Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Insecure in October

Hello my dearies and welcome to this month's IWSG post! (you can find the other participants on a linky list if you click on the tab up above)


brought to you by Ninja Captain and Author Extraordinaire



Not only is it the first Wednesday of the month, it's also the second day of my self-imposed October Blogathon. This month, I am trying to post every single day, and not only that - I'm going to post about my writing, or bits of my writing, or something specifically relevant to writing. No complaints, no whining, nothing blue, if you know what I mean.

The reason? I have come to the realisation that I do two things waaaay too often: I don't blog at all or I blog only to complain about how little time I have for writing. So for once, I am not going to talk about that. Instead, I give you a small sample of what I'm writing right now - tell me, what do you think of it? I haven't checked it for tenses or grammar or the like, I'm just going for the feel of it right now.

The market was teeming with people, and every one of them wanted to shake the peacemaker’s hand. It made Rashid’s skin crawl, but it wasn’t his choice, and it certainly was not an argument he could win. Master Aleh said it was part of a Peacemaker’s job description to be known to people, and that was that. So they walked through the crowded Moonday morning market, not jostled, exactly, but certainly surrounded by what the master called his Potentials. Potentially his customers, potentially affected by what he did, by the judgements he handed down. 
Potential threats, is how Rashid thought of them. It took all he could all his willpower to keep his hand from clenching on the grip of his sword. It was his job to keep the master safe, and in this kind of environment, that was close to impossible. Even more so since the master insisted on handing everything he bought to his bodyguard, as if Rashid didn’t need his hands to protect him. Halfway through the market, he was already loaded down with no less than five neatly wrapped parcels. If someone truly meant the peacemaker harm, it would be impossible to even put himself before the blade and protect his master that way. All he could do now was glower at the people pressing against the peacemaker, vying for his attention, and hope he looked scary enough to give any evildoer pause.   
It took them what felt like several hours to cross the market, and by the time they got to the master’s home with the things they’d set out to buy, Rashid was covered in cold sweat and he could have sworn he wore through his teeth, he’d been grinding them so hard. Jol, the master’s housekeeper, met them at the gate to relieve Rashid of the parcels he was carrying. Jol could have done the shopping for them, of course, but the master liked to think of their weekly trip into Rashid’s own personal hell as a recruiting trip, advertisment of his services. Unfortunately, it worked. 
“Master, there is a man here waiting to speak to you,” Jol said while trying to close the door and keep hold of the parcels at the same time. 

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Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Back in the Game

Hello my dearies!

It's the first of October already - we're officially in the fourth quarter of the year. Time flies, more so lately if you ask me. That's what happens when you have a lot of stuff on your plate... in the end, you don't have time for anything. At least that's how it feels to me. 

I've also realised that most of my posts lately have been about the same old, same old - I haven't been writing much. 

I want to remedy that, and to achieve such a goal, I'm starting a project: 

*drumroll, please* 

the

October Blogathon!!

In preparation for November (NaNoWriMo!!!) I shall be attempting to post every day this October. Small posts, mostly (well come on, I have a day job), but one post every day is the aim of the game. There's one more rule, too: no whining. I can only post about writing, post writing, or something to do with writing. 

What do you think, will I make it? Want to join me? 

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Thursday, 19 September 2013

From FYI to WTF....

I've recently come across an article by Adrian Magson in Writers' Magazine with the rather ambiguous title of "Spell it Out". "Make sure readers know exactly what you are talking about," says he. 

OMG (= Oh my God) that's so true it isn't even funny. I mean, using acronyms in twitter may be a useful way to fit the word limit, but anywhere else (and sometimes there, too) it's worth the time spent on explaining what you mean. Not everybody is up on the lingo, so to speak. You can't expect your readers to know everything, especially if you're aiming to market your book internationally. What a reader from the US understands without question doesn't necessarily hold any meaning for someone from Spain, or Greece, or Russia. Or worse, it might mean something completely different. That holds true on other levels, but let's stick with acronyms for now. 

Here's a couple I use that are probably understandable: 

FYI
OMG
ROFL
LOL
CIA
FBI
NSA
TGIF
ELTB
SSDD
ASAP
SYL


I think I'd feel safe enough using any of those in a story, should it fit the context, but mostly I'd do as Mr Magson advises and make sure the reader knows what I'm talking about. 

What do you use regularly and  have you come across any strange ones that you had to look up? How much explaining do you think one should do when writing, and how much can you just imply and trust the reader will understand?



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ps. spot the acronym I smuggled into the list... *grins*

Tuesday, 17 September 2013

And Alex has done it again!!!

It's a very special week we have right now...it's almost time for Alex J Cavanaugh's long awaited third book in the Cassa series!!




Alex, who is also the founder of the Insecure Writers' Support Group (see tab up above), has once again outdone himself. He also gave his loyal followers an opportunity to ask questions, and I'm not going to withhold his answer... 

(to clarify: one of the questions asked by someone before me involved transparent pants....) 

My question was the following: 

What is courage? Although the transparent pants sound interesting, too...

and here's what Alex said: 

Courage is not being afraid to wear transparent pants in public!
Real courage is doing what is right and what needs to be done whether you feel up to it or not. It’s taking a leap of faith.



Alex certainly took a leap of faith, sharing his work with the rest of the world (in fact, I think it probably feels a bit like wearing transparent pants in public...)- and I'm heartily glad he did! Here's the blurb for the third volume in the Cassa series... check it out and see how Byron shows his courage! 


CassaStorm
By Alex J Cavanaugh



From the Amazon Best Selling Series!

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

“CassaStorM is a touching and mesmerizing space opera full of action and emotion with strong characters and a cosmic mystery.” – Edi’s Book Lighhouse

“Cavanaugh creates such an unforgettable world, and these characters will stay with you long after their story is over.” 
- Cassie Mae, author of Friday Night Alibi and How to Date a Nerd


Find CassaStorm:




And you can find Alex here: 



I hope you have fun reading!!

All the best,
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More book facts:


$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera
Print ISBN 9781939844002 
eBook ISBN 9781939844019
$4.99 EBook available in all formats

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