barf squishing between my toes comes to mind when I consider the less-pleasant ones. But today… today shall live in my memory as a day of celebrating fathers (hi, dad!), unexpected blessings, and HOLY SHIT CRAB LEGS! God bless generous people with too much food at their parties.

—

Now, about that Round of Words update (now that I’ve frightened everyone away): through an intense regimen of BICFOC* and all but neglecting my children, I’ve passed the 20,000 word mark for JuNoWriMo. There’s still a long way to go, and I’m not quite on track, but I’m catching up. I’m reading a little when I can, but on rainy days when I’m stuck inside, it’s all about the writing right now. I’ve started looking for an editor for Bound, though I won’t need one until after this round of revisions and a blasting from beta readers… and then more revisions… but I’m putting feelers out there. That wasn’t a goal, but it’s related, so there you go. Also not an official goal, but I’ve been reading a bunch of ROW80 blog updates from people whose blogs I don’t normally follow, and commenting. I feel good about that, and it’s fun; you never know what you’re going to find out there in Blog Land.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more running around in circles and screaming to do before I go warm the butter.

That’s not a euphemism.

–

*Butt in chair, fingers on keys

14 Comments | tags: Crab, surprises, writing | posted in random, ROW80, Torn, writing

June 12, 2013

headdesk

By Kate Sparkes

Know what sucks? Yes, besides a Hoover. Very funny. What I was going to say was that re-naming characters sucks. Hard. And not in a good way.

I knew this was coming. I’ve even mentioned it here, trying to mentally prepare myself. But it really has to be done now, both in revisions for my first book and for the character re-appearing in the second. And it’s not the character I thought it would be.

I was going to change Cassia’s name, and let Kai keep his. His name means “ocean,” he’s a watery sort of guy, and then name seemed to me to have the sort of fun-yet-laid-back vibe that he gives off. I was attached to Cassia’s name, too (I adore it, and it means “cinnamon,” which is pretty much the colour of her skin), but I thought she could survive the change. I couldn’t leave them both, not with love interests in a very popular YA series being named Cassia and Ky. My brother and sister pair would not stand for it.

So Kai’s name was going to stay. And then a friend named her dog Kai, and told me that her kids had named him after a Lego Ninjago character. Lovely. And reviews of another book that I need to read say that there’s a female character named Kai. And the name has come up a few times in reviews of other books I’ve seen recently, all male characters. Point is, it’s popular, and I don’t like that. Didn’t want to give my kids popular names, don’t want to do it for my characters. I don’t need them to be speshul-snowflake unique (or Uneeq, for that matter), but I really don’t like name trends.

But there’s also no other perfect name with a similar meaning. All evidence to the contrary, I don’t usually choose names based on what they mean; I’ve almost rejected names that gave away too much. But most of my mer folk do have water-related names. Nguh. I’ve narrowed it down a bit… I just hope this doesn’t take up as much of my day as blog renovations did yesterday. O.o

–

EDIT: Ugh. I liked the name Caius (it’s similar!), but I just found out that there’s one in the Twilight saga. So that’s probably a “no.”

34 Comments | tags: characters, fantasy, fiction, names, naming | posted in Bound, Hows & Whys, writing

June 12, 2013

WIPpet Wednesday: Consequences

By Kate Sparkes

Last week’s WIPpet snippet was short. Of COURSE I’m going to give you something massive this week. I won’t be offended if you skip it. 🙂

This is from chapter… probably three. I’m not too clear on chapter divisions yet. This is extremely rough, please excuse the everything. Set up: things haven’t been going well since the end of Bound (so much for happily ever after, right?). So SPOILER ALERT I guess, if you don’t want to know whether people survive that one.

Still with me? Good. Rowan has convinced Aren to take a walk with her on the beach, saying she wanted to search for treasure. He doubted they’d find any, but went along anyway. He doesn’t get to spend much time alone with her these days.

12 + 6 paragraphs for 12/6 (plus one line so it makes sense)

—

Rowan seemed to be trying to get her bearings on the beach, running back and forth, looking down, when she suddenly dropped to her knees to rake her fingers through the pebbles. I jogged toward her, holding tightly to the cloth-wrapped item in my pocket. She stood and held her hand out to me. “Told you there was treasure.”

Glass. Two pieces, one green and one brown, the edges smoothed and the surface dulled by the rocks and water. “That’s it? This is what you were looking for?”

“Mm-hmm. I didn’t think you’d come with me if I told you.”

“What, that we were looking for old garbage?” She looked at me expectantly, and I sighed. “No, I still would have come along.” I fell in beside her as she walked closer to the water.

“It’s not old garbage.”

“It’s broken glass that somebody threw away, or that floated off of a shipwreck. It is the very definition of garbage.”

She stopped to pick up a few more pieces, and motioned for me to hold out my hand. “No,” she said. “This is garbage.” Clear glass this time, and new, probably tossed over the cliff recently. I closed my fingers around it, and the point of the triangle bit into my skin. When I opened my hand, blood welled up from a tiny puncture. Rowan frowned. “I wish you wouldn’t do that. I can’t heal it, you know.”

“It’ll go away on its own soon enough.”

She shook her head, and a sudden breeze off of the ocean blew her hair around her head until she caught it and tied it back with the ribbon she kept in her coat. “This, however,” she continued, “is treasure.” Clear glass again, but turned white by its pitted surface. It was perfectly smooth, and aside from its colour was indistinguishable from the round pebbles that littered the shore. “I suppose it was garbage once, but after a while it becomes beautiful. Don’t you see it?”

As she added to her collection, I started to see. No one would ever mistake the glass for gemstones, but they were beautiful in the same way that someone like Rowan thought beach rocks were beautiful, or a mossy forest, or the swirling patterns in driftwood. I didn’t notice those things the way she did, but I was learning. It reminded me of her; if the women I’d known in Luid were diamonds and sapphires, she was the amethyst-coloured glass she handed to me, which seemed to glow in the fading sunlight and became more interesting the longer I looked at it. She was a strange person, but in ways that I liked very much. I thought again of leaving, and felt ill. I didn’t know how to bring it up.

A dull flash of green caught my eye. “What about this one?” I asked.

She turned the glass over in her hands. “Almost there. See how this edge is clear? It probably broke off of something not too long ago, and the ocean has to work on it a bit more. It’s a shame; the colour’s good.”

I sat on a weathered log that had landed above the tide line, and Rowan followed. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she asked.

“It’s time,” I said. She was silent for a few moments, then smiled, sadly.

“What, just when things are going so well here?”

I took her hand. It was so small in mine. “I would stay if I thought it would help you, but I think I’m just in the way right now. I’m not doing any good here. I’m tired of being unwanted and useless. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing now, but it’s not this.”

Rowan squeezed my fingers. “It’s not getting any better, is it?”

“Did I ever tell you what Mariana and Arnav said to me at the Grotto?” She shook her head and sat beside me. “They said that it was admirable that I wanted to renounce my past, but that I needed to learn what I was living for. Right now I have nothing but you. I think I could spend the rest of my life living for you, but-”

“…but that’s not fair to either of us. I know.”

—

Life is hard, kids, stay in school and don’t fall in love too quickly. Quality advice from Auntie Kate, right there. I have a big problem with stories where people fall in love too quickly and then that’s it. I will NOT have codependent characters. *end rant*

And yeah, I know, it’s wordy and needs editing. I’ll get back to it. 😉

Want to join in the WIPpet Wedesday fun? Head on over to our host’s blog (KL Schwengel at My Random Muse), click on the linkie and share the love with the other WIPpeteers, and add your own link to a bit of your work in progress that relates to today’s date in some way (12 lines, 12 words… 12+6 letters, something from chapter or page 12… whatever).

Treasure ahoy!

I guess I owe a #ROW80 update, too, especially since I missed Sunday’s check-in. JuNoWriMo is putting the pressure on, but I’m behind. I need a few good days with no distractions to get caught up. 2,000 words a day is just not happening right now. I’ve given up on reading Fallen (see here if you really want to know why) and have started Matched, which I thought sounded very not me, but I’ve enjoyed the first few chapters. Housework is going well, too, even if I refuse to acknowledge that as an official goal.

22 Comments | tags: beach, fantasy, fiction, romance, sea glass, writing, YA | posted in ROW80, Torn, WIPpet Wednesday, writing

June 11, 2013

Well, That Was Fun

By Kate Sparkes

I did it. It took longer than it should have and ate up hours that could have been better spent writing,* but I picked a new theme and I PUSHED THE EFFING BUTTON.

It’s not perfect. It doesn’t represent my work in any meaningful way. But it’s fun, it’s got a bit more colour, and it will do until it’s time for me to set up an actual website with fun things like THEMES and BOOK COVERS and THINGS THAT ARE NOT MY BLOG. Huzzah.

So come on in! Have a look around. Everything’s the same, I just re-painted and rearranged the furniture. Mind you don’t trip over that rug there, I need to get some tape under that. Drinks are still in the fridge, you know where to find them. No, help yourself.

If only settling into and redecorating a real house was this simple!

–

*No, I’m not exaggerating, I really am that indecisive.

7 Comments | tags: blogs, brand, image, themes | posted in blogs

June 11, 2013

Daring To Fail

By Kate Sparkes

Eeeeeeyup. I struggle with this all the time.

Kait Nolan

In my inbox this morning:

It’s not the dazzling voice that makes a singer. Or clever stories that make a writer. And it’s not piles of money that make a tycoon.
It’s having a dream and wanting to live it so greatly that one would rather move with it and “fail” than succeed in another realm.

Yeah. That.

It seems well-timed, given I’ve been having some flail and worrying about failing and screwing stuff up. But that’s the thing. Failing or no, I’d rather do this than ANYTHING ELSE. Because when I’m NOT in the middle of Post-Critique Flail (which is most of the rest of the year), I friggin’ love what I do. I love hanging out with these characters and exploring new worlds and having both surprise me.

Writing is one of the only areas of my life where I was ever willing to take a big risk…

View original post 425 more words

I Got Nuthin’

By Kate Sparkes

Seriously. I have nothing for you today. I should be working on my JuNoWriMo word count; instead, I’m browsing WordPress themes, because “Forever” isn’t doing it for me anymore. I like it, but the header font is flimsy, and I can’t afford to customize (even though I found the perfect font… sigh). I haven’t found anything that really matches the image I want to project, so maybe I’ll just go with something fun, see how that goes.

I know, such a professional, right?

Also, I changed my gravatar image to show you what a mean Groucho Marx impression my cat Charlie and I can do when we team up. You’re welcome.

8 Comments | posted in blogs, JuNoWriMo

June 10, 2013

Stop Being Awesome. Stop it NOW.

By Kate Sparkes

Seriously, guys. I go away for the weekend to the Land That WiFi Forgot, and I come back to an impossible number of tempting blog posts in my WordPress reader. Even being selective has left me with over a dozen open tabs waiting to be read.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?

Knock it off with the insight and the encouragement and the sharing of links that I then have to click on and read because they are ALSO useful or delightful. Stop making me happy to see your names on those posts and your smiling faces beside your re-blogs.

Stop being such an amazing community of writers, because it’s super distracting. I don’t have time for this many superstars in my life.

*sigh*

Ugh, fine, don’t look at me like that. You just keep doing what you do, I’ll deal with it somehow. Just don’t expect big word count numbers from me until I get caught up. 🙂

(I wish I could say I used the weekend for that, but I find it hard to get writing done at the in-laws’ house. I did get more editing done on Bound, though, and I’m thinking I need a couple more beta readers for mid-to-late summer. I’ll put up a post requesting those when the time comes, but if anyone wants to volunteer to subject yourself to that, I’m just looking for people who are willing to point out story/character issues, slow spots, unanswered questions that absolutely can’t wait for the sequel, WTF moments… the big stuff, no need for nitty-gritty grammar issues just yet. Raise your hand, shoot me a message at kate.sparkes (at) live (dot) ca, send up a smoke signal somewhere visible from my house, whatever. And bring the awesome!)

13 Comments | tags: beta readers, blogs, Critique, reading, WordPress | posted in blogs, Bound, critique

disregard the prologue

Category Archives: writing

WIPpet Wednesday: Flashback, and a Farewell to ROW80

Lessons From Empire Records

Science Fiction Writing with Ray Bradbury

ROW 80 Update: This does NOT happen edition

headdesk

WIPpet Wednesday: Consequences

Well, That Was Fun

Daring To Fail

I Got Nuthin’

Stop Being Awesome. Stop it NOW.

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)

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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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Recent Posts

Archives

Stories and Whatnot

Blogs I Follow

Goodreads

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